Stushie art: A Church Divided...

...cannot stand


I'm continually praying and inwardly weeping for the PCUSA. It may be on the verge of making a foolish, irreversible, and unscriptural decision.

Why Presbyterian?

Bruce Reyes-Chow, the moderator of the last PC(USA) General Assembly asks on his blog: “Why are you Presbyterian?” He’s just written a church wide letter on the topic, and is asking members far and near to chime in as well.

Here is PC(USA) Blogger Adam Copeland's response.

I love Adam's response because I feel like I could have written the same thing about myself, with the exception of the ordination stuff. And the addition of the fact that I feel at home in worship with the rituals and services that have been a part of my faith journey since I was a child. There are times to stretch outside of one's comfort zone, and times to rejoice and feel at home within it.

Why are you Presbyterian?

Old Blog Roll and Less Recently Updated Blogs

In an attempt to control the main page of the blog, I'm moving the old roll blog over here. This is where you can find blogs that are former (but not current) members of the unofficial PC(USA) web ring and blogs that haven't been updated in over a year that might still have some really neat stuff in their archives and are worth keeping around.



More old or inactive blogs (added May 2010):

Always Reforming
Barefoot
Catechisms and Cataclysms
First Presbyterian Church of Vernon, Texas
Growing In Faith
Make of yourself a light
Ministry as Clergy Couples
Mo Leverett - Rebirth International
Monday Morning Letters
Musings, Questions, and other Ramblings
My Backyard
pastorjayban’s weblog
preacher, blogger or procrastinator
Rebel Without A Pew
RevJavaDude's Cafe
The Quest
Toddled Dredge

Sunday Devotions: A Real Treasure

Matthew 13:44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

It’s almost Halloween and the stores are full of costumes. I like the pirate ones that come out every year. They’re not as scary as some ugly ones which glorify gore and violence. Pirates are like your lovable rogues who say “ooooh” and “aaaargh” a lot. They might have once been the scourge of the seven seas, but these days pirates are funny and outrageous.

Ever since I read “Treasure Island” by the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson, I’ve been fascinated with pirates. And then when I saw Robert Newton play Long John Silver on the silver screen, that clinched it for me. I dearly loved his acting – it was way over the top.

In the movies and books, pirates are motivated by two things: plunder and treasure. They’re either battling it out with galleons filled with Spanish doubloons or looking for a deserted isle to bury their sought after treasure. I guess that we have R L Stevenson to thank for that! And all pirates are totally committed to protecting their treasure. It means everything to them and they will risk their lives trying to keep it.

But what’s all of this got to do with today’s verse? Well, it seems Jesus wanted us think of the kingdom of heaven as a great treasure that we discover in our lives, which has to be protected. It’s a gift from God that we should cherish and not take for granted. Far too often people think that the Kingdom of Heaven is a ‘given’ in their lives, something that will be bestowed upon them no matter who they are or what they’ve done. But it isn’t – the Kingdom of Heaven is a priceless treasure and unless we look after it, we can lose it.

Jesus wants all of us to find this treasure in our lives. He’s given us clues in the Holy Scriptures and Gospel teachings about how to find it. We have to dig it out for ourselves and discover His Truth, His Way, and His Life. If we think for a moment that we can make up our own truth, go our own way, and live our own life and then receive the Kingdom of Heaven, we haven’t been listening to Him or reading His clues properly.

To receive this treasure, we’ve got to give Christ our hearts. To enjoy His Kingdom, we’ve got to submit to His will and become His servants. Any other way is false and only ends up shipwrecking souls.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, grant us the priceless gift of Your Kingdom in our lives. Help us to look beyond our own thinking in order to take that leap of faith, that time of transformation which will lead us to Your treasure. Give us the courage to talk to our families and friends, so that they will also receive this eternal and exclusive gift. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

Stushie is the writer of the daily devotional Heaven's Highway, which is also podcasted at www.stushie.libsyn.com.

Church of Scotland Moderator is also a Blogger

It seems as though the Church of Scotland is following Bruce Reyes-Chow's blogging capabilities. David Lunan, the Cof S Moderator, has his own weekly blog. Here's a recent story from the Scotsman newspaper...

Kirk's Moderator goes online

THE Moderator of the General Assembly, the Right Rev David Lunan, is set to break new ground for the Kirk by making his own contribution to the information superhighway.
David, and his wife Maggie, are set to start a "Moderator's blog" where they will keep the world updated as to their latest activities, as well as their thoughts on issues large and small. The blog, which will be updated once a week, went live yesterday. The Moderator's blog is available at http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/.

David's blog is at http://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/news/newsmodblog.htm Maybe we should add it to our blogroll????