West Texas Missioner

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Sounds of Christmas at Midland College
Pt. 1 - "Call to Advent"

In the News ... "Dedication of San Miguel de Archangel scheduled for Sunday in Midland"

Dedication of San Miguel de Archangel scheduled for Sunday in Midland
By Kathleen Thurber
Reporter
Midland Reporter-Telegram

MIDLAND, TEXAS - Though it’s taken months of manpower, dedicated fundraisers and innovative thinkers, the Rev. Frank Chavez said when San Miguel de Archangel is dedicated this Sunday, they hope it won’t be all about the beauty of the structure that’s been created.

Instead, he said, walking through the small chapel as final painting took place last week, he hopes the facility points to the Lord whom they serve.
CLICK HERE to read the rest of the MRT story

Advent Devotional for December 19

"This Advent Season, start — or end — your day with these meditations provided by faculty, students, and alumni/ae of the Austin Seminary community. We believe our 2010 Advent Devotional reflects the richness and depth of the theological education offered at Austin Seminary."
CLICK HERE for a complete schedule of this season's devotionals.
CLICK HERE to learn how you can support the mission of Austin Seminary

Advent Devotional for Sunday, December 19

Luke 6:27-40

Today lights the fourth candle. The Prince of Peace is on his way and our preparations are near complete. Gifts are purchased and wrapped. The Christmas menu is planned. Travel arrangements are final. Those we most love prepare to converge.

Now, Jesus, the one for whom we prepare, the cause of it all, reminds us that loving the lovable is hardly our only charge. Love your enemies, he commands. Bless and pray for those who curse you, he directs. Give with no expectation of return, he instructs. Judge not. Forgive. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Amidst serene nativity images, we sometimes wish the bossy, grown-up Jesus would wait a few weeks. Let us enjoy Christmas, we plead. There is time enough for heavy admonitions. Yet there is good news in these hard commands, particularly in late Advent. Despite our yearnings for a Christmas of garland and gifts, truth is, we do not want an incarnation that changes nothing, challenges no one. A God indifferent to Afghanistan condemns us to indifference, also. God content with imperfection need not enter it.

God offers no false comfort in Bethlehem, no pretend peace. God sees the world as it plainly is and births into it our only hope for its transformation. God models an ethic that changes us inside out, which reverses worldly fortunes, which brings justice to those who weep and startles those who slumber.

Preparing for this Jesus, then, means lighting candles and waiting patiently. Moist turkey and Christmas carols have their places. Yet deeper still, preparing for this Jesus calls us to the loftiest hopes of personal and earthly transformation. Our reward will be great. We will be children of the Most High.

God of Gentle Comfort and Discomforting Challenge, thank you for trusting in my ability to treat others as I wish to be treated, even my enemies. Help me to do it, for Jesus’s sake. Amen.

Karl Travis
Trustee and Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Fort Worth, Texas

For the glory of God and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary is a seminary in the Presbyterian-Reformed tradition whose mission is to educate and equip individuals for the ordained Christian ministry and other forms of Christian service and leadership; to employ its resources in the service of the church; to promote and engage in critical theological thought and research; and to be a winsome and exemplary community of God's people.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Last-Minute Christmas Gift Suggestions
Pt. 2 "One Humble Teacher"

Steve and Oddny Gumaer started Partners Relief & Development in response to the needs of refugees and displaced people from Burma. "Our Vision: Free, full lives for the children of Burma. Our Hope: Reconciled communities living in peace. Through holistic action, we demonstrate God’s love to children and communities made vulnerable by war in Burma.

We all have our own wish lists for Christmas. You may want a new iPod or some new boots. I want a hand-knitted sweater from my wife. But imagine for a moment if your top gift was food. That is the case for thousands of people in Burma right now. Will you join Partners Relief & Development and make this Christmas about giving life to war-impacted children and families? When you purchase one of our gifts, you are literally helping save lives. You also show God's love.

Here's how it works ...
1. To review the options and purchase gifts, click the Buy Now button. You will be taken to a Partners web page where you can select your specific gifts. You can choose as many gifts as you'd like.
2. Check out and purchase your gifts. Your order will be sent to Partners immediately.
3. Partners will mail you a Greeting Card for each item you select. You can then give the Greeting Cards to your loved ones at that perfect moment.

It's so easy to do ...

... here's one suggestion ...

Two / One Humble Teacher - Access to education is fundamental to a child’s wellbeing and development. Our education assistance program supports almost 4,000 teachers, who in turn teach more than 80,000 children in Karen State, Eastern Burma. We believe it is the most comprehensive education support program in a conflict zone anywhere in the world. Your gift will support a teacher for one month, providing teaching materials, education texts and a teachers subsidy.

In the News ... "FUMC-Midland invites people to spend 'One Night in Bethlehem'"

FUMC-Midland invites people to spend 'One Night in Bethlehem'
By Georgia Temple
Reporter
Midland Reporter-Telegram

MIDLAND, TEXAS - Sample treats from a first-century bakery, visit market place shops, run into a frantic census taker, meet shepherds eager to share the story of the birth of Jesus and speak with Mary and Joseph when First United Methodist Church-Midland presents "One Night in Bethlehem."

"We turn our fellowship hall into the town of Bethlehem," said Deborah Wilson, who has been involved with this special event since its inception four years ago.
CLICK HERE to read the rest of the MRT story

Advent Devotional for December 18

John 3:22–30

This past summer, I laced up my hiking boots and undertook the experiential learning course, “An Adventure in Wilderness Spirituality,” taught by professor Bill Greenway. Fifteen days of no watches, calendars, computers, iPhones, or music. Nothing that connected our class of six students to the outside world came with us into the mountains. After a few days, we lost track of the concept of time. Numbers on a watch face became irrelevant to the living of that day. We woke when the sun rose, ate when we were hungry. We sat around the campfire at twilight. We went to sleep when it was dark. Simple. Attuned. Connected to nature and one another. We attended to the sun to guide our daily rhythm. By awaiting and attending to the natural ordering of creation, we connected with a reality greater than that constructed by our own sense of self-importance. The world grew when my calendar was not the center of my cosmos.

To wait upon and attend to something greater than your own self is a spiritual discipline. In this season of Advent, we learn that waiting upon the coming of Christ attunes our hearts and souls to the holy ordering of life. We wait on Christ so that he becomes greater and we become less. Christ becomes the center of our daily living as we enter again into the Kairos ordering of time. When God’s ordering of the seasons of life takes the place of our own, we are unleashed from the bounds of this world and freed to cherish the simple miracles of life. A conversation with a friend. The smell of coffee. Warm socks on a cold morning. So we wait upon Emmanuel, God with us, as we tune our hearts to the reality of Jesus Christ.

God of Creation, in whom we live and move and have our
being, dwell with us in the rhythms of life. Tune our hearts to the needs of others. Enable our anxious minds to wait in peace, and awaken us to a reality bigger than ourselves — a reality centered in Christ. Amen.

John Leedy
Student Senate President and senior MDiv student from Abilene, Texas

Friday, December 17, 2010

Last-Minute Christmas Gift Suggestions
Pt. 1 "Quack Quack"

... here's one suggestion ...

Advent Conspiracy, Pt. 4

There's a conspiracy afoot in the Tall City, and across the country ... though it's not the kind of conspiracy you'd find in a Dan Brown novel. Advent Conspiracy is an international movement working to restore the spirit of Christmas by substituting compassion for consumption - a movement of Christ-followers who want to ...
● Worship Fully,
● Give More,
● Spend Less, and
● Love All.
It's a conspiracy without a hidden agenda ... speaking openly, conspirators remind us that the story of Christ's birth is a story of promise, hope, and a revolutionary love. So, what happened? What was once a time to celebrate the birth of a savior has somehow turned into a season of stress, traffic jams, and shopping lists. And when it's all over, many of us are left with presents to return, looming debt that will take months to pay off, and this empty feeling of missed purpose. Is this what we really want out of Christmas?

What if Christmas became a world-changing event again? ... Welcome to the Advent Conspiracy.

[Love All]
When Jesus loved, He loved in ways never imagined. Though rich, he became poor to love the poor, the forgotten, the overlooked and the sick. He played to the margins. By spending less at Christmas we have the opportunity to join Him in giving resources to those who need help the most. When Advent Conspiracy first began four churches challenged this simple concept to its congregations. The result raised more than a half million dollars to aid those in need. One less gift. One unbelievable present in the name of Christ.

In the News ... "Actor brings one-man show to Midland"

Actor brings one-man show to Midland
By Georgia Temple
Reporter
Midland Reporter-Telegram

MIDLAND, TEXAS - Actor Frank Runyeon's one-man show "Three and a Half Stories of Christmas" comes to Trinity Presbyterian Church-Midland Friday (TODAY).

As an angel-in-training from Brooklyn, Runyeon takes his audience through the story of the Nativity from the creation of the Light by "The Boss," to the passing of the Light to Abraham and his descendants, to the incarnation of the Light in Jesus. The story of Christmas is simply: "the story of how LIGHT came into the world," according to Runyeon's imperfect angel-in-training — who arrives with a crash, from Brooklyn.
CLICK HERE to read the rest of the MRT story

Advent Devotional for December 17

Isaiah 55:1-13

Banquets are wonderful events, especially if you have been invited. The owner of the banquet has many challenges, among them planning where to host the event, how much to spend, who to invite. Those invited also have challenges of preparation: buying gifts; making transportation plans; maybe buying expensive clothes.

Isaiah invites the Israelites to a banquet where the invitees will spend nothing. Everything is free. In other words, God invites the Israelites who are thirsty and hungry to come and receive the blessings that money cannot offer. The rich and poor, God invites them all. This blessing is the kingdom of God.

As some say “water is life,” Isaiah takes water to mean salvation, or life after exile. It is not partial salvation but a complete one. The proper response, says Isaiah, is to turn (repent) and receive. We learn to appreciate God’s grace through repentance, although only by God’s grace do we participate in the kingdom.

The fulfillment of deliverance from exile is accomplished by the coming of Christ and is for all. The free offer of the gospel extends to all who hear the word of salvation. We cannot fully understand God’s gracious invitation because we think some are entitled while others are not. What of those who struggle in prisons? What of leaders who do not allow Christianity in their country? God invites even them to this banquet. In fact, this salvation is for the whole of creation — even the mountains and hills, says Isaiah, show the realization of new life.

In short, God’s invitation to the banquet is free and for all. This is the love and the grace of God shown to us in God’s Son. Christ’s coming is to all, and all are invited. Come and let us together celebrate, to welcome Christ and accept him as our savior.

Gracious God, glory and honor we give you because you are a loving and wonderful God. We thank you because the salvation you give is free, and not restricted to a specific group, because Christ broke such barriers. Help us accept your invitation so that we may be servants to you. In Christ’s name. Amen.

Chizason Chunda (MATS’09)
Moderator-elect, CCAP Synod, Lusaka, Zambia

Thursday, December 16, 2010

From Partners: Last-Minute Christmas Gift Suggestions

We all have our own wish lists for Christmas. You may want a new iPod or some new boots. I want a hand-knitted sweater from my wife. But imagine for a moment if your top gift was food. That is the case for thousands of people in Burma right now. Will you join Partners Relief & Development and make this Christmas about giving life to war-impacted children and families? When you purchase one of our gifts, you are literally helping save lives. You also show God's love.

Here's how it works ...
1. Review the options below.
2. To purchase gifts, click the Buy Now button. You will be taken to a Partners web page where you can select your specific gifts. You can choose as many gifts as you'd like.
3. Check out and purchase your gifts. Your order will be sent to Partners immediately.
4. Partners will mail you a Greeting Card for each item you select. You can then give the Greeting Cards to your loved ones at that perfect moment.

It's so easy to do ...

One / Quack Quack - Partners Relief & Development is developing sustainable and organic solutions to give the people of Burma opportunities to earn an income as well as provide nourishment for their families. This gift provides the investment of a duckling, a portable food and income source that can improve the livelihood of a family in Burma.

Two / One Humble Teacher -Access to education is fundamental to a child’s wellbeing and development. Our education assistance program supports almost 4,000 teachers, who in turn teach more than 80,000 children in Karen State, Eastern Burma. We believe it is the most comprehensive education support program in a conflict zone anywhere in the world. Your gift will support a teacher for one month, providing teaching materials, education texts and a teachers subsidy.

Three / The Simple Grain - In times of crisis or attack, Partners Relief & Development provides basic essentials such as food, clothing, water, medicine, emergency medical assistance and shelter. These are short-term solutions to an immediate need. A gift of rice provides a family of five with the food they need to survive for two weeks when displaced from their homes or when running from the Burma Army.

Four / Build a Leader - We are passionate about building leadership and teaching truth. Every year we invest in future leaders by funding Bible School scholarships. Young Karen men and women study in five Bible Schools in refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border. This gift will cover the living expenses and book fees for a student for three months.

Five / Brave Feet - Ethnic relief teams and community based groups risk their lives to deliver rice, shelter, food, medicine and other essential supplies to help displaced families survive after Burma Army attacks and natural disasters. Purchasing these boots will cushion the long walks as the relief teams move around Burma to support, protect, and share love with the internally displaced people.

Six / Squeaky Clean - Over a thousand children from Burma are provided with a home, shelter, and security in Partners Relief & Development children’s homes along the Thai-Burma border and in northern Thailand. Each of these children receive a basic hygiene supply pack four times a year. Purchasing these hygiene packs gives six children shampoo, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap and other supplies to keep them healthy throughout the year.

Seven / Life Savers - Comprehensive medical care is a luxury the people of Burma do not enjoy. Partners Relief & Development medical programs endeavour to address this desperate need through the provision of emergency medical supplies, preventative community health training, medical clinics and maternal health support. This gift provides medicine and supplies to cover the immediate medical needs of 100 displaced men, women and children in the conflict areas of Burma.

Eight / Village Radio - In January of this year one brave man and a village radio saved the lives of hundreds of villagers who had time to flee before the Burma Army burned down their homes and schools. Village Radios can give precious minutes of warning so communities at risk are warned to escape from impending Burma Army attacks. This gift will purchase one village radio for a community in Burma’s jungles.

In the News ... "Men of different churches study Bible"

Men of different churches study Bible
Lyxan Toldanes
Staff Writer
Odessa American

ODESSA, TEXAS - For 30 years, Jack Henry went to church on Sundays, sitting in the pews as he listened to the pastor give his sermons. But, the self-proclaimed “pew warmer” didn’t form a deeper relationship with Jesus until he started attending a Community Bible Study.

Henry began shuttling back and forth from Odessa to Midland’s Community Bible Study (CBS) branch, which he attended for 12 years. Then two years ago, Henry and 30 other Odessa men successfully began their own Odessa CBS after nearly eight years of attempts.
CLICK HERE to read the rest of the OA story.

Advent Devotional for December 16

Mark 10:13-16

This passage is childlike in its imprecision. Babies being brought to Jesus, or children coming to him? The passage suggests both. What precisely are we supposed to emulate? No details. Many adult-minded commentators, frustrated, look to context for bearings. “Children” is a socially constructed category, they say. And in Jesus’ day, to be a child was to be a non-person. “Children” signifies “marginalized”: We should approach Jesus as do the marginalized. Some Scriptures certainly support this emphasis. But here, doing so is mean: All children disappear. And sure, “children” is a socially constructed reality. But seriously — we can travel from Disney World to impoverished internal refugee communities, and we will recognize children and childlike spirit when we see it.

Another commentator warns that this is “not an occasion for idealizing childhood.” Fiddlesticks. If ever a passage called for giving free reign to the ideals, innocence, openness, and cherished memories of childhood, this is it. Indeed, with its childlike imprecision, the passage positively calls us to approach it just as it calls us to approach Jesus: like children.

How do children approach? Unless taught otherwise, children are indeed innocents. They approach with hope, confidence, and trust, anticipating the best. (Parents actually have to work to teach their children to fear strangers.) Even in cases where a history of abuse has been a bitter teacher, an incredibly powerful and profoundly poignant desire to trust and connect can long endure. Perhaps Jesus had in mind that native openness, trust, and hopeful expectation that one finds in children around the globe. Imagine the world—the peaceable kingdom — in which all relationships are so characterized.

Images of Jesus surrounded by children are beloved. We find ourselves smiling and warmed. Invited. Jesus’s word is for adults. Can we let down our defenses, our need to control? Can we be utterly vulnerable, open, and trusting? Can we come to God wholly expecting goodness, affirmation, safety, joy, and acceptance?

Finally, amazingly, audaciously, at Advent we proclaim that “as a child” is precisely the character of God’s most intimate coming to us.

“Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, God loves me.” [Repeat 70x7 times]. Amen.

William Greenway
Associate Professor of Philosophical Theology

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Teichert Prayer Letter for November, Pt. 2

Karl and Jenny Teichert are serving the Lord as missionaries with OC Africa, in South Africa. They moved to Johannesburg in November, 1997 with their four children; Ann, Scott, Stephen and John. Karl serves as the Southern Africa Director of the Southern Africa Regional Team. Their vision is to see a healthy, Bible-based church established in every un-reached village and community in South Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Zambia and beyond. Their strategy is to partner with key African church leaders to research, train, and mobilize the body of Christ to complete the Great Commission. They are striving to equip local leaders in Southern Africa to reach their nations for Christ and send missionaries into other countries as well. Karl’s ministry focuses on research, church planting, and leadership development training. In addition to caring for their four children, Jenny enjoys ministering through hospitality and equipping Sunday school teachers

November Prayer Letter, Pt. 2 ...

Dear Family and Friends,

From Karl and Jenny: From August 28 – September 4, Karl was joined by two other ministry partners from Ethiopia and Madagascar to present church planting training to over 45 leaders near Antananarivo, Madagascar. The purpose of the training is to multiply evangelistic/discipleship groups that will form new churches in unreached villages of the rain forest. Most of the leaders walked and traveled up to three days from the central province of the rain forest region to attend the teaching. The three other mission organizations also participated in the training, and the project was endorsed by the Evangelical Fellowships of both South Africa and Madagascar.

The next step is for these 45 leaders to equip and develop 6-10 other church planters each to plant 1-2 new discipleship group/churches in the next 12 months. They will receive ongoing mentoring and encouragement. By God’s grace, this will result in 600-900 new churches. Those who are successful will be invited with their new leaders to attend a follow-up training in July 2011. Our prayer is that these experienced leaders will then travel into the other four provinces of the unreached regions of the rain forest to multiply church planters and discipleship groups/churches.

Over 19 million people live in Madagascar, from 50 distinct people groups. Approximately 7 million people live in the eastern rain forest region. Joshua Project has identified nine indigenous unreached people groups in this area. The goal of this project is to plant 6,000 churches among least-evangelized peoples, primarily in the eastern rain forest region by 2015.

Please pray for effective church planting of these 45 leaders and their new leaders. Pray that God uses these leaders to reap a fruitful harvest of disciple-making churches in the many remote villages. Lastly, please pray for the financial provision for more training and Malagasy audio Bibles for many illiterate church planters and pastors. Please let us know if you would like more information.

Thank you for standing with us. We are grateful for your faithful intercession and financial partnership!

The Teicherts

OC Africa is an interdenominational ministry committed to developing, equipping, and mobilizing church leaders to multiply healthy, Bible-based churches in every community in Southern Africa and the world. OC is a faith-based mission who depends on the Lord to provide committed, financial supporters and partners. The contributions from these individuals help generate ministry opportunities around the world, impact missionaries and their global work, and provide a means for the International Mobilization Center to function. CLICK HERE to learn how YOU can be a part of mobilizing church leaders around the world by donating to OC.

Faces of Children: Prayer Requests

Faces of Children is an ecumenical prayer ministry under the auspices of First Presbyterian Church of Midland, Texas. Our mission is to initiate ministries of prayer for children in churches, communities, and neighborhoods. In doing so, we seek to provide an opportunity for people of God to join together, learn about children and their needs throughout the world, and celebrate Christ's love (especially as it relates to children).

Prayer Concerns for the week of 12/15/10

Colombia
• Give thanks to God for the positive results of Colombia's conditional cash transfer scheme-a program that has helped children from poor families attend school, receive regular health care, and medical checkups. The cash payments come with obligations-the mother must attend health workshops; take her children to regular medical checkups and have them vaccinated; and her children must attend school 80 percent of the time.
A report from alertnet.org

Dominican Republic, Haiti
• Please pray for Haitian children who have been trafficked across the border or migrated across it into the Dominican Republic. An estimated 9,000 Haitians have migrated across the border since the January 12 earthquake devastated Haiti.
• Pray for Haitian children who now beg for money on the streets and in the fruit markets of the Dominican Republic. Pray for those who are vulnerable and could be coerced into prostitution or trafficked into begging rings. Pray for those who are exploited and abused by traffickers.
• Give thanks to God for programs that help remove children from the streets and provide them with shelter and assistance.

Iraq
• Please pray for al-Qaeda in Iraq children who are now paying for the sins of their fathers. When al-Qaeda in Iraq militants held large parts of the country after the U.S. invasion, many girls and women were forced into undocumented "marriages" and then into motherhood. Pray for those women and girls who were raped by al-Qaeda in Iraq militants and who now have children by them although the "husbands" have long since disappeared.
• Pray for al-Qaeda in Iraq children who, according to the government, do not exist-they don't have rights as Iraqi citizens and lack proper identification papers. Pray that God will provide for these children and their families-they fear retaliation because of their association with al-Qaeda in Iraq, even though it was forced on them. Pray that in the future, al-Qaeda in Iraq children will be able to attend school and hold jobs even though they have incredible odds stacked against them.
A report from the Washington Post

Sudan
• Pray for children and people returning to their ancestral lands in south Sudan's Unity State ahead of a January referendum on independence. More than 1.5 million southerners are expected to return home to the land they fled during the 1980s and 1990s' civil war.
• Pray for those families living in emergency shelters in Unity State because their homes on ancestral lands have been flooded. Pray for vulnerable children left in these emergency shelters while their mothers go out to find work. Pray that God will provide the resources needed to help these children, especially since conditions in the shelters are deteriorating because of the scarcity of water.

United States
• Please continue to pray for Mike and Emily, co-founders of ESTHERS Children, a ministry that works with girls in Brazil who've been prostituted and abused.
Website for ESTHERS Children
• Give God thanks that Mike and Emily were able to make the trip to Brazil in July to hold a vacation Bible school for 75 children from a poor neighborhood and also have an outreach event for their mothers.
• And thank God for all God has done to help Mike during the treatments for his brain tumor. Pray that God will continue to be at work in healing Mike and providing for his day-to-day needs. Thanks be to God for all of the support and help Mike and Emily are receiving from their community. Pray that they will know the peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding during this difficult, stressful time.

Faces of Children
• Please continue to pray that more churches and individuals will join with the ministry of Faces of Children in spreading awareness about children in crisis and inviting more people to pray for children at risk.

In the News ... "First Baptist-Midland chooses familiar face to lead church"

First Baptist-Midland chooses familiar face to lead church
By James Canon
Reporter
Midland Reporter-Telegram

MIDLAND, TEXAS - First Baptist of Midland will be getting a new, yet familiar, person to lead the church come January.

The Rev. Randall Everett, interim pastor and soon-to-be former executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, the largest Baptist organization in the state, will be joining the church January 16.
CLICK HERE to read the rest of the MRT story

Advent Devotional for December 15

Isaiah 29:9-24

Use it or lose it,” we often hear. Each person brings to the world unique gifts and graces that only he or she can contribute to their generation. In fact, most people have so many gifts they cannot develop them all. As children grow into adulthood, some gifts are selected and honed, while others fall by the wayside, unrealized potentials in a profligate gene pool of possibility.

But what about gifts, given by the creator, that come to be used in diabolical ways? One person has a gift for leadership, able to articulate vision and persuade followers — but what if this gift is used to feed greed or glory rather than the community’s good? What if the gift of persuasion is used to deceive? What if a gift of intelligence serves to design not more effective infrastructures but more effective weapons? What if poets write lies or managers abuse their employees?

According to this passage, leaders who use their God-given gifts in pretense, ignoring the source of their talents, presuming to be self-made or perhaps paying only lip service to God, will lose what they thought they had gained. God-given wisdom used in harmful ways will shrivel and perish. Discernment will flee. Seeing turns blind; reading is blocked; the soul slumbers.

What is not good news to leadership presuming to go its own way is very good news to those subject to their influence. God will not allow the abuse of power to continue unchecked. When scoffers are no more, when tyranny ceases, the deaf will hear and the blind will see, the poor and needy will rejoice in God. The desert will be fruitful again. Watch, pray, work, speak, and wait — it will happen.

God, we wait for you. Awaken in us gratitude, praise, and devotion. Awaken our discernment to use our gifts generously. Bring soon the day of hearing and sight, of justice and mercy, of renewal and rejoicing. May we welcome that advent with all we say and do. Amen.

Patricia K. Tull (MDiv’85)
Professor of Hebrew Bible, Louisville Presbyterian Seminary

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

In the News ... "Volunteers mail merry Christmas"

Volunteers mail merry Christmas
Gabriella Lopez
Staff Writer
Odessa American

ODESSA, TEXAS - The sounds of “God Bless America” sung by men and women from all walks of life filled the air Wednesday in Odessa’s First Presbyterian Church.

The song, and a prayer by Pastor Jim Longstreet, kicked off an afternoon of volunteer work for church members, Permian High School students and various other members of the Odessa community.

After collecting donations of items like cocoa mix, toiletries or gun solvent since October, volunteers gathered to pack the boxes for 500 soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, Christmas for OUR troops coordinator Charles Cotten said.
CLICK HERE to read the rest of the OA story.

Advent Devotional for December 14

Job 31:1-18, 42:1-9

Is not calamity for the unrighteous?

I offer the testimony of last Christmas. A man who has a lifetime of seeking God asked this very question of me. He memorized many sections of Job out of necessity to coexist with his angry circumstances. Why would God abandon Job, and why would God abandon him? This man mocked Christmas, and said the chestnuts roasting on an open fire were his very life and livelihood. He felt God’s contempt and silence. I didn’t answer him.

Job is a snapshot of three lives, it seems: prosperity, devastation, and finally, when all seems lost, there’s rejuvenation — re-formed and re-newed life. Which Job, then, will we encounter this day? Christmas, with high expectations, seems to intensify the emotion of what is missing or wrong. In this case, I was listening to someone with mental illness and who depended on the church for most of his friendships and some of his handouts.

I had nothing to give but Job 42:2, “I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” He repeated it his way, “God does pretty much what God wants.” He thought by talking. Eventually he offered his own Job-like blessing: The Lord is in control, and yes, there’s hope of God’s presence even now. He had the conviction of things hoped for.

We prayed Job’s words and his words of anger and hope. He desperately finished with “on earth as it is in heaven.”

God is about rejuvenation. And so this Christmas, when we’re seated next to that persnickety aunt who smells of smoke and bourbon and pinches our fat, complaining of her failed friendships, or when we’re listening to the mourning of a mother grieving the death of a child, let us pray, sometimes silently, a Job-like prayer for tender mercies and rejuvenation.

Lord, rejuvenate us in body and spirit, make us whole in word and deed. Be in control of our life and our eternity through Christ. Amen.

Scott Campbell (MDiv’04)
Pastor, Grace Presbyterian Church, Lubbock, Texas

Monday, December 13, 2010

Midland Group's President Attends Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony

The China Aid Association is a non-profit Christian organization - based in Midland, Texas - with a mission to uncover and reveal the truth about religious persecution in China, focusing especially on the unofficial church. They do this, they explain in their website, by exposing the abuses, encouraging the abused and equipping the saints to advance the kingdom of God throughout China.

Midland Group's President Attends Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony

Released by ChinaAid, December, 2010 ...

"OSLO, NORWAY – On the morning of December 10, 2010, local time, Pastor Bob Fu, president of China Aid Association, went to the Chinese embassy with a group of people and handed in to them the 150,000 signatures of 'Urging to release Gao Zhisheng.' After that, Bob Fu went to attend the award ceremony for the Nobel Peace Prize."
Read the Rest of the Report from ChinaAid