Friday, August 19, 2005

Good Morning!

Hope everyone makes it on Sunday. Sorry I won't be able to be there, but we will still have class and a discussion, so please come if you can make it.

The new unit for this week is Unit 16 -- The Danger of Riches

Focus Scripture for the Week: 1 Timothy 6:10

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

Today's Scriptures: 1 Timothy 6:3-10; Psalm 119:1-16, Psalm 1:1-6

Today's Discussion:

-- these are our three remaining scriptures for the week.

-- the scripture from this letter from Paul to Timothy is the key scripture for the whole week, and it is the source of the focus scripture that we have had all week.

-- the focus scripture we have is one of the most misquoted verses in history. It is regularly misquoted as "Money is THE root of ALL evil". I think that the differences between the correct scripture and the misquoted scripture provide us a good outline for the what we are supposed to take away this week.

-- Money vs. the love of money -- Wesley, in his writings, outlines how money can do good, in the hands of a believer. Money is a thing, it is not inherently bad or good. It is our attitude towards it that is the catalyst for good or bad. And love of money -- what it can do for us, the protection and security that we perceive it supplies, the power and stature that we perceive it gives us, ultimately deceives us and warps our relationship with God.

-- THE root vs. A root -- the misquote of money as THE root gives money too much credit. There are many paths to evil, but they do not begin with things, they begin with our relationship with God. The love of money is just one of the ways that our relationship with God can be impaired.

-- ALL evil vs. All kinds of evil --- again, the misquote gives money to much credit -- there is much evil that we see splashed across our newspapers that is rooted in the love of money, but humans have the ability to love other things other than God, and those loves can lead us astray just as the love of money. Love of money is probably number one on the list, but it is not the only thing on the list.

-- the other issue raised in the passage from Timothy is contentment with what you have, vs. a desire to get rich, which in so many words, Paul sees as wanting more than you need. In a different twist, Wesley's instruction to "gain all you can, save all you can, and give all you can" - the desire to be rich is really about spending more on yourself than you need to. In both case, it isn't a dollar amount as much as it is selfishness and attitude.

Question for Sunday:

-- what are the key attitudes we must have and actions we must take to avoid "the love of money"?

Today's prayer request: Natalee Holloway's family and friends.

I know that most of the world has moved on, but this is still a very much ongoing nightmare for Natalee's family.
I think we need to pray for God to give her family some resolution -- either to find Natalee, or to give them permission and courage to move on with their lives.

Today's class member prayer:

Jerri Wesson

Have a great day.

Jay

Thursday, August 18, 2005

Good Morning!

Again, just an fyi that I won't be at church on Sunday -- I've had an unexpected business trip to come up. But we will still have class and a discussion, so please come if you can make it.

The new unit for this week is Unit 16 -- The Danger of Riches

Focus Scripture for the Week: 1 Timothy 6:10

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

Today's Scriptures: Ezekiel 28:1-7

Today's Discussion:

-- a trip to the Old Testament today. This passage is part of a prophesy by Ezekiel against the King of Tyre. Just as background, Tyre (the capital of Phoenicia) and Jerusalem (the capital of Judah) were rival cities who competed strongly to be the leading trading city in the world. When Jerusalem fell to the armies of Babylon, Tyre rejoiced at the fall of their rival, and felt that they would prosper even more not with Jerusalem out of the way. God's judgement came down on Tyre because of their gloating, and there is a specific prophesy about the destruction of Tyre in the previous chapter. In our reading, Ezekiel has turned his attention specifcially to the ruler of Tyre.

-- the attitude of Tyre and their king was rooted in their success in business, particularly trading. What Ezekiel is calling their king out about is that he considers himself a god, because he has been so successful in accumulating wealth. This is a perfect example of what we discussed earlier this week about the "deceitfulness of wealth". We all have run into to people who feel like they have wisdom on any number of subjects, because they have been successful in business and wealth building.

-- there is a humility, an understanding that God is the source of all wisdom and forgiveness and blessings, that money and wealth battle against. I'll go back to something from earlier this week

-- we always ask each other -- if were to become suddenly wealthy -- through a lottery or inheirtance or stardom -- do we think that the money would change us? We recognize that it can change us. This week's lesson gives us some insight into how it would. But we shouldn't forget or overlook the idea that it isn't just sudden wealth -- the same thing can happen to us if we simply have some degree of financial success over time.

Question for Sunday:

do you know anyone who changed because of their wealth or money? do you know anyone who used the fact that they were wealthy as reason to believe that they were above others?

Today's prayer request: Amanda and David Edwards' daughter Kasey.

Amanda emailed me yesterday and asked that we pray for Kasey. She isn't sick, but she is having a terrible time adjusting to school -- she's been acting up a great deal, and Amanda and David have been called to school once already, and the school has said that they will suspend Kasey for a week if it happens again. Kasey has been diagnosed with ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder), and they are still trying to find medication that works for her in treating this. This has been a very trying situation for all of them, and Amanda said that they could really use all of our prayers.

Today's class member prayer:

Jay Waters

Have a great day.

Jay

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Good Morning!

I just found out that I'm going to have to travel for business this weekend - I've got to fly up to Baltimore on Saturday and back on Sunday, but I won't be back until 1230P or so on Sunday, so I'm going to miss class this Sunday. Sorry for the last minute change.

The new unit for this week is Unit 16 -- The Danger of Riches

Focus Scripture for the Week: 1 Timothy 6:10

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

Today's Scriptures: Luke 18:18-30

Today's Discussion:

-- this is a tough scripture, not in understanding as much as the standard that Jesus is setting out. Sell all you have? The point Jesus is making with the young rich man is that, when confronted with a choice of going to heaven or selling all his possessions, he chose his possessions. His possessions were where his heart lay, where he put his trust, what he believed in. That is the point Jesus is hammering home.

-- Wesley's readings are also tough, and they offer up a question -- what does it mean to be rich? That is one of the ways that we avoid the question - we generally define rich as being someone who has more money than we do OR someone who has a lot of money left over after everything is paid for. Wesley takes a very different tack, and the hurdle for being thought of as rich in Wesley's eyes is much lower. It is amazing how the world he is writing about is so similar to our world today -- he hits on the idea of how much we spend to make ourselves comfortable, to make our lives easier, and his take is that there is a limit to how much of that we should do, and that the ability to spend for those kinds of things is really his definition of rich.

-- To help us understand where Wesley is coming from, here's an example of what I think he would be talking about today. This is an easy target, and not to put anyone on the spot, but what would Wesley think of Starbucks? After reading his sermons for this week, don't you think that he would particularly hone on Starbucks if he were around today -- he would talk about the expense of spending $3+ dollars for a cup of coffee, and beyond that, the necessity that some people place on having to go to Starbucks. Don't tell my younger brother, but he gets put out if he can't find a Starbucks wherever he might be traveling. I think that whole "sitting around and drinking coffee for an hour or two" concept wouldn't fly with Wesley either. And the question then, in thinking about that, is if you can go to Starbucks, are you rich?

Question for Sunday:

-- what is your Starbucks? could you give it up?

Today's prayer request: Our bosses and others in positions of authority at our workplaces.

Part of our Christian calling is the idea of serving faithfully in our roles as employee and citizen. Let us pray for those in authority at our workplace -- pray for them to make good decisions, to be fair and to be honest.
Today's class member prayer:

Andrew Peebles

Have a great day.

Jay

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Good Morning!

The new unit for this week is Unit 16 -- The Danger of Riches

Focus Scripture for the Week: 1 Timothy 6:10

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

Today's Scriptures: Matthew 13:18-23

Today's Discussion:

-- today's scripture is a portion of the parable of the sower and four soils. For the purposes of our lesson, the key to this passage is an understanding of the "deceitfulness of wealth" and how it could "choke" our understanding and acting on the Word. I think that there are three ways to understand that phrase.

-- One is that wealth can deceive us by giving us a false sense of security -- if we have material possessions, we can fall into the trap of feel secure because of we have those things, and in doing so we place our faith in those things rather in God.

-- Another way that wealth can deceive us is that we can take them as a sign of our own accomplishment - we can be led to think that we are completely responsible for our own success, and think nothing of God's role in blessing us with that wealth.

-- The third way wealth can deceive us is that it can cause us to elevate ourselves above others, and make us thing more highly of ourselves that we should (or conversely, think less of others than we should). If we are rich, aren't we better than those who are poor?

-- the fun question that people always ask each other is if they feel into a large sum of money -- inheritance, won the lottery, etc. --- would that change them? Everyone likes to think that it wouldn't, and maybe initially it wouldn't, given the suddenness of it all. The more realistic question is whether, after a number of years of working and saving, will the accumulation of wealth over time change you over time?

Question for Sunday:

-- how can keep financial success from choking your response to the word?

Today's prayer request: Jessica Wesson, Chris and Jerri's new baby

Jessica is going in for a test on Wednesday -- she has a little place on her back that the doctors want to look at. Chris and Jerri feel like it isn't a problem, but we need to pray that everything is OK with the newest Wesson.

Today's class member prayer:

Melissa Herring

Have a great day.

Jay

Monday, August 15, 2005

Good Morning!

Hope everyone had a good weekend. This past Sunday, our class had a special visitor -- Jessica Christy Wesson came by and slept through class.

The new unit for this week is Unit 16 -- The Danger of Riches

Focus Scripture for the Week: 1 Timothy 6:10

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

Today's Scriptures: Hebrews 13:1-6

Today's Discussion:

-- the passage from Hebrews is very similar to the other passages that we had last week, with various teachings about living a Christian life. This one ends with some teaching about the love of money, and the interesting twist on it in this passage is that it is framed as a confidence in God issue -- that we shouldn't have a love of money because God will care for us and provide for our needs. In this context, a love of money is seen as putting our faith in our own efforts, rather putting our faith in God.

-- in the Reflections, it is interesting what John Wesley's take on wealth was, particulary why he felt that it was a particular problem for Methodists -- that by living a very discipliined life of faith, that his some of his followers were going to become wealthy, through their work ethic and their frugal ways. This is a good bit different than the "Jesus will make you rich" theology that some TV preachers have been none to preach.

-- one of the fundamental questions about wealth in our culture is that it is a way of keeping score, of how we value people. Actually, in my view, I think that the challenge that our society and culture has is not that we think that rich people are good people, but that poor people are bad people -- that is where the culture and Christanity collide.

Question for Sunday:

-- can you think of an example of where/how our culture demonizes the poor?

Today's prayer request: Kim Alford's grandfather.

Kim Alford asked for prayer for her grandfather today, and if my handwriting was better I could give you more specifics. As it is, we just need the remember Kim's grandfather, and ask for God's assistance and blessings.

Today's class member prayer:

Susanne Russell

Have a great day.

Jay