Grapevine
This is the archive page for these posts.
What will we “take away” from Event Two?
Any reasonable person might well ask this question or one much like it in considering the prospect of Ohio Conference’s credentialed leaders meeting together on Sept. 28. I would suggest the more important question might be, “What will we bring to Event Two?” If we bring only expectations about the rules, the answers, the procedures, we may be disappointed, each…
Striving to be my best self
I have sometimes quoted a quip from Garrison Keillor of A Prairie Home Companion: “They say wisdom comes with old age — but sometimes old age comes alone.” I suppose I haven’t quite admitted I am old yet, but I can feel myself getting there. I also should admit I haven’t quite gotten to “wise” yet, but I can feel…
New Fears
As my wife and I were driving to church last Sunday, she received a chat text from our daughter who lives in Northern Ireland. Our son-in-law is a technical climber, an instructor of mountaineering instructors actually, and their two daughters are quite the outdoor enthusiasts normally. In fact, at just about 4 years old the older girl had her own…
Signs of Health in a Recovering Body
A recurring pesky condition cropped up again recently in my physical person. While not generally overwhelming, this condition is difficult to ignore and disrupts focus on “regular” life. Not that illness, irritations, “dis-ease,” etc are not a regular part of life. They are for the vast majority of us, and quite common for many. In fact, to an immunologist, a…
Constancy and Change
As people of faith we have the great privilege of relying on the Constancy of God. In Hebrews 13, the writer quotes a promise found in Deuteronomy — “I will never leave you or forsake you” —as a way to remind readers about how our God is so faithful. And I too can join in and declare this is true.…
Awesomely and Wonderfully Made
In a passage often echoed in our own experience, a psalmist declares in considering his physical being: “I praise You, for I am awesomely, wonderfully made ….” — Psalm 139: 14 (TNK) We can readily identify even in our age of advancement in science and medicine at the almost unbelievable complexity and the mysterious functioning of the human body. Even…
Going Organic
Organic is in! Everywhere we look new organic approaches to life are being touted as the healthy, the natural, the most environmentally friendly ways to be and live. So, I began pondering … Did Jesus espouse an organic approach to spirituality and discipleship? And, if so, just what exactly might that mean? On the last day, the great day of…
Inspiration
By Pastor George O’Reilly Transitional Conference Leader Inspiration. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I really need some. You see, most of the time I’m a pretty much a “keep on keeping on” kind of person. And that can be good, since that often seems like what I need to do, just keep moving. If I name it “persistence,”…
A Most Neglected Commandment
By George O’Reilly Transitional Conference Leader Having come into Mennonite circles from an evangelical background and seminary, despite attempts at understanding this new approach to life and discipleship, I was not always able to quickly “track” the peculiarities of typical “Mennonite theology.” During my first pastorate at a Mennonite congregation in Illinois, I found myself personally taking issue with an…
Embracing the Hope we really don’t want
By George O’Reilly Transitional Conference Leader I have come to value more and more Paul’s emphasis on Hope in the midst of personal and corporate anguish. There are simply times when despite the effectiveness of Christ’s work for His body that we simply will not receive what we know is rightfully ours in this life. Galatians 5 is an intense…
To act — or — to react
We live in an age of “reactivity.” Certainly this is obvious in Facebook posts and the mutually disdainful and corrosive responses of our political candidates to one another. And who can blame those who respond with anger or disdain to others who have so treated them? Many consider this quite natural in human interactions, and find no need to apologize…
Excuse Me
My wife and I sometimes reply to one another when some oversight or discourtesy on our part is expressed with “Sorry!” At times the phrase comes back, “You don’t sound sorry to me!” Apparently at times our tone seems to mean more than our words and to negate their natural meaning. I was pondering the word excuse and noticed the…
“Spiritual Physics” of God’s Creation
“Spiritual Physics” of God’s Creation — “For every Spiritual action, there is an opposite and equal Spiritual reaction.” In quite a number of passages in the Scriptures, the above “Spiritual Law of Creation Physics” is either implied or directly stated. For example, Matthew 7:1-2 (NLT) — “Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. For others will treat you…
The Axioms of Creation’s Spiritual Physics
Over time I have been drawn to a notion of “spiritual physics” to convey how the Scriptures teach that certain principles in the spiritual matters of life are just as “built into” creation as are those “physical laws” of nature we learned in science. This principle is seen fairly readily in Galatians 6: “Do not be deceived; God is not…
Trust
Is trust extended or earned? We generally consider this question focusing on others — especially people with whom we have some tension or disagreement. But answering how the balance of “earning” or “extending” trust is best approached should likely be considered first in regard to God. One of my favorite verses speaks to this question: “And without faith it is…
The need for radical self-honesty
During a pastors’ event with teaching by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove the topic of truth was raised. A paraphrase of his response might run something like this: “A deep need exists in the church today for radical self-honesty. So often in the church today when we speak to one another what we say is not exactly lies, but often something other than…
A good beginning
A good beginning — As the very recently hired Transitional Conference Leader for Ohio Conference, I find myself amid a flurry of activity and a considerable range of complexities! And yet I can say without reservation that for me this has been a good beginning! I have already begun to sense how much graciousness and warmth will characterize my relationships…
Words from Tom 8-12-15
As I bring my work in Ohio Conference to a close, I am in a reflective mood. I did not aspire to the conference minister role. I was attracted to and invigorated by the regional pastor assignment. After 18 years of congregational ministry, I had a clear idea of what kind of pastoral resourcing I would have liked to have…
Words From Tom 6-3-15
I have often been intrigued by “liminality.” To be in transition is to be in an in-between place – neither here nor there. Anthropologists and theologians call this ‘liminal’ space. Since announcing that this is my last year as conference minister, I have entered that liminal space, the transition from this work and set of relationships to another that is…
Words from Tom 3-31-15
My daily devotional readings are guided by the Upper Room devotional called A Guide to Prayer for All Who Walk with God. As it prepares us for Holy Week in anticipation of Easter Sunday, the authors provide a brief commentary on the season of Easter. In churches that observe the liturgical church calendar, Easter is not merely one day, but…
Words from Tom 3-4-15
Because we had to make a last-minute change of plans for the pastors’ day meeting last month, all the pastors learned of my wife’s pending surgery to remove her thyroid, which was cancerous. This precipitated a great deal of prayer for which my wife and I were profoundly grateful. As the surgery approached, I was informed many times that we…
Words from Tom 2-6-15
Once again I have been reminded that our context plays an important role in how we hear and understand the biblical stories. People who have been marginalized read biblical stories differently than people who have been a part of the dominant culture. This is a point made by Lloyd Pietersen in his book Reading the Bible After Christendom. The example…
Words from Tom 1-5-15
The Gospel accounts provide us with four distinctly varied recollections of Jesus’ life and ministry. All of them include many elements of similarity, yet each one has its distinctive aspects. The infancy narratives of Jesus are only included in two of the gospels — Matthew and Luke. And only Matthew records the visit of the Magi, which wraps up the…
Words from Tom 12-2-15
Advent is the season of waiting. When our children were young, we often bought an Advent calendar that had a small door to open for each day of the week. The anticipation would grow as we got closer to Christmas Day. Opening a door each day was one way of measuring the waiting that had to occur. It was almost…
Words from Tom 11-4-14
“Holy Spirit, power of God, transform me, your new creation.” This sentence completes my Trinitarian Prayer that has been a constant companion for me since my sabbatical of 2006. As I have reflected in the previous two Grapevines, each one of these phrases has been significant to me. “Abba, God, Creator, I bow down and worship you” begins with an…
Words from Tom 10-6-14
“Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” This sentence, or a variation of it, represents the “Jesus Prayer” that has a long history as a meditative prayer within the Christian tradition. It finds its roots in the parable Jesus tells in Luke 18:9-14 of the contrasting prayers of the Pharisee and tax collector. As I wrote…
Words from Tom 9-5-14
Abba, God, Creator, I bow down and worship you. That is the first line of a “Trinitarian Prayer” that I have prayed for several years, since studying the Trinity during my sabbatical time that the Conference so generously offered me in 2006. In the December 2006 issue of Ohio Evangel I used my “Musings” column to briefly describe the genesis…
Words from Tom 8-1-14
One of the most fascinating courses I took while in seminary was a study of Jesus’ understanding of the Kingdom of God. We spent time studying the apocalyptic literature of the day and how Jesus’ teaching and ministry either connected with it or departed from the conventional wisdom of apocalyptic thinking. For the Jews of Jesus’ day there was much…
Words from Tom 7-1-14
Exekiel 36:22 — “…It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations.” Romans 5:8 — “But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” Our youngest grandchild is preparing…
Words from Tom 6-4-14
I’ve often thought that Saul got a bum rap in 1 Samuel 13. You know the story: Samuel has reluctantly installed Saul as king. Jonathan, Saul’s son, engages the Philistines in battle and routs them. Saul is mustering an army to defeat them and rid Israel of this constant thorn in their flesh. Samuel had told Saul he would come…