tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9041686356859947192023-11-15T05:54:24.335-08:00Views from the PewsView from the Pewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306433887701983694noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904168635685994719.post-81993850386805387022019-03-10T17:11:00.001-07:002019-03-19T06:14:24.255-07:00<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 24.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Alone <o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“You’re an interesting
species; an interesting mix. You’re capable of such beautiful dreams and such
horrible nightmares. You feel so lost, so cut off, so alone – only you’re not.
See, in all our searching, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">the only
thing we’ve found that makes the emptiness bearable is each other.<o:p></o:p></b></i></div>
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“Contact” (1997)</div>
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In the movie “Contact,” scientist Dr. Ellie Arroway (played
by Jodie Foster) travels through galactic time warps and wormholes to encounter
an alien being who makes that observation. In spite of her intellect, education,
passion for life and Hollywood looks, Ellie Arroway feels very alone.</div>
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The alien knows this. The alien knows the human condition. He’s
been watching. His words speak to the heart of every human who has ever lived.</div>
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It’s terrible to feel alone, isn’t it?</div>
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A growing number of studies shows that more and more of us
feel lonely. Despite an explosion of social media, busy work lives, overcrowded
classrooms, active families and youth sports leagues, more Americans say they
feel lonely than ever before.</div>
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Interestingly, this uptick in loneliness corresponds with a
downtick in church attendance and membership. While most Americans still
identify as Christian, a growing number don’t see the value of belonging to a
church. Could there be a connection?</div>
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Think about those moments in which you have felt alone.
Perhaps you feel that way now.<br />
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But you know you’re not alone. Certainly, God is alongside
of you. However, you can’t touch God or see God. It takes other people for us
to experience God at a visceral level . . . You and me. Me and you . . . We
were created in the image of God to be in community – with him and with one
another.</div>
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We can get community anywhere . . . Softball leagues,
knitting circles, Rotary club, Thanksgiving dinner. That’s physical community,
where being in the presence of others with similar interests lifts us.</div>
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But a church community engages us on a spiritual level.</div>
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Think about it . . . Church is the only place where we can
experience an invisible God. We can actually see that hidden God at work in the
lives of others, become agents of that God in touching the lives of others, and
allow ourselves to be touched by that God in the community of others.</div>
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A recent sermon by Pastor Steve was titled “Christ’s Glory
is Seen in Your Face.” That’s it, isn’t it!!! In community we see Christ in one
another. Right there in our midst. He ministers to us directly through others
who sit alongside us in the pews. And we minister to one another and those
outside of our circle through our church community. It’s a perfect symbiosis.
We are ministered to so that we can minister to others. And it all starts at
church.</div>
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Some commentators have written off the traditional church.
“Too outdated.” “Not needed in this age of social media.” “Something people no
longer have time for.”</div>
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But they’re wrong.</div>
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One more thought . . .</div>
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Several months ago, I traveled across the country to testify
on behalf of someone I love deeply. I was a stranger in a strange land; I
didn’t know anyone else in that town or in the courtroom. If you looked up
“alone” in the dictionary, that was me.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a></div>
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The court proceedings went as well as they could have. Perhaps
better. However, when the individual was sentenced, it grieved me profoundly. I
hunched over and wept in my seat as the individual was taken from the
courtroom.</div>
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Along came Neil, who put his arm over my shoulder and prayed
with me. Right there. Right in the courtroom. Completely unexpected. Completely
unasked for. Neal is a member of a local church that does outreach into that
town’s jail. He’s a Jesus Guy. Sees his work in the court and jail system as
the ministry God has called him to. He was Jesus to me that day. Christ’s glory
was seen in his face (and experienced in his hug).</div>
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That’s the power of church – even when we’re thousands of
miles from home.</div>
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Some say the church is dying. But some things are worth
saving.</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">© Ed Klodt, 2019<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Views from the Pews</i>
is written by Ed Klodt. He and his family are longtime members of Ascension. Ed
earned his Master’s Degree in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary, has
served as an interim pastor and has been a longtime lay minister at Ascension.
Questions and insights can be addressed to him in the “Views from the Pews”
blog at <a href="http://www.alcto.org/">www.alcto.org</a> or at
jonahfactor@gmail.com.)</div>
<br />View from the Pewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306433887701983694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904168635685994719.post-40008147602510050732019-01-14T11:04:00.000-08:002019-01-14T11:08:10.135-08:00<br />
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<b style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The Lighthouse</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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In California’s Big Sur stands a lighthouse. The Point Sur
lighthouse, standing 270 feet above the waves, was constructed in 1889. It’s
one of the oldest lighthouses in California still in operation today, helping
mariners steer clear of the rocky coast.</div>
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Whaaat? A working lighthouse in this day of pinpoint GPS and
sophisticated radar systems? Isn’t that so . . . 1889?</div>
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Some things stand the test of time.</div>
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There’s growing evidence that churches are dying in the
U.S., especially those of mainline denominations like Lutheran. While most
Americans still believe in God, more and more of them reject any religious affiliation
and less and less of them attend church.</div>
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This doesn’t bode well for an institution – the Church –
that for most of American history was an important part of the fabric that kept
America and Americans together. While denominations may have squabbled about
certain theological distinctions, churches (especially at the local level) were
places where people generally put aside their differences, came together and
showed how even the big issues could be addressed by putting Jesus’s words and
example into action.</div>
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In a sense, the local church was that lighthouse to help
steer us away from the rocky shoals of divisive politics, discrimination,
border security and income inequality. Coming together for weekly worship
helped neutralize the many friction points that naturally developed in the
home, the workplace, the community and even the nation. People are people,
after all; we don’t always get along in everyday life. Worship became a gathering
place in American life as Christians focused on their Creator and reflected on
how they could make the world better.</div>
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We are on the precipice of losing that, aren’t we?</div>
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Critics often argue that we don’t need churches to worship
God and to live godly lives, that encounters with the Almighty can just as
easily come in solitary moments of Bible study and prayer or even in a sunrise
hike. Yet they overlook the importance of being together with other followers
of Jesus. There is power and grace in gathering with others. God just seems to
work differently – more tangibly, more powerfully – in group settings. Perhaps,
in those settings, the Holy Spirit amplifies the power of the individual, much
like individual atoms gathered into a critical mass create nuclear fusion.</div>
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We know that’s true, don’t we? One of the not-so-surprising
facts in church life is that worship attendance swells in a crisis. Remember
9/11? Even the balcony at Ascension was filled in the weeks after the attacks
on American soil. There was something comforting and powerful in coming
together to grieve and hope for the future.</div>
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If the data are correct, there’s a good chance of losing that
blessing of community through the Church within the next two decades as more
and more churches either close or become irrelevant. Perhaps Joni Mitchell was
right: “Don’t it always seem to go/That you don’t know what you’ve got/Till
it’s gone.”</div>
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Spanning centuries and geography, the local church has stood
as a lighthouse. Even when we can download the Bible on our iPhones or take
Communion online or watch sermons on YouTube or reach out to others on Facebook,
we still need each other . . . in the flesh. Much like the triune God in whose
image we were created, the need for fellowship – being together – has been
built into each of us.</div>
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The writer of Hebrews was onto this: “And let us consider
how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">not giving up meeting together</b>, as some are in the habit of doing,
but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching”
(Hebrews 10:24-25, emphasis added).</div>
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A lighthouse to one another and to the world.</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">© Ed Klodt, 2019<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<br />View from the Pewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306433887701983694noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904168635685994719.post-9676872911003672422018-12-06T08:14:00.002-08:002018-12-06T08:17:28.280-08:00Keeping 90 %<br />
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By Ed Klodt </div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“There are three conversions necessary to every man: the head, the heart and the purse.”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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That’s from Martin Luther, who knew a thing or two about human nature. Luther understood that even those who have given their life to Christ and accepted salvation still have difficulty sharing<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a> their financial resources.</div>
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Why is generosity so difficult for us? Not just generosity, but biblical generosity.</div>
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Scripture talks about the tithe. The term means “one-tenth,” and the idea in ancient times was that God’s people were to give back to God one tenth of all that they were blessed with, whether that was income, produce, livestock or precious jewels. Even household herbs like mint and cumin were included in the percentage that would be given back to God.</div>
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The concept first shows up in Genesis (14:20) when Abram presents to Melchizedek the King one-tenth of the spoils of war he has received. We also see it later in Genesis 28:22 when Jacob, after a vision, offers a tenth of his property to God in return for the promise of safety on his journey. Tithing becomes institutionalized in the Law of Moses. Leviticus 27:30 tells us “A tithe of everything . . . belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.” Ultimately the tithe was collected by the priestly tribe called the Levites.</div>
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Have your eyes glazed over? Here comes the cool stuff . . .</div>
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Even some theologians think that tithing was strictly an Old Testament requirement. After all, they argue, Jesus came to free us from the law. No more animal sacrifice or avoiding people with skin diseases or prohibitions against mixing certain foods.</div>
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Yet are they overlooking how Jesus validates the tithe when, in Matthew 23:23, he tells hypocritical religious leaders, “You give a tenth of your spices . . . But you have neglected the important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.” In my reading, Jesus isn’t dissing the tithe, he’s simply deepening the ways in which we engage with God. That’s consistent with Paul in Romans 12 when he writes, “Therefore, I urge you . . . to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God . . .” God doesn’t just want our dollars; he wants us – all of us, heart, body and soul.</div>
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Some argue that a tithe would have made more sense in earlier times before the advent of income taxes, import duties, health insurance premiums, utility surcharges and countless other taxes Americans pay. They believe the tithe is simply impractical today when most people are already overtaxed and overcommitted financially.</div>
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Yet, look at the financial ledger in Jesus’s time. First Century Jews offered up to 25 percent to God </div>
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when the temple tax, the land sabbath, Jubilee years, first-fruits and various freewill offerings were tallied. And then Roman taxes were heaped on top of that. Tithing was even more difficult in those days.</div>
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I’ll leave you with a final thought . . .</div>
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Ten percent of our earnings is a big nut. Some of us spend most of our lives trying to grow to that level of giving. It’s difficult. It involves sacrifice. It’s countercultural.</div>
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Could God have come up with the tithe so that we would have to depend on him instead of ourselves?</div>
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When we tithe or are even more generous are we not saying to God that we are thankful for the 90 percent he has allowed us to keep? Does it not acknowledge that all that we have is a gift from God anyway? Does it not require us to trust that our generosity will be repaid a thousand-fold (not necessarily financially!) and that we will be blessed in some way?</div>
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Perhaps it’s helpful to remember David’s “God owns it all anyway” prayer:</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN">“Wealth and honor come from you (God);</span></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><i><span lang="EN">you are the ruler of all things.</span></i></i></div>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"></span></i><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">In your hands are strength and power</span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN">to exalt and give strength to all.</span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN">Now, our God, we give you thanks,</span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN">and praise your glorious name.</span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">“But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? </span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.</b>” </span></i><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">(1 Chron. 29: 12-14, emphasis added).<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">Our generosity is made possible only by the blessings of a generous God. And, in the process, we become participants in those blessings as we give of our time, our talents and our financial resources</span>.</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">© Ed Klodt, 2018<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
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(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Views from the Pews</i> are occasional insights written by Ed Klodt. He and his family are longtime members of Ascension. Ed earned his Master’s Degree in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary, has served as an interim pastor and has been a longtime lay minister at Ascension. Questions and insights can be addressed to him in the blog post on Ascension’s website or at jonahfactor@gmail.com.)<br />
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View from the Pewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306433887701983694noreply@blogger.com1Thousand Oaks, CA, USA34.1705609 -118.8375937000000133.9604029 -119.16031720000001 34.3807189 -118.51487020000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904168635685994719.post-2841207060875250892018-10-01T10:42:00.002-07:002018-10-01T10:45:51.514-07:00Got Church?<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">By Ed Klodt</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Were you at church last weekend?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">If so, you are among a shrinking number of Christians in
America who believe that weekly worship is an important part of their faith
walk. More and more of us stay home on Sunday mornings to pour ourselves a
second cup of coffee and tackle that 50-pound weekend newspaper.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">A recent Pew Research Center study showed church attendance
in the US at an all-time low. Among Christians surveyed, 30 percent said they
go to church “seldom” or “never,” and 33 percent attend “a few times a year.”
Only 36 percent said they go to church once a week. (Strangely, 1 percent said
they “don’t know” whether they go to church. <span style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji" , "sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji";">😊</span>)
And the younger you are the less likely you are to be part of the worship
experience, with teenage participation in weekly church life at only 11%.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This goes hand in hand with a general decline in organized social
activities like bowling or dancing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In his book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bowling
Alone</i> – published in 2000 before social media, iPhones and video games
became part of the landscape – Robert Putnam takes aim at television as the culprit
most leading to the downfall of American social life. He notes, however, that
not all groups have come under the spell of the TV remote (or Facebook!). He holds up the Amish as having resisted the
trend. When asked why they continue to engage in such a vibrant social life,
one Amish member tells Putnam that the lack of electronic devices in Amish
homes is a big reason. He says, “They (electronics) would destroy our visiting
practices. We would stay at home with the television or radio rather than meet
with other people . . . How can we care for the neighbor if we do not visit
them or know what is going on in their lives?” Church is a powerful bonding
force in Amish life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Americans have also gotten busier. Among the pastors,
priests and ministers I’ve worked with across the country in the past decade, most
of them are losing the battle, with members coming to church less or stopping
altogether because of kids’ sports, demanding jobs, and simply being too tired
to add one more activity to their week. Kicking back on the weekend is their antidote
to overstretched lives.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In this crazy, busy age when believers can worship online –
even taking Communion while plugged into a website (check out https://saddleback.com/archive/blog/internet-campus/2014/01/24/take-communion-online-with-us)
– do we really need church anymore, much less to come together in worshipping
God? Isn’t that so last century?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We are reminded that humans are social creatures. Engagement
with others is critical to our wellbeing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">That shouldn’t surprise us since we are created in the image
of God. We understand God to be “triune,” three persons who are one in perfect
relationship with one another. God chooses to engage with us in prayer and
worship and Bible study; and we’ve been created to live in a community of
faith, where we come together to worship the Almighty and minister to one
another, our community and our world. Church also represents a “timeout,” where
we can catch our breath.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Think of yourself as an electric car. Church is your
charging station.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We are also reminded that worship of God is a necessity, a
way of keeping him in the pole position of life and of drawing closer to him.
It’s been that way since the beginning of recorded time as God’s people
gathered around primitive altars, desert tents, magnificent temples, humble homes
and awesome cathedrals that have represented places where people come together
in community to encounter God and be together as his people.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">For those of us in that rapidly shrinking demographic of hopelessly
delusional regular church goers, Ascension has been that safe place where we
worship side-by-side, where we can ask the tough questions of faith and lift up
one another when life’s challenges become too great, where we can try out a new
skill or explore a new opportunity that promises to make a big difference in
other people’s lives. I’ve been challenged, comforted, picked up, dusted off
and sent back into the battle of life countless times at Ascension, just like thousands
of others who have come through the doors of our church over the past 70 years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">That’s what churches do. That’s what regular fellowship with
other Christians does.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here’s a parting thought . . . On a hilltop in the little
town of Montforte d’Alba in Northern Italy stands a medieval church with a
tall, slender steeple. It’s topped with a cross. Its bells still ring hourly,
erupting in a medley of chimes on Sunday mornings, presumably as a call to
worship. Yet the sanctuary has been completely gutted, turned into a makeshift
cafeteria to serve attendees of weekend music festivals held in the church
courtyard. Like many churches and cathedrals throughout Europe, it no longer
serves as a place of worship or of ministry or of faith-filled community. It’s
a concert venue. The p<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>eal of the bells merely echoes a
time in which the townspeople gathered to worship the Almighty.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Is that the future of churches in America?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Some things are worth saving.</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">© Ed Klodt, 2018<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Views from the Pews</i>
are occasional insights written by Ed Klodt. He and his family are longtime
members of Ascension. Ed earned his Master’s Degree in Theology from Fuller
Theological Seminary, has served as an interim pastor and has been a longtime
lay minister at Ascension. Questions and insights can be addressed to him in
the blog post on Ascension’s website or at jonahfactor@gmail.com.)</span></div>
<br />View from the Pewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306433887701983694noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-904168635685994719.post-30583240491493371692018-09-06T14:33:00.000-07:002018-09-06T09:32:08.995-07:00Rediscovering the Sacred<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 120%;"><b>By Ed Klodt</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 120%;">Is nothing
sacred?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 120%;">That used to
be a popular refrain when I was growing up. It usually followed something
stupid my friends or I would do or say. Or perhaps after an uttered profanity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 120%;">The same
question could be posed today. But different time and different meaning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 120%;">With angrier
voices, coarser language and music, a greater gap between rich and poor, and
growing distrust of our government, businesses and religious institutions, have
we lost sight of the sacred? Do we pause to experience the holy amidst all the
noise of the culture? Have even our churches lost their sense of it in trying
to conform to the culture with the mistaken idea that it will attract more
members? Worship as a rock concert?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 120%;">Old Testament
Israel had a deep sense of the sacred. God’s people built structures and altars
to house and honor the sacredness of the Almighty. From the ancient Tent of
Meeting to the Ark of the Covenant to the Temple, they created holy space where
God dwelled. They developed rules and regulations – too many, it turns out – to
become a holy people, a witness to other nations for the God they worshipped.
This, they hoped, was how holy people lived.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 120%;">God tells
Moses and Aaron: “Say to the Israelites . . . I am the Lord your God;
consecrate yourselves and be holy, </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">because I am
holy” (Lev. 11:1a, 44).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 120%;">Is it time for
the people of God to rediscover holiness and seek out sacred moments?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Ascension’s sanctuary remodel goes beyond
pews and carpeting. We are beautifying the central meeting space in which we
worship God. We gather there as God’s people to honor and glorify him. He is
present with us in that place. A glorious God who not even Moses could look in
the face deserves a glorious space in which to be worshipped.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 120%;">On September
16th, we move our worship services back into our “new” sanctuary. God’s
sanctuary. What if we treated that new space as sacred right from the moment we
first walk in? We no longer look at it as simply a place to hear a great
sermon, to experience great music or to simply go through the formalities of
worship. Instead we come to honor God, to experience his love in the fellowship
of our fellow Christ followers and to be strengthened in whatever challenges
life throws at us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 120%;">Perhaps this
sanctuary again becomes holy ground.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 120%;">Moses first
encountered God through a burning bush. As he approached the bush, Moses was
told, “Take off your sandals for the place you are standing is holy ground”
(Exod. 3:5). By removing his shoes, Moses honors the sacredness of his
encounter with the Almighty. It’s symbolic, of course. God has nothing against
shoes or sandals. Rather, he’s asking Moses to do something out of the ordinary
to honor this direct encounter with a holy, perfect God. It’s a sacred moment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 120%;">What if we
were to do the same on September 16th as we reenter the sanctuary? In the act
of removing our shoes we remind ourselves of God’s holiness and how
life-changing it is to enter his presence. We strip away every thought and
action that diminishes a holy God when we treat him as simply a best buddy or a
convenient butler in the sky to cater to our whims and desires. After all, he’s
God. He’s holy. All “salvation and glory and power” are his” (Rev. 19:1).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 120%;">Nothing may be
sacred. But Someone is.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 120%;">© Ed Klodt,
2018<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 120%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="NoParagraphStyle" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 120%;">(Views from
the Pews are occasional insights written by Ed Klodt. He and his family are
longtime members of Ascension. Ed earned his Master’s Degree in Theology from
Fuller Theological Seminary, has served as an interim pastor and has been a
longtime lay minister at Ascension. Questions and insights can be addressed to
him in the blog post on Ascension’s website or at jonahfactor@gmail.com.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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View from the Pewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02306433887701983694noreply@blogger.com3Thousand Oaks, CA, USA34.1705609 -118.8375937000000133.9604029 -119.16031720000001 34.3807189 -118.51487020000002