Prayer Day labyrinth to be ‘journey toward God’ by Darragh Doiron The Port Arthur News
While the whole community is invited to The Prayer Path labyrinth, Beth Faulk is confident of one RSVP.
“God is sure to show up,” Faulk said.
Providence Presbyterian Church will host the interactive event from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 1, which is the National Day of Prayer.
The path is designed to be a quiet time for busy people to experience God, Faulk said.
“That’s the purpose of the labyrinth. It’s a time to slow down, be with God and pray for our nation and government,” Faulk, parish associate, said.
Buddy Ware and Larry Hagen used chalk lines to mark where blue gaffer’s tape will mark the path on canvas spread across the gym floor. Booties will be provided for those who want keep their shoes on, or else they’ll have to sock-foot it, Ware said.
The labyrinth is not a maze. It has an entrance and an exit. Visitors will read as they go and stop at points, such as a stop with pebbles that will represent problems to drop into a bucket.
“They’ll let go of their worries,” Faulk said. “The journey is toward God.”
Walkers should forget about their grocery lists and meetings and use the time to focus on God. If they have a specific prayer or healing request, they should bring it.
“They should set aside any barriers from thinking about God,” she said.
Several religions have incorporated labyrinths into their faiths for 3,000 years, Faulk said. Members have walked a path that St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Groves provided, Faulk said.
“They loved it. They felt like they had a truly moving experience,” she said.
She said members, who are meeting at St. John Lutheran Church at 4600 Jimmy Johnson Blvd., hope to recreate that feeling and share it with others.
“Come and enjoy it with us and walk it expecting to experience God,” she said.
Church member Nancy Currie said excitement has surrounded the project.
“When Pastor Beth brought the idea to our Christian Education Committee, everyone caught the excitement bug and has helped pull it together. We think it is a unique opportunity to help our community celebrate the National Day of Prayer in a meaningful way,” Currie said.
Currie said Sue Hagen and her husband worked hard to find supplies for and finish up the project for visitors.
"What an opportunity, indeed, to be able to share this wonderful experience with the community,” Hagen, of Bridge City, said. “We have had an opportunity to walk the labyrinth in our church on a couple of occasions, and it was such a moving experience to be able to journey through the labyrinth and feel the presence of God. Being able to focus on our walk with God and spend time listening to what this soul-searching activity speaks to our souls is something that we are looking forward to immensely. We sincerely hope it will be a meaningful journey to many.”
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
For A Long Time, I Thought…
When I was a boy, I heard many sermons in the church where I attended. Time and time again, I was told that Jesus loved me and He was a wonderful Shepherd and Counselor and all those other glorious names. Therefore, I want to be a Christian. You know, I wanted Jesus to take care of me and be my protector. And I needed it. Why did I need a protector you might ask? No it wasn’t from the bully at school or from an older sibling whipping up on me. It was from the wrath of God the Father! Yes, I thought that God, you know, the old guy on the throne with the white beard (the God in the Old Testament)… was not happy with me because I was… a sinner!
For a long time, I thought this way and I was relieved when I learned that this concept was not something I just dreamed up. Other people, maybe even you, identified with this view as well. Theologian Baxter Kruger says, “The ideas that God, the Father needed to be appeased in order to accept us, and that Jesus became human in order to suffer the wrath of his Father on the cross so that we could be accepted, always struck me as terribly wrong. But, growing up in the deep South, such notions were all one ever heard, and heard repeatedly, and still do. In this atonement theory, the Father is in two minds about us, or, at the very least, there are two sides of the Father, the one being the righteous, just and holy side, the other being the graceful, merciful and loving side. The one thing we knew for sure about God was that he could not simply forgive us and accept us as his fallen creatures. The truth, we were told is that He could not even look upon us vile sinners. His holiness and justice and righteousness demanded satisfaction before forgiveness could become a reality. And so on the cross Jesus bowed as the Father’s holiness, justice and righteousness formed into wrath against our sin and was poured out upon him instead of us.”
The trouble with this understanding of God is that there is no forgiveness at all. The Father simply takes out His wrath against the Son. We are told that we should be glad it’s Him (Jesus) and not us! While Jesus can become human and live amongst us, eat with us, heal us, and love us, the Father is stuck on the outside because His holiness and perfection cannot look upon sin and we cannot be accepted because we are sinners. Thus, we have a Father who is of one nature and a Son who is of another.
Scripture teaches that God (The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit) is ONE God, yet three persons. This concept is called the Trinity. While it is not expressly stated in the Bible, it is specifically implied. Texts like John 14:9 “he who has seen me, has seen the Father”, John 10:30 “I and the Father are one”, and Hebrews 1:3 “He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature” all indicate that, in Jesus Christ, God the Father is revealed as well.
In his book, On the Incarnation of the Word of God, St. Athanasius comments on this subject. He says, “As, then, the creatures whom He had created…were on the road to ruin, what then was God, being Good to do?” The old saint of the Church knew that God was of one nature God’s holiness, justice, and righteousness are in tune with His love and mercy. God refused to abandon His creation and decided before the beginning of time to let nothing come between Him and us, not even sin. Thus, Jesus is not the sacrifice to God on our behalf, NO… God the Father and Son are at work in tandem. God pronounces a mighty word of grace to us all through the cross. Romans 8 is trying to remind us of this truth when it says, “I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.” The Father and the Son invite you (through the Holy Spirit) to enter into a love affair. They already have a crush on you!
For a long time, I thought this way and I was relieved when I learned that this concept was not something I just dreamed up. Other people, maybe even you, identified with this view as well. Theologian Baxter Kruger says, “The ideas that God, the Father needed to be appeased in order to accept us, and that Jesus became human in order to suffer the wrath of his Father on the cross so that we could be accepted, always struck me as terribly wrong. But, growing up in the deep South, such notions were all one ever heard, and heard repeatedly, and still do. In this atonement theory, the Father is in two minds about us, or, at the very least, there are two sides of the Father, the one being the righteous, just and holy side, the other being the graceful, merciful and loving side. The one thing we knew for sure about God was that he could not simply forgive us and accept us as his fallen creatures. The truth, we were told is that He could not even look upon us vile sinners. His holiness and justice and righteousness demanded satisfaction before forgiveness could become a reality. And so on the cross Jesus bowed as the Father’s holiness, justice and righteousness formed into wrath against our sin and was poured out upon him instead of us.”
The trouble with this understanding of God is that there is no forgiveness at all. The Father simply takes out His wrath against the Son. We are told that we should be glad it’s Him (Jesus) and not us! While Jesus can become human and live amongst us, eat with us, heal us, and love us, the Father is stuck on the outside because His holiness and perfection cannot look upon sin and we cannot be accepted because we are sinners. Thus, we have a Father who is of one nature and a Son who is of another.
Scripture teaches that God (The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit) is ONE God, yet three persons. This concept is called the Trinity. While it is not expressly stated in the Bible, it is specifically implied. Texts like John 14:9 “he who has seen me, has seen the Father”, John 10:30 “I and the Father are one”, and Hebrews 1:3 “He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature” all indicate that, in Jesus Christ, God the Father is revealed as well.
In his book, On the Incarnation of the Word of God, St. Athanasius comments on this subject. He says, “As, then, the creatures whom He had created…were on the road to ruin, what then was God, being Good to do?” The old saint of the Church knew that God was of one nature God’s holiness, justice, and righteousness are in tune with His love and mercy. God refused to abandon His creation and decided before the beginning of time to let nothing come between Him and us, not even sin. Thus, Jesus is not the sacrifice to God on our behalf, NO… God the Father and Son are at work in tandem. God pronounces a mighty word of grace to us all through the cross. Romans 8 is trying to remind us of this truth when it says, “I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.” The Father and the Son invite you (through the Holy Spirit) to enter into a love affair. They already have a crush on you!
Saturday, April 05, 2008
PA congregations share worship space
Article by Darragh Doiron for The Port Arthur News, PORT ARTHUR —
Good neighbors are sharing brotherly love.
The congregations of St. John Lutheran Church and Providence Presbyterian Church can’t get any closer. They’re sharing a building.
“It’s worked exceedingly and abundantly beyond our wildest imagination,” Buddy Blake, St. John pastor, said.
Clay Faulk explained how his flock moved into the St. John gym for a while as their new church is being built. Everything that filled the former church complex now fits in the host gym.
“Believe it or not, we fit in here,” Faulk said, moving a curtain to show stacks of chairs, books and office equipment. “We’re crashing on the couch, literally.”
An altar, piano, tables and chairs are arranged around the basketball goal. A clump of mismatched couches in the corner is where the young people gather at court-side services, he said.
Providence Presbyterian Church is the new name for Presbyterian Church of the Covenant, which just moved from Gulfway Drive. Members are camped out at St. John Lutheran on Jimmy Johnson Boulevard but will soon break ground on a new home on North Twin City Highway.
Faulk said the United Methodist District bought their former home on Gulfway Drive with plans to start a new church.
“It was difficult for people to let go of a building they loved,” Faulk said, but added that they’ve adopted a motto for the process: “If God leads you to it, God will lead you through it.”
“We’re so thankful to the Lutherans,” Faulk said.
The pastors have worked out a schedule that Blake refers to as a three-course feast. On Sundays, locals can catch a 9:30 a.m. Presbyterian service in the gym, a 10 a.m. Lutheran service in the sanctuary or an 11:15 a.m. Presbyterian service in the sanctuary.
Blake said he had faith the arrangement would work out. They aren’t charging rent, but the guests are making a contribution that helps St. John’s expenses. An added benefit is that there are now enough people for a full, blended Sunday School, he said.
“When the opportunity came up, it was something that I knew almost from the very beginning was going to be a tremendous blessing,” Blake said.
The groups plan to be merged neighbors for at least 18 months.
Beth Durham is part of the Providence congregation. She said the changes call for an attitude of adjustment. “It hasn’t been easy, in fact I think the more challenges we have faced, the more of an affirmation it has become, that Satan doesn’t want us moving forward. It’s very difficult to trust in the unknown, but that’s where faith comes in, and I think we’ve all learned that our faith needed to be kicked up a notch,” Durham said. “We’ve had to step out of the box, or out of our comfort zones. But God is seeing us through this move, and we anticipate many new ministry opportunities on the horizon.”
After all, they’ve changed before. Faulk said that in the early 1900s First Presbyterian came into being on Mobile Street, then in the 1960s moved to Gulfway Drive. In the 1970s, the Westminster Presbyterian church joined them and they renamed the congregation First Presbyterian Church of the Covenant. With this move, members decided to create another new name with Providence Presbyterian Church.
Good neighbors are sharing brotherly love.
The congregations of St. John Lutheran Church and Providence Presbyterian Church can’t get any closer. They’re sharing a building.
“It’s worked exceedingly and abundantly beyond our wildest imagination,” Buddy Blake, St. John pastor, said.
Clay Faulk explained how his flock moved into the St. John gym for a while as their new church is being built. Everything that filled the former church complex now fits in the host gym.
“Believe it or not, we fit in here,” Faulk said, moving a curtain to show stacks of chairs, books and office equipment. “We’re crashing on the couch, literally.”
An altar, piano, tables and chairs are arranged around the basketball goal. A clump of mismatched couches in the corner is where the young people gather at court-side services, he said.
Providence Presbyterian Church is the new name for Presbyterian Church of the Covenant, which just moved from Gulfway Drive. Members are camped out at St. John Lutheran on Jimmy Johnson Boulevard but will soon break ground on a new home on North Twin City Highway.
Faulk said the United Methodist District bought their former home on Gulfway Drive with plans to start a new church.
“It was difficult for people to let go of a building they loved,” Faulk said, but added that they’ve adopted a motto for the process: “If God leads you to it, God will lead you through it.”
“We’re so thankful to the Lutherans,” Faulk said.
The pastors have worked out a schedule that Blake refers to as a three-course feast. On Sundays, locals can catch a 9:30 a.m. Presbyterian service in the gym, a 10 a.m. Lutheran service in the sanctuary or an 11:15 a.m. Presbyterian service in the sanctuary.
Blake said he had faith the arrangement would work out. They aren’t charging rent, but the guests are making a contribution that helps St. John’s expenses. An added benefit is that there are now enough people for a full, blended Sunday School, he said.
“When the opportunity came up, it was something that I knew almost from the very beginning was going to be a tremendous blessing,” Blake said.
The groups plan to be merged neighbors for at least 18 months.
Beth Durham is part of the Providence congregation. She said the changes call for an attitude of adjustment. “It hasn’t been easy, in fact I think the more challenges we have faced, the more of an affirmation it has become, that Satan doesn’t want us moving forward. It’s very difficult to trust in the unknown, but that’s where faith comes in, and I think we’ve all learned that our faith needed to be kicked up a notch,” Durham said. “We’ve had to step out of the box, or out of our comfort zones. But God is seeing us through this move, and we anticipate many new ministry opportunities on the horizon.”
After all, they’ve changed before. Faulk said that in the early 1900s First Presbyterian came into being on Mobile Street, then in the 1960s moved to Gulfway Drive. In the 1970s, the Westminster Presbyterian church joined them and they renamed the congregation First Presbyterian Church of the Covenant. With this move, members decided to create another new name with Providence Presbyterian Church.
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