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This section of our website is where you will find blogs by our Pastor, Bill Foglesong.  Some of what he will share here will be his thoughts on Scripture, our local church, and understandings of being in relationship with God as a "Disciple of Christ".  We hope you will engage in conversation about the ideas we share and join us as we look at how we can be the most faithful to our understanding of being a community of God.  We hold the Bible as a text for measuring our interactions in this world.  Several ideas we hold dear are the following:

1. No Creed But Christ -- this basically means that we do not try to dictate, as a test for being a member of our community, what you must believe about God.  (We assume you have a discerning and logical mind and are interested in what you have come to believe and understand about God in your own walk and we delight in having conversation about how and why we believe what we do.  We don't want ONE understanding to get in the way of  fellowship and community)  
2. The Priesthood of All Believers -- 1 Peter 2:9 where the church is being addressed and the author writes; "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light."   So we believe Christ is the High Priest and through Christ we are all commanded to participate in the work of sharing the Good News and helping others to know Christ.  (So if we help someone come to the good confession and repent of their sins we do not need a mediator, i.e. a priest, to celebrate a baptism or communion meal with that new member of the family of God.)
3. Unity is Our Polar Star -- Above all things we believe in being intentional about our participation with the whole people of God.  So you will usually find our congregations heavily involved in unifying organizations and working with other churches in the community.  (We are almost always involved with a ministerial alliance or other Ecumenical groups in a community.)
4. Baptism -- If you are in a family from our community of faith you will have been dedicated as an infant and when you come to an age of understanding and desire to confess your own faith and belief in Christ, you would come forward and make a public confession of your belief, following your public confession the church would celebrate with you and your family with a baptism by immersion in water.  This would be an outward and visible sign of a personal heart decision.  But we also believe that scripture teaches one Lord, one faith, one baptism; therefore in order to live into being the One Body of Christ, we affirm the baptism traditions from other Christian Communities.  
5. Communion -- We celebrate communion as often as we gather to remember our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.   It is an open communion table in which we believe Christ is the host and invites all who believe to join in the celebration and commemoration of the Life and the call that led Christ to lay down his life for our salvation. So all are welcome in our communion celebrations not just the ones who call our church their home worship space and community. 

I hope some of these thoughts were helpful in beginning to understand some of the things we believe as a community of faith.  If you are interested in discussing more of what we believe come talk to me I am always eager and make myself available to have a conversation about faith.

^{Romans 8:26-39 Year A Lectionary Epistle Text}

²⁶Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. ²⁷And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. ²⁸We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. ³⁰And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified. ³¹What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? ³²He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? ³³Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. ³⁵Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.” ³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

• Together for good
• So earlier in this scripture Paul was writing that all creation is groaning with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God . . ..  To me this means that creation is waiting for us to figure life out.  Have we forgotten what creation knows deeply?  Is Paul continuing to discuss the inability of the human experience to understand the order of life set out by God? 
• Could the good that Paul speaks of be how God set up the rules of our universe?

       All things work together for good for those who love the Lord.  It is the way of the universe that there is a cycle, an undulation, or an ebb and flow to things.  We have a hard time accepting, that for as many cycles of growth there are an equal number of cycles of decay.  We love the possibility and energy of growth BUT WE CANNOT STAND FOR THINGS TO DIE.  Life constantly teaches us that death and life go hand-in-hand but we want life and abundance without the death.  Life without death would not be sustainable in this world.  1 Corinthians 15:36 uses the image of the seed saying that it must first die before anything will grow from it.  Creation is run by this rule and does not fear the death; for death is only part of the cycle new life comes once the process of death is complete and not much life can or will occur if we try to circumvent the created order of things. 

      Do we trust God?  Do we trust what the created order implies, that "all things work together for good?"  So a Christian life, rather life in general, requires an acceptance of cycles of suffering and death.  Imagine what would happen in this world if nothing ever died, how would that work?  What do we know about things that only multiply and do not die?  The scientific community has a name for this it is called cancer.  What would happen to the ocean if it only ebbed and never flowed?  What about if the sun only rose and didn't

All things work together for good?

NRS Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 27 And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified. 31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? 33 Who will bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered." 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I have heard this scripture used for funerals.  Nothing shall separate us from the love of God in Christ.  These verses are full of theological ideas and discussion points.
1.     Spirit intercession "with groans too deep for words"  So when I don't have the words God's Spirit has my back and shares for me.

2.      Predestination anyone?  Does this mean that God already has it (salvation) worked out or God already knows who will accept and who will not?

3.     All things work together for good?  Everything is good?  So I am just not looking at it right?  It is a mystery to me, because I have trouble seeing the good in some of the grossly evil things that go on in this world.  How deep or how far back do I have to look to see something truly evil as working together for good?  I don't want to be too simplistic or "Polly Anna like" with this scripture.  I do believe that God's plan is for life to be beneficial which is what the Greek word for "good" can mean.  All things then work together for our benefit for those who trust God.

4.     If God is for me then who can be (successful) against me?  God does not give me super power or make me untouchable.  God helps me know that when evil comes and wishes to rail against me or tries to take me down; that I can be assured by God nothing will be able to successfully separate me from God's love.  Especially that love testified and witnessed to by God's decisive action displayed in the life, death, and resurrection of (God in human form) Jesus Christ.

There is so much to discuss.

From sea to shining sea!

Zechariah 9: 9-12

    ⁹Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion ! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem ! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.  ¹⁰He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war-horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.  ¹¹As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.  ¹²Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.

God's dominion is supposed to be from sea to sea.  As a Christian I believe this was made possible by the expansion that Jesus asked his disciples to spend their lives putting in place.  The fulfillment of God becoming available for relationship with all people.  This sea to sea domain to the ends of the earth is not possible unless we, as current disciples, take up the same gumption and commitment to Jesus' original idea that all the world be reconciled.

Quick Sand!

When you cry, who can help?

As a pastor, I have been asked this extensively.  When there is loss, pain, and suffering, it is difficult to know where to turn.  Crying overpowers any other perspectives.  And, crying is a response to the world out of control, heading no direction.  Therefore, why turn to a pastor and a community for any help? 

I believe that a pastor and the community needs to be prepared to answer exactly this kind of question.  The most helpful response is one that is collectively offered.  Crying and hopelessness will happen – that is a given, especially when we live any kind of life which is interactive with the world around us.  Crying and hopelessness will happen.  As Christians, we need to be prepared.

There are many possible responses, but let me suggest that the pastor and the community should consider the following Christian response.  I will respond as a pastor and you, as community, can find your own special place in being a follower of Christ:

What do I do and how do I begin?

Crying with someone who is lost can be a very good start, so long as you are identifying with their pain and not joining them in a feeling that all is lost and all hope is gone. Internally a Pastor (and/or the community) must be prepared to go to where there is no hope and yet remain connected to the source of hope.  I do not want to sound trite, but this is why it is very important for a pastor (and/or the community) to maintain good spiritual discipline.  In preparing to speak to a community in the midst of tragedy a pastor must ground (anchor) himself/herself in prayer, scripture, and the collective memory of struggle from past communities within their experience.  (Example: What did St. Louis do during the flood of 93, the winter storm of 82, or more recently the summer power outages)? 

People appreciate honesty  "Sunshine lies" are not going to be convincing.  You must be able to, in your heart of hearts, believe the hope you are professing and attesting; i.e., If someone is in a pit of quick sand and they are calling out for help, as a pastor (and/or a community) I have several choices.  We need to think these through, one by one:

1. I can ignore their cries for help and let them figure it out for themselves.

2. I can hear their cry and run for help hoping to get back in time before they sink completely.

3. I can hear their cry and sit down and cry with them as they sink.

4. I could jump into where they are and hope that I can pull them out before I begin to sink with them.

5. I could hear their cry, listen to their situation, assess my resources, find a rope of hope and throw it to them hoping that the rope itself will pull them out or that they can pull themselves out.

6. I could hear their cry, listen to their situation, cry with them, assess my resources, find a rope of hope, tie it off to myself and throw it to them and hope that by connecting them to my rope of hope which is tied off to me, we can pull together and in the struggle together pull them from the pit of sinking sand.  Again, hoping that they do not pull me in with them.

7. I could hear their cry, listen to their situation, cry with them, assess my resources, find a rope of hope tie it off to something more substantial than myself and throw it to them and hope that by connecting them to my rope of hope, tied off to something more substantial, we can pull together and in the struggle together pull them from the pit of sinking sand, knowing that I have anchored the rope of hope in something other than me.

8. I could hear their cry, listen to their situation, cry with them, assess my resources, find a rope of hope tie it off to something more substantial than myself and throw it to them.  When I throw the rope to them I can dialogue with them, and in the dialogue help to remind them of where they are anchored and help them come to the conclusion that they may have a rope of hope of their own that is anchored to something more substantial than themselves, and then pulling together on both of our ropes of hope, and in the struggle and dialoguing together, pull them from the pit of sinking sand.  Knowing that I have anchored the rope of hope in something other than me and I have helped them identify their own rope of hope that was already there.

Things I would do for an entire community would be similar; i.e., helping by asking the community to share their memory of how they have handled past struggle in their particular community, reconnect to the collective connection to our common hope in God, profess the collective recognition that we are not the only ones going through the current struggle, and helping them by proactively getting the community involved in solving the community tragedy through setting up and organizing volunteer and ministry opportunities that bring relief through involvement.

Crying and hopelessness will happen – that is a given especially when we live any kind of life which is interactive with the world around us.  Crying and hopelessness will for sure happen.  As Christians, we need to be prepared – individually and collectively.  We can do this the best together.

Shimmering Stones

SHIMMERING STONES

We only get to go around the sun so many times; it called an orbit

And as we complete those orbits

We must make several choices which effect our future orbits

Each orbit brings us closer to our last orbit.

I do not confuse the good and the bad that come from those orbits

With some one to blame or take credit for the effect of the orbits

God created the orbit and its limits

I get to exercise my free will as I increase my digits

God gave the orbit and interesting gadget

It is cyclical it begins; it ends, over and over it does the orbit

With the cycle gadget is something called symbiosis

This helps the orbit maintain the orbits

My job as I see it

Is to work with God who created it

This system of orbiting orbits

And to realize that what I do effects the symbiosis

When I complete my last orbit

I will do my best to remember it

That the orbit will continue til the One who started it

Decides to stop it

I hope to teach someone else about this orbit

How to stay in peace and work with the symbiosis

But if I don't do it

The symbiosis will assure the lesson bit