Dan's Marinations

In the coming weeks we will be baptizing several infants.  We look forward to these days in worship; they are among the happiest occasions in the life of any church.  Unfortunately, it is a part of our Christian heritage that few things divide us as much as baptism.  Even though all Christians would believe with the Apsotle Paul that there is, "One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all," we don't live it out very well. Some churches insist upon believer's baptism, and do it only by immersion.  Others immerse infants, some pour water on believers, and many who baptize infants do it by sprinkling.  Ideally, all Christians would be of like mind about this very important sacrament.  In fact we don't even agree with the term "sacrament."  Many Baptist churches, prefer not to use the term "sacrament" and use the terms rite or ordinance instead.  Given the many differences we have over baptism, what do we do as United Methodists, a

My paternal grandmother's family, the Howards, was quite large- she was one of ten children who lived to adulthood.  I vividly remember family reunions from my childhood, when most of those original nine and their spouses were still living.  Among those original siblings whom I remember were Esther, Bob, Ed, Harry, Ruby, Dee, and Anna Bell (whom they called "Sis Dick") my grandmother.  For a time the reunions were twice a year, and then they became annual.  Though all of the original siblings and their spouses are dead now, the tradition of the family reunions continues even though it has been some years since I have been able to attend because I live out of state.  Among the most vivid memories I have are of Uncles Ed and Bob swapping jokes, stories, and tall-tales with my grandfather Ed Blair who, like them, was about as good as they come in the story telling department.  I remember Aunt Dee's key-lime pie and copious amounts of Eastern NC barbecue (the good stuff,

A couple of days ago I mused about the nature of some of the worship in our churches.  My point was that some of what we do in the name of "worship" may not even be worship at all.  Worship is by definition participatory, it can't be merely occupying a spot in a service and being a passive spectator.  However, this is becoming more and more common.  I'm not the only one to notice this phenomenon either.  A quick google search will yield virtually countless articles, studies, and blogs about the marked decline in congregational singing, particularly in "contemporary" services.  Of the services I attended during my sabbatical the most participatory, with the best singing was by far the most liturgical and formal.  In fact, it was more liturgical and formal than what I perfer in a service.  The purpose of my marination today isn't to broadly condemn contemporary services, since I lead one every week.  Rather it is to think about why this might be the case,

The first part of the title of this should be well-understood for any Christian.  Humanity is deeply stained with sin and apart from the grace of God we are lost.  We need to be saved from the penalty of our sin, from the personal guilt that accompanies it, and ultimately from the very presence of sin.  Whether Reformed, Lutheran, Baptist, Wesleyan, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, or Pentecostal in leaning, all branches of the larger church understand the human need for salvation. I'm coming to the end of a four week sabbatical and as part of this have been visiting other churches, mostly incognito.  This meant going where I can just be an average worshiper, not ordained minister with seminary sheepskin on the wall.  It meant going where I would not be known by the pastor there or by congregants.  This exercise has lead me to think about Christian worship pretty seriously. In my opinion much Christian worship needs salvation, perhaps not from sin as such, but it needs to be rescued o

I'm three days removed from running my eighth marathon, this one in Charleston.  The muscles are still a little sore, but improving.  Though I did complete the distance (actually about 4/10 of a mile more than the 26 miles 385 yards because of an error by the pace car) I can find few positives to take away from this event except for lessons learned.  The course itself is perfectly flat, and though not always scenic lends itself to good times.  The weather was great- a little cool, but not cold.  There was virtually no wind on race day.  However, on this day, on this course, there would be precious little glory for me. As anyone who has done one of these events can attest, there's nothing at all natural about running the equivalent of the distance from Spartanburg to downtown Greenville.  Relatively speaking, there aren't that many people who have ever run one.  This is an event that demands respect, and does not tolerate disrespect.  The half marathon is a good and challe