We're having pretty good luck with sales this week (June 29-30. In fact, we need more stuff! If you have a bit of clutter around the house, like the beautiful butter jar above, or the neat books below. Please consider donating.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Too Much Stuff? Donate it!
We're having pretty good luck with sales this week (June 29-30. In fact, we need more stuff! If you have a bit of clutter around the house, like the beautiful butter jar above, or the neat books below. Please consider donating.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Pastor French Donates a Sorrowful Mystery
We've been going through boxes and boxes of donated items for our Chapel Thrift Store (thank you!) and among them was a box of books donated by Pastor and Mrs. French. Naturally, they caught our eye.
Among the titles donated by Pastor French is the fascinating book Understanding the Methodist Church, which we delved into between customers. I can't say we made much headway; those Methodists are a complex people, and their church remarkably hierarchical; it was a hard book for a simple Disciple to understand and it must remain, I am afraid, one of those Mysteries the Catholics call Sorrowful.
More readable, not to say riveting, was Skip's gift of Criswell's Guidebook for Pastors by W.A. Criswell,(1984). We peeked into it and realized that it is basically a tip book. Topics included "leading by example," (always a good thing), "estate planning and stewardship," and "how to talk to children." Now that we've read this book we'll know where Pastor French is coming from (also a good thing).
Many thanks to everyone for donating to the Chapel Thrift Store!
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
We Need Your Cardboard!
Smart gardeners and vegetable gardeners have been dumpster diving all summer long to snatch up any available cardboard they can find. Cardboard is an excellent mulch and helps keep moisture in the ground. It is also a wonderful facilitator of earth worm habitat. Because of these positive factors, and others, we haven't been able to get all the cardboard we need for our Community Garden.
We need your cardboard. If you recycle cardboard (and of course you do!) please consider throwing it over the fence at the Community Garden instead of taking it to the recycling center. Don't worry about taking boxes apart, and neatness or lack of it won't count against you. We,ll break the boxes down and stack them neatly.
Over the last four years our focus has been on learning how to garden. Next year, year five, our focus will be on production. But we need lots more mulch--and cardboard really helps.
Thank you for everything you do! And praise God, from Whom all blessing flow!
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Christ Rules Over the Storm
No matter how bad it gets, God is with us.
Why are you afraid? God is with us!!
When I was a kid, I was terrified of spiders. Even Daddy Long Legs, which I now understand are not, technically, spiders but have a very spidery look about them, scared me to death. Once, almost literally, when one leapt out of a half bushel of peaches we had just bought by a road side stand, I leapt out of the car into the road. Fear can do that.
The kids in my neighborhood didn't help, either. They enjoyed picking Daddy Long Legs up by a long leg and chasing me around the yard!
Since then, my fears have grown up a little. Now I fear things that really can hurt me like the national debt and global warming. Just the other day, the headlines named another fear, terrorists, this time, U.S. citizens, independent, guided by some 5,000 do-it-yourself terrorist self-help websites.
On top of these overwhelming world fears, each of us carries personal fears - a deadline, a pink slip, a visa bill, a doctor's appointment. We all have spiders – some fear that gets us in the gut.
These are fearful times, but then – they always have been.
You would think, if ever there were a time and people who would be fearless it would be the disciples, walking and living in the very presence of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, Light of the World, 2000 years ago. But as Mark tells it, they could panic right along with the best of us. That night they piled into a boat after a long day of teaching and preaching, big crowds, lots of questions, the most dangerous time to be on the water: when a windstorm hits! Waves beat into the boat; they've got water up to their ankles. Not only a literal storm, but darkness and the sea and chaos also represent forces of evil. This is serious. At least four of the disciples are professional fishermen and even they are scared. They have phobos. This is phobeo. Our word phobia comes from this root – anxiety, panic, dread. Fear of what we do know and fear of what we do not know.
The disciples do what we do when we find ourselves overwhelmed – They yell, "God, for heaven's sake, wake up!" They do what we do when bad things happen to good people. They ask, "Are you really there God?"
They discover that God is really there. Right in the boat, in the scariest of places, God is there. After they've tried everything they turn to Jesus and he is there and he is able. Jesus can sleep through the wind and yawn at the waves because God is there and he knows that this boat will float. You don't have to go it alone.
Last week, Public TV had a program on children with terminal cancer. Timothy, a teenager, was dying, treatments were no longer helping. One day he shared his greatest fear with one of the doctors. It wasn't pain; it wasn't even death. It was being alone. It made all the difference when the disciples remembered that Jesus was in the boat with them.
But when the storm is over, their knees are knocking. That is when Jesus wants to know, "Why are you afraid?" Not, "Why were you afraid?" but, floating on that calm, smooth sea, "Why are you afraid?" Scripture says, after the storm stops, "A great fear stole over them."
I had a boat ride once that helps me understand. I have never been particularly comfortable in boats on deep water. One time, when I was working Taiwan, I took a side trip off the southern coast. We had to take a ferry. It looked like one of those ferries that you read about that capsizes on a clear day and everybody drowns.
It was old, it was ugly and it was already full when our bus pulled up. People sat on other people's laps. They sat on the steps. And, even on the roof. We threw our luggage on a pile and found a spot against a railing. As we waited, another bus pulled up and all those people got out and got on the overloaded ferry, somehow. Then another bus came and then another came. I was terrified just sitting at the dock!
But then the ferry headed out to sea. The sea was not completely calm. It wasn’t exactly a windstorm and the waves didn’t exactly beat into the boat. But it wasn’t calm either! I kept my eyes on one of the few life preservers overhead. I wondered about sharks; how far I could swim; and that I was too young to die. Phobeo. I was terrified.
There was only one thing that could have scared me more. And that would have been if someone on that boat had stood up and held up his arms and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" and the sea suddenly went still. The storm and the ferry were terrifying. That I could understand. But, a human being who could stop a storm, that would be incomprehensible! What else could such a person do?
The fact is, whenever Jesus heals, walks on water, teaches, feeds, feasts, rebukes, when he is born, is resurrected...it scares the wits out of people. They run, many of them. They freeze. They hang on to the old ways. They attack, some of them. God's power revealed is an awesome thing. But there's more to fear than phobia — panic and dread and hanging on so tight you drown. There is also life-giving fear. The Hebrew word for this kind of fear means reverence, awe. --- Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. It comes from faith and it leads to faith.
You could call it — Easter fear.
There's a reason why the predominant response to Easter is not joy, but fear. Mark's gospel ends that way, with the women going out to the tomb and meeting an angel who says, "He is risen! Go and tell," but they don't because they are afraid.
Afraid of what? Afraid that Easter just might be true. That waves and wind and death itself will bow down before this one who sits in the boat with us and who will not go away.
It could scare you to death. It could scare you to life.
If you don’t think God is active today you have missed the boat. However having said that the bible and experience tells us that traveling in the boat with Jesus is not always smooth sailing! No sooner than you jump in the boat with Jesus, storms will hit. Consider the storms of life that have hit you.
Don’t you agree it hasn’t been smooth sailing?
Some of you have been hit with antagonism when family members, or friends, or coworkers ridicule you for your faith. Some of you have been hit with a storm called Cancer. Some of you have been hit with a stormy relationship and you’ve been served divorce papers, even after you did everything you knew how to do to avoid divorce. Some of you have been through the storms of grief when you lost a loved one. Let me ask those of you who have been hit the hardest, does God hear, does He care, does He act for your good? Some of you nod your head yes, and some of you remember the feelings of doubt and fear and frustration through it all. Maybe some of you are going through that frustration now.
Maybe right now you feel like God doesn’t seem to care? Maybe right now it seems like God is asleep in the helm? Maybe right now you are terrified about the prospects for the immediate future? Maybe right now you are frustrated because you have cried out in pain and despair, and received nothing in reply? You wonder. Is there anyone up there who cares about us down here?
I am convinced that although things seem out of control during a storm, and that we are tempted like the disciples to say “Don’t you care?” that when we turn to Jesus, and that if He is in our boat He does hear, He does care, and he does act for our good. But events in life are not always as I would expect or hope. I therefore I let Christ be the one who speaks peace to my storms.
Much that is wrong on earth can be corrected. There are mothers who dry tears, repairmen who fix machines, surgeons who remove diseased tissues, counselors who solve family problems. As to correcting the weather, people talk about it, but it takes GOD to change the weather. Jesus commanded the elements of the weather, with the result that even the wind obeys him, and so does even the sea.
"Have you STILL no faith?"
IT USUALLY takes a storm to discover where WE place our faith. Where do WE place our faith? Do WE put it in the boat? In our circumstances? In the weather? In the security of our homes to keep the weather out? Is it in the security of our bank accounts to keep the financial storms out? Is it in the security of our insurance policies to keep disasters out?
But, what happens when one little storm cracks that superficial picture of security? It can happen just as suddenly as a Galilean storm. All it takes is one little storm to find out where our faith is. I hope the Son of God doesn't have to say to us, "Oh, ye of little faith". On the other hand, I hope there is a little faith for us; at least enough to take us away from the fear that can so easily destroy that faith. The storm is but a little matter. What is a storm when you have Jesus in the boat with you?
So, who is this Jesus?
What kind of man is this Jesus?
The narrative ends with the attention focused NOT on the storm NOR upon the miracle, but upon Jesus Christ himself. The Question "who is this" is not answered. Everyone who reads it may give his own answer, may profess his own faith, and add his own doxology.
“Who is this man?” This is THE important question. How do we answer this question? The ultimate answer to this question will make all the difference for us in the storms happening right now in our lives, in the storms in the future, in the great storm to come, and on Judgment day? If our answer is "This man is the Son of God" then we need to make a decision to follow Him. Have you ever made that decision? Have you ever made it public? I invite you to make that decision today........ and remember: If you are with Jesus: 1) “The Boat will not sink, 2) and The Storm will not last forever."
A M E N
This sermon was delivered by Dave Buttgen at the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Berryville, Arkansas on June 24th, 2012
Why are you afraid? God is with us!!
When I was a kid, I was terrified of spiders. Even Daddy Long Legs, which I now understand are not, technically, spiders but have a very spidery look about them, scared me to death. Once, almost literally, when one leapt out of a half bushel of peaches we had just bought by a road side stand, I leapt out of the car into the road. Fear can do that.
The kids in my neighborhood didn't help, either. They enjoyed picking Daddy Long Legs up by a long leg and chasing me around the yard!
Since then, my fears have grown up a little. Now I fear things that really can hurt me like the national debt and global warming. Just the other day, the headlines named another fear, terrorists, this time, U.S. citizens, independent, guided by some 5,000 do-it-yourself terrorist self-help websites.
On top of these overwhelming world fears, each of us carries personal fears - a deadline, a pink slip, a visa bill, a doctor's appointment. We all have spiders – some fear that gets us in the gut.
These are fearful times, but then – they always have been.
You would think, if ever there were a time and people who would be fearless it would be the disciples, walking and living in the very presence of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, Light of the World, 2000 years ago. But as Mark tells it, they could panic right along with the best of us. That night they piled into a boat after a long day of teaching and preaching, big crowds, lots of questions, the most dangerous time to be on the water: when a windstorm hits! Waves beat into the boat; they've got water up to their ankles. Not only a literal storm, but darkness and the sea and chaos also represent forces of evil. This is serious. At least four of the disciples are professional fishermen and even they are scared. They have phobos. This is phobeo. Our word phobia comes from this root – anxiety, panic, dread. Fear of what we do know and fear of what we do not know.
The disciples do what we do when we find ourselves overwhelmed – They yell, "God, for heaven's sake, wake up!" They do what we do when bad things happen to good people. They ask, "Are you really there God?"
They discover that God is really there. Right in the boat, in the scariest of places, God is there. After they've tried everything they turn to Jesus and he is there and he is able. Jesus can sleep through the wind and yawn at the waves because God is there and he knows that this boat will float. You don't have to go it alone.
Last week, Public TV had a program on children with terminal cancer. Timothy, a teenager, was dying, treatments were no longer helping. One day he shared his greatest fear with one of the doctors. It wasn't pain; it wasn't even death. It was being alone. It made all the difference when the disciples remembered that Jesus was in the boat with them.
But when the storm is over, their knees are knocking. That is when Jesus wants to know, "Why are you afraid?" Not, "Why were you afraid?" but, floating on that calm, smooth sea, "Why are you afraid?" Scripture says, after the storm stops, "A great fear stole over them."
I had a boat ride once that helps me understand. I have never been particularly comfortable in boats on deep water. One time, when I was working Taiwan, I took a side trip off the southern coast. We had to take a ferry. It looked like one of those ferries that you read about that capsizes on a clear day and everybody drowns.
It was old, it was ugly and it was already full when our bus pulled up. People sat on other people's laps. They sat on the steps. And, even on the roof. We threw our luggage on a pile and found a spot against a railing. As we waited, another bus pulled up and all those people got out and got on the overloaded ferry, somehow. Then another bus came and then another came. I was terrified just sitting at the dock!
But then the ferry headed out to sea. The sea was not completely calm. It wasn’t exactly a windstorm and the waves didn’t exactly beat into the boat. But it wasn’t calm either! I kept my eyes on one of the few life preservers overhead. I wondered about sharks; how far I could swim; and that I was too young to die. Phobeo. I was terrified.
There was only one thing that could have scared me more. And that would have been if someone on that boat had stood up and held up his arms and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" and the sea suddenly went still. The storm and the ferry were terrifying. That I could understand. But, a human being who could stop a storm, that would be incomprehensible! What else could such a person do?
The fact is, whenever Jesus heals, walks on water, teaches, feeds, feasts, rebukes, when he is born, is resurrected...it scares the wits out of people. They run, many of them. They freeze. They hang on to the old ways. They attack, some of them. God's power revealed is an awesome thing. But there's more to fear than phobia — panic and dread and hanging on so tight you drown. There is also life-giving fear. The Hebrew word for this kind of fear means reverence, awe. --- Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. It comes from faith and it leads to faith.
You could call it — Easter fear.
There's a reason why the predominant response to Easter is not joy, but fear. Mark's gospel ends that way, with the women going out to the tomb and meeting an angel who says, "He is risen! Go and tell," but they don't because they are afraid.
Afraid of what? Afraid that Easter just might be true. That waves and wind and death itself will bow down before this one who sits in the boat with us and who will not go away.
It could scare you to death. It could scare you to life.
If you don’t think God is active today you have missed the boat. However having said that the bible and experience tells us that traveling in the boat with Jesus is not always smooth sailing! No sooner than you jump in the boat with Jesus, storms will hit. Consider the storms of life that have hit you.
Don’t you agree it hasn’t been smooth sailing?
Some of you have been hit with antagonism when family members, or friends, or coworkers ridicule you for your faith. Some of you have been hit with a storm called Cancer. Some of you have been hit with a stormy relationship and you’ve been served divorce papers, even after you did everything you knew how to do to avoid divorce. Some of you have been through the storms of grief when you lost a loved one. Let me ask those of you who have been hit the hardest, does God hear, does He care, does He act for your good? Some of you nod your head yes, and some of you remember the feelings of doubt and fear and frustration through it all. Maybe some of you are going through that frustration now.
Maybe right now you feel like God doesn’t seem to care? Maybe right now it seems like God is asleep in the helm? Maybe right now you are terrified about the prospects for the immediate future? Maybe right now you are frustrated because you have cried out in pain and despair, and received nothing in reply? You wonder. Is there anyone up there who cares about us down here?
I am convinced that although things seem out of control during a storm, and that we are tempted like the disciples to say “Don’t you care?” that when we turn to Jesus, and that if He is in our boat He does hear, He does care, and he does act for our good. But events in life are not always as I would expect or hope. I therefore I let Christ be the one who speaks peace to my storms.
Much that is wrong on earth can be corrected. There are mothers who dry tears, repairmen who fix machines, surgeons who remove diseased tissues, counselors who solve family problems. As to correcting the weather, people talk about it, but it takes GOD to change the weather. Jesus commanded the elements of the weather, with the result that even the wind obeys him, and so does even the sea.
"Have you STILL no faith?"
IT USUALLY takes a storm to discover where WE place our faith. Where do WE place our faith? Do WE put it in the boat? In our circumstances? In the weather? In the security of our homes to keep the weather out? Is it in the security of our bank accounts to keep the financial storms out? Is it in the security of our insurance policies to keep disasters out?
But, what happens when one little storm cracks that superficial picture of security? It can happen just as suddenly as a Galilean storm. All it takes is one little storm to find out where our faith is. I hope the Son of God doesn't have to say to us, "Oh, ye of little faith". On the other hand, I hope there is a little faith for us; at least enough to take us away from the fear that can so easily destroy that faith. The storm is but a little matter. What is a storm when you have Jesus in the boat with you?
So, who is this Jesus?
What kind of man is this Jesus?
The narrative ends with the attention focused NOT on the storm NOR upon the miracle, but upon Jesus Christ himself. The Question "who is this" is not answered. Everyone who reads it may give his own answer, may profess his own faith, and add his own doxology.
“Who is this man?” This is THE important question. How do we answer this question? The ultimate answer to this question will make all the difference for us in the storms happening right now in our lives, in the storms in the future, in the great storm to come, and on Judgment day? If our answer is "This man is the Son of God" then we need to make a decision to follow Him. Have you ever made that decision? Have you ever made it public? I invite you to make that decision today........ and remember: If you are with Jesus: 1) “The Boat will not sink, 2) and The Storm will not last forever."
A M E N
This sermon was delivered by Dave Buttgen at the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Berryville, Arkansas on June 24th, 2012
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Welcome Skip and Char French
Pastor Skip French and wife Char. (Photo courtesy David Bell
James "Skip" French and his wife Char have been called to First Christian Church Berryville (Disciples of Christ) by the congregation. Skip and Char will begin their stewardship of the FCC flock on July 1st 2012.
There will be a congregational-wide picnic after services on July 1st (starting at about 12:15 PM) in the church yard. The public is invited to celebrate this very welcome event.
Skip and Char, God bless you and welcome to our family!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Mares Eat Oats and...
Our Community Garden is also an experimental garden. During the last four (4) years we've been learning how to garden and to figure out how things work and don't work. Last year we killed most of our tomato plants because we applied an "organic" bug killer when it was too hot out: the plants all shriveled and died. This morning I laid to rest the last blueberry bush out of the 20 that we planted. Some things have worked, like our black berry canes, and somethings haven't. One thing that looks like it is working is an experiment with oats.
Last fall, and again this week, we planted oats as a cover crop in a couple of under performing beds that don't do well because they are under a treeline and stay dry and stay in the shade. Oats, however seem to do well there and add lots of organic material to the soil and keep the weeds out. The bed above, filled with baby oats was planted about 2 weeks ago.
When the oats grow up they are pulled out of the ground (by hand). The soil left behind is full of fairly rich organic material and ready for another crop of oats. The picture above shows a bed in the process of being "harvested."
The stalks that have been harvested are laid on top of the beds producing vegetables. Oat straw makes perfect mulch and, if the heads (seeds) sprout it is all good because it becomes green mulch and also helps keep the weeds down. The bed seen in this picture has some sweet potato vines that your community gardeners planted the first week in June.
It looks like we're about a week away from picking peppers (the green bells above are growing along the west fence line) and about two weeks away from what looks like today a bumper crop of tomatoes. We have four (4) types of tomatoes growing so there will be plenty to go around.
If you visit the garden you can see that we're also experimenting with containers. Our plan is to go to school this year (in the garden) and then next year be experienced and helpful resources for members who would like to container garden at home.
The community garden is your garden. Stop by any time, feel free to pick anything you can use, and enjoy this beautiful space. You will find that the garden is a good place to pray and another cause to thank God for His many blessings.
Last fall, and again this week, we planted oats as a cover crop in a couple of under performing beds that don't do well because they are under a treeline and stay dry and stay in the shade. Oats, however seem to do well there and add lots of organic material to the soil and keep the weeds out. The bed above, filled with baby oats was planted about 2 weeks ago.
When the oats grow up they are pulled out of the ground (by hand). The soil left behind is full of fairly rich organic material and ready for another crop of oats. The picture above shows a bed in the process of being "harvested."
The stalks that have been harvested are laid on top of the beds producing vegetables. Oat straw makes perfect mulch and, if the heads (seeds) sprout it is all good because it becomes green mulch and also helps keep the weeds down. The bed seen in this picture has some sweet potato vines that your community gardeners planted the first week in June.
It looks like we're about a week away from picking peppers (the green bells above are growing along the west fence line) and about two weeks away from what looks like today a bumper crop of tomatoes. We have four (4) types of tomatoes growing so there will be plenty to go around.
If you visit the garden you can see that we're also experimenting with containers. Our plan is to go to school this year (in the garden) and then next year be experienced and helpful resources for members who would like to container garden at home.
The community garden is your garden. Stop by any time, feel free to pick anything you can use, and enjoy this beautiful space. You will find that the garden is a good place to pray and another cause to thank God for His many blessings.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Thank you, Loretta Tanner!
Wash tubs, wooden boxes, and of course, pots and pans, can be converted into planters
Thanks to a generous donation from Loretta Tanner, we're experimenting with containers. We've learned that children and older adults find container gardening an easy way to grow food and flowers.Note the large box in the picture.
This grow box is 5x3 feet long and wide and 22 inches tall. It is constructed of treated 2x8s and 2x4s and cost $72 to build. It took about 2 hours to build and transport. If you would like a box like this at home let your Community Gardeners know and they will build you one if you buy the materials. These boxes can be built to fit into any sized spot that gets at least 6 hours of direct light a day.
Grow boxes are filled with about 4 inches of rocks, then followed by about a foot of rough composted materials that can hold and absorb water. Top of the balance of the box with composted soil, manure, and good clean dirt.
Please stop by your community garden--feel free to pick anything that is ready to pick--and take a look at the containers. Again, if you are interested in having a grow box at home, let us know and we'll build one for you. Happy Gardening!
Monday, June 4, 2012
One More Darn Thing...or...An Opportunity!
A raised bed made from treated lumber
Pictured above is a raised bed made from treated lumber. We're thinking about putting a couple of these--well, maybe a few--on the concrete pad adjacent to the garden. The reasons for doing this are many. First, with care and attention, it will make our church yard even prettier and more interesting to the, believe it or not, many visitors our garden gets. Second, they use space that is neglected and helps our efforts become even more productive. Third, raised beds are more accessible to older members and to children and make gardening much easier for them. Fourth, raised beds conserve soil, water, and produce robust and healthy plants.
But we need donations of treated lumber to construct these beds--and donations of soil, composted manure, and straw. If you can help--that can also be called "an opportunity"--we will be grateful! Please consider a donation of some of these necessary materials.
Raised beds can also be made out of concrete block
We can also make raised beds out of concrete and--we would love to have some donated containers (really big pots!). If you have some unused containers suitable for vegetable plants please consider donating them to your Community Garden. As always, we'll provide you with a contribution letter for tax purposes.
Thank you SO MUCH for your generosity. We are grateful to our church family for making the garden available, and for everything you do. Amen!
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