ComeUnity: Recent Comments

Comment on Wisdom and Revelation

Patrick — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 15:54:17 GMT

Pastor, I also love the phrase following yours in verse 18 "with the eyes of your heart enlightened". That entire sentence is just so beautifully written and the imagery so moving.

Comment on Child of God

Kathryn Vaggalis — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:55:28 GMT

To be a part of God's family is to belong to people who all share the same faith in spite of denomination; And many times and in many cases the church(people that make up the church)can become an individuals family when one might come from a broken home. Which I have seen before. They are closer and more closely connected to the people of the church than with people in their own families, and being told you're a child of God gives them a hope and sense of belonging.
When individuals allow God to work through them and grow spiritually and are led by the spirit is them growing as a child of God.
As being a child of God you might not look like your priests/or pastors, but your charitable actions or your personal services given to the church such as: time for cleaning,Sunday school teacher,communion asst. etc. done in love which would be your strong trait which we would see as your fruit.This fruit is something we recognize as to being a child of God and being a part of God's family/and kingdom. We on one hand may see you as strong servants of God. I personally believe all people are children of God and for those who are weak in spirit and don't offer too much of their services or participate in church functions for what ever their reasons might be, we see as children of God as well, but perhaps we see them as the children of God who are hurting.

Comment on Child of God

Jim Bjugstad — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 20:46:25 GMT

Or maybe: "We are made for love, and made to love."

Comment on Child of God

Jim Bjugstad — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 20:42:16 GMT

Well, to keep the analogy going, "once you're family, you're always family" - not that estrangement isn't possible, of course. I guess in this case, it would be a one-way estrangement - God never gives up on us!

Traits in common? Well, I think maybe the strongest trait of all is that we need to be in community: we might deny it, might be able to survive for a time without it, might even convince ourselves that we're better off that way, but in the end we'll suffer for it, and, as a whole, the community will be worse off too!

We need to live in community.

And maybe that's another way of saying we're meant to love.

Comment on Law and Gospel

Jim Bjugstad — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 21:15:04 GMT

The mirror? Conscience is a mirror. Also, if I'm feeling angry, or wounded, wronged... those are times when I need to take a closer look at MY motivations, what's getting in the way.

Comment on Follow the Leader

Jim Bjugstad — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 08:50:58 GMT

My dad has been an example for me, of one who lives out his faith. I remember times as a child being embarrassed when he'd bring God into discussions or situations where it made me or my friends, or other people (adults) uncomfortable. But that was just because, for my dad, God is in, and belongs in, everything.

My Aunt Lillian has also always been an example of strong faith. I can remember that she used to write letters, year after year, to publishers, especially Sports Illustrated, and other sports publications. Her own sons were readers of these, and they were indeed partly targeted to youth, and she was upset that these magazines carried ads for cigarettes and liquor. She considered both of these products to be sinful, and that was the basis for her objection. She also often witnessed to me of her faith, directly, in a gentle, kindly way - "Jimmy, I hope you know that God loves you."

I'd like to think that I've been an example for others, but if so, I'm unaware of it.

Comment on Follow the Leader

Pastor Becker — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:05:23 GMT

Stepping out of character for myself, I'm writing to this one right away.

There have been a number of people who have been examples for me. My maternal mother (Grandma Ruth - where I get my middle name), was a strong woman. She died when I was five, but even by then I knew her to love me greatly and to be someone who held a lot of power and strength.

Another example of faith has been my paternal grandfather. He died in 2006, and while always an example of faith, was an incredible example as he was dying. He trusted Jesus - and he didn't only say that, he utterly lived it.

Finally, a woman in the congregation in which I grew up always let me know that she was praying for me. From the time I was in her 3rd grade Sunday School class up until now, I know she faithfully prays...and that I'm often part of those prayers.

Comment on Choose Your Own Blog Adventure

Jim Bjugstad — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:18:31 GMT

What jumped out at me here is the faith shown by Paul, and how he maintains focus on Christ, despite the difficulty of his position (his imprisonment): "The Lord is near. 6Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Paul EXPECTS transformation in Christ!

Comment on Choose Your Own Blog Adventure

Jim Bjugstad — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:46:10 GMT

...and I echo that Yay!

Comment on Choose Your Own Blog Adventure

Jim Bjugstad — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 14:44:41 GMT

In one aspect, I think women in ministry (I'm defining this to mean clergy, knowing that ministry is not limited to clergy) are just like men in ministry: not all male pastors are the same, and neither are all female pastors. That said, my experience with non-Becker female pastors has largely been as teachers, and I have noticed some generalities here. In terms of teaching styles, the female pastors have a less rigid, more consensual way of running a classroom and constructing a course. The result, for me, is feeling less constrained and intimidated, and more engaged in the discussions, and there just is more discussion, period, in those classes.
I think maybe that also relates to how rigidly a given clergy-person embraces a more hierarchical view of the clergy - layperson relationship.
I must admit that maybe this viewpoint is affected by the fact that the female clergy whom I know also tend to be younger than their male colleagues, so that fact may very well be anything from a contributing factor to the dominant factor in creating my perceptions. What makes me lean toward seeing it as less of a major factor is that female clergy also seem to skew toward being open to more lay involvement, just looking around the synod and seeing who leads those types of opportunities.