Tsunamis All Around Us

It is inspiring to me that as we arrive at and pass the two month mark since the devastating tsunami in southeast Asia that interest has not waned. People are still giving and people are still responding. The response to the need that was created by the devastation has been amazing. However, it might be good to look at the tsunamis all around us. The latest figures put deaths related to the earthquake and tsunami at 160,000. Think about this: (All figures courtesy of Faithful America at www.faithfulamerica.org)

World Hunger claims lives at a rate of more than one tsunami PER WEEK!

World hunger, one of the most preventable of human tragedies, claims 25,000 lives every day, according to Bread for the World.

HIV-AIDS kills at a rate of more than 19 tsunamis in one year!

HIV-AIDS may surpass the black plague as humanity’s worst epidemic, according to Peter Lamptey, president of the Family Health International Aids Institute. An estimated 14,000 people worldwide are infected and 8000 die EVERY DAY.

The killing in Sudan equals, in the most “optimistic” scenario, roughly 2 tsunamis; the worst case scenario is 7 tsunamis!

If the genocide in Sudan continues unchecked, according to Andrew Natsios, head of the U.S. Agency for International Aid, “We will have one million casualties. If things improve we can get it down to about 300,000 deaths."

All of these figures tend to seem overwhelming. You may wonder how we could even begin to help with problems so big. That was the same question many asked when the tsunami hit. But faithful people took action. While the people who perished will never be brought back, the outpouring of money, love and service has made a tremendous impact on the communities trying to pick up the pieces. Imagine what the same love, compassion, and resolve can do for the preventable tragedies all around us.

Just some things to think about.

peace,

will

Reading for 2.27.05

We continue with our journey through Lent with Mark this week. We have been bouncing around a little bit but we are back on track this week. I am looking to finish Mark's Gospel right around Easter. We haven't decided what to do next yet. Suggestions are welcome.

Here is what we will look at on Sunday:

Mark 9:30-37 New Revised Standard Version
Mark 9:30-37 The Message

See you Sunday!

will

The Gospel According to The Simpsons

We started the three week class last Tuesday night and had a blast! It was more fun and educational than I imagined. I was a little nervous about this one. You have to come to it with a pretty open mind and everyone did.

I am not "officially" accepting any more registrations. However, if you are really interested, e-mail me and I will see what I can do.

Also, the book the course is based on, The Gospel According to the Simpson's, by Mark Pinsky is a great read all by itself. The link will take you to it on Amazon.com.

peace,

will

Musings on the text

I am working on the message for this week's service. You can see the text in the previous post. What is really interesting for me is the tie that this passage has to last week's, when Jesus was tempted by satan in the desert. The word satan only appears 5 times in Mark's gospel, so I think the tie in may be important. Perhaps this is another temptation story.

Tune is Sunday to see where this goes!

peace,

will

Scripture for this week

We are picking up where we left off in Mark. (Well not quite, I skipped ahead a little bit and we are skipping back.) We are also continuing our journey through Lent. Here is the text we will talk about this week:

Mark 8:31-38 New Revised Standard Version
Mark 8:31-38 The Message

I would love to hear your first thought on the reading.

will

What a great Sunday!

There was a lot of great worship this week at OHUMC. Thanks to everyone who participated! A few people asked for my morning sermon. It is posted here.

I hope to have Bryan's sermon from the evening posted later this week. It was great to be in worship in the evening and not be preaching. However, I will be back at my regular post in our walk through Mark this week.

I hope you were able to stick around for the Bells of Joy. We had a wonderful gospel experience with them. They were really able to get everybody up and moving around, which can be kind of hard to do sometimes. We were certainly blessed by their presence and I hope we have a chance to see them again.

Comments about any of this week's worship experiences are always welcome.

Have a blessed week!

will

Yes, we were open Sunday

Thanks to everyone who chose to miss the first half of the game and worship with us. We had a great group and some wonderful music from our youth praise band. We talked about transfiguration, perhaps better translated metamorphosis. If you missed it, you can read the sermon here.

This Sunday is the first Sunday of Lent. So, we will be talking about Lent. Let me know what questions you have about season, I would love to incorporate them into this week's message.

Blessings upon your week!

will

Scripture This Week

This Sunday is Transfiguration Sunday. If you don't know about the transfiguration, just read this week's scripture:

Mark 9:2-13 - New Revised Standard Version
Mark 9:2-13 - The Message

I do, in fact, realize that Sunday is Superbowl Sunday. I am, however, hoping to see you for another opportunity to worship, learn and grow together.

Blessings be upon you,


will

General Board of Church and Society

Thank you to Bryan for taking my place this past Sunday. I have heard great things about the service. I spent a few days in Washington D.C. at a conference for young pastors sponsored by the General Board of Church and Society.

I realize that some of you may have never heard of the GBCS and I hope to change that. The GBCS is the social justice arm of the United Methodist Church. Their prime responsibility is to seek the implementation of the Social Principles other policy statements of the General Conference of the United Methodist Church. Some issues that they are addressing are:

• Environmental concerns
• Tobacco, alcohol, pornography and gambling addictions
• Economic justice issues
• Civil rights
• Health care

I highly recommend that you learn more about your GBCS. A great place to start is their website at www.umc-gbcs.org. This blog would be a great place to discuss what you find there.

Blessings upon you!

will