A Plea for Face to Face Contact

You've probably gathered by now that this blogging thing is fairly new to me, in fact I learned just today that blog is short for 'weblog'! It is a little odd for me to be typing in these messages and then wondering if anyone reads them or thinks about responding. More than 50 have checked out at least one of my messages, but I don't know who or where they are! You see I am a 'face-to-face' person, I would say for me it is the most vital aspect of being a minister. When you are looking at a person while you have a conversation, you encounter them through all the senses which is what gives emotional life to a conversation. From this, a level of caring can develop most naturally, and I believe this is the goal in every encounter between two people.

While the electronic communication tools available today are very helpful in many ways, they should not be seen as a replacement for a face to face conversation. My concern is that this is exactly what is happening - especially amongst younger people. As a result, we are becoming isolated and I think, lonely. In the movie 'You've Got Mail', shopgirl and NY152 develop quite a friendship through email (I am not sure it really happens to this extent in reality), however the relationship only begins to really develop after they meet and slowly begin a friendship. Too often, I see a group of young people walking down the street together, not talking to each other at all, but rather they are each in a text message conversation with someone else!

My plea is don't forget that relationships are a matter of the heart, not electronic gadgetry. Our cell phones, computers and ipods are wonderful means of communication (I once called my father in Australia from the top of the Empire State building!); and they may well help us avoid the anxiety, the stammering, the sweating when we begin a conversation with someone for the first time, but these are a necessary part of 'stepping out' into life.

Of course, as a minister this is particularly important to me, I don't think this blog will ever replace the sermon. When a minister preaches the love of God from his or her heart to the congregation, they need to be face to face. After all, evangelism is a Christian having a one-on-one conversation with another person about how Jesus has enriched their life.

I am interested in hearing feedback on this, just respond to the blog message!

Pastor Greg

Happy Birthday Dear Church

After his resurrection, Jesus spent time with his first disciples, preparing them to continue the mission of sharing God's love with a searching world. One of the most important things he instructed them to do was to 'wait until the power of the Holy Spirit comes upon you.' He made it quite clear that without the power of the spirit they could do nothing! Hmm!

May 11th is Pentecost Sunday, the day when we say the church was born because on this day the Holy Spirit filled their hearts and they were ready to roll for Jesus! (It is also mother's day, so I pray for a special blessing on all mothers). But what is this power? And is it true that we can do nothing (of God's mission) without it, but empowered by the spirit, nothing is impossible? This is pretty powerful stuff!

It seems to me that we (the church) have not really come to grips with this. In the church today I see the Holy Spirit being neglected/ignored/avoided or directed and controlled to meet our own agendas!

The Spirit is from God, it is the power behind creation, it is the power that enabled a virgin to become pregnant, it is the power that raised Jesus from the dead. The power of the spirit is the power of God's love! God's very essence is love, and his deepest desire is that we might live to the full the gift of life we have been given. For this to occur requires a powerful force that can overcome our shortcomings (aka sin!), that power is the spirit of God's love. And as we learned at Pentecost, that power is poured out as promised on all who open their hearts to receive it in order to fulfill the mission of proclaiming the Good News throughout the world.

That's awesome, and more than a little intimidating! It is not a power to be used for our own selfish reasons, like Jim Carey initially in 'Bruce Almighty'; rather it is the power that enables us to love others as Jesus does. The Beatles were right when they crooned 'All You Need is Love!' It is true, we do, and praise God, we have it when we open our hearts to receive it (perhaps then we wouldn't need songs like 'All My Ex's Live in Texas!'). That's Pentecost power, and on this Pentecost Sunday, the birthday of the church, go to a church near you and "more power to ya!"

Shalom

Pastor Greg