Book Review: Sources of Strength by Jimmy Carter

Sources of Strength: Meditations on Scripture for a Living Faith

by Jimmy Carter
Published in 1997 by Times Books

Summary and Review: In many ways this book is a follow-up to former President Jimmy Carter's autobiography A Living Faith.  For Carter it is impossible to tell his story without telling of his deep and abiding faith.  It has always been a part of who he is and is something participatory for him.  He is not content to be simply a pew sitter, he has for years been a Sunday School Teacher and Bible Study leader.  The response to his autobiography had people asking about his understanding of Scripture, so the simplest way to answer them was to publish a book based upon the Bible studies he had taught over the years.  This is that book.

The book is organized into fifty-two lessons, all taken from actual lessons that Carter taught throughout his lifetime, some of them even coming from the time of his Presidency.  Each lesson begins with a scripture verse as a base and then Carter helps connect the reader to the context of the scripture before he present his interpretation.  Finally he suggests ways to apply this interpretation in our own lives.  Carter is unabashedly a Baptist and that comes through, but his understanding of scripture is much broader than simply one theological position.  The book is well written, it engages the reader and compels them to turn the next page.  The lessons are concise, making them appropriate to read as part of a daily devotional or of part of a weekly devotional.  It is set up to have one lesson for each week, but is just as effective using it daily.  His explanation of scripture is researched and rooted in scholarly understandings and his interpretation is well presented and will appeal to the broadest base of Christianity.  In reading this book one will walk away with a richer, more vibrant understanding of some scripture, but equally with a glimpse into the life of Jimmy Carter.

Reading Recommendation: Yes

God Strikes the Blows

Good morning all,
Let's start with a scripture verse from the 44th Psalm.

Psalm 44:3 "It was not our father's swords won them the land, nor their arm that gave them victory, but thy right hand and thy arm, and the light of thy presence; such was thy favour to them."

The Psalmist is writing to God amidst what appears to be a new revelation for him.  He has heard the stories from his father for years of the great things God did during the conquest of the Promised Land and apparently he has always focused on what the Israelites did, how they fought in such a manner as to bring victory.  His writing today reveals this new revelation for him, that it was not the swords or arms of the Israelites that made them victorious in the Promised Land, it was God Himself!  God's right hand; God's arm; the light of God's presence were the things that brought victory to the Israelites.  The Israelites merely swung the swords, but God struck the blows that brought victory!  The power and strength of God won the land, He merely allowed the Israelites to obediently participate.

This is a lesson that has worth enough for us to pay attention.  As Methodist, we believe that a vibrant and living faith includes doing good works once we have been justified.  If we are not careful we can get lost in the thought of, "look at all of the good we are doing," rather than the thought of, "look at all of the good God is allowing us to be a part of."  God has invited us into the battle of ministry and expects us to swing the sword, but the outcome is always His.  He determines the victory, He vanquishes the enemies, His glory is what shines through us.  The glory will never be ours, we are but reflections of God's glory and that should free us from the shackles of striving to do things in our own power.

God expects us to be obedient, but to do ministry in His power and with His results.  We don't have to define ourselves by the success of failure of our ministry projects, rather we define ourselves by our obedience to God.  Are we doing what He has called us to do?  Are we swinging the swords in battle and letting God strike the blows?  Are we living obedient lives that reveal God's glory to others?  Does the way we live make it easy for other people to believe in Jesus?  Or are we trying to control outcomes and determine our own success?  If we will be but obedient and swing at what God calls us to swing at we can trust God to deliver the blows that lead to victory.

Your brother in Christ,
Faron

Sermon: Sunday, February 5, 2012

Greetings All,

Here is the audio file from Sunday's sermon. It is titled Not in Our Own Strength! and the text is Isaiah 40:21-31.

Your brother in Christ,
Faron

Storytelling

Good morning all,

We've been starting with Scripture each morning, today let's look back at Steinbeck for a moment.

"And it came about in the camps along the roads, on the ditch banks beside the streams, under the sycamores, that the story teller grew into being, so that the people gathered in the low firelight to hear the gifted ones.  And they listened while the tales were told, and their participation made the stories great."

"And the people listened, and their faces were quiet with listening.  The story tellers, gathering attention into their tales, spoke in great rhythms, spoke in great words because the tale was great, and the listeners became great through them."  from The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck pg. 444

Once again Steinbeck draws us into his story and captures our imagination as we gather a mental picture of the migrants gathered around a storyteller, listening, hungering for a vision of something more than where they are at, longing to remember that there is something greater, that there is hope.  That is the power of the story teller, they can paint mental pictures that draw us into the picture and give us life and light and hope.  Steinbeck is describing earthly stories about fighting Indians or a rich fellow pretending to be poor, but what he has described is equally true for those of us that tell God's story.

We are all storytellers and everyone has a bit of Californian migrant in them as we all look at our lives and wonder at times, "If this is it?" or, "Isn't there something more?"  We are all looking for that story that will draw us in and give us that hope again that there is something more, something bigger, something better, something transcendent in which we can participate.  There is only one story that can truly do that without fail, every time it is told and that is the story of God.  We are all called to be God's storytellers.  It is a big story, with lots of parts and we don't have to tell the whole thing all at once, we just have to know it well enough to share the parts that can connect with a particular person in a particular place.  We have to be able to tell it in a way that captures their imagination and invites them into this bigger than life story of God.  Because just as Steinbeck's migrants are made great through listening to the stories, so are each of us made great when we are drawn into the story of God.

Your brother in Christ,
Faron

Music Review: Jane Monheit Concert

Greetings All,

I must admit that I have been enjoying having Eastern Kentucky University's new Art Center open as they have offered a fabulous season of performances that will continue through May.  Last fall Christa and I had the opportunity to see BB King through the generosity of my congregation.  It was incredible to experience a living blues legend and see his personality as he interacted with the audience.  A week ago today, we were at another music performance.  This time it was Christa's Christmas present to me and it was orchestra one seats to see Jane Monheit.  She has been performing for over ten years and I have been listening to her for most of those, but this was my first opportunity to experience her in a live performance. 

She is known for her crystal clear renditions of Jazz standards.  Renditions that demonstrate perfect enunciation, incredible vocal control and a true love for the songs she is singing.  If there is a song she is most renowned for it is her rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow, but I have equally enjoyed her songs like Bill or her duet with Michael Buble' I Won't Dance.  I was going into this concert with excitement and high expectations.  I had already experienced the concert hall and enjoyed its acoustics and layout, and I was coming in with a knowledge of not only her song base, but Jazz standards in general.  When we first were seated I was a bit surprised to find the stage set for a simple trio; on her albums she generally has the support of a full orchestra or at least more than just a trio of piano, base and drums.  However, I love the simple beauty of a Jazz trio with an exceptional vocalist, so I continued to be excited. 

As the performance began the musicians were fabulous and Jane's vocals stood out.  I smiled thinking this is going to be a great performance and an most wonderful evening, but almost immediately she employed a practice that she seldom uses on her albums, that of skatting, singing without words, which when used occasionally can be a beautiful demonstration of vocal control by an artist.  The first time she did this that proved to be the case, but by the time she had employed it on practically every song and used it as often as real lyrics it became wearisome and began to at least lose this member of the audience. 

A second challenge of the performance for me was her interaction with the audience.  She began by talking about how in 12 years of touring she had never been to Kentucky and felt really welcomed, but that initial offering was tempered and even upended by "playful" comments about the audience's lacking knowledge of Jazz and how if we did not know a particular song or particular composer "she was scared for us."  In the end she came across more as an elitist New Yorker who looks down on everyone else that is not from the Big Apple.  From this I never enjoyed the sense of connection with the performer that I had with BB King.

A third thing that bothered me was when she performed Over the Rainbow.  Again this is the song for which she is most renowned, which has stood out above so many other versions due to her vocal clarity and control.  She opened with a dialogue about how this is the song that she gets to perform at each concert because it is the one the audience always requests.  Duh!  It is what helped make her famous!  She then told us how, since she sang it so often that it became boring, that her and the band would develop new renditions.  She then launched into a "new rendition" that was practically unrecognizable as Jane Monheit singing Over the Rainbow.  Later in the set she also did her "rendition" of Stardust that was unrecognizable.  Had she not told us that she was singing this long revered Jazz standard, I would not have known what it was.  While I realize that artists need to express themselves differently and that they will tire of songs, the problem I have with this is that as an audience of fans we come in with certain expectations that we are right to have.  We should expect the person to perform their iconic song in a manner which lives up to our expectations.  In this case we have paid $45 per ticket to enjoy this performance and while I did enjoy it, I could have enjoyed it so much more if she had made a little effort to meet her audiences' expectations rather than appease her personal boredom with her iconic song and her attempts to force her audience's expectations into the performance box that she has decided to present.

A final observation was that the manner in which she performed and the trio she brought with her was a set that I would expect and truly enjoy in a cabaret or Jazz club, but not when I am in a large concert hall.  The performance did not match the venue and thus it left me as an audience member feeling a little disconnected.  I still love the produced music of Jane Monheit and will continue to enjoy it, but in the future I will be a little more cautious about seeing her live by investigating the band she is bringing to the particular venue and I will go in with the same expectations I bring to seeing the show of a new Jazz artist so that I don't find myself disappointed.  Again, I did enjoy the show and it was an incredible Christmas present from an incredible lady; I just could have enjoyed it a bit more if Ms. Monheit

Your brother in Christ,
Faron

A Bigger Sabbath

Greetings All,

Let's start with scripture, a quick piece from Leviticus.  It is from the part we haven't gotten to yet, but it blessed me this morning and I hope it will bless you.

NRS

Leviticus 25:1 The LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying: ² Speak to the people of Israel and say to them: When you enter the land that I am giving you, the land shall observe a sabbath for the LORD. ³ Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather in their yield; ⁴ but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of complete rest for the land, a sabbath for the LORD: you shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. ⁵ You shall not reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your unpruned vine: it shall be a year of complete rest for the land. ⁶ You may eat what the land yields during its sabbath-- you, your male and female slaves, your hired and your bound laborers who live with you; ⁷ for your livestock also, and for the wild animals in your land all its yield shall be for food.

Once again the Lord speaks to Moses and gives him commandments for the people to follow, not the big ten, but ones that are for the good of their physical lives but even better for their spiritual ones.  The big ten include the commandment about keeping a Sabbath every seventh day.  This is a practice that theoretically they have been practicing for a while now in the wilderness so they are at least used to the concept; but here the Lord super sizes the concept of Sabbath rest, of Sabbath trust and dependence, as He tells the Israelites not only to have a Sabbath day, but to have a Sabbath year for the land.  The truth is this is good agricultural practice, but I would offer that it is more about them than the land. 

Can you imagine taking your trust in God for your daily bread and increasing it to trusting Him for your daily bread for 365 days in a row?  No longer can you prune, or sow, or harvest for an entire year.  The land will still produce, but the Israelites are not aloud to work the land, they must trust in God that the land will produce enough for not only them, but everyone in their household and their animals!  This is a level of faith that I am not sure I possess to be completely honest.  So often I want to trust in my ability to work and do and provide for myself and family; to trust God for all of my families provisions for a year without me working is frankly an overwhelming idea.  I don't think I am alone in feeling overwhelmed by the idea because I am not sure there is a shred of Biblical evidence that Israel ever followed this command and there is certainly no evidence that they ever celebrated a Year of Jubilee which is the culmination of seven sets of seventh year Sabbaths for the land.

The good news for the Israelites and for us today is that God knows how overwhelming this concept must be.  Notice that He didn't tell them to immediately start practicing this, He told them to start practicing this once they entered the Promised Land.  He was giving them not only all of their wilderness time to get used to trusting God on such an incredible level, but He was also giving them their first six years in the Promised Land.  They would get to experience years of God providing for their daily needs in the wilderness with manna, quail and water sources, to experience God being true to His word of bringing them into the Promised Land, and to have six full years of enjoying this promised land flowing with milk and honey before they are ever expected to trust God on such a monumental level. 

He knew they would need time and He knows we need the same.  Trusting anyone, much less God, is a process that happens over time.  The longer I am in relationship with someone the more or less trust I develop in them.  For every time they prove trustworthy, my trust increases.  God knows this and wants every opportunity to prove Himself trustworthy to us so we can grow to that place of complete trust and dependence upon Him.  We need to take baby steps of trust and faith everyday by picking things to trust God with and as He proves Himself trustworthy we can begin to move from baby steps to strides, to ultimately giant leaps of faith.  Wesley talked about sanctification being the process of becoming perfect in love, equally it is a process of becoming perfect in trusting God.  Celebrating a Sabbath year of completely trusting God for one's families provisions is the embodiment of entire sanctification.  God allowed the Israelites to grow into this depth of trust, I would offer that He gives us the same opportunity.  The question for each of us today is "Will we take baby steps of trust and faith in God to lead us down a path that ends in perfect trust and a bigger Sabbath in our lives?"

Your brother in Christ,
Faron

Affirming Denials

Greetings All,

Our scripture this morning comes from John chapter Eight.

NRS

John 8:48 The Jews answered him, "Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?" ⁴⁹ Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰ Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and he is the judge.

This piece of scripture comes amidst an argument/debate that the Jews and Jesus are having regarding His identity.  In their frustration the Jews call Him two names in this passage, Samaritan and Possessed.  Basically they are equating these two labels as both being aligned with the devil rather than being aligned with the Lord.  For them it is just as bad to be a Samaritan as it is to be demon possessed, but Jesus does not share their belief that these two are basically the same.  Jesus only responds to the accusation of being possessed. 

He states, "I am not possessed, I honor my Father!"  In His response we see that he too believes that to be possessed is to be aligned with the devil, even though it isn't your fault, and he assures them that this is not the case.  Do note though that He does not respond to the accusation that He is a Samaritan, for to deny that like He denies the possession would be to affirm their belief about Samaritans.  Jesus throughout the Gospels acts out God's love for the Samaritans time and time again.  Here is an often overlooked exchange where once again He affirms God's love for them.  His denial would have affirmed the Jews belief that the Samaritans were basically aligned with the devil or at best out of God's favor, but His silence not only suggests their belief is wrong but also affirms God's love for them.

In our lives do we pay attention to the accusations we deny?  In denying an accusation are we affirming someones incorrect belief? In denying an accusation are we affirming someones prejudice or hatred?  Sometimes what we do not say is just as important as what we do say.  Jesus' denial of possession affirms two truths, one that He is not possessed and two that possession is out of line alignment with the Father.  Had he denied being a Samaritan He would have affirmed the truth that he is not, but equally He would have affirmed their false belief that Samaritans are out of God's favor.  Let us covenant today that we will pay attention to the beliefs behind the words to make sure we do not make a falsehood affirming denials.

Your brother in Christ,
Faron