The Butterfly Effect

In 66 c.e. the Jews of Judea hatched a plan that history has judged to be one of the worst ideas ever. They rose up against Rome. By the time it ended, untold numbers of Jews had been killed. Jerusalem had been laid waste and the Temple, the Footstool of God, had been burned to the ground and desecrated by a Roman soldier. The Jews did not come together again in Judea until 1948. That was, indeed, a cracking bad idea.

Matthew's Gospel, scholars tell us, was written between perhaps 80 and 90 c.e. That is after the disaster, after the Temple was no more, after the time Jerusalem was laid flat. The birth of Jesus, if during the reign of Herod, must have been perhaps 6 or 7 b.c.e to 4 b.c.e. during the time when the Temple stood. How could so tiny a thing as the birth of a child in a remote part of Judea have changed the world such that it would be remembered through the utter destruction which was Rome's response to the Jewish rebellion? Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, The Butterfly Effect by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

THE Story

You hear a lot of people going on at this time of the year about the need to "Keep Christ in Christmas". This year, at the Chapel of St. Arbuck's, I have heard several conversations about parents who have decided not to tell their children about Santa Claus. I think both groups are responding to a massive collision between the story of the birth of Jesus and the stories we love so well. Read or listen to the rest of what I think by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Chill

The world laid Nelson Mandela to rest this week and gave itself time to consider what a change he had accomplished in the world. His life spoke both of the cruelty which lives in all of us when we think we have perceived evil, and the power of the individual called to remind us of what we can be if we will simply listen. Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, Chill by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

David

Some days it's the theology, some days it's the weather. This was one of those days. We had to cancel church for the first time since I've been with Community Presbyterian.

I recorded the sermon in my man cave, which is why it sounds funky, but here it is.

Jesus' ministry began with a call to repent. I wonder if we all mean the same thing by that word? This Sunday, we look into the life of a man from my county, David Edwards, who died this week. David's life was tragic, and we bring a load of baggage to our consideration of what happened to him. I would suggest that we have much need to repent of of our treasured baggage. Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, David by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

And So, It Begins

Christmas is one of the two times of the year when the church calls her ministers to be ever the slightest bit...er...grinchy. Easter is the other one. 

As we celebrate the first Sunday in Advent, the church teaches that the coming of the Lord is a time for reflection and penance at just the time that everybody else wants a time of celebration and gifts. This is why the church doesn't get invited to any fun parties.

Grinchy or not, the first Sunday in Advent is a time to remind ourselves that the Communion liturgy, "Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again." has real meaning. The first Sunday in Advent is a time to remind ourselves that the story we exist to tell didn't end at the Resurrection. There is more to come, and it matters if we get it right. 

Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, And So, It Begins by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Our Common Unity

From time out of time, the scary parts of our minds have been afraid that those outside our common unity -- the people we know -- are trying to make lunch of us. It makes us so fearful of "the other" that we do crazy things like build nuclear weapons in profligate numbers sufficient to extinguish life from our planet. Then, we insist on viewing ourselves as rational beings, which we are clearly not. Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, Our Common Unity by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

On the One Hand

On the one hand, we would all like to see our treasured traditions move courageously into the  future.  It's comforting to see things we love treasured by others.

On the other hand, we don't live in the future, and what the future holds does not belong to us. Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, On the One Hand by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

The Remnant

As our congregations become smaller and greyer and the voices proclaiming the future of the church become ever more strident, I am convinced that the transmission of the faith into the future will be done, not by those whose loud voices we hear now, but the remnant of our large congregations who will ignore the loud voices and follow the leadership of God as He takes His church into the new challenges. Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, The Remnant, by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

God's Eye View

People pursue God for many reasons. Sometimes people pursue God to find assurance of their own righteousness. That way leads nowhere. What if you could see your life through God's Eyes? What would you see?

Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, God's Eye View, by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

What is to be done with the square pegs?

Thoughts from the Chapel of St. Arbucks

SQUARE PEGS

The congregation of St. Arbuck’s was discussing this week the recent unemployment crisis in the Tessel Nation. Although the Tessel Nation was founded upon an ideal of equal opportunity for all, and even though its history demonstrated considerable success in achieving that ideal during the days when mosaics, utilizing a wide variety of chips varying in color and shape, were in vogue, the recent market forces driving their work to more geometric tessellations have had as their inevitable result the displacing of thousands of mis-matched chips. The irregular, the oddly colored, the imperfect find themselves relegated to the very borders of a tessellation, if, indeed, they find any place at all.

The Tessellators, responding to the demands of a divided house, have been unable to come up with a credible plan to provide for those who, by reason of their shape or color or size, can find no place within the Design. A minority of the Tessellators believe that it is their responsibility to provide for those whose uniqueness or limitations deny them a place in the Design. Sadly, a majority view is that such chips, by their stubborn refusal to reform themselves into appropriate shapes, should be ground to powder and used for grout. The minority have countered with demands for education programs to help the mis-matched chips conform to the needs of the design by becoming something they are not, but that plan has failed to gain much traction owing to the cost, certainly, but also abetted by a subtext of moralistic outrage that the ill formed seem unwilling to reform themselves. This is often expressed in the maxim, "The Design helps those who help themselves."

It is admittedly difficult to include the inevitable diversity of chips into a plan as uniform as a geometric tessellation, but when the market demands such a tessellation, what is the responsibility of the Tesselators towards those who fail to fit in, the inevitable square pegs who find only round holes? Is it true that they are only fit to be ground to grout? Will not such a course only lead to a monochrome tessellation of no interest and no value?

The Pharisee, the Tax Collector and a Bear

I wasn't in the pulpit this Sunday, owing to the funeral of the wonderful lady who encouraged local Appalachian music for more than 40 years, Nancy Turman McClellan. Her like will not be seen again here soon.

Since I was not in the pulpit, I found a sermon from 2010 on the text for today from the Revised Common Lectionary about the old joke involving two men running from a hungry bear. "We're never going to outrun that bear," gasped one of them.

"I don't have to outrun the bear," the other yelled. "I just have to outrun you."

Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, The Pharisee, the Tax Collector, and a Bear by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

The Ways of the World

When preachers get cranked up about "The Ways of the World" what is often meant is a whole lot of stealin' and cussin' and covetin'. That's not the ways of the world. The ways of the world are the whispered assurances fed to us with mother's milk and thereafter that God approves of the ways in which we are living in His world. The ways of the world tell us that God approves of using the ways of evil to combat evil. I think Satan must be rolling in the aisles over that one!

Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, "The Ways of the World" by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

COPS

OK. I admit it. I started out my professional life as a cop, and now, decades later, I still watch COPS on TV. Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they come for you? This week's stories about the motorcycle group that ran down an SUV and beat the driver really struck me because as much as I'm opposed to motorcycle gangs running down families, that is exactly the way most issues of COPS end -- a vehicle chase and the bad guy under a ton of policemen, his car a smoking wreck. Who does the violence is different, but the violence is the same, and now we learn that some of the bikers were NYPD cops.

We all have an interest in the pursuit of justice, but the question I would pose is this: is our notion of violent pursuit of justice where evil is repaid, stroke for stroke and stripe for stripe, the same notion that God has when he counsels us to let justice flow like a river? Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, COPS by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

What's the Deal?

A friend told me once, “All you have to know is do your best, God will forgive the rest, and that’s all you need to know to get into heaven.” Then he added, “And that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?” Well? Is it?

Church, that's not a religious faith -- that's an investment strategy.  Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, "What's the Deal?" by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Green Bananas

Of all the things I never anticipated would happen to me, this makes the short list! I baptized my granddaughter, Vivie, today! We had a church full of friends and family. Kathy made an astonishing reception afterwards. The church, with the kindest of assistance from the Joneses, planted a tree to commemorate the event, and I even managed to play a little autoharp for the occasion. It was a day I shall never forget. Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, "Green Bananas" by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Extravagance

Professor Lisa Davison was professor of First Testament at LTS when I knew her. One of the things she delighted in doing was pointing out the naughty bits in the Bible. There are quite a lot of them. In addition, there are some passages that just make us uncomfortable, and Luke 16:1-13, the parable of the dishonest manager, is certainly one of those. Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, "Extravagance" by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Community

The President, in addressing the nation on his concerns about the Assad regime and their indefensible use of chemical weapons upon their own people, grounded his argument for the necessity for us to take military action in part on the phrase "American exceptionalism". To my mind, that is a dangerous idea. America IS exceptional. We are exceptionally wealthy, we are exceptionally powerful. And we are exceptional in another way -- this is a country founded not on historic alliance, or geography or language, but upon a commitment to an ideal.

In that sense, the President was exactly right. We are exceptional, but the idea of American exceptionalism can so easily bleed over into a belief that we represent the truth, the light and all righteousness. We don't. We are born into community and suckled by it, but we must never permit ourselves to make an idol of our culture, country or community of faith. To do so will lead us far from God and into fields tilled by a farmer you would not like at all. Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, "Community" by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

The Elephant's Tale

One of the most common things I hear when discussing my obsession with religion with the congregation of the Chapel of St. Arbuck's is, "I'm spiritual, but I'm not religious" by which it is meant that the declarant finds the prospect of joining with others of like (or different!) faith tiresome, tedious and non-productive. Such a statement can also be a convenient way to deal with the inconvenient aspects of a personal relationship with God, an inconvenience Jesus himself described in this fashion:

“Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

I wonder what would happen if we preached that to all prospective members? Come see why a community of believers is necessary for this week's sermon, The Elephant's Tale by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

A Place At The Table

Sometimes, when you undertake to stand up on your hind legs, dressed as a proper Geneva businessman of the 16th Century, with a group of trusting people before you, you become aware of the nuts and bolts that you used to put together a sermon. You are terribly aware of where you cut corners, where you got tired, what you left unsaid. At other times, it is as if you are not speaking, but serving only as a clothes horse while the message flows through you without effort. This was one of those times. Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, A Place at the Table, by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

The Starfish Preservation Society

I asked a friend the other day how he felt about the plight of stranded starfish -- helpless sea creatures stranded on the burning sands by the relentless withdrawal of the tides, expecting a sympathetic ear. To my horror he replied that he had never thought much about stranded starfish!

Naturally, it became my task to educate him, and now you, on this injustice and to invite you to join the Starfish Preservation Society and become one of the SAPS that rescue these helpless creatures.

Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, The Starfish Preservation Society, by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

What DID Happen?

One of the most difficult teachings of Jesus appears in Luke 12:

Jesus said, “Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!

What are we to make of the Prince of Peace saying such a thing?  Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, "What DID Happen?" by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text. Oh, and if you want to be thoroughly offended, listen all the way to the summation and benediction.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Up A Tree

Today marks the first sermon since we changed the name of the podcast from the imposing "Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky" to a hopefully easier to handle "The Casting Floor". We believe in transformation. We believe in God's power to mold us, and I hope the new title reflects that.

The recent reporting about Pope Francis has focused my attention to what I see as a flaw in our understanding of our place in God's Creation. In short, I thing we've got ourselves up a tree. Pope Francis, I believe, is showing the way down. Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, "Up a Tree" by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Stuiff

If ever there was something we could describe as the American pastime, I think it would be the collection of "stuff". We really, really love our tchotchkes. Did you know you can buy a thermostat that allows you to control the temperature in your house from your smart phone from anyplace in the world? Join the congregation of  Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky. for this week's sermon, "Stuff" by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Prayer

Karl Barth said that prayer is the central work of Christians, and I believe that, but our prayers tend to be more talking than listening. Here's what I mean. Sermon preparation consumes about 10-12 hours, on average. I spent easily that much time this past week on this Sunday's sermon. I cooked up a dandy! It had indented quotes, citations to the Larger Catechism of the Presbyterian Church, USA, and no fewer than three footnotes. That's a lot of work and I laid my head down last night with a feeling of accomplishment.

That's when I got a call from God (he has my cell phone). "Stewart!" He said. "I have reviewed your sermon and that is the most boring thing I have read in my entire life, and that's saying something. You cannot inflict that upon my Presbyterians. Get up and re-write it. Here...I'll help."

And so, I did.

Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky and see if it got any better by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Welcome

Jesus told Martha, "“Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.” The word translated as "distracted" carries the connotation of being stretched or pulled in many directions. If that isn't a spot-on description of today's world, I don't know what is. Join the Congregation of Community Presbyterian Church for this week's sermon, "Welcome" by clicking HERE for text. (We had a technical hitch with the recorder this week, so there's no audio).

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Have Fun and Be Safe

I can understand how it would be hard to make the connection between the invention of sliced bread, grilled cheese sandwiches, Camden Park, and the "gotcha God" many people hereabouts perceive. That's why you should join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY to learn how. Click HERE for audio or HERE for text. Really. You'll thank me.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Shoeless Joe Jackson

A noteworthy thing happened yesterday. I had subscribed to The Christian Left for many months. The idea of the page was that those on the right had offered up their view of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for too long and it was important to have a balancing voice from the left. I was satisfied with them for quite some time, but they began to attack Republicans as the enemy. I responded that I thought it was quite enough to speak for Christ without becoming a voice for Democratic politics and that casting one party or the other as reflecting Christ's views was not helpful. I was told to mind my own business.

Then, last night, they posted a complaint about "concern trolls" which they defined as people who posted on their page but who were really trolling them, disguised as concern. I found the posting they were upset about and it was in response to a photo they had posted depicting a rural white person as stupid. The "concern troll" they were now being contemptuous of had posted that this was not appropriate. I have now unsubscribed to their page.

So...what went wrong? I think they came to see themselves as the angels of truth and the bearers of the Gospel and anyone disagreeing with them to be spawn of the devil. That's what happens when we forget that we are all Bozos on this bus and we all contain the stain of sin. Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky as we examine hidden motives in this week's sermon, Shoeless Joe Jackson by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

The Gospel Plow

Today's Gospel story speaks of the degree of commitment Jesus requires of His followers, and it's not a comfortable thing to read.

“Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

 Come see how Jesus' commitment looks today as we examine the difference between the life commitment of Jesus and our more comfortable commitment to our churches by by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Speaking Truth to Power

The newspapers have been awash with accounts of Paula Deene's bad language, but nothing about the state of North Carolina throwing Apostles of the Church into prison for speaking truth to power. You might want to search the phrase "Moral Monday" for enlightenment on this issue.

In Luke's telling of the cure of the Gerasene demoniac, there is a deeper message than that Jesus could cast out demons. Jesus spoke to the people of Gerasene words that should have been  comforting -- that Roman power is not irresistible, for there is a power greater than Rome. They asked Him to leave. The saints of the church, 480 of them, who have gathered to speak the same message to the legislators in North Carolina have similarly been asked to leave. In handcuffs. Join us for an examination of the church's prophetic responsibility to speak truth to power, whatever the cost, by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Thoughts After Discussions With An Insurance Company

Biblical writers often speak of “powers and principalities” and we, good post-modernists, duly write such language off as irrelevant to our evolved society. This week, I came up against the powers and principalities of our world, and came away bruised. I want to talk about it.

One of my chronic ailments is sciatica. Something in my lower spine becomes swollen or misplaced or something and impinges on my sciatic nerve. The pain is simply indescribable and believe me, you do not want to experience it first-hand. Fortunately, Brother Sciatica only comes to visit me about twice a year, and when he does, he can be easily evicted by an epidural injection into my spine. 

Brother Sciatica came to visit at the end of May, about six months after the last injection. It got worse and worse and I became disabled by the pain by June. I called my doctor, made an appointment, and we decided to do another injection. This was on a Friday, and his office informed me that they had to have pre-approval from the insurance company. That puzzled me, but I could not imagine it to be a problem.

I have a poor imagination, apparently. 

On Monday, I called to get the date for the injection. They told me they had not heard from the insurance company and suggested that I call them. This is the place where the powers and principalities began to show their teeth.

I connected with a customer service representative. I think she could hear the pain in my voice because I was on a cane by then. She agreed the situation needed to be accelerated, but said she saw no request for a pre-approval. My heart sank. I know where this sort of thing leads – to everyone blaming everyone else.

To my great surprise, though, she offered to stay on the phone and connect me with the right people to get it done. When she had made the connection, she did, indeed, stay on the line and told the woman we were connected to, “Mr. Schneider is in a lot of pain. We need to help him.”

To my very great surprise, someone, somewhere in a call center, was feeling sympathy for my condition and relating to me as an individual, one of God’s children in distress. She was actually offering to help, and staying on the line to do it. This was the last bright spot of the day.

After she disconnected, the new person started all over again, heard my story, but felt that she couldn’t address the issue. She offered to connect me to just the person who could. This repeated until I had spent 30 minutes on the telephone and had spoken to five different people, each of whom treated me with escalating desire to pass me and my problem on to someone else’s desk.

This is the voice of the powers that lead insurance companies. A company, an incorporated entity, has a simple ethic. It must provide an adequate return to its investors and it must shield the principals from liability should something go wrong. By their design, corporations are idolatrous. They acknowledge only these two gods – return on investment and protection of principals. A corporation which cleaves to these principles is a good corporation. There is no place in a corporation’s morals for it to respond with sympathy to crippling pain.

I complained to the Kentucky Retirement System, and they apparently got on someone at the insurance company because I received a telephone call from a representative later that afternoon. I tried to tell her the trouble I had experienced, but she cut me off curtly, telling me that she didn’t need to hear all of that again, gave me a pro forma apology and proceeded to tell me that she would resolve the problem within 24 hours or 4 days. The acknowledgement of my humanity which I had experienced from the first representative was now long in the past. This woman, speaking for the corporation, had a job to do – to somehow address my complaint in a way which wouldn’t lead to a public relations problem. I was no longer a human being in pain. I was a problem to be solved. 

When I insisted on telling her how angry I was, she became angry. My feelings and distress are not of any importance to the powers and principalities. Instead, she told me that he problem, as the corporation saw it, was that the first woman, the one who reached out to me in compassion, never should have attempted to solve the problem by forwarding my call. Instead, she should have told me that my doctor's office would have to request the authorization, and sent me to speak (again) to my doctor. Since the problem began, in her mind, by someone deviating from the morality of the corporation, that employee would be “coached” and “counselled”. 

The corporation cannot entertain the possibility that its policies and procedures are incompetent to address human needs because addressing human needs is not a goal of the corporation except to the extent that doing so enhances investor return. Rather than to address the problem within itself, a scapegoat was found.

This is not a problem with this corporation uniquely, nor with corporations as a group. It is a problem with any organization, company, country or (God help us) church which comes to hold power over human lives. Inevitably, such an entity will act to protect itself and will victimize even its own members in self-defence of its corporate goals.

The culture of the United States of America is informed by two great myths: the myth of redemptive violence, that a violent response is the only appropriate and effective response to threat, and the myth fostered by Horatio Alger, that with pluck, luck, and hard work anyone can rise to the top. Both myths are demonic and destructive, leaving a trail of blood and tears through our history. Like the insurance company, however, we have agreed not to see the systemic failures these two great myths represent. Instead, we focus on individuals, scapegoats upon which we then vent our violence, since we permit ourselves to do so shamelessly against those who trespass on that which we hold sacred.

The debate over capital punishment and the calls for drug-testing welfare recipients offer excellent perspectives from which to view both myths. Clearly, the myth goes, since anyone by pluck, luck and hard work can succeed then those who have not succeeded clearly have not applied pluck, luck and hard work. They must be on drugs. Florida’s experience, which, according to the New York Times, “Ushered in amid promises that it would save taxpayers money and deter drug users, a Florida law requiring drug tests for people who seek welfare benefits resulted in no direct savings, snared few drug users and had no effect on the number of applications, according to recently released state data” is still being pursued by many states, such is the power of the myth. Despite the evidence of the Innocence Project demonstrating how often and how tragically our court system reaches erroneous results, despite the entire history of humanity which demonstrates that violence begets only violence, we cling to the myth of redemptive violence as to a Savior of humanity.

Because we work within the powers and principalities of our world, and are therefore beholden to them for our livelihoods, we have absorbed their idolatry and their Scripture into our very DNA. Those who deviate from it, like the first woman to whom I spoke who insisted on seeing me as a human being, will be scapegoated until they have disappeared and our landscape is reduced to a dry, blowing waste.

Invisible People

Every year 30,000 Americans die on our highways, the cost of our high-speed travel. In Bangladesh and Honduras and Mexico, young people and yes, even children, labor to make our cheap clothes. The only way we can live in a world so corrupt without losing our minds is to blind ourselves to these people. Come see how that plays out with David and Bathsheba and Ahab, Jezebel and Naboth in this week's sermon from Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Up Against the Wall

It's dreadful hurtful to admit, but for many of us the church has become irrelevant, an antique hold-over, a dying institution that is up against the wall. The question that this raises in my mind is this: if there is a wall, who built it?

Come and join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY for today's sermon from the story of the widow of Zarapath titled "Up Against the Wall" by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Faith, Pope and Heresy

Pope Francis made a statement during an evening homily that got the media's knickers in a right twist. He said, it was reported, that atheists "go to heaven", and that was pretty big news. Of course, His Holiness did not say that at all, but what he did say, while not the stuff of headlines, is the message that Christians all need to hear -- you can't "get to heaven" on your own hook, but you can make "getting to heaven" a wall and an idol that will engender wars and strife between God's children. Join us for this week's sermon, "Faith, Pope and Heresy" by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

God's Extravagant Love

Today was Memorial Day, Trinity Sunday, Graduate Recognition Sunday and Alumni Sunday all rolled into one! I got the day off and our message today was brought by Pastor David Walthour, one of our alumni. Come hear about God's extravagant love by clicking HERE for audio. (No text today)

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

What Did He Say?

The frustration of speaking the Gospel to a materialistic society which values only material things and the search for personal comfort is considerable. We are living in a post Tower of Babel world. Our language is confused, and without a common language, how are we to speak to a world only peripherally interested in what we have to say? Join the Congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky this Whitsunday as we examine the difficulty of describing the color red to a color-blind man by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Paul and Silas

I saw this cartoon on Facebook this week. The whole world has been watching the tragedy of the building collapse in Bangladesh. It has distracted us from the previous horror -- the devastation of West, Texas from the poorly inspected fertilizer plant. We like nothing better than to imagine that we have more self-control than we actually possess. Join our congregation in this week's sermon, "Paul and Silas" as we investigate the responsibility of Christians to speak truth to power by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Belongers, Behavers and Believers

The church has always, and will always, contain a mix of belongers (those who belong to the church because it benefits them), behavers (those who are attracted to the church's teaching of a righteous way to behave, but who have little understanding or appreciation for the underlying spiritual foundations) and believers (those whose connection with God is so intimate because they know that the Spirit has come to live with them. Join Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky for this week's sermon titled Belongers, Behavers, and Believers by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Offensive Grace

When Christians pause to consider horrible acts, like the Boston bombings, we are pulled in two directions. On the one hand, we are angry and we hunger for justice. We have been attacked and we wish to respond in kind. On the other hand, God has taught us that we are to respond to evil with good, blessing those who persecute us. Come see how this plays out within the context of Peter's initial outreach to the Gentiles of his time by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

One other thing. Kathy's great aunt Bea, the matriarch of the Jewish side of our family, passed away on Shabbos. In her honor, I closed the service with the great Jewish prayer, Sh'ma Yisrael. My most contrite apologies to Cindy Harris for my abominable pronounciation.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

The Hunt for Heaven

One of my least favorite bumper stickers is the one that says, "Honk if you love Jesus". Can that POSSIBLY be an adequate explanation of the events in Jerusalem sometime around 30 c.e.? Since my answer is pretty obviously "No", I made up my own bumper sticker and gave it to the congregation. It reads, "If you love Jesus, pursue compassion. Any fool can honk."

The other thing to know is that I shared with my congregation the loving service of our great-aunt's companion, Brenda, who is seeing to her as she leaves this world. She is doing so selflessly and lovingly. She is the best example of compassion that comes to mind right now.

Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky for "The Hunt for Heaven" by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

The Restoration of Peter

Our ideas of justice are founded more on our insecurities and our fears than upon God's example of justice. We prefer to identify and then exclude "bad guys" from our midst, while God's plan encompasses restoration and re-integration. Join the Congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky for "The Restoration of Peter" by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

The Tape Measure of Truth

Sometimes, a great, happy, joyful wonderful thing happens. Our congregation contains at least one real life hero, a man who lives his life in a wheelchair as a result of an injury he received while protecting his community. Because he is dependent on others to transport him, we haven't seen him in six months. The corporation which looks after his needs is not compelled to transport him to church, and we can't. So when a stranger interrupted my sermon, I didn't know what to expect until he asked how to get a wheelchair in.

I thought to edit out what happened, but I am so excited to have Vince back with us, that I left it in. Join in our happiness by clicking HERE for audio, or if you'd prefer just the sermon, click HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Resurrection Roadblock

If we can calculate the mass of a star, and the spin of an electron, should we not be able to give an answer to the Resurrection? The answer I would offer is "No" for the Resurrection is neither a rational nor a historical event. Before you get out the pitchforks and torches, however, join our congregation in this week's sermon, "Resurrection Roadblock" by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

How Loud is Your Faith

When Jesus made his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, he was making a political statement so loud that it was heard from the poorest beggar to the High Priest, and it threatened the livelihoods and peace of an entire country. Where would we look today for an example of a powerful statement of the Gospel? If you guessed the Occupy Wall Street movement, you might be right. Click HERE for audio or HERE for text to decide whether you agree with me, or if old age has softened my head.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Shooting Pool

Ancient people had a rich thesaurus full of words to describe the commonly observed fact that however careful we are, the wheels keep coming off our best laid plans. They spoke of evil and devils and demons. They spoke of powers and principalities as institutions that had the power to oppress and dominate them, with no chance of voting them out of power. In Revelation, John of Patmos addressed seven letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor, but he addressed the letters to the "Angel" of each church.

Our world view is a much more arid place, where events careen across a billiard table in accord with complicated equations, but we have denied ourselves the language known to the ancients which empowered them to consider the billiard players.

Join the Congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, KY for this week's sermon on devils, demons and why the wheels keep coming off, by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.


Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

A Piece of Gristle

It is hard for Americans particularly to turn their back on the common understanding that with good old American hard work, we can transform our world into Eden. The lessons of history and the teachings of the Gospels, however, offer a different view. No matter how good your intentions, you are not the Savior of the world and you cannot accomplish what you think you can. Evil is present, in our corporations who sit on money while the unemployment rate is high, in our churches which allow themselves to become so bound by their procedures that they do harm to children, in our very lives when we put our comfort and our flattering view of our goodness ahead of the needs of others. Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church as we examine the piece of gristle that runs through the world and each of us by clicking HERE for audio and HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Boots on the Ground

I speak to an awful lot of folks who instruct me that we live in a random world, a world without purpose or direction. Stuff happens as the bumper sticker says. Frankly, I have a problem with that. I can't embrace it. I'm convinced that we live in a purposeful world, a world of intentionality. Come see what I mean by joining the Congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky for this week's sermon on the burning bush by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text and answer for yourself this burning question: how long would you have to look at a burning bush before you noticed that it was not being consumed?

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Go Fly a Kite

Sometimes, in discussions with folks around the Chapel of St. Starbuck's, I get the feeling that there is a reluctance to reach beyond the early teachings we received in the church as children to a more mature relationship with God. I think of the early teaching we received as the tail of the kite and the breath of God as the breeze that blows us skyward. Come join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Ky by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text and let us know what you think.


Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

TEMPTATION

My experience in the courts was that nobody sets out to do evil. They set out to do something reasonable, even important, but then, somehow, it goes awry. This Sunday, I'm using the language of demons and devils to talk about temptation. Satan doesn't tempt us to burn nine-year old girls. Satan convinces us that it is an important thing to save a foreign country from Communism, then teaches us to refer to nine-year-old girls as "collateral damage". Click HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Kingdom Eyes

Three hundred years before Christ, if not longer, the battle was joined between those who believed that their own senses revealed to them everything knowable about the world, and those who believed that it was possible to make connection with the unseen reality of the world. The debate has not shown any sign of diminishing in the intervening eons, so I doubt that we will put it to rest today. Nonetheless, did you know that the gravels that skinned your knee on the playground were mostly empty space, as was your knee, come to that? Come join us for this week's Transfiguration Sunday sermon, "Kingdom Eyes" by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Us and Them

Every time my faith wavers, this church astonishes me. Many emails and phone calls were made last night because of the snow, and because we had Boy Scout Sunday, Communion AND Super Bowl Sunday scheduled. The attendance predictions were pretty pessimistic.

Full house. Go figger! I am so blessed.

While I get over my celebration of the remarkable people I have come to so love, why don't you take a minute to join them in our debate over immigration reform by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text?


Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

Worship

You don't have to look very far nor very hard to find evidence that the church is not speaking a language which is understandable to the majority of contemporary people. Contemporary people seem to see no reason to bother to learn the language of the church, and the church cannot abandon its unique language without becoming just another noise competing for attention in an increasingly noisy world. Take the word, "worship", for instance. What in the world do contemporary people make of this vaguely old-fashioned word? Join the congregation of Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky for this week's sermon, "Worship" by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

The List

Not that I would *ever* imagine that a Presbyterian would permit himself to be enticed into something so sullied as a three-card Monte game in a back alley, but if that should ever have happened to one of your friends (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) you may have noticed how quickly your money moved into his pocket, despite your best efforts. We call this "slight of hand". We see what we expect to see.

So it is with miracles. Most of us do not expect miracles, and when we are confronted with an account of a miracle, such as the changing of water into wine at the wedding in Cana, our inclination is to either blow it off  by saying, "God can do anything", or to domesticate it by removing the miracle-ness from it. Miracles just don't appear on our list of believable things.

That won't work at the wedding at Cana because Jesus didn't manipulate the jugs of water in any way. He didn't even touch them. We are skewered at the point of this sign. Either Jesus was something utterly unique, or the Gospel account is a fabrication or a fraud. Many today take the latter approach. Everybody knows this is impossible. Those called to faith in Jesus take the first approach. Come join our congregation for "The List" by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.

No Sermon -- Just an apology

I know it sounds dramatic and all, but for personal reasons, I can't post a sermon this week. Nobody's sick or dying, I didn't have a crisis, I'm fine, family's fine. I just cannot, for reasons I cannot share, post the sermon. Click HERE for the benediction.

I pray you will forgive me. I'll do better next week.

stewart

Something's Up

On the way to church, my wife asked me what the sermon was about. I told her that I would be preaching on a differential analysis of the accounts in Matthew and Luke, with some observations upon the calendar calculations by Dionysus Exeguus. She replied, "Why can't we just have a nice sermon on the wise men coming to worship the baby Jesus?"

Why not, indeed! That's the story that makes everybody all warm and fuzzy. The question it poses to me, however, is why the good news seems to make everybody in the story cranky and, well..., murderous? Join us to find out how the stakeholders of the status quo react to the coming of Christ by clicking HERE for audio or HERE for text.

Community Presbyterian Church of Bellefonte, Kentucky, was built on the casting floor of a 19th Century iron blast furnace. We use "The Casting Floor" as an image for the power of the Spirit to form us. Visit us at http://communitypresbyterian.org.