New Blog Started

Dear Friends,

You have probably noticed this blog is hardly ever updated. It was my intention to use this blog regularly for a variety of ministry purposes. My schedule has made that difficult.

However, I am not giving up, I am simply re-tooling. A regular blog is a good way to help a pastor both in his ministry and in personal growth. Kind of an open journal of thoughts to share, and whether anyone reads it or not, it is a tool that sharpens skills and can benefit others if there are any nuggets that God uses.

So, my attempt will be to make this communication device more of a priority. The new blog will simply be a blog about whatever comes to mind. It is not specifically related to church ministry, although it will be relevant to it. The subjects will vary and so will the length of posts. Its simply an outlet for creativity and thoughts, both serious and just for fun.

What about "Cultivating Ethos?" Well, that's still what I am doing. It's an idea that has more to do with the inner workings of ministry rather than something to blog about. If it were a book, it would be a book for pastors and not many others. The new blog is meant for everyone and just an expression of thought.

If you are subscribed to this blog, please visit the new blog at http://www.scottfurrow.com/ and resubscribe by feed or email on that site.

Blessings,

SCF

The Rising Sun Armchair

In today's message, I mentioned the chair that George Washington was sitting on during the Constitutional Convention, otherwise known as the Rising Sun Armchair. This is a picture of it on the left.

The story that went along with it is about Ben Franklin's thoughts regarding the sun carving on the top of the chair. Franklin noted that as Washington would stand, it would reveal this image of the sun, half-way covered by the horizon. The question he asked himself was, is this a rising-sun or a setting sun?

Considering the task at hand, Franklin wondered if this group of remarkable men were really creating something that would last, or whether it would be a colossal failure. Is the sun rising on our hopes and dreams, the result of our revolution, or is the sun setting on us, ending the dream and dashing hopes.

It was a sobering thought as he pondered the newness of what they were considering. Nations had always been ruled by kings, or czars or emperors or Caesars - self rule had not been successful. Could a government really have absolute power with checks and balances and elected common people? Perhaps this would be the greatest meeting in history. Or, perhaps history would instead record that this group of men, who had what it took to rebel against the monarchy, didn't have enough sense to start another one.

At the end of the convention, James Madison recorded that Franklin rose and said:

"As I have been sitting here all these weeks, I have often wondered whether yonder sun is rising or setting. But now I know that it is a rising sun."

Franklin was right. It was a rising sun. We celebrate that this week on our nation's independence Day. It is a serious time of great change. We are in an era described as post-Christian, post-denominational, and postmodern in a world filled with new labels for people like neo-liberals and neo-cons, neo-pagans and neo-Calvinists. No one is sure where this is headed.

Is the sun rising or is the sun setting? Our hope is grounded upon the idea that the evils of this world will never prevail against the Church that Christ builds. That means that if we as Christ followers remain concerned about the things Christ is concerned about, being the Church He is building, then there is always hope of a great future for the Church, regardless of its institutional structure or the labels placed on people.

I believe the sun is rising on a new era for the Church. It is a time of refocus and concern for the things that Jesus is concerned about. This may be one of the most exciting times in world history as our uncertainty will produce the greatest faith.

Blessings,

SCF

Church: Is it an Obligation or a Celebration?

Why do you go to church? Is it an obligation or is it a celebration?

We've begun a series on the topic of "Worship" and this is a key question for us. What motivates you to come to church on Sunday mornings? Habit? Tradition? Maybe you come to please someone you love? Maybe some come to church to find someone to date, to marry? Maybe you just need a friend?

Worship. What is that anyway? What does it mean to those who drive by and see that word on our sign?

What does "Worship" signify to those who see the sign? Obligation or Celebration?

One of the greatest questions I've heard came from an 18 year old woman who visited our church a few months ago. Before going into the worship service, she said she had a few questions. Her first question was about our upcoming worship service. She asked, "What goes on in there anyway?" She had never been to any kind of church service in her life. Never. Sadly, her lack of church experience is more common than regular church-goers would even like to imagine.

So, what does go on "in there" anyway? Is it a gathering of a bunch of people who are coming out of a motivation of obligation or are they coming to celebrate something?

The answer to that question is vital for us to know and it's not simply an answer to gather theologically or doctrinally - it's something personal. The answer for each of us matters because it is core to our entire church ethos. I'll write more about that in the days to come. However, our goal is to make sure that for each one of us, we know we are coming together to celebrate.

So, what do we celebrate? On Sunday, I gave you 11 reasons to celebrate in our worship time together. In case you missed them, here they are:

1 Peter 1:3-6: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice...

We celebrate and Worship God because:

1. He is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (vv. 3)
2. He has shown us great mercy (vv. 3)
3. He has given us new birth [Jesus called it being "born again" in John 3] (vv. 3)
4. The result is a living hope (vv. 3)
5. Our security of this living hope is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (vv. 3)
6. The object of this living hope is an inheritance (vv. 4)
7. This inheritance cannot be destroyed or reduced in any way - it is eternal and permanent (vv. 4)
8. It is kept in heaven for us (vv. 4)
9. We are being shielded for it by the very power of God (vv. 5)
10. God gives us faith that is the means for this shield and by which we hold on to the promises of God (vv. 5)
11. And the hope rests in a salvation which God will reveal in the last days (vv. 5)

That is quite a lot to celebrate - but there is so much more!

Blessings,

Pastor Scott

The Ursprache of Discipleship

This morning, I got a freshly brewed cup of Ethiopian coffee and sat down to watch the morning news and consider my day. There was a lot of discouraging news about the state of many things, but in the midst of sour news about our culture, was a great piece of hope. The excitement over the new Scripps National Spelling Bee champion, Katharine "Kerry" Close, is very encouraging.

The Bee was televised live Thursday night, which is a good sign, because national TV networks typically will only schedule prime-time shows that advertisers believe will actually be watched by a considerable audience. Kerry's story was important to celebrate.

The winning word: "ursprache." Unlike last year's winning word, "appoggiatura," this year's word starts with the letter "u." That's about all I could have told you about those two words. So I looked up "ursprache":

ursprache - (Ur·spra·che):

See protolanguage.
"Oooo," I said to myself, "I know that word!"

protolanguage - (pro·to·lan·guage):

A language that is the recorded or hypothetical ancestor of another language or group of languages. Also called Ursprache.
It got me thinking about how important knowing ursprache is to understanding our Bible, and our faith, and more specifically, the words of Christ. We live in a great time, where geological , archeological and other sciences are allowing us to understand and use ursprache to make Bible translation and interpretation even more precise.

As you probably know, the New Testament is written in Greek; but, its not written in modern Greek. It was written in an ancient, ursprache of modern Greek called "Koine Greek". This version of Greek was the "common language" at the time, a second language for many. If you spoke aramaic conversationally, you probably also knew Koine Greek which would have been necessary for you to know in order to do business in a multi-cultural society. The New Testament was written in this language (the Old Testament was also translated into it) so that the broad society could read it.

It's important to remember the the Bible was written for us, but it wasn't actually written to us. Therefore, Bible scholars must attempt to understand what the people who heard it the first time thought of it in order to give us an accurate translation and interpretation today. Thanks to our ability to research and understand ursprache, this work can be done quite effectively.

For example, the Koine Greek word that is often translated as "power" is "dunamis" such as in Acts 1:8 "For you will receive power [dunamis] when the Holy Spirit comes on you..." (NIV) This same word, dunamis, is also the root word English english word "dynamite." Because of this connection, someone trying to interpret this passage and the "power of the Holy Spirit" may describe the power as "explosive, like dynamite" since both power and dynamite have the same Greek root.

However, a correct understanding of ursprache would indicate that the Biblical writer (Luke) would not have intended to describe God's power as "explosive" at all. While it's true that the root to dynamite would describe an explosive power today, the Biblical writer had never heard of dynamite as it wasn't invented yet. There are no known uses of dunamis from his day that mean "explosive" as we would understand that today. Dunamis did not take on that connotation for centuries. Thus, Luke cannot be telling us that the power of the Holy Spirit is explosive.

"Discipleship" is one of those words we use in church a lot, and sometimes its meaning is different from place to place. But what did Jesus' Great Commission mean to those who heard it? What does it mean to "make disciples?" The ursprache of Jesus' command is clear. A disciple was not merely a student of someone, although our modern word could be limted to that meaning. Also, a disciple was not just someone who merely studied and got to know some important person, as you could say a disciple might be today.

The meaning of the specific word used in Koine Greek for "disciple," as Christ used it in Matthew 28, was describing someone who is a follower, someone who is committed to more than just knowing and understanding the teacher, but one who would live his or her life maintaining a lifestyle according to thier mentor's precepts and instruction.

This would have been the understanding of those who audibly heard those words on that day. Today, it is also the meaning for those of us who read them. We know this because ursprache is well understood. The command of Christ for believers is to follow Him, obeying his commands and living out His teachings. This is what a disciple did then, and what one must do now.

Blessings,

Pastor Scott

PS: appoggiatura - (ap·pog·gia·tu·ra): (Music) An embellishing note, usually one step above or below the note it precedes and indicated by a small note or special sign.