A topic that not only is difficult to work through in your own life, but also very difficult to write on is “INTEGRITY.”  I am giving a brief selection of titles, but clearly looking at the words of Jesus Christ is the best place to start.

Introductory Books on Integrity

The Red Letters: The Sayings and Teachings of Jesus by Timothy J. Beals  I have personally found this an eye-opening little book.  Not only does it focus your attention on the words of Christ, it also breaks them down into two sections 1) The Sayings of Jesus, and 2) The Teachings of Jesus.  This “carry-a-long” book helps one get a sense of the words of Christ in a more personal way.  It also allows one to grapple with the integrity of Christ in his humanness and his divinity. I highly recommend this book for devotional use.

A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life, by William Law  It was Quaker Author and Teacher, Richard Foster, who introduced me to William Law’s classic.  It is in reading the pages of this book that one will begin to touch on the keys to a life of Integrity.  Law’s work is fresh and vivid, as he illustrates the holy Christian life as one lived wholly for God. Law’s thoughts on prayer, personal holiness and service to the poor will resonate with many contemporary readers. At times you have to remind yourself that this book was written in the 1700’s.

Especially for Kids (Truth-Telling/Integrity)

Doug Dennis and the Flyaway Fib, by Darren Farrell  If you were in church this past Sunday you heard Pastor Bob give a children’s message based on this book.  This is an excellent way to introduce the topic of “truth-telling.’  For those familiar with the VeggieTales, it may remind you of “Larryboy and the Fib from Outer Space” – another excellent choice in video form.

Going Deeper with Integrity

The Day America Told the Truth, by James Patteson & Peter Kim  This is the result of a national survey on private morals.  This look at America’s deepest secrets reveals shocking confessions by Americans about their views on sex, crime, punishment, rape, the death penalty, and more.  You may remember it being a topic of discussion on the Oprah Winfrey Show.  The studies that began with this book continue since it’s original release in 1992.  The study was a factor in Gallop and Barna giving so much attention to morals and beliefs in America.  It may be out of date, but it did begin a revolution of sorts in the statistic business and helps us get a picture of who we really are.  Such a definitive study has not been attempted since.  This is a good one to borrow from the library.

Following Jesus without Embarrassing God, by Tony Campolo  Looking for balance in your life without getting over zealous or “holier than thou”? With candor and insight, Tony Campolo passionately hits on hot button issues that impact the Christian life, including how to: protect yourself from technology without becoming Amish; have a devotional life without becoming a monk, and figure out the will of God without hearing voices from Heaven.  This may be a challenging book for some and if anything will help you begin processing many of the issues related to integrity.  After tackling this book challenge yourself with Tony Campolo and Brian McLaren’s book, “Adventures in Missing the Point: How the Culture Controlled Church Neutered the Gospel“.

 

There are so many good books written on “Peace” and “Peace Studies,” we could write volumes of suggestions.  Below are a few of Pastor Bob’s favorite books that will help introduce you or help you further develop your understanding of “peace.”  If you would like more suggestions or a full copy of Pastor Bob’s bibliography from his doctoral dissertation on this subject, please contact him by email.  Enjoy taking the time to explore and live a life a peace.

Introductory Books on Peace

• Practicing Peace: A Devotional Walk Through the Quaker Tradition, Catherine Whitmire  From the author of last week’s recommendation Plain Living: A Quaker Path to Simplicity comes Practicing Peace: A Devotional Walk through the Quaker Tradition, a guide to the Quaker discipline of practicing peace for spiritual seekers of any religious tradition. Stories of successful nonviolent movements throughout history are partnered with quotes mined from over 350 years of Quaker teachings on peace. Query questions lead readers on a journey to self-discovery and through the stages of practicing peace: first by focusing inwardly, then turning their eyes to practice peace in the world around us.

• Christian Peace and Nonviolence: A Documentary History, Edited by Michael G. Long  From the Sermon on the Mount to the twenty-first century, this comprehensive reader recounts the Christian message of peace and nonviolence. Through testimony by the confessors and martyrs of the early church, the voices of medieval figures like St. Benedict and St. Francis, as well as Erasmus, Lollards, Anabaptists, and Quakers abolitionists, Christian Peace and Nonviolence presents a coherent story in which the peace message of Jesus is restored to central place. Later sections highlight many of the great prophets of modern times, including Tolstoy, Dorothy Day, A.J. Muste, Thomas Merton, Daniel Berrigan, and Oscar Romero. Their challenge remains timely and urgent. As John Haynes Holmes observed, If war is right then Christianity is false, a lie.

Great Introductory Book for Group Study

• Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future, Margaret J. Wheatley  “I believe we can change the world if we start talking to one another again.” With this simple declaration, Margaret Wheatley proposes that citizens band together with their colleagues and friends to create the solutions for social change, both locally and globally, that are so badly needed.

 Recommended Voices on Peace

• The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr., editor Clayborne Carson  Using Stanford University’s voluminous collection of archival material, including previously unpublished writings, interviews, recordings, and correspondence, King scholar Clayborne Carson has constructed a remarkable first-person account of Dr. King’s extraordinary life.

• The Nonviolent Alternative, Thomas Merton The writings in this work were precipitated by a variety of events during the last decades of Merton’s life – the civil rights and peace movements of the 1960s among them. His timeless moral integrity and tireless concern for nonviolent solutions to war are eloquently expressed.
  

• Gandhi and King: The Power of Nonviolent Resistance, Michael J. Nojeim (This was one of Pastor Bob’s most informative books in his dissertation studies.) The lives and work of Mohandis Karamchand Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. have much to teach us about nonviolent resistance to oppression. This book presents a comparative analysis of their legacies that demonstrates how powerful peace and love can be, even in the face of hate-filled oppression, aggression, and violence.
• Gandhi and Jesus: The Saving Power of Nonviolence, Terrence J.  Rynne

Going Deeper with Peace and Possible Group Study Options

• The Politics of Jesus, John Howard Yoder  “A standard in many colleges and seminaries, Yoder makes a strong case for the Anabaptist view of Jesus’ radical critique of society as well as for an intense, though pacifistic involvement.”  This is a very difficult and challenging read – this may be best read in a reading group.

• Speak Truth to Power: A Quaker Search for an Alternative to Violence, American Friends Service Committee  Click the title to read the document online.

• Covenant of Peace: The Missing Peace in New Testament Theology and Ethics, William M. Swartley “One would think that peace, a term that occurs as many as one hundred times in the New Testament, would enjoy a prominent place in theology and ethics textbooks. Yet it is surprisingly absent. Willard Swartley’s Covenant of Peace remedies this deficiency.”

• “If You Only Knew What Would Bring Peace”: Shalom Theology as the Biblical Foundation for Diversity, Terry McGonigal  (Pastor Bob utilized this study for his dissertation – it looks at Shalom Theology from Genesis to Revelation.  Very informative and a wonderful Biblical study. This is also available as an online document.

During Peace Month we will be posting a reading list for those who would like to expand their study on each of the “S.P.I.C.E.”s.  The first week’s set of books will be on Simplicity.

Introductory books on Simplicity:

Freedom of Simplicity, Richard J. Foster: Considered the primer for Christians wanting to learn about simplicity.  The publisher wrote: “Articulates a creative, more human style of living and points the way for Christians to make their lives “models of simplicity.”

Plain Living: A Quaker Path to Simplicity, Catherine Whitmire: For over three centuries Quakers(Friends) have been living out of a spiritual center in a way of life they call “plain living.” Their accumulated experiences and distilled wisdom have much to offer anyone seeking greater simplicity today.

Going Deeper with Simplicity:

Simpler Living, Compassionate Life: A Christian Perspective, Edited by Michael Schut: This is a wonderful collection of writings from diverse voices – some quite surprising – exploring voluntary simplicity as a path to wholeness and abundance and compassion. Practical, prayerful, fun. — At The Center, St. Placid Priory Newsletter

Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives, Richard Swenson:  This book is for anyone who yearns for relief from the pressure of overload. The benefits can be good health, financial stability, fulfilling relationships, and availability for God’s purpose.

The American Paradox: Spiritual Hunger in an Age of Plenty, David G. Myers: In this compelling book, well-known social psychologist David G. Myers asks why in an era of great material wealth America suffers from such a disturbing array of social problems that reflect a deep spiritual poverty. Examining the research on social ills from the 1960s through the 1990s, Myers concludes that materialism and radical individualism have cost us dearly. He offers positive, well-reasoned advice on how to spark social renewal and dream a new American dream.

Other titles that have been discussed:

A Testament of Devotion, Thomas R. Kelly:  Since its first publication in 1941, A Testament of Devotion, by the renowned Quaker teacher Thomas Kelly, has been universally embraced as a truly enduring spiritual classic. Plainspoken and deeply inspirational, it gathers together five compelling essays that urge us to center our lives on God’s presence, to find quiet and stillness within modern life, and to discover the deeply satisfying and lasting peace of the inner spiritual journey.

Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth, Richard J. Foster: Hailed by many as the best modern book on Christian spirituality, Celebration of Discipline explores the “classic Disciplines,” or central spiritual practices, of the Christian faith. Along the way, Foster shows that it is only by and through these practices that the true path to spiritual growth can be found.

Most of these books can be borrowed from your local library, downloaded on eReaders, borrowed from friends, or found in our own SFC library.  We pray you take further time to explore a “simpler” life. 

This coming week (Jan. 8) we begin Peace Month at Silverton Friends Church.  During the month of January and the beginning of February, Pastor Bob will be presenting sermons on five of the Friends Testimonies.

• Simplicity – Jan. 8
• Peace – Jan. 15
• Integrity – Jan. 22
• Community – Jan. 29
• Equality – Feb. 5

For more information on Peace Month please check out the Northwest Yearly Meeting special site by clicking HERE.

January is often a time to resolve to do things differently, to do better; it’s a clean slate, a fresh start, a time to reinvent oneself (just ask the gyms and the weight loss industry).

This month, you and I will vow to exercise more, eat less, abstain from our vices and become the people we hope and want to be. Yet by early February, our good intentions will have been tested and, too often, found lacking (just ask the gyms and the weight loss industry).

But those failures–both major and minor–rarely stop us from striving to be better year after year. This is a good thing. When we fail to grow as humans and Christians, we fail to realize our full potential.

Most of us feel that we can’t afford to overhaul our whole life to meet our goals. We have jobs, we have kids, and we have friends who would think we have lost our minds. But you know what? If the goals you and I set are not worth overhauling our lives for, then we must ask our-selves why not?

While processing my own personal goals for 2012, I began to wonder: Can the church have New Year’s resolutions? Has the church failed to grow and realize its full potential? What might need overhauled in the life of the church in 2012?

Perhaps these goals would not be as simple to tack to one’s refrigerator as our personal resolutions, but we as members of the Body of Christ could certainly aim for some goals in the coming year that would help us realize our potential as the church. Here are some suggestions for 2012.

In 2012, I hope to see Silverton Friends Church vow to…

• faithfully proclaim the gospel through word and deed. Words alone are not sufficient; how the gospel is embodied in our community, worship, and the example of our lives is as important as what we say.
• seek to put the good of our neighbors over our own, and have a heart for being involved in the local community – especially with the poor, oppressed and marginalized. 
• practice hospitality by welcoming the stranger into the midst of our gatherings without pre-tense, urge to gossip, or critique.
• see ourselves as representatives of Jesus and do nothing to blatantly dishonor His name.
• be desperately dependent on prayer and reclaim it as a part of our daily life.
• provide meaningful opportunities for spiritual formation instead of cluttering people’s lives with sheer programmatic busyness.
• feed deeply on the Scriptures throughout the week – not being content with knowing the Bible at a surface level, but desiring to have a deep understanding of the whole of Scripture.
• help people discover and develop their spiritual gifts and rely on gifted people for ministry instead of merely talented people.
• become a healing community where people carry each other’s burdens and help restore them gently.

I believe if we, as the church, take seriously these resolutions, we will begin seeing a fuller representation of our potential as the Body of Christ. And just maybe, our own personal lives will be transformed amidst our failures and unreached goals.

May God bestow His grace upon us in 2012.

Pastor Bob Henry

This is Pastor Bob’s message from our Family Christmas Celebration on Christmas Eve:

Read John 1:1-18 (from The Message)

Did you see him? Did you see Jesus? Or maybe I should ask – “Do you see him?”

Some of you tonight may be asking “Where is Jesus? Does he really care about me? How could Jesus possibly know what I have to suffer in this world?”

These may be questions that you have asked, especially in moments of pain, confusion, or frustration. I know I have. I truly believe the answer to these questions is, “God does really care, God is closer than your own heart and God does indeed understand your suffering.”

Often we are too quick to look at the divine attributes of God and totally miss the human attributes. Miracles, being all-powerful, all-knowing….is kind of hard to grasp in our humanness! Isn’t it?

God knew that…thus he decided to humble himself and become one of us.

Back in 1850 John Millais (1829-1896) painted a picture of Jesus working in Joseph’s carpentry workshop, entitled Christ in the House of His Parents.

My son Alex could probably relate to this picture. Because in the painting Jesus had given himself a bad gash in his finger and blood streamed down onto his feet. Mary was there comforting him.

Although only an imaginary incident, it portrays very well that Jesus was human, and understands our pain.

It depicts very well what John means in the text I read, ‘The Word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood.’

Why? Because God does care. God had absolutely no need to become one of us but did so to convince us how much we mean to him.

We mean so much to God that God became a human, just to convince us, and if that isn’t enough to convince us, Jesus actually dies for us.

What more can God do to convince us he cares about us? That is huge!

That text I read at the beginning was John chapter 1 from The Message – you may have heard more like this.

That Word is Jesus. It is truly amazing, almost unbelievable, that this Word, Jesus, who existed since the beginning and is God, would become flesh.

We wouldn’t expect God to mix with us by becoming flesh. But the Word became flesh, God became one of us to convince us that God does care about us.

Because the Word became flesh Jesus was like us in every way except sin.· He even had the same emotions that we do.

• He loved other people, Martha, Mary and Lazarus, his disciple John (who wrote this very text) and the rich young man.
• He cried when he hurt a lot; when his friend Lazarus died and before entering Jerusalem when he knew that the city would not accept him as the Messiah.
• He enjoyed social occasions. In Luke’s Gospel in particular we read of Jesus attending many dinners, so much so that a rhyme was made up about him, ‘a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners.’ Or as we may rhyme today “a consumer, a drunk, a friend of politicians and anyone else we can’t stand to be around.”
• Jesus felt pity and compassion for people when he saw them suffering, so when they were hungry he multiplied the loaves and fish.
• He got angry when people used the Temple for the wrong purpose.
• He needed companionship, so he took Peter, James and John aside with him on many occasions and we even know that John was his very close friend.
• At the end of a hard day Jesus fell asleep in the boat, he was tired or exhausted like all of us.
• He felt fear before his passion, ‘Father let his cup pass me by’ he said and in John 12:27 he says, ‘now my soul is troubled’. Imagine Jesus saying, ‘now my soul is troubled’.
• When John says the Word became flesh, he really means it. After all, he had seen Jesus and had been his very close friend.

As he said in the text,

The Word was made flesh, he lived among us, and we saw his glory…

The Word became flesh and lived among us (moved into our neighborhood), and was like us in every way except sin, to convince us that God does care about us.

 The Word dwelt among us.

The Word, Jesus, didn’t just become flesh and live a quiet life.

He became flesh and dwelt among us. He was a man of the people. That’s why they said of him, ‘a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners’.

• When curing the lepers he touched them. Lepers were not supposed to come near towns and according to Jewish Law Jesus would be impure after touching a leper and could not enter the Temple or synagogue until after washing. But Jesus was a man of the people, he dwelt among them, and so Law or no Law (RADICAL), when a leper wanted healing he touched him.
• Because Jesus was a man of the people he concentrated much of his ministry among those who really needed him, the sinners. People no different than me and you. They knew they were welcome in his company, he was known as a friend of sinners.

This Word, Jesus, became flesh, and dwelt among us, and made the Father known to us as the last line of the text reads,

No one has ever seen God, it is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

John is saying the reason the Word became flesh was that we might get to know the Father.

• Jesus is the Father’s Word to us. Jesus is the revelation of God the Father.
• How do we get to know the Father? By getting to know Jesus.
• Jesus, the Word made flesh, is the way to the Father. If we want to know the God of the Universe, let us get to know Jesus.

How do we get to know Jesus?

The same way as we get to know anybody. By spending time together. We spend time with Jesus when we pray to him and when we read the Gospels. (Thus the challenge!) So let us get to know Jesus who became flesh, through prayer and reading the Gospels, so that we might get to know the Father.

Folks, we cannot say anymore it is too difficult to get to know God. He has revealed himself to us in his Son Jesus to show us that he really does care about us.

The Word was made flesh, he lived among us… No one has ever seen God, it is the only Son, who is nearest to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.

Sarah Markley puts all this in context with the words of her poem:

We are leavers. Serial leavers.

 We leave jobs and churches.

We leave homes and neighborhoods.

Sometimes we leave children and spouses.

We are blessed with the means to leave most of the time.

With cars that start or bank accounts that allow employment switches.

We are fortunate to have running shoes to lace up to run out the door when an argument gets too thick to work through.

We leave friends behind.

We leave homeless people on the side of the road.

We leave someone alone when we know they need human comfort.

We leave when things feel uncomfortable or when we see the promise of something better somewhere else.

When it gets too deep or too painful, we skip out.

Most of all we leave to protect our hearts.

It isn’t necessarily right but it’s true.

Christ did not leave us. Instead He came.

His body would be bruised and broken for us, but He came.

His heart would be shredded by the heartache in the world and instead of preserving himself, He preserved us.

His life would be stolen, but even so He arrived.

He arrived. And did not leave.

Even when He “left” He didn’t.

He would always be with us, He promised.

He would give us Someone else to care for us.

He did not leave as we are prone to do.

And even as His own humanity was prone to do.

Jesus arrived because of His supreme love for each one of us.

God WITH us. He is here. He is still here.

Folks, do you see him?

CALLING ALL MEN OF SFC!

Looking for a weekend away with just “the guys”after this stressful holiday season. Well, we have just the retreat for you!

Join us at the Christian Renewal Center ( 22444 North Fork Rd. SE Silverton, OR 97381) anytime after 4pm on Friday, January 6.  The retreat will end on Sunday morning, January 8 after breakfast.

Our own Jim Cavalier will have several pots of his famous chili cooking when we arrive to start our retreat off right!

This year our special speaker will be Bruce Steffenson.

Bruce Steffensen is currently the Director of Spiritual Formation and Leadership Development for the Association of the Churches of God of Oregon and Southwest Washington (he prefers just being thought of as the pastor to the pastors). He also serves as an adjunct professor at Warner Pacific College. He has served in higher education and church ministry for most of his adult life.

Bruce and his wife Debi have been married for 25 years, have 3 adult sons, Jeremy; Jacob; and Ethan, and a new grand-daughter, Chione. He enjoys bicycling (he rode from the Canadian border to Government Camp this past summer), motorcycling, camping, fishing, hiking, cheese making and sausage making.

Don’t miss this great opportunity to bond and grow in the Lord!

JOIN US AS WE RING IN 2012 TOGETHER!

We will be meeting at the Silverton Bowling Alley at 6pm!

Cost is $8 per person for 2 games and shoes.

After bowling, we will return to SFC for games (bring your favorite to play), snacks (bring your favorite to share), and a devotion.

At 10pm, we will set up the sanctuary for church the next morning.

After the sanctuary is set up, we will watch a movie!

EVERYONE IS WELCOME!

Join us at 5:00pm on Christmas Eve for our

FAMILY CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION

“Do you see him?”

Come sing carols, hear scriptures, light candles, listen to choirs, and join together as a community of faith to share in the joy of Christmas!

Included in the service will be “Reader’s Theater” presentations from Jospeh, Mary, the Inkeeper, as well as the Shepherd Children.

The Adult and Children’s Choir will lead us in worship as well as the worship band.  The night will conclude in candlelight as we sing Silent Night.

Bring family and friends and join us for a wonderful night of celebration!

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PLEASE NOTE

On Sunday, December 25th, we are challenging the Silverton Friends Church community to return to the Oral Tradition of reading scripture in the home.  Gather your families and join together in reading the Christmas Story from Luke 2.  We will not be having a worship service on Sunday morning as we hope you will join us on Saturday evening.  We look forward to hearing how you shared the “Good News” this Christmas with those in your home!

Merry Christmas!