Hope you all are having a great Wednesday! I know this is a rather lengthy email, but please take the time to read it as there is a lot of info on Missions, Fixed Point Super Bowl Party, Prayer, New Members to our class and Danny's Covenant Chronicles (church wide announcements and Theology 101)
Missions:
Missions Week, February 24-29, is coming up! Roddy and Katherine Taylor, our Missions Coordinators, have learned that the following is still needed for Missions Week: five host families to house missionaries, 12 families to host missionaries to lunch on Sunday, desserts on Sunday night and Monday night and snacks for the Hospitality Room during the festival. Please contact Phyliss Hamm at phamm@covpres.com if you are able to help with these needs. Also, the Taylors will open up their home on Tuesday, February 28th at 6:30 p.m. for our class to meet and have dessert with two guest missionaries, Tim and Theresa Simpson (East West Ministries - Middle East/Russia) and John and Samantha Hudson (100 Fold - Montana). So, save the date of Tuesday, Feb 28! Their address is 1868 Southwood Road in Vestavia. Childcare provided! Stay tuned for more details in the next couple of weeks.
Fixed Point Super Bowl Party, an invitation from Larry Taunton: We cordially invite all members of the Foundations class to a Super Bowl Party at 5pm on Super Bowl Sunday at Latimer House in Mountain Brook Village. Huge flat screens will show the game. There will be plenty of seating, good food, and if you come, great fellowship. Food will be outstanding and is FREE. No fighting! Good fun! No fund raising! So that we have enough food, please let us know if you will be able to attend. You can email us at info@fixed-point.org or rpage@fixed-point.org or call 414-6311. Unfortunately, we cannot provide childcare. Provided that it is not a problem for anyone, alcohol will be served. I do not personally drink alcohol, but I know that a number of you enjoy a beer or glass of wine with dinner and a ballgame. Therefore we will have some available. Thanks and we look forward to seeing you there, Larry Taunton.
Prayer Requests:
Continued prayer for little Bo Glascow, son of Bridgett and Jarrod, who suffered seizures on Sunday
Mary Stegall (Sarah Squires' mother) - pray for infection to heal so that she can continue treatment for cancer
Sherry Zorn (Alan Spooner's mother) - pray for her wounds from surgery to heal and for a clear treatment path
The single parents in our class and our church
Collins Clegg - pray for easy upcoming appointments which must be done in order to begin the new drug
Patra Trammell - praise for her healed back, pray for her upcoming delivery
Elliot Williams - praise for excellent scan results this week, pray for her & her family as she continues chemo
Molly Ainsworth - pray for lessening of symptoms associated with Meniere's Disease
The tornado victims
Toole family (friend of Katherine Turnage) - pray for peace for the family after the loss of their father
Kate Comini - pray for healing & treatment of her autoimmune diseases & for more energy; also pray for her kids as they have been without much of a fatherly presence over the past few years
All of the expecting parents in our class (Trammall, Sealock, Clanton, Crumpton, Thames)
Also, as came up this past week in our hour of prayer, please continue to pray for the following issues which are struggles for so many of us:
-anxiety and worry over our circumstances, our careers, and financial pressures
-a boldness in our faith as we interact with those around us in this world
-protection of our marriages
-our parenting skills
-a strengthening of the community within our class and that God will open our hearts for members in our class
PRAISE for a wonderful time of bible study and prayer for the women of our class led by Mary Williams and Julie Martin this morning , and praise for the special time of prayer our class was able to share in last week.
New Member Profile, Stephanie and Scott Sealock:
Please officially welcome the Sealock Family to our class! Stephanie is from Montgomery and graduated high school from Trinity Presbyterian School in Montgomery, along with many others in our class. She then went to Ole Miss and moved to Bham after graduating from college. Scott and Stephanie met in Birmingham after college. She is a Casualty broker at a wholesale insurance company called CRC Insurance, working with fellow class members Mason Johnston and Trey Nelson. Scott is from Dothan and graduated from Auburn. He is an investment analyst at Highland Associates. They do investment consulting for mostly nonprofit hospitals around the country. He is also a CPA and worked in public accounting for five years before changing over to investments. He is now focusing on the CFA accreditation which is a VERY LONG process :) The Sealocks have one daughter, Peyton, who will be one next week and described by Stephanie as the light of their life, the happiest baby in the world and they feel blessed beyond comprehension by her precious spirit! The Sealocks are excited to have one more baby on the way due in August.
And, a few quick reminders:
Since we have added some wonderful members to our role this year, let's all do our best to wear our nametags, located on the wall on the right side of the room by the coffee. Let the Millers know if you need one! Millermaryt@gmail.com. Also, be sure to check class bulletin boards for information about Missions, the "Stronger Together" Bible Study led by Mary and Julie, as well as pictures of our class members with their families. Be on the lookout for other Foundations families during the dinner hour tonight during Wednesday Night Interactive in room E 206! Carter Stewart will be back this week to lead our lesson. Thanks and see you Sunday! The Murray's
COVENANT CHRONICLES FROM DANNY GIFFEN:
It is February! Very hard to believe we are moving so quickly through 2012 already. Of course, if you are a member of Covenant Pres, you know February means Missions. We have lots to look forward to with Ed & Emily Hartman (MTW – Romania) being are keynote speaker. But, before then, we have several things we want you to have on the calendar.
What's Happening:
1. Wednesday Night Interactive – Tonight join us as Dr. Doug Webster will be teaching on the Father, Son & Holy Spirit. Teaching & Worship is at 6:30 with dinner at 5:30 (Mexican Fiesta Night). All other ministries will be at normal times (Music Clubs and Jubilate @ 5, Choir and Kids activities at 6:30)
2. Congregational Meetings – As was sent out yesterday, the session has called two congregational meeting for Feb. 7th (to discuss the outcome and resolution of the matters in S. Texas Presbytery regarding TE Bill Boyd) and Feb. 21st (to discuss matters of worship at Covenant Presbyterian). Both of these will be at 6:30 p.m. In the Sanctuary and childcare will be provided.
3. Pastor's Lunch Study – Today at noon we will begin our new book study, Leaving Egypt: Finding God in the Wilderness Places by Chuck DeGroat. Books are $11 each and can be picked up at the study. Free Lunch!!!Open to men and women.
4. New Member's Class – Wow! We are expecting our largest class ever for the February new member's class. Plan is to meet Feb. 3-4 in the Fellowship Hall due to space. Please contact Victoria at vwilliams@covpres.com today if you still need to sign up.
5. First Monday Lunch Bunch - First Monday Lunch Bunch will meet Monday, February 6, at 11:45 a.m. in room E206.
Donna Nathan will be our speaker. Lunch is $6 and childcare is available by reservation (871-7004) for children age 5 and under.
5. Missions Conference – Make sure to sign up for volunteer positions and hosts for during Feb. 24-29th. Ed Hartman with MTW Romania is our guest preacher. See Phyllis with any questions or help phamm@covpres.com Also see Chris Freeman chrisfreemanca@gmail.com if you are interested in short term trips for 2012: Honduras, Ukraine, Ivory Coast, Zambia, Australia, Maine/New Hampshire, Turkey.
Theology 101
I found this article interesting in light of our recent Wednesday Night classes.
The Four Security Strategies of Contemporary Evangelicalism
Chuck DeGroat
I’m thinking out loud right now about the kinds of security strategies we employ which actually represent ‘twisted’ ways of participating in the life of Christ in our world today. I’ve taught about this a bit in my Psychology in Relation to Theology seminary courses and wrote about it a bit in Leaving Egypt: Finding God in the Wilderness Places. But I’d love your feedback and thoughts.
There were at least four established Jewish movements in Jesus’ day, according to most scholars – The Pharisees, The Essenes, The Sadducees, and the Zealots. Of course, like most movements today, each was complex. But generalizations can be made about the particular way in which each represented a security strategy for the Jews of that day. These are psychological strategies. Often, our theological strategies are masked in psychological ones, and I’m proposing that this was the case then as it is today. The Jewish people in the two centuries before Christ, after all, restlessly coped with multiple anxieties – the loss of a central place (Temple, land), an anxiety around Messiah’s return (manifesting in an array of apocalyptic and militaristic scenarios), conflict around accommodation to Empire (withdrawal vs. participation), and more. Perhaps, their theological positions were not merely developed in a vacuum. Maybe, they were attempting to cope with a very real disappointment with God and anxiety about their future? Let’s take a look:
The Pharisees – a complex group (with multiple camps within it) who were the Torah-zealots of their day, rigidly guarding the boundaries of Jewish orthodoxy. Their security strategy was a hyper-vigilant protectionism which provoked the ire of Jesus, who did not come to abolish Torah but to see it come to life.
The Essenes – A group of ancient ascetics who had given up on a Temple-centered Judaism, who lived by a strict code, and who imagined wildly apocalyptic scenarios for the coming of Messiah. Their security strategy was withdrawal and avoidance, a self-protective strategy to keep them from mingling with the sellouts, their Jewish brothers and sisters who mixed and mingled with Empire.
The Sadducees - In contrast to the Essenes, the Sadducees were accommodators, who rolled with the upper echelon of society. Though we don’t know a whole lot more than that, it appears that their security strategy was political in nature. Hanging with the influencers kept them from having to feel the incredible powerlessness many Jews of the day felt.
The Zealots - Anxious for the kingdom to come, Zealots would take up arms to speed its day. These warriors of God adopted a militaristic security strategywhich bred a sense of power and control amidst extraordinary anxiety about the Jewish future. Even despite the radically cruciform way of Christ, Christians would take up arms for their cause for generations after.
Now, do these four movements correspond, in any way, to our contemporary evangelical security strategies? Do we see ourselves in them? Do we define Jesus through them?
Here are some initial thoughts with some initial descriptors. I welcome push back, as I’m developing some of these thoughts for further use down the road.
Modern-day Pharisees – Policemen for Jesus. Guardians of tradition. Hyper-vigilantly aware whenever someone appears to cross the line. Black and white. Noble in their passion for truth, but dangerously close to forfeiting intimacy with God in their fervor for rightness about God. A securitythat comes from certainty of doctrine rather than confidence in Jesus.
Modern-day Essenes – Monks for Jesus. Guardians of purity. Prone to see everything in this world as a distraction from real relationship with God. So noble in their heavenly-mindedness, yet prone to be of little earthly good. A security that comes from self-protection rather than bold and cruciform engagement in the life of Jesus.
Modern-day Sadducees - Salesman for Jesus. Players in the game of faith. Willing to accommodate in any way to advance the cause. Passionate in their desire to be “all things” but in danger of selling a hollow faith. A security that comes from being important, relevant, striving to become a power-player for Team Jesus instead of enjoying the freedom to have influence (…rather than need influence).
Modern-day Zealots - Warrior for Jesus. Ready to fight alongside General Jesus in the battle for truth and goodness over heresy and sinfulness. Aggressive in every endeavor. Passionate for a faith-in-action, but prone to run people (and especially women) over. A security in a dominant and forceful presence (in preaching/media/web/relationships/etc.) instead of resting in the cruciform, self-sacrificial, powerless way of Jesus.
Send me your thoughts. And, if you’re being honest, you’ll likely see yourself in one or more of these, as I do. The bigger question is how we go about doing the hard work of self-evaluation, as well as evaluating our churches, our denominations, our movements, and institutions.
How do I cope in one of these ways? How do I lead from this kind of posture? What anxieties/disappointments are really operating behind the scenes? What values have I adopted (and defended, as if from God) as a result, perhaps, of my own unconscious needs? What movement have I aligned with because it scratches this psychological itch?
