Just wanted to comment on the new element of the Shepherd's path which is an in person Bible Study for anyone, in Oakdale PA, at the ROCK Youth and Family Center, Wednesday Nights at 7:15 PM. We'll be beginning this week, September 15 and for the following 6 weeks studying the book "The Hole in our Gospel" by World Vision President Richard Stearns. Additional discussions can occur online here and can be used for those who are too busy to connect with us for the live study.
The Shepherd's Path is about the element of Discipleship which involves following Jesus. our various short term studies will be focused on connecting with and supporting one another as we look to follow Jesus "the Shepherd." The studies will be short term 4-6 weeks to allow people to come in and out as their schedule allows or to look and different topics within our broader calling to discipleship.
In Christ and on the Shepherd's Path.
Mark
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Friday, September 10, 2010
Small World Moments
On facebook it's not all that surprising that you have a "small world moment" as your network is usually populated by people who run in the same circles as you and often may have some of the same friends even if you've never encountered the two of them in the same setting...but every once in a while you have a genuine small world moment where two tiny networks connect.
I had two in less than a week. In my Adult life I've been a part of small towns mostly with large distances between them. The first happened when PJ and I stopped at a yard sale in Portersville PA, to buy some ridiculously large posters of superheroes for an event later in the fall at the ROCK. The guy who sold them to us was none other than the cousin (Fathers were brother's) of our police chief in Oakdale.
The second was more obscure. I attended a conference for pastors and church leaders yesterday and I, out of character for my "ghost rat" self, invited myself to sit at a table with an older gentleman who I found out was a pastor from somewhere here in the Western PA area. As we talked about where we'd lived and worked I mentioned that I had come back to Pittsburgh after a period of years that took me from Virginia to Kentucky to Kansas "with a brief stop in Indiana." "where in Indiana?" he asks. Sure he would not know the town I said "a little town called Monroe City, near Vincennes." Vincennes being the only recognizable feature on the map since Monroe City could be mistaken for a cigarette ash or pepper flake on the map. His eyes lit up. Turns out his wife was from Monroe City and "was saved" in the Church of Christ there. Here I had lived there a whole year and a half and yet such features as the logo PJ and I designed for the community center there were recognizable to him.
Amazing that it truly is a small world.
If there is any point to this story it also surprised me how easily we talked and recognized each other's common call to ministry when at the time I lived in Monroe City the only Church that wanted nothing to do with us an didn't even recognize our common status as Christians was the Church of Christ. What a difference distance makes. I imagine in heaven we'll have a lot more small world moments where what unites us (Jesus) matters more than those things that divide us.
In Christ and on the Shepherd's Path,
Mark
I had two in less than a week. In my Adult life I've been a part of small towns mostly with large distances between them. The first happened when PJ and I stopped at a yard sale in Portersville PA, to buy some ridiculously large posters of superheroes for an event later in the fall at the ROCK. The guy who sold them to us was none other than the cousin (Fathers were brother's) of our police chief in Oakdale.
The second was more obscure. I attended a conference for pastors and church leaders yesterday and I, out of character for my "ghost rat" self, invited myself to sit at a table with an older gentleman who I found out was a pastor from somewhere here in the Western PA area. As we talked about where we'd lived and worked I mentioned that I had come back to Pittsburgh after a period of years that took me from Virginia to Kentucky to Kansas "with a brief stop in Indiana." "where in Indiana?" he asks. Sure he would not know the town I said "a little town called Monroe City, near Vincennes." Vincennes being the only recognizable feature on the map since Monroe City could be mistaken for a cigarette ash or pepper flake on the map. His eyes lit up. Turns out his wife was from Monroe City and "was saved" in the Church of Christ there. Here I had lived there a whole year and a half and yet such features as the logo PJ and I designed for the community center there were recognizable to him.
Amazing that it truly is a small world.
If there is any point to this story it also surprised me how easily we talked and recognized each other's common call to ministry when at the time I lived in Monroe City the only Church that wanted nothing to do with us an didn't even recognize our common status as Christians was the Church of Christ. What a difference distance makes. I imagine in heaven we'll have a lot more small world moments where what unites us (Jesus) matters more than those things that divide us.
In Christ and on the Shepherd's Path,
Mark
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Newsletter September 2010
Honor and Significance...
Two things have been heavily on my mind in the Past few months. The first is the concept of Honor and the second Significance, specifically that every person matters.
My attention has been drawn to the subject of Honor by several online discussions with former classmates and alumni of my Alma Mater, bringing my attention back to a statement we all aspired to live by, a code of honor that seems outdated in our generation but was no less real to us, and remains real to me today. It is exemplified in what we came to know as the "Code of a Gentleman" It begins as follows: "Without a strict observance of the fundamental Code of Honor [cf., that a gentleman does not lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate those who do], no man, no matter how 'polished', can be considered a gentleman. The honor of a gentleman demands the inviolability of his word, and the incorruptibility of his principles. He is the descendant of the knight, the crusader; he is the defender of the defenseless and the champion of justice… or he is not a Gentleman."
The second subject, the significance, intrinsic value, of every person; put simply the fact that every person matters, has likewise been prompted by several things: my own extended adjustment difficulty with moving from a small community to a larger less connected one, Repeated exposure to God's work elsewhere in the world to eliminate human trafficking and to minister to both it's victims and perpetrators, and most recently a film called "To save a Life", portraying the power of simply befriending the friendless, to change and even save lives.
Both the code of Honor, demanding above all, honesty, and the belief that every person matters, spring from the same source. If it is as we believe, that all people are given life by the conscious choice of God to bring them into this world, then not only are we duty bound to live consistent with that belief, but that living consistently includes the duty to respect one another through honoring them by being honest and never seeking to lie, cheat, or steal from another. Honoring another as valuable means that you look into the eyes of the bagger at the grocery store, through the windshield at the driver in the car trying to "get in" in traffic, at the prostitute, at the drug dealer, at the friendless awkward teenager...at everyone. and see and believe that they are as human and significant as you. Honor demands that we do as simple things as greeting one another and leaving space in front of us in traffic; and as hard things as not seeing people as commodities to be traded, through exploitation of workers, through pornography, through using and abusing others to get ahead.
Most of all the church must be a place where every person matters and where we are intentional about seeing each other's significance. We cannot afford to bypass one another. It must be a place where we teach our children to treat all of their peers as genuine people, even at the cost of their own popularity. Where we as adults welcome all into fellowship and inspire courage in one another when the price of honor gets high. A place where sin is seen as not a flaw in the person but a damage that has been done (even if by the person's own choice) to the valuable individual. We should employ the gospel to clean and repair one another as we would graffiti or vandalism on a great piece of art, with great care to avoid adding damage, while looking to restore the treasure.
In Christ and on the Shepherd's Path,
Mark--
May contain Confidential Information intended for the original recipient only. Confidential information is shared only when necessary to directly aid in acquiring assistance for an individual or family. Any misuse of this information is prohibited.
Rev Mark R. Simonds
Pastor, Oakdale UP Church
"Declaring Teaching and Living God's Word of Grace"
President, West Allegheny Ministerial Association
"Worshiping and Serving One Triune God Together"
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Newsletter
The Summer of our Discontent...
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May contain Confidential Information intended for the original recipient only. Confidential information is shared only when necessary to directly aid in acquiring assistance for an individual or family. Any misuse of this information is prohibited.
Rev Mark R. Simonds
Pastor, Oakdale UP Church
"Declaring Teaching and Living God's Word of Grace"
President, West Allegheny Ministerial Association
"Worshiping and Serving One Triune God Together"
Here it is August already. A friend of mine mentioned at the end of last summer that he was glad summer was over because the pressure to have fun was gone. I hear him. In times when demands are high and funds are low the pressure to get out there and enjoy life is almost unbearable. As people we don't do leisure well. We also are surrounded by enablers and slavemasters who will gladly fill every waking hour and many of our sleeping ones with something. Another friend went on vacation recently and told her bosses she was going overseas, even posting photoshopped pictures of herself in front of well known landmarks on her facebook, just so she wouldn't get called back into work.
I am the ultimate hypocrite when it comes to telling others to not fill their "empty spaces" The very air around me always has to be filled with something. I am writing this article on my facebook account while keeping tabs on other conversations. the radio is on and I just put down a book (a book I am reading to improve my ability to minister, not one for fun) to write it. At breakfast I fill the bowls of cereal and switch on the news to catch up on the goings on in the world in case I missed something since yesterday. Like I can do anything about it anyway. Even when I pray I stop half the time midway because in the stillness of the moment because I thought of something that "just has to get done."
As you contemplate what has to get done next Sunday remember that God, knowing this driving force of human nature, set apart the Sabbath for that reason: to give us the rest we need. He even told us not to work our servants and cattle (or waitresses or clerks perhaps) on that day. Now I know you'll tell me two things, first: it was so much easier when we had the blue laws and there was nothing to do on a Sunday except at church. I really doubt that was totally true but even if it were I know no one is forcing you (or me) through Wal-Mart's doors just because they're open. Jesus said consider the birds...I say consider the mules, no one can make you do anything you really do not want to do. Second, you'll say I am judging you for what you do on Sunday. If I am Then I am judging myself too. But I am not really judging, I am saying whatever you do on the Sabbath do it having considered the question "is this what How God wants me to spend His gift of rest?" Recently God has been teaching me some lessons including one where, though I was unsure of what I really should do I had to respond, "No matter What I do I just want to be faithful." Whatever we do it should be done out of faith in God and assurance that He would not have us go a different way.
The point is use the gift of Sabbath God gave you. Use it to slow down, cut off the noise and listen, expecting God to whisper His will to you. Use God's other gifts, His Word, the Bible, will always speak a word from Him. Use your Sabbath time to surround yourself with His people too. They will often, sometimes without even being aware, speak a word from God to you. Also use the time given to worship to enjoy God. It is hard to see God as anything less than he is when you are worshipping Him in genuine joy.
Anyway I hope this helps you find a little more purpose in slowing down. I may only be writing to myself with you as an audience. But I suspect, from experience, someone else may be hearing a word they need to hear. If nothing else I hope this allows you to enjoy a summer without the fear and discontent of not having had enough fun.
In Christ and on the Shepherd's Path,
Mark
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May contain Confidential Information intended for the original recipient only. Confidential information is shared only when necessary to directly aid in acquiring assistance for an individual or family. Any misuse of this information is prohibited.
Rev Mark R. Simonds
Pastor, Oakdale UP Church
"Declaring Teaching and Living God's Word of Grace"
President, West Allegheny Ministerial Association
"Worshiping and Serving One Triune God Together"
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Remembering.
So much of our faith and life relies on remembering...
Recently I've enjoyed spending some time talking with old friends about different experiences we shared in the past. It is funny how something that can be hilarious to a small group of people could be completely uninteresting or even horrifying to a completely different group. A group of VMI alumni recently created a page on the social networking site Facebook, called "Having to explain VMI terms to people.." While the title is not exactly catchy the page has more fans than the official page for the school. The reason I believe is the same reason I follow it so regularly. There is something about being around people who "get you", who have shared similar experiences and speak the same language. Whether it is the inside jokes of friends or the more important work of support groups for people going through a common struggle, sharing stories with those who understand feeds you.
The body of Christ is about remembering as well. The church, to be sure is always called to mission, to be active, involved in our community and world and doing good in Jesus name. At the same time we are also a remembering community. Through repeating the stories and truth in God's Word in Worship and Bible Study, singing the truth in song and tasting the truth around the Lord's table we remember Who God is and what God has done. We remember so we do not forget and become simply another Non government organization doing some kind of good. We remember why we do good and we remember what truly is good. We avoid the pitfalls of well intentioned errors that seek to do good for another but in fact lead them further from the truth.
The truth and remembering the truth is important because as much as the church is about remembering it is also about "membering". We are about welcoming others into the family of God. In Baptism we remember and reenact the reality of Christ's death and resurrection washing us clean of the guilt of our sins. It represents a change from being one thing apart from Christ to a completely different thing, a new creation, in Christ.
This new month begins having just celebrated Memorial Day, a day to remember the cost of the freedoms we enjoy. Let us remember the gift freely given by those men and women that served us. Let us also enter this season of Summer with our more relaxed church schedule, to deliberately take the time to remember what it is we believe and Who we serve. When we do this, I believe we will be all the more motivated to be the church we are called to be.
In Christ and on the Shepherd's Path,
Mark
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May contain Confidential Information intended for the original recipient only. Confidential information is shared only when necessary to directly aid in acquiring assistance for an individual or family. Any misuse of this information is prohibited.
Rev Mark R. Simonds
Pastor, Oakdale UP Church
"Declaring Teaching and Living God's Word of Grace"
President, West Allegheny Ministerial Association
"Worshiping and Serving One Triune God Together"
Recently I've enjoyed spending some time talking with old friends about different experiences we shared in the past. It is funny how something that can be hilarious to a small group of people could be completely uninteresting or even horrifying to a completely different group. A group of VMI alumni recently created a page on the social networking site Facebook, called "Having to explain VMI terms to people.." While the title is not exactly catchy the page has more fans than the official page for the school. The reason I believe is the same reason I follow it so regularly. There is something about being around people who "get you", who have shared similar experiences and speak the same language. Whether it is the inside jokes of friends or the more important work of support groups for people going through a common struggle, sharing stories with those who understand feeds you.
The body of Christ is about remembering as well. The church, to be sure is always called to mission, to be active, involved in our community and world and doing good in Jesus name. At the same time we are also a remembering community. Through repeating the stories and truth in God's Word in Worship and Bible Study, singing the truth in song and tasting the truth around the Lord's table we remember Who God is and what God has done. We remember so we do not forget and become simply another Non government organization doing some kind of good. We remember why we do good and we remember what truly is good. We avoid the pitfalls of well intentioned errors that seek to do good for another but in fact lead them further from the truth.
The truth and remembering the truth is important because as much as the church is about remembering it is also about "membering". We are about welcoming others into the family of God. In Baptism we remember and reenact the reality of Christ's death and resurrection washing us clean of the guilt of our sins. It represents a change from being one thing apart from Christ to a completely different thing, a new creation, in Christ.
This new month begins having just celebrated Memorial Day, a day to remember the cost of the freedoms we enjoy. Let us remember the gift freely given by those men and women that served us. Let us also enter this season of Summer with our more relaxed church schedule, to deliberately take the time to remember what it is we believe and Who we serve. When we do this, I believe we will be all the more motivated to be the church we are called to be.
In Christ and on the Shepherd's Path,
Mark
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May contain Confidential Information intended for the original recipient only. Confidential information is shared only when necessary to directly aid in acquiring assistance for an individual or family. Any misuse of this information is prohibited.
Rev Mark R. Simonds
Pastor, Oakdale UP Church
"Declaring Teaching and Living God's Word of Grace"
President, West Allegheny Ministerial Association
"Worshiping and Serving One Triune God Together"
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Growing Things Change...
Journey...Woo Hoo!!! Okay so there are only 6 other people in this congregation who will get that so I should elaborate. This last weekend I got to spend Friday night and Saturday with four of our church's kids at the confirmation retreat at Camp Crestfield. Along with climbing the rock wall, problem solving obstacles while sleet fell on us, intense games of 6 square and Skits and Smores, somewhere along the line we talked about Statements of faith. Our leader, Robin, shared that our faith statement is not a one time event but a Journey (Woo...Hoo!!! All the kids were to reply whenever that word was said.) which we begin at birth, through baptism and confirmation and continue throughout our lives. In fact the way in which I sign these articles, "In Christ and on the Shepherd's Path," implies that kind of a journey. I am not merely a Christian because I have once confessed Christ as Lord and Savior, but I am one because, having so confessed, I now live daily following Him. The simple confession I made the moment I first believed is different now, sculpted like Rock exposed to wind and water, because of experience and also by constant and continual exposure to the Word of God.
Living as a believer exposes you to highs and lows as you battle the consequences of past sins, current struggles and mistakes, wrestle with relationships and learn radical forgiveness. All the while your faith is shaped into something that begins to look more and more like what God has revealed as true about Himself, you, and the world.
There are even harder times when faith requires radical obedience. forgiving the person you refuse to forgive. Doing what you have no desire to do, or even holding on to the tiniest assurance from God's Word that you know to be true so you can trust Him for the other things he promises which you cannot see.
It sounds corny and overdone, like a High School commencement speech, to talk about life or faith as a journey, yet in Christ, and shaped by His Word, you do see that what we were, we are not any longer... and, what we are now we will not be in the future.
A speaker at a Wee Kirk (Small Church) Conference some years ago said this Growing things change..Change challenges us...Challenge makes us Grow...Growing things Change...
As change challenges you, my prayer for you is that you will endure the pain of change to see what growth results.
In Christ and On the Shepherd's Path,
Mark
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May contain Confidential Information intended for the original recipient only. Confidential information is shared only when necessary to directly aid in acquiring assistance for an individual or family. Any misuse of this information is prohibited.
Rev Mark R. Simonds
Pastor, Oakdale UP Church
"Declaring Teaching and Living God's Word of Grace"
President, West Allegheny Ministerial Association
"Worshiping and Serving One Triune God Together"
Living as a believer exposes you to highs and lows as you battle the consequences of past sins, current struggles and mistakes, wrestle with relationships and learn radical forgiveness. All the while your faith is shaped into something that begins to look more and more like what God has revealed as true about Himself, you, and the world.
There are even harder times when faith requires radical obedience. forgiving the person you refuse to forgive. Doing what you have no desire to do, or even holding on to the tiniest assurance from God's Word that you know to be true so you can trust Him for the other things he promises which you cannot see.
It sounds corny and overdone, like a High School commencement speech, to talk about life or faith as a journey, yet in Christ, and shaped by His Word, you do see that what we were, we are not any longer... and, what we are now we will not be in the future.
A speaker at a Wee Kirk (Small Church) Conference some years ago said this Growing things change..Change challenges us...Challenge makes us Grow...Growing things Change...
As change challenges you, my prayer for you is that you will endure the pain of change to see what growth results.
In Christ and On the Shepherd's Path,
Mark
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May contain Confidential Information intended for the original recipient only. Confidential information is shared only when necessary to directly aid in acquiring assistance for an individual or family. Any misuse of this information is prohibited.
Rev Mark R. Simonds
Pastor, Oakdale UP Church
"Declaring Teaching and Living God's Word of Grace"
President, West Allegheny Ministerial Association
"Worshiping and Serving One Triune God Together"
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Newsletter Article for April 2010
Bitterness or Betterness...
A girl from our Kansas Youth group, now in college (yuck I remember attending her 10th Birthday party), wrote this as her "Status" on Facebook this morning: "How [can] people really believe Humans are "basically good?" Yesh... that and my broccoli can talk."...
Immediately another friend congratulated her on her growing Cynicism (As though that were a good thing) There is a lot of Cynicism going around. I'm fighting a good bout of it myself.
The dictionary defines Cynicism as "having a cynical Character or attitude"...which doesn't help much...Cynical, therfor is best defined as :
"having or showing the attitude or temper of a cynic: as a : contemptuously distrustful of human nature and motives <those cynical men who say that democracy cannot be honest and efficient — F. D. Roosevelt> b : based on or reflecting a belief that human conduct is motivated primarily by self-interest <a cynical ploy to cheat customers> " (cynical. (2010). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.
Retrieved March 25, 2010, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cynical)
Now by this definition any mistrust of human motivation would be labeled "Cynical" and by even the tone of the dictionary, not a desirable trait....
But what if it is true...Are we all self motivated. Are we not basically Good. If you believe the bible maybe it is not cynicism after all but a basic point of the Christian worldview.
Romans 3:9-12 says:
9What shall we conclude then? Are we any better[a]? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. 10As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; 11there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. 12All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."[b]
More insight comes from Jeremiah 17:9
"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Presbyterian and Reformed Christians have long held this view, that there is nothing naturally in us that compels God to Choose us we are "Totally Depraved" and God's election (free choice) to save us is "Unconditional" based not on our goodness but on His Love and choice to save us. The Faith Essentials and Covenant of the Biblical Presbyterians Network concisely puts it this way.
"Salvation is wholly of God and is purely grace from first to last, without any merit in us. "
Now in days of Health Care debates, Bonuses for failed CEO's, War, Scandal and myriad other aggravations it would be easy to take the reality of depravity and turn it into a cause for bitterness. Except for one thing. In among this bad news we have good news. We can say yes people are not basically good. Yes they seek their own power and pleasure first. Yes there is a need for limited government to protect against tyranny (our founding fathers believed in Total depravity by the way). But..
And this is a big deal...
God does not leave us depraved and bitter. He makes us Better. He sent Jesus to mend our fallen state.
21But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement,[i] through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Romans 5:6-11 adds
6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! 10For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
So rejoice! Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and You are no longer stuck in the same condition as the rest of the World! You join the saved, justified, regenerated, born again, reconciled, always being sanctified, Saints who are being made better than before, and who are now assured by Christ that you are no longer lost and doomed to live forever in a world dominated by self interest and tyranny.
Jesus conquered sin, depravity, and...the Grave itself!
Happy Easter!
In Christ and on the Shepherd's Path,
Mark
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May contain Confidential Information intended for the original recipient only. Confidential information is shared only when necessary to directly aid in acquiring assistance for an individual or family. Any misuse of this information is prohibited.
Rev Mark R. Simonds
Pastor, Oakdale UP Church
"Declaring Teaching and Living God's Word of Grace"
President, West Allegheny Ministerial Association
"Worshiping and Serving One Triune God Together"
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