roll away the stone

I honestly didn't hear of Mumford and Sons until I saw them with Dylan at the Grammys. I am sitting here about to go to bed after finishing my final paper of the semester celebrating with a little bit of folk rock. Nobody can jam on an acoustic guitar like them... well maybe the Avett Bros. Here are the lyrics to a striking and very seasonal song for us... Enjoy.

By the way - shout out to Jim Reilly from Tabernacle UMC for having a straight connection to the blog from his Ipod Touch!

Roll away your stone, I’ll roll away mine
Together we can see what we can find
Don’t leave me alone at this time,
For I am afraid of what I will discover inside
You told me that I would find a home,
Within the fragile substance of my soul
And I have filled this void with things unreal,
And all the while my character it steals

The darkness is a harsh term don’t you think?
And yet it dominates the things I seek
It seems as if all my bridges have been burned,
You say that’s exactly how this grace thing works
It’s not the long walk home that will change this heart,
But the welcome I receive at the restart

The darkness is a harsh term don’t you think?
And yet it dominates the things I seek
The darkness is a harsh term don’t you think?
And yet it dominates the things I seek
The darkness is a harsh term don’t you think?
And yet it dominates the things I seek

Stars hide your fires,
And these here are my desires
And I will give them up to you this time around
And so, I’ll be found with my steak stuck in this ground
Marking its territory of this newly impassioned soul
But you, you’ve come too far this time
You have neither reason nor rhyme
With which to take this soul that is so rightfully mine

Summer Pastoral Assistant

Dear members and friends of TUMC,

It is with great pleasure that I introduce to you our summer pastoral assistant, Joshua Friedeman. I have known Josh for 10 years and he is a great young man of God. We are going to be truly blessed by his presence and ministry with us this summer. Some of his areas of responsibility will be leading worship at the 8:30 service, working with the children's, youth, and college-aged ministries, and other areas of technology and worship planning. You will get to meet him in person on Memorial Day Weekend and he will be with us through all of June and July. Please take advantage of getting to know this young man this summer. I do need your help: If you are able to providing housing or able to host Josh for the summer please contact Pastor Michael. This is going to be a great summer at Tabernacle.

ANNOUNCEMENTS and a few pieces of information for you to consider....

A Ladies Tea sponsored by United Methodist Women - Saturday, April 7th. contact church office for more information.

May 15th - Usher, Greeter, and Welcome Team Training - 12 noon. Guest Speakers are scheduled and lunch will be served.

'today was a good day'

Back in the 90's, Ice Cube released a mellowed out track where he walks one through a typical day in his life. The hook and tag was, "I gotta say, today was a good day."

As those who now journey beyond the cross of Christ and the empty tomb we are left with the reality of everyday life. The events which we just celebrated are real and true for daily living and for today's events just as they were last week in the midst of our Holy Week experiences.

What makes today a good day? Often we remember that 'today is the day the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.' Certainly we believe this and understand that today is a day that we have not yet seen before. In this comes gladness and rejoicing because God's mercy is new every morning. Is that enough to make it good?

Or is goodness then defined by experiences or joys throughout the day? Does a nice lunch, or watching a funny TV show, or talking to a friend define a good day? Could we be able to walk someone through our typical day and as they see our decisions, choices, and impact on others they would be able to confidently say, 'today was a good day.'

Do good today.

Can you make it 3 days?

Matthew 27: 3-5
When Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned; he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priest and the elders. He said, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” Throwing down the pieces of silver in the temple, he departed; and he went and hanged himself.”

It is difficult to wait. The psalmist said, “I waited patiently for the Lord, and He has heard my cry.” How are you in your waiting? I find that most of the time, patience is often hard to come by. Isaiah talks about those that “wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles.” Adam Hamilton asks the question, “What is Judas waited three days before taking his life?” How would the world be different? Imagine the testimony and story he would have. He sold Jesus out to death for thirty pieces of silver. He had come under the power of the tempter and enemy of God, and did not resist. He had done the unthinkable. But grace would have abounded. God’s sufficiency of grace would have been available to even the betrayer. We learned how Jesus fed Judas before revealing that he was the betrayer. Would Jesus not love and forgive Judas? You and I know he would- because He has done so with us. What are you waiting for? Can you make it through the night? Could you wait for three days?

Servant of All

The Measure of Greatness

²⁴Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. ²⁵Jesus said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. ²⁶But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. (Luke 22: 24-26)

²The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. ³Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. (John 13: 2-5)

From an early age we discover how to distinguish between the popular and the unpopular, the normal and the different, the leaders and the followers. Just imagine the disciples as they are arguing about which of them was considered to be the greatest around the ‘Last Supper’ table. In the midst of the arguing like little middle school boys, Jesus – the Lord of all - gets up from the table and shows them what greatness truly is; Service. John shows us how he takes a towel and wraps it around his waist. Jesus pours water into a basin and washes the disciple’s feet. “The one who rules should be like the one who serves.” What are you doing with what influence you have in this world? Are you lording it over others or using it to serve others? Jesus gave us the example and said, ‘Now that you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.”

My God - why have you forsaken me?

If you look at Jesus throughout the Gospels, He is particular in how He refers to God. Jesus calls him, Father. This speaks to the relational character of God more than it does about God's gender. Don't get too caught up in whether God is male or female. The point of it all is that God is relational and God's being should be understood in such a way. So if Jesus is continually saying, 'my Father this and my Father that... if you've seen me-you've seen my Father, no one comes unto the Father but by me, my Father is the vinedresser, here is how you should pray - our Father, etc. Then what is the importance that now from the cross Jesus says, 'My God'?

This phrase from the cross is understood in context from when Jesus quoted Psalm 22. Certainly he wouldn't want to misquote David... but one of the helpful realities about the mystery of Christ being both fully God and fully man is that this phrase connects us to Christ. Jesus cries out in the same way we would. Psalm 22 says that God will not always chide and that God does not despise the afflictions of the afflicted. Jesus became our affliction. Have you ever felt forsaken? Jesus understands. He could have easily adjusted the psalm and say, Father, why have you forsaken me? But he wanted to point us to a deeper truth that our cries echo the same as Christ himself. In our psalms of lament, never forget that though suffering or pain, or even sorrow would last for the night, joy comes in the morning. A lament in only a lament because it ends with a feeling of trust and praise. Future generations will indeed speak of the one who draws us to Himself and calls us brother. Oh forsaken one - look to the cross and find your forsaken Savior.

Word From the Cross

"Father, forgive them for they don't know what they're doing."

Why didn't Jesus just simply say, "Father, forgive them." That would have done the trick don't you think? Here is Jesus who is barely able to breathe because of the strain of the cross and the asphyxiation it was causing... and he decides to say this whole thing.

What is sin? The reality is that we really don't know what we are doing. While this verse could certainly be interpreted within its context, what if we viewed the role of sin in our lives in such a way? If we really knew what sin did and what it caused, then I would hope that there would be a longing for repentance and renewal. So I guess that in essence we don't really know what we are doing do we? But thanks be to God that there is forgiveness there. The areas of my life where I simply do not know what I am doing is still in need of forgiveness.

Having a disconnect between the head understanding of sin and the walk of a believer living in sin is a classic example of not having a clue. We understand what sin is and what it does to the relationship with God, but we still hate our neighbor. We truly do not know what we're doing. Forgive us Lord even for those things.