You scored as Martin Luther. The daddy of the Reformation. You are opposed to any Catholic ideas of works-salvation and see the scriptures as being primarily authoritative. John Calvin 80% Martin Luther 80% Anselm 73% J?Moltmann 67% Charles Finney 60% Friedrich Schleiermacher 60% Augustine 40% Paul Tillich 33% Jonathan Edwards 27% Karl Barth 27% Which theologian are you? created with href="http://www.blogger.com/">QuizFarm.com

Don WildMAN

Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church is under attack from Don Wildmon and the American Family Association.

Wildmon sent the following email to a lot of people. I don't know if he is upset about Betsy preaching a sermon about homosexuality or if he is just trying to drum up support for Vic's Republican opponant. Either way, I don't think that he will sway the opinion of anyone that is a member of QQUMC other than to make us campaign harder for Vic and to stand firm behind Betsy.

If you are a member of the United Methodist Church, I felt you would be interested in the two sermons preached by Rev. Betsy Singleton, pastor of Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church in Little Rock.
If you are not a United Methodist, please forward this to any friends you may have who are United Methodist.
Rev. Singleton is probably better known as being the wife of U.S. Representative Vic Snyder.
Sermon: Is Homosexuality a Sin? – click here
Sermon: Is Christianity the Only Way? – click here
Sincerely,
Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and ChairmanAmerican Family Association

The links, if they work, connect to AFA's site. Both sermons are proudly posted on the Quapaw Quarter UMC web page.

Don Wildmon was a United Methodist Pastor in Mississippi. I guess I would expect someone like him to come from the same state that brought us Trent Lott & Thad Cochran. I bet Wildman would have a fit if he had an African American female appointed to be his associate pastor too.

Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday to me,
Happy Birthday dear Conrad,
Happy birthday to me!

Spiritual Rain

We have had a very dry summer. A little while after I woke up this morning it began to rain. After it had rained lightly for about an hour I decided to go out in the rain and weed the flower beds. Weeds are easier to pull when the ground is moist (not drenching as you pull a big glob of mud up with the weed). Even though it had been raining for an hour and still was, when I pulled the first weed only the top 1/8th of an inch was wet, below that the soil and roots were dry.

I was rather surprised that the soil was so dry as I had watered the beds for about an hour last night and we had about an hour of light rain the night before. This was actually a moment of epiphany for me. Even though the beds had been getting some water on a regular basis they were still essentially dry.

How much is this like most our spiritual lives? We (maybe) go to church for an hour once a week. Some of us may even go to Sunday School and the occasional short term mid-week class. This is like expecting an hour of watering to be enough for our flowers. We wonder why we don't feel spiritually fulfilled yet we do not "water" our spirituality very much.

I occasionally get into the regimen of reading the Upper Room on a daily basis but it is so easy to get out of the habit and just jump up and run. I say grace before most meals and usually pray before going to sleep. These occasional acts of worship and reflection are great and help sustain me but I all too easily forget them.

My plants either need water daily for more than a little while or they need a good heavy rain once a week to thrive. I too need to have greater spiritual rain to thrive.

This is Eureka Springs First United Methodist Church
The building is fairly new but maintains the flavor of Eureka Springs architecture.

I have been trying to upload some pictures the last couple of days with no luck.
Is blogger having issues or is it me?

Forgiveness

When we pray the "Lord's Prayer" there is one phrase of the prayer which is conditional.
"And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us"

Forgiveness is one of the more difficult aspects of the human condition yet it is also one of the most important. From childhood on there have been many times that I have struggled with this issue. When I was little I often heard "forgive and forget". I think that I actually thought this was biblical and had a especially difficult time with the forget part. I think a better phrase would be "forgive and learn".

I believe that a huge percentage of the world's problems are directly related to our ability or willingness to forgive. The death penalty continues because we are unwilling to forgive. Wars are fought because we seek revenge. Many murders are committed because of an unwillingness to forgive.

Little Rock's murder rate has been higher this year than it has in years. Most of them are drug and gang related. I think there is a side factor here -- forgiveness. Your gang member sold drugs on our turf so we are going to kill your gang member. Your gang killed a member of our gang and we are going to kill a member of your gang. So much violence is done in the name of revenge. Revenge is primarily an unwillingness to forgive.

I am not saying "forgive and roll over dead" I have a friend that was very annoying on almost every visit so we asked him not to come back or to call anymore. His feelings were quite hurt and he proceeded to call virtually non-stop. One day he even called over 50 times. We turned off the ringer on the phone and let voice mail do the rest. After a week of this behavior and dozens of threatening calls, we went to the police station and filed a report. We then took it to the prosecuting attorneys office and requested a "no-contact order" He followed this for over a week but left a name calling message this morning. If he continues to do this I will file another police report and go back to the prosecutor. I understand his hurt feelings and his lack of proper training in basic civility. I don't really have to much trouble with forgiving him because I know that he is the way he is. I will not allow him to continue to harrass if I can help it. I don't want him to go to jail but if the authorities take it to that level then maybe he will learn.

There have been other times when I have had much more difficult issues with forgiveness and rarely do I forgive instantly. When I feel I have been hurt or harmed, I do try to see the event through the eyes of the person that I feel has offended me. Sometimes I think they are just downright MEAN but usually I find that they are just insensative or not thinking. Sometimes their behavior is a matter of addiction or mental instability.

After the terrorist attacks on 9-11 there was a need to defend. I fully agree that we need to increase security. I was even in favor of our invasion of Afghanistan so that we could put those behind the attacks out of business. I feel much differently about Iraq. I think that our invasion of Iraq is a combination of greed, grasping for political might and a big dose of revenge.

Israel and Lebanon and the Palestinians are certianly concerned about there own interests and welfare, which is understandable. But the turmoil in the Middle East will never end as long as either side feels that they should retaliate instead of seeking forgiveness and negotiation.

Forgive us as we forgive ---- I fear that many of us may not be as forgiven as we would like if we truly mean what we pray.

Lord, please help us to be more forgiving and understanding and if we are less than perfect in our forgiveness may we be made perfect through our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Eureka Springs Vacation

Chris & I just returned from a weeks vacation in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

This trip was actually my first visit to Eureka since I was a kid. I really don't know why I haven't been back since as it is only a 4 hour drive from Little Rock. It wouldn't be that long of a drive if Eureka wasn't in such a mountainess location and much of the trip involves speed limits of 20 to 45 MPH speed limits.

The settlement of Eureka Springs began as a healing center in the mid nineteenth century and Eureka was incorporated in 1879 as the fourth largest city in Arkansas. Eureka Springs doesn't have near that level of population now. Eureka Springs has some of the best examples of victorian architecture of anywhere I have ever been.

Eureka is built on the steep hills and valleys in the area where there were many springs. You can still visit many of the springs. The center of the downtown historic district is Basin Spring park. Because the terrain of Eureka is so steep much ingenuity was used in building. Many of the downtown buildings are one or two storys on their facing street and as much as 5 or 6 storys from the rear. The Basin Park Hotel is listed in Ripleys believe it or not as being the only 8 story hotel where every level has a ground floor entrance.

Eureka is also on such steep terrain that there are no right angle intersections. Almost all of the intersections are "Y" intersections. Driving in Eureka can be a bit of a challange. Even on US Highway 62 the speed limit averages 35 mph. When you get off the highway the top speed is 25 mph and in most of downtown the speed limit is 15 mph. When you get into the residential district top speed drops to 10 mph. There are many one way streets in Eureka Springs and this is because the roads are too narrow for two way traffic.

I would not advise anyone to drive in Eureka on the weekends. You can park your car at your Hotel and almost never drive anyway. Eureka has the most wonderful public transit system for a small town. Their trolley system runs 5 seperate lines and the longest wait time for any line is 25 minutes. You can get within a few blocks of anywhere in the city limits by trolley. For tourists you can purchase a day pass for the trolly for $4.00 or a 2 day pass for $6.00. There is a monthly pass available for locals. Another great reason for not driving in Eureka is that there are not very many places to park. Also, you cannot park for free downtown anywhere except at night.

I will be including many pictures and comments in future posts!