tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354Thu, 16 Feb 2012 09:53:04 +0000From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace. John 1:16http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)Blogger63125TheCarpentersTablehttp://feedburner.google.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354.post-5678745101678052241Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:13:00 +00002012-02-01T10:13:37.216-08:00 Life is messy, we all know that, but is it a bad thing? Messy mixes things up. Messy creates the need to reach out to others for help and to reach back to others to give support. Messy means my life spills into your life and time in this life becomes our life. Messy led me to recognize my deep need for God's Grace. Life is messy, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. ~ Just thinking out loud ~http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCarpentersTable/~3/GZPB9Xl5Qgs/thinking-out-loud.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)0http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/2012/02/thinking-out-loud.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354.post-3666910407456390879Sun, 22 Jan 2012 02:27:00 +00002012-01-21T18:27:01.215-08:00http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCarpentersTable/~3/csgjK1gqp5M/join-us-fridays-at-st-johns-umc-in-mid.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)0http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/2012/01/join-us-fridays-at-st-johns-umc-in-mid.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354.post-4171584167454106271Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:36:00 +00002012-01-19T08:36:42.821-08:00     A dear friend is visiting New Zealand for several weeks. She wrote me recently that every time she sees a mountian or river she worships God. New Zealand must be a beautiful place to worship God's creativity and playfulness! I've been thinking a lot lately about the created world and how vital it is to our experience of God.      There is this ridiculous contemporary christian (yes small "http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCarpentersTable/~3/tdwAbe9Ywkk/created-creativity.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)0http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/2012/01/created-creativity.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354.post-4361909397257565930Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:17:00 +00002012-01-17T08:17:11.742-08:00 Circuit Riders from YWAM Harpenden on Vimeo.http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCarpentersTable/~3/u7iK6wRxgek/circuit-riders-video.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)0http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/2012/01/circuit-riders-video.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354.post-4995593391429121027Tue, 08 Nov 2011 22:06:00 +00002011-11-08T15:38:02.358-08:00     I was recently part of an extended online conversation regarding discipleship, accountability, and the role of the church. The conversation began after a friend posted Dan Dick's Blog article, "The Mediocre Commission." . Dan's point was that the Church is more concerned with our image than with our identity. He says that evidence of this is that church leaders are reluctant to hold members http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCarpentersTable/~3/ZERismVMMKU/why-are-we-afraid-of-christian.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)0http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/2011/11/why-are-we-afraid-of-christian.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354.post-6877440318625038020Wed, 26 Oct 2011 15:59:00 +00002011-10-26T08:59:31.823-07:00 Where Christian Leaders Connect, Reflect, and Learn.  Kim Cape: "It isn't about sitting here playing bingo" ...the church’s challenge is to prepare transformational leaders who can tell laity, “It’s not all about sitting here playing bingo. We’ve got to get out in the community and be involved in Christ’s life in the world.” Read More Here...Faith & Leadership  "Evangelical has http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCarpentersTable/~3/hDy213HyjAA/church-leadership-blog-digest.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)0http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/2011/10/church-leadership-blog-digest.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354.post-3346575063000005780Sat, 22 Oct 2011 02:53:00 +00002011-10-21T19:53:04.501-07:00"Unnatural Gratitude" Christians are made, not born," said Tertullian. No Christian virtues are innate. Nothing about following Jesus comes naturally. Therefore, so much that the church does for us is formational, educational, and transformational. Read more from Bishop Will Wilimon's Bolg, A Peculiar Prophet "United Methodist Pope and Problems of Consolidation" There has been much fanfare http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCarpentersTable/~3/JyffX4o7Mrw/methodist-blog-digest.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)0http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/2011/10/methodist-blog-digest.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354.post-8310241277519511760Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:07:00 +00002011-10-19T13:07:30.021-07:00Last night I attended the Bowen Lecture Series at Memphis Theological where Dr. Mitzi Minor spoke on Paul’s Anti-Prosperity Gospel for the Corinthians. Dr. Minor is a New Testament scholar and recently published a commentary on Paul’s letters to the church at Corinth. The focus of last night’s discussion was Paul’s rejection of “triumphalism.” Paul reminds us that the purpose of discipleship is http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCarpentersTable/~3/aFoTk49f810/beware-institutional-prosperity-gospel.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)0http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/2011/10/beware-institutional-prosperity-gospel.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354.post-575034043614339841Mon, 17 Oct 2011 16:20:00 +00002011-10-17T09:20:14.453-07:00     The United Methodist Church is grounded in the belief that all followers of Jesus Christ are called to continue His ministry of service (diakonia) to the world (BOD ¶305). That service comes, in part, in the various forms and methods of pastoral care. Two key components set the Methodism apart, but not above, other faith traditions, the Wesleyan understanding of grace, and an emphasis on http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCarpentersTable/~3/HkuKzlGDPVk/methodist-ecclesiology-and-pastoral.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)0http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/2011/10/methodist-ecclesiology-and-pastoral.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354.post-2285811527180955139Sun, 09 Oct 2011 03:54:00 +00002011-10-08T20:55:47.376-07:00Exodus 32: 1-14 Philippians 4: 1-9 Matthew 22: 1-14 More Than a Parade A lot takes place prior to the events in our reading today from Exodus. God has called Moses, Aaron and the elders up onto the mountain where He begins to instruct them in all things Holy. God understands that these humans He has created need guidance, they seek guidance, they deeply desire guidance. They are just like us, http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCarpentersTable/~3/73kjeAtvR7I/more-than-parade.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)0http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/2011/10/more-than-parade.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354.post-6698442489364897689Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:21:00 +00002011-10-05T11:22:58.465-07:00In this chapter, Daniel Migliore asserts that our attitude toward understanding the doctrine of the church, ecclesiology, interferes with our ability to honestly and to fully examine the role of the church in modern culture. According to Migliore, many people associate church doctrine solely with administration or organization. He calls the reader to recognize that understanding the nature of thehttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCarpentersTable/~3/pUvpiQuROLw/response-to-chapter-10-of-faith-seeking.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)0http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/2011/10/response-to-chapter-10-of-faith-seeking.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354.post-4181146325937197133Tue, 04 Oct 2011 21:13:00 +00002011-10-04T14:14:43.550-07:00Introduction In his book, Pastor to Pastor (Kregel Publications, 1998), Erwin Lutzer offers practical advice to pastors and ministers on a range of topics related to pastoral care and shepherding a congregation. Lutzer’s intended audience for this book is professional clergy, those called to ordained ministry. The writer begins the book by establishing his biblical understanding of the call to http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCarpentersTable/~3/AxfjKAqgkoA/reaction-to-erwin-lutzers-book-pastor.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)0http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/2011/10/reaction-to-erwin-lutzers-book-pastor.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354.post-6174921945619911223Mon, 12 Sep 2011 18:37:00 +00002011-09-12T11:37:56.484-07:00There is a great debate amongst preachers and church leaders over the use of the common lectionary in organizing Sunday worship and as the basis of Sunday Sermons. The aim of the Common Lectionary is to take the church through the scriptures over the course of a three year period. The readings are meant to coincide with the Christian calendar or liturgical year, reflecting the meaning of the http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCarpentersTable/~3/xU81rJ0w6Eo/there-is-force-at-work-in-world-greater.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)0http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/2011/09/there-is-force-at-work-in-world-greater.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354.post-5911308380199183212Tue, 03 May 2011 20:39:00 +00002011-05-03T13:39:02.824-07:00     This is a tough issue, an issue many great theologians dealt with in the 30's and 40's regarding Hitler. Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Reinhold Niebuhr agonized over what the Christian response to Hitler should be. Bonhoeffer was complicit in the plot to assassinate Hitler. In doing this he believed he was committing a sin that might keep him from heaven.      Jesus taught that the greatest gift http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCarpentersTable/~3/K1RAy8e6byw/death-of-bin-laden.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)0http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/2011/05/death-of-bin-laden.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354.post-359586913029517093Sat, 23 Apr 2011 19:59:00 +00002011-04-23T12:59:45.874-07:00http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCarpentersTable/~3/CQYihYmSkvk/christ-is-risen.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)0http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/2011/04/christ-is-risen.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354.post-2662161400041546112Wed, 30 Mar 2011 18:09:00 +00002011-03-31T07:22:19.782-07:00i thank You God for most this amazingday: for the leaping greenly spirits of treesand a blue true dream of sky; and for everythingwhich is natural which is infinite which is yes (i who have died am alive again today,and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birthday of life and of love and wings: and of the gaygreat happening illimitably earth) how should tasting touching hearing http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCarpentersTable/~3/APuL3mj8oZA/i-thank-you-god-for-this-most-amazing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)0http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/2011/03/i-thank-you-god-for-this-most-amazing.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354.post-8588479285434661020Tue, 22 Feb 2011 21:10:00 +00002011-02-22T13:10:37.618-08:00     John Wesley, father of Methodism, teaches that prayer is a “means of grace.” A means of grace. By that, Wesley is saying that through prayer we can connect to God’s Prevenient grace. Prayer connects us to the fullness of God’s love, that’s what Grace is, the fullness of God’s love for us. The reality of God. The reality of God seeking relationship with us. God’s grace is always there, http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCarpentersTable/~3/znYgr0KiCUU/prayer-as-means-of-grace.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)0http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/2011/02/prayer-as-means-of-grace.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354.post-2192065217545833912Wed, 02 Feb 2011 03:13:00 +00002011-02-02T06:54:28.213-08:00David & Goliathby Larry Chitwood Simple shepherd's sling.Iron weapons held back by fear.God does more with less.©2011 L.M.Chitwoodhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCarpentersTable/~3/XNsPsfoKfb0/1-samuel-17-haiku.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)0http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/2011/02/1-samuel-17-haiku.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354.post-8882303817817792552Thu, 13 Jan 2011 17:00:00 +00002011-01-13T09:10:34.000-08:00I haven't felt much like writing the past few weeks. Thought I'd share some of my more recent photographs. Peace, Larry http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCarpentersTable/~3/38N2YYVnJg0/recent-photos.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)0http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/2011/01/recent-photos.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354.post-70717671136529077Tue, 21 Dec 2010 21:17:00 +00002010-12-21T13:37:26.452-08:00Work of Christmas Begins  Buy Now                  By Howard Thurman "When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with the flocks, then the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost, to heal those broken in spirit, to feed the hungry, to release the oppressed, to rebuild the nations, to bring http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCarpentersTable/~3/EZbq2_T8NYs/work-of-christmas-begins.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)0http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/2010/12/work-of-christmas-begins.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354.post-6347789524932972021Tue, 21 Dec 2010 16:07:00 +00002010-12-21T08:07:46.944-08:00Emmanuel, “God with us.”  עִמָּנוּאֵל Matthew 1: 18-25      We serve a God who seeks us out. A God you desires a loving relationship with us. The news, delivered to Joseph in the Gospel reading for the 4th Sunday in Advent (Matt. 1:18-25), that God wants to walk this earth with us is nothing new. God walked with Adam in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day, Genesis 3. God visited Abraham inhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCarpentersTable/~3/sH-rQzjzWq0/fourth-sunday-in-advent.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)0http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/2010/12/fourth-sunday-in-advent.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354.post-7338345123685443448Sat, 18 Dec 2010 02:12:00 +00002010-12-17T18:12:00.851-08:00A Christmas Cardby Thomas Merton When the white stars talk together like sisters And when the winter hills Raise their grand semblance in the                        freezing night, Somewhere one window Bleeds like the brown eye of an open force. Hills, stars, White stars that stand above the eastern stable. Look down and offer Him. The dim adoring light of your belief.Whose small Heart bleeds http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCarpentersTable/~3/Xo5LGlE8DhE/christmas-card-by-thomas-merton.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)0http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-card-by-thomas-merton.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354.post-1968370164139951541Mon, 13 Dec 2010 02:25:00 +00002010-12-12T18:25:44.169-08:00     The lectionary readings for this week really get me fired up! The prophet Isaiah and John the Baptist echo through the centuries with the promise of Emmanuel, God With Us. Isaiah promises “a shoot will come out from the stump of Jesse...”  Isaiah 11: 1-10      John the Baptist shouts in the desert, “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand…” Matthew 3:1-12      Both prophets tell us: “http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCarpentersTable/~3/jyYOF6bhzVY/second-sunday-of-advent-2010.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)0http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/2010/12/second-sunday-of-advent-2010.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354.post-9062276787019871128Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:00:00 +00002010-12-12T18:26:17.402-08:00Romans 13:11-14      In this week’s Epistle reading from Romans, Paul reminds us that “we know what time it is…”      We know who Christ is and why He came into this world and into our lives. Still, we hold Christ at arm’s length, never fully embracing the Way in which he calls us to live. Never fully knowing Emmanuel, God with us.      Paul goes on to encourage us to “put on the Lord Jesus http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCarpentersTable/~3/mjnInoN2r_M/first-sunday-in-advent.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)1http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/2010/11/first-sunday-in-advent.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3161317348793407354.post-7818072724579804116Mon, 22 Nov 2010 18:15:00 +00002010-11-22T10:18:09.673-08:00 As I prepare my heart for the season of Advent, I find myself repeating the lament of so many Christians at this time of year. "Why has Christmas become so commercial?" This is not a new lament for me or for the church, but I'm ready to do something about it in my life. This year, I have decided to celebrate Advent rather than the co-opted version of christmas forced upon me by American http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheCarpentersTable/~3/VB8XJbtGwnk/preparing-for-advent.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Brother Larry)4http://lchitwood.blogspot.com/2010/11/preparing-for-advent.html