The Terrifying Taxi Ride Through Istanbul

I will let Kathy tell you most of the details when we return from Turkey.  Suffice it to say for the purposes of this  blog that my hand will be permanently scarred from where Kathy dug in as our driver played bumber cars with dozens of other vehicles and pedestrians.  I, on the other hand, thought the whole situation was very funny and I gloated at Kathy’s weakness—until one of my own was revealed.  After 15 minutes on the Taxi roller coaster I began to get car sick and then sick of being in the car and I barely held on until we stopped.  I just wanted out of that taxi and I did not care that neither Kathy nor I were certain we were anywhere near our destination.

But the real point of this illustration—besides getting your attention—is that in the first two days of our visit to Istanbul, Turkey, twice, in order to find exciting and inspiring destinations that  were not on our itinerary—Kathy had researched them on the internet—twice we had to escape the relative security of our tour group to find our own way around in a strange city.

Altogether, what great experiences these were!   We did take some risks—ask us about more of the details—but we had amazing experiences and met equally amazing people.

You may recall from other blog posts that one of my goals for this journey was to be a traveler rather than a tourist, especially to meet people along the way with whom, in our diversity, we could become friends and learn how Christians and Moslems can be brothers and sisters.  We were standing in line to buy tickets for one of the incredible sights of Istanbul, an underground cistern built in the 6^th century.  On top of the cistern still stands a sultan’s palace

Anyway, we  were in line and began a conversation with a young couple.  One thing led to another, as they always do in the Kingdom of God.  As I got to the ticket booth I knew I was supposed to buy their tickets.  So I did and I handed them their tickets and they protested strongly.  But we worked it out and agreed they would host us for coffee plus after our underground excursion.  We began a friendship that has potential to continue and talked about many of the important issues—tough questions of theology and politics-- we had come to Turkey to learn about.  Actually, I was pretty much awed by the depth of this encounter and also the fact that it happened so quickly after our arrival.  Knowing now that Mustafa was of one mind with me on the importance of building  respect among our religious traditions, I gave him one of the five COEXIST necklaces I had brought to Turkey to share with soul mates I met along the way.

(Please pardon the delay in beginning to publish this blog from
Turkey.  Severe technical difficulties had to be overcome.  I think we are now full speed ahead.  KCW)

The Next Step Beyond fear

     As a parent and as a pastor I have watched many people take their next step beyond fear.  In one of our recent Baptism services I baptized a young man who, unknown to me, was terrified of going under the water. He wanted to be baptized in the "best way" and so was willing to take the next step beyond his fear.  By the way, even as he surrendered in Baptism to God he fought me with all his physical strength.  I barely got him under the water.  I came perilously close to losing my grip on him.  What have you wanted so much that you were willing to take the next step beyond your fear?  Is there someone you trust enough to know they will not lose their grip on you?
     Over the past weekend, and with much help from my wife Kathy and daughter Lauren, I took my five grandchildren on an exciting outing.  We stayed two nights at the indoor water slide park, Fort Rapids, in Columbus.  One deeply rewarding facet of this experience was watching my granddaughter Elaina, age 4, take her next step beyond fear.  A couple of us tried to get Elaina to play under the water falls and go down the children's slides.  But she kept telling us that she didn't like getting water in her eyes.  We pushed her a bit.  She resisted more until finally all Elaina would do was to sit in a chair by the pool watching all of the other children delightfully playing.  This went on for about an hour and I finally acknowledged that Elaina would have to overcome her fear in her own way and time.
     Suddenly Elaina darted from her chair.  She is a runner and can disappear faster than ice cream on a hot summer day.  I chased her--but kept my distance.  She played near some other children in the shallow pool.  Gradually her play became more joyful.  Soon it was time for supper.
     We came back the next morning and Elaina headed for the same quiet pool, with one alert adult or the other always ready to pursue her at a moments notice.  Then, in the fullness of her own time, Elaina was ready and she darted towards the falls and the smaller slides.  Her delight and self-confidence grew.  Elaina took her next step beyond fear.
     What about you and me?  Do we take our next steps beyond fear because someone pushes usor because our eyes are on some kind of prize, like freedom, or adventure or joy or love, and we finally decide that the reward is worth the risk?
     Perfect love casts out fear.  What kinds of love?  Love for oneself.  Love for family.  Love for God.  Love for all of God's Children.

     Lots of Americans are afraid of Moslems and their real and imagined connections to terrorism.  Americans and Moslems are, in actual fact, a threat to each others perceived self-interest.  We are afraid of each other's religions because Islam and Christianity have committed atrocities against each other.  For me, what I must do to transcend this fear is to remember prayerfully that we are all children of God and God longs for us to COEXIST and RESPECT and LOVE each other.  Even my imperfect love for God casts out fear.  As I look forward to being in Turkey for almost a month my fear is not that harm will come to me.  My fear is that nothing deeply meaningful will come of this, especially that no life changing relationships will be birthed.  I journey in search of other faces of God seen especially in the faces of the Children of god.
     May we all follow the example of my granddaughter Elaina in learning to let go of fear.  Love, Ken

My Opinion--A Few Days Delayed

     A few friends have asked me how I "feel" about traveling to Turkey in the wake of the world's reactions to the assassination of Osama Bin Laden.  They know that my prayer is that I will not be in Turkey just as a tourist but that I will be a traveler among potential friends and dedicated experiences--experiences dedicated to brotherhood/sisterhood, just like all the experiences with all of God's children are supposed to be for Christians--and I believe for Moslems too.
     Many friends and family members have sent me their responses to the death of Al Queda's truly vile and violent ruler.  I have watched as many news reports and read as much as I could about both the Special Forces Operation and the reactions of people near at hand and far away.  And I am finally ready to add my thoughts to the ongoing conversation.
      All nations, influenced by the principalities and powers of the world, are ambiguous when it comes to good and evil.  Some, like Hitler's Germany and the Grand Inquisitor's Spain, seem to have been swallowed up by monstrous evil.  But no nation-state, people, empire, or confederacy is a perfect reflection of God's perfect Kingdom, which exists fully only in Heaven.  This Kingdom of God is a reign of perfect justice, peace and love. We pray for this Kingdom to come on Earth as it is in Heaven..  No effort of Christians is more important that striving for the advancement of this Kingdom.  But no decision of any political people unambiguously builds the Kingdom of God. Some decisions and policies and even some acts of violence are less imperfect than others and Christians who are good citizens try to influence their countries to do the maximum good possible in any situation.  
     The assassination of Osama Bin Ladin was an imperfect good.  Most of us feel better because he is dead. Citizens of many countries and even many Moslems feel better because he is dead.  We have a feeling of satisfaction; a feeling that a horrible wrong has been made right.  I read a story about a ten year old boy who lost his adoring father in the 9/11 inferno.  Hearing the news report on Bin Ladin's death, he went to his mother and they wept together.  Together they felt relief that the mass-murderer had been brought to justice.  Justice for them included closure.
     Yet, almost immediately we begin to ask questions that point out the ambiguity of this justice.  For example, some information used in tracking down Osama Bin Ladin came from the victims of torture at the hands of their American captors.  Many of these tortured captives knew nothing useful.   What policies on torture and assassination should guide the foreign policy of our country?  Do you and I have different answers to this question when we are seeking to be good citizens than when we are seeking to be radical followers of Jesus?
     When are most Christians in the United States of America going to take seriously the clear and dramatic and consistent and persistent teaching of Jesus that we are to love our enemies and do good to those who persecute us?  Jesus never instructed his followers to be people of violence.  We are always to be people of peace.  For the First Three Hundred years the church of Jesus Christ followed this practice to the letter.  Today most Christians say  this practice of non-violence is impractical.  Impractical!  Egypt is not even a Christian nation and they just practiced non-violence to overthrow an oppressive government.  If the Egyptians, and many others, can do this, when are Christians going to believe again?

This photo was taken today towards the end of our Celebration Dinner.  We welcomed Allison Vorhees as our Sabbatical Interim and celebrated the beginning of the Sabbatical Season.  Today, according to our plan, was my last Sunday in the pulpit until after the Sabbatical, on August 14.  On the left side of this photo is my friend and new church moderator, Curtis Fett.  Curtis will have the major role in making sure that Alli is supported in her ministry with First Baptist and that we help her grow in her vocation of Christian Ministry.

Next Sunday is the first day of the Sabbatical--it is really here!!!  Many many preparations have been made.  Plans have been carefully thought through.  But now it falls to all of us to watch and see how God is active in this time and how we each are called to follow God's lead.  The first few day of the sabbatical will actually be spent with other members of the church as we learn together how to use a software program entitled, "Media Shout" which runs the media "show" every Sunday at our church.  We have a consultant coming to teach us and will also use a program called, "Media Shout University."  The first significant event of the sabbatical is the weekend of May 13 when my five grandchildren and I will stay at an indoor water park called, Fort Rapids.  I can hardly wait.  Five days later we fly to Istanbul, Turkey.  During that time you may want to check this blog often.  There are sure to be a lot of postings.

Looking forward...

Ministry to the Diversity of Our City

The Baptism of New Believers last July

On Easter Sunday morning we will baptize two new believers from death into life.  They will rise, with Jesus, from darkness into light.  But, specifically, what is each of these two women being baptized FROM and INTO?

I believe that being baptized FROM death and darkness has a different meaning for each believer and that being baptized INTO life and light has a different meaning for each believer.  On Easter Sunday one woman (Details are modified for the sake of confidentiality.) will be baptized from the death of broken relationships and poverty into the life of a community committed to her relational and economic prosperity.  The other woman will be baptized from the death and darkness of isolation and sorrow into the new life of belonging and joy.  In the past year or so, we have baptized ten other new believers and each of them was experiencing death in a particular way and each of them has been finding life in a way uniquely suited to their life situation.  I have asked them a few well placed questions and learned that these new believers are able to give voice to the specific form of life they are experiencing on their journeys toward the light.

Though we don't usually talk about ministry to the diversity of the city in this way, I am convinced that this is the most important meaning of diversity.  It takes into account two major principles:  1) The importance and uniqueness of the individual and 2) The primary meaning of salvation.

When new believers come to our church--this is the ideal that we hope happens--we promise them that tomorrow can be very different from today.  Life can begin again and it can be abundant life beyond anyone's expectation.  Immediately they know what I am talking about because they came to church, and to Christ, to find a particular kind of abundant life.  One Sunday about a year ago a man came forward to seek Baptism and as we were talking, so I could introduce him to the church, he said to me, "I broke my relationship with my son.  I want that relationship back.  Pray for me and my son."  We are still praying and we helped him to enroll in an awesome fatherhood program offered by Christians in our city.  The individual, loved unconditionally by God, is job one.

Let me be very direct about this.  Though many Christian Evangelism programs focus on heaven and hell, by asking questions like, "If you died today where would you spend eternity?" no one who has come forward in our church to accept Christ and seek Baptism has ever had heaven and hell as a primary concern.  Actually, none of them have ever expressed to me that heaven and hell were a secondary concern.   I am sure this will come up later, but not today.  New believers in our church have a lot in common with people who have grown up in poverty.  Their needs are immediate.  Their longings are for a better life, TODAY.  If you want to connect the Good New of Jesus to their lives, you must hang the gospel on the hook of their expressed needs. The way I see salvation, this is exactly as it should be.  First and foremost God's salvation is about life lived today in the light of the love of Christ.

This experience of salvation is available to everyone, one new believer at a time.  And this understanding of salvation can begin to overcome the damage done by adherents of various religions that condemn each other to hell.

This conclusion is directly connected to my sabbatical, especially my hope that during my journey to Turkey I will form relationships with Muslims who are living transparently in the light.  I can read many books and hear many theories.  But peace and unity in our world--an easing of the dark and deadly divisions among religious groups--are not built upon the sand of theories.  Rather, it is the rock of relationships that will change the world.

Much more will be said about this.

The Subject Is Prayer

Some of you know that a long time ago, since around 1981, I very suddenly began to get very serious about prayer.  Over time prayer became so much the center of my life and ministry that some friends told me I was a mystic.  Sometimes I saw myself that way, especially in times when I was paying deep attention to my spiritual life and was equally devoted to nurturing the spiritual lives of the people who called me "pastor."  I also know, for an absolute fact, that when I stay close to God amazing things happen; sermons are birthed in a micro-second, answers are given before questions are asked, I show up in the nick of time and others arrive in my life before I knew I needed them.

Leading a church in the year 2011 and preparing at the same time to go on a sabbatical--to say nothing of spending as much time as possible with my wife, children and grandchildren--has lately made it extremely difficult to take time for prayer.   (Exercise has also been short shifted recently.)  However, one aspect of my sabbatical preparations has been to get to know more about Islam and to meet some real flesh and blood Muslims.  There is a lot to learn and I still do not have anything like a significant friendship with a Muslim, but one thing that is impossible to miss in even casual encounters is that Muslims are people of prayer.  Formal prayer.  Disciplined prayer.  Prayer grounded in their holy book and the life of their prophet.  Frequent prayer.  Prayer in community.    Over and over I read and hear about the Muslim's commitment to pray five times a day, ritualized prayers memorized from the traditions of their faith.

I hardly ever pray prayers memorized from the traditions of my faith.  I take scant advantage--or at least I have of late--of the rich resources of prayer in my Christian tradition. "Not good," I told myself a few weeks ago.  I need to add something very significant to my practice of prayer.  This is what happened.

I decided that I would decide on five prayers or scriptures that were especially meaningful to me at this time in my life.  I would commit these five to memory and I would pray them all, in sequence, a couple of times a day.  I did this and I am continuing to do it and it has been making all the difference in my connection to God and in my life.  The five are:  1)  The Jesus Prayer,  ("Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, have mercy on me, a sinner.) 2)  The Lord's Prayer,  3)  The 23rd Psalm, 4)  Isaiah 40:28-31,  5) John 3:16-17.

One great difficulty I have with prayer is that I get DISTRACTED, BIG TIME!  I am one of those people who can listen to a lecture only if I am doodling.  I would need something physical to help me to focus on my five prayers.  Muslims help focus their prayers by bowing towards Mecca.  I thought about bowing to our family homestead in the Catskill Mountains, but that smacked just a bit of idolatry.  After a couple of experiments I settled on taking advantage of our church sanctuary which is definitely sacred space for me.  I visualize five places in the sanctuary, one for each prayer.  Four of the places are the corners and the fifth is the communion table at the front/center of the church.  I don't know why it works, but focusing my attention on these places helps me to stay focused on each prayer.  And when I am so focused and pray each prayer I feel the message of each prayer deeply, I experience the power of each prayer to draw me close to God and to change the way I am living my life.

I think it would be wise for anyone who wants to pray in a similar way to first pray for God's guidance in choosing the prayers and scriptures and I also think it would be wise to change the prayers and scriptures now and then according to the spiritual needs of one's life.

May your life of prayer be a blessing to you, giving you the grace and power to be a blessing to others.

The Subject is Worship

Worship is one of the major themes of my sabbatical,  It is also one of the arenas of church life that, at First Baptist, needs the most transformation.  It is an arena of church life that matters to a lot of our people--enough so that quite a few people have been impatient with our lack of progress over the past five years.   At various times I have tried to make significant steps forward  but I always encountered enough non-interest and resistance to cause me to keep worship transformation on the back burner.  This was frustrating but necessary.

Without having resolved the non-interest and resistance to worship change, we still included it as a major theme in the proposal we wrote to the Lilly Endowment for a sabbatical grant.  Maybe this was wishful thinking but when I was writing the grant proposal and listening to the input of others for the proposal it seemed like this might just be the time.  The sabbatical might create the context for us to become truly innovative with worship.

So far I would say that this is exactly what has been happening.  The sabbatical has created opportunities to explore and experiment with worship.  Worship Services on Sundays February 27 and March 6 were set aside for some experiments in designing worship in new and creative ways.  Three lay members of a worship design team worked with me to create two services on the themes of 'Life Is Difficult," and "Leadership."   We will meet soon to evaluate and learn from these experiences.

During the sabbatical each of the three lay members who designed the two services mentioned above will be forming their own worship design team.  We are trying to involve as many people as possible in planning and leading worship.  Each team will begin to plan some of our worship services between May 8 and August 13 by meeting and reading the appropriate lectionary texts and agreeing on a theme.  Our sabbatical interim, Allison Voorhees, will meet with each of the teams and will have a significant role in all of the services during the sabbatical.

I will make a continuing contribution to many of these services.  Once the design teams have chosen worship themes, I will be creating worship resources for the services based on my experiences during the sabbatical.  Learning to use Media Shout, the software the church uses to create our media show each Sunday. and growing my skills in digital photography will help me to make more creative and meaningful contributions to worship, now and in the future.

So, what about our worship is in the process of being transformed?  We are not seeking to transform worship by dramatically changing the kind of music we use using.  We are not going to focuse on what we title our emerging form of worship.  We are not trying to divide the church by declaring some practices of worship to be old-fashioned and others contemporary.  What is changing is the level of engagement in worship that our people have.  What is changing is the amount of time we spend together imagining the most powerful ways we can of praising God.

It is going to be very interesting to see how all of this evolves but it definitely seems that the sabbatical has created an exciting time in the life of our church when many things can be made new.