Advent Greetings!

We have begun our Advent journey at ARPC as we “hung’ the greens on the first Sunday of Advent. One of the most moving parts of this service is the hymn by Charles Wesley that we traditionally close this service with. The hymn is “Jesus Comes with Clouds Descending.” It is a powerful reminder that we are living between two Advents and that our Creator God is not finished with this world. A great completion is to come! Until that second great Advent we are to watch, pray and do what Jesus Christ did when He walked the dusty roads of Palestine some 2,000 years ago. That is we are to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, minister to the sick….

Sisters and brothers in Christ there is a future that God has awaiting us. It is a future that nothing can take from us – not even death! Therefore let us live according to the admonition of our Lord:                   “DO NOT BE AFRAID!”

 Grace and Peace,

 Pastor Ron

I recently celebrated the wedding of Marc Lynn and Brandy Smith – at the Aquarium(!) in Charleston, SC.

 It was my first wedding at an aquarium and it was quite beautiful. The backdrop for the bride/groom/myself was a huge floor-to-ceiling fish tank with all kinds of sea creatures swimming about. When little (tiny) flower girl, Addison Lynn, walked down the aisle and looked up at all the fish, etc., she stopped and said “Oooohhh…..!” My sentiments exactly! God has created a fascinating world full of creatures only God could have thought up.

 All creatures have one essential task – to praise the Creator. The fish swim and so praise the Creator; the whale swims and sings and does so – Let us praise God as we love God and each other.

 Soli  Deo Gloria!

 To God Alone Be All Glory!

 Pastor Ron

To all surrounded by the splendor of fall…

God speaks through fall’s colors and embraces us with beauty as God speaks through sisters and brothers in Christ who write books. Such a brother is Stephen Plunkett and his book Eight Truths Presbyterians Affirm. Dr. Plunkett reminded me of a truth I need to keep clearly in focus…..

“The church is God’s community, not ours. Sometimes, amid the squabbles of church life, we begin to think the church belongs to us – don’t we? – and that it is ours to manage as we choose. The Church of Jesus Christ belongs to no governing body, no pastor, no committee, and no ‘right’ way of thinking. The church was not crafted by a task force or by a General Assembly action. It is not the property of any denomination or the possession of any movement, whether it be tagged liberal or conservative, moderate or centrist, left-wing or right-wing. The church, wonder of wonders, is God’s possession, despite every wart and blemish that we humans bring to it. IT IS NOTHING LESS THAN THE REDEMPTIVE BODY OF JESUS CHRIST POURED OUT IN DIVINE LOVE FOR ALL CREATION.”

 These profound words remind me to celebrate the incomparable joy I have in Jesus Christ and in His Church. I encourage you (and myself) to let no one’s critique of the church diminish that joy.

 Grace and Peace,

 Pastor Ron

Did You Know……..

DID YOU KNOW that ARPC supports a ministry known as the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society that offers English as a Second Language courses on the ARPC campus? Walking into the church office one afternoon I met a family headed for that course. There was a young father, mother, two beautiful children, and a young! grandmother. They had been in the United States for only two weeks – from Burma. Talking with them I was pleasantly startled that they were Christians. The young mother, a Presbyterian Christian! She shared that she became a Christian through the ministry of a Presbyterian Missionary from Wales to Burma. A week or so later some of the folks from Saints Alive and I took them to lunch. We discovered them to be devout Christians who will join our fellowship!

 Dear Folk, the entire world it seems is right at ARPC’s back door. This is undoubtedly a part (a big part) of our calling as a church as we move into the future.

 By the way: I’ll soon begin my lunch visits to the schools of ARPC’s elementary-age children. Eating lunch with these little folk is a lot of fun for me and it enables me to see a number of public schools up close. I’m not sure what the little folk think of me!

 Grace and Peace,

 Pastor Ron

BACK IN THE SADDLE….again

Speaking of “back in the saddle….” School for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg system begins the day I find myself writing this. This past Sunday during worship (as we always do the Sunday before school begins) we had a prayer of blessing for students and teachers. School (the training and development of the intellect) has always been a core value of the Presbyterian tradition. I celebrate wholly this core value. Let us all keep our teachers, students, administrators in our prayers – all year long.

 Christabelle – one of my great nieces and great joys of my life – begins her senior year at Owen High School in Black Mountain. I’m hoping that the following fall she will find herself at Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC.

 Shifting gears a bit, I would like to share with you from the lesson our Sunday School Class enjoyed this past Lord’s Day. Presbyterian pastor, Dr. John Ortberg (author of the book we are studying) quoted one of the desert fathers named Anthony….

             What must we do to please God?

1.   Always be aware of God’s presence.

2.  Always obey God’s Word.

 But the third was surprising…….

 3.  Wherever you find yourself, do not leave easily.

 For me, this third piece of advice is a good reminder that God would have us never to easily give up, whether it be…

 -      school

-      family

-      the church

-      our ministry

-      our nation – especially our efforts now to provide universal health coverage for all of America’s citizens.

 DO NOT EASILY LEAVE……..

             the place where you are –

            the struggle you are in….

 A fellow struggler,

Pastor Ron

This Week I Celebrate….

….the officers (elders and deacons) of ARPC. We gathered on Tuesday evening, July 28, for fellowship and discussion about some important issues. It is when I am with the folk of ARPC in such settings that I remember so clearly why I love this congregation…

• These folk love each other,
• These folk want to reach out to love our community,
• These folk truly love the Lord and His Church and seek God’s Will for this church,
• And….many of these folk are great cooks!

 Also, I am celebrating the rain! You should see my bed of Zinnias and my three Sunflowers.

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Ron

P.S. Don’t forget the Ice Cream Social in the ARPC Family Life Center this Sunday, August 2, 5:00 – 7:30 p.m.

Did You Know?

This year the Presbyterian Church celebrates the 500^th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin. Born in 1509, John Calvin is not only a great Reformer of the past, but one whose influence continues through the centuries. Simple truth is there would not be an Albemarle Road Presbyterian Church if God had not gifted the world with John Calvin.

 Calvin’s precise, intense and thoroughly biblical voice is one that we need to listen carefully to in this time of theological confusion.

 ARPC will be celebrating Calvin’s birth in various ways. I hope to offer a class on Calvin’s theology during the fall months.

 Grace and Peace,

 Pastor Ron

July Musings…

Dear Family of God at ARPC,

 The summer is sailing quickly along! I brought this to the attention of one of our public school teachers and she didn’t seem to want to be reminded! I am enjoying the summer a great deal. Have you noticed…..

 How beautiful the Crepe Myrtles are at the church?

 How great the garden-fresh tomatoes and cucumbers taste?

 Knowing that the season of summer quickly passes, I have been thinking about fall. There will be some changes/additions to our Sunday morning schedule at that time. I will be sending you a letter to share more fully about upcoming additions.

 Our new church directory is coming along well and our thanks to Cindy Eccleston, Ellen Roubaud, Jan Myers, Rosemary Nelson, and Carolyn Tansey! I told the photographer that my photo simply didn’t do me justice; and can you believe he replied…..

 “Preacher, you don’t need justice – you need mercy!”

 As Jack Benny used to say, “Well!……………”

 Know that I love you and look forward to seeing you in worship.

 Grace and Peace,

Pastor Ron

“Back in the Saddle”

Howdy Folks!

 Well, sabbatical ended and it was a very good experience for me. I am very glad to be back at ARPC and am deeply thankful to God for the privilege of serving this wonderful congregation. It is really not too difficult to get ‘back in the saddle’ as the needs and challenges of this community of faith require my immediate involvement.

And I have moved again. This time I live at Trellis Point right next door to Art and Jean Bowman (I couldn’t have better neighbors!) One of the men in the neighborhood invited me to the Men’s Breakfast Group and I responded… “Isn’t that for old men?” → He just looked at me. Old man that I am, I’m not ready to throw in the towel or as Mike says “to be put on the shelf.” God never puts anyone on ‘the shelf’ – that is always the work of human beings with too narrow vision.

Don’t forget our ARPC Produce Stand is back and all the veggies, etc. we bring will go to the Somalia refugee families.

Enjoy these summer days!

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Ron

April: Springtime in the Mountains

EASTER: THE GREAT THING!

 

I hope all enjoyed a wonderful and glorious Easter. I had the opportunity to celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord with my family. Immediately after worship the church held a great Easter egg hunt. I stood and watched as the little folk poured out with their baskets to find the egg treasures in the newly green grass.

 

            Worship was great!

            Being with my family was great!

            The Easter egg hunt was great!

 

I sound like Tony the Tiger – don’t I? Yet Easter is a call to remember – to focus upon and celebrate…

 

The Great Things

 

The greatest of all things for me is that in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Kingdom of God has come and invites us by faith into the realm of God where abundant and eternal life reigns – now and forever!

 

But we have a tendency in the church to allow to slip out of focus The Great Things.    Dr. Ronald Byars, Professor of Preaching and Worship at Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, offers this extraordinarily relevant critique:

 

“…deprived of confidence about The Great Things of our faith, we have become passionately certain about smaller things. We are certain about abortion rights or abortion wrongs – about what pronouns may be used or must be forbidden – about who can or cannot be ordained… None of these issues is unimportant but the ardor with which we embrace one view or another seems to substitute for a lost zeal for The Great Things….”

 

And just where do we find the identity of these Great Things? We find them in the completely trustworthy witness of the New Testament to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is The Great and in His words The Great is known and through His Holy Spirit we are empowered to live with zeal The Great!

 

(Perhaps you can tell I’ve been out of the pulpit too long. My family is great but they are not willing to sit at home and listen to me preach.)

 

Upcoming in sabbatical time—

 

Shortly I will be spending time at my alma mater (Wheaton College) as I study at their Marion E. Wade Center which houses the world’s definitive collection of C. S. Lewis,    J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, Dorothy Sayers …. Wheaton (located in a Chicago suburb) is a place of tremendous resources both spiritually and academically. This is a change in my original plans but a change I believe will be beneficial. Wheaton College and its great legacy has always served to point me to The Great Things.

 

Continuing to speak of great things – I received an invitation from Rob Chambers to his graduation from Union Seminary. I join with all in extending my congratulations for this accomplishment and the future ministry God has for him.

 

I look forward to seeing you soon and remember…..

 

“WE ARE AN EASTER PEOPLE AND HALLELUJAH IS OUR SONG!”

 

                                                          Pastor Ron