A quick road trip and Roy's ramblings...

This week Maddie started a new job, working at a new business in town called the 'Kolache Factory'.  Of course as the name implies, they make Kolaches and very tasty ones at that.  Maddie was originally hired as a cashier, but they quickly discovered that she (thanks to her mother) has a real knack in the kitchen.  She's been transferred over to baking and her new boss just loves her.  So far, she's had a 100% turnout rate for her baking (many of the kolaches break open in baking).  Today she made meatball kolaches and again had a perfect score, her boss was so thrilled he dubbed her 'the meatball whisperer' and said from now on if she's at work she is making the meatball kolaches.  Apparently, the meatball ones are extremely tough to make and all the rest of the cooks have multiple failures in each batch.

I'm extremely proud of how hard she's working, she has been going in at 3 am and a couple of days she worked until 3 pm.  She's a hard little worker and she tells us that she just loves this job and working with baking.  Of course, she's excited because she's getting a lot of hours and will have more money to save up to travel to Canada again soon to see Yves.

Today I picked Maddie up from work at eleven and we drove to Sioux Falls to help Creath do his income taxes.  Once we finished that I took Maddie and Creath out to supper and then Creath had to get to work so Maddie and I set off back to Omaha.  She told me on the way home that Yves band has been offered a chance to open for another band on tour.  If they take the offer they'll be touring not only Canada and the USA but also over in Europe.  They're both very excited as it could be a big opportunity for Yves and his group.  He and his band are also planning on coming to the US soon to meet with the producer who is putting together a cd for them.  They're all excited about this as well as apparently he's a big name and has worked with several groups that went on to be well-known and popular bands (of course I've never heard of any of them). Who knows, Maddie may find herself with a rockstar on her hands, at any rate he plays a very mean guitar.

Today marks three months until my 55 and one-half birthday, and since I've not been training towards any particular event or date lately I decided to train towards that date.  And with that I have set my sights on May 22, 2015, by which I will strive to have dropped 20 to 30 lbs of body weight, and be in as good as, or better shape than I was at less than half of my current age.  Age is as I constantly say, just a number, and no reason for us to give up on being healthy, strong and active.

Well, it's getting late and I better get going, so with that I'll leave you all with this prayer.

God's Love & Blessings to you all,
Roy


O Lord, who hast mercy upon all, take away from me my sins,
and mercifully kindle in me the fire of thy Holy Spirit.
Take away from me the heart of stone,
and give me a heart of flesh,
a heart to love and adore thee,
a heart to delight in thee,
to follow and to enjoy thee,
for Christ's sake.

(Ambrose of Milan, c 339-397)

The passing of the Guard

Well, I pray this blog post finds everyone who wanders through in good health and spirits.  I do have some very sad news to report in that my Aunt Sylvia passed away at her home this past Friday afternoon.  Sylvia was diagnosed with lung cancer a while back and she decided to refrain from treatment.  She wanted to enjoy as much of the life that she had left, without the illness and wear and tear of chemo or radiation treatments.  Sylvia was a wonderful, wonderful woman and she's the last of her five siblings to pass into heaven.  The very last of the old guard Karlen's, they leave behind only my Uncle Elton's wife Beth and my mother Rosemarie, both of whom of course married into the Karlen clan.

The "Old Guard Karlen Clan."
Back Row, Elton, Joan, my grandmother Madeline Karlen
Front Row, my father Merrill, Sylvia and Vida.
All five siblings with their mother at Grandma's house out at the Ranch
Their birth order was: Elton, Merrill, Vida, Joan & Sylvia

Today I helped out a bit with the worship service at Benson Baptist with leading the prayers for both services.  I was also the lead teacher today for Sunday School, it seems that these two responsibilities always seem to fall on the same Sunday.  In Sunday School, we are working on creating Easter cards for children in an orphanage in Romania.

Working on these cards dovetails well with the topic we're covering in the program we've been utilizing.  This month's topic is 'kindness'.  We've tried very diligently to convey to the children how this act of kindness, making cards for these orphans, will hopefully brighten Easter day for them.  While the children were working on the cards, I had them go around the table and offer their class members compliments.  The lesson there was how even a tiny act of kindness can brighten another's day.

I've said it before in this blog, and I will give emphasis to it once again... it does not take a large act of kindness or generosity to make a profound impact on another human being.  So very often it's the small acts that have the greatest impact on another.  The much used saying "practice random acts of kindness" has much truth and merit.

I like to say "be a blessing to someone today", but remember these blessings don't have to be big nor grand.  Just spread them out and let God do the rest.

And with that I'll end this short blog post with a prayer from Mother Teresa.

God's Blessings to you all.

In Christ,

Roy

DEAR JESUS, help me to spread Thy fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with Thy spirit and love. Penetrate and possess my whole Return to "Paying Tribute to Mother Teresa of Calcutta "being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of Thine. Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel Thy presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me but only Jesus. Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be a light to others.

Mother Teresa

Of course, more books...

I apologize that I haven't posted anything for a couple of weeks.  Honestly, I haven't had much interesting to say.  Our weather here went from nice, to snow, to nice again, and today it's cold and windy.  You have to love winter in Nebraska, but all things considered we've had a very easy winter this year.  I have a couple of friends in the New England area and man, oh man, I wouldn't trade winters with them for love nor money. 

This last Sunday we went to 'Half Price Books' as we often do, and I was thrilled to find three books that interested me and all three just happened to be on clearance to boot.  So last night I finished the book that I have been reading and started reading one of the three that I purchased Sunday.  The name of the new book is "The Externally Focused Church" by Rick Rusaw & Eric Swanson.  I'm only a short ways into it but so far it's been a very good resource.

Lately, I've been doing a lot of deep reading on Church History and this book is a much lighter and faster read to be honest.  I love dense books, but I'll admit even I need a break from them every so often.  The one I just finished was a great book with some very interesting observations about the relationships of the cast of characters in the early church.  I'll confess that part of why I liked it was the author confirmed some observations that I have long had myself.  It's not a book I'd recommend to others though as it's not an easy read at all.

My book haul from last Sunday afternoon.  A Brian McLaren book on clearance even.
WmRoy Karlen photo

Above you'll see a photo of the books that I found Sunday.  I was especially happy to pick up a book by Brian McLaren on clearance.  McLaren is an author that I do like to read, but with whom I constantly find myself arguing with as I'm reading them.  Generally, I contain these outbursts in my mind, but occasionally, I have been known to start arguing with him out loud as I'm reading.  When this happens Gail will give me that look, and often she'll say if you don't like him why are you reading his book.  To which I tell her, it's not that I don't like him, much of what he says I agree with.  I just can't stand the way he says what he's saying.  I've had the chance to listen to McLaren in a 'skype' broadcast at a church program, and he gives me the same feeling hearing him speak.  Much of what he says is great stuff, but the way he comes across just isn't productive in my opinion.

But, having said all of that I'm greatly looking forward to reading his book as soon as I finish reading the one I started last night.  McLaren is a bit like Dali I suppose, Dali always wanted to generate some emotional response from the observer, he didn't care if it was positive or negative.  Dali just wanted a response, in his eyes the worst thing a piece of art could do is leave the observer with a 'take it or leave it' attitude.  The middle ground was not where Dali wanted to be and perhaps McLaren has that concept in mind while he's writing.

One should always strive to read and converse with those with whom you disagree.  As I so often like to say "if I only talk to those who I agree with, I'll never learn a thing".  We all need to challenge ourselves from time to time, if for no other reason than to make us reassess why we feel or believe the way we do.

So far I have nothing to report on the journey to finding a permanent position with a church.  But, recently Gail and I have decided that we need to broaden the area of our search.  No longer am I limiting the search to areas close to Omaha, in fact today I've talked to people about opportunities on either coast.  Yesterday though, I learned of a church opening in South Dakota and I sent off my resume for that position.  I would really love to get back to my home State, so I'm hopeful about this opportunity.

With that, I pray you all will have a wonderful remainder of the week and I wish you all the very best.

In Christ,

Roy

Sermon at New Life Baptist Church

Yesterday, Gail and I attended service at New Life Baptist Church in Bellevue, NE.  Their Pastor Rick Wheatley, left this week to go on a Mission trip, and so I was offered the chance to provide pulpit supply for them.  New Life is a very upbeat and happy congregation.  Their service has a good deal of energy, and they are greatly blessed with folks with musical and singing talents.  It was a very uplifting service, and I enjoyed it immensely.

New Life Baptist Church, Bellevue, NE

Website for New Life Baptist Church, Bellevue, NE

Gail was able to record the sermon and miraculously, I was able to get it loaded up to Youtube without any issues.  The sermon topic was 'The Lord's Prayer'.  Since I had fairly short notice about the opportunity to preach for New Life, I didn't really have time to write a new sermon.  So, I did something I have never done before, and I just revised a sermon I had already preached in the past.

The last time, however the video didn't cooperate so I wasn't able to load the recorded sermon onto this blog.

Here is the video, I hope you enjoy the sermon.  Remember, I never claim to be the smoothest preacher out there, but the message is a good one in my opinion. (of course I am somewhat biased)

I pray that you all will have a wonderful week, and I will leave you with the prayer that I used to close the sermon.

God's abundant Love & Grace to you all,
Roy

God above, Father, Abba

Holy, Sacred and Revered Lord.

We pledge our hands, our feet, our hearts and our spirits
to you Oh Lord, to fashion this world as you
would desire.

Let us ever be your emissaries of Love,
Charity, Grace and Forgiveness in this world.

Let us follow the model that you have given us, of Jesus who is the Christ, as we pursue your perfect example of grace and love to this broken world.

Allow us Oh Lord, to come into communion and relationship with you.  Give us the strength of body, mind and spirit that we require to serve you.

We pray for your protection from those that would oppose and harm us, and from our own sinful and selfish egos.  

Oh Lord, guide us steadfastly down your path of Forgiveness, Grace, Charity and Love onto this world.

For yours alone Oh Lord, is the Kingdom, and the power and the glory, until the very end of all time.

Amen

Marcus Borg has passed away

I am sad to report that Marcus Borg passed away yesterday (Jan 21st).  The world has lost one of it's great scholars.  God rest his soul and comfort and peace to his loved ones in their time of sorrow.


Link to Article about Marcus Borg

(quoted from above link)

 Marcus J. Borg, a prominent liberal theologian and Bible scholar who for a generation helped popularize the intense debates about the historical Jesus and the veracity and meaning of the New Testament, died on Wednesday (Jan. 21). He was 72 and had been suffering from pulmonary fibrosis.

Borg emerged in the 1980s just as academics and theologians were bringing new energy to the so-called “quest for the historical Jesus,” the centuries-old effort to disentangle fact from myth in the Gospels.

Alongside scholars such as John Dominic Crossan, Borg was a leader in the Jesus Seminar, which brought a skeptical eye to the Scriptures and in particular to supernatural claims about Jesus’ miracles and his resurrection from the dead.

Like other scholars, Borg tended to view Jesus as a Jewish prophet and teacher who was a product of the religious ferment of first-century Judaism.

But while Borg questioned the Bible, he never lost his passion for the spiritual life or his faith in God as “real and a mystery,” as he put it in his 2014 memoir, “Convictions: How I Learned What Matters Most,” the last of more than 20 books he wrote.

“Imagine that Christianity is about loving God. Imagine that it’s not about the self and its concerns, about ‘what’s in it for me,’ whether that be a blessed afterlife or prosperity in this life,” Borg wrote.

Borg was the youngest of four children, born March 11, 1942 in North Dakota and raised in a traditional Lutheran family. He attended Concordia College in Minnesota where he majored in philosophy and political science.

He remained fascinated by the New Testament, however, and accepted a fellowship to do graduate work at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where he delved deeply into the Jewish background of the Gospels and Jesus of Nazareth and studied with some of the major theologians teaching there. Borg then went on to further studies at Oxford and taught at various Midwest universities on his return to the U.S.

In 1979 he joined the faculty at Oregon State University and taught religion there until his retirement in 2007.

Borg’s 1987 book, “Jesus: A New Vision,” launched him to prominence. The book summarized and explained recent New Testament scholarship for a popular audience while presenting Jesus as a social and political prophet of his time who was driven by his relationship with God. Borg viewed this relationship as more important than traditional Christian beliefs based on a literal reading of the Bible.

In subsequent books, three of them co-written with Crossan, Borg continued to press and expand on those ideas, becoming a hero to Christian progressives and a target for conservatives.

Borg loved to debate but was no polemicist, and over the years maintained strong friendships with those who disagreed with him, developing a reputation as a gracious and generous scholar in a field and a profession that are not always known for those qualities.

For example, Borg co-authored a 1999 book, “The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions,” with N.T. Wright, an Anglican biblical scholar who took a more orthodox view of the Gospels. But Wright also recommended many of Borg’s books and lectured alongside him on occasion.

“Spanning the study of Jesus and a wide variety of subjects, Marcus shaped the conversation about Jesus, the church, and Scripture in powerful ways over the space of four decades,” Frederick W. Schmidt, Jr., of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, wrote on his blog on hearing of Borg’s passing.

“I came to different conclusions about a number of issues, but Marc was always incisive, tenacious, thoughtful, and unfailingly gracious; and over the years he became a cherished friend,” Schmidt wrote.

The Rev. Barkley Thompson, an Episcopal priest and rector of Christ Church Cathedral in Houston, broke the news of Borg’s death in a blog post in which he spoke of how much he had learned from Borg and how close they remained even as Thompson’s beliefs became more traditional and veered away from Borg’s.

“I once introduced Marcus to a church audience by saying, ‘I agree with roughly 75 percent of what Marcus will say to you this evening,’” Thompson wrote in his tribute. “When he stepped into the pulpit, Marcus quipped, ‘I’m tempted to forgo my notes and discuss with Barkley the other 25 percent!’”

During a question-and-answer period with parishioners at one event, someone asked Borg, “But how do you know that you’re right?”

Borg paused and responded: “I don’t know. I don’t know that I’m right.”

Thompson said he had corresponded with Borg in late November and asked how he was doing.

“I may have ten years left,” Borg wrote back. “Not sure I want more. There comes a time to let go. And I could, with gratitude, sooner than that. My life has been very blessed.”

While raised a Lutheran, Borg gravitated to the Episcopal Church, which was his home for much of his life. His wife, Marianne, is an Episcopal priest and former canon at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, Ore., where Borg frequently lectured and was given the title of canon theologian.

With characteristic humor he said his wife informed him that “canon” means “big shot.”

YS/AMB END GIBSON

Preaching at New Life Baptist Church in Bellevue, NE

Today I was offered the chance to do Pulpit Supply for New Life Baptist Church in Bellevue this coming Sunday.

New Life's service is at 10:30 am and their address is: 
801 Kayleen Drive, Bellevue, NE

If anyone is interested in coming down to hear the sermon just come on down, or give me a call if you'd like to ride along with Gail and I.

In Christ,
Roy
402-740-4875

Christmas Eve & Christmas Day

Well, another Christmas has come and gone.  Here in Omaha, it was a beautiful day with a high temperature for the day of just shy of 50 degrees.  Of course, this year it was not a white Christmas.

On Christmas Eve this year, Maddie had to work until 6:00 pm, so we were unable to attend the Christmas Eve Service at Benson Baptist, since their service started at 5:30 pm.  So I Googled a bit and found a 7:30 service at a ELCA Lutheran Church and we decided to give that a try.  Creath was home for the Holiday and so all four of us attended the service at Saint Michael's Lutheran Church, located at 132nd & Blondo.  Years ago, I was actually a member at St. Michael's, but I hadn't been inside the building for many years and they've added on at least twice in these passing years.

Saint Michael's has a beautiful facility, though I will confess the decor is a bit too contemporary for my preferences at this stage in my life.  Their service however, was wonderful.  They have a Minister who is a very talented speaker, and they had a soloist who had an absolutely marvelous voice.  Going to the service just to hear her sing, would have been well worth it all.

Pipe Organ at St. Michael's Lutheran Church, Omaha, NE
WmRoy Karlen photo

After the service we went home and had a bite to eat.  We had planned to go down to St. Cecilia's for their Midnight Mass, but Gail and the kids were too tired to go.  Going to St. Cecilia's Midnight Service is for me one of the highlights of my year, so undeterred, I set off and attended the service alone.  This year I walked in the front doors (we've always parked beside the building and gone in the side doors) in order to see the sanctuary in all it's glory.  Saint Cecilia's is a magnificent building, and I love to go down and hear the choir singing in Latin.  There is just something ethereal about this building and it is especially so when there is beautiful music.  The acoustics for the sanctuary are incredible.

Gail and I, once went to a performance there of an a-capella quartet, singing Irish Folk Hymns.  The four women came from the curved hallway that goes behind the Altar, two came out from each side.  You could hear them singing long before they appeared in sight, and they sang the entire performance without any amplification.  It was just their natural voices and the amazing acoustics of the Cathedral.

During the service of Midnight Mass, I sat along the center aisle and the entering and exiting processions went right past me.  Even the next morning, I could still smell the incense on my coat.  On the drive home (about 2 am) there was almost no traffic, and that peaceful drive, along with the smell of the incense was in itself almost a spiritual event... very serene and almost surreal.

Christmas morning we of course opened gifts at home and then went over to Mary Alice's (Gail's mom) home to open still more gifts.  After everything was done at Mary Alice's and the rest of the folks had to run off to Christmas events with other relatives, Gail, the kids and I took Mary Alice over to our house.

Mary can't walk on her own right now and the simplest way to get her up the stairs and into the house, was for me to just pick her up and carry her inside.  She is not heavy at all, the only thing I was concerned about was that she has a terrible habit of reaching out and grabbing the railing or something else and just won't let go, even when you need to keep moving.

Before I picked her up (each and every time, as I carried her into, and out of the house and also carried her into the bedroom so she could take a nap) I told her clearly to NOT reach out and try to grab anything as I was carrying her.  I told her to grab ahold of my shoulders and to not reach out for a railing or doorknob or anything else.  Honestly, if she grabbed and pulled on the railing as I was taking her up or down the steps she could have caused both of us to fall.  She listened well, and we had no troubles at all getting her wherever she needed to be.

Gail told me "you do come in handy sometimes".  To which I replied, quoting the famous trainer Mark Rippetoe "strong people are generally more useful, and are harder to kill".  There are times in all of our lives when we need the assistance of someone either stronger physically, mentally, or spiritually than we are ourselves.  There is no shame in this, it is just part of being a human being.

Mary's trying to grab ahold of something while you're helping her, is a lot like how we are when we're in God's guiding grasp.  All too often when we're faced with difficulty, we pray to God for help, and then we reach out for something else... rather than, putting our faith in his strength and guidance to get us through the situation.  We reach out to crutches such as alcohol or drugs, we have extra-marital affairs, or any of a number of other things that we put our faith in, rather than God's guidance.  Take your troubles before the Lord, trust in Him to get you through these difficult times.  Do not reaching out in fear, but trust in the love, guidance, and healing that God can and will provide.

Well, that's enough for today.  May you each and everyone, know the peace, grace and strength of God in your lives.

In His Love & Joy,

Roy

Prayers please for:
Connie Surat, Kelly & Patti Wills, Don & Laura Fletcher, the Huntzeker family, Sylvia Schafer, Edsel Buchanan, and remember to pray for yourself as well.