Bosses Day

I sure do not feel like much of a "boss".  I do appreciate the gifts and cards I got today.  Many nice and encouraging things were said to me.  I feel honored to be chosen to be a leader of so many good people.  It amazes me how much God works to make all of the stuff happen here.  In just making a few decisions at the beginning of the day, I see Him showing me the way.  I sure cannot be the leader, without following our Great and Wonderful God!

God be with you in the Journey!
Kevin

End-Times

If your end-times theology trumps the clear commands in Scripture to love neighbors and enemies, then it's time to rethink your theology.

                     quoted from Carl Medearis 

Many of you that know me, know that I just do not get into all of the "prophecy" of how we are to interpret the Book of Revelations, the 7 year tribulation, etc.  This quote helped put words to why.

God be with you in the Journey,
Kevin

From a Wild Goose Festival attendee

The festival is still going on, but we had to leave today, Saturday, about 2:00 PM.  I really wanted to see Richard Twiss speak, but I got to talk to him personally before we left.

It is going to take a while to digest all that I experienced at the event.  Initially I can say that I was uncomfortable about many things and comforted by many things.  I found Phyllis Tickle, Richard Rohr, Tony and Peggy Campolo, Matt Prichard, Diana Butler-Bass, Mark Pierson and Abdullah Antepli all very interesting and helpful on Friday.  I also saw Jay Bakker and I will be working on that one for a while.  I talked to people from many different countries, including an artist, Pete, from New Zealand, that had created a very moving piece about the death penalty.  He had a bottle of wine constantly pouring out on a table with a loaf of bread beside it.  Then he had about 6 plates set around the table.  The wine had stained the table cloth and it looked like drying blood.  On each side of each plate was a spike like the ones used on Jesus and then on each plate was a card with the typed menu of a last meal of a convict on death row.  It was interesting.

Today, I was in a group that talked about rites of passage for men and boys and how we can live into a healthy manhood as Christians.  It was a great experience and something I will be working on quite a bit in the future.  I have had conversations over the years with many people about how the church needs to help our young men grow up with rites of passage.  I missed seeing Brian McLaren talk about his books.  I listened to Michael Jacobs, Cherokee, play some good music.  When he started playing a recording of an Indian drum, I had to find where it was coming from and I felt so at home when I got there and saw 3 Indian dancers.  That brought me peace and joy.  I even got a tear in my eye because it felt like a piece of me was back at Robert Francis' place or in Cherry Creek, North Dakota, watching Lance dance.  Then we listened to Ed Dobson talk about the end of life, as he is suffering with ALS and not expected to live much longer.  That inspired me because he talked so much about life with some great insight. 

I cannot thank Virginia and Ralph enough for letting us stay at their home!!!!  It has been a long week since we started out Monday by flying to Tampa for a Franciscan Prayer retreat with CBF that went through Wed. and then having the great joy of attending the 20th Anniversary Celebration of CBF.  I hope to write more about all of this.  Right now I am tired and have to preach in the morning.  Talk to you later!

God be with you in the Journey!
Kevin

another quote

After two and a half centuries of shacking up with “the American dream,” churches have perfected a dicey codependence between consumer-driven therapeutic individualism and religious pragmatism. These theological proxies gnaw, termite-like, at our identity as the Body of Christ, eroding our ability to recognize that Jesus’ life of self-giving love directly challenges the American gospel of self-fulfillment and self-actualization. Young people in contemporary culture prosper by following the latter. Yet Christian identity, and the “crown of rejoicing” that Wesley believed accompanied consequential faith born out of a desire to love God and neighbor, requires the former.

Dean, Kenda Creasy (2010). Almost Christian : What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church (p. 5). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.

I read this today and just wanted to share it.  Thanks to Lynnette for sending me an email that got me to this book.

God be with you in the Journey!
Kevin

We learned something from that

On March 24th I flew back to Missouri to work on my parent's farm.  We (my brother, my parents and me) are trying to switch from a grain based feeding program to a totally grass-fed system for the cattle.  I had done this with some steers a few years ago, so I was trying to get the foundation work done so Dad and Darin could make it work for the spring and summer.  There was a lot to be done and we did not get as much done as I was hoping.  I finally got one section of pasture all separated into paddocks with electric fence and got the fencer working.  This took a couple of days.  We decided to put the cattle in the paddock the morning before I flew back to Virginia. 
   It was a mess!  The cattle just walked right though the electric fence.  I ran (something a 44 year old over-weight preacher doesn't do often) around trying to get them back where they belonged, very frustrated.  Then we just took them out of that section of pasture.  Even though it was only 35 degrees out, I was hot, sweaty, angry, etc. etc.  I felt like a total failure.  All of that work down the toilet.  I had just caused more work for Darin and Dad.  What was I thinking?  I don't remember exactly what he said, but Dad basically said, "That was not a failure, we learned something from that." 
   He was correct.  We had learned something.  The cattle had never been around electric fence out in an open pasture like that.  They had to be trained to respect the electric fence.  I was trying to rush the process to fit my schedule, instead of taking the time necessary for it to really work correctly.  The failure was a learning process. 
    My brother set up an electric fence in the middle of a larger section of pasture.  The water source on one side and the area to feed hay on the other side.  The cattle had to walk around the fence to feed and drink.  They learned.  Now they are doing well with the electric fence.  Pictures taken 4/17/2011.

     In our lives and faith communities, we can learn from our failures if we are willing.  We just have to be willing to risk enough to have the failures.  Don't be afraid to fail and learn.

God be with you in the Journey!

Kevin                     

Take the Stone Away

Not what you might think.  I have been dealing with kidney stones since April 19!  I am constantly reminded that I am not in control through this process.  I am not sure even why these little pieces of mineral straight from the pit of hell are formed in my body.  Pain comes from within, but not in reaction to anything I might do.  It just shows up.  I often feel like I am doing just fine, almost no pain at all.  Then, I experience great fatigue at the vast discomfort that my body is going through and I had not even realized it was effecting me.  I am told my body should be able to take care of this, expel the stone with minimal pain.  But, I find myself constantly upset that things are not going according to MY PLAN!!!!!!  Just take the stone away!  Someone, somehow, with something!!!!!  I keep reminding myself that I should be learning something here.  Patience, walking with God in the midst of pain, stamina, grace, something!  Not happening yet, but I will keep trying.
God be with you in the Journey!
Kevin

Wild Goose Festival

I have been doing some reading about a big gathering that is happening at Shakori Hills Farm, NC, June 23-26.  It is called the Wild Goose Festival  http://wildgoosefestival.org.  Sounds like a interesting place to be.  I am frustrated that it is at the same time as the CBF General Assembly in Tampa Bay.  The Wild Goose Festival is definitely going to not be your ordinary "conference."  I have to say I am being very pulled to check it out.  Let me know what you think.
God be with You in the Journey!
Kevin

Cool Quote

To "listen" another's soul into a condition of disclosure and discovery may be almost the greatest service that any human being ever performs for another. - Douglas Steere

God be with you in the Journey!
Kevin

Why?

Why is the Christianity I read about it Acts so radically different than the Christianity I see here in America?

This questions was stated by Matt Carter on a Right Now video.  I think it is a good question that many people are asking and that has many answers.  What do you think?

God be with you in the Journey!
Kevin 

Inventive Church can be sloppy

Here is a link to a story about church as inventive.  When you get into the whole article, you can see illustrations of the sloppiness of life together!  I hope you enjoy it.

God be with you on the Journey!
Kevin

Why do we have a problem with Sloppy?

I really enjoy the contemporary Christian song How He Loves that was written by John Mark McMillan, sung by artist Kim Walker, and then altered slightly and put on David Crowder Band's Church Music CD.  The song helps me experience God's grace, mercy and, above all, His wonderful love.  I like the video too (link below). Some folks like to discuss this song, tear it apart and critique it.  Nothing wrong with that, but I think it is interesting that so many people get hung up on the line that Crowder altered:

So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss and my heart turns violently inside of my chest 

Crowder made it into "unforeseen kiss".

In his discussion of this McMillian says in his Sept. 14, 2009 blog entry (click to see entire entry):

"I don’t have a problem with David changing the line because he knows the people he is serving, and that line would have isolated the song from those people.

What I do have a problem with though, is that the condition of greater Christianity would be as such that he would even have to change it. I think the fact that a line like 'Sloppy wet kiss' could be controversial is ridiculous. Are we in kindergarten? Has any one out there not had or at least expected to some day, engage in a sloppy wet kiss?
  ...It seems that people either hate it or love it because they think I’m some how talking about kissing God. Please folks, I never ever, ever, ever, thought of this line as though it was talking about kissing God. Please read the words.

'HEAVEN meets EARTH like a sloppy wet kiss'

The idea behind the lyric is that the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of earth converge in a way that is both beautiful and awkwardly messy. Think about the birth of a child, or even the death of Jesus himself. These miracles are both incredibly beautiful and incredibly sloppy ('gory' may be more realistic, but 'Heaven meets earth like a gory mess' didn’t seem to have the same ring). Why does the church have such a problem with things being sloppy? Do we really think we’re fooling anyone on Sunday morning, especially God? Are we going to offend him? I mean, he’s seen us naked in the shower all week and knows our worst thoughts, and still thinks we’re awesome. What if we took all the energy we spent faking and used that energy to enjoy the Lord instead? That could be revolutionary!"

I can't agree more.  I see too many hurt and broken lives in need of God's amazing love to have a problem with sloppy.  I also like things a bit sloppy because it keeps us from faking it.  I hope you can experience His great love today!

God be with you on the Journey!

Kevin

click here for the youtube video


lyrics:
He is jealous for me
Love's like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory
and I realize just how beautiful You are and how great your affections are for me.
Oh, how He loves us so
Oh, how He loves us
How He loves us so.

Yeah, He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves.

So we are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If grace is an ocean we're all sinking
So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss and my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way

That he loves us,
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves

He loves us,
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves

Making the Gospel Real

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove  http://jonathanwilsonhartgrove.com  lives in a "new monastic community" in Durham, NC.  The group is called Rutba, named after a town in Iraq that showed Jonathan and his wife, Leah, hospitality while they were traveling there. 

In an article Jonathan said: 
“I’m convinced that we don’t fully comprehend the gospel until we have been forgiven for something particular, not just general forgiveness for general sins,” he says. “I had to live in community to learn the parts of my personality that hurt other people and hear them say, ‘We still love you and we’ll keep living with you.’ That made the gospel real for me.”

What particular thing has God used to show you real forgiveness and the power of the Gospel?


We judge our worth way too much on how good things are or are not going in our life.  When really, it is the mess up's and failures that tend to show us the real power of God's love.  The deep trials of my life have been times that God has molded me and made me into a person that is holding on to fewer idols for myself and experiencing the good news that I am loved no matter what!  That is an awesome experience.  


In my life, when I have seen things going "good" and as a sign of God's blessing, I would often later find out I was trusting in an idol or limiting what God really wants to do with my life, or just judging "blessing" by the wrong standard. Often then God would show me how I was hurting myself or others with a particular sin that needed to stop.  It always hurts, but in the end I have always seen His love bigger than my failures and pain and I hear him say something like, "I still love you and I will keep living with you!"


I hope the Gospel is being made real in your life today.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"  Matt. 5:3


God be with you on the Journey!
Kevin

Picture of Prayer time in Senate

Things went well on Monday.  I really enjoyed my time in the Senate.  Here is a picture taken while I was praying.  Obviously, Lynnette was not in the praying mood, so she could take a picture.  Just kidding!  I am the one directly above the white circular emblem on the wood rail. 

God be with you in the Journey!
Kevin

Prayer at Virginia Senate

I really get nervous about praying for a government meeting like this.  I am such an advocate of separation of church and state, but appreciate the opportunity that is before me.  I have been reading some of Peter Marshall's prayers and others that have prayed in these situations often.  I mainly see a need for peace, guidance and the willingness to love our enemies as ourselves.  I do not know if this attempt at a written prayer does anything advantageous for the Kingdom of God, but here it is below.  If you might have any pointers, I will check my email before I leave in the morning.  

God be with you in the Journey!

Kevin

Senate of Virginia

Monday, January 24, 2011

Opening Prayer

By

The Reverend Kevin D. Ritter, Centerville Baptist Church, Chesapeake, Virginia

Dear Holy God, Creator and Sustainer of all, we recognize your presence here, and ask that in this new day, you grant your guidance and blessings upon these Senators who come as willing servants and leaders of the people of Virginia.

Help the Senators and all who work with them

-         to desire what is correct and upright,

-         to be tools of peace and wisdom,

-         to have the courage and strength to make the difficult decisions that are for the true benefit of the people according to your will,

-         to be faithful in admitting their own mistakes and forgiving those mistakes they may see in others, and

-         to open their hearts to see your wonderful love moving through everyone they might be in contact with today.

We thank you for your amazing love and for hearing our prayers today.  We pray for your glory to fill this place, Amen.

Back to Blogging

Well, I finally got my old blogs moved to a new spot.  I hope to be more active on this now.  I have added some folks on the instant receiving list of my new blogs.  If you are not interested in that, I will be glad to remove you.

 I have gained a new interest in blogging in response to some study I have been doing in a Pastor as Spiritual Guide program I am doing through a group called The Center for Congregational Health.  The focus has been on helping 10 pastors learn more about developing our own spiritual lives and helping others to develop their spiritual lives.  It sounds simple doesn't it?  But we so often major on "running the church" that we very rarely get to focus on the real spiritual stuff that is involved in shepherding a group of believers.  It has been refreshing!

We are led by Larry Williams, a retired Baptist Pastor, and Joanna Walsh, a Catholic nun.  We have 4 Presbyterian, 2 Baptist, 2 Methodist, 1 Lutheran and 1 Disciples of Christ pastor(s) in the group.  We have been learning more about doing the spiritual disciplines (see Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline for more definition on "spiritual disciplines") and teaching others to use these spiritual disciplines.  Now, we get to teach a 6 week class on Henri Nouwen's book,  Making All Things New.  I will do that during lent on Friday nights at my house.  We are limiting the group to 12 folks.

Part of my new spiritual disciplines is to journal.  So, I think a great deal about putting some of that on here. Sorry to write so much, I am just happy to be back at it.  I will quit now.  Have a great day!

God be with you on the journey!
Kevin

Normal Day

I worked all day to try to spend time alone with God.  Things seemed to push us apart instead of drawing us together.  I hope I can get some time tonight. 

I am excited about it being Lynnette's birthday.  Now she is the same age as me!  I know she looks much younger and so beautiful, but we are only a few months apart.  I wish I had something really great for her birthday, but we have been cutting back on gifts.  I better get home and see what we can do.