a prayer for my ministry

Unchangeable Lord,

When I am discouraged in my ministry

and full of doubts of my self,

fasten me upon the rock of your eternal election,

then my hands will not hang down,

and I shall have hope for myself and others.

You know your people by name,

and will at the appointed season

lead them out of a natural to a gracious state

by your effectual calling.

This is the ground of my salvation,

the object of my desire,

the motive of my ministry.

Keep me from high thoughts of myself or my work,

for I am nothing but sin and weakness;

in me no good dwells,

and my best works are but sin.

Humble me to the dust before you.

Root and tear out the poisonous weed of self-righteousness,

and show me my utter nothingness;

Keep me sensible of my sinful heart;

Sink me deep into penitence and self-abhorrence;

Break the idol of pride in pieces before the glory of your presence;

Demolish the tower of self-opinion, and scatter it to the wind;

Level to the ground the stronghold of my rebellious heart;

Then grace, grace, will be my experience and my cry.

I am a poor, feeble creature when faith is not in exercise,

like an eagle with pinioned wings;

Grant me to rest on your power and faithfulness,

and to know that there are two things worth living for:

to further your cause in the world,

and to do good to the souls and bodies of men;

This is my ministry, my life, my prayer, my end.

Grant me grace that I shall not fail.

- Adapted from The Valley of Vision

you know your country's famous when it's featured on letterman

I'm not sure whether to laugh, or to grimace at the awkwardness. I'm all for the "common bloke" appeal but this may be a bit beneath a current head of state. For those of you watching in the States, as well as being the Prime Minister John Key also holds the Tourism portfolio in the New Zealand Parliament. So I guess that makes this a bit more appropriate. Maybe?

week 43

She's just a few days away from being 10 months old and yes, she is adorable.

promising mess

"Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,

but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox." - Proverbs 14:4 (ESV)

"Orderliness can reach the point of sterility. This proverb is not a plea for slovenliness, physical or moral, but for the readiness to accept upheaval, and a mess to clear up, as the price for growth. It has many applications to personal, institutional and spiritual life, and could well be inscribed in the minute-books of religious bodies, to foster a farmer's outlook, rather than a curator's." - Derek Kidner, Proverbs, 106.

Anyone who's seen my desk will immediately understand why this proverb resonates with me. In all seriousness though, it's a good reminder that sometimes disorder is evidence of God at work in our lives and churches. Of course sometimes disorder is simply evidence of disorder. The key is learning to look beneath the surface to see what God is up to. Anyone who's ever been in a manger knows that the "mess" an ox leaves behind doesn't look or smell pleasant, but it is evidence that there is a strong animal plowing fields to make them fertile. May we never despise the holy mess of God in our lives.

week 42 (super belated)

For those of you who can't wait for your weekly Sophia fix I apologize for being late two weeks in a row. We were out of town again this past week so I'm just getting these up now. Anyway, here are a few pics from Sophia's time in the Coromandel Peninsula.

don't call me reverend... seriously

Last night we had a joint worship service with most of the congregations of of our presbytery. My ordination was a part of this service. Three years after finishing seminary I've finally taken my vows, had hands laid on me, and received the right hand of fellowship from my fellow elders. In other words, I'm all official and in good order.

A few folks have made comments about what they should call me now. A few friends have jokingly mentioned the title "reverend." Let me say here and now, for public record, in unequivocal terms; I never, ever want to be referred to as the Reverend Scott. The title, "the Reverend" literally means, "the revered one." While I do think the office of Teaching Elder is one that is worthy of respect, there is an
important difference in the nuance of "respecting" versus "revering" someone. For Christians, the Triune God is the only one who is to be revered, not his servants. There are some acceptable titles. "Pastor," which simply means "shepherd" or literally, "one who feeds," is fine. "Minister," means "servant" and is also an appropriate title for my role. Never revered one though. There are too many people in church leadership today who have set up there own little kingdoms and who've sought to be revered. That is not who I want to be and is definitely not what I'm called to do. I am to be a servant of Christ and his people, not one who serves himself. The Scriptures are filled with stern warnings about false shepherds who use their authority for their own benefit rather than for the benefit of others. My calling is to see the name of Christ
revered, to see his reputation grow, not mine.

Anyway, just don't call me reverend. In fact I'd be happiest if you just called me Travis.

week 41 (belated)

Brooke's parents are in town and we were out of town with them on Thursday with no internet access. So sorry to my mom, and whoever else, that this week's Sophia installment is a few days late. I've made up for it by posting a video. Enjoy.

We also discovered on our recent trip to Rotorua that Sophia really likes animals.

ex libris

"Charity means 'Love, in the Christian sense.' But love, in the Christian sense, does not mean an emotion. It is a state not of the feelings but of the will; that state of the will which we have naturally about ourselves, and must learn to have about others.

"Natural liking or affection for people makes it easier to be 'charitable' towards them. It is, therefore, normally a duty to encourage our affections - to 'like' people as much as we can (just as it is often our duty to encourage our liking for exercise or wholesome food) - not because this liking is itself the virtue of charity, but because it is a help to it.

"But though natural likings should normally be encouraged, it would be quite wrong to think that the way to become charitable is to sit trying to manufacture affectionate feelings.

"The rule for all of us is perfectly simple. Do not waste time bothering whether you 'love' your neighbour; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.

"Consequently, though Christian charity sounds a very cold thing to people whose heads are full of sentimentality, and though it is quite distinct from affection, yet it leads to affection. The difference between the Christian and a worldly man is not that the worldly man has only affections or 'likings' and the Christian has only 'charity.' The worldly man treats certain people kindly because he 'likes' them: the Christian, trying to treat every one kindly, finds himself liking more and more people as he goes on - including people he could not even have imagined himself liking." - C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity; 115, 116, 117.

It doesn't matter how many times I read the same thing by him, C.S. Lewis always moves me; always strikes me as poignant, subtly powerful, and painfully apt. I don't know how many times I've read Mere Christianity but each time I go back it's like cool water for my soul. If I could produce a book of material that has the potency of just one of his paragraphs, I'd be happy.

More importantly though, I wish the reality of Christian's interactions with others (and themselves) would come more and more to match Lewis' description of what it should be.

week 40

The grandma's will be happy this week. They get a video and pictures. The first three of these are from our trip to Muriwai. The second to last is Sophia enjoying and apricot (her latest favorite food). The last one is just for fun. She seemed to really like that hairdo.