Frog and Toad

I have been thinking about my pastor's sermon from Sunday off and on this week; I think that she was preaching to me specifically.

 

Last Monday we had our regular Council on Ministries meeting (which I think technically should be our NOW council, but that is another story) we got through the meeting over half was spent on fundraising just for the sake of raising funds (also a completely different rant) and at the end of the meeting the chair asked if there was anything else and as you can imagine I had something else. Every Sunday in January we joined somebody new to our congregation, I was so happy we started the year off great, but now in March and April I don't see some of these new members at all. At the meeting I raised the question what are we doing to allow for our new members to return on a regular basis, I also raised a couple of the points that bishop Lowry made at the district laity banquet, such as what are we doing to change our ministries with the times. All of this basically led to my pastor crying about how she has no time to do everything she is supposed to do (this also another rant for another time).

So on Sunday my pastor only had to preach at the contemporary service because the choir did their cantata during the 2^nd service. She started this sermon off with one of the children stories about Frog and Toad; in a nutshell Frog planted a garden and then sat and complained about how it wouldn't grow, the Toad came along and told him that he needed to nurture his garden. She related this story to our church and how we should not sit around complaining about how ministry is not being done and what should be done, but instead be active and do something about it.

There were 2 clues that led me to believe she was preaching specifically to me: one was remembering the meeting and the other was she made eye contact with me way too much as she was preaching. Also at the end of the service my friend turned to me who was also at the meeting on Monday and said she was preaching about you. So here in my blog I just wanted to respond to this, I do not think that I am Frog: I am extremely active at church the only time I complain about things is at the meetings and everything ministerial wise that I can help with at my church I am there.

So my question is am I Frog?

Ethan’s time at Mid Winter 2

So this weekend I have been in Glen Rose at our conference slt event Mid Winter 2. The theme has been go deep, focused around the book of Jonah. It has been brought up within worship and small groups the question of what whale are you in right now. I thought and thought about this question and I came to the conclusion that I'm not in a whale; I don't feel like I'm running away from what God is calling me to do, but maybe the opposite. I think that maybe instead I might be like in a racecar with my call to ministry. I sat down today with my youth worker friends Jason and Abby today and they helped me come to this conclusion; we got on some topic about someone in seminary and I said that I wished that I was in seminary…well long story short my brain became scrambled and my future long term and just my future as a youth is all that I could think about the whole day.

These are just a couple of questions or ideas I've been thinking of: Do I need to just chill, I really need to quit being so freaking serious, or should I not change a thing (but maybe not be so anxious for ordination).

Valentine’s Day Theology

Before I get to the theology there is a story which I must tell which led to the scriptural thought.

A couple of weeks ago we had our coronation which is like prom at school, and I asked this girl to go with me; which she did. The week after that I asked her to go on another date for tomorrow night; I got turned down. This got me thinking about my life and its future…

I thought about this and I did some research in scripture, I came across Matthew 19:10-12, ¹⁰The disciples said to him, "If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry."  ¹¹Jesus replied, "Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. ¹²For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage^[c]because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept "

Does anyone else interpret this to mean that Jesus is saying that it is better not to get married? Now I know that the date I talked about in my story is at one end of a spectrum and marriage is on the other, but I can't help but think that at age 16 I understand this verse and have the same feeling I get when I think about my call to ministry. I feel the Holy Spirit in my mind and I have this great guidance feeling that I know what needs to happen. I feel that maybe dating is not for me, maybe its crucial or beneficial to my ministry to not have that connection.

I also thought about Marriage/Relationships and the word Love. Is love in marriage or a relationship different from the love which we should show to our God and every other person on this earth? Should it be different?

Christianity and the Scarlet Letter

In English we have started reading The Scarlet Letter; when we were doing the pre reading stuff in class my English teacher brought up the elements of the Christian movement of Martin Luther and specifically a guy named John Calvin. John Calvin was the founder of Calvinism and the specific belief of pre-destination, my teacher who knows that I am a United Methodist and petty familiar with John Wesley; she told me that Wesley took this idea. I am kind of puzzled because I thought that Wesley taught that Christians were saved by Grace, but then how does pre-destination come into play? One point my teacher brought up was that pre-destination does not really mean what we think it is, that pre-destination is simply that God knows in advance who will accept Grace. Potentially all people could be saved by Grace, so how does God already know who will accept it? This is some deep theology that I'm contemplating, and possibly more to come; I'll let you know how the rest of the book goes.

Awesomeness

http://www.umportal.org/main/article.asp?id=4476

I read this in the UMR newsletter today; it was pretty great.

I Want Out

Today I recieved my second six weeks grade for my AP English class; this is the hardest class that I have, and I made a horrible grade (still passing, but not good). I have a total of 3 AP classes and 3 pre-AP classes this year and I have an A in all of them except english. I don't understand why I cannot make an A in this class.

My teacher makes me think at a level where it is conflicting with my Christian beliefs and it just makes me feel bad to be in this class; I really think getting out would make me feel so much better and I would be in a much better mood.

My first blog

I decided to creat this blog in hopes of relaxing my mind, using it to control the busyness in which I function. I don't know why, but this school year has been really hard for me. To start off I am taking 3 pre-AP and 3 AP classes at school (yes there is a ton of homework), I also participate in stu co, NHS, and I am a class officer. I also am super active within the connection of my church; this doesn't bother me, I love it.

Right now as all of the things mentioned above intertwine, I just can't help but being tired all of the time, even with +8 hours of sleep every night I jsut can't seem rested, so maybe writing my thoughts down will help...

If it doesn't, it's still cool; I have a blog.