If you have followed my blog for a few years, awhile back I posted about where my home country is. Yesterday Kim and I took a little trip up to the Cherokee National Forest and it reminded me again that I am an east Tennessee boy. We loved our time in the middle of the state and Nashville was great, but the topography and culture of the southeast of the state is a place I love. It was a beautiful drive on a gorgeous day. We first went up by Parksville Lake and up on Chilhowee Mountain (a friend from Alaska once told me that what we have here are not really mountains, but thats ok). The play of the cloud's shadow across the valley below was awesome, and we watched the shadows move across as we ate lunch at an overlook. After lunch we headed off the mountain and up highway 30, turning north from the lake. though there was not as much color as other years due to the dry season, it was still a great drive. The overhanging foilage along the roadway was lovely. When we lived here before we were often in the National Forest, and this was not our first foray since we have been back. But each week something seems to confirm that we are in the right place in this season of our lives. Things like passing over the Tennessee River towards evening, hanging out with family and friends, Jordan's Barbecue, and a whole host of other stuff point to how this is home. Home is not a place you stay forever, but it a wonderful place to be right now.

I was blessed to be able to attend the state minister's meeting today. John Wesley said it was a holy time when the ministers meet in conference, and I was reminded of that today. It was a good day of fellowship and administration. certainly business is done in these meetings, but I enjoyed much more the opportunity to talk with friends and fellow ministers.

To no longer be a pastor, it was an oddly affirming day. I feel at the end of the day more convinced that my family and I are where we are meant to be in this season of our lives. I honor and respect my fellow ministers who are in the pastorate currently and was happy to be able to be with some them today.

Really sucked you in with that title, eh? Anyway, something I have been thinking about for a week is how my context uses the prophetic texts in sermons. The Prophets are rich and expansive in what they tell us both about God's character and the human heart. What we often hear are those beautiful passages of God's restoring actions and His ability/desire to heal, redeem, and bless. These passages use powerful metaphors and strong language to speak of God's love and power to bring his people back to a good land, a state of blessing, a state of unswerving fidelity to Him.

What is not so often touched on in is what precipitated the need for restoration as pointed to in the Prophets. The reason Nebuchadnezzar is at the gate is rarely the makings of a popular sermon. But the reason exiles were longing for home, and the reasons old men stood and wept at the foundations of the second temple in Jerusalem, remembering the splendor of Solomons', is that the judgement came and was not abated by confession and repentance on the part of the King or his people.

So often, the chapter before restoration, if one turns the page to the left from these golden texts of God's tender mercies, reveals the anger of a spurned husband. The Prophets spoke against the sin of the nation, of the corporate reality of their turning away from God. The Prophet not only addressed the King but also his subjects in their infidelity to God, their mistreatment of the oppressed and the stranger, as well as their disregard for the poorest among them. Judgement comes to the disobedient, but judgement comes to bring repentance, renewal of relationship. All judgement that precede the final one are for the purpose of restoring God's people to right relationship. This is one thing the Prophets tell us.

I love the prophetic texts, and the hope they bring. I am depending on the words of the prophets even now. But the prophets not only give us something to shout about, but also to weep about. There must be discernment in recognizing the voice of the prophets, discernment in rightly dividing their words of truth. We must hear all their words, and take up the Burden of the Lord they have delivered.

Since Sunday I have been waylayed by stomach flu. It started Easter afternoon. Sunday night was rough, and I don't remember much of Monday at all, but have been on the mend since yesterday. I can't be on my feet yet fro any length of time without getting woozy again, but while laying around have been able to enjoy a few things.

I am continuing to read 1421 and am continuing to enjoy it. I have also been watching at near marathon rate How Its Made, a show on Discovery Channel that does explain how relatively ordinary things are made. Highlights from over the past two days are guitar amps, banjos, incandescent bulbs. It has been pretty interesting distraction as await the return of my appetite and the ability to keep things down.

On one of the few Saturdays I have to sit on the couch and read/hang out, I am sitting here with my wife, baby, and mom, who has come up to be with us on Easter. Thursday was the first day of Spring, and I am excited. Yesterday was beautiful here in Nashville, and I am happy to have winter behind us. I look forward to many days at the park, now that AC and Kim can join me and the dogs on walks.

Another nice thing about this Saturday in particular is the book I have to curl up with on the couch. 1421: The Year China Discovered America by Gavin Menzies (not a theologian, Pentecostal or otherwise) is about how the 3rd emperor of the Ming Dynasty sought to have the whole world pay him tribute, so he built the biggest armada ever seen (unduplicated till WWII) and sent them out to chart all unknown waters and explore all unknown lands. It is fascinating, and though I know there are detractors to Menzies theories (he would not call them such) it has been a delightful read.

My current trend of reading history started with Galileo's Daughter: A Memoir of Science, Faith, and love, by Dava Sobel. It is a biography of Galileo as seen through the correspondence he carried on with his elder Daughter, a nun. It was an excellent read as well, a well researched study of the man, a realistic appraisal of his many achievements, and how his times both enouraged and hindered his talents. To hear his story from his daughters' perspective if pretty fascinating. Inspired by this book I am now combing McKays for a bio of Copernicus.

If you have any interest at all in history, these are some great reads. They are certainly written for general audiences, but are well put together and deal with subjects directly connected with how we see the world, or worlds as it were.

Peace.

The snowball of events that have happened in my life that are bloggable are so daunting I don't know how to start again. I have a baby girl, Anna Claire, who is much more colorful than this pic. Figuring out how to navigate this new life of baby and the other responsibilities in my life have caused me to lay blogging down for a bit. At this point, I am not going to say "I will do better," but I am going to make an attempt, or maybe several. So I am not making any promises, but there are too many good discussions out there to allow to pass by. If you are more interested in AC's pic than my musings, click here. She is cuter. Peace.

We are going Monday to the Hospital for Kim to be induced into labor. Anna Claire will be joining us soon after. My wife has been such a wonder through all this, handling every stage of this process so well. We are so excited even while we are nervous about Monday. There is so much joy and anticapation in all this but at this moment and on several others through this Saturday of preparation my thoughts have turned to my Dad who is not here to experience this with us. I have wondered what he would have thought of all these goings on.

This post will not be fraught with the lyrical references of my last post. It has been one of the best holiday seasons I have had in a long time. The season started with a brief visit from our friends the McMullins. They were on their way to rendezvous with their family. It was a great time for talking and hanging out.Our church party went well and was a lot of fun. We had a good attendance. The next evening we held a candlelight service at the church. For many of us it was a first and was a great success. It was a good time of prayer and reflection. I am hoping the success of this service will lead to more opportunities for creative times together for my church. That night my mother and sister arrived from Cleveland TN and the next day my brothers came up. It was the first time we had all been together for a few years it and our time together was wonderful. Everyone had a good time and we got to enjoy one another's company. I received some great gifts but the fact that my whole family came up to be with us at this time when Kim is so close to giving birth to our daughter was so special.