Asbury United Methodist Church - Cedar Rapids, IA

from the Council of Bishops, The United Methodist Church...

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

 

As you know, a series of tragic events has unfolded over the past few days in Japan. The massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake that struck Japan on March 11 and the accompanying tsunami resulted in the death of at least 2,800 people and possibly more than 10,000.  Damage to the country's nuclear power plants jeopardizes the safety of hundreds of thousands more.  Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan called the disaster the worst crisis Japan has faced in 65 years.

 

In times of immense loss and grief, we are reminded once again that God's grace is sufficient. While it does not offer us immunity from tragedy, it sustains us with healing and hope.

 

At such times, the church is called to be a healing presence among those facing heartbreaking circumstances. I am confident that the people of The United Methodist Church will respond to the call with prayers and generous support for the victims of this catastrophe.

 

I ask that you join with me in prayer for the deceased and their families; the injured; the search and rescue workers; the survivors who are without water, food or heat; those who have been evacuated from their homes as the nuclear threat worsens; and all who have been affected.  

 

When disaster strikes, we are especially grateful for the valuable ministry that the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) provides with the help and support of United Methodists and others.  I hope that all United Methodist churches will consider taking a special offering designated for Pacific Emergency, UMCOR Advance #3021317, to provide financial resources to respond to the needs resulting from the disaster.

 

Working with its partners, the United Church of Christ in Japan, the Korean Christian Church, Church World Service, Global Medic, the National Christian Council, and the Asian Rural Institute, UMCOR is currently focused on working to assess the damage to determine how best to provide assistance and will then respond accordingly.

 

May we join together in opening our hearts to those suffering in the midst of devastation.

 

Yours in Christ,

 

Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster, President
Council of Bishops, The United Methodist Church

A Prayer with the People of Japan and Pacific Coasts and Islands

by Taylor Burton-Edwards
"Copyright General Board of Discipleship. www.GBOD.org Used by permission."

 

God of all compassion,
Our hearts and bodies shake
With the earth
And all who dwell upon it.

 

We cry to you for help
For lives, roads, homes, and livelihoods lost, 
And coastal regions washed away
In Japan
And all who this day wait in fear
On other coasts and islands
On an ocean that betrays its name.

 

Have mercy on them, on us
And all who wait for better words
And help.

We pray in the name of Jesus
Who stilled the wind and waves.     Amen.

Prayer for President and Congress

Lord Jesus, we pray that the Wisdom of Solomon rest upon our President and our Congress as they wrestle with the Social responsibilities and Fiscal responsibilities of the nation.  Give them ears to hear Your voice,  grant them courage to follow where You lead, and give each of them a love for the people they represent.  The problems they face seem to be without resolution or reconciliation.  Bless then this day and remind them that You taught  “with God all things are possible.” (Matt 19:26)

Amen!

 

How to have a civil conversation.

    Does it seem to anyone else that the tone of political, social, and personal discourse has deteriorated in the United States in the past few decades.  It started slowly but seems to be accelerating more and more, picking up speed.  When people don’t have ideas or hold dearly to ideas that aren’t working, they stop discussing the issues and start attacking the other party, the other group, or the other person.  

    Good people refuse to run for political office or participate in polite conversation because of the fear of being attacked personally.  Not their ideas being discussed, but their character being attacked.  When you don’t have anything meaningful to say, character assassination draws the attention away from your bankrupt ideas and focuses the attention on the character of the other person.  What can I say, we do like to gossip. When you are in a discussion and you’re losing, change the subject, you might not win, but you won’t lose.

    The next time you are talking with someone, or you’re listening to a politician and they start smearing someone’s character, ask them, if possible, or at least ask yourself, “what does this have to do with the issue?”    

    Watch TV, listen to discussions at work, at school, in the mall, read what your friends say on Facebook.  How often is “Character” discussed under the guise of political or theological debate?   

    Romans 12:18 “⁸If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”

    The old saying, “Love the sinner, hate the sin.”  We could for the sake of this conversation say, “Love the speaker, hate the idea.”  Or as Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:11, “¹¹Therefore encourage one another and build one another up”.  He goes on to say, “just as you are doing.”  Ouch!  I really don’t think he would say that to us today, do you?  

    How do we change the direction of personal attacks.  

1.  Be honest with ourselves, do we attack others.  If so, stop it!

2.  If those around you attack others, walk away or at least stop listening 

    them.

3.  If it’s on TV, change channels or better yet, turn the TV off.

4.  If it’s on Facebook, either don’t respond, or better yet, ask, “What does

    this have to do with the issue?”

5.  And then there’s the quote out of The Bible, “You shall love your 

    neighbor as yourself.”  This is written at least 9 times, maybe God is 

    trying to tell us something?  Are we listening?

God’s Peace and Blessings

Pastor Ed

Haiti

Bishop Gregory Palmer: "We are encouraging every United Methodist to be in prayer."

OK, after we have prayed and before we pray again, we need to do something tangible. We are God's hands and feet here on earth. This coming Sunday there will be a Special Offering taken at Asbury UMC for the Haitian people. Please be prepared to give generously. 100% of money received will be used for disaster relief in Haiti.

God's Peace and Blessings

 

Pastor Ed

A View from the UMC Booth at the Iowa State Fair

These are just some random observations I made while I was working at the UMC Booth at the Iowa State Fair.

1.  I was amazed at the number of motorized wheel chairs that were there.  They are helping a huge number of people get out and about.

2.  I was depressed by the number of obese people that walked by.  They far outnumbered the people who weren't weight challenged.  Yes, I'm one of the obese people:-(  What is this doing and going to do to the cost of health care in our country?

3.  It seemed most people had scowls on their faces when they walked by.  If I could catch their eye and smile at them, it almost always had a dramatic, positive effect on their faces.  Give everyone you meet a smile, their free and they can do a world of good:-)

4.  One old couple caught my eye, they were walking along holding hands.  It made me feel good.

5.  Another really strange looking couple, (you had to be there) walked by, I tried not to stare but the people in the booth across from me leaned out of their booth to get a better look.  People are interesting.

6.  In 4 hours I only noticed 2 women walk by in dresses or skirts.  (just an observation)

7.  It seemed like 95% of the people wore shorts.

8.  I found the people at the fair much more interesting after I started praying for each person who walked by. 

God is Great:-)

People are interesting:-)

Fair food is fattening:-(

Iowa Floods of 2008

These are videos the Iowa Annual Conference put out about the need for help here.  They’re pretty good.   Feel free to share them with folks.

Full-length version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vegRhto2vs   8 min. 30 sec.

Abbreviated version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADK6SEr9rJo   2 min. 45 sec.

Flood

What a crazy few weeks.  We have 15 to 20 families who have lost their homes and many more with relatives who have lost theirs.  It's so strange to sit here at Asbury and everything seems perfectly normal and then get in the car a drive a few blocks and it looks like a war zone.  If you haven't driven through any of the flooded areas, you need to in order to understand how dramatic the destruction is.  If you have already driven through one of the areas, then please stay away from them because they don't need the traffic.

Keep all these folks in your prayers: the victims; the workers; and the volunteers.  Ask God how you might help.  Pray! pray! pray!

For those who haven't heard: Trinity UMC is using our church to worship at 11 am each Sunday; Asbury House has filled up with victims of the flood;  Asbury Day Care is filling up with temporary children from flooded Day Cares;  we have volunteers working at the distribution center at St. James; people are generously giving to the Flood Fund; and we cooked a meal and served it at Mission of Hope.

There is so much need and God has been sending servants and funds to meet those needs.  As I drive around the city, I see so many out of state license plates that just weren't here a few weeks ago and I know they have come because of our need.  Some are here to work, some are here to take advantage of a bad situation, and so many are here just to volunteer their time to help, and people here and all across the nation are praying.

God's Peace and Blessings

Pastor Ed