Pastor Scott's Musings

The Lord called Abraham to leave his father and other relatives behind in Haran which is in Mesopotamia. It is a land east of the middle-Euphrates river valley. Modern Iraq encompasses most of this ancient land. Abraham was called to follow God to an unnamed place. Abraham followed God's call. I see in Abraham the same kind of faith I see in the early disciples of Jesus. Jesus came to Simon Peter and James and John, fisherman of Galilee and said, "Follow me." They dropped everything and followed Jesus into ministry. I don't think I could do that. I need to know my family will be cared for. I couldn't leave them, so they'd need to come with me. So when God called me to preach, I didn't just drop everything. Instead everything was dropped for me. I was working as  production superintendent for a food company when we were sold to another company in the industry. The day after they took control, I was let go with 37 others in a reduction in force, part of th...

My name means Scott, or a person from Scotland. It could also mean "tattoo" which Scottish highlanders were know for. I've even read that Scott means traveler or wanderer, which fits the Scottish Highlander nomadic lifestyle. Closer to home however is my knowledge of why I was named Scott. My cousin Mark has Scott as a middle name. I was named after him... kind of. There isn't much meaning to my name for me personally, but names have meaning and sometimes the names in the Bible can be quite illuminating. Shem was one of the sons of Noah, through whom Abraham was born. Abraham followed a call from God to Canaan. God told Abraham, "Go to the place I will show you" and Abraham went. God rewarded Abraham's obedience by promising to make him into a great nation and the father of nations. Abraham is the father of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The name Shem means "name, fame or glory". The people living in what is today known as Iraq decided to...

The Noah story is a horrific tale in which God, the sovereign creator of the earth and all of its the vast species or plant and animals, found His creation ruined by humanity. They had filled the earth with violence. So God decided for a do-over. He would wipe out all life with a great flood. He would start over with Noah and his family, for Noah pleased God. He walked blamelessly before God. God placed Noah and his family and two mating pairs of every kind of animal in the ark "to keep them alive." (Genesis 6:19) God made a covenant with Noah and his family and all the animals with Noah on the ark. It's the first time a covenant is made with non-humans. I've always loved the fact that God make a binding contract with the animals on the ark, along with Noah and his family who serve as caretakers for the animals. In that little detail I see a vocation for humanity that includes keeping animals alive as part of our covenant relationship with God, the creator of all cr...

 Adam was formed from the dust of the earth and God breathed into him the breath of life. Eve was formed from Adam's rib. Cain was the first person on earth to actually be born the natural way babies are delivered. He was the eldest brother to Abel. Cain brought an offering of the fields that he worked to God, but God did not look upon his offering with favor. We aren't told what was wrong with Cain's offering, but we know that God implied it wasn't right.  "If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.” (Genesis 4:7) Cain is angry and jealous of his brother Abel. Abel's offering of firstlings from the flock, of fatty portions, is favored by God. Cain murders Abel in the fields  and Abel's blood cries out to God. God confronted Cain, knowing full well what  had occurred.  Then the  Lord  said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”  He (Cai...

Bible Stories: Call (Genesis 11:1-10a, 27b-30, 12:1-4a, 6-8a) I’m celebrating my first anniversary at Roberts Park. Thank you all for welcoming me so warmly.   I don’t think I’ve ever shared my call story with you. Today is as good a day as any because we’re talking about the call of Abraham. In 1994, I was working for International Multifoods when they sold our division. As a result of the sale, I was laid off.   It shook me enough to cause me to ask God for guidance. When others said they heard the Lord say this or that, I always thought they were kinda weird. I had never heard God speak. But now I was asking God to speak to me. “Lord, I hear that you have a plan for people’s lives. If that’s true, I’m listening. Let me know your plan for my life. I want to do Your will.” I never actually heard God, but things started happening that looked like God was behind them. I went to an outplacement firm to start a job search. Part of the process was a strong preferenc...

Bible Stories – Covenant (Genesis 6:3, 5-8, 13-18, 22) Do you remember the comedy skit Bill Cosby used to do on Noah? Noah is sawing a piece of wood when He hears a voice. Voompa Voompa Voompa Voompa Bing! Noah! Looks and then… Voompa Voompa Voompa Voompa Bing! Noah! Who’s talking? Who is that? It’s The Lord, Noah! Voompa Voompa Voompa Voompa Bing! Noah! What do you want? I’ve been good. Noah! I want you to build an ark. Right! What’s an ark? Get some wood and built it 300 cubits by 50 cubits by 30 cubits! Right! What’s a cubit? Well let’s see I used to know what a cubit was. Don’t worry about that. When you get it done, go out into the world and get every kind of animal, two by two, and put them on the ark. Right! Who is this really? How come you want me to do all these weird things? I’m going to make it rain for 40 days and 40 nights and drown them all out. Right! Am I on Candid Camera? So Noah gets busy making the ark and one of his neighbors...

Bible Stories: Fall (Genesis 2:4-9, 15-18, 21-23, 25; 3:1-8) One day Adam said to God in exasperation, “Why did you make Eve so beautiful?” God told Adam, “I made her beautiful so that you would love her.” Then Adam said, “Lord, why did you make her so dumb?” And God said, “So that she would love you!” The story of Adam, Eve, the serpent and the forbidden fruit in the paradise called Eden has been the source of quite a few ideas. The idea of Original Sin comes from this story.   Some say the forbidden fruit was sexual in nature.   Some believed that sin in humanity is passed on in the blood.   John Wesley thought of humanity as completely corrupt, with noting good in us. A Jewish/Christian understanding of marriage comes from the Garden Story. “Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.” Some suggest the Garden Story in Genesis 2-3 is another creation story from a different tradition than the one w...

Bible Stories: Creation (Genesis 1: 1-8; 26-31; 2:1-3) During Sunday School, a young boy was listening to his priest teach about creation. He heard how God created everything that we see, the entire universe in all of its vast wonders. The little boy raised his hand and asked, “If God created everything, then what was God doing before that?” The old priest sat for a moment pondering and then said, “God was making hell for little boys who ask such questions!” Today we begin an exploration of Bible Stories that have captivated our imaginations for centuries. They are the subject of children’s illustrated books and of Sunday School. The Bible begins with stories that challenge our understanding of the world we live in.   These stories read more like fairy tales, than history. To believe these stories, the way they are often taught to children, can feel embarrassing to the adult reader. I hope to free us of embarrassment as we reintroduce ourselves to these stories. In the f...