Pastor Scott's Musings

Tom Cruise in Risky Business You may know the 1983 movie Risky Business , starring Tom Cruise, who plays a high school senior,  named  Joel, living in a wealthy suburb of Chicago. His parents are gone on vacation for a few days. In a moment of sheer abandonment, reveling in his freedom, Joel dances in his underwear to Bob Seger’s Old Time Rock n Roll ! It’s a classic moment in cinematic history. That crazy, scantily-clad dance reveals something about Joel. He feels trapped under his parents. A few weeks ago we read a passage Luke 12 that is very similar to this morning’s reading. Jesus said, “Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided: father against son     and son against father, mother against daughter     and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against...

You have surely heard news of wildfires in the Amazon, but a recent CNN article reported that there are 50 different wildfires burning in in 12 different stars in the US. According to the National Interagency Fire Center, Alaska is battling eight wildfires; Texas 7; Arizona and Idaho six each; Montana and Utah five each; Oregon and Washington three each; New Mexico two; and California, Oklahoma and Wyoming one each. Forest fires are a necessary evil for long term forest health, but it certainly hurts to see it. In Alaska the McKinley fire has devoured over 80 structures and 4300 acres of forest. These fires cause respiratory difficulties for humans living in the area, not to mention the devastation upon wildlife. And how were these fires started? Roughly half of all forest fires reported in Alaska this summer was started by human carelessness. One area of human conduct the apostle James wishes the church to embrace is the discipline of holding one’s tongue. He begins by holding h...

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...