The Fair

The fair is in town this week! What excitement! we started the week off by watching the fair parade Monday just in front of the church as it marched down Main Street. This was the first time we have experienced the parade even though this is the third fair week since we have been in Statesboro. Claire got lots of candy and a Frisbee. Tuesday I helped several other volunteers from the church serve a steak lunch to the fair workers. The smiles and thank yous were overflowing. Thursday night we went to the fair. Claire loved it! Absolutely loved it! I even road a couple of rides with her. Cyd and I are not riders when it comes to the fair, although she handles it better than me. I just don't like getting on things that are assembled in a few hours and move locations each week. Claire cried when we ran out of tickets and it was time to go home. We are afraid we may have created a monster! She did have a wonderful time. The funniest thing is she waves like a little princess every time she passes us while she's riding something.

Jesus Rally 2008

Who’s in control of you’re life? We all serve someone or something, and it’s time we became informed voters about who we’re electing as Lord of our lives.

It’s time to cast your ballot.

When: November 2, 2008, 6-8pm

Where: FBC Statesboro Fellowship Hall

What: Food,Music,Speakers...Awesomeness!

This is the poster made by Bonnie Hanna and Jeremy Lavender for Jesus Rally 2008. This will be a special time to encourage teenagers, college students, and adults even to think about who they are casting their vote for as their Lord and Savior. Encourage anyone you know to come.

God's Politics

I recently finished reading God's Politics by Jim Wallis. The book is a few years old, but I picked it up a few months ago for 4-5 bucks and wanted to read it before the election. Jim Wallis is passionate about the label evangelical, because the gospel is the driving force behind his endeavors to share the love, justice, and compassion of God. Although many in the "religious right" camp would label him as a liberal and even a heretic because of his involvement with social justice issues and poverty issues. God's Politics could have been about 100 pages shorter and still said everything that needed to be said, but it's still a book that is worthy of more than a passing glance. Wallis believes that aligning the work of God as manifested in Christ Jesus with one political party over another is a grave mistake.

Those are the two ways that religion has been brought into public life in American history. The first way-God on our side-leads inevitably to triumphalism, self-righteousness, bad theology, and, often dangerous foreign policy. The second way-asking if we are on God's side-leads to much healthier things, namely, penitence and even repentance, humility, reflection, and even accountability.

God is not partisan; God is not a Republican or a Democrat. When either party tries to politicize God, or co-opt religious communities, for their political agendas, they make a terrible mistake. (p. xviii)

Wallis is known for calling people of faith to the prophetic, biblical role of speaking on behalf of those who have no voice and championing the cause of the widows and orphans. The two organizations that he works through are Sojourners and Call to Renewal. The alarm that Wallis sounds will not be readily accepted by many who have entrenched themselves with the dominant political parties or with the extremes of the religious right and the lunacy left. Those who I think will most identify with Wallis are people of my generation and younger who have begun to realize that politics cannot ultimately save people only God can, however, we are called to work for those who have no voice and bring about the righteousness of God today, not just at the apocalypse.

Deacon Ordination

Tonight we ordained two new deacons at FBC Statesboro. Dwayne Rocker and David Lavender are two Godly men who model the Christian life for people of all generations. I couldn't help but think of my own ordination service and the people who came to the front to kneel with me and encourage me. I can still remember some of those sweet prayers. I vividly remember some of my friends from high school and college who taught me so much about faith and life. The interesting thing to me is that those people, many of whom I haven't seen since that day, have a stake in my ministry today, this week. I believe this is part of what Hebrews means when it talks about the great cloud of witnesses.

There were many faces that I was thrilled to see that February day...two stand out...Sonny and Dana Stroud. They are the parents of a friend from high school, Allison, but Sonny was also the music minister when I was a teenager. There's one prayer that stands out in my mind, Melinda, Cyd's roomate from college. She leaned over and said, "I just wanted to come touch your bald head." I got to do Melinda's wedding this past May. It truly is amazing how people's lives intersect and overlap.

Sickness

That is the one word that best describes life at the Pagliarullo home the past week. Every female in the house got sick! Of course this meant that I was a busy husband and father trying although poorly at times to play doctor to my girls. Claire and Charlotte are better, but Cyd is still sick. I never realized how demanding it was to have sick children until this past week. One sick child is manageable for most people but two is an interesting dynamic. Hopefully all the sickness will be completely gone soon.

Trip to Alabama

At the beginning of September, we took a vacation of sorts to Alabama to visit my parents. They are house parents at Big Oak Ranch for Girls in Springville, Alabama. We got to spend some time relaxing at Lake Guntersville in Northeast Alabama as well as spending a few days in Springville. We also took Claire and Charlotte to the Birmingham Zoo for their first trip to the zoo. We met one of Cyd's friends, Kimberly and her two girls for our day at the zoo. Kimberly and Cyd used to work together at M-Power Ministries in Birmingham, while Cyd and I were students at Beeson Divinity School. We enjoyed spending time with our parents and getting to rest and relax, although Claire was up every morning by 6 AM, so sleeping late never really happened.

Cyd and I love getting the opportunity to travel together. Ever since college we have enjoyed the car conversations that occur when you travel together. I'm not sure if having two kids in the car is quite the same thing as those early days, but a few speed bumps along the journey didn't spoil all the fun. Claire also got to go on her first boat ride! You can tell by the pictures that she fell asleep from not having had a nap that day. She wasn't quite ready to try tubing though! I always enjoy getting to spend time with my family so the trip was a blessing in many, many ways.

The Shack

I recently finished The Shack. It seems that everyone else around was reading it, so I decided to (but only after someone gave me a copy) I tend to stay away from books that everyone else is reading until well after the popularity has waned. I must confess it wasn't that great to me. The story line was intriguing but as far as literary quality, lacking. I do think that the book offers what I look for in books, an author that is willing to stretch their own faith for the sake of his or her audience. I measure books by how much they make me stretch my faith, by how much they make me question my own life and heart, not to cast doubt but so that my faith can be strengthened. Young accomplished that with his human portrayal of the Trinity! The promise of hope and grace was what I most took away from the book. The danger of The Shack is reading it as non-fiction or theology rather than a work of fiction. People have responded to this book the same way people responded the Left Behind Series, love it or hate it. If you have the time The Shack is worth a look, just remember that it's not theology, but like a good sermon it points to the reason for theology.