by Greg | Apr 2, 2009 | Blog Posts
…bread, of course. For most of us bread is both abundant and taken for granted. Except for the annual threat of a snowstorm which rarely manifests, grocery store shelves are filled with bread of numerous (countless?) varieties. Store bought bread, however, tastes…store bought. That is why I like baking bread. Baking bread can be both fun and frustrating. Like most anything homemade, the ingredients are important, and not just what goes in, but how much, how long, etc. One of the things I like about making and baking bread is that the mixing and kneading is done largely by hand. Observing the dough’s feel and texture is most important. Once bread is all mixed and kneaded you leave it alone and wait for the yeast to do its work. It may take an hour, or two, but slowly and steady the dough rises and the loaf takes shape. It is then ready for the hot oven and soon the kitchen is full of the yeasty smell of fresh bread! (don’t you wish this blog was scratch and sniff? Go ahead, lean into the monitor – you know you want to!) The best part of fresh baked bread is not in the making or the baking, but the breaking. Even better, is when you can break bread with people you love. Many Saturday evenings, if we do not have church commitments, Amy and I (and sometimes the boys when on the rare occasion they are home) will sit in our back yard and share fresh bread alongside olive oil for dipping. We also enjoy baking bread to share with friends...
by Greg | Mar 26, 2009 | Blog Posts
Car? Bus? Cab? Horse? Train? Mule? How did you get here? Throughout my childhood until I was old enough to own my own car (a 1969 Mustang fastback, 3 speed, straight six – for those of you who are curious) I went to church in my daddy’s pick-up. On the dairy there was little need for a car, so our family of five (my daddy, sister, two younger brothers and myself) would squeeze into his ’73 Ford pick-up to go to church each Sunday. By the time we arrived in the parking lot we sort of looked like a “DeLoach explosion” once the doors of the truck flew open. I have come a long way. Now I come to church in a 2005 MINI Cooper. Well, to be fair about this, Amy and the boys come later in station wagon. How do you get here? The question isn’t just concerned with modes of transportation. It really doesn’t matter to me if you came in a station wagon, minivan, walked or rode a mule (although you have to be careful where you park a mule). To ask, “how did you get here” is really a spiritual question. Who were the ones in your life that taught you about faith, that loved like Jesus and inspired you to do the same? In John’s Gospel we read of some Greeks that came to one of Jesus’ disciples and asked, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” (12:21) Philip and Andrew were asked to help the Greeks “get there.” As a “City on a Hill” we have been entrusted to teach, share and be...
by Greg | Feb 26, 2009 | Blog Posts
(photo by Rainier Ehrhardt) “When death comes… I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world” – Mary Oliver Last night (Wednesday, February 25) we hosted an Ash Wednesday service. Even though Christians have observed some form of the imposition of ashes for well over a thousand years, it is a relative new observance for Baptists. Yesterday I worked on the meditation or reflection for the service, experimented with the ash mixture with olive oil (no one teaches these things in seminary), and went over the order of worship with several of the other ministers. Just as we were wrapping up our church supper, I robed up and joined the other ministers in the sanctuary were we sat quietly for the service to begin. I love a church service that begins in quiet: no piano, or idle gabbing, or frantic, last minute activity. Just to sit for a few brief minutes and listen to the pews creak while finding stillness can be such a gift. The first half of the service was filled with music, scripture readings and reflections and so even to the most stalwart of Baptists it was still a fairly typical worship service, if not a bit more subdued than usual. I transitioned from my message on penitence and mortality – traditional themes for Ash Wednesday – into an explanation of the imposition of ashes. Traditionally the sign of the cross is marked on the foreheads of the worshippers as the minister recites the phrase: “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.” I was a bit concerned that the marking...
by Greg | Feb 18, 2009 | Blog Posts
I love the rich breadth of Christianity, which means I am open to “new” ways of experiencing community with fellow believers. Observing Ash Wednesday (this year it is on February 25) is an old practice for believers around the world but fairly new to most Baptists. I have attended many such services, but this year will be the first time I will host one. I have taken the liberty of turning to many resources including books, the internet, our minister of music Stan Pylant and Episcopalians! In fact, the ashes we will use are compliments of our sister congregation, The Church of the Good Shepherd. I decided I had too much on my mind than to try to figure out how to burn, sift, and mix ashes for the service. The dear chair of the altar guild offered to give me a can of ashes, which she would have waiting for me at their church. Yesterday I arrived to pick up the can (formally cashews, but didn’t that surprise anybody that reached in for a few nuts). On the lid of the can was written: Ashes – Greg DeLoach (he is not in here). This is an important disclaimer of which I am happy to confirm. Yet is this not what Ash Wednesday is about? – a time to reflect on our own mortality as well as repentance. Philosophers have long exclaimed that the way to prepare for life is to contemplate death. Morbid? I don’t think so. Often Jesus spoke of the need to release one’s life (which is in itself an enormous act of faith) in order...
by Greg | Feb 11, 2009 | Blog Posts
I have a not-so-secret confession to make – I love classic soul music. Sure, I recognize that some may think I should listen to more respectable if not conventional music. Stan and Keith listen to the arias, Rodger is rather fond of Broadway tunes, and Andy listens to country. I certainly do not have a problem with their iPod playlists, but if I were on a deserted island, give me the music of Marvin Gaye, Barry White and Luther Vandross! This genre of musically is usually labeled as “rhythm and blues” but most everyone knows it is “soul music” plain and simple. Good soul music sings of love lost and love gained. When I hear Ray Charles sing “Georgia” I smell red clay and green pines and love growing up in this state. When Marvin Gaye sings “Mercy Me” I long for an imagined past of better times. And Amy and I cannot help dancing in the kitchen when Barry White croons “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love.” Nearly all good soul music is rooted in love. In fact, all good music is rooted in love. Music speaks to our heart’s longings, our desires, and our hopes. When George Jones wails “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” we don’t have to have the same experience to identify with the song. Love lost and love gained connects us. No wonder that Paul the apostle described love as the greatest gift. We are shaped and given life because of God’s generous love. We love and are loved. It is what we desire and it is what we need. Love is the foundational...
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