"Ribbons for Peace" - Deep River Friends Weekly Update

This past week I sent a letter to the local newspapers (High Point, Jamestown, and Greensboro) to be printed in their Letter to the Editor section. This letter explains to readers and motorists what the white ribbons on our trees represent. Below is the letter in full.

White Ribbons for Peace
Over the last couple of years persons driving through the intersection of Penny Road and Wendover Avenue in High Point may have noticed the presence of a multitude of white ribbons on the trees and bushes in the front yard of Deep River Friends Meeting (Quaker). Many have asked us about the purpose of those white ribbons.
The white ribbons represent for us a witness to peace. We began by putting up a ribbon for each person that had been killed in the war in Iraq. The ribbon serves both as a way to honor the life that has been lost as well as reminder that we long and pray for peace to prevail. We are in the process of putting up more ribbons and our focus is now on the present war in Afghanistan. As before, the ribbons will serve to honor those that have given their life in service of their country as well as be a reminder that peace is God’s ultimate dream for creation – and our hope as well.
As a Quaker meeting we feel God has called us to witness to peace and at the same time supporting those who find themselves on the front lines of these wars. Quakers have historically maintained a peace testimony and we humbly seek to live that out as best we can. We are aware of the reality of armed conflict but long for a day when “…nations will never again go to war, never prepare for battle again.” (Micah 4:3 TEV) Until that time we continue to pray for those who have been deployed as well as their families and we pray for peace to prevail in our community, our nation, and our world.

Deep River Monthly Meeting of Friends (Quaker

As I finished this letter, my ultimate prayer is that peace will not just be something we talk about - or write about- but something we practice on a daily basis.

Annual Founders Day at Deep River Friends Meeting

This Sunday is the Annual Founders Day at Deep River Friends Meeting. It's a Sunday in which we celebrate our rich heritage but also look forward in worship to the future God has called us towards. We give thanks for the foundation that has been laid by those that have preceded us. Their wisdom, perserverance, and faithfulness has given us a wonderful treasure in the form of the faith community called Deep River Friends. Our job is to get in line with these wonderful saints and keep the faithfulness going as we live into the future and live out our calling at the intersection of Wendover Avenue and Penny Road.

In our 11am meeting for worship, our guest speaker will be Becky Memmelaar. Becky is a preachers kid and recently graduated from the Wake Forest Divinity School. She is a recorded minister in North Carolina Yearly Meeting and just recently accepted a call to serve as pastor of Whittier Friends Church in Whittier, California. We look forward to Becky and the words God has put on her heart for our Founders Day.

After meeting for worship, everyone is invited to the Fellowship Hall for best carry-in meal in Guilford County and the surrounding area! Everyone is invited and welcome and encouraged to bring a dish to pass. There will be great fellowship, connecting with old friends and the making of new friends! It's a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the most important component of any church - it's people and the relationships that make up the congregation.

Deep River Friends Happenings - Week of October 5

The Next Item up for Bid...
You will be hearing alot of that this coming Saturday at Deep River Friends Meeting as we hold our Fall Charity Auction. If you want some great deals on some great then you won't want to miss this event. It all begins at 4:30 pm with Bob Miller's gospel group, "Sheltered Quartet" singing. There will also be a Silent Auction along with the Live Auction. Hot dogs, chips, and drinks will also be for sale. A majority of the proceeds will go towards local charities and missions such as Victory Junction Gang, the MOWA Choctaw Center in Alabama, Belize Friends Boys School, and more. That is this Saturday, October 10th. See you then!

CROP Walk a Success
Thanks to everyone who contributed and walked in the CROP. Susie Jones reported this past Sunday that our meeting raised over $400 to help reduce poverty in our community. Those who walked enjoyed a beautiful day and walked for a very meaningful cause. What a blessing to be part of faith community so dedicated to helping alleviate the poverty and hopelessness so many find themselves in these days.

Membership as Discipship and the Week Ahead

Membership as Discipleship
This past Sunday I spoke briefly on membership as discipleship. In our own Faith and Practice it describes membership as an experience in discipleship. But, when we hear the word "discipleship" I fear that we might think of heavy duty study with three-ring binder notebooks for those only truly serious about being spiritual. The truth is that discipleship is for everyone and it's not a "one time" experience nor it is just an event. Discipleship is a journey in which we make a conscious choice and decision to live in solidarity with Jesus and the reign of God that Jesus invites us to follow and participate in. To live in solidarity with Jesus means that we value the same things Jesus values as well as do what Jesus did. Discipleship is less a program and more a way of life. To become a member, then, is to publicly acknowledge that you are willing to engage that journey at a thoughful level. This doesnt mean you will be perfect or always get it right in following Jesus. It does mean that you will seek to be faithful to the way of Jesus and to give thought to it's implications for your daily living. As a member, it's a journey we take together and not just as individuals. To be sure, there are ways activities and programs we can participate in that will help us in this journey...

• Participate in our "Digging Deeper" Sunday evening series along with the Disciple Bible Study or the book study
• Attend a Sunday School Class
• Be as regular as possible to meeting for worship
• Attend our Contemplative / Silent worship at 9AM
• Join with others in a book study, prayer group, or Bible study
• Be active in service to others
• Seek ways to apply your faith and the way of Jesus to your daily decisions - whether it be at work, in politics, or in your family
• Take time for silence and prayer to hear the voice of the Living Christ

These are just some of the practices we can engage in to aid us in our journey. Whatever you choose, seek to bring meaning to your membership. Seek to make it a journey of abundance and life!

Thanks To Everyone Who Helped At The BBQ

Thanks to everyone who helped at our Fall BBQ this past Saturday. It takes alot of folks to make it a success. Most of all, it's a great opportunity to join together in a common project as well as meet people and fellowship with each other. At the same time, we are able to raise money for worthy projects as well as ongoing projects around the meeting house. Again, thanks to everyone for your participation!

Deep River Friends and Membership

Yesterday I started a short series on what it means to be a member of a local meeting and specifically Deep River Friends. Our own Faith and Practice defines and Active Member in this way:

"Friends received into active membership those whose faith in Christ as a personal Savior is manifest in their lives and who are in unity with the teachings of Christian truth as held by Friends. Membership is seen 'primarily in terms of discipleship. It implies a sense of responsibility...a sense of commitment...and a willingness to be used by God.' "

As I shared yesterday, our starting point is a relationship with the Living Christ. Being a member is more then just having your name on a Membership Roll. Being an Active Member is a public declaration that you have entered into a spiritual journey with the Living Christ and you desire to take that journey in community with others. On this journey, we don't have it have it all figured out nor do we need to be perfect. What is necessary is that we see our membership journey as more then a "networking" tool or a status symbol. Instead, we see it is an important stage in the ongoing process of our spiritual development. Over the next three weeks, we will continue to look at this definition of what it means to be an Active Member. We are reminded, though, that any understanding of being an Active Member begins with our own personal reflection on our relationship with Christ. The relationship is our starting point and it is what carries us on this journey towards the fullness of membership.

Thanks and Appreciation!
This past Saturday we had some thoughtful folks giving time and energy around the meetinghouse grounds to do some cleaning and trimming. Thanks to all who came out on Saturday for your time and effort. It's also great to realize that when we take responsibility to care for our property, we are exercising good stewardship by not having to pay others to do it for us. It literally saves us money and we are able to take this money and use it for outreach and other meaningful ministries. Thanks to all who give of their time and talents at Deep River Friends!

Ice Cream Social Sunday
This Sunday (September 20) will be the the Annual Missions Committee Ice Cream Social. Come and enjoy great homemade ice cream from a variety of folks. All the monetary donations go towards supporting our ongoing mission projects. The ice cream social is always a great time to visit with others and support our missions giving!

CROP Walk
The Annual CROP Walk is coming up on September 27th. We hope that many of you will either be able to give a monetary donation or participatein the walk. The CROP Walk is intended to both raise money and awareness of those that are in need and hungry both in our communties and across our nation.

"Buckets of Blessings" by Dwight and Dacia Osborne

Dwight and Dacia Osborne are the parents of grandparents of Bailey Shea Silva. These words of gratitude also capture some very important spiritual lessons. Thanks Dwight and Dacia!

One night this summer my grandchildren and I were in the yard catching lightning bugs and putting them in empty water bottles. It was neat to see the affects
of several lights in one bottle. A few minutes later our 5 year old grandson
came runninig from the backyard with a 5 gal. bucket waving wildly in the air.
"I 'm going to catch LOTS of lightning bugs!!"he yelled. That's how our
spring and summer has seemed...we were looking for a bottle full of blessings
but God had planned buckets and buckets of blessings. Our Jenny and Clint,
our Bailey, the awsome gifts, the special account, THE yardsale, the power
of praying people .. each has been unbelievably encouraging. Thanks and
expressions of gratitude seem useless but the love and committment from our
FRIENDS and family has been wonderful. Eph.3:20 says it best,
"Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or
think, according to the power that worketh in us."

Buckets to you, Dacia
and Dwight

Deep River Friends Happenings - Week of August 24-30

This past weekend was a celebration weekend. In partnership with Furnitureland South, we were able to raise approximately $2500 for the Bailey Shea Sarvis Fund at the Yard Sale. This fund, which not totals around $5,000, has been set up to help pay medical bills incurred since Bailey was born premature. She is growing and getting healthier each day. We keep praying for her health and well-being. We also pray for Clint and Jenny as they go back and forth to the hospital. If you want to give to the Bailey Shea Fund, you can still do so. Just make your check out to "Deep River Friends Meeting" and memo it, "Bailey Shea Sarvis Fund".

"Digging Deeper" In Your Spiritual Life
This Sunday will be the start of our "Digging Deeper" series. This year, it will be structured with a book study and a bible study.

From 5:00 PM - 6:15 PM, we will have a book study entitled "Something More". Over the next nine months, we will read and discuss approximately three to four books that deal specifically with the spiritual journey and deepening one's spiritual intimacy with God. Each book will cost anywhere from $10 to $15. You only need to purchase them one at a time. The first book we will be reading is "Sacred Romance" by John Eldredge and Brent Curtis. This book sounds as if it's about relationships. It's about our relationship with God and how we can experience it in a more passionate way.

From 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM, we will be offering a Disciple Bible Study course on the books of Genesis, Exodus, Luke, and Acts. This will be a 32-week study which will involve daily readings of the Bible. Each week, we will come together to discuss the previous weeks readings as well as the Bible instruction in your manual. The manual costs $25 and can be picked up in the church Fellowship Hall.

These spiritual growth opportunities are open to anyone and everyone!

Silent / Unprogrammed Worship
This Sunday is a 5th Sunday so we will be offering a silent / unprogrammed worship during our 11AM meeting for worship time. We do this on our 5th Sundays to give us the experience of what it is like to worship in silence and to experience the silence. Early Quaker worship began in this manner as they believed that God could speak directly to anyone and that everyone gathered had the potential to bring a messgae from God. Silence is also a forgotten experience in our noisy world. It serves to create a space whereby we can listen not only to ourselves but also to God. We will have a couple of hymns as well as our offering. After that, we will go into silent worship.

Missions Committee School Giveaway
This Saturday our Missions Committee will be sponsoring a "giveaway" in the Fellowship Hall. It's intended to simply give school supplies away to those in need. With the economy being the way it is, school supplies can be hard to come by on a limited budget. We hope this will help bring some relief and encouragement to those that participate.

August Happenings at Deep River Friends

Alot is going on in August both at Deep River Friends and everywhere else. Seems many are getting in their vacations and mini-trips before school starts.

Speaking of school starting, our youth collected a number of backpack items last Sunday for the Guilford Interfaith Hospitality Network. Thanks to everyone that contributed. Our Missions Committee is also collecting school supplies to help equip the kids in the schools around us as they head back to school. If you would like to donate any school supplies, just drop them off in the Fellowship Hall.

Bailey Shea Sarvis Fundraiser
As many of you know, Bailey was born to Clint and Jennie Sarvis a few weeks ago but rather prematurely. (Jennie is the daughter of Dwight and Dacia Osborne) Since then she has been receiving tremendous care and Women's Hospital in Greensboro. In order to help with their medical bills, we are partnering with Furnitureland South and holding a rummage sale on August 22nd in our Fellowship Hall. Jennie is employed by Furnitureland South. I like to say, there will be good deals for a good cause. Also, there will be baked good items for sale as well. If you would like to donate items for sale, you can bring them to the Fellowship Hall the week of August 17th. If you need something to be picked up, call the office at 454-1928.

We want to thank Susie Jones and Janie Carroll for their work on the Deep River Friends Meeting Yard Sale and Rummage Sale. Due to their efforts - and those who helped them - they raised $500. That money will into the fund for Clint and Jennie to use for their medical bills as well. There is alot being discussed nowadays in the area of healthcare reform. It seems that a big first step towards that is making sure we look out for each other and help each other when we can. That's the kind of reform I think everyone can agree on.

"Digging Deeper" on Sunday Evenings
This Fall we will be offering study opportunities again on Sunday evening. Beginning at 5PM we will have a book study. The books this year will follow a theme on developing our spiritual lives and growing spiritually. Book titles will be announced ahead of time. At 6:30pPM we will be offering a Disciple Bible study class focusing on Genesis, Exodus, Luke, and Acts. It will be a 32 week study of these four books of the Bible and will be open to anyone in the meeting. Both of these opportunites will being at the end of August of first part of September.

Also, Beth Johnson will be offering a women's Bible Study beginning around the same time. Right now, that group will meet most likely on a weeknight - possibly Tuesday evening. This study is open to any woman in the meeting. Meeting times and dates will be announced.

Hope you are all having a great week and look forward to seeing you this weekend!

This Is The Week The Lord Has Made...Let Us Rejoice and be Glad!

Vacation Bible School
This week is the beginning of Vacation Bible School at Parkwood Baptist. Each year we partner with the fine folks at Parkwood and every year it's a huge success. I marvel and am amazed each year at all the folks that are willing to volunteer at least two hours of their evening to spend time with these wonderful children. Thanks to all the volunteers from both Parkwood Baptist and Deep River Friends Meeting. Vacation Bible School will end Friday evening with a hot dog supper. It starts each evening through Thursday at 6:30 PM and ends at 8:30 PM. Keep all teachers and children in your prayers.

Bailey Shea Sarvis Update
We have all been praying for Clint and Jennie Sarvis' new baby girl, Bailey Shea. Born premature, Bailey is still at the hospital under the care of the fine doctors and nurses and putting on weight. Here is an update from Jennie posted as of yesterday (July 26)

Sunday afternoon- We get good news that she will have her ventilator tube removed this afternoon and be put back on the cpap, she is done with another round of anibiotics, and she is tolerating her feedings. Oh,,,and she is now 3lbs big!! To you that sounds like nothing, but to me she is starting to get "fat". I put another bill next to her just to measure her growth and I looks like she has come a long way.(in my head) Monday, I will get to hold her again after a tough week of just being able to watch her outside her "condo". Its amazing that she knows my voice and will start to breath more heavily and try to open her tired eyes at me when I come and visit. Gosh, she is so beautiful!
I think back to the days of me on bedrest in the hospital. In talking with some of the nurses that I had each day, I would ask about other patients on my hall-no names but just their condition. Perhaps to see if there were others close to the same week I was.(23-27) or a patient who was a few weeks further along that would give me strength. Some days the nurse would come into my room and I would ask. "Is everyone behaving today?" (meaning- are the other patients ok and is everyone still holding on to their babies) Some days the answer would yes and other days the answer would be no. Several times I have been asked how I can keep my head up through all of this. The answer is that some of those girls on my hall which have no faces or names to me, don't have what I have right now- a baby. I feel so blessed-not lucky- to have Bailey right now. There were so many days when the answer was no to that daily question. I have to keep going strong b/c this chance of motherhood is and will always be so delicate. God is awesome! Prayers heal people! It is truely a miracle to be a parent. I still go and visit the nurses that had me on that hall and joyfully keep them updated on Bailey's progress too. No she is not out of the woods yet, but what progress from where we started from. -Jenny

Continue to keep Clint, Jennie, and Bailey in your prayers!

California Bound
This Friday, Chad and I will be flying out to California to meet up with Erin and Sarah as we get ready to bring them home. We will be leaving Los Angeles on Sunday morning and arriving in North Carolina on Thursday evening. Along the way we will pass through Las Vegas, Utah, Colorado, Kansas (with an evening at the Kansas City Royals ballpark!), and Kentucky. Keep us in your prayers and I will be posting on my "California" blog to keep everyone update.

I hope everyone has a great week! Remember, God has already gone ahead of you and has prepared this week for you! Be aware of what God is up to in your life!

The Hard Work of Growth

Getting Unstuck From Our Patterns
This past Sunday (July 19) I spoke on getting "unstuck" from our patterns. These patterns are entrenched ways of behaving, relating, acting, and doing life that sometimes do not serve us well...or serve others well. In fact, they very well may sabotage our effectiveness and our success...not to say the least our relationships. I have witnessed many marriages sabotage themselves due to the fact unhealthy patterns had developed over the years between the couple but yet they were unable or unwilling to make the changes necessary to enable them to function in a healthier manner. Growth is not always easy work. Sometimes it takes some necessary soul work. The following is what Lynda, my wife, wrote about the hard work of growth. I believe she describes it very well:

"I have been waging a battle all summer in my front flower bed. It's a battle between me and the Bermuda Grass. I have to be honest and say I neglected that bed last summer. So this spring I declared battle and with Scott's help old plants were removed and new ones planted.But the Bermuda Grass keeps returning. I pull and pull, spray Round Up, and pull some more.It had been 2 weeeks since my last surge to get rid of all the grass. So, I tackled it once again today. I decided I needed to dig a little deeper, get more of those roots that run deep and criss cross all over that flower bed. Hard work- yes. But is anything really worthwhile easy?That flower bed is really like my soul. How many times have I tried to just work hard enough to clean up the surface so my life looks nice. But I have left all the tangled roots deep below the surface. All those behaviors and patterns that hinder my relationships with others and with God eventually make their way back to the the surface of my soul.So how do I get at those roots? How do I get them out of the Garden of my Soul?When I look at what I did with my flower bed today, I have got to work at it. There has to be some purposeful action. And, the hardest part, I've got to dig deep. Probably deeper than I ever knew I had to dig.It's hard work, very hard work. Just as my muscles ache and my hands are sore, my soul may feel tender and bruised in the process.But the hope that I cling to and the promises I hold dear, remind me that the work pays off. My flower bed will thrive, and so will my soul and my relationship with others. I've got to keep tending to my Garden. Blessings for today."

The question sometimes has to be asked - am I willing to do the hard work necessary to grow in my life, in my relationships, in my emotional maturity?

Helpful Resources
I mentioned Sunday morning that there have been some resources helpful for me and I want to pass these titles on to you. You can order these at any bookstore or through Amazon.

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, Peter Scazzero
How Can I Let Go If I Don't Know I'm Holding On, Linda Douty
A Resilient Life, Gordon MacDonald
One Day At A Time, Trevor Hudson
Change Your Mind and Your Life Will Follow, Karen Casey

These are just a few that I have found helpful. You may have others. The key is to keep on growing and doing the "digging" and "weeding" that helps us get rid of those unhealthy patterns.

"God's Love" by Thomas Merton

"If I were looking for God, every event and every moment would sow, in my will, grains of God's life, that would spring up one day in a tremendous harvest. For it is God's love that warms me in the sun and God's love that sends the cold rain. It is God's love that feeds me in the bread I eat and God that feeds me also by hunger and fasting. It is the love of God that sends the winter days when I am cold and sick, and the hot summer when I labor and my clothes are full of sweat: but it is God who breathes on me with light winds off the river and in the breezes out of the wood. God's love spreads the shade by the sycamore over my head and sends the water-boy along the edge of the wheat field with a bucket from the spring, while the laborers are resting and the mules stand under the tree. It is God's love that speaks to me in the birds and streams but also behind the clamor of the city God speaks to me in God's judgments, and all these things are seeds sent to me from God's will. If they would take root in my liberty, and if God's will would grow from my freedom, I would become the love that God is, and my harvest would be God's glory and my own joy. And I would grow together with thousands and millions of other freedoms into the gold of one huge field praising God, loaded with increase, loaded with corn."

Numbers Matter - Deep River Friends Annual Report

William Willimon is a Bishop in the United Methodist Church in Alabama. Sometimes he will hear the concern that it's "all about numbers." Typically, this is voiced by someone who doesnt want to be held accountable for dropping attendance or dropping finances. In the following excerpt from his blog, William Willimon makes a good case for how "numbers matter":

"Although I’ve never heard this comment from a bishop, a pastor, or a church that was growing, a frequently heard comment in response to our Conference Priorities, from those who have limited their ministry to decline is, “So? It’s all about the numbers.”
Though I don’t see much indication that we have become infatuated with numbers (I was miserable at math in school) in our evaluation and deployment of our pastors, in our evaluation and leadership of our churches (most of our churches are still declining rather than growing) some question our historic Wesleyan focus on numbers of baptisms, attendance, membership, giving, and mission. The church is all about Jesus Christ and his mission. Are we now guilty of moving toward an “It’s all about numbers” posture?"

We loaded up our car for our annual family vacation. I had been clear with the family about our time of departure for the beach. Patsy had dutifully loaded the car. I had dutifully been clear about the time of departure. Harriet was there. Where was William?
“That does it. We’re leaving. He knew the time and yet he’s not here,” I said, in love.
“We can’t leave without him,” Patsy asserted. “How can you go on a family vacation without the whole family?”
I responded, “Look, we have one child who obeyed the rules, did as she was told, is punctual and obedient. Isn’t that good enough? Let’s go. Don’t worry about the other fifty-percent of our children.”
“We have two children. We are not going anywhere without everybody,” Patsy commanded, in love.
“One, two, whatever,” I responded. “So? It’s all about numbers! What difference does it really make whether we have all of our children or half of our children? The important thing is the quality of our family interaction on the vacation. This is about love, not numbers!” (adapted from the Annual Conference learning session with Mark DeVries)

In this interesting illustration, the numbers do matter! You don't want to leave a child behind...or do you? For sure, we don't want to obsess about numbers but they do give us an indication of where we might be doing well and where we need to pay more attention.

Annual Report
To this end, we handed out last Sunday our first-ever Annual Report of Deep River Friends. In it we have provided information regarding our receipts and expenditures for the past year as well as our budget for the coming year. We have included financial reports as well as reports regarding the work of our committees over the past year. Here are just some hightlights from the report:

• Average Worship Attendance for the past year - 122
• Average Sunday School Attendance for the past year - 48
• Average weekly Sunday offering - $3,010
• Average monthly Sunday offering - $$13,047
• Total Outreach Giving (Quaker and non-Quaker) - $44,846
• Total Sunday offerings for past year - $156,570

These are just a sampling of some of the information you will find in the Annual Report. In the report, you will also see what it is our committees do and how you can possibly serve within the meeting. I have been saying that there is more then enough ministry at Deep River Friends for one or more committees to do - we need everyone! Even if you are not on a committee, we need your servant heart. Consider where God might be calling you to serve.

Sermon Series Continues - "Getting Unstuck"

This Sunday I will continue my sermon series on "getting unstuck". This Sunday we will look at getting unstuck from patterns in our life. In other words, we pattern our life in certain ways and usually based on our upbringing and on past experiences. Some of these patterns serve us well and some of them don't. We need to discern what patterns we can keep and what patterns we need to change. How we pattern our life can greatly determine our fruitful...and even successful...we can become.

Hope everyone is having a great week. Feel free to check out my other blog at www.thegrowingedge.blogspot.com

Blessings,

Scott

"Getting Unstuck" at Deep River Friends

"Getting Unstuck" Sermon Series
This coming Sunday I will be continuing my sermon series on "getting unstuck" in life. The past three weeks I have focused on getting unstuck from our past, pain, and our perspectives. This week, we will take a look at getting unstuck from our problems.

In his book, Leading On Empty, pastor and author Wayne Cordeiro makes some interesting observations:

"Unresolved problems are like unresolved debts. You know they're there, but you just can't bring yourself to deal with them. You ignore symptoms and suppress the reminders until they ulcerate the inner recesses of your soul. They deplete energy and cause a low-grade fever in your emotions. It won't be long before an overwhelming sense of helplessness and entrapment overshadows you. Problems don't destroy you. Unresolved problems do. These are the nagging issues that create a breeding ground of fear. We feel compelled to live in the past and feel as if our hope for tomorrow is slipping away from us. Unresolved problems spawn chronic illness, work stress, relationship problems, and family breakdowns..."

Do you find you have "unresolved problems" or "issues" in your life? If you do, you probably resonate with what Wayne Cordeiro has to say in the preceding quote. These "unresolved" problems work on us like a low-grade fever. They sap our energy, creativity and even enthusiasm.

This Sunday, we'll take a look at how we can get "unstuck" from our problems and, through the presence of God, we can bring resolve and growth to our lives.

Monthly Meeting for Business
This Sunday will be our regular Monthly Meeting for Business. All members / attenders are welcome and encouraged to come to Monthly Meeting. During this time, we discuss the daily and ongoing business of the meeting as well as discern how we can continue to fulfill God's call on our life as a meeting. Ideally, we gather for worship for the purpose of having business. It is first and foremost a worship experience in which business is conducted. Being aware of that, we come seeking to discern first and foremost God's will for our lives and our meeting. Come join us in this time of prayer and worship!

Youth Missions Trip
Our Senior High and Middle School youth under the direction of Lisa Moran will be having a local missions trip this week. They will be using Faith Presbyterian in Greensboro as their "home base" and going out to various parts of the city to offer their lives and time in acts of ministry and community service. This is a great opportunity for our youth to see what goes on in their local area as well as give back some of their time and gifts. Pray for Lisa and our youth as they participate in this unique missions experience.

Make A Place for People

I don't know where I heard it - probably at a conference years ago - but it was such a great statement I have never forgotten it. The line that I remember to this day goes like this..."Church should be an experience of finding a place for people and not keeping people in their place."

I have heard unfortunate stories of where church has become an experience of "keeping people in their place." That phrase, "keeping people in their place", has a feel of judgment and punishment. It has a feel of someone just waiting for someone to mess up so that they can be corrected. It has a feel of superiority. If you are on the receiving end, it doesnt feel very good. Accountability is good and helping people to live in the way of Jesus is necessary. But, turning church into an experience of "keeping people in their place" conjures up images of moral finger wagging. Worse, it describes an environment that is not too full of grace and mercy.

I better approach and vision would be to see church as an experience of "finding a place for people." Folks today are looking for a "place"...
> a place to serve
> a place to discover meaning and purpose
> a place where grace is real
> a place live out their unique gifts and calling

We serve folks well when we make a place for them to do all of this and much more. Jesus was always making a place for people - a place at the table, a place in his life, a place in his Kingdom. Jesus was never about "keeping people in their place".

How can we make a place for folks at Deep River Friends? Who do you need to make a place for in your life?

Happy July 4th!
This weekend is July 4th and an opportunity to celebrate the birth of our country. There are probably a variety of ways we all celebrate this weekend - mainly with cookouts and fireworks. And, we take time to reflect upon the freedoms that we have. I would invite us, though, to also reflect on how our freedoms can be stewarded to bring goodness to the common good. It's easy to use our freedoms to simply look out for ourselves and our own individual rights rather then steward our freedom to seek the good of others and our country...and even our world. It seems that if we as a country have been blessed with so much freedom then it wasnt necessarily for the purpose of hoarding it for ourselves. Let our freedom lead us out into creative goodness on behalf of others.

Summer Sermons and Upcoming Activities

Wow...it seems as if Summer came on full force and now we are right into it! Hard to believe that July 4th is just around the corner. While you are all traveling and heading to the beach or the mountains, here are a few things I want to keep in front of all of us at Deep River Friends.

Summer Sermons Series
For the next month, I will be offering a series of messages on the theme, "Getting Unstuck." It's my contention that part of what impedes our personal and spiritual growth are the "stuck" places in our life. There are a variety of reasons we get stuck but whatever they might be, our personal growth diminishes the longer we remain stuck. The five areas we often get stuck in our...
> Getting stuck in our past
> Getting stuck in our pain
> Getting stuck in our problems
> Getting stuck in our perspectives
> Getting stuck in our patterns

This past Sunday (June 21) I spoke on how we can get "unstuck" from our past. This coming Sunday (June 27), we will look at getting "unstuck" from our pain. If you can't make it to meeting, you can always listen to the messages online at www.deepriverfriends.com Of course, I would be then happy to provide a copy of my manuscript if you would like one.

New Church Year
Our new church year begins on July 1 and goes through June of the next year. In our Monthly Meeting for Business yesterday (June 21) we approved a budget for 2009-2010 as well as a list of committee members. We will include both items in our July newsletter. Thanks goes out to our Finance Committee and Nominating Committee for completing both of these important tasks for the beginning of our new church year.

Scott's Personal Blog
We appreciate everyone that follows this blog to keep updated on what is going on at Deep River Friends. I also invite you to check in with my personal blog at www.thegrowingedge.blogspot.com. This one is more a labor of love as I attempt to put in writing my thoughts and musings about spiritual and personal growth.

Have a great week and keep checking back in!
Scott

Living and Growing in Grace

Family Camp 2009 - This weekend (May 1-3) will be the Deep River Friends Family Camp at Quaker Lake. (www.quakerlakecamp.org) It's a time for us to gather as a church family and enjoy the fellowship as well as grow spiritually. It all starts on Friday evening. There is nothing scheduled for Friday evening but you can come and enjoy hanging out as folks arrive. On Saturday, there will be a couple times in the morning in which we gather as a group to worship and study the Scriptures together in keeping with our theme on "grace". Saturday afternoon is free time with a BBQ chicken dinner on Saturday evening and a Talent Show after dinner. Sunday morning we will have our Sunday School time with our Meeting for Worship at 11AM. We are encouraging everyone to come to the worship at Quaker Lake. You can dress extremely casual as we gather to worship together in the beautiful surroundings.

Our theme for the weekend is "grace" and we seek to understand how we can "grow in grace" so that we can better live in God's grace as well as be grace-full towards each other. One of the themes Ministry and Counsel has been promoting in our meeting is that of "hospitality". This term, "hospitality", is one of the five spiritual practices we are seeking to root ourselves in as a congregation so that we can become an increasingly fruitful congregation. Here is what one writer has to say about "hospitality":

"The hospitality of the church is not simply a matter of being nice or being really friendly. Not is hospitality accomplished by better signs, name tags, or a really great coffee hour. Hospitality is about grace. It is about welcoming others, whoever they are, wherever they are on life's journey, because that's the way God welcomed us. It is about loving others because God has loved us."

As we gather for Family Camp, I pray that we can better understand how God has welcomed each of us and how God has created a hospitable place for each of us to live and exist. In that way, we can be people who gladly welcome each other regardless of where we are on our spiritual journey.

Thoughts on Current Events - It seems as if we can't pick up the paper or watch the news without another "crisis" looming on the horizon. If it's not an economic crisis it's a climate crisis or a health crisis -as in the present warnings about Swine Flu. No doubt, we certainly need to be aware of what is going on around use but we need not be consumed by the events. As we do what we need to do to take precautions and be prudent, we also live with the awareness that our God is a much bigger God then any crisis that exists today. God is not thrown off by events of our world and neither shall we.

Blessings,
Scott

Christian Earth Care

Coming up this Wednesday, April 22, is Earth Day. It is a day designed to create appreciation and awareness for creation and the world in which we live. It is also a day designed to cause us to stop and reflect on our behavior towards the earth's resources and how our lifestyles may be doing damage to the environment. For years, Christians have often shied away from this kind of stuff. They leave to to the "tree huggers" and those of a more liberal and progressive persuasion to deal with the "earth care" stuff. But, thankfully, we are beginning to make some progress in seeing earth care as the responsibility of all Christians - and all people's - and giving careful thought to our actions and lifestyles and how they affect the environment. In recognition of Earth Day, I share this excerpt from entitled Serve God Save the Planet: A Christian's Call to Action, by Matthew Sleeth.

"What is your behavior toward God's creation? Most of us are not able to walk down pathways we have planted with trees. We do not know how many pounds of trash we have plucked out of streams. We have not composted our yard waste, much less eradicated an invasive species of algae from a pond. For the majority of us, our relationship to the created world is not one of caretaker or steward. Our typical reaction to nature is to not see it, or to see it only when a vacation or a sporting activity takes us into contact with it. It is sobering for me to admit that I can identify more species of automobiles than trees.
Are you kinder than average in your treatment of the earth and your neighbors? In order to move from thought to action, you will have to recognize that some action is needed. For actions in which there is no universal right or wrong, it can be helpful at least to be aware of what others are doing. We may think of ourselves philanthropic and generous until we see a widow giving away her last two pennies.
When we ar truly grateful, we give God thanks for our blessings. When we are ungrateful or feel a sense of entitlement toward material blessings, we tend to ignore or mnot give thanks. Many of us give thanks for our food. We know that farmers have worked hard to produce it, and that God has provided the sun and rain and wind vital to the harvest. We bow our heads in prayer and thank God for our food. Few of us recognize however, that people work, fight, and die to bring us energy.
Energy - electricity, wood, coal, gasoline, propane, and oil - is like food. It is a blessing, and it sustains us. Our relationship to God's gifts can be one of entitlement, ignorance, and gluttony or one of praise, thanks, and temperance.
When was the last time yo bowed your head in thanks when filling your car with gasoline? If you haven't done so, is it because you don't think it is a blessing? Do you feel entitled to fill up? Is home heating oil something God or the world owses you? Do you feel you should have all you want, and at the price you want?"

I think one thing this author does is cause me to see how often I view life as an entitlement rather then a gift. When we see the earth and creation as an entitlement, we feel free to use it any way we want without any regard for the damage we may be doing or for what we are handing on to the next generation. When we see creation as an entitlement, we lose a sense of wonder about it and we only see it in utilitarian ways - how can it meet my needs? how can it supply what I want? To acknowledge God as the Creator is to acknowledge that God is the giver of all we have and possess. And, God has given us a magnificent creation to enjoy, steward, nurture, and care for so we can pass it on to the next generation.

Happy Earth Day!
Scott

Easter As A Way of Life

I recently came across a great website. It's www.explorefaith.org. On this website it provided a great way for folks to make Easter more then just a weekend experience. We Quakers don't often follow the Liturgical Calendar (or Christian calendar) very religiously. Being folks that don't get too much into ceremony or ritual, we often don't pay attention to it. But, sometimes the Christian calendar can be a great way to be mindful of our own spiritual journey in such a way that intersects with everyday living. What the Explore Faith website does is provide a great way for individuals to make Easter a way of life for the next 50 days. In fifty days, the church will celebrate what is typically known as Pentecost. This is a time in which the coming of the Holy Spirit is recognized and celebrated. But, until then, what would it look like if each day we made the resurrection miracle a daily event...and not just a weekend gig. Here is the link to the website: http://www.explorefaith.org/explore_faith/explore_christianity/holy_days/easter/calendar/easter_calendar.php

As part of explaining Easter as a way of life, here is a helpful thought provided by the folks at Explore Faith:

"But the Easter story is not only an experience, an event. It is a way of life. The resurrection of Jesus created the hope in Christians that death is never the end—resurrection is. We not only look forward to an eternal future with the Holy One, we have the opportunity to experience Easter moments in the midst of our everyday lives. We know that death and sorrow stand nearby — whether it be physical death, the loss of a job, the loss of a relationship, the loss of a dream —but resurrection also waits to be noticed at the edges of our life. We have all known the wonder of a healing, a new job, a new love, a new dream being born out of the agony of hopelessness. Making Easter a way of life means that we are unwilling to settle for death in any of its forms. We are unwilling to give up hope and belief that new life is always being offered to us by heaven. We are unwilling to be ground down by grief when God's goodness is extended to us. Making Easter a way of life means that we turn our eyes toward resurrection each and every day, searching for its signs, believing in its truth, living into its glory."

I especially like the way they remind us that "death is never the end" but that resurrection is. I also like how they remind us that resurrection "waits to be noticed at the edges of our life." I realize, then, that maybe the reason I don't often see Easter happening in my life is that I am not taking the time to notice. We have become a very distracted society and it's not as easy to "notice" or "pay attention" to what is going on around us. Maybe Easter is happening all around us but we simply are not able to notice. Maybe, also, the reason I don't notice is that I might spend too much time paying attention to the things in life that deadening...a deadening attitude, a deadening vision, a deadening disposition, deadening entertainment. In other words, it's easier to spend time with things that deaden the soul rather then wake up the soul.

Let's look for Easter at the edges of our lives and let's remind ourselves that death is never the end....whether it be physical death, the death of our dreams, the death of our hope, or the death of our joy. Death is never the end. Resurrection and life have had the final word and they call us to live!

Checking Our Fear Level

“Have you ever seriously reflected on how different your life might be now – how many decisions might have been made differently in the past – if your fear level had been lower? Suppose that your present fear level were reduced by 50 percent. What could you imagine yourself doing? Some of us could scarcely wait to start doing all we have secretly wished to do – being all we have wished to be. And that would be our feeling if our fear level were reduced by just 50 percent. What would our reaction be if our fear level were totally eliminated? So often the fear that held us in check and kept us ordinary and mediocre has kept us from statesmanlike servant leadership.”

Gordon Cosby, By Grace Transformed)

You’ve probably seen those reports on the news when those wildfires happen in places like California. They may start out small – an unattended campfire or a cigarette thrown from a car – but they quickly ignite and turn into a raging fire that spreads with unbelievable speed and causes unbelievable damage. Fear, today, is spreading like a raging wildfire and it’s destroying everything in its path. It’s being ignited by news releases and political pundits. It’s being fueled by “gloom and doom” theology. And its embers are being stoked by talk shows, talk radio, and reckless commentators. It’s destroying our hope and sabotaging our optimism. It’s eating away at our faith and breaking down our resolve. It’s paralyzing vision and stifling our imagination. Something has to give – this wildfire of fear has to stop.

We are living in challenging times – probably the most challenging times we have seen in decades. But even if the times have changed, our God hasn’t! In the Gospel of Matthew, Peter and the disciples were in a boat that was being tossed around by a huge storm. He saw Jesus walking on the water and said to Jesus, “If it’s you, tell me to get out of the boat.” So, Jesus told him to step on out. Peter did but as he walked he began to sink into the water. The Scriptures say he began to sink when he took notice of the huge winds and become frightened. In other words, he took his focus off of Jesus and began focusing on the storm. Anytime I take my focus off the Living Christ who promises to sustain me during tough times and put my focus on the storm raging around me, I start to sink. I sink into anxiety. I sink into irritability. I sink into stress. And, sometimes I sink into melancholy and a mild funk.

Friends, don’t let yourself sink too deep into your anxiety, fear, and stress. Our God has promised that there is nothing that can separate us from His love or presence. We don’t want to be naïve about the challenges we face but we also go on living into the promises of God. It is these promises that will sustain us and bring us through. It is these promises that will strengthen us and make us more courageous. It is these promises that will reduce our fear level. I hope and pray that during these challenging times, Deep River Friends will be the kind of place that will serve to strengthen your faith, deepen your resolve, and encourage optimism and hope in your life.

In Hope and Faith,
Scott

Living Our Faith and Social Justice - Human Trafficking & Racism

This past Sunday we took time in our meeting for worship to acknowledge the fact that it was Human Trafficking Awareness Sunday. This is not a topic that often gets much attention but it is an issue that certainly deserves our attention. Human trafficking deals with issues of the trafficking of humans across state lines and the borders of various countries for the purpose of using them against their will for such things as prostitution, pornography, forced labor and even forced military service. This is often the case in areas of Africa where there is constant violence. This then becomes an issue of human slavery as people are forced into service either in sweat shops or other activities such as the sex trade. However one defines it or describes it, it is the holding of someone against their will in order that they may perform certain acts or services which are demeaning and damaging to their life and soul. And this is a very real 21st century problem. Even in our own community of High Point, I have heard stories of a parent, or parents, selling their child for sex just so the parents could have money to buy drugs. We might not like to hear these stories but they are real. As Quakers, we have a heritage of working to oppose slavery. It's in our DNA. Prior to the Civil War, Quakers were at the forefront of the anti-slavery movement. The slavery may look a little different now in the 21st century but it is slavery nonetheless.

It does feel overwhelming and it's not easy to know where to start. What can you do? The best place to start is by becoming aware. David Batstone's book entitled, Not For Sale is a good and comprehensive overview of the global slave trade issue. Also, you can visit such websites as www.notforsalecampaign.org, www.stopthetraffik.org, www.ijm.org (International Justice Mission), www.slaverystillexists.com, and www.antislavery.org. Any of these websites will provide much needed information, statistics, and background on the global slave trade and human trafficking crisis.

Another issue that we have committed to creating awareness this month is that of racism. Jim Wallis of the Sojourners community writes about racism in this way: "In Biblical terms, racism is a demon and an idol, a fallen principality and power that enslaves people and nations in its deadly grip. To be even more specific, it is the idolatry of whiteness, the assumption of white privilege and supremacy, that has yet to be spiritually confronted in American and, especially, in the churches. White racism is America's original sin; continuing failure to repent meaningfully of that sin still confounds our efforts to overcome it."

Like any other sin, we often don't recognize it within ourselves and may even rationalize it or deny it. But, the truth of the matter is that everyone carries some form of this sin in them even if it functions as a "low grade prejudice". The sin of racism is often fueld by fear and maybe even our upbringing. It often times is the result of ignorance and lack of understanding. Left to itself, it grows into hatred and contempt for those that are different then us, that are a different color then us, and are from a different part of the world. Rather then me pointing the finger at others, I would do well to examine my own life, attitudes, and disposition and see if I carry any fear, contempt, or hatred towards groups that are different then me.

On Monday, January 19, we celebrate the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. Here is an excerpt from a sermon he gave two months before he was assassinated:

"If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don't want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. Every now and then I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize, that isn't important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards, that's not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school. I'd like somebody to mentions that day, that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others. I'd like to for somebody to say that day, that Martin Luther King Jr., tried to love somebody. I want you to say that day, that I tried to be right on the war question. I want you to be ablet to say that day, that I did try to feed the hungry. And I want you to be able to say that day, that I did try, in my life, to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say, on that day, that I did try, in my life, to visit those who were in prison. I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity."

There will always be issues of social justice that we need to be aware of. If the best we can do is to try to love and serve humanity - those oppressed, those enslaved, those that have been demeaned and discrimated against - then we have done alot.