Rev. Zach

This is a summary / review of chapter one of " 5 Practices of Fruitful Congregations ".  Christian hospitality is something many of us take for granted these days.  Certainly few of us think of it in terms of a fundamental orientation toward welcoming and including others.  By calling it "radical", Schnase is suggesting that it be rooted in the life of faithfulness and radiate toward others.  A radical shift means that it is outside of the norm.  It means that a new base line is established that orients all activities.  Most congregations would say that they are friendly, but do they exercise their welcome in such a way that it eventually puts them at risk?  What I mean by this is that most practices of evangelism and hospitality are inwardly focused.  They answer they question, "How can we make them join us?" or "How can we add to our ranks?" They idea of radical hospitality acknowledges the reality that any change in membership naturally create...

Today I am writing from an annual clergy retreat.  Seventeen friends from seminary and our 13 children from all over the country have converged in Nags Head, North Carolina for the week.  All of us have been in ministry for roughly 8-10 years.  We are Educators, Pastors, Associate Pastors, Campus Ministers, and Doctoral Candidates.  Our ages range from 30's to 50's, and we are equally balanced between men and women.  Our ethnic representation is about the same as the denomination (99% White, 1% Other).   Tonight's topic of discussion centers around whether or not a pastor should know what congregants give to the budget.  The topic initiated by one of our members reflecting on the comment of an older minister from his presbytery offered in a Pastor's lunch.  His primary reason was to determine the commitment of the membership.  The response has been varied and slightly heated.  Primarily the rebuttal is that it leaves us at risk of knowing information that creates person...

“Who Do You Love” The Rev. Zachary S. Sasser Skidaway Island Presbyterian Church Fourth Sunday in Lent March 22, 2009 Numbers 21:4-9 Ephesians 2:1-10 John 3:14-20 For those keeping score this is my second sermon title that is blatantly stolen from a song. “ Who Do You Love ” was released in 1956. It is a hallmark of the “ Bo Diddley Beat ”, and has been covered by countless bands in back room bars and music festivals. It’s lyrics reference barbed wire, rattlesnake hides, and human skulls, and some say the title is a throw back to a medicinal and magic based African religion called Hoodoo . “I’m just 22, and I don’t mind dyin,” says Bo Diddley. It is an ultimate power play that set the ground work for the expression of cultural change that became the genre of Rock-n-Roll during the late 50s and early 60s. Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever felt like you would rather draw a line in the sand and stand your ground than compromise? Have you ever felt like, if push came to sh...

I live in Savannah, Ga.  We had a pretty good storm last night.  It was the kind that wakes you up off and on and makes a person living in a costal city wonder about evacuation routes.  There were a few minutes of calm after I woke for the day.  I noticed it when I got out of the shower.  There was a different sound, and a different tension, in the air.  Things seemed calmer, but yet still excited.   The sound I heard was the sound of birds singing, and I wondered if they were louder.  Were they checking to see who was still there?  Were they boasting about there skill in surviving the night?  Were they in there own way shaking an angry fist at the heavens?  Who knows if a bird has a concept of deity that we can understand.   What about us?  What sound escapes our lips when we first realize a storm has passed?  Praise? Thanksgiving? Care for others?  Do we in our own way shake an angry fist at God when our children or parents fall ill?  I wonder, sometimes, if we have a concept of a de...

Perception Is Not Reality The Rev. Zachary S. Sasser Skidaway Island Presbyterian Church February 22, 2009 Transfiguration Sunday Sometime in January Zoe cornered me about the fact that I would be missing her birthday this year. I knew it was coming, and I was prepared. “Zoe” I said, “Did you know that there is a rule that if a Daddy misses his daughter’s 5th birthday he has to take her to the circus?” This information was well received, and it got even better when I asked her if she wanted to “get fancy” for the event. When we parked the car and got out I was wearing a tux jacket and shirt complete with bow tie and top hat atop my blue jeans and sneakers. She was dressed to the nines with a princess dress, complete with sunglasses, a feather boa, and a satin and feather birthday hat. A little girl ahead of us did a double take, tugged her mother’s sleeve, and said, “Mom, I think they are IN the circus!” And for that very moment, we were. People see what they are prepared to see...

Tonight on the Colbert Report it was noted that presently, as in previous times of recession, their is a jump in church attendance, particularly in evangelical churches.  In his oft irreverent fashion he put on a prayer cap and giant foam prayer hands, and asked for things that like cars and money.  It was slightly reminiscent of the " Baby Jesus Prayer " in Taledaga nights, which is always good for a laugh if your spiritual skin is thick enough for it.  I'm willing to bet that God's is if yours is not.  Colbert also placed a baguette and a fish on a plate expecting them to multiply copulatively, a new take on the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 (plus women and children) to be sure.  He did at least lower the plate behind the desk at that point to give them privacy.  At the end of the show it was revealed that they had turned into a plate piled high of breaded fish sticks.  "Fish sticks for everyone!" He cried as he flung them to the studio audience. Al...

With all the political hubub that is going on I have been thinking about the way in which religion (particularly Christian and Islam) are being bandied about in a nation with religious freedom undergirding its central tenants. Now, to be clear, the First Amendment does not say there is to be no religion in the political theater. It simply states that there will be no state imposed religion. That being said, the idea of this amendment acting as a firewall between church and state is not new and was introduced by Thomas Jefferson in 1802. Did Jefferson and the constitutional framers envision the level of religious pluralism we are swimming in today? Of course not, but that's another thought for another day. Here is what's on my mind for today. It seems to me that many of those who decry the Theocracies of the Middle East and want to replace them with a secularized Democracy are the very ones who are condemning the leadership of our country when they are not in lock step w...