As a modern, ethical Christian, Mark, you have to pick and choose elements from the bible because there are too many things that no longer apply. There is no slavery. It’s good for the soil to rotate crops. Etc. etc. Now you might think, “Oh slavery, well that one’s obvious” but the deed is done. You’ve determined part of the bible is no longer applicable so then the task is to determine what other parts are also or are no longer applicable.

Good podcast Mark. Hope all is well.

Beautiful music selections. Thanks.

I’m not saying that there aren’t those Catholics that think of worship as a noun - but I would have to say that there are also quite a few Methodists, Baptists, etc… who also share this view.

I really think that the message of worship as a verb is a blanket message that anyone should take to heart. (There are those who would disagree - for example, in many Orthodox churches, the congregation literally sit and view the priests as the priests carry through the rituals - some of which are even behind a screen!) But, biblically, I believe that God calls us to act upon our own volition to praise Him.

Easter is less coopted, but the power of chocolate compels some people.

I recognize that we said nothing of the sort to define our opinion, but hopefully, in some small way, this makes amends.

Two quick things I’d like to observe:

1. When you mention you can tell the kind of Christian reception based on the coffee time afterwards - I think the Mormons might have a problem with that (though they tend to have fruit punch instead of coffee) .

2. Most importantly, I love that you let the “give more information” up to the guest concept. I don’t know how many times I’ve been at a religious service and it’s been “When are you coming back? When are you bringing the family? What’s they’re name? Where do you live? Can we come visit?”

And I’m trying to be polite and just say “Woah - ease up there cowboy.” I appreciate the friendliness, but really - tone it down just a tad.

Second, thanks for the shout out. It’s weird - I always get embarrassed when people mention they actually listen to my show - I guess that should inspire me to do better.

Also you two might want to know about the Celebrant movement. Doug Manning, a minister whose become expert in grief issues, has quite a bit about it on his site. Articles here: http://www.insightbooks.com/Default.aspx?tabid=83 and more info here: http://www.insightbooks.com/Default.aspx?tabid=84 It sounds a lot like what Aron did for his friend’s funeral.

The open casket is a big tradition in the south, and some places have the congregation walk in front of the casket as part of the funeral. It can get quite emotional, especially in African-American funerals, which are more openly expressive anyway (and the a capella gospel music at some of those services is wonderful!). A lot of grief experts feel that if the body is not seen, that can complicate the grief process - the person’s death doesn’t seem as real. Sometimes, though, the person is not in such good shape, so it’s better not to see him or her.

And there are a lot of services with an empty urn. It’s not unusual.

Interesting podcast. Thanks for sharing it.

1) I can’t imagine a church service without a sermon. That’s like trying to imagine married life without sex. Yes, it’s not always perfect, but those times when it is…. OH BABY!!! And it shouldn’t take forever, and if it does it better be GOOD! Same thing with a good sermon. A good sermon can leave me with the same satisfied feeling. Case in point: our church’s Christmas Eve sermon was THE worst sermon I’ve heard in my entire life, which is saying a lot. It wasn’t a sermon: it was an art history lesson that had little (if anything) to do with the birth of Christ. Fact is, I tuned it out and started text-messaging my sister or played games on my phone. I know I wasn’t alone. And the sad thing is, Christmas Eve is one of those services that is for many one of the only two times they go to church. And they got to hear THAT? By the same token, our church’s other pastor gave the sermon the Sunday after Christmas, which was heard by maybe 20 people. THIS was the sermon that should’ve been given Christmas Eve, because not only did it re-tell the amazing Christmas story, but also pointed out why that story is still relevant even today. And THAT sermon maybe lasted 10 minutes, where the Christmas Eve sermon lasted almost half-an-hour. All this to say that I agreed with EVERYTHING you guys said about sermons and sermonizing.

2) Aron hit it right on the head about lay-people reading the Bible lessons. Is it asking too much to pretend to be engaged in the story you’re reading? Few things in life aggravate me more than someone reading from the pulpit in the kind of monotone you would normally hear at an economics lecture (I keep thinking, one of these days, I’m gonna snap and just start going “Bueller? Bueller? Anyone?”). And Aron’s comment about not needing to be a thespian was right on! You don’t even have to be loud (like me), but my goodness at least sound like you mean it! Folks who read the Old Testament stories of the wrath of God, or the fear of David running from Saul, or the various prophecies, and they read them like they were reciting the terms of a lease contract, drive me NUTS!!!

3) The comments about lay-people being unprepared was a cold splash of a wake-up call this morning, because I failed in just about every way possible in that aspect. In the first case: I lead the opening for Sunday School for the kids by singing songs and giving them a brief Bible lesson. I had none of that today. Not only that, I forgot that we started a new schedule today and that I was supposed to have started a full ten minutes earlier. So much for leading. Then the second case: Nathan (my 13-yr-old son) and I play in our church’s worship band (he on the drums and me on the bass). Today he wanted to go with his mom to take our daughter to the airport. I said that was okay, but then failed to tell our band-leader this news until I arrived at worship this morning. So that put her in a bind and she had to make last minute arrangements. So, not only was I unprepared, but my lack of preparation showed a disrespect towards our band leader, for which I regret.

I gotta remember to bring along a notepad for the next Popecast so I can write stuff down. There was a whole lot more than this, but as I’m typing this for the SECOND time (thanks, Podbean!) and it’s all from my fading memory, I’m not even sure how accurate any of this is to begin with.

In Him and around the cor… wait a second, I’m next door!

Al