May 31, 2026 is Trinity Sunday on the Church Calendar and is our monthly Healing Service at First Presbyterian Church of Merchantville. Our Scripture Lesson is the Great Commission from the very end of Matthew. It is the command of Jesus to go out into the world and, by making disciples of all peoples, they bring God's healing to all peoples.
Pastor Pete
I am not opposed to Fusion Cuisine (the bringing together of flavors of different cooking traditions or styles) but neither am I what one might call a “devotee”. At the risk of appearing a snob, Fusion that is especially underwhelming brings with it the appearance of Confusion Cuisine (I suppose, re-reading that, there is no risk of appearing like a snob; I have fully embraced the Snob).
I do not entirely reject Fusion Cuisine. At the risk of losing my
readers (who is the snob now?), I confess that I actually like pineapple and
ham on a pizza. It has a summer vibe.
And, having
moved to South Jersey, in the local environs of Philadelphia, I have begun to
penetrate the fog of Confusion that is…Cheesesteak Pizza. Still not in the Kitchen of my flavor
preferences, but I am moving from the Confusion to the Fusion. Sorry, cannot promise more at this point.
So, Fusion Cuisine and Confusion Cuisine, but also there is something further out in the fog of foodie-ism, the
Thoroughly Confusing Cuisine. In this
instance, it is the “fusing”, no, the mash-up of Pizza and General Tso’s Chicken. Let me be clear, Pizza is a
primary go-to for my family when it comes to Italian takeout. General Tso’s Chicken is my
personal Chinese takeout preference-especially with the spiced broccoli, but…General
Tso’s Chicken Pizza. No. Well…No.
I do not even know how one actually cooks the component elements in the
same kitchen.
Don’t get it, I just don’t. Not even going to give it a chance. No, nope, nuh uh. This mashup is not Confusion Cuisine but
a clear example of Thoroughly Confusing Cuisine. It is a shock
to my culinary sensibilities. There are
culinary traditions that are sacrosanct and to be preserved of both the Chinese
Restaurant and the Italian Restaurant.
I was in the midst of adding this
being “an affront” as well as a shock to my culinary sensibilities when a
little voice went off in my head, replaying a moment when I confessed
appreciation of ham and pineapple pizza.
It goes something like, “just because you don’t like it…” Which triggered another internal reaction,
continuing morality work on my part to identify when I don’t like
something and when that is confused with when I won’t like
something.
While I might never be accused of
being a sensitive, New Age guy, I certainly DO NOT want to be a knuckle-walking
socio-Cro-Magnon throwback, grunting “me no like” as though I were pronouncing
eternal damnation on General Tso’s Chicken Pizza. Rule of life and love, it is okay not
to like things, it is unloving to demand others not like them too.
For example, Poutine, the
sub-national Provincial artery hardening, heart clogging, deliciously joyful Dish, a combination
of French fries (Quebec, thus French…ish?
But NOT Freedom fries) and gravy and cheese curds. YES, curds of cheese!! Sacrosanct…well, till one sins.
And if one is going to sin, one
ought to sin boldly. So, brisket in the
poutine… Wow… Now, its not a mashup like that other one
mentioned above (it is emotionally
painful to type). There is Canadian commonality. Poutine from Quebec, beef from the
Prairies…Canadian, divided by language, but there is hope… And its more of an add-on than a mashup. There is the additional commonality of gravy…
(To be completely honest, this is a very clear example of the process called
‘rationalization’, coming up with reasons why something is right).
And Canada, like our United States,
has fusion built into the very melting pot of multiculturalism that makes us
great.
So…add-ons work. A swap can work as well. Because of an extended period of my life with
a diet that involved too much poutine and poutine adjacent choices and too much
brisket and red meat in general, I now cook in the realm of the Mediterranean
diet to counteract those other life and culinary choices. Doing so now means I can still enjoy the
Poutine lifestyle, selectively and in moderation.
Back to add-ons… I was working up a recipe of a Mediterranean
inspired bean salad, one that calls for balsamic vinegar to provide a sweet
tang to the process. It was in this
process that I came upon two levels of self-awareness that I was not previously
conscious of. The first is that I have
flavor preferences in regards to vinegar (Yes, I am as surprised as you are!). The second is that I have enough
taste-knowledge to successfully introduce rice vinegar as a swap in the recipe
that made it so much better. It tasted
better, and I am not sure I have ever described it this way, it was a refreshing bean salad.
You may have noticed that this
began as a rant, maybe even a ‘tear’ (as in tearing paper in half, not a crying jag; oh I love English). I have many of
those, amusing in my own mind. They
usually run their course and I move on.
But notice that this is in the Church blog of a pastor. Somewhere along the way, the still small
voice of the Holy Spirit, whose coming we celebrated this past Pentecost Sunday, God
be praised for the gift of the Holy Spirit, this still, small voice whispered
at me.
With a very, very daring
offer. "Pastor", said the still, small voice, "Maybe this is not a rant about
food so much as a (…and I have never thought of my writing in this way…) a parable
in the “Jesus-style”."
A parable in the Jesus-style
is one that takes common themes of the popular and generally understood culture
to make a greater point of faith and love. It DOES NOT presume some particular insight into the wisdom and love of Jesus Christ beyond that of a faithful human.
For this ‘parable’, use what I know
and love, what our culture knows, food choices and takeout options, consider
these in the life of where the church is.
Because we know our church has to change. Not Jesus, because Jesus is the same
yesterday, today, and forever, but the ways we’ve shared His message, those ways
are always open to new possibilities.
So…mash things up?
The Industry exists. Its called the Church Growth Industry, a
whole economic culture of books and programs and mentors and consultants and
‘proven ways’ and ‘guaranteed results’ that are advertised in ways that are
practically indistinguishable from how the rest of the capitalist economy
advertises things to sell, improve, change, and perfect us. These will outline ingredients and recipes
and formulas and what to do and what not to do.
There is a near infinite diversity in infinite combination of ‘what works’
today to make the church grow.
It feels like the soft drink industry. Gotta have the right recipe (Coke learned
that the hard way) to sell that sugary, caffeinated tooth-rotting stuff. Get the right formula, and you too can have a
tasty church…
And these Church Growth strategies
are so often mash-ups of what has come before.
Fusion Theology, well, more Confusion Theology, even Thoroughly Confused Theology, like jamming together General Tso’s Chicken and Pizza. Trash tradition and start again…
Then there is our beloved First
Presbyterian Church of Merchantville. We
have not adopted a ‘proven Church Growth’ strategy. We have not mashed up that which we do into
something else. Here is a specific
example. We’ve done one very deliberate
add-on, that of our Family Service on Third Sundays. We’ve swapped some ingredients, changing the
sermon style and presentation for a younger audience. But it is still recognizable as worship, a
tastier worship in my opinion.
We did not just take a couple of
completely distinct traditions and jam them together and call it
pizza…er…worship.
And who knows, maybe along the way
we will make choices that will trigger a response of “I don’t get it.” One of the great blessings of this
congregation is your openness to things of the faith. I see such a reaction as “I don’t get it, but
I will seek to understand what went into the decision, what makes it work,
potentially.” There is the risk of love
in that reaction. And it is not “I won’t
get it, because I ‘know’ this is how it ought (or ought not) to be done”.
This is the Pentecost thing
again. God indwells us as the Holy
Spirit. The Spirit does not simply speak
‘authoritatively’ through one of us (CERTAINLY not the minister), but speaks
lovingly through all of us. There’s a
Pizza that God wants us to be. There is
a Church that God wants us to be. We are
in an amazing church for our congregation right now. Imagine how God will make this an amazing
church for everyone?
To You Who Are Beloved of our Lord Jesus Christ, May 19, 2026
This Sunday
is Pentecost Sunday, and our passage is Acts 2: 1-21, that part of our Story
where Jesus prays for us.
5 Now there were devout Jews from every
people under heaven living in Jerusalem. 6 And at
this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them
speaking in the native language of each. 7 Amazed
and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking
Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of
us, in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes,
Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and
Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts
of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and
proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—in our own
languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” 12 All
were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But
others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine.”
14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice
and addressed them, “Fellow Jews and
all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I
say. 15 Indeed, these are not drunk, as you
suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. 16 No,
this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 ‘In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
18 Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit,
and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and smoky
mist.
20 The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s
great and glorious day.
21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall
be saved.’
‘Tis a long
passage, but one of great significance.
There are a few items of interest to note here.
The first
is that while the disciples all spoke different languages, it is apparent they
all did so with Galilean accents-because that is how the crowd identified them. And they were shocked Galileans could speak
all their mother tongues.
The second
is the implication that the disciples were not tee-tootlers, that they might
like a night over at the Blue Monkey (or whatever their local watering hole
might be). Note how they are accused by
the crowd of being drunk. The Apostle
Peter does not issue a denial, but insists they are not drunk because it is
only 9am, too early to get snockered. Hmmm,
should we even say ‘snockered’ in reference to the disciples of Jesus? (yes)
The third
is the nasty end-times stuff Peter pulls out of Joel, ‘blood, fire, and smokey
mist’ and the like. The way Peter talks
here in Chapter 2, you think this would come to pass by Chapter 20 at the very
least. Hasn’t shown up yet, even though
it is expounded on in the Book of Revelations.
We live in ‘the between times’.
So, in between now and the End, the Holy Spirit, the presence of Jesus,
is within us to build the church, our Neighborhoods in the Kingdom of God. Jesus will take care of the End, right now,
let us take care of our neighbors.
Pastor Pete
As we do each week, we are sharing the Scripture for this coming Sunday in the KJV, the Pirate, the NRSV, and the Message versions of the Bible. If you have watched before, you may detect a slightly different...inflection... for the King James Version, being English and Shakespearean and all.
Blessings,
Pastor Pete
To
You Who Are Beloved of our Lord Jesus Christ,
May
12, 2026
Acts 1: 6-11 6 So when they had come together,
they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to
Israel?” 7 He replied, “It is not for you to know
the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But
you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be
my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the
earth.” 9 When he had said this, as they were
watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 While
he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white
robes stood by them. 11 They said, “Men of Galilee,
why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up
from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
The
only two-parter in the Bible are the Gospel of Luke (Luke) and the Book of the
Acts of the Apostle (Acts). Written by
the person history remembers as Luke (he didn’t sign his work), we know they
are conjoined because of their dedication.
Each is dedicated to someone named Theophilus, and each is to tell the
truth of the story of Jesus, His time on earth in the Gospel, and His legacy in
the establishment of the church.
In British television, I am told that
instead of always having the same show that is simply renewed year to year,
they can actually change the name slightly so that the ‘same’ show will be a
different series each year. I actually
don’t know if that’s a real thing, but it fits what happens in Luke and
Acts. Same show, like ‘The Jesus Show’,
but two different series.
The first is Jesus with us in
person. The second is Jesus with us in
Spirit (literally). And the crossover
event is the Ascension. So just a couple
of verses to lay it down to conclude Luke, following Luke’s version of the
Great Commission we know more famously from the Gospel of Matthew. It’s like a cliffhanger. Jesus is leaving…now what? Is this it?
Who shot JR? (THE greatest
cliffhanger in television history so far as I am concerned…hint: “Dallas”).
In Acts, we get more context. The disciples ask our Lord, is He staying
among them? He rose from the dead, been
around for over a month. Good times, but
what’s next? To paraphrase Jesus, He’s
passing the torch to them. They are
going from being disciples (followers) to apostles (servants). And Jesus is going but Jesus is not going.
The world will not see Jesus
anymore. The Ascension is real. The disciples will be standing there, mouth’s
open like they are catching flies or something.
The Men in White let them know that as Jesus arose, so He will return,
physically.
But things have already been set into
motion. Jesus, God in human form will
ascend and the Holy Spirit, God in Spirit form will descend. Jesus is still with us, not a friend we have
in Him, but, rather, Him in us, Jesus in our hearts. It kind of redefines prayer. Instead of aiming it up into the
transcendent, we can speak to God inwardly, in our hearts.
Jesus is coming again
(physically). But in the meantime, the
apostles are laying out the Neighborhoods in God’s Kingdom (like ours) that
will be finished at Jesus’ physical return.
But Jesus will be here the whole time, spiritually. Yah, I am still working at that one too…
Pastor Pete
This Sunday is our Family Service and we are telling the story of the Ascension of our Lord Jesus. It is told in brief in Luke's first book, The Gospel, and then expanded in more detail in his second book, the Acts of the Apostles. Jesus is preparing the disciples for the work of creating Neighborhoods here on earth in the Kingdom of God in anticipation of the day when Jesus will return.
Pastor Pete
Blondie, Tuco, and Angel Eyes…anyone get that reference?
So this post is a little different. It is on the blog for all to see. But it is directly shared only with the
Session.
Our Session Meeting last night was essentially three meetings. Three significant points of discussion. And they slotted well with the title of this
post.
The Ugly was the Sexual Misconduct Policy. Not the policy itself (although eleven pages…)
but what it represents. It represents
what it means for a church to be serious about the safety of its church
community in regards to sexual misconduct.
That in a church setting, insult and exploitation and worse must be
taken seriously because even in our Neighborhood in God’s Kingdom, sin seeks to
invade.
It is one piece of a set of responses to the world of sin,
inclusive with our “Youth, Child, and Vulnerable Adult Protection Policy”, and
the Harassment and Anti-Racism policies that are yet ‘on deck’.
The Good was our discussion of “branding”. A good discussion of a term I dislike. Well, I dislike what it is, not what it could
be. I picture somebody who takes up 'branding' as someone who self-identifies as an ‘influencer’. I am old
fashioned enough to slot this "career choice" in the category of "Not A Real Job". Hello, my name is Peter and I...influence? It’s like justifying
doing whatever I want to get away with. When
I grew up…in the last century…when somebody acted like a jerk; acting out or bullying or whatever, they were called out on their behavior. People like this give 'branding' a bad name, like it is an excuse. “I’m a jerk (polite term for what I am really thinking) but it’s my BRAND."
But it is certainly not "new". Any MTV fans out there know the reference of "Puck" from The Real World?
But ‘brand’ as ‘who I am’ or ‘who I want to be’, when its
invested with authenticity and caring, when it can be identified as ‘love of
God’ and ‘love of Neighbor’ -in a world that does both crassly at best-that is
what Jesus brings. It is what we seek to
offer. The metaphor of Neighborhood, taking
off from the beautiful downtown that is Merchantville…
It answers a challenge, “How do I describe to people what
our church is like?” It provides a basis
of contrast, the blessings we have to offer against a world that feels like it
is full of cursings. It’s an organizing
idea. It draws together threads of our
church life and begins to weave it into something beautiful.
Which brought in the Bad.
Maybe this is not so much a third point of discussion as a counterpoint
to the Good. So big, too big, we don’t
have the people, the energy to achieve it now.
We have the ongoing work of Nominating.
We have questions of participation.
Great vision but hard reality.
Which in turn brought in the Graceful. Not a fourth discussion point, but the Spirit
at work in the hearts of a group of people at the center of the leadership and
love of this congregation. “Stewards of
the Mysteries of God” we are (no pressure there, eh?). For some
reason, I think that would be a very bad opener when seeking to nominate elders
to serve at this juncture. But one
mystery of God is to ask how we get from point A to point B.
Answered with three things, three ‘do now’s’, three next steps, action
items, whatever we want to call them.
But what is beautiful to me is that these are not just three more things
a church ‘ought to do’ or are points in a ‘growth strategy’, but they are three
things, deliberate things, that make us more intentioned to be the Neighborhood
in God’s Kingdom that we seek to be.
And typically, I’ve got two of them down in my notes…on
working more effectively with the new folks God sends to worship with us, on
the consideration of quarterly gatherings of our Committees, and…did someone
get the third?
Pastor Pete
