An Exceptional Night

I love going to staff meeting and learning about amazing things that are happening at the Roswell Presbyterian Church!

At this week’s monthly staff lunch, I learned about a small but incredibly impactful event which took place this past Saturday night. The official title of the event was “Exceptional Children’s Parent’s Night Out.” One the parents told me that the real title of the event was “A desperately needed break!”

Among all the of outstanding ministry that is done at RPC, there is a small group of volunteers who minister to our exceptional children and their parents. You may have heard of our “shadow” program. Shadows are men and women who assist in Sunday morning Sunday School in order to enable our exceptional children to fully participate in the life of the church.

Last Saturday night’s event was an extension of that ministry. A group of RPC folks came together and planned an evening of crafts, music, fun, and food for this special group of children in our congregation. They had a nurse on site; they had some of the students from our 96:1 youth choir on hand; and most of all, they planned three hours which were focused intentionally on this small group of children.

For the parents, they provided the gift of a free night out. As one Mom told me, “I felt secure that my child was in the best of hands.” Parents could go out, take a break, enjoy each other’s company, and know that their child was enjoying a great time at church. Thanks to an amazing group of RPC members, five children were nurtured in a special way on Saturday night, and five sets of parents received the gift of a worry free evening.

Thank you, Roswell Presbyterian Church! I am so proud of this congregation! God is doing amazing things in and through your faithfulness and your generosity. I continue to be amazed at the way God is touching lives through the ministry of so many, many folks in this congregation!

I wonder what I’ll learn about at the next staff meeting???

Dr. Lane Alderman
Roswell Presbyterian Church
http://www.roswellpres.org

Table Conversation

We had a inspiring and informative gathering last night at Wednesday Evening Fellowship.  About twenty five Muslims from the Roswell and North Atlanta area joined us for dinner and conversation.  It was an incredible evening.

When it was over someone asked me why I was spending so much time in interfaith dialogue.  “Don’t we need to be putting our focus on learning about our faith and growing in our own faith?”

My somewhat glib answer was that if we don’t learn to live together, we’re going to end up destroying each other.  The more I’ve thought about my answer, the more convinced I am of its truth.

Of course, we need to be learning about our own faith.  Of course, we need to be deepening our own roots in our walk with Christ.  No question about that.

But we live in an increasingly diverse world, and we’re going to have to learn to live with each other.   When I was growing up, diversity meant that there were Presbyterians, Baptists, and Roman Catholics all living on the same street.  Except for the handful of Jewish families in town, I just assumed everyone was a Christian. 

Now I drive past a SikhTemple on my way to church everyday.  I swap emails with Muslim friends.  And I live in a world where the fastest growing religious group are those who claim to have no religious affiliation at all. 

I have no choice.  I have to learn to live with people whose world view is different than mine.  But the good news is that as we learn to appreciate and understand people of other faiths, it deepens and enriches our own experience of faith.  I am a better Christian because of my conversations with Muslims.   

Last night I told my friend Bassem that I am embarrassed about how little I know about Islam.  Sadly, my story is echoed by millions across our country.  To make matters worse, much of what I do know about Islam is from reading news stories about terrorists who have hi-jacked the Muslim faith.

As Jews, Christians, and Muslims, we are all children of Abraham.  In that regard I suppose you could say we are cousins.  It’s past time that we get to know each other and learn to talk with each other.  It’s past time that we learn to love each other.  Sure we have differences in our faith understanding, but we share much more in common than we ever imagine. And its past time that we learn to put aside the disagreements and learn to live in peace.

It’s past time.  And it’s not overly dramatic to say that our world depends on it.  I’m proud to call many of the folks from the Roswell Community Masjid my friend.  I hope that together we can make a difference in this divided world in which we live.

Jesus commended those who are “peacemakers.”  They shall be called, “children of God.”  Last night we took a small but very important step in learning to be one of God’s children. 

Dr. Lane Alderman
Roswell Presbyterian Church
www.roswellpres.org

Listening and Learning

If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 

Those were Paul’s powerful words in the twelfth chapter of his letter to the Romans, and they have always been a guiding principle for me.  We need to make sure we are “going the extra mile” in seeking to live in harmony with others.

What’s important to note is that Paul challenges us to live peaceably with all.  Paul doesn’t tell us to live in peace only with the people we like, or only with the people who are like us.  Paul challenges us to live peaceably with all.

And what’s the first step toward that peace?  It’s to build relationships… to listen to others and get to know them as friends.

That’s the opportunity we’ll have this Wednesday night at WEF when my friend Bassem Fakhoury will be joining me for an evening of conversation and dialogue.  Bassem is a Muslim, an active worshipper at the Roswell Masjid.

We’ll begin our conversation at 6:30 following dinner, and we’ll continue the conversation the next Wednesday evening at the same time.  There will be time for questions from the audience, and nothing will be off the table.

What we’ll discover is that there are many things we have in common… and many things that still divide us.  The challenge will be to learn how to build a bridge across the issues which might otherwise keep us apart. I’m confident we’ll be able to build that bridge.

If you’re in town, I hope you will join us.  I suspect we’ll all learn something about the Muslim faith, but, hopefully, we’ll also learn something about what it means to live in peace even with those whose practice of the faith is different than ours.

I’m honored to consider Bassem a friend, and I look forward to others having the chance to get to know him as well.  Perhaps it will be one small step we can each take in learning to live at peace in this broken world.

Dr. Lane Alderman
Roswell Presbyterian Church
www.roswellpres.org

Stopping for School Busses

I got stuck behind a school bus on my way to church this morning.  Being the schedule driven person that I am, it was a totally frustrating event.  It felt like that bus was stopping every twenty-feet feet to pick up a child.  My morning schedule was completely messed up.  

But after we had stopped for what seemed like the tenth time, I gave up trying to race to the office and I started looking at that bus in a different way.

It began to dawn on me that this big yellow bus was really a symbol of what an amazing country we live in.  Not only is quality education available to every citizen in this country, we’re even going to help you arrive there safely.  What an incredible opportunity!

In just a matter of a few minutes, that bus had been transformed from a morning irritant into a powerful reminder of the blessings of life.

That’s a lesson I’m trying to remember in every area of my life.  The next time I’m still sitting in a doctor’s waiting room even though it’s well past my appointment time, I hope I’ll remember what a blessing it is to have this level of health care available to me.

The next time I’m frustrated because my computer won’t do what I want it to do, I hope I’ll stop and remind myself what an amazing world this computer has opened up to me.

When my cell phone drops calls, or when the traffic on 400 backs up, or even when I get stuck behind a school bus, I’m going to remind myself to stop and give thanks for the blessings of life.  And I’m going to re-double my efforts to make sure my friends in Kenya and Guatemala all throughout our community have access to the blessings I experience as well.

Life is full of little irritations, and I want to do my best to avoid them, but I also need to remember… many of those irritations are really opportunities to experience the amazing blessings of this world. 

I was frustrated by a delay in my schedule.  But thankfully, God had a far more important lesson for me to learn… I’ve been blessed in some amazing ways, and I need to stop taking those blessings for granted and start living with more gratitude and thanksgiving.

I hope I will remember that lesson the next time a school bus pulls out in front of me on the way to work!

Dr. Lane Alderman
Roswell Presbyterian Church
www.roswellpres.org

Saturday Living

It’s Saturday, the in-between day.

Last night we gathered for a powerful experience of worship, walking with Christ all the way to the cross before we finally walked out in silence into the darkness of the night.

Tomorrow morning we’ll gather for a glorious Easter service.  The light of Christ will return, the music will be spectacular, the flowers will be magnificent, the crowds will be overflowing.  It will be an outstanding day.

But today is Saturday.  The in-between day.

It occurs to me that today is the day on which we live our lives.  We have experienced the love of Christ.  We know that Jesus is with us.  We know that he forgives us.  We know that he loves us so much that he went to a cross for us.

But the world is still a mess.  There are still problems and hassles and challenges to overcome.  Disease still runs rampant.  Hunger still saps the life from millions around the world.  Sirens still blare.  Armies still go off to war.  Depression and worry and fear still consume people’s lives. 

We know Jesus loves us, but we’re still waiting for the world and for our lives to be put back to order.  We’re still waiting for that final victory.

It’s Saturday, the in-between day.  And this is where we live our lives.

But the Good News is this… there is an Easter yet to dawn.  And tomorrow when we gather, we will acknowledge that Jesus’ victory on that first Easter morning was the “first fruits,” the foreshadowing of the great and final victory yet to come.

So life will continue.  And next week we’ll go back to work and back to school and back to our routine, and in a sense every day will be Saturday, the in-between day.  Every day we’ll live with three truths… Jesus loves us… the world is still a mess… but God is still in charge and God will be victorious!

The assurance of Easter morning will give us the strength to keep on keeping on.  The promise of Easter will propel us out into the world to make a difference.  The confidence we have in God’s power will call us to reach out to the forgotten in our world, to feed the hungry, to bring hope to the hopeless, to bind up the brokenhearted.

It may be Saturday, the in-between day, but we know that Easter is yet to come.  And so with confidence, with hope and with assurance, we climb out of bed and we tackle the day. 

In the words of one of my favorite hymns, “This is my Father’s world.  O let me ne’er forget, that though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet!”

Dr. Lane Alderman
Roswell Presbyterian Church
www.roswellpres.org

Holy, Holy, Holy

Tomorrow begins the week we call Holy Week.

The word “holy” means “unique, different, set apart.”  Of the fifty two weeks of the year, this one week is unlike any others.  This week is “unique, different, set apart.”  This week is “Holy.”

We will worship several times this week.  Tomorrow on Palm Sunday we’ll gather at our usual times… 8:15, 9:45, and 11:15.   As is my custom, I’ll preach first person sermon.  This year I’ll be speaking from the perspective of Barabbas, the criminal who was released by Pilate.

Thursday is Maundy Thursday, a day which gets its name from the Latin, “mandatum,” which means command.  Jesus gave us a new commandment to love one another, and this day celebrates the source of our love.  This week we’ll gather at 5:30 in the Fellowship Hall for a special dinner and time of worship with our church family. (Reservations for the dinner need to be made by noon on Monday.  Call or email the church!)

Friday is Good Friday, which is derived from the old English, “God’s Friday.”  On Friday night at 7:30 we’ll gather in the Sanctuary for a special service of Scripture and music.  As is our custom, the service will end in complete darkness as we prepare ourselves for Easter morning.

Easter, of course, will be a great day of celebration, beginning with sunrises services at Horseshoe Bend, Brookfield West, and our cemetery across from RPC.  All three will begin at 6:45.

We will have three identical services in our Sanctuary on Easter morning… 8:15, 9:45, and 11:15.  All three will include music from our choir and the RPC Brass Ensemble.  It’s going to be a great day.

But it begins tomorrow.  A week we call “Holy.”

On the one hand, not much may be different in your day to day routine.  We’ll go to work… we’ll go to school… we’ll have meetings… we’ll have the regular day to day issues we all face.

But on the other hand, this week will be different from all others.  This is the week where, more than any other, we are reminded of the depth of God’s love and the power of God’s victory over evil.

Why not take some time this week and read through the way each of the gospels record the story of Jesus’ passion?  Check out Matthew 26-28; Mark 14-16; Luke 22-24;  John 13-21.  Reading those passages will remind us why this week is different from all others.

May God bless us all on this week we call Holy!

Dr. Lane Alderman
Roswell Presbyterian Church
http://www.roswellpres.org

Time for a Health Update…

I realized the other day that it has been a while since I updated you on my health situation. I promised to keep you posted, so… here goes!

As many of you know, thirteen years ago I was diagnosed with male breast cancer. After surgery, chemo, and radiation, I was cancer free for about ten years. Two and one half years ago it returned, this time having spread to some of the bones in my back and hips. Again, I had surgery and radiation, and for the past two years I have been on a dose of some pretty heavy duty medicine to keep the cancer from spreading.

About every six months I have a PET scan to determine the intensity and location of my cancer. This past December, four days before Christmas, my scan revealed that my cancer was more active than the previous scan, and that it had spread to another small site in my hip. That news, along with a rising blood test called a “tumor marker,” prompted a change to a different type of medicine.

On Christmas Day I began taking my new medicine. As testimony to the amazing research done in battling cancer, the medicine I now take wasn’t even approved for use until August of this past year. It’s called a “targeted therapy,” and so far the blood work indicates that it is doing its job of holding the cancer under control.

All along I have been grateful for the outstanding medical insurance the church provides for me and for each of our full time employees. Between the pills I take each day and the shot I receive each month, insurance is paying for over $15,000 worth of medicine for me each month!

As with all medicines, there are side effects, and slowly but surely I’m learning to manage them. I still work a full schedule, and I look forward to the opportunity each Sunday to preach at all three of our services.

I continue to give thanks to God for the encouragement of my family. Dealing with stage IV cancer has given me a new appreciation for the daily grind of those who deal with chronic problems in life. My family has been amazing in their support for me, and I am grateful for their love and patience with me in dealing with this disease.

I also give thanks for each of you… for your prayers and your ongoing commitment to the work of God. Along with spending time with my family, my greatest joy in life is to see the hand of God at work through the wonderful people of the Roswell Presbyterian Church. I consider myself incredibly blessed to be able to serve with this outstanding church family.

Each day I remind myself of these powerful words from the book of Lamentations: “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!” (Lamentations 3:22-23)

May God continue to bless us all!

Lane

Dr. Lane Alderman
Roswell Presbyterian Church
www.roswellpres.org