Rewired for the Journey

I always thought being a pastor would be the coolest job in the world. I would be sitting in a huge Gothic cathedral smelling incenses and lighting candles. Then I would be in prayer and from time to time someone would come in seeking guidance from me a "holy man". Then I would listen to the troubled soul as reflective as a Buddhist Monk and after listening I would speak with the passion and depth of wisdom as Yoda of Star Wars! Sending them off with "May the Force be with you young Jedi". Well, sounds great does it not? But in reality, it was a very busy life full of go-go-go and not much time of reflection and no big Gothic cathedral to walk around in and write sermons just a small rural church the size of your living room. Always short notices to perform a wedding (God forbid we take time to have pre-marriage counseling) and the hospital visits for people who did not ever darken the door of any church but expected you to come and pray over them. About the onl

I have read a book called  Saving Paradise  which is intriguing and troublesome at the same time. I went downtown Indianapolis to Christ's Cathedral on the circle to hear a mini-lecture by the authors who happened to be in town. They are two women who have spent their whole life being theologians. Both had some interesting points but in the end, I smelled something in the pot that should not be there! It's called an " agenda"!  In this time of history, there are many voices out there all claiming truth and knowledge   about the Bible and Jesus. The sad part about it is the majority of it is false doctrines of one form or another with heresy sprinkled in for good measure. Thus my spirit laments the unsound Christian beliefs ground we now stand on. The two women authors agenda was to take away the power of the Cross and replace it with the Garden of Eden. Which they believe is still here on earth and so here comes the "lets worship mother earth doctrine",

I took a step and  WHAM ! My left hip had a sharp pain hit and walking became a chore. The next four days my best friends were ice packs and Ibuprofen. If you ever had your sciatic nerve go out then you can relate to my situation. Being sidelined the last four days reminded me of how fragile life is in this world. Aging bodies that are susceptible to illness and injury at any moment. We try to keep them strong and healthy with exercise and healthy foods along with proper sleep but these are no guarantee that illness or injury will not strike.  Our spiritual lives are just as fragile as our physical bodies. We can feed our souls the holy words of the Bible. We can rest in the presence of our Heavenly Father. We can exercise love and charity in our homes, churches, workplaces and the world. But there are no guarantees that we will not at times get discouraged and have doubts and fears. Our human frailties that lead to improper thoughts, words that should not have been said and deeds le

Most people love to watch magicians practice their art. We expect magicians to deceive our eyes but we do not expect to be deceived in religion. But there are many false religions out there in this world that do not hold true against the last judge of arbitration, "the Holy Bible". As I continue to study theology I find there is an illusion in many modern day beliefs. Every time I think I have nailed down an understanding of Christian beliefs I find a new twist. Here is an example from this past week. "Substitutionary atonement" is a belief that has been around only a thousand years and yet it is a major accepted belief in most Christian circles. Throw in the fact that there are eight different viewpoints or theories of how it works and it can be Confusion City! You can start with Ransom theory of atonement or Christus Victor: The ransom and Christus Victor theories present Jesus as dying to overcome (supernatural) powers of evil. In this model, the devil

I have always said life can be messy! Life is so fragile. Life can change in a moment and in my life, it changed overnight. I woke up on November 5th with a blood clot in my left calf. It has been slowly healing and I have had to struggle with the mental and emotional blues. I would have a good day and think I am on my way to recovery and then the next day I am having trouble with just walking without leg cramps, no fun. I had to fight the thought that I would never get well. I have had some time (a lot of time) to reflect on my life and life in general as I am still healing slowly. I would like to share these thoughts in the hopes it may help others who are or someday may be in a suspended moment in time. I have been asking myself what does God want me to learn from this experience? First, that I cannot live life on my own, I need community. I am not as independent as I would like to believe I am. I need the community to be praying for my healing. I need someone to keep me from fall

After journeying to Bethlehem to worship the Baby Jesus we then sprint right into a new year with hopes of all kinds of changes. Maybe last year had too many changes and your hope is for a time of no changes which would still be a change in itself! Let’s take a look at Isaiah 61, the chapter talks about the deliverance of God’s people through an “anointed servant” and in Hebrew anointed means someone who has been consecrated to a special task to perform. The Jews thought the Messiah was going to be a great military leader and by violent force free Israel from her suppressors. Little did they realize that the Messiah was going to free them from themselves of a sinful nature and eternal separation from God. Jesus was going to change them and give them a new way to live, a new way to think, a new way to believe, a new way to talk, a new way to worship and restore them to a better condition. Jesus wants to do the same with you and me. Now last month

We all have different ways to communicate in this world and my best way is writing. Writing allows me to clearly articulate my thoughts and feelings and the way I see life. Will I ever be a famous author, columnist, or blogger I do not know but I do hope I can at least reach a few people with my craft as a wordsmith. I have wondered the last few weeks to myself, "Do I really have anything to say that has not been said?" Yet I have this burning inside that I must still write and some belief that I must be heard. Now is this ego or narcissism or simply a desire to try and make the world better by sharing what feels like inspiration from Heaven to share on planet earth? Write and write I must and in so doing I hope to bless you the reader. Thank you for taking your time to read my posts. I have been thinking about the shooting in Charleston, South Carolina at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and how sad and tragic that a human being can become so disconnected to the

We have all known people, organizations, and even churches that are nothing but negative and hateful. We all have times of feeling negative for a bit. This is sometimes brought on by reading websites of both sides of the political spectrum and the venomous comments people leave, oh my! There are times when this is brought on by too much regular bad and depressing news on TV, radio, and print. Reading people's social media rants with thirty posts and tweets from other negative sources plastered on their Wall or Tweet Board to supposedly warn us of all the evil... "give me those ruby slippers and your little dog Toto too!" Sometimes this is brought on when we encounter people face to face and hear their toxic world and life view spit out all over us. We walk away feeling depressed and anxious... "lions and tigers and bears oh my!" So we put on our rose-colored glasses and all is well, right? Do we allow the oxidation of our souls by the world? See no evil, hear

The other day I was pouring bird seed into the bird feeder in the backyard of the Monastery and I then poured fresh water in the bird bath. I walked onto the deck and turned around and watched as a few timid sparrows started to land and eat their lunch. I felt like St. Francis of Assisi and then I felt the Holy Spirit's presence as I thought this is my area on earth to tend the garden. I felt it was my small way of helping my Heavenly Father look after the feathery creatures of this planet. My Dad used to tell me I would be the next Billy Graham (no pressure there!) but I have found what Mother Teresa said is so true at least in my life, " Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”   I have not done anything for the whole world to know who Richard Fleming Stutz is but within my reach, I have tried to love in my limited way as Christ did. I am humbled to realize that the Creator of the whole world does love me and knows me which in the end

I'm getting dizzy... the room is spinning... I can't stand up... make it stop! The sensation of being off balance and you cannot get your bearings straight is physical vertigo.  But many people have a "spiritual vertigo" where they just can't seem to get direction in their spiritual lives. Just when they think they have found the right church the leadership changes and it is no longer a nice place to go worship. The church starts a campaign drive and expects you to give money you do not have to give.  Spiritual vertigo is when you are positive you are going to be a lifelong Lutheran, Anglican, or Presbyterian, you fill in the blank, and then find out the people are the chosen frozen! Better yet the deeper you study the doctrine of the particular faith tradition you chose you to find out you just cannot in good faith believe their hocus-pocus doctrines! Yes, yes look before you leap... very good, very good. But it is very sad and discouraging when spiritual vert