Bearded Theologians
This week Matt and Zach sit down with Dr. Andrew Root to talk about some of the projects he has going on and a few other things. You can find out more about him by going to his website at http://andrewroot.org/
This week Matt and Zach sit down with Rev. Jacob Armstrong to talk about his upcoming projects and other ministry related things.
Zach asked that I, as a bearded non-theologian, Google “What is God calling me to do” and react to the 15,800,000 search results. I am afraid, dear readers, Zach didn’t know what he was getting into asking me to do this.
At first look, 15,800,000 search results seem overwhelming until you compare it to the population of the USA at 325,244,591 people (5% of the population) and even less when compared to the world’s population of 7,600,000,000 people (.2% of the population). When evaluated as percentages of populations, those search results don’t seem as overwhelming to me. It is undeniable that people are searching for answers and direction in their life, but what does this mean? What do we do? I will be honest with you: I don’t know.
I am admittedly not a religious person and I don’t know I would consider myself a spiritual person. I am not someone that has motivational quotes hanging around my house or office nor do I have any sayings that I live by. I do have two thoughts that have stayed with me a long time that I will share that I think help answer the question “What is God calling me to”. Hopefully, it will resonate with a reader or two. If not, I blame Zach.
When I watched the movie The Book of Eli I had no clue what it was about. I knew that Denzel Washington was in it and I generally enjoy his acting. The entire movie I was trying to figure out what book could possibly be so important that he went to the lengths he did to protect it and deliver it to its destination. Of course, at the end of the movie we learn it was the Bible, but that is not what stuck with me. After the book had been delivered, Solara told Eli she never thought he’d give up the book because it was too important to him. He replied that it was, but he got so caught up in protecting it he forgot to live by what he learned from it. Solara asked him what that was and it’s his reply to this question that I think answers the question at hand:
To Do More for Other Than You do for Yourself
I read an article several years ago about the importance of paying compliments to people when you like something about them, what they did, etc. While the article covered a lot of ground, my take away from the article was a piece about always complimenting someone, especially a child, when you like the shirt they are wearing. The author’s point, in short, was everyone gets dressed with purpose each day so an affirmation of their style choices will bring a smile to their face. After reading that, I aimed to tell at least one person each day that I liked something they were wearing. My only rule for myself was I had to mean it when I said it. Not surprisingly, the author was correct. I don’t believe I have paid a compliment to one person on their shirt, hat, shoes, tattoo, whatever and they didn’t smile when I did so. Smiles tend to be like yawns in that they are contagious. They would smile, I would smile and maybe someone around us joins in on the conversation and smiles as well. Plainly, it feels good to make someone smile. This one doesn’t wrap up as nicely as the Book of Eli quote, so we will call it:
Make Someone Smile Every Day
I don’t profess to be much more than a bearded non-theologian, but if I were to offer an answer to life’s biggest question, It would be that your happiness can be found in the service and happiness of others. This is something instilled in me from a young age by my parents and I continue to find it to be truer every day.
Thomas Wilson somehow managed to find a woman (Susan) to marry him and have two children (Stockton and Marley) with him. In his spare time, he binge-watches shows on Netflix and swears he will catch up on his backlog of audible books. He recently received the news that he may be a bearded theologian, after all. Thomas holds records in the Youth Baseball League -Coach Pitch, for the number of perfect games thrown in a season (8) and the number of batters hit by pitch (9) in a single game.
Have you ever had a book pick you? Recently, my family traveled to stay at Lake Erie. We were doing some shopping as a family. My seven year old asked to go into the bookstore. So I journeyed with her to the children’s section. While I was waiting, I thought I will peruse the religious section beside the children’s section. My eyes rolled across book after book. There was one book that I noticed, but I was not in a book buying mood.
I walked back to my daughter and discussed her selection. As I walked to the front, I picked up the book that had caught my eye. I actually thought to myself, you don’t need another book. I didn’t even know what the book was about. Waiting for the cashier, I glanced at the back of the book. I noticed that two of the people making comments were football people, Tony Dungy and Chris Carter. I was still not excited by this book, but I could not convince myself to put it down. I purchased the books, one for my daughter and one for myself. As I exited the store, I chastised myself in my head to myself about all the books I own that are not read or not fully read. “All I need is another book.”
The next day I started reading the book. I was finished reading in 3 days. I believe the Holy Spirit prompted me to make my purchase of the book that day. I am very thankful for the promptings of the Spirit. That book was exactly what my heart needed. It very much prepared me for the journey I would take in the next couple of weeks.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells Nicodemus that he needs to be born of water and the Spirit. Uncertain of Jesus’ words, Nicodemus questions the meaning of this birth. In today’s world, I fear, we have lost our understanding of what it means to be born of the Spirit. When we accept Christ we become a vessel of the Spirit. That means we are transformed by the Spirit of the Living God. Wow! Impressive! Overwhelming! How amazing is it that we can be filled with, transformed and guided by the Holy Spirit!
In the world today we need the Holy Spirit so desperately as we encounter issues such as addiction, diseases, financial crisis, and relationships (just to name a few). I am drawn to the words of Francesca Battistelli’s song, “Holy Spirit, You are welcome here. Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere. Your glory God is what my heart longs for to be overcome by your presence Lord.”
Kara Rowe is an ordained Elder in the West Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. She currently serves Newell and First Chester United Methodist Churches. She lives in New Cumberland, West Virginia with her husband, Michael and her three children: Caleb, Abigail, and Jakoba. In Kara’s free time she is a crime fighting ninja, but don’t blow her cover!
Bearded Theologians 
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