John Louk

Duke Divinity's online magazine has published an article about Salem and the experience with the flood in 2008. It is an honest look at the struggle and excitement that is the adventure of following Jesus. You can read it here . What do you think?

There's an anecdote about a dancer who, after dancing beautifully, was asked what the dance meant. She replied, "If I could simply tell you with words then I would not have to dance." I read a blog post about the meaning of story in scripture. It begins with this quote from Flannery O'Connor: "A story is a way to say something which can't be said any other way, and it takes every word in the story to say it." God didn't give us propositions to follow but rather invites us to be a part of a story, a drama that is unfolding even now. This is a good post to check out.

How are we doing at making disciples of Jesus Christ who transform the world? In assessing the state of Salem, there are some benchmark statistics to which we want to pay attention. Salem’s membership includes 231 people. This is significantly less than previous years as our Charge Conference in November removed 79 members who had become inactive. This past year 7 members died and 5 were transferred to other congregations. We received 24 new members the previous year, and in 2012 we received another 19 new members (15 by transfer from other congregations and 4 by profession of faith). We continue to grow! Our worship attendance decreased a little. We now average 175. With our membership at 231, however, we are getting healthier. Whereas many congregations see about 30% of their members in attendance, Salem has 75%! The healthiest congregations, though, have greater attendance than membership. Not only are all the members present but several new people are visiting, too. That i...

“ I have so much to do that I spend several hours in prayer before I am able to do it.” John Wesley There is an old story about a young man who approached the foreman of a logging crew and asked for a job. The foreman said, “That depends. Let’s see you fell this tree.” The young man stepped forward and skillfully felled a great tree. Impressed, the foreman exclaimed, “You can start Monday.” Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday rolled by. Thursday afternoon the foreman approached the young man and said, “You can pick up your paycheck on the way out today.” Startled, the young man replied, “I thought you paid on Friday.” “Normally we do,” said the foreman. “But we’re letting you go today because you’ve fallen behind. Our daily felling charts show that you’ve dropped from first place on Monday to last place today.” “But I’m a hard worker,” the young man objected. “I arrive first and leave last. I even worked through my coffee breaks!” The foreman, sensing the young man’...

“Christians are made, not born.” Tertullian (c.160-c.225) How do we live as the church? The Early Church Father, Tertullian, said “Christians are made, not born.” That means, living as the church doesn’t come naturally. It takes work and dedication. The kind of people we become is directly related to the habits we practice in life. Our founder, John Wesley, taught us to order our lives with habits. Wesley called these practices the Means of Grace and said they fall into two categories: "works of piety" (spiritual disciplines) and "works of mercy" (doing good to others). Today, the church teaches us many practices for our lives so that we will live as the body of Jesus in the world. The General Board of Discipleship has helpfully defined and expanded on these practices we teach in the church here . I offer this helpful description in its entirety, hoping that we will obey what the Apostle Paul told the church at Philippi, “Keep putting into practice all you l...

The earth is the LORD'S and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it. Psalm 24:1 Being stewards means that we are like managers of the household. The word “steward” comes from an Olde English word that referred to the ward, i.e. the keeper, of the pig sty. The steward didn’t own the pigs but was a responsible farm hand with oversight of the entire hog farming operation. The extended farm family, including all the hired help, had enough to eat and a decent livelihood if the steward did his job well. “Steward” translated from the Greek New Testament word oikonomous , literally means “manager of the household.” We are all stewards of God’s household, the divine reign over all creation which Jesus described as “the kingdom of God.” ( Stewardship 2009-2012 . Copyright © 2008 by Cokesbury.) As stewards we manage God’s household, not ours. God, the Creator and owner of all that is, says, “Here, I’m giving you all that I have. Take care of it. Manage it. Be fruitfu...

Two years ago Salem's Leadership Board accepted an invitation to participate in the Healthy Church Initiative (HCI), a process of renewal for growing healthy and fruitful congregations in the Iowa Annual Conference. Initially, only a handful of congregations were recommended for this opportunity. We completed the first steps (a clergy group and a lay group) and are now ready to prepare for a church consultation. I have begun meeting with the Peer Mentor group, the continuous learning community that leads us into and supports us through the consultation process of HCI. The ultimate purpose for consulting is to help a congregation more effectively join God in God’s mission for the Church. We have a clear process to follow as we prepare for the consultation. We need to create a Prayer Team that will commit to pray regularly for the church and for changes. We also need a vision team to help develop urgency and create vision. Our Leadership Board will oversee the process and...