Dear Friends in Christ, Reverend Bob Moore, one of our retired pastors, recently recommended a Eugene Peterson book to me. Many of you know that Peterson has written a paraphrase of the Bible called "The Message." I read Peterson's latest book while in Denver last week at a pastor's conference. The book is called "Tell It Slant," a phrase he borrowed from an Emily Dickinson poem. It's a

rather in-depth commentary on the Gospel of Luke. I'll be using it as a resource in my Wednesday night study. I share (with Peterson) a deep concern for the way that we sometimes talk about God. He uses the term god-talk. What a horrible expression! Sometimes preachers (in particular) talk of God as though God is disconnected from real life. We use our preacher voice on Sunday, but sound very different on Monday. That's god-talk. Peterson makes a helpful comment about the incongruity of god-talk: "God does not compartmentalize our lives into religious and secular. Why do we? I want to insist on a continuity of language between the words we use in Bible studies and the words we use when we're out fishing for rainbow trout. I want to cultivate a sense of continuity between the prayers we offer to God and the conversations we have with the people we speak to and who speak to us. I want to nurture an awareness of the sanctity of words, the holy gift of language, regardless of whether it is directed vertically or horizontally. Just as Jesus did." Because language is culture, the way we speak about God matters. The way we talk with and about God becomes the way we live

Dr.  Davis  Chappell

with, and relate to God. It also becomes the way we live and relate to our neighbor. I remember an old preacher friend who often prayed before he preached like this: "Lord, help me to be simple, and resist the urge to be profound." I've never forgotten it! It has become my prayer as well. May you know the presence of Christ in your teaching and fishing! Finally, it was good to welcome new member Ryder Bledsoe-Lovelace. Welcome to our church community. Davis