David A. Wofford

The last several days have been all over the place!  I am preparing for my return to the Board of Ordained Ministry (BoOM) of the North Georgia Conference on Monday at 11:10 a.m. (please be in prayer for that interview).  I am also vigorously hard at work with several responsibilities here at St. James UMC (as are most pastors).  As a preface amid the distractions, God continues to pearce my soul with far deeper truth regarding human dignity and his love for humanity both collectively and individually.

In my preparations for the BoOM I have been reading a lot!  Specifically I’ve read lots of books on theology and doctrine.  Books like N.T. Wright’s “Evil and the Justice of God,” John Wesley’s “The Holy Spirit and Power,” and M. Scott Peck’s “People of the Lie.”  One of the most impacting reads yet (including these more mainstream reads) were three lesser read books in the Jesus genre, Brennan Manning’s “The Ragamuffin Gospel,” Shane Claiborne’s “The Irresistible Revolution,” and “Same Kind of Different As Me,” by Denver Moore and Ron Hall.  The message I keep hearing in my prayers is that EVERYONE DESERVES THE DIGNITY OF CHRIST. Continue reading Dignity

This morning as I was drinking my morning coffee Sarah, while preparing to leave for preschool, remembered to hand me a mailer that I’d received in the mail at my parents’ home.  The note was short and to the point as it ended with these words, “We help people like you everyday.  Let us help you too…” and closing by saying these profound words, “We look forward to helping you rediscover your freedom and independence.”

What my parents would normally discard as old junk mail was saved to be sent to me via my younger sister, Alyson through Sarah.  Intending this note to be sent in jest, the joke rang true…for whatever reason, somebody had attached me to phone calls and, yes, constant mailings from The SCOOTER Store! (Are any of you reading this the culprit?)

At any rate, I have quietly received these phone calls and messages without telling a soul.  In fact I’ve been getting these calls from The SCOOTER Store for about a year now and have told nobody!  Its been a sore spot with me!  I haven’t wanted to tell anyone.  In my desire to control the conversation, I have remained silent.  In my selfish need to not be the butt of others’ jokes I’ve told nobody.  In the midst of my pride, I have wanted to keep the upper hand by not revealing my embarrassing secret calls from this store for the disabled!

Continue reading Freedom

There are many great things being done worldwide in the name of justice for all.  As our nation wrestles with health care reform, global climate reformation and an overall attempt to make life generally better for those without and for those to come, the One Campaign sent this great clip to me entitled “The Lazarus Effect.”  Which made me begin to think theologically about how the efforts of humanity are framed in this day and time.

The clip discusses how the One Campaign (and its emphases upon both public and private funding for AIDS relief to the many people-groups of third world Africa) has made a marked difference during the past five or so years.  I believe it truly has and for that I thank God! 

If in fact, as this film’s title implies, the effect is very much like that of Lazarus being resurrected from the dead, then where is Christ in all of this?  Does He need the credit?  Is He preferring to be unmentioned here?  Is He part of the collective whole in this human phenomenon?   I think Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount has a lot to offer us here… Continue reading …the Lazarus effect

What motivates ministry?  When are our ideas and prayer and hopes and dreams for the next 50 years onward of Faith expression God’s?  How are we offering sustainability?

In the course of time, these ideas and dreams evolve, yes, evolve into more perfected hopes and dreams because…WELL…once these dreams are attained (or not attained) WE EITHER FIND OUT THAT WE FOUND A BETTER INVITATION OR WE MINDLESSLY PERSUE THOSE THINGS THAT PLEASE THE SHORT-TERM.  Translation:  What are we being invited to become?

Continue reading Invitation Accepted

My beloved Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets have won their tenth game today (10-1) over Duke!  They have clenched the ACC Coastal Division and will play in the ACC Championship in Tampa after they play UGA.  There is a lot of football yet to be played but this has happened in large part because we have probably the best head coach (or at least one of them) in all of College Football.

I love his objectivist philosophy (for more info on what that means – OBJECTIVISM).  I read an article by Mark Bradley that attached this image…

Continue reading 10 down; 3 to go