From the Heart of Pastor Jacqueline A. Thompson

March 15, 2023

Dear Allen Temple Family and Friends,

It won't be long now. With each passing day, we move closer and closer to the moment that changed the world. It certainly changed my world. Today, could be deemed the mid-point. The middle is always a good time to pause, reflect, and readjust before moving forward.

We started this journey accepting the invitation to CENTER DOWN. If you have not read the meditation by Dr. Howard Thurman, you may do so here.

We have explored the challenges and highlighted the practices that can help us in the process: Solitude, Stillness, Silence and Sacrifice. These practices are not without purpose. Dr. Thurman has suggested that they are meant to cause us to:

Look at ourselves in this waiting moment—the kinds of people we are.

The questions persist: what are we doing with our lives?—what are the motives that order our days?

What is the end of our doings? Where are we trying to go? Where do we put the emphasis and where are our values focused? For what end do we make sacrifices?

Where is my treasure and what do I love most in life?

What do I hate most in life and to what am I true? Over and over the questions beat upon the waiting moment.

Which one of the these questions stick out for you most? Which questions remain unanswered or unclear? How have you answers changed? Do they need to? You may have your own questions. In 2 Corinthians 13:5, the Apostle Paul gives the following admonition as he departs - "Examine Yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you…" (NIV)

The practice this week is a simple one, at least the ask is simple. Take this week and answer the questions that grip you the most. I'll tell you the questions that grip me next week.

Self-examination is dangerous work. Some scholars suggest it can also be deceptive. But remember Proverbs 27:19 - As in water face reflects face, so does the heart of man reflect the man. (ESV) Go ahead..take a look!

Centering Down,

Dr. Jacqueline A. Thompson
Senior Pastor

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March 8, 2023

Dear Allen Temple Family and Friends,

It's the third Wednesday of this Lenten Season where we have all been given the invitation to CENTER DOWN as we journey to the cross.

As promised, I set my timer and practiced stillness and silence. I said last week I would tell you what I heard. I heard everything. I heard the birds chirping and the refrigerator humming. I heard the leaves rustling in response to the wind. I heard a million inner thoughts I had to intentionally ignore. But interestingly what captured me more, was what I felt. Five minutes of silence and stillness felt like an excruciating sacrifice. So I've wrestled all week with why. Sir Thomas Aquinas, 13th century philosopher and theologian, has helped me to understand why.

Aquinas, a product of St. Augustine and Aristotle, suggested that we have lost the true meaning of sacrifice. He believed a sacrifice required something to be "done" to the object being offered to God. His definition is based on the Latin word sacrificium. Sacer (holy) and facere (do or make). A sacrifice is the act of making-holy. We see this over and over again in the Old Testament offering system. Grain offerings were burned, drink offerings were poured out, and animals sacrificed their lives. We will see this repeated as we get closer to the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. Aquinas seemed to be suggesting that what we choose to offer as a sacrifice to God is only a sacrifice if it changes us. As I contemplated this thought in my excruciating times of silence, I heard the Psalmist support Aquinas, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken spirit and a contrite heart, the Lord will not despise." (Psalm 51:17)

In light of this, I must admit that often what I have chosen to give up or take on during Lent has been no sacrifice at all. It's been inconvenient and perhaps undesirable but has not risen to the level of sacrifice. I now see that the practice of stillness and silence felt excruciating because it was a breaking. It was a break in MY set agenda; a break in MY to do list; a break in how I planned MY day. The Spirit was doing in 5 minutes a day what giving up sweets has never done: breaking MY will.

Jesus went away to solitary places often to pray and be alone. I am convinced now more than ever that it was these small, consistent sacrificial offerings are what gave him the strength to say, "Nevertheless not MY will but THY will Lord be done".

Did you give up something for Lent? Is it breaking or changing you? If what you're giving up isn't changing you, change what you're giving up..only then will it become a sacrifice.

Until next week...

Centering Down,

Dr. Jacqueline A. Thompson

Senior Pastor

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March 1, 2023

Dear Allen Temple Family and Friends,

Well, I guess I'm in it now! It's the second week of Lent and I am still writing. Can I make a confession? We're close and I trust you can handle it. Centering Down is HARD!

It requires me to do something that seems so simple and yet is so challenging. That something is to: BE SILENT. Maybe I am the only one or perhaps it's environmental but there is always noise. The television is on although I am not watching. The iPad is usually broadcasting audio from a meeting and let's not mention the phone. Yes, the Android that I still own. Noise is intentionally everywhere all the time. Even when sleeping, there is the sound of rain that plays all night.

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February 22, 2023

Dear Allen Temple Family and Friends,

It's Ash Wednesday! The first day of the Lenten Season. It is the time where we intentionally reflect and remember the journey of Jesus to the cross and what that means for us in our journey. Personally, it is also a period of recommitment.

It's been so long since I have written. Although cathartic for me, the pace of the last 4 years has distracted me, from me. I have found the danger of living the Christian life is the same for us as it was for Jesus. It is best characterized by the temptation Jesus faced in the wilderness. Henri Nouwen, in his book In the Name of Jesus, frames the temptation this way. Jesus was tempted to forego his God-given mission and purpose in exchange for RELEVANCE, POWER and the SPECTACULAR. (Luke 4:1-13)

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February 17, 2021

My Allen Temple Family and Friends,

Please forgive my evening interruption. I hope this note finds you safe and well. But I just had to ask...is it just me or do you sense it too? Things are moving. The pace of life is quickening. Rush hour traffic has returned to freeways. Our streets, stores and restaurants are overflowing as well. There is much more movement than even this time a month ago. It almost feels, dare I say it, like things are returning to "normal". The rush to return to normal is afoot and it is all around us.

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Main Menu

From the Heart of Pastor Jacqueline A. Thompson

Lent 2023 - Take a Look

Lent 2023 - What's Your Offering?

Lent 2023 - Do You Hear What I Hear?

Lent 2023 - Center Down

Lent 2021: Can You Hear It?