tag:world.hey.com,2005:/timTim Bonney2021-05-03T19:40:18Ztag:world.hey.com,2005:World::Post/108052021-05-03T19:40:18Z2021-05-03T19:40:18ZLooking for Another Provider<div class="trix-content">
<div>I'm going to be looking for a different email and blog provider. This past week ethical and business practice concerns have arisen with Basecamp, the parent company of Hey.com. I'm no longer comfortable using their services. <br><br>For church business you will be able to email me either at my local church email address or at my conference email address. If you need my new personal email address please send me an email to the hey.com address which will forward to it for at least the foreseeable future and I'll provide you with my new address.<br><br>Blessings,<br><br></div><div>—<br>Tim Bonney</div>
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Tim Bonneytim.bonney@hey.comtag:world.hey.com,2005:World::Post/84542021-04-03T15:57:13Z2021-04-03T15:57:13ZEaster and The Great Fifty Days<div class="trix-content">
<div><strong>Tomorrow is Easter Sunday!</strong> Tomorrow we will be begin the season when we celebration the resurrection of Jesus Christ and his victory over evil, sin and death. <br><br>Did you notice that I said "season"? <strong>Easter is not just a day on the Christian calendar it is a season of Fifty (50) days beginning on Easter Sunday and taking us through to Pentecost. During this season we celebrate Christ's resurrection. </strong><br><br>We retell the accounts of Jesus' post resurrection appearances. We talk about Jesus founding of the community of God's people called the Church. We experience the ascension and celebrate through to the day of Pentecost when the gift of the Holy Spirit is giving to Jesus' disciples marking the birthday of the church!<br><br>The importance of the Easter Season is not just an opportunity for the Church to party for fifty days. It is a season that reminds us that Christ's death and resurrection are continuance of God's desire to share the good news of God's love with the whole world in all times and place and with all people and nations. <br><br>I hope that tomorrow you will join with Christians everywhere in celebrating the Risen Christ! If you do not already have plans to attend worship somewhere tomorrow, we'd love for you to join us in worship at Indianola First UMC either in person or online.<br><br><strong>Our in person worship will be held at 8:30am in the Sanctuary or in Parish Hall at 10:00am</strong> for our contemporary worship. In both services you will have the opportunity to receive Holy Communion. Please plan to wear a mask for in person worship.<br><br><strong>If you prefer to worship online our 8:30am service will be live streamed on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/indianolafumc">https://www.facebook.com/indianolafumc</a></strong><br><br>Have a blessed Easter Season!<br><br></div><div>Tim Bonney, Lead Pastor<br>Indianola First UMC</div>
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Tim Bonneytim.bonney@hey.comtag:world.hey.com,2005:World::Post/72062021-03-22T21:54:48Z2021-03-22T21:54:48ZHoly Days<div class="trix-content">
<div>We are entering the last week before Holy Week in the Christian calendar. Because of abilities to produce online worship as well as our in person worship, it is now easier than ever before to worship during the upcoming holy days. <br><br><strong>Holy Week Schedule -</strong><br><br><strong>Holy Thursday 6:30pm</strong> - in person and live streamed. Check the church's Facebook page for streaming.<br><strong>Good Friday Tenebrae Service 6:30pm</strong> - in person and live streamed<br><strong>Easter Sunday</strong> - <br><strong>8:30am </strong>in person in the sanctuary and live streamed<br><strong>10:00am </strong>in person Contemporary worship in Parish Hall<br><br><strong>Also note that any service which has been live streamed can be watched later on the church's Facebook page at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/indianolafumc">https://www.facebook.com/indianolafumc</a> .<br></strong><br></div><div>—<br>Tim Bonney</div>
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Tim Bonneytim.bonney@hey.comtag:world.hey.com,2005:World::Post/59042021-03-13T16:10:35Z2021-03-13T16:10:35ZThe Importance of Hope<div class="trix-content">
<div><strong>I was thinking today how important hope is to our outlook on life and our ability to function as human beings. <br></strong><br>As we are seeing a rollout of Covid-19 vaccines and the possibility of more and more people being vaccinated over the next several weeks, I see a new feeling of optimism and hope among people I talk to as we can start to see light at the end of the long tunnel that has been the pandemic. <br><br><strong>Hope for the future is one of the things that give us all the ability to plan ahead, look forward to better days, and make it through difficult times.</strong> Hope allows us to know and believe that while today may not be our best day and that the tragic years of 2020/2021 are not our best years, that there are better days and better years ahead. <br><br>It reminded me of Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians where he found that his own belief that Christ's second coming would be immediate had to be re-thought based on the reality that Christ had not yet returned yet some believers in Christ had died waiting for that return. People started to ask Paul what had become of their loved ones? What did they have to hope in?<br><br></div><blockquote><em>But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord for ever. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thess. 4:13-18 NRSV)</em></blockquote><div><br><strong>Paul encouraged them not to grieve "as others who have no hope."</strong> He informed the Church that those who have died would be brought together with all of us at the time of the resurrection. He gave a word of hope and ask that Christians "encourage one another with these words." And he reminded us that "we will be with the Lord for ever." <br><br><strong>Now is a time when we all need hope. And we all need to encourage each other.</strong> No the pandemic is not over. But we are seeing improvements daily. That gives us all hope and we need to do all we can to lift up and encourage each other as we start to see the dawn of a better day. <br><br>In hope, faith and love<br><br></div><div>—<br>Tim Bonney, Lead Pastor<br>Indianola First UMC</div>
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Tim Bonneytim.bonney@hey.comtag:world.hey.com,2005:World::Post/32112021-03-05T16:47:39Z2021-03-05T18:18:56ZSocial Media, Internet, and Conspiracy<div class="trix-content">
<div><strong>We have seen a huge rise in recent years of conspiracy theories.</strong> Many of the current popular conspiracy theories are political in nature and revolve around a group called QAnon. Conspiracy theories and theorists have been around long before the internet but the internet and social media have greatly exacerbated the spread of these theories. <br><br><strong>Conspiracy theories often grab onto one small piece of truth and then add unproven supposition after unproven supposition on top of each other like a house of cards. Sometimes they are just made up with no facts to support the theory. </strong><br><br>Back in the 1990s I served in a church where one year an active member of the church insisted that we cancel the annual Easter egg hunt because she had read online that Easter eggs were satanic. After a careful reading of the website and some research, I discovered that the author of the site was a wide ranging conspiracy theorist who was a defrocked pastor. He also believed that both Bill Clinton and George Bush were secret satanists. (At least he wasn't being partisan!) and that the "hook em horns" salute of GW Bush's alma mater was actually a satanic salute of some kind. Sadly, when I presented this information to the Christian Education committee this woman and her family left the church. <br><br>In this age of instant information, social media and the internet <strong>how do we avoid getting caught up in conspiracy theories and false narratives? </strong><br><br>Y<strong>ou have to check your sources.</strong> Where did that article come from that you just read? Is it from a credible source? Can it be confirmed in other sources? What is the source's political, social and religious bias? Everyone has a bias. <strong>There is no such thing as unbiased human observations</strong>. Knowing the bias can help confirm truth but also help you to understand the world view of the author. Can it be confirmed in sources with differing biases? Does what is being suggested sound fantastical, too good or bad to be true? Is this fact of is this opinion? <br><br><strong>Unless we have confirmed the source of an article, idea or meme we shouldn't repost it</strong>. I saw a funny meme this week which said, "Not all quotes on the internet are real" - Abraham Lincoln. Just because something is written and online does not mean it is true. Just because something is attributed to someone does not mean they said it. <br><br><strong>The way to stop viral conspiracy theories, lies, and misinformation on the internet is to make sure we are not perpetuating the false information ourselves. <br><br></strong>Probably one of the most disturbing things for me as a Christian pastor is when Christians get deeply involved in conspiracy theories as it harms the witness of the Church to the world. <strong>We need to be vigilant so that we are not bearing false witness against our neighbors. </strong><br><br></div><div>—<br>Tim Bonney<br><br></div>
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Tim Bonneytim.bonney@hey.comtag:world.hey.com,2005:World::Post/13852021-03-04T20:00:10Z2021-03-04T20:09:22ZA New Blog!<div class="trix-content">
<div>During the time around the beginning of the pandemic I dropped blogging. It seemed like video was more the way to go with the need to have a personal touch through online worship, studies, and opportunities. <br><br>But there are times I'd just like to get things down in print and reflect. So I am going to try out this new blogging system that is now a part of the Hey.com email service which I use as, and really appreciate, as my email provider. <br><br>As in my previous blog, I'm sure I'll do a lot of sharing about mission and ministry in the United Methodist Church as well as activities at First UMC in Indianola, Iowa.<br><br>Blessings,<br><br></div><div>—<br>Tim Bonney, Lead Pastor<br>Indianola First UMC</div>
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Tim Bonneytim.bonney@hey.com