Making Jesus "Stuff"

And the more we reproduce him, the more we forget about him......" (Brennan Manning. Ragamuffin Gospel, pg 108)

Wounded Warriors!

“Anyone God uses significantly is almost always deeply wounded.” (Brennan Manning)

Do We Protect Our Rights In Crisis?

Consider the source. However, I see this dynamic at work in Africa. What do ordinary people do when the law is overwhelmed (it only take 20,000 people) banks close, and food stocks stop circulating. 

We have little comprehension how fragile our security, and food security is, until food transportation, and money is cut off. Within days chaos arrives as survival kicks in,  and our little world changes.

How did this play out in The tsunamis of Asia? Did a state of lawlessness occurs, or did people ban together?

<blockquote>"In a massive social collapse, law and order break down and man’s true nature will be revealed. During this time of chaos, an individual will have rights only as long as he can defend them.... During the years of our lives we have lived in an orderly society, where most people obey the laws and those who do not are dealt with by the police and the justice system. Most criminals are held in check by the threat of force by the police who enforce the law which results in a mostly orderly society. When there is violence to be done, the police handle it......" Following a major social collapse however, the criminal element will be unleashed while the police become overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the collapse coupled with the fact that many of them will be busy defending their own home, property, and family......." (Survivalist Daily)<blockquote>

If you think it sounds alarmist consider what is happening right now in South Sudan.

"As many as 22,000 people from around the world — from France and New Zealand, Ethiopia and South Africa — have found themselves at a camp set up inside a United Nations peacekeeping base just outside the northern city of Malakal. They are bound together by hunger and thirst, fear of the soldiers and rebels fighting outside, and a desire to go somewhere safe.

“We need the humanitarians to take us somewhere to save our lives,” said Hoth Gatkuoth, 27, who had taken shelter in a broken-down white sport utility vehicle before moving into the camp. He said that people had begun to quarrel and that he feared it would get worse if conditions did not improve. “After two days, the people will fight inside the camp,” he said."  Link 

Church Prevents People From Hearing The Gospel?

Interesting article....

Church buildings (as they are called) prevent people hearing the good news about Jesus

"I Believe that the current use (1996) of buildings that are set apart for “church” use is one of the greatest hindrances, in the United Kingdom, to the spread of the good news about Jesus.  These are the reasons for this contention:

(1)Church buildings are “closed” to the community at large.  They are closed physically by being locked but even when unlocked they are closed by virtue of being intimidating to people outside the group.  They are closed because some people feel that only “good” people can go to church and other people feel that only “Christians” can go to church.  There are various consequences of this:
(a)Those on the outside rarely, if ever, hear the good news told to them.  It is possible therefore for whole communities (such as communities composed mainly of adherents to the Hindu and Muslims faiths) to go from cradle to grave without once hearing about God's desire and power to save their souls.
(b)
Those on the inside are in a closeted and relatively secure environment where they will rarely, if ever, be challenged in their purported faith and they will have few reasons to question what it is that they believe.  In turn this means that their mettle is never tested — they never have to defend their faith in a way that would convince a non-Christian.

For the true believer this will hinder their growth.  However it also means that it is possible that somebody who attends church only because of tradition and habit will never be sufficiently awakened that they pass from spiritual death to spiritual life.

(2)The church building is a massive drain on resources — time, money and effort — that could be used in training believers, distributing tracts or helping those in need.  In short those resources are often not being directed to the activities that the bible tells us we should do.
(3)The church building becomes an object of derision and the focus of the attention of outsiders who do not know differently.  The “church roof fund” or its equivalent gives non-Christians the impression that the building is intrinsically important to the Christian faith and that Christians are only interested in raising money.  In fact, the building is not in any way essential to the Christian faith.
(4)The building is often described, by those within as well as those without, as the “house of God”.  This is inaccurate to the point of being blasphemous because it negates the fact that the believer (the follower of Jesus Christ who has been “born again”) is the house of God — the temple of the Holy Spirit.  If Jesus does not live in us then we do not live at all.  If we are not the house of God then we have not been born again and have not entered the kingdom of God.  The good news about Jesus is weakened by denying (or failing to affirm) these very important truths.  The message of good news is further weakened because when a person believes that a physical location is the "house of God" then meeting God becomes a matter of going to that location.  Thus the initiative is apparently with the person.  However, a vital part of the good news message is that it is God who takes the initiative; it is he who travels to find us, not vice-versa.  The distinction is crucial because
(a)the Christian message, (“the gospel” which means “the good news”) would not be good news if we had to get to a God who was outside space and time; it would only be a cruel message of certain destruction.  The whole point of the “good news” is precisely that God takes the initiative and comes looking for us — remember the parables?  Our Jesus is the shepherd looking for the sheep gone astray, the doctor who did not come to applaud good people but who came to heal those of us who are morally and spiritually sick.
(b)
if God is who the bible says he is (i.e. creator) then it is not possible for things to be otherwise.  Every (or almost every?) other faith in the world teaches that the believer must search for God but if God is outside the universe (which as creator he must be) then he cannot be found unless and until he chooses to reveal himself (which he does by entering his own universe in the person of Jesus).  The vitality of the good news message and of the person of Jesus is weakened when the initiative is thought to rest with us — as it is when the building is thought of as the House of God and therefore a place where God can be found.

(5)The church building is (in general) not a place where people meet but only a place where they gather.  True meeting between two people is more than merely occupying the same building at the same time and participating in group activities.  For two people to truly meet one another there has to be a sharing of lives.  This is possible with or without a church building but the focus on the church building tends to discourage it because it is neutral and public ground where most people are on their best behaviour and barriers of etiquette (formal good manners) are erected between them.
(6)The maintenance needs of the church building can encourage unbiblical hierarchies to develop because the church building becomes the special property of the select few who then control what happens within it.  This is not good for the edification of the local Christians.  Additionally, those who end-up with “positions” are not necessarily selected because they match the biblical criteria; in particular the bible requires that they should be of good reputation within the “community”.  This, in turn, implies that they should actually be known in the local community at large and this does not happen because the church building acts as a magnet to draw people out of their local community to whatever church it is that they happen at that moment to feel attracted to.
(7)The church building encourages people to think in terms of numbers and the importance of filling seats.  Growth in quantity becomes more important than growth in faith and fruit.  Large groups coupled with the hierarchical structure mean that spiritual gifts are not developed or encouraged.  Large groups also make “meeting” other believers more difficult because the atmosphere lacks intimacy.  This can be overcome by arranging smaller groups, but then small groups do not need church buildings!
(8)The church building does not encourage people to look outwards from their own group.  It encourages introspection rather than external action.  The activities within the building are not observed by those who do not belong to the group.
(9)The church building encourages the formation of “religion” by allowing people to form habits that are not necessarily edifying but which become an important part of what they consider to be their Christian experience.  These habits might include sitting in particular places, singing particular types of songs, following a particular order of service, ...  Religion is always opposed to the message of good news because salvation depends on having a personal relationship with the God who came to save us but “religion” makes it difficult to form such a relationship.
(10)The activities of the corporate church are perceived, by those on the outside, to be a genuine demonstration of “Christianity”.  The focus of attention is on the “church” rather than on Jesus.  The wonderful Christian message is rejected before it is even heard because the “church” does not meet expectations.  This could be a problem even without church buildings but the organised church has very little identity apart from the buildings and Christians have very little identity apart from the organised church and the buildings.
(11)
Two types of meetings are described in the new testament books and letters:  There are meetings that take place in public places such as the temple courts and the lecture hall of Tyrannus, and there are meetings that take place in peoples' homes.  A public meeting must, by definition, take place where anyone and everyone has unhindered access; it is a meeting that anybody should feel they can attend if they wish.  Since church buildings do not meet this criteria (they are not places that unbelievers would want to come near or feel comfortable to enter), it would be better to admit that they are almost useless for the purposes of public meetings and find some other location that is genuinely open to the whole community.  Meetings in homes are meetings of intimacy and closeness and church buildings are useless for this type of meeting also.

This shows us that church buildings are actually useless for both types of Christian meeting.  To continue to use the buildings for these types of Christian meetings is merely an act of self-deception.

Of course, it need not always have been like this and, in the future, if God turns the hearts of this nation around it may again be different.  In a land where almost everyone knows and believes the Bible texts then church buildings might well be appropriate for both public and intimate meetings.  But we can only deal with the present situation — not what was nor what might be ...

However, some people believe that church-buildings are necessary.  These are the reasons that I have been given and my response.

Reason 1.  In a wet and cold land like Britain it is not practical to meet outdoors.

Response 1:  There may be days when it would be merely foolish to assemble outside but there are other days when it would be delightful.  This reason therefore only applies to some days of the year — not to all — and at the best of times is therefore only a partial reason.  The cold, wet climate of Britain does not bring many other outdoor activities to a complete standstill.  Why should it prevent Christians gathering to encourage one another.  Also, as mentioned in paragraph (11) above, church buildings are actually hopelessly impractical for the purposes of Christian meetings in contemporary Britain.  Meeting out of doors might sometimes be less comfortable than we would like but it would not be any less practical for Christian purposes than the meetings that occur in church buildings because those indoor meetings fail to achieve many (and sometimes all) of their goals anyway.

Reason 2.  Nobody has yet given me a second reason.

Response 2.  ?

Remove The Church Building? Is It Enough?

"There was a time once, when I used to wish that God would overnight remove every church building. Sovereignly and supernaturally. A sort of church building "rapture" if you can imagine it. If that happened, I reasoned, both the world and Christians would have to discover what "church" really is. . Think about it! There would be nowhere to "have church" any more. We would have to BE it instead. We would no longer be able to pass our act of "service" off on to an hour or two's attendance at a religious ritual, and worship could no longer take place in the "sanctuary.... Phew! We might just have a chance to discover what new covenant worship really is! And we could be confronted with the reality of having to find out what "church" really means! It could even mean that ultimately, the world might be faced with the reality of an invisible God in a visible people!..... I've changed my mind. I've realized that would never be enough.

Over the past ten years of being "outside the camp," I have come to learn that there is a process needed which must be far more radical ("to the root").. And far more uncomfortable. You see, its not the things which are outside of us that need to be impacted. It's the things INSIDE of us. And those things go far deeper. They are buried beyond the roots of our traditions and culture in the things which actually CREATE culture and tradition. The desire for identity, the need to belong, the fulfillment of finding a tangible purpose, acceptance from our peers, the comfort of being organized and finding our place - Powerful driving forces! "
(Alan Richardson. To The Church Outside The Camp )

If I Had My Life To Live Over Again, I'd Say To Hell With Grass Stains

“lf I Had My Life to Live Over Again”?

"I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded. I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains. I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn’t show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime. When my child kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, “Later. Now get washed up for dinner." There would have been more I love yous, more I'm sorrys, but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute, look at it and really see it, live it, and never give it back."
(Erma Bombeck, a column entitled “lf I Had My Life to Live Over Again")

Fined For Being Part Of The Problem

I think a lot of us, myself included, churches and church boards should be fined.

"A story is told about Fiorello LaGuardia, who, when he was mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of
World War II, was called “the Little Flower" by adoring New Yorkers because he was only five foot four and always wore a Carnation in his lapel. He was a colorful character who used to ride the New York City fire trucks, raid speakeasies with the police department, take entire orphanages to baseball games, and whenever the New York newspapers were on strike, he would go on the radio and read the
he would go on the radio and read the Sunday funnies to the kids.

One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward of the city. LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself. Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread. She told LaGuardia that her daughter's husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving. But the shopkeeper, from whom
the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges. "It's a bad neighborhood, Your Honor," the man told the mayor. "She's got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson."

LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said, "I've got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions—ten dollars or ten days in jail." But
even as he pronounced the sentence, the mayor was already reaching into his pocket. He extracted a bill and tossed it into his famous which I now remit; and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant."

So the following day the New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered old lady who had stolen a loaf of
bread to feed her starving , fifty cents of that amount being contributed by the red-faced grocery store owner. while some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations, and New York City policemen, each of whom had just paid fifty cents for the privilege of doing so, gave the mayor a standing ovation.

What an extraordinary moment of grace for everyone present in that courtroom! The grace of God operates at a profound level in the life of a
loving person." (Brennan Manning Ragamuffin Gospel. Pg, 92-93)

You Talk To Much In Nature

"We religious people walk amid the beauty and bounty of nature and We talk nonstop. We miss the panorama of color and sound and smell. We might as well have remained indoors in our closed, artificially lit living rooms. Nature's lessons are lost and the opportunity to be wrapped in silent wonder before the God of creation passes." (Brennan Manning. Ragamuffin Gospel. Pg, 92)

When Worldly Wonder Ceases

"By and large, our world has lost its sense of wonder. We have grown up. We no longer catch our breath at the sight of a rainbow or the scent of a rose, as we once did. We have grown bigger and everything else smaller, less impressive. We get blasé and worldly-wise and sophisticated. We no longer run our fingers through water, no longer shout at the stars or make faces at the moon." (Brennan Manning. Ragamuffin Gospel. Pg, 89)

More Wonder

“Never once in my life did I ask God for success or wisdom or power or fame. I asked for Wonder, and He gave it to me.” (Rabbi on deathbed)

You Can't Insult Honesty.

"When a man or woman is truly honest (not just working at it) it is virtually impossible to insult them personally. There is nothing there to insult.....Their inner poverty of spirit and rigorous honesty had set them free." (Brenning Manning. Ragamuffin Gospel. Pg 86)

Huffing And Puffing For Piety Is Over?

"Grace means that in the middle of our struggle the referee blows the whistle and announces the end of the game. We are declared winners and sent to the showers. lt’s over for all huffing, puffing piety to earn God’s favor; it’s finished for all sweat-soaked straining to secure self-worth; it’s the end of all competitive scrambling to get ahead of others in the game. Grace means that God is on our side and thus we are victors regardless of how well we have played the game. We might as well head for the showers and the champagne celebration. (Donald McCullough)

Legalistic Religion Can't Trust!

"The tendency in legalistic religion is to mistrust God, to mistrust others, and consequently, to mistrust ourselves." (Brennan Manning. Ragamuffin Gospel, pg 76)

The Christian Division Of Asleep Or Awake.

"Perhaps the real dichotomy in the Christian community today is not between conservatives and liberals or creationists and evolutionists but between the awake and the asleep." (Brennan Manning. Ragamuffin Gospel, pg 71)

A Church With No Exit

"Burkhardt writes, "I fear for the lawyer whose only life is corporate tax, the doctor whose whole existence is someone else's prostate, the business executive whose single responsibility is to his stockholders, the athlete who puts all his eggs in an 18-inch basket, the theologian who thinks the world can be saved by theology ..... A closed mind kills marriages and human relations; it deadens feelings and sensitivities; it makes for a church that lives in a thousand and one tunnels, with no communication and no exit." (Quoted by Brennan Manning, Ragamuffin Gospel. Pg 65)

Selective Hospitality Only Mirrors Relationships With Ourselves

"An open attitude is like an open door—a welcoming disposition toward the fellow travelers who knock on our door during the middle of a day, the middle of the week, or the middle of a lifetime. Some are dirtballs, grungy, disheveled, and bedraggled. The sophisticated adult within me shudders and is reluctant to offer them hospitality. They may be carrying precious gifts under their shabby rags, but I still prefer clean-shaven Christians who are neatly attired, properly pedigreed, and who affirm my vision, echo my thoughts, stroke me, and make me feel good. Yet my inner child protests, "I want new friends, not old mirrors." (Brennan Manning. Ragamuffin Gospel. Pg 65)

Good Schemes!

"Dishonesty, deceit, and defiance are everywhere, permeating both those working in the government and the man on the street as well. Stealing is permissible on every level. The misuse of government funds is one of the country’s most serious problems, and though it is talked about everywhere, no one is seriously interested in ending a custom that seems to benefit so many. Elaborate programs are popular because there will be more money to rake off. And in all classes of society there is the dishonesty of making grandiose plans with no intention of carrying them out." (The Barrios Of Manta. Rhoda Brooks. Pg 115)

Almost all Muslims & Christians Live in Peace With Each Other.

"As a result, Christians hid with Muslim families before fleeing south, recalls Oumar Cisse, who used to live in Timbuktu, another northern city seized by militants.....Local people protected the Christians because they had lived peacefully next to each other for decades," Cisse says. "They became friends and in some cases, family......Malians say they must return to their long tradition of religious tolerance and turn their back on militancy. Some planned to do this by celebrating Christmas, which has long been a national day of feasting in Mali, regardless of one's faith."I'm a Christian, but I am part of a group of 20 people who are all friends," says Michel Diarra, 30, of Bamako. "There are only two Christians in the group, and we will gather ... to celebrate Christmas. It's like that every year. I know many Christians who will invite their Muslim friends home.""http://www.dailyworld.com/usatoday/article/4198045

When Scholarship Fails At Connection

My personal experience of the relentless tenderness of God came not from exegetes, theologians, and spiritual writers, but from sitting still in the presence of the living Word and beseeching Him to help me understand with my head and heart His written Word." (Brennan Manning Ragamuffin Gospel)

In my conversations with people, few say they need more information. However, the majority do say they really struggle with a real connection to Jesus despite having all the information.  

Accepting Our Limitations

"We are no longer preoccupied with being powerful or popular. We no longer fear criticism because we accept the reality of our human limitations." (Brennan Manning. Ragamuffin Gospel, pg 49)

Admitting weaknesses, or having them be found out because we fail to play the required game to hide them, will halt ones advancement in ministry and the church. This is why much about "ministry" is an illusion at best, a lie at worst.  Is there a place for real people there, other than the ones who play their cards close?

Preaching Madness

"Oh God, what madness I have preached in sermons!" (Brennan Manning. Ragamuffin Gospel, pg 25)

If you knew how often we church leaders look back and say we were mistaken or misguided, you would begin to think, study and learn for yourselves, and rely far less on us to guide you.

An Angel With And Incredible Capacity For Beer

"When I get honest, I admit I am a bundle of paradoxes. I believe and I doubt, I hope and get discouraged, I love and I hate, I feel bad about
feeling good, I feel guilty about not feeling guilty. I am trusting and suspicious. I am honest and I still play games. Aristotle said I am
a rational animal; I say I am an angel with an incredible capacity for beer.
To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light side and the dark. In admitting my shadow side, I learn who I am
and what God’s grace means. As Thomas Merton put it, "A saint is not someone who is good hut who experiences the goodness of
God.” (Brennan Manning. Ragamuffin Gospel)

If Our God Is Small-Minded Bookkeeper, Then So Are We

"The bending of the mind by the powers of this world has twisted the
gospel of grace into religious bondage and distorted the image of God
into an eternal, small-minded bookkeeper. The Christian community
resembles a Wall Street exchange of works wherein the elite are
honored and the ordinary ignored. Love is stifled, freedom shackled,
and self-righteousness fastened. The institutional church has become a wounder of the healers rather than a healer of the wounded."(Brennan Manning. Ragamuffin Gospel)

When Rigidity Is Mistaken For Faithfulness.

"And it did what the gospel can’t help but do: It broke the power of mere “moralistic religiosity" in my life and revived a deeper acceptance that had long ago withered in me.
ln our society, we tend to swear unyielding allegiance to a rigid position, confusing that action with finding an authentic connection to a Life-giving Spirit."

(Rich Mullins in forward to "Ragamuffin Gospel, Brennan Manning)

Directed Personal Giving

"It is impossible to describe the big difference this direct-line foreign aid made in our work. Imagination and elbow grease can go only so far and then what has been begun may be lost without a little impetus in the form of cash. The American dollar goes a long way in Ecuador and with it some wonderful things can happen: a family able to save the Life of a child, or a carpentry workshop able to buy tools for its students, etc. This is the core of our Peace Corps experience-things happening on a personal level that could never happen through the conventional channels of foreign aid." (Rhoda Brooks. Barrios of Manta. Pg 103.)

The Invisible Humanitarian

Check my new website for Live Stories from Mali, West Africa.

The Invisible Humanitarian 

Christian Sophisticates Always Do Nothing

He has a point. We will argue about your how..... But we still do nothing, stand for nothing.

<blockquote>"This whole thing makes me think it is some kind of reprise of the Chick Fil A uproar. Somebody strayed from the Appointed Way, the homolobby flexed in order to shut up a critic, middle America responded by buying so many metric tons of chicken sandwiches, and then sophisticated Christians sneered at this inadequate and “entirely predictable” and “red statey” response. The same thing has happened in the aftermath of Robertson’s comments. He said what he did, A&E suspended him for it, and more than a million regular folks have signed on to a “Stand With Phil” website. And, here comes the point of this post, Christian sophisticates are critical of . . . you guessed it! But this reminds me of something that D.L. Moody once said — “I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it.”
The contrast must not be between how unsophisticated Christians fight and how sophisticated Christians . . . what do they do? At most, they demur, with a throat-clearing caveat or two. Theologians and ecclesiastical eggheads can make merry over this kind of pop culture melee if they like. The material is there — “look at those rubes, standing against the principalities and powers with their duck calls, zz top beards, and chicken sammich haute cuisine, hold the mayo.”
But the lack of self-awareness in this criticism is staggering. These are shepherds who feed only themselves (Ezek. 34:2). When shepherds have neglected the flock for so long, and the wolves are ravaging them, and the sheep come up with some kind of strategy to defend themselves, and the shepherds sit up on the ridge, laughing at the tactical inadequacy of what the sheep are attempting, what shall we call that?
So what do we need? We don’t need generals. We have that. We need generals who fight. We don’t need leadership councils. We have those. We need national leaders who fight. We don’t need pretty boy preachers. We have those. We need preachers who fight. We don’t need evangelical regiments of pajamaboys. We have that. We need fight, and we need to fight with everything we have — heart, strength, and brains. All in.
Show me your forearms. Unless there are scars all over them, then I honestly don’t want to hear your views of the inadequacy of these cultural clashes (Gal. 6:17). When the barbarians are throwing their scaling ladders against the city walls, if the only defenders at the top of those walls are Chick Fil A employees in paper hats and hot grease from the deep fryer, and rednecks with their beards and shotguns, and nobody at all there from Red Brick Memorial Reformed, Rev. Forsythe P. Snodgrass, D.Min, minister, then let us be frank. We shouldn’t blame the folks who are there.
“His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber” (Is. 56:10)."
(Douglas Wilson. Accessed Dec 12, 2013)<blockquote>

Church Still Works When Governments Don't.

"The church is the only institution in the country that operates with continuity when everything else falls into turmoil during a revolution or a coup d'etat.” (Rhoda Brooks. Barrios Of Manta. Peace Corps worker in Ecudar, pg 99 )

Not Now.... Maybe Later

Don't push the maybe, baby!

<blockquote>"The most dangerous risk of all - The risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can by yourself the freedom to do it later." (Unknown)<blockquote>

The Common Ground of All Humanity

Changes how we see and treat people, does it not?

<blockquote>"Everyone you meet is afraid of something, loves something, and has lost something " (unknown)<blockquote>

Christian Cannibals?

"I’m still in the church, despite lots of scars on my back from the Christian Cannibals out there. I just managed to find a congregation I feel safe with to be me, who are, mostly, not scared of hard questions" (Drew) post comments on a blog post I read somewhere.

Stop Dragging Me To Church!

"Let go or be dragged". (Attributed as Old Buddhist Saying)

I have no idea if this is an actually Buddhist saying or not. I came across it in an article one time.
However, I felt it had some implications for believers as well. Not because it is "Biblical truth". Rather, because practically it seems to make some since sometimes.

So many people really want to connect with Jesus, and they never set out to bash the local church (Prescribed more than described, by church folks), I know I didn't. But, anything but "I accept this, it is so helpful" is not welcome.

People are trying to find Jesus, to connect with him and others in him name. Is it happening for most of you?

Busy as "Old Blazes" in the church system, doing all these great programs and ministries that are suppose to help people grow in Christ, and we have come to believe we NEED them to grow in Christ.

However, in the end we look around, WE who are running all this stuff, and confess, "This is not helping me get closer to Jesus". Then we look around and ask others,"Is it working for you?" and the answer in private is usually, "No!". However, that is not the face put forward on Sunday. If we put on the true self, the true face, that face gets slapped by the church saying, "This Does help.... it's just you."

Let me in on the little underground secret. It's not just you. It's most of us.

Church programs were fun in their own way, and I enjoyed the people I met, but this stuff did not get me closer to Jesus, no closer to people. No! In fact, this had so cluttered my life it hindered the process, the program did the opposite of what it was intended to do. It became another thing, hurtle, obstacle, barrier to me connecting with Jesus. Something else I have to pass through to get to Jesus. We are throwing something else second hand in between us and him.

Then we get it one day. I need him... just Him, and other to walk with, in him.

I do not suggest anyone (Never have - not once) leave their local church, personally.
But I would suggest that you drop everything you are doing until you have space and time for Jesus. Spending more time sitting and thinking about Jesus, and get to understand and sense the reality that he is with me all the time. ALL... OF.....THE... TIME..... :-) There are no sacred places, sacred events, sacred times, sacred buildings, sacred land. All of life is lived under the breath of God, and the reality of his Son Jesus. Life is Sacred. Gardening is sacred, Scripture is sacred, time with believers is sacred, time with non Christians is sacred. It's all lived and experienced under the reality of Jesus.

The best advice I ever received was. "Andy, stop trying to promote it or defend it to people, just live it."

Does it mean we should never talk about our journey into real connection with others and with Jesus?
No, but I recommend that you share it with only those who seek you out. People who are looking for answers for their own journey, and they have seen something in you, so  they seek you out. Speak to only who God puts in your path, not who you have chosen to put in your cross hairs.

I see no need for you to go explain it to your Pastor, the elders, the church structure, or anyone.  All they hear is church bashing. They will not get it, some might, but they can not bless it usually.

• We are your Leaders... we have not lead you to this where is this coming from?... Issues
• Serve More, Attend this Group, It will Help..... I gets in my way, so I'm going to step back.... Issues
• We are growing this church........ I may need to step out for a while ...... Issues
• Why is participation in events decreasing? You need  these to grow child...... They exhaust me more than they help........ Issues.
• This is the churches and Leaders vision..... It's not my vision.......... Issues.
• We are the Spiritual Leaders....... Why are you telling people about your simple path?....... They asked me..... Issues..
• Why Are You Supporting the direction of the church?....... I Personally can't do that, But I'm Being silent about it...... Issues.

My experience is that when you talk about what you are running to..... you have to begin with the starting line.

"I left my old life, and moved into this Cabin on this mountain in the Canadian Yukon".

Means something different for the guy who then points saying, See that cabin over there on the other side of the valley? That is my mom and dad over there, I grew up there as the son of a mountain man, and felt it was time to build my own cabin.

Very different than the man who says, "I lived in Florida, got tired of the city life, traffic jams, an the heat. I had a small business but grew weary of the stresses of business, finances, Long hours doing something that did not satisfy me. I was never home, My wife cheated on me eventually. My daughter had to be treated for depression. I remarried and it was ok, but the rat race of that Florida life was the problem. I knew I needed to simplify my life, so I came here to begin a new life. I built this cabin and have been here since.

Every testimony I ever heard at church. "Life was bad, I was bad, Jesus broke through, got me to the good place.......... I've been in Church ever since."    And we say...... Amen!

Continuing testimony,

"You brought me into this church body, I liked the people, they are all good people. But after a few years I was sinking in over my head being busy serving in the programs, I was not home for my family, I was out 3 or 4 nights a week with church stuff. I had absolutely no time to make any nonchristain friends to evangelize, I was tired, I was feeling stressed, I was not growing in Jesus. Had not tie to read my bible, I was never home. Had not time to pray as I was at all the events. So to help me grow, I attended more and more discipleship programs and bible studies designed to help me.... Nothing seemed to help. I was sinking brothers and sisters. Then I realized, I don't need to fill my life with all this stuff to Grow in Jesus, I need time with Jesus, to grow in Jesus. So I stripped most of it away."

 Can I hear and Amen Brother! Nope!

"Let go, or be dragged?  I think it goes both ways for the Church Institution.

1. I have to let go of you:  Or I could be a burden to you doing church that way. Out of love I try to stay with you, but because I have simplified my life, I no longer go that speed, I'm like a dead weight to you, and you find me frustrating.

2. You have to let go of me:   I feel it's time to go, but you won't let me go. You keep your hands on me, dragging me back, dragging me away from this silly new path, Draggin me back to this kind of church experience. By doing so you only further damage my body and soul, being dragged hurts me.

I'm Questioning Humanity - Not God.

"I have never questioned my faith in God, I have questioned my faith in humanity" (Priests comments to BBC's Mark Mardell over Newtown killings

Time To Sit And Visit People

"More and more, the desire grows in me simply to walk around, greet people, enter their homes, sit on their doorsteps, play ball, throw water and be known as someone who wants to live with them. It is a privilege to have the time to practice this simple ministry of presence.
Still, it is not as simple as it seems. My own desire to be useful, to do something significant or to be part of some impressive project is so strong that soon my time is taken up by meetings, conferences, study groups and workshops that prevent me from walking the streets. It is difficult not to have plans, not to organize people around an urgent cause and not to feel that you are working directly for social progress.
But I wonder more and more if the first thing shouldn't be to know people by name, to eat and drink with them, to listen to their stories and tell your own, and to let them know with words, handshakes and hugs that you do not simply like them, but truly love them."
(Henri Nouwen)

Legitimate Grief Over Church

"Christian culture doesn’t have a category for grief and anger at wrongs done in God’s name. They see it all as cynicism." (Jim Palmer).

I've treated people this way..... Sorry! Sometimes people have been hurt and we focus more on their need to accept it, and get over it, quickly. We do not permit them time to recover from wounds. Wound them more by suggesting they should get over it fast or they are sinning.  All the while we do little to address or acknowledge the causing factors.

Typical Church People Response to Organic or Simple Church Ideas

I'd have to say that this about summarizes it very well. 

"When Nicole and I started down the road of beginning an organic church..... we knew in our earliest of conversations with people that the greatest “persecution” we would face would be from those we loved most. From other believers, friends, even family....The reason Nicole asked me to write this was due to my sadness, confusion even, in reading some of the comments she’s received the past few weeks when writing about organic church. They are the same types of remarks we have become accustomed to hearing firsthand. Things like…
- Are you just a group of people who are disenfranchised with the church?
- You clearly have a problem with authority.
- What did the church do wrong to you?
- That’s not church.
http://www.churchleaders.com/outreach-missions/outreach-missions-

Get Out of Your Mind?

"Get out of your head and live your life.... Be careful of a spiritual life that is mostly mental – accumulating more and more information and knowledge, conceptualizing new and improved concepts, analyzing and debating this or that idea, latching on to the latest and greatest spiritual guru. (Jim Palmer)

Neil Cole's Letter About Starling Initiatives

MISSIONS IS BROKEN AND NEEDS TO CHANGE 
Missions is broken and needs to change
As I have traveled all over the world equipping the church to do mission I have discovered that the way missions has been done for the past 100+ years is broken.
For two decades we helped to get the missional church on track but we found the avenues for international missions were not suitable for this new breed of kingdom minded missionaries. There was a breakdown in the mission. Those trained in organic church struggled in suffocating organizational structures. At the same time, the mission organizations that have been in place were often threatened by the emerging new forms of church and leadership and were also incapable of initiating works with this new paradigm. In fact, their livelihood depended upon them not understanding and accepting the new paradigm.
In just ten years time (ca 47-57 AD) the apostle Paul was able to establish a thriving expression of the kingdom of God in five different provinces of the Roman Empire: Galatia, Macedonia, Achaia, Asia Minor and Illyricum. After that he had nothing more to do there and was off to other places further west. Today we do not see even one people group reached in the same amount of time. We have air travel, mobile phones, the internet, rapid transit, computers, Bible aids, mass communication and a an abundance of publications, none of which was available to Paul. At the same time, we also have the same God, the same empowering presence of the Holy Spirit and the same powerful good news that he had. Nevertheless we are struggling to see even a fraction of the fruitfulness he saw and it is taking us a whole lot longer for what little fruit we see. Surely we are doing something wrong.
I am convinced that we can save billions of dollars and accomplish 10 times the results if we have the courage to do missions differently. Mission agency dysfunction has been a well-known secret that can no longer be denied or contained, yet is unpopular to speak about. We are sending too many people, the wrong kind of people, who are staying too long, costing too much, and not leaving behind a healthy, well-rounded and indigenous movement that is strong enough to endure let alone send missionaries to other places. This must change. The past 20 years God called me to give mission back to the church. Now God is calling me to bring the healthy church back into missions.
We simply cannot expect current mission agencies to correct a problem that they are contributing to and not designed to fix...and one that they actually benefit from maintaining. More of the same will only produce more of the same. So I, and a few others, feel called to start something new, something more organic, movemental and indigenously empowering. And we need to start something that does not produce a dependence upon US dollars, leadership and models of ministry. This is why we are starting Starling Initiatives.

A Good Head, Heart, And Pen is Mighty

“A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special.” (Nelson Mandela)

Church is Big Business. The Power of the Evangelical Machine

Why would we air the dirty Laundry of the church? Because dirty Laundry needs to be washed, not pushed under the bed. Period! The church is a hush it up environment.  Those to voice the concern are LAMBASTED....... When something can not be corrected, and error can not be acknowledged and discussed, that thing has been corrupted.

When I first read that staff members before being hired at Mars Hill Church must sign a "Non Disclosure: Agreement to be hired, and are threatened to be sued - if they reveal things about their job, the church or the staff environment or the nature of their dismissal.  Bottom line there is one Head of the wolf pack, and anyone who does not do as told, is eliminated. And when you are eliminated "Shut the Hell up".

These underlined words below do not surprise me. I am in no way speaking about Mark Driscoll.... However, I think his predicament, and the reaction of those involved to to it, show us how the machine works. The church Institution always wins. I mean... no matter how corrupt, or twisted the institution becomes, it preserves itself.  The machine will crush, question, malign, and destroy you simply because you dared to ask ,Why?  Power baby.... don't question mine.  This is what I am running from.

Over the Mark Driscoll Plagiarism conflict

"I was a part-time, topic producer for Janet Mefferd until yesterday when I resigned over this situation. All I can share is that there is an evangelical celebrity machine that is more powerful than anyone realizes. You may not go up against the machine. That is all. Mark Driscoll clearly plagiarized and those who could have underscored the seriousness of it and demanded accountability did not. That is the reality of the evangelical industrial complex........I’ve read much speculation online, which is understandable given the confusing situation, most of it dead wrong. Being limited in what I can share, let me just say that truth tellers face multiple pressure sources these days. I hosted a radio show for 23 years and know from experience how Big Publishing protects its celebrities. Anything but fawning adulation for those who come on your show (a gift of free air time for the author/publisher by the way) is not taken well. Like Dr. Carl Trueman so aptly asked yesterday in his column at Reformation 21, does honest journalism have any role to play in evangelicalism now? (It was rhetorical.) My own take on that question is, no, it does not. The moment hard questions are asked, the negative focus goes on the questioner, - See more at: See more at: http://jonathanmerritt.religionnews.com/2013/12/06/mefferd-producer-resigns-driscoll-controversy/#sthash.J6DOvfin.dpuf"

Deathbed Regrets.....?

A point well taken. 

People continually post these posts about the only thing you regret on your deathbed being what you did not do. As in, you should have done a lot of stupid shit and taken a bunch of risks that, I dunno, could have gotten you eaten by a bear or impregnated by a stripper or dead leaping out of a plane.
I think those people are full of shit......
Most of the things I regret in my life are things I did that were unwise or in some way cost or injured me.......
There are things you do not do in this life because of a sense of overbearing caution or fear. Sometimes that overbearing caution or fear is justified. Like, you know, don’t shake hands with the Grizzly. He is not a cartoon. He will rip your arm off, watch you bleed out, and then floss his teeth with your tendons while he eats your liver.
But that is a bit extreme.
Sometimes you do not do something because you are living in a brain box of your own making that is cauterizing your life and cutting you off from any opportunity.
And sometimes it is maybe hard to tell the difference.
I think maybe that is who that statement, “You’ll regret what you did not do more than what you did do,” is meant for. (Celluloid Blonde - Regret whut?)

A Translator Goes To Heaven..............

A sad Day.....  A translator killed in Central African Republic.  A heavy heart of prayer goes up for this family.

The words of an ancient father of faith comes to mind.

"....the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church....... The more you mow us down, the more numerous we grow; the blood of Christians is seed." - Tertullian

http://www.wycliffe.ca/wycliffe/newsroom/release.jsp?uuid=57fe0a84db

Mandela Made A Marriage Possible

At the news of Nelson Mandela's death, my friend Catherine Robar, originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and now living and working in South Africa with her South African husband, wrote today, December 5th 2013)

"Without these sacrifices Gcinisizwe would have been jailed or murdered for being found in the presence of white people, and I would have been deported back to Canada for fraternizing with black people. Thank you for sacrificing your life for our freedom."

Nelson Mandela Dies But Not His Words.

"No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his
background, or his religion. People must learn to hate,and if they can learn to hate,they can be taught to love for love comes more naturally the human heart than its
opposite." (Nelson Mandela)

Calvinists probably doubt it. But I don't. I've seen it everywhere, and in many a remote place

"For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in such a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others." (Nelson Mandela)

No More Shame........

"I grew up going to church and though church can be beautiful, I’ve noticed religious communities are especially adept at getting people to carry buckets of guilt and shame around. After the horse experience, I decided to leave the guilt and shame with the church and walk off with Jesus."(Donald Miller Does Attending Church Mean You Must Carry “Buckets of Shame?” Dec 2, 2013)

Full Article here

Bastions Of Democracy

"The elections have one great benefit for Hotel Djenne Djenno: the International Election Observers  are staying at the hotel and eating here too.  There are two nice young European men staying: one Hungarian and one Romanian, sent here by the European Union.  And then there are two Africans: one from Liberia and one from Sierra Leone.  Keita  giggled about this: ‘ Those two  great bastions of Democracy and Human Rights are overseeing our elections!’ Malians, inspite of their two year crisis, still feel that they lie well over the West African average when it comes to progress, civilization  and democracy" (djenneDjenno.blogspot com)

Don't Criticize The Church Just Accept The Pain And Abuse As Good For You

"Expressions of sharp and even violent criticism of religion and the church have been welcomed [in this collection], for they usually imply sincerity of thought. If caustic criticism of religious institutions and practices is irreligious, then Amos, Isaiah, and Jesus were very it religious men. In fact, that is exactly what many of their contemporaries took them to be."
(Halford E. Luccock (1885-1960) & Frances Brentano, The Questing Spirit)

The Church That Doesn't Change Me.

Like..... da!..... That dirty little secret we can't talk about.... Church attendance does not actually help grow many people.
Jesus has this job......

"More and more researchis disclosing something the Christian churchwould rather deny. Church activity does not
necessarily result in spiritual growth.
We do a lot of good things, but we aren't doinga very good job carrying out our core mission,which is to make disciples of Jesus Christ.

After five years studying 1200 churches andexamining the results of 280,000 in-depthresponses, Willow Creek's seminal "RevealStudy" concluded, "Church activity IS NOT ablueprint for spiritual growth." In fact, theydiscovered that the longer someone attendschurch without significant spiritual growth theless likely they are to ever experiencesignificant spiritual transformation."

Save The Worlds Dishes

"Everybody wants to save the earth;nobody wants to help Mom with the dishes." (P. J. O'Rourke)

Knowing.... In The Real Sense

"We live in an age where we know
about a lot of things, but we don't really know them"
(Richard Louv. Last Child In The Woods)

"Nouny" Community Is For Me

"One of the missiological 'misses' of our day is the use of the term 'community' as an adjective, and not as a noun." (Pathfinders Fellowships)

Religious Shaping

Winston Churchill remarked that "we shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us."

What If Church Fundraising Just Disappeared?

"One of the greatest challenges which the organic church movement comes up against in the West, is the refined, efficient and effective culture of fundraising which is so often associated with full time ministry / church leadership ... clergy roles. As one who excelled in these in the past, it has taken me years to reframe the legitimate (and limited) role these truly have in the big picture." (Pathfinders Fellowships Canada FB Page)

The Diabolical Self

"If anyone thinks that Christians regard unchastity as the supreme vice, he is quite wrong. The sins of the flesh are bad, but they are the least bad of all sins. All the worst pleasures are purely spiritual: the pleasure of putting other people in the wrong, of bossing and patronising and spoiling sport, and backbiting; the pleasures of power, of hatred. For there are two things inside me, competing with the human self which I must try to become. They are the Animal self, and the Diabolical self. The Diabolical self is the worse of the two. That is why a cold, self-righteous prig who goes regularly to church may be far nearer to hell than a prostitute. But, of course, it is better to be neither."
Clive Lewis

Thy Kingdom Came.....

Nowhere in the New Testament are we told to "build the Kingdom." It is already built "from the foundation of the world," built into the nature of reality. You "see," "enter," "proclaim," "suffer for" the Kingdom, but never "build" it. For the
Kingdom is not a relativism to be built, but an absolute to be accepted, submitted to, obeyed. (E. Stanley Jones (1884-1973), The Christ of the American Road)

A Sharing Poverty

"Although by our standards these were among the poorest people in the world, each of them would give free fish to those families most in need. Many centuries ago these people learned to share in both good and bad times; it is now their heritage.” (living Poor PCS )

Belonging to God Is Our Identity

"Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion." (Brennan Manning, 1934-2013 from Abba's Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging)

Things We Take and The Things We Leave Behind.

Describes the life of international workers well.

"Their’s will be a story of what they gain, and what they lose. Their’s will be a tale of the things they take with them, and the things they leave behind. Their’s will be a song that sings the names of the places they belong, and the places they never will.

And I feel like all I write is about how things are hard but good, but this is the experience that is constant: that nothing is constant. It is the tension of this fluid life."
Loss. Belonging.

"THERE ARE FAR, FAR BETTER THINGS AHEAD THAN ANY WE LEAVE BEHIND."
(C.S. LEWIS)