Community

We all live in community. In fact we live in multiple communities. Our communities are formed from our church, family, school, work, hobbies, friends, etc. We move from community to community as we live out our week. Which one of these communities is primary in our lives? Which one should be? At times we engage in double talk. First we say that the church should be the primary community. Then we tell people that family should be. And don’t forget to make and maintain friendships and to build good relationships at work. So where do we stand? Where should we stand? There are scholars and theologians that could be found to defend and promote anyone of these communities. But perhaps figuring out what is our primary community is not that important.

Perhaps we need a different view of community and specifically of our church community. Why does our church exist? The church exists to glorify God by extending the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. The kingdom of Jesus Christ is not solely extended by increasing our church programs or by making sure that our organization is growing or even by making sure that everyone is so involved in church activities that they do not have time to do anything else. It is extended by us bringing Jesus into our communities. These communities are made up from our families, work, sports, friends, etc. So since the church exists to extend the Kingdom of Jesus and the Kingdom is extended in other communities the church therefore exists to bless these other communities.

This means that the church needs to equip people to live in their different communities and not to just live in the church community. The church needs to be giving and blessing the communities instead of taking away from them. The church needs to help people to be better people in their communities not just better people in the church.

Really it is a call for the church die for the world…just like Jesus died for the world.

God's work

Irreligiosa sollicitudo pro Deo - this wonderful expression means "a blasphemous anxiety to do God's work for him."
This is the anxiety that causes us to be frantic and panicked. We are frazzled and hassled because the work is not done. And for some reason we are not able to get it done. This anxiety does not allow us to rest or to be still before God because their is something else that needs to be done.
Mark Buchanan states that we should still rest. Not because the work is finished but because God is God. Our rest states that we cannot do the work. It declares that the work is not really ours anyways. It is God's work. And he invites us to partner with him in doing it but he also tells us to rest. The world is not resting on our shoulders. God is able to do more with and threw us if we spend times being still before him.
This is not an excuse to be lazy. It is a call to allow God to be God. And for us to stop trying to do his work.

Curling

Yesterday my church went curling together. We rented the rink, curled all afternoon and then some stayed for supper (another group went to the church for a hymn sing). It was tons of fun. I never realized that curling could be so much fun to play (it looks really boring on TV). My daughters really enjoyed playing. My oldest told me that she would like to join a team some day.
The best part though was playing with different people from our church. It was an excellent way to mix and visit with people. A huge thanks needs to be given to the people who organized this event. I certainly hope it happens again next year.

Guidance

I was sitting on a beach in Oregon wondering what I was going to do with my life. Where was I going? What was I suppose to be doing? Who was suppose to marry? What school should I go to? Should I go to school? Where should I work? Live? I sat and struggled with the questions of life. I was never visited by any angels, or heard voices from heaven to give me guidance. But in many years since I have been guided by Yahweh as I take each step.
We are all on a journey. We all need guidance. Last week I hear two really good messages on guidance.
Nathan from our church: God's guidance in my life
Rob Bell from Mars Hill: Leaving control for faith (They also do the sermons on a podcast)

Check them out and let me know what you think.

And if you are a part of our church I would love to know how your fasting is going.

Wierd world

Fact: Ice is colder than boiling water.
Apparently this fact is not always true. A group of scientists have made ice that is hotter than boiling water (check it out). I just hate it when science destroys my hard facts. The world is making perfect sense. And then someone comes along and messes with my perception of reality. In school I was given the idea that the world makes sense. However science now gives me a picture of a world that is strange and bizarre. A picture of a world that I cannot really fit into my brain. I am personally becoming more and more convinced that we really do not have a clue what is going on we just think we do. Sure we can manipulate a few different things but that is not really understanding it.

PLANET EARTH, THE FUTURE

CBC is going to be airing an interesting show tonight. The show is called Plant Earth, The Future. What really triggered my interest was in the description it said: "How can conservation fit into a world driven by economics and development? At what point does eco-tourism cross the boundary of real benefit to the wildlife? Looks at the role of religion in promoting a moral and ethical approach to our world."
That last line really got me interested. I do believe that our faith in God should promote good stewardship of the earth. I am wondering how they are going to approach this issue. Should be interesting. Hopefully I remember to watch it.

I missed it. It was on CBC News world which I do not have. :(

Going Slow

Have you ever experienced a time when the whole world seems to suddenly get in line? When it feels like God has reached down and is ordering things to drive one message into your head? Well that is sort of how I am feeling right now. And the message is "Go Slow."
First, we have chosen to read a book called The Rest of God. It is all about the Sabbath and slowing down. Second, a good friend of mine gave me the book The Contemplative Pastor. In the first chapter Eugene (the writer) states that he wants to be less busy. Third, a friend stopped into my office today and told me about the "go slow club". It was a club a four year old started because he felt that life was too busy. So he would just go slow. Fourth, I was checking out a magazine called Geez (looks really interesting) and found a website called De-motorize your soul (check this site out). It states " Relax a bit, and join the spirited slow-down."
So I think God might be whispering (possibly yelling) for me to slow down.

Van Morrison

Last night my friend Frank and I went to the Van Morrison concert. It was totally awesome. I would have to say that it was the best concert that I have ever been to. It was better than Pink Floyd, Ziggy Marely, Midnight Oil, Tragically Hip (who I saw three times), Third Day, Crash Test Dummies, Elvis Costello (he was awful), U2 (who happen to be my favorite band), or any other group that I have seen. It was also totally different from any concert that I have ever seen.
Every concert (with exception of some blue grass concerts I went to with my Dad) I had ever been to had been a show. A show that rehearsed and programed. It did not matter if the group was a large name or just some local group. Pink Floyd I am sure was programed down to the second. And one Christian group when I saw them the third time I could say their jokes along with them. Van Morrison was just about the music. There was no light show, no smoke, no jokes, just really good music. And you could tell as they played that nothing was programed. They at appeared to decide to do certain songs while on stage. And during the songs Van Morrison would point to different members of the band to indicate that they should do a solo at that point. It was amazing. They were so very, very talented.
The other thing that made Van Morrison different from other groups is that he really highlighted his band. When he was not singing or doing a sax solo he would move to the back of the stage to allow the other musicians to have the spot light. Often I have seen other rock stars love to be worshipped.
There was also no warm up act. His band came on and did two numbers without him. Then he joined them and played for 90 minutes. Van Morrison then walked off to the side (the band stayed where they were) and then came back on to do two closing numbers.
Can you tell that I really liked the concert.