tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27534601203445265362024-02-21T20:02:53.836-05:00Seeking True NorthCrystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03917444230479505568noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753460120344526536.post-91317411778396569782013-06-23T13:04:00.002-04:002013-07-09T11:34:27.808-04:00"I Have a Dream..."*I have a dream that one day the church of Jesus Christ will rise up to her God-given calling and begin to live out the true meaning of her identity --which is, the very heartthrob of God Almighty --the fiancee of the King of all Kings.<br />
<br />
I have a dream that Jesus Christ will one day be Head of His church again. Not in pious rhetoric, but in reality.<br />
<br />
I have a dream that groups of Christians everywhere will begin to flesh out the New Testament reality that the church is a living organism and not an institutional organization.<br />
<br />
I have a dream that the clergy/laity divide will someday be an antique of church history, and the Lord Jesus Himself will replace the moss-laden system of human hierarchy that has usurped His authority among His people.<br />
<br />
I have a dream that multitudes of God's people will no longer tolerate those man-made systems that have put them in religious bondage and under a pile of guilt, duty, condemnation, making them slaves to authoritarian systems and leaders.<br />
<br />
I have a dream that the centrality and supremacy of Jesus Christ will be the focus, the mainstay, and the pursuit of every Christian and every church. And that God's dear people will no longer be obsessed with spiritual and religious things to the point of division. But that their obsession and pursuit would be a person-the Lord Jesus Christ.<br />
<br />
I have a dream that countless churches will be transformed from high-powered business organizations into spiritual families - authentic Christ-centered communities - where the members know one another intimately, love one another unconditionally, bleed for one another deeply, and rejoice with one another unfailingly.<br />
<br />
I have a dream today....<br />
<br />
* "I Have a Dream" written by Frank Viola in <a href="http://www.reimaginingchurch.org/" target="_blank">Reimagining Church</a> -- adapted from Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech delivered in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963.Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03917444230479505568noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753460120344526536.post-36271172496717235922013-06-23T10:11:00.000-04:002013-06-23T12:54:45.419-04:00A Christian's RoleIt's been awhile since I've visited this blog and looking at the statistics on this blog, it's been awhile since <i>anyone</i> has visited this blog. However since my husband and I are both currently in the middle of reading some of <a href="http://frankviola.org/about/" target="_blank">Frank Viola</a>'s books -- <a href="http://www.paganchristianity.org/" target="_blank">Pagan Christianity</a> and <a href="http://www.reimaginingchurch.org/" target="_blank">Reimagining Church</a> -- the subject of house church is on our minds and hearts. Because of this I'd like to share some of my own thoughts either directly or indirectly related to house-churching. Since I host another blog for my women's ministry and first posted my thoughts there, my post below will continue onto the <a href="http://kajijigirls.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Kajiji Girls</a> website. So for those who haven't read the original post, I present it here:<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #ffd966;">"A topic that keeps tumbling around in my brain and popping up in conversation recently has been Service. Everyone who truly follows Christ feels led to serve in some way. Whether you serve in your community, your church or your home, service opportunities are always before you. What’s interesting for me though is how we label service. For instance, because my family attends a house church, it’s much harder to see service opportunities, at least, on the face of things. There are no sign-up sheets asking for teachers, nursery workers, musicians, etc. There are no special collections taken for the poor, the unemployed, the widow or the regular offering to contribute toward all the expenses associated with running a charitable organization or church building. I’m sure many people who have tried house church eventually leave feeling like there’s nothing for them to do or nowhere to give of themselves or their money, and God has placed some kind of cause or service on their heart so they must go somewhere to fulfill that role. The point is God has placed service on every one of his follower’s hearts, and we are commanded to fill that role.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #ffd966;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #ffd966;">House church eliminates titles. And coming from a traditional church background, this can actually be very hard to deal with when you don’t know any other way. <b>When you know your role, you know your place..."</b></span><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Please continue reading <a href="http://kajijigirls.blogspot.com/2013/05/a-christians-role.html" target="_blank">here</a>...</i></div>
Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03917444230479505568noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753460120344526536.post-3838333916688752152012-05-24T00:11:00.001-04:002012-05-24T00:11:37.590-04:00A Light in the DarknessWhenever I hear someone ranting about all the evil that organized religion has brought into the world, they always, at some point in their diatribe, mention The Crusades. Well, they say, isn't that just the Middle Ages' equivalent of Muslim holy jihad, off killing people in the name of religion? The Christian precursor to the holocaust? You Christians are no different than any other religion who uses your God to justify atrocities. I have several objections to the this, but here are just two: 1)While religion certainly played a role in the Crusades, and likely underlies some of the more headline-worthy atrocities, the fundamental cause of the Crusades was not religious, but was the same as most other military conflicts: politics, economics, power, regional conflict and trade; and 2) C'mon, really? Is that the best ya got? You need to reach back 1000 years to find something to bash Christianity with? You can't come up with anything a little more recent? That's like Catholics hating Jews because they killed Jesus. But I digress.<br />
<br />
My point was, I read something interesting today in my daily devotional regarding the Middle/Dark Ages and Christianity's role therein, which not only rebuts the "religion is bad" argument, but does so by citing examples from the Middle/Dark Ages themselves, the very era from which most of the anti-Christian ammunition (corrupt bishops, selling indulgences, the Inquisition, etc.) usually comes from.<br />
<br />
The devotional is <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dangerous-Grace-Charles-W-Colson/dp/1860240151/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337830438&sr=8-1" target="_blank">A Dangerous Grace</a> by Chuck Colson, who passed away last month. The days reading, summarized, was this:<br />
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" /><span style="color: maroon; font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: yellow;"> After the Roman Empire fell, chaos ruled Europe. Warring bands of illiterate Germanic tribes opposed and deposed one another. People were scattered across the land in crude huts and rough towns. Early medieval Europe seemed destined for complete barbarism.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: yellow;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: yellow;"> One force prevented this: the Church.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: yellow;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: yellow;"> Instead of conforming to the barbarian culture of the Dark Ages, the medieval church modeled a counter culture to a world engulfed by destruction and confusion. Thousands of monastic centers spread across Europe, characterized by discipline, creativity, and a coherence and moral order lacking in the world around them. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow; font-family: Arial;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">The French monks ran schools and sheltered orphans, widows, paupers, and slaves. They opened hospitals, constructed aqueducts, banned witchcraft.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: yellow;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> In Ireland, the monks</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> cleared forests, plowed fields, fasted, prayed, and lived lives of vigorous discipline. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: yellow;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="color: yellow;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">In England the religious orders fought illiteracy, violence, lechery, and greed. They drained swamps, bridged creeks, cut roads; they copied manuscripts, organized industrial centers and schools.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: yellow;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: yellow;"> By holding on to such vestiges of civilization - faith, learning, and civility - the monks and nuns held back the night, and eventually The West emerged into a renewed period of cultural creativity, education, and art.</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
(You can read the full version <a href="http://www.rebuildjournal.org/resbkexcrptfldr/newbarbarians.html" target="_blank">here.</a>)<br />
<br />
People like to go on and on about how much better this world would be without organized religion. Really? How much longer would the Dark Ages have lasted if the Church, flawed as she was (is), did not "hold on to such vestiges of civilization?" Do they forget that it was primarily churchmen, like William Wilberforce, that were the driving force behind the abolitionist movement? That it was churchmen like the REV. Martin Luther King who helped drive the civil rights movement? That for the last several hundred years, all that we have learned through science is attributable to Christianity. How do you figure that, they say. Because it is Christians who believe in an orderly world, created by an orderly God, that follows orderly rules that can be discovered through testing and investigation who were the only ones capable of doing science in the necessary manner to make such discoveries. If you are part of a culture that is sacrificing animals to the volcano god to ensure good crops, you cannot possibly learn about electricity and cell division and thermodynamics.<br />
<br />
So, the next time someone brings up the Crusades, enlighten them about the Dark Ages and the role Christianity really played.<br />
<br />
MJO<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Michael Ortliebhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525784064180048790noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753460120344526536.post-843807305094034502010-12-19T00:36:00.010-05:002010-12-19T10:53:51.393-05:00Trusting Because of Who He is<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxa6dJs3ggZHLrgU-fB51ZO6mITcQAleiZkIvGtAnsYW-arXbpy6Jq5CAeUpL9us2S2MX6i8ePIP57nih8TZUQQ18FGuaHy-SvS31lnT7Km3SYTyv6gpbIu6RvrG9SKawqPrRSTHzYWEFx/s1600/trust.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552421034965871730" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxa6dJs3ggZHLrgU-fB51ZO6mITcQAleiZkIvGtAnsYW-arXbpy6Jq5CAeUpL9us2S2MX6i8ePIP57nih8TZUQQ18FGuaHy-SvS31lnT7Km3SYTyv6gpbIu6RvrG9SKawqPrRSTHzYWEFx/s400/trust.jpg" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;">As all of you know, I've been planning on going to Haiti. This has been in the works for the last four months or so. A couple weeks ago, I got an urgent phone call from the team leader expressing how much he thought it not a good idea to go. The reports coming in have gotten worse and worse since we decided to do this trip. The report written by the Dept of State is enough to make your skin crawl. He sought counsel and lost sleep over thinking and seeking God before contacting me (the team leader of the girls). I listened with an open mind to all of his concerns and prayed about it HARD and earnestly. To be honest, when I hung up from him, I felt like I couldn't breathe....<br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;">That's the only way I can explain it. </span></div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;">My whole team felt that way. Over the next five days text messages and phone calls were flying back and forth... I answered the phone once to a girl who was just crying on the other end. The only word she uttered over the call was "Why?"<br />The word haunted us all. This change of direction caused us to feel very confused, hurt... and lost. We had put so much thought, prayer, emotion and preperation into this for MONTHS and to have it ripped away left us heart broken.<br /><br />Doubt now took the home of certainty. Confusion infested us all as questions flooded our minds "Why would God lead us this far?" "What was the purpose of all of this?" "If that wasn't God's leading, then I dont know what is."<br />After days of prayer, break-down-weeping moments and pillow fights with God, He instilled a peace in us all.<br /><br />Why we aren't going is due to extreme safety issues. Kidnapping, rape, murder and sickness statistics would appall you. 3 out of 5 cars going from the airport to the destination are robbed at gun point. You hand food out to a child and you need to stay there with him while he/she eats it to prevent an adult coming over and strangling to get the food. One week after we made this decision, Haiti closed it's airport, preventing people to leave or enter the country. It was to that extreme a of point. We all felt it as confirmation.<br /><br />Why God led us so far just to take it away, we will never know. Or maybe He will reveal it in time. I don't know. The thing we all DO know however is that we have to trust God and leave all the reasons and questions in His hands. He is sovereign in everything! </span></div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;">We began pointing out what good came of all of this and it was enough to say "it was worth it". We have all grown extremely close as friends because of the emails, texts and conference calls we spent together both in discussion and in prayer. Also, our walks with God have grown leaps and bounds. I can honestly say that I am no longer where I was when we started this venture, and it's only gotten better. Everyone feels the same. We've also been able to experience extreme trust in the Lord as those negative questions came into play.... Trusting he knows more than us and sees the whole picture, not the little corner we seem so fixated on. Talk about tunnel vision!! :)<br /><br />So. I wanted to tell you all because you've all been so supportive. I look forward to what the Lord holds in not only my future or my team's future, but yours too. We don't know how He's going to paint the rest of our pictures! But It's going to be breath-takingly beautiful.<br /><br />Love you all.</span></div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /><span style="font-family:times new roman;font-size:100%;"></span></span></div><br /><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Hannah L.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /></span></span><br /></span></div></div>Hannah :)http://www.blogger.com/profile/13608509040168202963noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753460120344526536.post-45896799854651901852010-11-08T09:21:00.006-05:002010-11-10T12:14:20.323-05:00Thank God for House ChurchI've spent the last decade feeling like a homeless orphan. Not in a biological sense (thankfully), but in a spiritual one. After seven churches in as many years, I began to wonder, "Is it me? Am I the one who is looking for something that doesn't exist and holding my brothers and sisters in Christ to unreasonable standards? Is my desire for unity, transparency, accountability, and vulnerability too much to ask for? Is doing Life-Together unrealistic? Did discipleship and the Holy Spirit's anointing end 2,000 years ago with Acts?"<br /><br />House church has shown me the answer to all these questions is a resounding <span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >"NO!"</span> Finally, I am surrounded by people who are like-minded and who will grow along side me, refusing to allow me to complacently sit in a pew week after week. Even though we won't agree about everything, I know we will stand strong together as we pursue God's Higher Way instead of our own. I am so tremendously blessed.<br /><br />One of my favorite music videos of all time is by Blind Melon performing, "No Rain:"<br /><embed id="VideoPlayback" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=7763324546201298850&hl=en&fs=true" style="width: 400px; height: 326px;" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed><br /><br />I am the bee girl. House Church (deal with it, you guys) are the group of bees at the end. After years of feeling rejected, unappreciated, and like a misfit, I have found my home. And all I can say is,"Thank you, God!"<br /><br />I wonder how many others are out there, trying to fit into a traditional church and feel like it isn't working. I grieve for these others and hope they can find their way to a house church before they become so disillusioned they give up hope. I don't want to say House Church is the Right Way, or the Only Way, but I have absolutely discovered it is the perfect fit for me.<br />-Erin<br /><br />All I can say is that my life is pretty plain<br />I like watchin' the puddles gather rain<br />And all I can do is just pour some tea for two<br />and speak my point of view<br />But it's not sane, It's not sane<br />I just want some one to say to me<br />I'll always be there when you wake<br />Ya know I'd like to keep my cheeks dry today<br />So stay with me and I'll have it made<br />- Blind Melon, "No Rain."Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753460120344526536.post-85673624237329718892010-08-27T08:22:00.002-04:002010-08-27T08:27:04.109-04:00Not an A, but doesn't feel like an F eitherOften times, even a good sermon or message won't survive in my brain for more than a day or two, but I've had a couple swimming around in my brain now, on and off, for the better part of month.<br /><br />To set the stage, Bohdan and I were at a Father & Son camp run by New England Frontier Camp in Lovell, Maine. We were going to be there for four days and three nights. The camp's owner and director, Keith Moses, gave the message the first night we were there as we sat around a large campfire under the stars. The premise of the message was building on the rock (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/index.php?search=Matt%207&version=NIV&interface=print">Matt 7</a> "The Wise and Foolish Builders").<br /><br />To demonstrate his point, keeping in mind that the audience was mostly boys aged 8-14, Keith had a table with two bird houses on it. One house sat atop a pile of sand and the other a large rock. As he was talking, he would stop occasionally to spray the foundation of each house with water and a blast of air from an air hose. As you would expect, over time, the sand washed away and the house on the sand toppled over. Of course, the other house remained since the rock was not phased by the water.<br /><br />While a good visual for the topic, it was hardly earth-shattering. The part that got me was what came when the visual part of the sermon was over. Keith said that, by his estimation, he would give the house on the sand an "A" and the house on the rock an "F". Of course, that confused all present. He went on to explain that if we think of the "A" using the word Admire and the "F" as the word Follow, then indeed his statement would be true. He explained that there are people who admire Jesus and those that follow and he wanted us to consider where we sat.<br /><br />For me this was a tough question. In light of another sermon that has recently stuck with me, the answer alludes me to this day. The <a href="http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=52906154239">other sermon</a> was by Paul Washer where he talks about the prayer for salvation and the merit it holds compared to the fruit we bear. Mr. Washer claimed that there are an awful lot of people who have prayed the prayer of salvation and yet may not be saved. He points to the places where Jesus talks about the fruit in our lives (see <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/index.php?search=Matt%207:15-23&version=NIV&interface=print">Matt 7:15-23</a> for example).<br /><br />If I am truly a Follower of Jesus Christ, would you not know me by my fruit? How does the fruit of our lives reconcile with <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/index.php?search=Eph%202:8-9&version=NIV&interface=print">Ephesians 2:8-9</a>? Am I just an Admirer? Am I somewhere in the middle? If I'm somewhere in the middle, am I not lukewarm? We know how God feels about that (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/index.php?search=Revelation%203:15-16&version=NIV&interface=print">Revelation 3:15-16</a>)! You now understand my consternation.Duffyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09172218525662564720noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753460120344526536.post-68459128601971965662010-07-31T18:25:00.002-04:002010-07-31T18:33:18.223-04:00My Time in the Garden<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeTJ-dS2hyphenhyphen3YrleO6_54Ju4UbIp4GgWn0Ye145EWsNp4GsOZHDMlyUNYmwmpLRsbvZr10RZOzNLo72wMqRBqFeNb_5nS9jDhRAXvlbHxjPeT6XDVh0ZYw-9p3OpMvTtBwOyh9norECJ5Q/s1600/gardener1.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 223px; height: 223px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeTJ-dS2hyphenhyphen3YrleO6_54Ju4UbIp4GgWn0Ye145EWsNp4GsOZHDMlyUNYmwmpLRsbvZr10RZOzNLo72wMqRBqFeNb_5nS9jDhRAXvlbHxjPeT6XDVh0ZYw-9p3OpMvTtBwOyh9norECJ5Q/s320/gardener1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5500200467194439058" border="0" /></a>This blog is for sharing thoughts and ideas, profound or mundane, and so I share some thoughts on life that I had while weeding my garden this morning. I cannot help but think that these same thoughts have occurred in the minds of gardeners off and on since the first garden in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Eden</st1:place></st1:city>, they are that universal. They are simple truths, but truths nonetheless. <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">First, it is much, much easier to maintain something than to let it go completely to pot and then try to fix it all at once. I had let my garden go, and the weeds were numerous and large. If I had picked them while they were small, it would have been easier, and they wouldn’t have stolen so many nutrients, so much life, from the fruit I was trying so hard to grow. The more I let them take root, the more they entwine their roots around the roots of the fruit, the more difficult they are to remove without damaging those things that I am trying to save. Better yet, would that I had put something in place, some barrier, some protection, that prevented the weeds from germinating and taking root in the first place.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Second, at first glance, the weeds seemed insurmountable. There were too many, they were too firmly entrenched, I had let it go too long, I might as well just let them take over. A lie that could be so easily believed, so much easier to just give up, once I made the mistake of letting the weeds grow out of control. But something else became clear, once I did start pulling the weeds. Although they looked huge and scary, once I got up close, I realized that when I followed the weeds back, to ground level, what looked like many weeds was really just one, tied to one root. And when I pulled that root, and tossed the weed, a whole section of my garden was suddenly clear. I think some problems look huge from the outside, but they have a simple root.<span style=""> </span>I think sometimes the sin looks so big and complicated, and people think they need therapy, or medication, or a divorce, or a miracle, to rid themselves of a problem that really has a simple root: pride, or anger, or lust. Because with weeds, you can’t tear away just the part you can see. You have to get the root, or it comes back.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Third, the plants that I let grow willy-nilly don’t do so well. Yes, they grow big, but they get diseased more easily because they are dragging on the ground, and the fruit they produce isn’t as large, plentiful, or tasty as it should be. But those plants that I prune, the ones I train up the trellis so they stay off the ground, the ones that I reduce the amount of foliage so the plant’s energy can go into fruit production instead of leaf production, those are the best plants that produce the best fruit, because they have been properly trained, properly pruned, and they direct their energy producing fruit instead of wasting their energy on things they don’t need.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Like I said, simple truths, but they spoke to me (or were spoken to me), and I enjoyed my time in the quietness of that morning, listening for a still, small voice to speak the truths of the ages. May God prune me as He sees fit, to produce the fruit He would like to share with His Church.</p>Michael Ortliebhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525784064180048790noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753460120344526536.post-19443579880187714062010-07-28T16:45:00.008-04:002010-07-29T00:01:04.980-04:00"Like a Splinter in Your Mind"<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000401/" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Morpheus</span></a></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">: I know *exactly* what you mean. Let me tell you why you're here. You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?<br /></span><b><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000206/" style="color: rgb(0, 51, 153); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Neo</span></a></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">: The Matrix.</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Well, no, not quite the Matrix! But I do want to tell you about the splinter in my mind.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Let me tell </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">my story and how I came to this place. I was actively involved with an unconventional independent church that operated with the plurality of elders but one that for the most part was still pastor centric. Not by the pastors doing. But because in large part, he had a flock of spiritually weak Christians, and yes I was one of them. Weakness that came about because of too much pew sitting and listening rather than flexing of spiritual muscles by being involved in the functioning of the body is my assessment.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">It was the Fall of 2003. We had a new couple join our church and my wife and I had them and their children over for dinner. In getting to know them the subject came up about something called "house church". As he described this to me, it kind of sounded like a bible study but he was quick to clarify the difference. A bible study most likely is a function of an established church and done as an extension of that church. House church, on the other hand was not an add on program to a church service on a Sunday but instead "was" the church meeting! It sounded a little odd but my wife and I agreed to try this with this couple for two months and only every other week, Wednesdays. That way if the experiment didn't really work out then we both had an out. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;">By the second meeting my heart was totally in and there was no turning back! I guess it may have been the intimacy that grabbed my heart first. Then it was church striped down to the bare essence and simplicity that made it so desirable. No fancy furniture. No ceremonial accouterments. Just friends and family members that loved each other, and trusted each other so as to allow total vulnerability to exist. And the leader of these meetings is always the Holy Spirit. No agendas or schedules. His plans trump ours. Let me tell you, He does an awesome job too!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;">And it's more than just some emotional experience. My walk with God deepened more in a couple months than the previous 25 years as a Christian. The impact to me spiritually is too significant to describe in the space I have here. Suffice it to say it brought me to a point of personal revival. I am not the same person I was then. As people close to me will attest.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;">So you go down this road and you wonder, "Is there anyone else on this road?" Well rest assured there is, by the millions! The more passionate I became about this "new wineskin" the more I saw God's hand prints all over it. This was not about rebels leaving church and running from authority. It was completely the opposite. We were simply following the leading of the Holy Spirit and running to the complete authority of Jesus over the church. And living out what He called us to be, "a priesthood of believers". </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;">I'm in love with this experience more now, 7 years later, than the day we started down this path. I hope you enjoy this <a href="http://www.onenewsnow.com/Church/Default.aspx?id=1100148">article</a> about others being led toward this experience. When I read this, it was as if I, or someone from our house church, had written it. The church meeting described almost mirrors the way ours also tends to flow.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;">It's very fulfilling to be involved in a movement that God's doing. If your contemplating sticking your toes in to test the water then here is my advice, JUMP IN! The waters fine.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;">God bless.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 17px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:small;"><br /></span></div>Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944064656485430661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753460120344526536.post-87272883253637432512010-07-25T10:25:00.004-04:002010-07-25T12:08:33.930-04:00The Church as Gulliver<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; ">I remember as a little boy a cartoon that I enjoyed watching. It was entitled Gulliver’s Travels. In short, it tells the story of a sailor named Gulliver whom, after a treacherous storm, is washed ashore and barely escapes death by being stranded on the beach of a remote island. When Gulliver starts to wake up he finds himself bound up and tied down to the beach by many small strands of rope, each one staked to the beach. In his unconsciousness, he had unknowingly become prisoner of the inhabitants of the island. Only 6 inches tall these people were called Lilliputians. These very small people had taken this giant captive, one strand at a time.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;">This thought came to me recently after having a conversation with the pastor of a church in Ohio. He was calling me and another gentleman seeking information and guidance on how to start cutting the strands. What strands you ask? The strands that have been required by government to operate his church! One strand at a time the church has found itself encumbered by a partner that I don’t believe God ever intended for his bride. How did it happen? Let’s talk about that.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;">When a person, or group of individuals, in the business, world seek to operate at a certain level they most generally become what is known as “Incorporated”. What this corporation, in a legal sense, becomes is an individual that now can be responsible for dealing with issues such as liability, mortgages, insurances etc. In large part it creates a buffer between individuals and circumstances that can arise in the process of doing business. In the context of the litigious and complicated society we live in it makes sense for businesses to seek this structure. But does it make sense for the church? <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I have some strong doubts on that.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;">Let’s first establish some points here. I believe that most people would agree with this premise. The created must answer to that which created it. Obviously this will have no relevance to the atheist being that they believe they evolved from a monkey that earlier climbed out of pool of oozing slime. Although I must tell you some that I have met just may be taking their marching orders from the monkey! Just a little humor. But think of it. The block of wood answers to the craftsman’s hand that shapes it into a beautiful piece of furniture. You and I, being created of God, answer to our creator. And a corporation, being a creature created by government, answers necessarily to its creator. That has purpose and application in the secular world for sure. But the church, who’s Creator and lead Pastor is Jesus. Does it really make sense, from a biblical perspective that the church should be yielding over to government any say in its functions and operations. If you’re thinking like a business person it makes total sense. But regarding the church are we supposed to be thinking like a business person?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;">The world tells us that if you are going to enter into agreements such as mortgages, insurances, contracts, payroll deductions and withholdings then you have to play by the rules. Their rules! So as a church you have to let them create one of their creatures called a corporation. Hear that? Their creature! That creature answers to its creator, government. The church that should answer to no one but Jesus Christ and God almighty has someone else they have to answer to, government.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;">Let us return to the pastor from Ohio. The Holy Spirit has been revealing this to this man. He now realizes that over time his church, one strand at a time, has yielded authority over to a partner that is starting to show his hand. He has found himself bound down to the beach so to speak. The same predicament Gulliver awoke to find of him. You see when you make a deal with the enemy there comes a time to pay up. The church will, and is now, finding itself in a position to take some marching orders not from Jesus the Churches head, but from that other creator. You know the creator of the Corporation. And guess what, I agree. I will always believe the created should take its cue from its creator. The question to think about is this. Is there really any place for a corporation in the church as Jesus intended it to be? I fear that as society/government becomes more hostile toward Christians the church will be finding itself somewhere it would rather not be. The 501c3 status may take on a whole different perspective at that time. Have we been duped by the intoxicant of “your tax exempt contributions?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;">Was it supposed to be so large as to need mortgages? Was it to be so large as to be concerned about liability? Was it supposed to be so large as to have large payrolls? I believe the traditional church as we know it in America has gone astray. It started acting like a corporation instead of what it was supposed to be acting like. A body of believers that is small enough to know each other, care for each other, love and pray for one another. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;">I want you to be aware of something going on in the church here in America. There is a stirring by the Holy Spirit revealing this perspective too many. Like this pastor in Ohio. Their eyes are opening. God is calling his church out of these worldly encumbrances. He is a jealous God and gives no place for any other to take authority over His Church. He is preparing His bride. Will we hear and obey? <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="line-height:115%;font-size:12.0pt;">Many are! Thank God.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12944064656485430661noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2753460120344526536.post-10031513620569193682010-06-22T10:56:00.001-04:002010-06-22T10:59:40.745-04:00Why Blog?I came across this article on the <a href="http://www.desiringgod.org/">Desiring God</a> website and thought it a great way to start this blog. Though it's specifically directed at pastors, I believe it's relevant to us all.<br />
<br />
<h2 style="margin: 0pt;"><a href="http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1156_6_reasons_pastors_should_blog/">6 Reasons Pastors Should Blog</a></h2>March 31, 2008 | By: <a href="http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/Author/1_abraham_piper/">Abraham Piper</a> | Category: <a href="http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/Category/21_commentary/">Commentary</a> In this article I want to convince as many pastors as possible to sit down and start a blog today. If I can’t convince <i>them</i>, then I want to convince churchgoers to hound their pastor until he does. <br />
OK, all that’s overstatement, perhaps. You can still be a good pastor and not blog. <br />
However, here’s why I think it would be good for you and your congregation if you did. <br />
<h4>Pastors should blog…</h4><h4>1. …to write.</h4>If you’re a pastor, you probably already know the value writing has for thinking. Through writing, you delve into new ideas and new insights. If you strive to write well, you will at the same time be striving to think well. <br />
Then when you share new ideas and new insights, readers can come along with you wherever your good writing and good thinking bring you. <br />
There is no better way to simply and quickly share your writing than by maintaining a blog. And if you’re serious about your blog, it will help you not only in your thinking, but in your discipline as well, as people begin to regularly expect quality insight from you. <br />
<h4>2. …to teach.</h4>Most pastors I’ve run into love to talk. Many of them laugh at themselves about how long-winded they’re sometimes tempted to be. <br />
Enter Blog.<br />
<br />
Continue reading more <a href="http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1156_6_reasons_pastors_should_blog/">here</a>...Crystalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03917444230479505568noreply@blogger.com2