Saturday, December 31, 2005
Saturday, December 10, 2005
I just got this in my inbox. It reminds me of how God prepares us in the events of our lives for future events in our lives. Life is a crucible and in it God shapes people for his service and his glory. I think so much of the unbeleif in this world and in those who struggle with God comes out of trying to make sense of the pain or discomfort of the crucible. "This is not what i was shaped for", they protest. and they are right. It's actually the other way around. This is what will shape them. unless they figure a way to weasel out of the crucibles of God again.
anyway. here it is.
December 10
Trials and Pain: Few Lovers of His Cross
For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will
of God, you may receive the promise.
--Hebrews 10:36
When God needs a person for His service-a good person, an effective
person, a humble person-why does He most often turn to a person in
deep trouble? Why does He seek out a person deep in the crucible of
suffering, a person who is not the jovial, "happy-happy" kind? I
can only say that this is the way of God with His human creation....
Ezekiel did not come out of pleasant and favorable circumstances.
The light had gone out in his heart. He probably thought that God
takes a long time to work out His will.
Does not this same view surface in much of our Christian
fellowship? We do not want to take the time to plow and to
cultivate. We want the fruit and the harvest right away! We do not
want to be engaged in any spiritual battle that takes us into the
long night. We want the morning light right now! We do not want to
go through the processes of planning and preparation and labor
pains. We want the baby this instant!
We do not want the cross. We are more interested in the crown.
The condition is not peculiar to our century. Thomas a Kempis
wrote long ago, "The Lord has many lovers of His crown but few
lovers of His cross." Men Who Met God, 115 A.W. Tozer
anyway. here it is.
December 10
Trials and Pain: Few Lovers of His Cross
For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will
of God, you may receive the promise.
--Hebrews 10:36
When God needs a person for His service-a good person, an effective
person, a humble person-why does He most often turn to a person in
deep trouble? Why does He seek out a person deep in the crucible of
suffering, a person who is not the jovial, "happy-happy" kind? I
can only say that this is the way of God with His human creation....
Ezekiel did not come out of pleasant and favorable circumstances.
The light had gone out in his heart. He probably thought that God
takes a long time to work out His will.
Does not this same view surface in much of our Christian
fellowship? We do not want to take the time to plow and to
cultivate. We want the fruit and the harvest right away! We do not
want to be engaged in any spiritual battle that takes us into the
long night. We want the morning light right now! We do not want to
go through the processes of planning and preparation and labor
pains. We want the baby this instant!
We do not want the cross. We are more interested in the crown.
The condition is not peculiar to our century. Thomas a Kempis
wrote long ago, "The Lord has many lovers of His crown but few
lovers of His cross." Men Who Met God, 115 A.W. Tozer
Monday, November 21, 2005
changing the subject
I want to invite you all to join me this week in enjoying one of God's greater gifts to the world.
buy the ingredients. make it. take a photo and post it on your blog and leave us a link on this comments page.
mmmmmmm.
buy the ingredients. make it. take a photo and post it on your blog and leave us a link on this comments page.
mmmmmmm.
distractions
You know that phrase, you win some you loose some.
how about, the Lord gives and the Lord Takes away.
how about, life's a beach... I never got that one.
Matthew 10 talks about what it means to follow Christ. Part of what it says is that we have to be willing to surrender our relationships with people for the sake of our relationship with God. I know that God will not ask of me every relationship in my life. He set the whole thing up so that we would each depend, in many ways, on other people in our lives to help us grow and for general health in life. I have been blessed with some pretty amazing friendships. For that i am very thankful.
I think I lost a friend recently.
The worst part is there is no question about it. I'm pretty sure i got dumped. I wish i could say it was mutual. It wasn't. We weren't compatible or anything but that has never mattered to me. I have always enjoyed friends of all kinds. Many of whom were quite different from me. This was the case here. I guess i thought that we would keep on doing what we were doing - being different - in friendship, where we could stretch, and challenge, and influence each other, or at least teach each other how to love people different than you. They didn't feel the same.
i didn't plan on sharing any of this. but i read a post that reminded me that blogs aren't just about entertainment but also about sharing life. I guess the threat in all of that is that when you share life, It give people the chance to follow another link and opt out.
I guess we all have to learn like C.S. Lewis “The pain is now part of the happiness then. That’s the deal.”
how about, the Lord gives and the Lord Takes away.
how about, life's a beach... I never got that one.
Matthew 10 talks about what it means to follow Christ. Part of what it says is that we have to be willing to surrender our relationships with people for the sake of our relationship with God. I know that God will not ask of me every relationship in my life. He set the whole thing up so that we would each depend, in many ways, on other people in our lives to help us grow and for general health in life. I have been blessed with some pretty amazing friendships. For that i am very thankful.
I think I lost a friend recently.
The worst part is there is no question about it. I'm pretty sure i got dumped. I wish i could say it was mutual. It wasn't. We weren't compatible or anything but that has never mattered to me. I have always enjoyed friends of all kinds. Many of whom were quite different from me. This was the case here. I guess i thought that we would keep on doing what we were doing - being different - in friendship, where we could stretch, and challenge, and influence each other, or at least teach each other how to love people different than you. They didn't feel the same.
i didn't plan on sharing any of this. but i read a post that reminded me that blogs aren't just about entertainment but also about sharing life. I guess the threat in all of that is that when you share life, It give people the chance to follow another link and opt out.
I guess we all have to learn like C.S. Lewis “The pain is now part of the happiness then. That’s the deal.”
Thursday, November 03, 2005
jogging on the spot
Saw this great post...
http://dustball.blogspot.com/2005/10/being-in-church-not-of-it.html
http://dustball.blogspot.com/2005/10/being-in-church-not-of-it.html
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
The Shaping of things to come
I have been reading a new book lately.....
The book reflects and in some way leads us through what is currently an unprecedented interest and focus on reshaping the church for mission. Some who love the church in its present incarnation will shake their heads and demand protectively that the church is already shaped for mission. So this book might annoy you... or on the other hand it might be a breathe of fresh air.
anyways here's something to think about.
Chapter 1 argues that tweaking the system will be of no avail. We do not need an evolution, we need revolution. The authors quote Einstein that "the kind of thinking that will solve the world's problems will be of a different order than the kind that created those problems in the first place." We need to step out of the box of Christendom.
Christendom, as opposed to the movement Jesus initiated (Christianity), has been the dominant religious force in the world for 1700 years. Under Constantine Christianity moved from a subversive, marginalized and persecuted movement to the favorite religion of the empire. "Christianity moved from being a dynamic .. movement.. to being a religious institution with its attendant structures, priesthood and sacraments."
the authors say "We believe the missional genius of the church can only be unleashed when there are foundational changes made to the church's very DNA, and this means addressing core issues like ecclesiology, spirituality, and leadership... Ok here comes the kicker
"It means a complete shift away from Christendom thinking, which is attractional, dualistic, and hierarchical."
did you hear that... " attractional, dualistic, and hierarchical"
The western church has been primarily attractional, and has stood apart from culture and invited people to "come in."
Frost and Hirsch suggest incarnational as the alternative to attractional.
... "the Incarnation provides us with the missional means by which the gospel can become a genuine part of a people group without damaging the cultural frameworks that provide a sense of history and meaning" and that "in reaching a people group we need to identify with them in all ways possible without compromising the truth of the gospel itself."
I have been wrestling with this for the last year or so. How to intersect with the community for the purpose of living incarnationally.
how do i do it.
how do we as the church do it.
how do you teach people how to do it.
I am becoming more and more convinced that this is why we reach so few with Jesus
Sunday, October 30, 2005
What does it all mean? most of you may ask what the purpose of your life is. Have you been caught staring up to the stars, it seems to be my favourite pose as of late. I ponder to myself alot I'm kind of an internal thinker, which sometimes gets mistaken for something else. I ponder things like this when I'm staring through you
What does it mean when your trials come to face you at the door? I find myself with mixed emotions about it all. Having the knowledge I know now but not the strength to react or to not react. I see two doors, two choices in every situation. Most people say it's not that black and white...that's fine it's your opinion.
What does it mean to be a christian? I don't think that there is really anything meant by being a christian, christianity is just the acceptance of christ, or the admittance that he is the son of god and the true savior for all humanity. But as a man he was just an everyday person with an extraordinary attribute. The one Living God working in him, the unity of being one with god.
If a woman or a man's goal was to become more like christ or the incarnation of christ what would be the first step? Is there really a step? Can we really learn from all these crap self help books that are titled "Ten easy steps to a better life" "A step by step guide to being a more sanctified christian" or other general books that lump the status quo into one group and forget about the individuality of each person.
I think the problem is that churches today stare into a void of the elite, the christianity is forgotten, the fakeness is lived from day today, the masks are worn, the motions are gone through, the smiles are passed, if you see someone smiling what is the first thing you notice? is it thier teeth or thier eyes. Do you ask how they're doing mindlessly...without waiting for the response? Do you care? Do I care that you care?.....Not really! the churches I see today are still made of styrofoam...there is no real substance no real stone.
Some people love crowds they get they're ego stroked they dream of big things while smaller men stand in the corner, the ones that get told they're no good or they got a long way to go. The new christians get told "your new, how great" 'Pat, pat.' on the head and a condesending smile. What does church mean? I don't see a purpose for church if it is not functioning the way it was intended to. Stop living the facade and start examining the inside, My mind is no longer trust worthy I will only listen to my heart.
SO you tell me the answers to my "What's?"
Cause I'm tired and out of Ideas.
What does it mean when your trials come to face you at the door? I find myself with mixed emotions about it all. Having the knowledge I know now but not the strength to react or to not react. I see two doors, two choices in every situation. Most people say it's not that black and white...that's fine it's your opinion.
What does it mean to be a christian? I don't think that there is really anything meant by being a christian, christianity is just the acceptance of christ, or the admittance that he is the son of god and the true savior for all humanity. But as a man he was just an everyday person with an extraordinary attribute. The one Living God working in him, the unity of being one with god.
If a woman or a man's goal was to become more like christ or the incarnation of christ what would be the first step? Is there really a step? Can we really learn from all these crap self help books that are titled "Ten easy steps to a better life" "A step by step guide to being a more sanctified christian" or other general books that lump the status quo into one group and forget about the individuality of each person.
I think the problem is that churches today stare into a void of the elite, the christianity is forgotten, the fakeness is lived from day today, the masks are worn, the motions are gone through, the smiles are passed, if you see someone smiling what is the first thing you notice? is it thier teeth or thier eyes. Do you ask how they're doing mindlessly...without waiting for the response? Do you care? Do I care that you care?.....Not really! the churches I see today are still made of styrofoam...there is no real substance no real stone.
Some people love crowds they get they're ego stroked they dream of big things while smaller men stand in the corner, the ones that get told they're no good or they got a long way to go. The new christians get told "your new, how great" 'Pat, pat.' on the head and a condesending smile. What does church mean? I don't see a purpose for church if it is not functioning the way it was intended to. Stop living the facade and start examining the inside, My mind is no longer trust worthy I will only listen to my heart.
SO you tell me the answers to my "What's?"
Cause I'm tired and out of Ideas.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Rules of the Game
Well, spirituality took a back seat in this weeks discussion. It was still there, but we ignored it when it tried to give us directions. I'll comment on that some other time.
I think we agreed that the many different church denominations have distinguished themselves by the traditions they enforce. And that enforcing traditions kind of defeats the purpose and it makes Christians look divided and therefore foolish because we can't agree on how we should dress at church.
Church traditions are soully for the personal preference of the congregation. Choosing which church to go to based on whether they are strict about certain things is our way of having some control over this 'faith thing'. And I'm worried that it's the traditions, which are entirely deemed by man and not God, that can, and have deterred people from exploring a life with Jesus.
Isn't it important, to be united with and accepting of other Christian churches, no matter how orthodox thier pastor, minister or priests are, no matter what there dress code is on Sundays, or how formal their wedding ceremonies are.
Trust me I remember being on the outside, and I remember thinking what a joke those churches are. Even if I wanted to believe in God, how would I know who was right. Like a parent who loves all of their children equally no matter their differences, doesn't God love all of his children. Why do we spend so much time fighting with our brothers about the rules of the game. This isn't monopoly. I think people just want to be able to say, "I'm right", " I know better," or "I win, you lose, sucker."
I don't think that's what God had in mind.
I think we agreed that the many different church denominations have distinguished themselves by the traditions they enforce. And that enforcing traditions kind of defeats the purpose and it makes Christians look divided and therefore foolish because we can't agree on how we should dress at church.
Church traditions are soully for the personal preference of the congregation. Choosing which church to go to based on whether they are strict about certain things is our way of having some control over this 'faith thing'. And I'm worried that it's the traditions, which are entirely deemed by man and not God, that can, and have deterred people from exploring a life with Jesus.
Isn't it important, to be united with and accepting of other Christian churches, no matter how orthodox thier pastor, minister or priests are, no matter what there dress code is on Sundays, or how formal their wedding ceremonies are.
Trust me I remember being on the outside, and I remember thinking what a joke those churches are. Even if I wanted to believe in God, how would I know who was right. Like a parent who loves all of their children equally no matter their differences, doesn't God love all of his children. Why do we spend so much time fighting with our brothers about the rules of the game. This isn't monopoly. I think people just want to be able to say, "I'm right", " I know better," or "I win, you lose, sucker."
I don't think that's what God had in mind.
Friday, October 07, 2005
A sober thought
I heard a story recently about a guy who went to visit a pastor in jail. This pastor had been caught trying to commit a crime which in this case is also a crime and the pastor had a sermon to preach from behind the glass and over the phone on the wall.
"Watch your life and doctrine closely..." 1 Tomothy 4:16.
I thought about this story as i continue to wrestle with the concept of Spiritual Formation. in this passage Paul tells timothy to perservere in these things so that people may see his progress.
I'm all for progress when it comes to the spiritual part of my life. Not just actualization, or realization, progress. So i here this loud and clear.
Spiritual progress includes both parts. Life and doctrine. The pastor behind the glass in the custody of the state probably watched his doctrine well. But his message that day was watch your life and doctrine closely.
Loud and clear. I want to grow in life and doctrine. Cause i don't ever want to find myself where this guy found himself. Expensive place to preach a message.
"Watch your life and doctrine closely..." 1 Tomothy 4:16.
I thought about this story as i continue to wrestle with the concept of Spiritual Formation. in this passage Paul tells timothy to perservere in these things so that people may see his progress.
I'm all for progress when it comes to the spiritual part of my life. Not just actualization, or realization, progress. So i here this loud and clear.
Spiritual progress includes both parts. Life and doctrine. The pastor behind the glass in the custody of the state probably watched his doctrine well. But his message that day was watch your life and doctrine closely.
Loud and clear. I want to grow in life and doctrine. Cause i don't ever want to find myself where this guy found himself. Expensive place to preach a message.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
This is Michael Tyas, signing in.
Hello to all the newest recruits. I am Michael, and if it wasn't for me than Pastor Darryl still wouldn't know what a blog is, let alone a vlog.
Now that that's out of the way...
I have no idea how this blog/vlog will evolve. I've never been a part of a group discussion blog but am interested in the challenge. I call it a challenge because I am so strapped for time. Geeze Louise!
More to report on later. Knock on wood.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
The Touch Community
I have decided to create a community blog for the Touch community. It will give us a chance to discuss things on a deeper level. Leave me a note if you want in.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
The Touch Community
Well Touch started as an experiment of our church to attempt to better comunicate to and interact with people of a more post modern persuation. As part of the Touch Community we have experimented with Touch Worship Services, A Touch discussion Board, and now this Touch Blog as a place where we can discuss the things of faith in the spirit of grace in order to encourage people to explore what it means to be a follower of Jesus. Let me encourage you to read the posts and leave us a comment to let us know who you are and what your perspective is.
Peace
Peace
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