Death to Self

Lent is not something I celebrated much growing up in the Free will Baptist church. I have attended Nazarene Churches, Church of Christ in Christian Union churches, Vineyard Churches...again never really participated in Lent. Why is that? I think that the separation from the "high Church" liturgical system was more important than the heart of the practice. Or that the biblical merit was not there. What could be more biblical than a symbolic or functional death to self by giving up something we can do without and refocus on Christ. Fasting, alms giving (giving to the poor), and prayer have long been associated with the Lenten period.

I have thought long and hard about what to give up during this period. I have decided that I am cutting down my idle time (mostly on the internet). Spend more time reading scripture and praying. I'm hoping, rather than a 40 days period proposition, that this one sticks! Death to ourselves is harder than we think...we are all so full of our selves in one way or another....we are innately selfish! I am the worst! I work on it daily. If something makes me uncomfortable I avoid it like the plague. I pursue or gravitate to those comfortable ideas, places, food, music, etc....

I think the Lent period ties in nicely with our recent discussions of the missional life...Its all about living for Christ and not ourselves, joining Him where He is at work..(.most likely not on our couch) or in our own little bubble. Lent could certainly be a way to train or prepare ourselves to live more missionally!

Romans 6:11-12

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires

Church & Culture Arts Fair

Here's a future idea.... A community arts fair. We organize an Arts fair, invite everyone in Logan county to showcase their paintings, drawings, music, poetry, writings, artisan baked goods, dance, woodcrafting, etc. We could charge a nominal fee for exhibitors and visitors and DONATE ALL THE PROCEEDS TO A LOCAL CHARITY! Art would not need to be a christian theme, we would invite all comers! hold an event that builds community AND benefits the community.

Imago Dei-sasters!

Wow, sometimes when you STOP and think of everyone this concept apples to, it really makes you quake! I have had people this week who have really tested my limits of perseverance and patience. It's not important who, or in what context...the important thing is that everyone is made in the image of God...and the contortions to this principle are all man-made. Now, I'm not saying it's always our personal perception of someone, likely everyone sitting around the proverbial table has the same impressions. But does that make it any different....are we the judge and jury? "Well Lord, I know you made (insert thorn name here) in your own image, but they are unbelievable. Everyone sees it, so I think they are exempted from the Christian Love Thing, because they have so much of a costume on that they are no longer made in your image." "they have brought it on themselves." I think this is a slippery slope. Christ didn't give up on the despicable. See, this is the trouble with Missiology where you live....WE HAVE TO LOVE THOSE WE DON'T EVEN LIKE !....it's not like picking a child from a world missions glossy postcard and sending our $30. We actually have to get out of our comfort zone....just in our own relationships. I think we can all stand to look inwardly and examine our relationships or lack thereof....the madate is there...what do we do with it. Softening our hearts is not that easy.... pounding the crap out of a tough flank steak on a chopping block would be easier!...but bathing in the marinade of scripture and prayer may help!
( try italian dressing on the steak...not saying prayer won't help that too!)

Mark driscoll on CNN

Mark Driscoll's interview with d.l. Huhgley will air saturday night, according to @pastormark's tweet on twitter.....cool.....p.s. he's taken a Baptist beating recently!
Sent from my Verizon CrackBerry Storm

Imago Dei ?

Brandon Heath's song "Give Me Your Eyes,"says:

"Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
Ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see"...

(Click on the playlist - next column)

This is much easier said than done....we definitely need His eyes,
and His Heart, and His strength!
Some people are hard to love, as they are self-destructive, self-loathing,
and do not want to be loved. I see it all the time in my profession......

I need to not become numb, we must all work at it.
yes....Give me Your eyes.

Extreme Makeover : Church Edition

Tonight as I flip through the channels (while putting away dishes, yes that's right!) I came across Extreme makeover : Home Edition. Now, I have always been partial to this show, Mostly from a "lets see what kind of gadgets they put in this house" standpoint. But tonight, I watched it with different eyes, I saw the sense of community that permeates this show. Granted, you have to wade through the Ty Pennington Manic outbursts and the, not so subtle, Sears "namedrops,"

but community is there. In our world today, there are many good people, and you will find a lot of philanthropic organizations, maybe more than at any other time in history. I think this is fantastic. The thing that is conspicuously missing is the churches presence in a lot of these endeavors. Some will say well, the church is persecuted, religious organizations would never be allowed to do such things in our community, let alone have a Makeover show. Can you imagine, all the given churches in a given town bond together to support a family who just suffered a loss. But at the end of the show, there are all the usual thanks, and interviews. This time in addition to the "this community loves you" and "you are special" lines (which are important) we hear God loves you and wants you to have your needs met. This show has a lot of missional elements, in the sense that it's stars try to understand their target family, what they're about, what makes them "tick." They strive to meet their need, they provide this Mega-house in replacing their old home, they provide funding for the mortgage or for college education. What's missing is the message of Christ. How can we complain about such a heart warming event....I'm not, I'm thankful that we live in such times, overall community awareness is high, environmental friendliness is popular, spiritual awareness and interest is high (although pleuralism is rampant). We AS the church must get back to the table of public societal life. I believe we need to go through a makeover of our own, revisit our roots, throw those things that do not matter out of our closet. Be a kinder gentler church. On a reference to more home shows, it kinda like one of the Home organization shows...Hmmm......wow! that sounds like more blog material...more to come, it's late!

Missio Dei

The Great Commission
16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

What is the Missio dei ? and how does it apply to our lives? The word "Go" in the passage above, is a multi-faceted command. In the truest sense missionaries abroad have heeded this call to "go." But how does that apply to us, here in Logan county? The guy or gal working the line at Honda, the nurse at the hospital, the accountant? It means to realize that in everyday life there is opportunity to share the influence that Jesus Christ has had on our own lives. We are to be "salt" and "light" to the world. well, what does THAT mean? you may ask. Salt is a flavor enhancer and a preservative....I think that when we add ourselves to the mix of life around us...things should be enhanced and not worsened by our presence. The same could be said for light, that when our presence is felt...it should be as a luminary or an enhancement of clarity. Now, even as I type this, I can clearly say I am not these things all the time, for sure....but to be cognizant of the call to do so, is the first step. Now what does the nonbeliever glean from watching our lives? is it that we are some sort of "whack-job fanatic"...is it that "hmmm that person is alright...he talks about church and God and seems as normal as I am on most accounts"....there is obviously no end to the characterizations that can be made of us.....but we are to be God's representatives in this world...and any positive "press" is a good thing, considering the beating the modern church takes sometimes (and sometimes rightfully so). Some opportunities present themselves for one to share scripture or directly engage in salvation type conversations ("sealing the deal" as I have heard it called by some evangelicals)...as you know these can be awkward at times...there IS a place for this, but sometimes just sharing God's love and being a friend....being a light and salt, can plant a seed. Sometimes in this day and age, just the "perception" of Christian needs softened a bit...building relationships with folks, being genuine, being a friend can fit the bill in relaying Christ's love and guiding that person towards personal spiritual decisions. Look at Christ's life, he was a friend to many (much to the chagrin of the religious community), he was not judgmental, he built relationships, met needs and showed compassion. God is at work in our communities with or without us, but we are commanded to join Him where He is at in this process. I hope that as we endeavor down this road to being more a missional community that we realize there is much liberation within this, we can be ourselves, we can go out with non-christian friends, we can talk about life's problems, we can come to church and be the same person here as we are outside those walls...we are just BROKEN people, it's just WE wear the medic armband when it comes to the rest of the platoon !

I liked some of the super bowl ads, but thought they could have been a little more family friendly. The first half was peppered with ads such as Go Daddy, The Fast and the Furious with the gratuitous female-female kiss innuendo, Chuck advertisements, some chip advertisement where you can obvious blow some woman's clothes off, etc. Now I'm not a censorship nut, but I thought if they have to show it , they could at least wait until most school children may be in bed. I watched the commercials with my finger on the "previous channel" button. It would be nice if you could relax and enjoy the commercials. My kids will get exposed to all that sooner or later but it would be nice if you could watch a sports event without it. I will say, speaking of kids....I liked the GI Joe and Transformers movie trailers!