Yep there it is. on my right forearm. I know that several people love it and several people hate that I got a tattoo, but I just wanted to share why I did and the reason for where I did. So,
1. The tattoo is of a window in a church that my brother and his wife attend before he passed away. My brother told me he felt called into ministry at his annual conference, and right before he could get started on track to actually be a minister in the UMC he came down with cancer. So, I felt this was a wonderful reminder for me of how much I loved Jay, how much he loved me, and to allow him to be with me as I follow Christ in the ministry.
2. The window its self is a Trinity Window. It represents the Trinity (Father, son, and Holy Spirit) I have always been a huge Trinity kind of guy, and love the understanding of relationship, and mystery found in the understanding of the Trinity! So, this Tattoo represents God in all the forms that God has chosen to reveal himself to his creation.
3. The Tattoo is on my right arm. In the Old and New Testaments, the right hand has always had the imagery of someone’s actions the “doing” of someone. (hence Christ sits at the right hand of God the Father because he was the ultimate actions of God) And we are to keep the ways of God on our right hands and on our foreheads) to remember that our being/thoughts and actions are to be those of God’s in the world. I desire to be the hands and feet of God in all that I do, so every time I look down an see this tattoo I pray that it reminds me to attempt to live out this passionate desire in my life and in the lives of those around me. I actualy wanted the tattoo to be on my hand, but Craig would not do it because we use our hands so much that it would eventualy just fade away and i would have to get the same tattoo over and over again.
4. When I went to Guatemala on the mission trip one of the things I noticed when we were doing prison ministry to the gang members, was their respect and immediate connection to anyone in our group that had a tattoo. I did not think about this until afterwards, but I also pray that through this Tattoo I may be able to develope relationships with others that I might not have normally been able to by finding some common ground of a Tattoo and possibly being able to have a chance to exaplain the meaning and purpose behind my tattoo and maybe have the honor of finding out about the same meaning and purpose behind thier tattoos.
Well, I am blown away by the responses I am getting from the Tattoo, and surprised that my Father and Mother got over the shock fast. (only 2 small moments of awquard silence over the phone. ha ha ha ha) I am sure that many others will be shocked, and mad over time, but all the more reason to be able to develop relationships and get to love others. If anyone is interested I got my Tatto from a good friend that I went with to Guatemala named Craig. (In Guatemala he was doing tattoo cover ups for gang membersthat wanted out of the gangs and covered up their gang tattoos with Christian art…amazing) Anyway Craig owns two Tattoo shops here in northern KY called:
<–click picture for the link
Craig is now actually going through a 3 year process to go into the ministry as well in his own church, so ministry all the way around, heh.
Here are a picture Tiffany took on her iPhones of the work getting done:
Well, for those of you who don’t know I am doing three podcasts now, and loving every single one of them, but one in particular is causing me to do more research and getting to know my bible much better. the podcast is called, “Generally Speaking About The Church” and on the podcast I co-host the show with a new friend Cliff and we speak generally about our faith and Christianity. We join discussions live with people on the chat and the same with emails and voice mails. Well, a lot of the topics we have talked about lately are a few contriversial issues and one that we talked about is this text found in the Bible:
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2 Cor. 5:21-33
21Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives and Husbands
22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing[b] her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30for we are members of his body. 31″For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”[c] 32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
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And the more and more I got into the discussion the more and more I realized that I had not really crittically done any exgetical work on this passage, so I sat down and started the process… and here are the top ten thoughts I gleened out of the passge through study and prayer:
The way I see it:
1) this is only for husband and wife, not male and female roles.
2) Christ is the example that qualifies “headship”, and “submission”.
3) this must be read with the first century culture in mind.
4) the submission of the wife to the husband is within the wider submission of everyone to each other in 21.
5) the motive for submission of the wife is within the context of the wife’s relation to the Lord.
6) this submission is regulated by the divine pattern of Christ’s relationship to the church.
7) so, the husband’s authority is regulated by Christ’s example and the principle of love.
NO human or fallible husband could ever live up to the quality of love and sacrifice (and love in the past tense in my mind refers back to an event I.e. the cross ) that Christ has for the church, but even at a much lower level this is the quality or concern, love and sacrifice a husband must have for his wife!
9) the Agape love spoken of is one that is completely selfless in its nature and therefore does not give any right of the husband to hold any hint of selfish authority over his wife, it means she (his wife) must be above any of his own interests, pleasures, and personality for the benefit of his wife.
10) I believe there is many more verses found in the bible especially the New Testament that speak of mutual submission to each other than of husbands and wives. (just like in 21, that this is a value and expression for all believers to each other, and that wives to husbands is within that larger context. So, I choose to emphasize verse 21 of mutual submission to one another over that of husband “over” wife.
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So, what do yall think? I have a few more of these that I will put here as well, like “The Christian response to war”, and “the use of the American flag in worship”. those will come if yall want to read them, but chew on this one for a while and let me know what yall think. Thanks! and blessing on ya!
OK, I was reading the blog of a friend and he got punked by Larknews.com . 1st off I must say that the first time I went there I got punked as well, but man is it worth it! The reason? Well, Christians love to take their news and all of the things they read so serious. I just got through preaching a sermon all about laughter and humor, and happiness, and yes, the one that goes beyond them all joy. But, it just cracks me up!
For those of you who do not know it Lark News is a Christian version of The Onion. And they, like The Onion, do a great job! I wish Lark News had a podcast like The Onion, I would love it.
So, I went over to the site to check it out and I never really played around with it before, and I must say the past few mins. have been a blast.. so here are a few things for you to do…. and most of the jokes Christians will get, but they are for everyone Christian or normal people.. so have fun:
1. Go to Lark News
2. Click on horoscope (btw, Christians do not beleive in the horoscope, and that is what makes this funny) keep clicking and read the comments the site gives you.
3. Then have some more fun by clicking on Chinese, or Bald Men up at the menu bar of the site.or the “hearing impaired and check out the change of the logo…or “visually impaired”
4. Now go into any story rerad it and laugh, then go to the top of the story and clcik on “reading impared” . (enjoy)
5. Now go back to the main page click on the same story artilce and click on the “For Eunuchs” notice a difference from #4? (oh man that is funny!)
6. Click on the FAQ… man that is one of the best FAQ’s I have EVER read!!!! EVER!
I am sure there is more stuff, but I thought I would share that little bit of laughter for your day today! Have a great one!
OK, so I just read an amazing blog post responding to a statement that Mark Driscoll said explaining how the Emerging/Emergent Church does not have Converts….
“And all the nonsense of emerging, and Emergent, and new monastic communities, and, you know, all of these various kinds of ridiculous conversations — I’ll tell you as one on the inside, they don’t have converts. The silly little myth, the naked emperor is this: they will tell you it’s all about being in culture to reach lost people, and they’re not.”
you find the link to the statements audio here.
And so, David Fitch over at his blog wrote an amazing blog post on his blog explaining Emergent/Emerging churches and how Driscoll could come to this conclusion. And it really resonated with my heart so here are a few quotes from his blog.. and I encourage you to go over to his blog and read it all. (then he has a follow-up blog post continuing the discussion here.
Quotes from David Fitch’s blog:
“I get this kind of remark often in places where I speak. It usually goes something like this: “We love the missional theology. But does it work? How many converts have you had in your missional church? Is it (like it’s some kind of strategy) reaching the people you’re talking about?” And so it goes, the modernist drive to measure success raises its ugly head. Yet this does not offend me because these are important questions. For I believe if we are not seeing people transformed by the gospel then “missional” in the end means very little.
So my response to Driscoll would go something like this:
1.) I agree. There is a stunning lack of sustainable communities in the movements addressed by Driscoll and I think this is disturbing.”
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“2.) Regarding missional churches, it is difficult to survive as a sustainable missional church (versus your standard Driscollesque mega church). Missional church ecclesiology is organic and incarnational. It does not fit easily with denominational expectations. This creates economic pressures for the missional leaders. I believe it takes 5- 10 years to nourish a missional community into a true functioning existence.”
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“3.) Regarding emerging churches/Emergent Village, I don’t believe they intend to plant church communities that would lead to converts. Instead at least Emergent, (and a lot of emerging folk depending on which stream you’re talking about) promote conversations (cohorts?). They seek to foster critique and seek “reform” within Christianity.”
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“4.) Having said all this, the number of conversions for missional church communities could still match the mega churches on the basis of percentages (if we were counting). This is Brother Maynard’s point. I think that the missional communities that do persist may have a higher conversion rate than the Drsicollesque mega church. Missional churches are so much smaller. 6 conversions from a group of 25 over ten years would match (or exceed) the percentage growth of a typical mega church. I think it would be interesting to measure how much dollars per conversion are spent in missional churches versus mega churches five to ten years from now when conversions start manifesting themselves in missional churches.”
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“5.) We must also recognize that “missionary conversions” take longer than mega church conversions. They are also more difficult to measure for often “conversion” happens as a process within a community (I could give you several examples within our own church). I argue that a conversion of a post-Christendom “pagan,” who has had little to no exposure to the language and story of Christ in Scripture, requires five years of relational immersion before a decision would even make sense. If you do not have this immersion/context, any decision that is made is prone to be a consumerist one. It in essence is a consumerist decision. It is made based on the perceived immediate benefit. It lasts as long as this perceived benefit remains important. It does not lead to discipleship.”
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“The bottom line is then, if we would reach the lost souls of post Christendom, the church in N America must go missional, incarnational, organic. We must become intertwined with those we seek to reach. Yet this will take time and appear to be highly inefficient in the terms we have become used to in the church growth/mega church world.”
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OK, so I wrote a comment on the origional blog post and wanted to share it here with yall:
Living in a Missional/Emerging Church Plant within the United Methodist Church, I cannot tell you how you have hit the hammer on the nail! Big time! Great response! And I just wanted to share one way that I have explained “Conversion” to the older generation UM pastors and laity.
“Most churches and traditional church plants focus on the “conversion” first and then take the “converts” through a long/lifelong understanding of discipleship. If Discipleship is becoming a “student”/”apprentice” of Jesus, then in the missional “model/way of being” their understanding of discipleship happens first, and then in (as you say) 5 years of wrestling with God and the Bible and doing it within community, the “decision” of “conversion” Is made with pure conviction and depth. They know exactly what they are getting into and how important this relationship with Christ is, but are already living out a lifestyle of Christianity. It is not an emotional response or a pressure tactic. They really know, and are living lives that are constantly search to know Jesus more just like a student/apprentice would do with a teacher, and therefore being a Disciple in the truest understanding.
This explanation has helped tremendously in the past and present, but I am currently at the end of my 3rd year, and the funding will be dropping by 25% in Jan. and I am prayerfully discerning looking into part-time working at the Apple Store or Starbucks, just because I believe so much in this way of being the church! But, also, more than the money I realy believe that I could develope relationshipsmore effectivly beyond the walls of the church if I worked in customer surface kinds of places.
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Well, what do yall think? sorry for the long blog post it just excited me! heh heh.
Here is a quote of a quote from my friend Eric Keib! I loved it so much I had to put it on my blog.. and I am a huge N.T. Wright fan, of course!
Quote of a quote:
“In the latest Newsweek, Jon Meacham and Lisa Miller interview N.T. Wright about his latest book Surprised by Hope. Although I have recently purchased it I have not yet read it but plan to dig in in the next few weeks.
Meacham and Miller, close to the end of the article, ask him the following question:
“At the Lambeth meeting this summer, the subject of gay unions and gay clergy with top the agenda. What do you think will happen?”
Wright admits that although he believes it will be “messy” that he has hopes that people will really listen to each other prayerfully and in a spirit of humility. Then he says the following that I cannot help but adding a very emphatic “AMEN!” to:
“At the same time, I wish we could prioritize so that we were actually talking about issues of global justice and debt remission and global warming and so on. I mean, there’s something very bizarre about the rich arguing about sex while the poor are clamoring for justice“” (emphasis is Eric’s..but I fully support it, heh)
I was listening to Tiffany talk about an individual speaking to someone else about why the US flag was not in a more “visible” place in the sanctuary. And I have got to tell you that kills me! I actually have problems with the US flag being in the sanctuary period! I have a feeling somewhere down the road Christians have decided that politics and faith are so closely connected that they shoulo dnot be apart, but when I read the bible I see Christ consistently dealing with the politics and government of the day. And when he talks about a Kingdom it was meant to be a direct dig on the currently government!!! So come on Christianity, is it a democracy you have chosen to be a part of, or is it a King and a Kingdom? There is nothing wrong with our democracy and I saw Christ working within the one that he lived in where here, but when it comes to your life are you getting caught up in the King and his kingdom, or the government that you find yourself living in?
So, this made me think about a few words from Derek Webb, of who’s concert I went to last Thursday @ VC…..I was reminded how much I love his music and lyrics.. and I decided to share a few of them with yall:
Album: Mockingbird
Year: 2005
Title: A King & A Kingdom |
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who’s your brother, who’s your sister
you just walked passed him
i think you missed her
as we’re all migrating to the place where our father lives
’cause we married in to a family of immigrants
my first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man
my first allegiance is not to democracy or blood
it’s to a king & a kingdom
there are two great lies that i’ve heard:
“the day you eat of the fruit of that tree, you will not surely die”
and that Jesus Christ was a white, middle-class republican
and if you wanna be saved you have to learn to be like Him
but nothing unifies like a common enemy
and we’ve got one, sure as hell
but he may be living in your house
he may be raising up your kids
he may be sleeping with your wife
oh no, he may not look like you think=====================================
And another:
Wedding Dress
if you could love me as a wife
and for my wedding gift, your life
should that be all i’ll ever need
or is there more i’m looking for
and should i read between the lines
and look for blessings in disguise
to make me handsome, rich, and wise
is that really what you want
i am a whore i do confess
but i put you on just like a wedding dress
and i run down the aisle
i’m a prodigal with no way home
but i put you on just like a ring of gold
and i run down the aisle to you
so could you love this bastard child
though i don’t trust you to provide
with one hand in a pot of gold
and with the other in your side
i am so easily satisfied
by the call of lovers less wild
that i would take a little cash
over your very flesh and blood
because money cannot buy
a husband’s jealous eye
when you have knowingly deceived his wife
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Well what do yall think? Sadly, I have a feeling not matter how much I would love to sing these lyrics in church that I doubt there would be too many United Methodist Churchs that would allow me. But, maybe not.. 
I have spoke on this before but here are a few quotes I wanted to share from a few of them and in the next post I will give a little more about the way I see it in an United Methodist Church perspective:
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It all started with this post from Chris:
“My truck is paid off but the gas prices are killing me. I don’t drive that much and its over $300 per month, not including my wife’s car. So what does this project to as a national economy? Recession seems inevitable, will it go way beyond that? A nation already ruled by fear and over-spending with no margins by individuals and the government, what will be the consequences?
How will this impact churches and mortgages and credit lines that can’t be fed? As builders pass on who are the committed givers what is left? 1/2 of boomers are there to give and the other 1/2 are driven past their financial margins with consumerism and can’t help. Gen X and Millenials have very little value in long term comittments, are all about instant gratification and consumerism is their native language. Commonly this group of up and comers are living on 125-140% of their income taking on exponential debt per year. What will be the result of these decisions having no margins when the shoe drops?
Will American churches go the way of their European counterparts? Becoming really funky coffee houses, restaraunts, art galleries and dance clubs. Just things I wonder about.”
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and this is a second round from Chris in this post:
“But what I want to re-iterate is that everything needs to be submitted before God. Our expectations of what a comfortable American living has to be submitted. Our expectations of where we hold community meetings has to be submitted. Our assumptions of what we envision our role in the church being has to be submitted. Our financial margins and use of physical resources has to be submitted. Our sense of comfort and security has to be submitted. Where God calls, God provides and that will come at least in the form of daily bread. If we claim to follow Christ, that has to be enough for us. We have to be very careful to guard against making “professional” what is a spiritual role.
It is the sense of entitlement that I am speaking against when it comes to vocational roles in ministry. I am not against the idea of being paid, I am against the assumption that its the way it always has been and always will be. God does not owe us anything! Not a job, not a title of honor, not an air-conditioned office nor full time hours a week to be a spiritual leader. Now his provision may emody all of that for you, but we have to be okay if it doesn’t. Truly, his grace needs to be sufficient for us and its not our place to demand more. Don’t run from suffering, embrace it. Let it change you. Let it bring you to deeper exeperiences of God’s hand on your life. Sweating blood on your night of Gaethsamane crying out to God to take care of your family is what dependence on Him looks like sometimes. If he desires to move in a different mode of paradigm, in submission, we have to be ready to go with him because there is no one else who holds the words of life.
So in this discussion I want to say that we as the Church need to be ready and willing to do whatever it takes to be the people of God on earth and embody his mission here.”
Chris Marshall
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Then Aaron chimes in on his response post:
“What if ministry was defined as beginning and ending with the relationships that already exist in our lives? Of course, we would begin new relationships - some intentionally so - but they are not a means to an end. We take on the role of friend as opposed to director, parent or mentor as opposed to expert, brother or sister as opposed to business partner.
Such a ministry would necessitate a different understanding of finances. Since the intent is not to build a mechanism by which to get Jesus (or get people to Jesus) or a commercial by which to promote Jesus, then we are freed to use our funds for community growth and development. By which, I mean, of course - “Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven”. The growth and development of the community of faith blessing and serving the world is an inherently relational project. However that community of faith is by its very nature bound by the laws of relationship (i.e. knowing and being know). The result being that the need for managers and administrators for that community is decreased.”
Aaron Klinefelter
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Jason then chimes in on his response post:
“It’s true. We’ve got to start thinking long term about some of this. The trends do not seem to say that we can fend this off by building bigger, regional churches. Though there is limited success there, I don’t see it being a long term fix to a growing problem. I’ve said this before, but I really don’t think the experts have many answers for us. They have too much invested in the Christendom machine. So, it’s going to be up to the rank and file folks to come up with the solutions.
For example, I’ve just been checking out a few video clips of the stuff Alan and Allelon are talking about on their site. It’s good stuff. But while it seems to be covering the theological shifts necessary we’re still in serious need of how to do the practical stuff. All the while, we watch pastors that have seen the necessary shifts, follow those shifts and sink further into debt and depression trying to figure this out all alone… not a good place to be when you’re trying to reinvigorate the Body of Christ.
Both planters and pastors have got to do self-image re-alignment, learn other skills/trades, learn how to be entrepreneurs, become community organizers, etc. No longer can we depend upon our previous economic paradigms within the Church…”
Jason
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And Alan chimes in with a Roman Catholic response post (but the part I put here is the end and applies to everyone):
“Things seem to be moving in a direction that might cause us all to have to rethink what we spend, what we build, how we pay our staff, etc. Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, whatever - things will change and we will all have to face it sooner or later. This all makes me remember a story an old Priest told me about something a friend said to him who had spent a lot of time in Rome, that the best thing that could happen to the Catholic Church is for an oppressive government to take over and strip it of all it’s wealth, tear the external institution down and push it back into the catacombs. OK, the catacombs part was my creative addition, but you get my point. And it’s not only the Catholic Church but much of the rest of the whole Church - let us all lose the ability to own buildings, to pay our leaders or our tax exemptions. Bring it! Where would our focus be then? Maybe on the Kingdom of God, something novel like that. It’s time for some Body of Christ creativity. Maybe we should start practicing now - maybe. Lord have mercy.”
Alan Creech
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And here a guy named Mark gives a great response post:
“The down side to this is that the mainstream church has all of its vast resources tied up in maintaining the status quo (even if they are innovating their practices, they are largely doing so in a way that reinforces the dominant Christendom paradigm). As a result, these subversive pioneers are doing a LOT with very little. And they are doing it in a way that escapes the notice of the mainstream. Why? Because the mainstream lacks the lens to notice what is happening and why these pioneers are doing a vital job.
I know this sounds dramatic. Because it is. I’d like to think I am one of these pioneers. I have, in the same week, been told by one mainstream Christian that “I have little to show for myself” and been told by one supportive friend in Philadelphia that “it is amazing I am able to accomplish so much.” I share this to highlight that people see what they are looking for. The mainstream church is looking for practitioners who can maintain the status quo. These starving ecclesial artists are looking for ways of being faithful in the future.
Our task isn’t to keep Christianity going as usual. Instead, we need to find ways of equipping and enpowering the next generation to do ministry in a way that is sustainable, even if we are currently struggling with doing sustainable ministry.”
Mark Van Steenwky
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And even Kevin chimed in here in this post:
“There are strategic reasons why I don’t work full time in paid ministry: Namely I am around “normal” (aka non-christians) all day every day. I have a reason to be involved in many peoples lives and am available to them and I know them not as a professional minister but as a friend and co-worker. This also gives me multiple entry points into the life of my city. I am known by several on city council and by the mayor as well as the fire department (they do my permits for the shop) and the police department (I fix many of their cars).
- Others are empowered to serve and don’t overly depend on me. Because I have a full time job in the “real world” (I know that is faulty but it is where most people are and we’re trying to contextualize right?) people naturally understand that I am not available to do every wedding, counseling session, or ministry idea that they want me to do for them… it creates a high ownership environment where everyone has jobs and everyone contributes as they can to the mission in the neighborhood.
- It ain’t perfect, neat and clean… I remember a conversation I had with Todd Hunter, Mark Palmer, and Jason Evans where Todd said to us that we would likely have to “cobble something together from a job, support raising, part time staff etc… This is a transitional time and transitions aren’t tidy.” When it comes to day to day realities we all know that there is not a perfect answer or one size fits all. We have to just put the pieces together as they come to us and move toward ideals over time.
- There are prophetic reasons to not get paid by a church namely you can fully speak your mind/heart/word of the Lord and not have in the back of your mind “what will happen if I offend a big giver?” or “I can’t afford to lose my benefits and retirement so I better watch my step in this situation.”
Kevin Rains
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And i will post concerning this in a United Methodist context in the next post. it seems to be very clear that God is working on the hearts and lives of several people at the same time!!! Dang yo!
LORD have mercy…..
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Oh God, come to our assistance. O Lord, make haste to help us.
Praise the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit, both now and forever, the God who is, who was, and is the come at the end of the ages. Alleluia.
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The entire United Methodist Church is being represented by almost 1,000 people, and several hunderds more this week in Ft. Worth, TX. They gather to discern the will of God for his people who call themselves United Methodists. This happens every four years, and the event is called General Conference. They represent clergy and laity from every conference all over the entire face of the earth. Who represent every local church in this humongous denomination. And I beg you to pray for them. My father is one of them and a sweet friend and fellow United Methodist Woman (yeah I know if you really want to know how I am one, just email or text me, heh.. it is one of the perks of being a UMC Pastor, heh)
For those of you who are not religious, or just not Christian readers, or maybe those who are attending General Conference this week, there is a movement going on in the church… the whole Christian church. Some call it Emergent, Emerging, post modernism, etc… But it is a movement of a cry of souls from within, for those who claim Jesus as their Lord and King, who say they now live in a new Kingdom, not a democracy, not a denomination, but a Kingdom that has been ushered in by a single man/God whom was and is called Jesus, Christ, Messiah, Teacher, Friend, Brother, Son, Lord, LORD, God, Trinity person. We who claim this man as our king and savior (from selfishness, death, and power), are calling for everyone who now lives and continues to bring his Kingdom to come here on earth as it is in heaven to no longer be satisfied with the status quo, or “the way we have always done it”, or even “we honestly were following God for a time and did not realize that we were loosing touch with true Kingdom reality”.
We realized that we were just as guilty as those who came before us (and are with us now), but there is something inside of all of us that is not satisfied, quenched, or feed. We are restless, unable to hear the clear beautiful voice of God! And we are willing to sacrifice our lives, our families, our careers, our reputations, and our homes to follow the LORD and King of THE Kingdom! We are OK with looking like we are insane, stupid, lazy, young, and unexperienced for the sake of our Triune God, and the people and creation that He loves!
My personal fear, is that this voice is being represented in (a VERY few) cases by those whom are laity in the UMC, and a HUGELY RARE) case (if any) by young clergy. And while there are several other hearts and souls that cry with ours that are older, we fear that they are few and far between and beg for everyone to listen to God’s still small constant voice calling us to to be the example, feet, hands, voice, and loving kindness of the one we call our King, savior, and friend.
And unless we are heard, empowered, plugged in, and joined with, then we fear that the one thing that we love and care for just as much as this creation, and those whom God loves most, is this beautiful bride of our King called the United Methodist Church. We cry out to each of us, “We Love You”, our desire is not for death, separation, or distance, but for unity, passion, authencity, peace, grace, and most of all love. The kind of love that lives and breaths. The kind of love working to bring about restoration, communication, and reformation. A love that at its core is Christ, and Christ alone for the sake of this world and all those whom live in the arms of this beautifully created earth!!!
Lord, save us! Save us while we are awake, protect us while we are asleep, that we may keep our watch with Christ, and when we sleep, rest in his peace. Alleluia!
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Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
LORD, have mercy. let us pray………………..
Well here is a different idea.. a documentary (Michael Moore Style) except this time it is Ben Stein doing the documentary and this one is about intelligent design! Yeah, this one talks about how intelligent design is not being taught in schools, and why.
Here is the movie’s website:
What do you think about this?
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Update:
Well Bob, pointed out that there is infact controversary around this movie.. and of course the subject, and showed me this website:
http://www.expelledexposed.com/
another view from differing opinions, so what do yall think?
Here are my notes from a discussion Gary and I had with the clergy of the Louisville District here in the KY Conference of the UMC. I would love to know if yall have any reactions or would like to continue the discussion…
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• What have you done with Young Adult ministry?
• Where have you failed?
• What are your assumptions about young adults?
• What would you like to do with young adults?
YA’s are:
*passionate about community and relationships
* have an uncanny ability to see through “fake”, or “agendas”…and this is the reason that I find most “seeker services” not to be effective at true transformation. (sadly most churches think to reach YA’s that they just have to have a new worship service with “hipper”/”cooler” music.. but this is just not the case.
* passionate about social justice
* love talking about Jesus, but also about Buddha, Hinduism, etc…. live in idealism, but an intelligent reality.
*This is why we must allow messy conversation, and TIME!!!
* The Majority of this generation did not grow up in the church or even receive their fist understandings of faith inside the Christian church.
Potential is Unbelievable: They have a passion for living life in the here and now, like no generations in the past. They are HIGHLY sacrificial in their nature.. most generations take that as being lazy, but they see it as being content and passionate to live the way they feel passionate about. Put emphasis on art, community, and social justice, and Spirituality! They are willing to sell the suburb house to move on the wrong side of the tracks to live out a life that is authentic and bringing chance to poor neighborhoods, etc…
We have not been in conversation with the world! We talk AT people with bible studies, sermons, lessons. And thoses all have an assumption that we are right, and we believe we are right, but YA’s value relationships.. and in relationships the effective ones are not ones that people talk at each other, but WITH each other! It is fine to believe that you are right about beliving in Jesus, but do not assume that they think the same way. Invite them into discussion and wrestle with them in this thing called life.
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Agree? disagree? feel free to start/join the discussion.
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