Sorry for the delayed update.
Here's something I've been thinking about: why do we think God thinks like us? Or maybe the better question is, why do we act like God thinks like us? This is going to be a difficult thing to try to conceptualize, but I am going to try nonetheless.
I've had a frustrating week, but it's been the little things that have frustrated me. . .the little things. You all know what types of things I'm talking about: details that are so unimportant in the eternal scheme that when you really reflect on them, you find yourself shocked that you ever even cared about them. I hate that I'm affected by these trivialities!
What I'm getting at is this: our distinction between the important and the unimportant, the trivial and the nontrivial, is our distinction. Take what follows for what it's worth, as I have no concrete theological basis for what I'm about to say, but I don't believe God operates in these distinctions. The basis for that argument is in the way God views sin. We know God sees all sins, big and small, as the same evil that separates us from Him. God does not distinguish between what we see as big and small sins. Why do we think he distinguishes between the big and the small in other parts of our lives? Maybe we don't show this outwardly or even think this explicitly, but do we believe in some corner of our minds that God doles out different levels of generosity, based on the "seriousness" of the situation? Different levels of blessing? Different levels of healing?
I think what I'm trying to say here is that I've been hung up on details lately, yet I've seen God really come through for me. His blessings have been there, even in situations that in retrospect seem so absurdly unimportant. I guess the relevant point for ROL might be that somehow we've got to convince ourselves the way we think about gifts, healings and blessings is probably nowhere close to the way God thinks about them. I think God is so big that what we see as "big" and "small" are pretty much the same to Him. . .kind of like how a billionaire sees another $1M pretty much the same as another $1K.
That took more words than I hoped. Sorry. Maybe you can help me boil down some of these points a little more briefly. And let's keep breaking the ice. . .what's something you do that you feel betrays your age (something you feel either childish doing, or more mature doing)? Mine is the way I drink out of a glass. If I don't put every effort into avoiding it, I will end up with a mustache of whatever substance is in the glass. That of course makes me feel juvenile. :)
Thanks for reading.
Jeff
30 May 2008
19 May 2008
Continued
Well, this is off to a good start. I'm excited about where this is headed.
I'm going to try to run with Maria's comment here, and this whole concept of the River of Life being the source of power and healing for the infirm. I really think it may be the broader theme that could tie some of these ideas together.
I originally outlined my interpretation of the River of Life being a place where all our streams merge--a body of water brimming and rushing with all the different talents and perspectives each of us brings to this community of believers. But where does that river flow? Eventually the river has got to feed some larger body of water. For our purposes, lets call that "ocean" our community.
Okay, let's quit the metaphor and start talking sensibly. How can we bring life and healing to this community? Here's my thought: it can't (or maybe "won't" is a better word) happen until we ourselves are alive and healed. And that's really the driving factor between fellowship, corporate worship, small groups, and things like this blog. Healing begins with openness and honesty; I have found that being open and honest is much easier among those you can trust--and you can't really trust people you don't know. So I suppose if I had to boil down the real purpose of this blog, it's to start building trust between us--trust that invites openness and honesty, and paves the way for the healing we desparately need.
Does that resonate with anyone? Let me know in your comments. Also, for fun. . .you know how people like to talk about their pet peeves? Well that's annoying, and frankly, my pet peeve is listening to people recite their pet peeves. Oops.
So don't tell me your pet peeve. Tell me one of your pet joys. Here's one of mine: I like to set my alarm clock early just so I can be jarred awake. In that moment of self-inflicted grog, there is nothing like the sheer ecstasy of remembering that I set my alarm clock early and don't really have to get out of bed.
Jeff
I'm going to try to run with Maria's comment here, and this whole concept of the River of Life being the source of power and healing for the infirm. I really think it may be the broader theme that could tie some of these ideas together.
I originally outlined my interpretation of the River of Life being a place where all our streams merge--a body of water brimming and rushing with all the different talents and perspectives each of us brings to this community of believers. But where does that river flow? Eventually the river has got to feed some larger body of water. For our purposes, lets call that "ocean" our community.
Okay, let's quit the metaphor and start talking sensibly. How can we bring life and healing to this community? Here's my thought: it can't (or maybe "won't" is a better word) happen until we ourselves are alive and healed. And that's really the driving factor between fellowship, corporate worship, small groups, and things like this blog. Healing begins with openness and honesty; I have found that being open and honest is much easier among those you can trust--and you can't really trust people you don't know. So I suppose if I had to boil down the real purpose of this blog, it's to start building trust between us--trust that invites openness and honesty, and paves the way for the healing we desparately need.
Does that resonate with anyone? Let me know in your comments. Also, for fun. . .you know how people like to talk about their pet peeves? Well that's annoying, and frankly, my pet peeve is listening to people recite their pet peeves. Oops.
So don't tell me your pet peeve. Tell me one of your pet joys. Here's one of mine: I like to set my alarm clock early just so I can be jarred awake. In that moment of self-inflicted grog, there is nothing like the sheer ecstasy of remembering that I set my alarm clock early and don't really have to get out of bed.
Jeff
07 May 2008
The Start
I always try to start these types of things out profoundly, as if to generate interest and credibility. I usually end up confusing myself, so this time, I'm going to let Martin Smith, lead singer of Delirious?, present the basic idea. In the song "Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble?" you will find the following lyric: Did you feel the darkness tremble?/When all the saints join in one song/And all the streams flow as one river/To wash away our brokenness.
There are a hundred ways to interpret the river metaphor we've developed here at ROL church. For the purposes of this blog, the interpretation is simple: we're as much a river of lives as we are a river of life. What I mean by that is we are all individuals with our own ideas, opinions, relationships, callings and lives. Yet we are all members of a single community of believers, a community seeking to spread the love and life of Christ to everyone we meet. Taking the metaphor to the logical end, we are all streams flowing into the River of Life.
So what does this blog have to do with it? I admit I have been cynical of the whole blog thing since people started talking about them. It first seemed to me like another one of those other self-serving trends like YouTube or reality TV. . .everyone wants his or her "moment in the sun," his or her slice of fame, his or her chance to speak up and be heard. Then I realized what an amazing tool this could be for our church. What a great opportunity for us to share thoughts and ideas! What a great chance to share our lives! My hope for this blog is that it gets us talking, not as we do on Sunday mornings, but as families do around the dinner table. This is a perfect place for real, raw and relevant conversation, a place to let our personalities come out, and a place for tranparency.
At the very least, this experiment is going to help us get to know each other better. Maybe in that respect it is a little self-serving. . . and I'm okay with that.
Here's how it's going to work, at least to start. My plan is to update the articles and discussion topics on a frequent basis (at least weekly). As time goes on and the participation level increases we can add more writers/contributors, but I think we need to start simple. Initially, I'm volunteering to manage, maintain and moderate the blog. Mostly, I'll just be writing about things I'm trying to hash out, and asking questions that will get us all thinking and talking. We want to be very careful to avoid divisiveness and negativity, so please be conscious of that when posting comments. We want this to be something that reflects Christ.
These posts will probably not always be this lengthy, but of course this is the first one. A little background is necessary.
So how about a discussion to get the ball ROL-ing (ha! my first blog pun!)? I'm going to share with you a timeline of important "red-letter" dates in my relationship with God--a paired down testimony, if you will.
1985: Born, physically
1994-5: Grapple with conviction, condemnation, and confession. Develop understanding of sin. Get baptized in water.
Late 90s: Struggle with fear, doubt, compulsive tendencies. Experience some deliverance.
1998: Begin involvement with worship team
2000: Gain desire for deeper personal relationship with God. Recognize need for fellowship.
2006: Start to give Godly desires more importance than worldly desires
2007: See God's plan beginning to unfold. Begin to learn how to trust God more fully.
2008: Continuing to recognize and appreciate God's faithfulness and blessing. Still learning how to trust God. Trying to learn what worship is and how it works.
Well, there you have it. Now it's your turn! Also, let's kick around this question: what would you like to see happen with this blog?
Looking forward to your comments,
Jeff
There are a hundred ways to interpret the river metaphor we've developed here at ROL church. For the purposes of this blog, the interpretation is simple: we're as much a river of lives as we are a river of life. What I mean by that is we are all individuals with our own ideas, opinions, relationships, callings and lives. Yet we are all members of a single community of believers, a community seeking to spread the love and life of Christ to everyone we meet. Taking the metaphor to the logical end, we are all streams flowing into the River of Life.
So what does this blog have to do with it? I admit I have been cynical of the whole blog thing since people started talking about them. It first seemed to me like another one of those other self-serving trends like YouTube or reality TV. . .everyone wants his or her "moment in the sun," his or her slice of fame, his or her chance to speak up and be heard. Then I realized what an amazing tool this could be for our church. What a great opportunity for us to share thoughts and ideas! What a great chance to share our lives! My hope for this blog is that it gets us talking, not as we do on Sunday mornings, but as families do around the dinner table. This is a perfect place for real, raw and relevant conversation, a place to let our personalities come out, and a place for tranparency.
At the very least, this experiment is going to help us get to know each other better. Maybe in that respect it is a little self-serving. . . and I'm okay with that.
Here's how it's going to work, at least to start. My plan is to update the articles and discussion topics on a frequent basis (at least weekly). As time goes on and the participation level increases we can add more writers/contributors, but I think we need to start simple. Initially, I'm volunteering to manage, maintain and moderate the blog. Mostly, I'll just be writing about things I'm trying to hash out, and asking questions that will get us all thinking and talking. We want to be very careful to avoid divisiveness and negativity, so please be conscious of that when posting comments. We want this to be something that reflects Christ.
These posts will probably not always be this lengthy, but of course this is the first one. A little background is necessary.
So how about a discussion to get the ball ROL-ing (ha! my first blog pun!)? I'm going to share with you a timeline of important "red-letter" dates in my relationship with God--a paired down testimony, if you will.
1985: Born, physically
1994-5: Grapple with conviction, condemnation, and confession. Develop understanding of sin. Get baptized in water.
Late 90s: Struggle with fear, doubt, compulsive tendencies. Experience some deliverance.
1998: Begin involvement with worship team
2000: Gain desire for deeper personal relationship with God. Recognize need for fellowship.
2006: Start to give Godly desires more importance than worldly desires
2007: See God's plan beginning to unfold. Begin to learn how to trust God more fully.
2008: Continuing to recognize and appreciate God's faithfulness and blessing. Still learning how to trust God. Trying to learn what worship is and how it works.
Well, there you have it. Now it's your turn! Also, let's kick around this question: what would you like to see happen with this blog?
Looking forward to your comments,
Jeff
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