just one (slightly less spiritual) question... or two...

So. I've been a bit girly/nerdy the last few days... I've been following the progress of two male weaver birds making nests in a tree in the back garden of my mother-in-laws house. All I can say is; "Chics Bru!" because I was standing drinking coffee on the lawn the other day when I felt the sky fall on my head! well, no, it was actually the female weavers unceremoniously ripping the nests apart and throwing the contents onto my head - after the males have spent serious amounts of time and energy flying back-and-forth getting grass etc to make nests from.

So the question is: how often do we do that? someone takes a whole lot of time to do something/prepare something/puts a lot of thought into something and then we go and rip it to peaces? Or even the other way around? how often do we do something/prepare something/put a lot of thought into something and then someone else goes and poo-poos on it? how's that feel?

Hellfire and Damnation?

Ok, so a preacher man in our church a few days back had the unfortunate task of delivering the message from the passage of Luke 16:19-31, "The Rich Man & Lazarus". Respect. Right up front he says he can only talk about half the passage, because he doesn't get this God cursing people thing. "Honesty, I don't get it, lets all have a chat about it over coffee after the service maybe?"

Fair enough, but this passage now has me really questioning what I believe about grace.

Does God really curse people? I thought God was love? Can I trust a God who'd let that happen to somebody? If God is gong to curse bad people, what the hell can I do about it? I'm a sinner right? May as well just go bananas and wait for the pits of hell to come along...

Well, after some contemplation, here comes the jelly :)

I think God does curse. If God is love, He HAS to hate all that is against love. Self-centeredness, pride, greed, prejudice (just some examples I could stretch out of the rich man).

BUT, what if the rich man was just a representative for a part of the same man that was Lazarus? The selfless love of God struggling to survive in the selfish, greedy attitude of his human-ness. If we are born again Christians, are we not to let go of the old self, or the things that are not of God, not love in other words? Can we, with God's help cast away our selfish and loveless attitudes & actions, throw them into the pits of "hell and torment" in order to make room for more of God? More love, more compassion, more action?

So I don't believe that God will ever curse me, but He will curse my sins, casting THEM into the pits of hell, leaving me just as He intended. Good.

Free of charge, nogal, just say thanks!

Well, that's what I think anyway. Any thoughts?

it's happening...

this idea that started in February is taking off. as you can see from the post below, 'here...' is here.

puns aside though, the choose community video series is in the process of being written to disk, put in pretty boxes and sold to the general public. we have a dream that people watch + talk + share + blog about these videos, so put this link up on your Facebook, twitter, whatever to start getting the word out.

Here...

guaranteed awesomeness

http://gallery.mailchimp.com/fc16d9341ac9c47f53e99e241/files/Own_Way_Home_Piano.1.mp3?utm_source=Fans&utm_campaign=5609aa770e-Newsletter_01_09_2010&utm_medium=email

i like jesus...

made me laugh, but also made me think... i come from a place where chrstianity has always been a apart of my life, someone says "jesus loves you" and that has a definite meaning to it for me, but what about others who haven't had this long standing idea of jesus, how does that phrase work out for them?

water for life? or life for water?

something that's stuck with me for a few weeks... we operate in central, apparently it's a scary place. maybe i'm blind, but i don't always see the scary side as much as i see the potential for live, grace and freedom from oppression, but the thing that's stuck with me for the past few weeks is we decided to put a lock on the tap of our front garden outside the church office. (i say we, because i was part of the meeting where the end result was a tap lock, but let the record reflect i was vociferously opposed to the idea.)

doesn't seem like much does it? one lock on a tap. we're on water restrictions after all. who even noticed? nobody in the congregations i'm sure. but what about the people for whom the tap at the methodist church was their only source of water, those people who have no home and in the middle of winter wash themselves in the freezing water? i've seen this with my own eyes. do we even care about them?

widjet said in his last post "Welcome to our church, keep out... Jesus loves you, get off my lawn..." so i suppose all i'm saying is, ja, Jesus loves you, but you can't use our fucking water.

it's stuck with me because i don't know what to do with this feeling of helplessness when i hit these walls of opposition we seem to always face when we want to reach out in love rather than in scared protracted protection. any thoughts?

bricks and jelly... (the overview)

over the years the church has often gotten the idea of tradition and faith confused. on the one hand we have things that are tradition - practices that are useful and serve a purpose to bring life and healing to a place and people at a certain time, and then there are the teachings of Jesus - timeless principals that no matter who's listening, where or when they are, they always bring life and hope to those who hear them. the confusion comes when we use the one as if it's the other. traditions are like jelly, mould-able, wobbly, if you poke your finger in it it will break, it's important to have jelly in a faith community like ours, but we must never confuse it with the brick of faith in Jesus and what he taught. bricks are hard, have edges, you can build a solid structure from it. Jelly on the other hand it terrible to build with.

the trick comes when we use both. you need to put the brick in the jelly, and not confuse the two, sometimes we may need to look at the jelly as well and get a new flavour, make more because the old jelly has been eaten up or simply the people here and now just don't like it's flavour of this particular jelly.

bricks and jelly...

Choose community?

Sitting in my office, reading a book by the window, with the nice warm sun on my face, learning from a man who changed my life. It's a book of freedom, in the silhouette of a cage of burglar proofing... Who's free then huh?

Welcome to our church, please keep out...

Jesus loves you, get off my lawn!

Alive and kicking?

So what's the point? Are we fighting a losing battle?

Ok, a little background...

I work in a fairly large church in a less than ideal area of town (if you're white, can pay for your own meals and consider poor neighborhoods dangerous). Formally a shining beacon of wealth to the city, now, maybe a little more reflective of our surroundings, our church underwent a shift in direction a few years back.

To serve the community.

Kinda makes me wonder what the hell we thought we were doing in the first place, but anyway...

Under some serious vision we start caring for our community, making a difference, being real. But in recent months, setback after setback after setback...

The visionary minister dies, ok he leaves his vision in a few people which is great so we carry on with a new minister, equally noble in his quest, thankfully, although he has a massive task trying to hold everything together. But why did the former minister have to be taken away in the middle of such groundbreaking work in our area?

Then all the people who are a little frightened by the big issues start leaving, along with their generosity because they doubt that anyone else in the world could carry on the work that has begun.

So we are becoming a poor church, serving a poor community, continually losing money, resources through theft, and staff as a result of us losing money. Leaving the new minister with the added sucky task of continually bearing the bad news, I really feel for him (But it must be said he is doing a sterling job and it is an honour to try keeping the ship afloat alongside him)...

I know God is in these people, I can see it, but how much longer can we keep up the fight? How much longer can we keep the vision? How long until everyone gives up on this poor community that I have grown to love for its honesty and its 'realness' and will to dig up the fake, and tackle the truth. How long until we go back to wealthy 'white' suburban fake, make-me-feel-nice-about-myself-and-ignore-the-need-around-me churches?

Dear God I pray that we may never lose that vision...

What is your song?

Imagine if you will, that the person you are can be likened to music. I believe that a talented composer could create the most amazing melody using any one person as an inspiration.

So what is your song? What kind of music would portray your song? Perhaps a quiet and simple piano piece? Or would it be an elaborate, complex and colourful symphony? Maybe you’re a beat droppin’, dup steppin’ funky dance tune, or perhaps a leather-jeans power ballad? And what if you were a high energy, heavy metal guitar solo?

What do you suppose the lyrics would be like? Would it be a sad song? Or an empowering and inspirational feel-good melody? Would it be dark and mysterious? Aggressive and dedicated?

And who would feature in your music? Perhaps for many of us it could include a dedication to the memory of someone irreplaceable? Maybe a beautiful chorus of a large group of friends and family? Or maybe it’s just you for now?

The amazing thing is that the music never stops. It will change and have various contrasting movements elaborating as you grow. Perhaps becoming more and more complex, or possibly simplifying until it gets to the raw emotion.

Let me venture out and say that no matter what it sounds like, what genre it is or what the words are, it is a beautiful song, because it is YOUR song. No one can take it away. And whatever it is, Jesus is singing your song...

...and He’s the greatest musician I know.