Archive for June, 2010

Getting To Simple

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

Isn’t it funny how our self-reliance and self-centredness so easily convinces us that we’re the only one that feels a particular way when all along there are many, including those close to us, who feel the same or share the same concerns?

Having been enlightened by Tony and Felicity Dale’s Simply Church, I have spent a week or two processing my reactions to the politics and demands of denominational church and how it affects my behaviour and feelings.  After a year of scratching this particular itch, I am now aware that I am not the only one feeling this way and can now see more and more people are seeking a more authentic expression of their faith.

Reading further on simple faith, I am drawing some comfort and much inspiration from Marcus Borg’s Reading The Bible Again for the First Time, finding it to be a serious, cogent and scholarly examination of the scriptural literalism that I find so hard to process intellectually.  Likewise, I have been similarly intrigued by the simplicity of the The Church of Two concept which, in its simplest form, is about two people practising two spriritual disciplines and sharing together daily.  From the stories posted at LK10 resources, Stories From The Revolution and The Scilla Blog amongst other places, it seems like this practise is helping folk to deepen friendships, get closer to their families and initiate postive change in their lives.

I mentioned CO2 to the three guys I meet with weekly with a view to taking things up a notch between our weekly catch-ups.  As a result, I have swapped a couple of emails and calls with one of them by way of a gentle try-out and we intend to explore it as a group. Then, at the end of the Sunday service, our youth pastor was prompted to speak on our need to been more immediate and authentic with each other.  Rightly calling us to reflect on dashing off from church the second the service is over or remaining only to swap snippets of news over coffee after the service, he asked why we don’t stay and share the deeper fellowship we so easily speak about but rarely practice.

In the discussion that followed, I shared a little about my recent journeying and CO2, while others spoke of seeking more connection and relationship, rather than religion and ‘church’.  After praying for a couple who are leading a youth mission to the US to work at The Dream Center in the weeks to come, we parted with a commitment to make small but intentional changes to support one another better.

Elsewhere, we have been trying to be a little more intentional and missional in our lives.  One way of doing this has been our Tuesday night pot luck dinners where we open our home to all comers for a few hours, with the only aim being to share food and friendship with whoever steps across the threshold.  While far from a new idea, we felt this was a solid and sustainable way to get alongside others on a more regular basis.

On the first Tuesday, no-one came.  We sat around the table eating our meal and feeling a little deflated that nobody had taken up the invitation.  On reflection, this was a good thing and perhaps challenged us on our motives and ensured our hearts were in the right place.  Last week, with our expectations adjusted and hearts humbled, we were blessed to see another family of six and two couples join us at the table for what was a lovely evening of simply fellowship.  The eight kids wolfed their food and were soon engrossed in a variety of games, while the eight grown-ups shared freely and laughed heartily for a couple of hours.  With today being Tuesday, it’ll be interesting to see who, if indeed anyone, joins us in half an hour’s time.

Book Burning

Saturday, June 12th, 2010

A funny from the always excellent but sometimes unfathomable xkcd, coinciding nicely with listening again this week to the thought-provoking story of Carlton Pearson in the Heretics episode of This American Life.

Stars – Switchfoot

Saturday, June 12th, 2010

After a week of highs and lows, tonight is definitely a ‘Stars‘ night.

…Stars lookin at our planet watching entropy and pain
And maybe start to wonder how the chaos in our lives could pass as sane
I’ve been thinking bout the meaning of resistance, of a hope beyond my own
And suddenly the infinite and penitent begin to look like home…

Godincidence?

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

A quick post for no other reason than to share a nice true story.

  1. Yesterday, I grabbed a burger and fries with a young guy from church and chatted through some stuff he’s got on his mind.
  2. This morning, walking to the college bus with my daughter, the young guy finds $120 in crisp new notes in the street.
  3. They call me on my cellphone for advice and I say keep it safe and hand it in to the police station as soon as possible.
  4. The young guy passes the money to my daughter as she’ll be able to get there sooner.
  5. After school, she goes to the police and they ask her to check with the three local banks before they take the money into safekeeping.
  6. The banks all say no-one has reported the loss to them so she signs it over to the police.  They say that if it isn’t claimed in 90 days, the $120 bucks will go to the young guy.
  7. Meanwhile, the young guy’s mum is waiting for her lodger to return from work and pay the rent.
  8. The sad lodger returns home to report that although he drew the rent money out of ATM this morning but has somehow lost it during the day.
  9. The young guy overhears and gets to deliver the ‘happy ever after’ punchline to the story.
  10. They call us to say they’re heading to the police station first thing in the morning.
As Hannibal Smith used to say, ‘I love it when a plan comes together.’
[edited as ecto swallowed the text of the original post somehow]

Inspiration & perspiration

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

Just wolfing down my packed lunch after a lunchtime run with a colleague.  Though not particularly long or hard, this was my first run in about 18 months so the warm post-exercise glow of smugness and achievement is surpassed only by the cramp in my legs. 

Any thoughts I might entertain about moaning over sore muscles and an expanding waistline are banished by thinking about Dick and Rick Hoyt.   I was reminded of their incredible story again last night when my second eldest, recently returned from the BYM Leadership weekend, showed me a video of their achievements.

Rick was once asked, if he could give his father one thing, what would it be? Rick responded, “The thing I’d most like is for my dad to sit in the chair and I would push him for once.”

A clearer example of love between father and son I can’t imagine.

Bob Goff’s Upside Down Charity

Monday, June 7th, 2010

In Bob Goff Turns the Idea of Charity Upside Down, a guest post on Donald Miller’s blog, Justin Zoradi gives us cause to reflect on our attitude to giving and charity.  Subverting the usual story of us giving to them, the post describes how former child soldiers in Uganda decided to donate some of the profits of their project to benefit Miller’s The Mentoring Project.  After reading the short post and checking out the project’s website, take a few minutes to think about how this challenges our fundamental view of ourselves as donors and the effects of our charitable giving.

Simple Church

Sunday, June 6th, 2010

It’s exactly a month since my last post. I have been doing a lot of reading and a similar amount of thinking about many things including my faith and how that is expressed in my life.

I heard a story today about a boy who struggles to read and write but really enjoys reading Bible stories. For various reasons, the boy only gets to do this when he visits his grandfather during the school holidays and for this reason he describes himself as only ‘half Christian’.

Some days, I’d say that’d be a pretty accurate label for me. I struggle with mainstream denominational church and what the Christianity ‘brand’ seems to represent. Likewise, I feel uncomfortable with the literalism and selective interpretation of much that is presented to those who attend church.

Rather than being put off by these aspects as I would in the past, I have been trying to look for ways in which I can connect with God in a way that has more meaning, less baggage and make a positive impact on others.

In reading what others have written on their own search for a more authentic church experience, I found a good many references to house churches, simple churches and their like. After a enjoyable workday lunch hour spent browsing pre-loved books in Evermore Books, I came away with a book called Simply Church. Written by Tony & Felicity Dale, the book provides a good introduction to house church movement.

Slim enough to read in one day, the book basically covers the scriptural foundations for house churches and covers the increasing number of simple church and house church networks around the world. The premise of a simple home-based church modeled on the meals and meetings of the New Testament Apostles seems more authentic than the denominational services I have been to and a more direct way to engage with God. Certainly something I shall be reading and praying on more in the weeks to come. You can read more on these types of churches at House2House and Simply Church.

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While in Evermore, I also picked up an old copy of the Good News Bible. I remembered the logo from my childhood and as I flicked through the pages I was delighted to rediscover the wonderfully evocative illustrations of Swiss artist Annie Vallotton. Since than and via the Amazon Marketplace, I have also scooped up a copy of Priority, the English translation of Valloton’s 1969 French language book, Priorité. This book is a simple retelling of Jesus’ life in sixty drawings with selected scriptures.