Categotry Archives: food for thought

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Where Were You…

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Categories: food for thought

…seven years ago today?

Most Americans, and many others from around the globe, can tell you where they were and what they were doing the morning of September 11, 2001.

About 3000 people can’t. They are no longer with us.

That day, our family was in between homes, living in an extended stay hotel in Tulsa. I was driving to the laundromat when I first heard on the news that the first tower had been hit, and shortly after I turned on the radio…the second tower was hit. I watched on the laundromat televisions as the towers burned, then the Pentagon was hit, then Flight 93 fell to the ground…and the first tower.

This is a preview of Where Were You…. Read the full post (286 words, 2 images, estimated 1:09 mins reading time)

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Close Encounters of the First Kind–The Holy Spirit in My Life

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Categories: food for thought, My Story, post-charismatic

So I just found out about Robbymac’s synchroblog this morning (via Barb and Sarah)–the one encouraging people (especially post-charismatics) to tell our stories of “how we first became acquainted with, and eager for, the felt presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.” And I was like, “Hey, I wanna do that, too!” 🙂 So here ya go.

I was raised until about age 10 in the Episcopal church. My divorced mom was devout, and I remember she and I being the only attendees many times at early morning Lent services (only one of us actually being a willing participant).

This is a preview of Close Encounters of the First Kind–The Holy Spirit in My Life. Read the full post (1319 words, 1 image, estimated 5:17 mins reading time)

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The Director’s Spiritual Journey (or "Will Our Kids Be Okay??")

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Categories: children, faith, food for thought

A couple of weeks ago, Kathy wrote an intriguing post raising the question shared by many who are on similar journeys of departure from “normal” Christian expressions: “What will become of our children?”

A couple of days ago, I got an email from a friend who is thinking about leaving his institutional church to start a house church, and he posed similar questions about how to help support his child spiritually during the in-between period.

This is a preview of The Director’s Spiritual Journey (or "Will Our Kids Be Okay??"). Read the full post (1384 words, 2 images, estimated 5:32 mins reading time)

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Departing: How I Found Myself Outside the Walls

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Categories: food for thought, My Story

After my last blog posting, it’s getting apparent I need to change the subject. 🙂 (Thanks for all the comments, folks.)

I’m sure I’ve covered this previously somewhere in the blog archives, but it’s sort of on my mind today. I’d like to share a little of my story, and how I have wound up outside the walls of institutional Christianity.

Reading the stories of many others out there, it is apparent that many who are among the “disenfranchised” when it comes to the IC have simply walked away. Either they left because they were disillusioned, or they left because they were wounded (and often a bit of both). Either way–they were the ones who did the walking.

This is a preview of Departing: How I Found Myself Outside the Walls. Read the full post (1196 words, 1 image, estimated 4:47 mins reading time)

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Not Crying Foul, Just Asking Questions (or, "Hey, Where’s MY Copy?")

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Categories: books, food for thought

***TONGUE-IN-CHEEK ALERT***

Okay, so a couple of months ago, some of the folks from Frank Viola’s organization apparently read some older references I had made on this blog to the book Pagan Christianity? They emailed and asked if I’d like a “review” copy of the next book Reimagining Church. I emailed back and said yes, please.

Then, after this took place, I actually wrote a review of Pagan Christianity?–admittedly a fairly negative review. At that time, I quipped that I hoped my review would not make the Viola folks change their minds about sending me the next book.

Still waiting…

This is a preview of Not Crying Foul, Just Asking Questions (or, "Hey, Where’s MY Copy?"). Read the full post (535 words, 2 images, estimated 2:08 mins reading time)

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Christian or Christlike

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Categories: food for thought, Meanderings (look it up)

A month or two ago, I dropped a hint that I was dreaming again.

Lots of what I’m dreaming about is still churning in the ol’ soul-incubator, so I’m not ready to spill it just yet. Vision is forming, but I don’t know what it’s all going to look like yet. What I do feel is that this whatever-it-is that I’m dreaming up needs to have a fresh approach to faith expressed in our culture.

This is a preview of Christian or Christlike. Read the full post (639 words, 1 image, estimated 2:33 mins reading time)

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Links of Note on the Lakeland/Bentley Fallout

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Categories: food for thought, link love

I mentioned in my last post that Blog-land is lit up with commentary on the Lakeland revival, particularly the recent news of Todd Bentley’s separation from his wife, in the light of his recent “apostolic alignment.”

Now, I’m not especially interested when people just use their blogs for useless venom-spewing, name-calling and mockery–even if I happen to agree with their opinions. To me, that approach damages credibility, and the only people that approach reaches are other people who are already likewise pissed off. But when someone shares an honest opinion in a fair manner and makes you think–even if the opinion is a strong one…that’s the kind of thing I think is healthy to the conversation.

This is a preview of Links of Note on the Lakeland/Bentley Fallout. Read the full post (192 words, 1 image, estimated 46 secs reading time)

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The Show Must Go On?

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Categories: changing mindsets, church, food for thought, movies

I’m thinking of old movie, one of those formulaic wartime entertainment feel-good musicals, called Diamond Horseshoe. The plot isn’t too memorable, but there’s an interesting standing joke throughout the movie. The Diamond Horseshoe is one of those old-timey nightclubs with the stage show. Early in the movie, the manager repeats the well-known mantra, “The show must go on!” To which one of the main characters asks, simply, “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why must the show go on?”

This question gets repeated several times through the movie, and it frustrates everyone because, of course, nobody really knows why the show must go on. It just has to. The show must go on, because it must. Because…it just has to.

This is a preview of The Show Must Go On?. Read the full post (917 words, 2 images, estimated 3:40 mins reading time)

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What Could Be

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Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought

My stream of thought is continuing, and one thing is leading to another. I’d like to elaborate on these ideas from my last post…

“…some of us are even wondering what we need to do with our gifts, because we mistakenly defined our gifts by the system in which we were working.”

“There are probably a dozen other applications for our gifts that we haven’t even thought of, because we were so conditioned to the parameters of institutional church.”

“Part of our problem is we’ve been conditioned to have someone else do our thinking and praying on our behalf.”

This is a preview of What Could Be. Read the full post (741 words, 1 image, estimated 2:58 mins reading time)

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On the Other Hand…

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Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought

In closing my last post, I included the following:

“…for the moment, this new place outside the walls might look like a wasteland, just more wilderness. But look at it through a different lens, and it becomes wide-open spaces, a place with amazing potential–potential far greater than we could ever hope for inside the walls.”

I’d like to elaborate on this idea just a little.

This is a preview of On the Other Hand…. Read the full post (648 words, 1 image, estimated 2:36 mins reading time)
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