Categotry Archives: food for thought

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How One Statement Can Explain Two Years

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Categories: changing mindsets, food for thought, Rantings

Kathy over at Carnival in My Head just got back from Africa with her family, and posted a preliminary report about her trip on her blog. One of the most profound moments she described was when she said her missions team was the first American team ever to actually stay at the orphanage they were visiting–that most teams sleep at a nice hotel an hour away. One of the teachers at the orphanage expressed gratefulness at this, saying, “people come to help, but they don’t really want to be with us and live our life with us.”

Ouch. In so many ways.

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The Show Must Go On (excerpt)

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Categories: food for thought

From my post on Communitas Collective:

I think the thing I miss the least about church-as-usual–especially as a staff member–is the pressure to perform, especially during service times. I learned–and I taught–that when it was time for our gathering, all our problems were tabled, all our personal issues were put to the side for the purpose of focusing on God. If we were having a hard time, or a bad day, all that had to go away for however long we were in the service. It was a sincere effort, really, not an attempt to be heartless…

Read the rest here.

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What Do We Do Now?

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

During a phone discussion I was part of last night with some fellow bloggers, some interesting observations were made that have me thinking some more this morning. (And I have to credit Pam for sparking most of this thought process.)

There is no doubt that there are at this point a huge number of people–likely numbering in the millions–who are making an exodus from the institutional forms of Christianity. Many have walked away hurt and wounded; some left simply disillusioned. Some have admittedly migrated away from the faith, but a huge portion actually feel their relationship with God has improved with their departure. Many of us–dare I say a significant majority?–left because we were looking for more, because somehow we felt that what the church was presenting could not be a complete or fair picture of all Jesus is, or what the faith is about.

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It’s a Go-to-Them Thing

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

From some folks looking at our story from the outside, it might look like we’ve left the ministry.

If “ministry” means an institutional entity that operates like a business, or a set-apart occupation that only focuses on activities considered “spiritual” rather than “secular”…then yes, we’ve left that kind of ministry.

But in the various things The Wild One and I have been involved with in recent days, I have to say that the heart of ministry (that is, the urge to genuinely bring help and love to others) still beats strong in us. It’s like everything we do ends up having something to do with that, without our trying to make it so. It’s like breathing. And I think that is so cool.

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Christian is a Noun (excerpt)

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Categories: food for thought

From my latest post on Communitas Collective:

Checking Facebook is part of my morning routine (and afternoon routine, and evening…anyhow). And on Facebook this morning, one of my friends posted about some song running through his head, and someone responded to him, jokingly reprimanding him that the song going through his head was not “Christian music.”

Seeing this made me think of a day when I was hopelessly “safe” in the confines of the Christian culture, when all I would listen to was “Christian music.”

Read the rest here…

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The Bible Says

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Categories: food for thought

I can remember being a kid and having an acute case of the “why’s”. As in, “Why can’t I have hamburgers for dinner every night?” Or “Why do I have to go to bed now?” At times when my mom was too fatigued or hassled to answer another “why”, she would simply end the debate with, “Because I said so!” Meaning, “I am the Mom. You are the kid. I am the final authority on this matter, and I don’t have to explain it to you. Case closed.”

Not saying this is always bad. Just saying. (I’ve also practiced this technique frequently as a parent.)

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The Parable of the Geese Who Wouldn’t Fly South

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Categories: food for thought, What the heck was THAT?

One thing I’ve observed in Denver with much interest: Canadian geese. Thousands of ’em. I thought geese were migratory birds, so I don’t really know why they are sticking around (unless this IS “south” for them), but they are all over the place. Watching their behavior has intrigued me, amused me, and inspired the following parable, based on actual things I’ve witnessed (although I’ve taken a couple of artistic liberties just to tell the story).

To quote the Master parable-teller: He who has ears to hear…let him hear! 🙂

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Sunday Meditations: In All Our Ways

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Categories: food for thought, Sunday meditations

I’ve never been a fan of memorizing Scripture, but I have to admit that with all the passages I was required to memorize in Christian school, a lot of it stuck with me. My first month there, we had to learn Proverbs 3–the whole chapter. I can still remember huge portions of it, but especially this part:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.” (Prov. 3: 5-6, NASB)

Now, 30 years later…learning those verses was the easy part. Learning to live them–that’s the hard part.

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Thoughts on Diversity

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Categories: food for thought

I’m spending so much time writing these days that I don’t have too much time to read, but I finally decided to give Brian McLaren a try, and am working through his book A Generous Orthodoxy. I hesitated to read McLaren mainly because when someone in a certain stream has written that many books about it, I get a little suspicious that maybe he’s got it all figured out, and I’m a little gun-shy about hooking up with another “camp” who has it “figured out”. I can tell that I won’t agree with everything he’s saying, but so far I’m enjoying it.

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