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Internet Monk–Tribute to a Distant Friend

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Categories: things that don't fit in any category in particular

In trying (against all odds) to catch up with my blog reading this morning, it came to my attention that the day after Easter, Michael Spencer (aka Internet Monk) passed away from cancer. I was aware that he was ill, but unaware of how close he was to the end. His struggle with cancer apparently lasted only four months. He was 53 years old.

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A Question of Trust

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Categories: faith

If you’re a long time reader, you might get a chuckle at this obvious understatement…but I’m the kind of guy who likes to figure stuff out.

šŸ™‚

One of the main reasons this blog even exists is that it becomes a processing point for my thoughts, as my logical mind tries to make sense of my spiritual journey and tries to draw conclusions from the evidence. I often question myself as a creative person, because I’m probably one of the most left-brained creative types I know. (The Director and The Wild One are decidedly not so.) šŸ™‚

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Agenda-Free Evangelism

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Categories: evangelism, food for thought, love

That title might sound like a bit of an oxymoron to some. šŸ™‚ After all…doesn’t all evangelism have an agenda?

Maybe. But lemme splain. šŸ™‚

Have you ever had a friend that got involved in multi-level marketing (MLM), like Amway for example, and after awhile every time you talked to that person, you felt like they saw you as a marketing prospect? If not controlled, it can affect the very fabric of the relationship, because you feel like that friend has an ulterior motive–an agenda for being friends with you. And if that person really gets sold on their product and scheme, if you don’t bite after awhile, you stop hearing from that person. You aren’t seen as a productive prospect anymore.

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A Flexible, Anchored Framework (excerpt)

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Categories: theological questions

Excerpt from my post earlier today on Communitas Collective

It seems like the past few months have been ā€œearthquake seasonā€ for this planet. First there was the horrific devastation from Haitiā€™s quake in January; about six weeks later, Chile suffered a quake nearly 1000 times as intense as Haitiā€™s. And just yesterday, Mexico registered a 7.2 quake that was felt in California.

If youā€™ve never been in an earthquake, itā€™s hard to describe the sense of helplessness and of time standing still. It really does shake you, in more ways than one. Growing up in California, Iā€™ve felt quakes as strong as 6.2; I donā€™t ever care to feel one stronger.

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Perspectives on Easter

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Categories: food for thought, Things I Should Probably Not Be Telling You

Today is Good Friday on the church calendar–which means, of course, that Sunday is Easter (or Resurrection Day, if you prefer). This is the time of year when we observe and celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ.

I’ve been thinking about this lately (and you know what THAT means)…mainly because I’ve been helping out a congregation with worship, which means it’s the first time in a number of years that I’ve been in an environment where Easter preparation is important. After all, lots of people attend church meetings on Easter that never do so any other time of year. It’s natural for us to want to put our best foot forward.

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Sunday Meditations: The Voice

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Categories: Sunday meditations

The voice of the Lord is powerful,
The voice of the Lord is majestic.
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
Yes, the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon…
The voice of the Lord hews out flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
The Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord makes the deer to calve
And strips the forests bare;
And in His temple everything says, “Glory!”
–Psalm 29:3-9, NASB

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Creating Community, or Finding It (part 3: Our Journey)

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

So read parts one and two to catch up…

With my changing views on community, I think what I’m about to share here is the most significant factor–because it really demonstrates what can happen when we let community happen instead of make it happen. (And this is just what our journey looks like–not an inference as to what yours should look like.)

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Me Do Another Man Thing

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Categories: what I did today, What the heck was THAT?

Remember wwwaaay back when I do post about how me do man thing?

Me do another one! Me do another man thing.

Me replace broken tail light bulb on car, all by self.

Yep. All by self.

I know.

Me shocked, too. Me and car know nothing about each other. Me only know long pedal make car go, wide one make it stop. Different knobs do different things. Me still figuring it all out.

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Creating Community, or Finding It (part 2: Community Happens)

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

In part 1, I started a stream of thought about my changing picture of community, how it used to be so tied to the institutional structures (which are essentially created communities), and how I’m seeing it as more of an organic, naturally occuring thing. I talked about the feeling of alone-ness that so often happens to…oh, heck, just go read it. Sheesh, I’m sitting here writing the dang thing all over again… šŸ˜€

So for us believers who have found ourselves outside the walls, if the solution for our alone-ness is not (necessarily) to create new communities with others who share our experience, how can we re-think it? We know it’s important, we see it as a need; what, if anything, do we do about it?

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