Wellspring . . . Space

Are You a Peacemaker?

2011-06-09T11:24:00.000-05:00

“A much neglected aspect of the mission of Jesus according to Luke is that of peace-making, of nonviolent resistance to evil, of the futility and self-destructive nature of hatred and vengeance.” (Transforming Mission by David J. Bosch - Page 118)

“God blesses those who work for peace for they will be called the children of God”.

(Matthew 5:9 - New Living Translation)

Those who work for peace are people who accurately reflect the character and nature of God. Being a peacemaker is restoring “Shalom”. It is restoring wholeness, completeness, or soundness.

I think there are three possible ways of being:

1. I can be a peacekeeper. Peacekeepers are appeasers. They just want everyone to get along. Let’s just keep quiet about anything controversial and let’s just keep everyone happy. Peacekeepers don’t talk about what they really feel or think. Peacekeepers protect themselves by not risking.

(Unfortunately I’ve come to realize that I’ve lived most of my life as a peacekeeper.)

2. I can be a troublemaker. Troublemakers demand that things be done their way. Troublemakers think they are right and everyone else is wrong. Troublemakers don’t care if people get hurt or what kind of damage they leave behind. Troublemakers protect themselves and there way by attacking.

3. I can be a peacemaker. Peacemakers work to create conditions for peace.

a. Peacemakers speak the truth in love. They “say what is so” for them. They speak out against injustice and oppression. (Ephesians 4:15)

b. Peacemakers forgive and offer grace to others. Peacekeepers don’t hold grudges, or have deep seated resentments. (Ephesians 4: 31-320

c. Peacemakers initiate reconciliation. Peacemakers don’t wait for someone else or something else. (Matthew 5:23-24 and 2 Corinthians 5:18-21)

d. Peacemakers don’t retaliate or seek revenge. Peacemakers remain calm. (Matthew 5: 38-42)

e. Peacemakers take action against injustice and oppression. Sometimes in order to be a peacemaker a person appears to be a troublemaker. Jesus modeled this when he cleared the temple. (Matthew 10:34) I think those involved in the civil rights movement modeled this as well.

Peacemakers don’t protect themselves. They are courageous risk-takers.

Peacemakers take a stand against “non-peace” and help to restore wholeness. Some define sin as “shalom” breaking. Anywhere or anytime wholeness or completeness is broken it is sin. I think it’s possible to be a really “nice” peacekeeper and to be sinning by allowing brokenness to remain.

Becoming a peacemaker requires courage, intentionality, & perseverance. If you decide to become a peacemaker you will have to fight for it in your own life.

“Those how are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of justice/righteousness.”
James 3:18

The Wellspring Community

2011-06-03T09:54:00.000-05:00

Wellspring is a safe community for people who are spiritual but not religious. We don’t judge, condemn, or use the Bible as a weapon. We don’t have a long list of rules. Questions are normal and we embrace the mystery of God. We believe that God is beyond our ability to completely grasp or comprehend and so we hold our beliefs both humbly and loosely. We don’t require certainty or that everything resolve. Any person is welcome to belong in our community without having to agree with our beliefs. We don’t tell anyone what to think rather we help people discover for themselves. We value diversity and dialogue. We are a community of spiritual seekers.

The people of the Wellspring community practice following Jesus as a way of life more than as a system of belief. We believe that following the way of Jesus is a better way to live in the here and now not just in the hereafter. We believe that we are called and sent to represent God’s dream for the world. We believe that it’s our task to create foretastes of God’s kingdom here on earth. We seek authenticity and transparency. We seek to love unconditionally and to include the excluded. For us being loving is more important than being right in our beliefs. We work to extend mercy and compassion to those in need without making them our projects. We strive to recognize injustice and oppression and to work to make certain that every person gets treated rightly and fairly.

Wellspring communities are not organized institutions. We work to limit any hierarchy. We don’t have our own building and we don’t offer programs. We don’t struggle for power, control or authority. We avoid using religious jargon or cliché’s as much as possible. We aren’t “churchy”. We are real, we are honest and our gatherings are casual.

At Wellspring we are gaining freedom by closing the gaps between our beliefs & values and our actual behavior. We are seeking to identify and gain healing in our places of habitual brokenness. We are moving toward restored wholeness in six dimensions of life; spiritual, physical, psychological, economic, political, and social.

The community of Wellspring in Tomball gathers every Sunday at 4:00 P.M. at Main
Street Crossing for some music and discussion. Main Street Crossing is located at 111 West Main Street just before the railroad track and just under the Blues Brothers. The dress is very casual and no child care is provided. Our community is small and
informal.

We who make up the community called Wellspring believe that we are called to journey with people who are spiritual but not religious, joining with them in their movement toward faith & God. We hope to be a safe community where individuals can pursue God in a non-judgmental & non-threatening environment. We are seeking to follow the way of Jesus for the common good.

We believe that every person in every group asks the question; “will I be safe here?” Will I be accepted for who I am? Is this community safe enough to share what I really believe? Is it safe enough to express my doubts & fears? Is it safe enough to share my pain & my brokenness? Is it safe enough to disagree? We hope that you find, as we have, that this is a safe community. Our pledge is to keep it safe.

The Wellspring Community

2011-02-23T09:30:00.000-06:00

Chrisians Need to Repent!

2010-08-05T10:55:00.000-05:00

The first message of Jesus was “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near.” The word repent means to change your thinking and then re-order your life based on the new thinking. It means to stop going in one direction and to turn and head in a new direction. The call of Jesus to “repent” was as much to the religious crowd as it was to the non-religious. I’ve come to believe that if Jesus were here in human form today his message would be the same. I think Jesus would be calling for Christians (especially those in the U.S.) to repent! He would be calling for us to repent of our attitudes and behaviors that are not consistent with his character and nature. He would call for us to re-align our lives according to his kingdom agenda rather than any other agenda.

There are a growing number of people that are giving up on church & Christianity. Most are not giving up on God or Jesus – just the church and the religion of Christianity. Many feel that Christianity (the organized religion) no longer reflects the spirit of the person it claims to follow. (Remember that Jesus didn’t come to start a new religion but a movement and a way of life.) Last week author Anne Rice announced that she’s quitting Christianity. Here’s what Anne said:

"For those who care, and I understand if you don’t: Today I quit being a Christian… It’s simply impossible for me to ‘belong’ to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.”

"My faith in Christ is central to my life. My conversion from a pessimistic atheist – lost in a world I didn’t understand, to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me. But following Christ does not mean following His followers. Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been or might become."

I hear what Anne is saying. I hear her heart and I can identify with her. I “get” why so many others are dropping out. If it weren’t for the wonderful group of authentic followers of Jesus that I journey with – I’m afraid I would be counted among the dropouts. As a result – I want to call Christians to repent! It’s time we reorder our lives and focus just as much attention on our “orthopraxy” (right living) as we do on our “orthodoxy” (right belief).

Here are seven things I believe Christians should repent of:

1. We need to repent of our insistence on keeping people busy, busy, busy, with church activities & services that might make for good church members but are not making good followers of the way of Jesus. We have become so focused on “church growth” or on maintaining our institutions that we’ve forgotten to ask “are we really making disciples.” It seems to me that Jesus was about simplifying people’s lives not making them more complex.

2. We need to repent of our religious legalism. We’ve created long lists of “do’s & don’ts” – all intended to help people get closer to God – but instead we’re keeping people from God. Instead of helping people find life – we’re known as those who suppress life. When Jesus said “my load is easy and my burden is light” I believe he was separating himself from the religious legalism of his day. For Jesus, connecting with God was much simpler than most Christians make it today.

3. We need to repent of our arrogant – know it all attitudes. In our need for certainty we’ve lost our humility and have forgotten the many mysteries of God. Even the great apostle Paul acknowledged that at best his understanding was “foggy.” We’ve convinced ourselves that our understanding of God and the Bible is totally flawless and that being “right” is more important than being “loving.”

4. We need to repent of our angry – often hate-filled, and mean-spirited ways. Jesus said that “blessed are the peacemakers”. Jesus told us to love our neighbors and our enemies. We’ve convinced ourselves that it’s o.k. to have so-called righteous indignation and that its o.k. to treat people unkindly. But that isn’t the way of Jesus.

5. We need to repent of our smug, condescending, judgmental, & critical spirits. Jesus said “don’t judge & you won’t be judged.” “Don’t condemn & you won’t be condemned.” “God is kind to the ungrateful & wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:35-37) Many seem to think they are better than everyone else – especially those who might have beliefs that are different than theirs. It’s interesting that we love to point out the sins of others but we fail to acknowledge the seriousness of our own sins.

6. We need to repent of tying Christ to one political party’s agenda & making monsters out of anyone who sees things differently than we do. Jesus came declaring that all of the kingdoms of the world are flawed and that people need to align their lives with God’s kingdom and his agenda. We need to spend more time seeking “God’s kingdom & his justice” (Matt. 6:33) and less time seeking a given parties kingdom and its ideas of justice.

7. We need to repent of our narrow view of the gospel. We need to go back to the scriptures and re-learn what the essential gospel message of Jesus was and is. I believe that we should develop our theology of the gospel through the lens of Jesus first – rather than through the lens of the apostle Paul. We should look forward from Jesus rather than back from Paul. “As we have used the tools of biblical scholarship carefully, we have begun to learn that the biblical message is more radical, more inclusive, more transforming than we have allowed it to be.” (Missional Church p. 5)

I’m sure there are many other things we Christians need to repent of – but these are the seven that are most on my mind today. As I think about these seven areas of repentance I acknowledge that I need to repent of all seven. I acknowledge that symptoms of these seven things continue to seep from my being despite my best efforts. I don’t have my act together and I don’t have things all figured out. My hope is that I will follow the way of Jesus more closely than I ever have before. My hope is that I will more accurately reflect the character and nature of God through the way I live. My hope is that I will welcome God’s kingdom agenda into my life more fully and that I will align my life more completely with that agenda.

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life and only a few find it. (Matt. 7:13&14)

Why Are People Turned Off By the Christian Sub-Culture?

2010-01-28T10:21:00.000-06:00

Many people are rejecting the Christian sub-culture today - but that doesn't necessary mean that they are rejecting Jesus. What turns you off about the Christian sub-culture? I'm putting my list together and will post it next week. I would love to know what you think.

Answers to Tough Questions

2010-01-21T22:03:00.000-06:00

A friend forwarded this link today. I really like Dallas Willard and think you will enjoy this dialogue. http://mppc.org/toughquestions

The Nativity of Rachel Shuman

2009-12-24T10:44:00.001-06:00

Rachel Lynne Shuman was born to Ken & Becky Shuman on September 2nd 1979. Rachel was born just a couple of weeks after Ken graduated from college. Ken had taken his first church job in Shreveport Louisiana and the Shuman’s were living in Shreveport. Becky was determined that her daughter would not be born in Louisiana so she continued seeing her doctor in Marshall Texas. Rachel was a little slow in coming so one Saturday evening Becky decided to drink some castor oil in an attempt to speed the process up. Well it worked – because just a short time later Becky went in to labor. Becky’s mom had been staying with the Shuman’s waiting to help with the new baby – so Ken loaded his pregnant wife, his mother-in-law, and himself into the Shuman’s Volkswagen bug for the thirty minute drive to Marshall. Needless to say it was a tight fit.
In the early morning hours of Sunday September second Rachel Lynne was born. When daddy saw his little girl for the first time his heart melted. Ken had tried to prepare himself for being a father but the overwhelming feelings he had when he first saw his daughter were even more powerful than he could have anticipated. Of course Rachel became the queen bee of the church, and she continued as queen bee in every other church the Shuman’s served in.

The Nativity of Becky Shuman

2009-12-24T10:25:00.000-06:00

Rebecca Jean Brock was born to Rev. Morris and Evelyn Brock on August 8th in Durant Oklahoma. Rebecca is the fourth child of what eventually became seven children born to the Brock’s. Rev. and Mrs. Brock had seven children in eight and a half years! This was before the invention of television. Rebecca was born in Oklahoma but grew up in Missouri. Rebecca became known as Becky. Becky met Ken Shuman while they were students at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, Texas.

The Nativity of Jessica Stricker

2009-12-17T17:03:00.000-06:00

Jessica, your dad and I were living in Sinop, Turkey where your dad was a military MP on a small (then secret) base jutting out into the Black Sea. I was 19 years old and not about to go back to the states when we found out you were coming. I was actually the last to get the official news, because there is no better system of communication than the grapevine on a small military outpost isolated from the world. By the time the test results trickled down to me, everyone on the base knew you were coming. And for the next nine months, they all worked to ease your way. I think you became a symbol of why they were half way around the world from home, missing their own wives and children. They showed us pictures and told us stories and even gave up their own vacation time so that your dad could spend as much time with me as possible before your arrival.

Three weeks before you were due, they put us on a cargo plane (C-130) that was going to Adana in southern Turkey, where there was an Air Force Base with a hospital. I joined a group of military wives from bases all over, and we each waited our turn to deliver. It was during the 1974 uprising on Cyprus, and the US government was angry that Turkey was using NATO weapons to fight. But the Turks saw the weapons as their property given in exchange for their commitment to participate, and were very offended by US demands. I offer that piece of history in case you ever read about it in books—we were very aware of both sides of that reality, and it may have affected my own religious pilgrimage more that any other single factor I can think of.

The day before you were born your dad and I traveled into Syria (your dad informed me recently—I never new we left Turkey) and climbed up to a castle on a hill, which you’ve seen slides of. The exercise must have excited you, and by 5 the next morning you let me know you were on your way out. Unfortunately, you didn’t communicate as well to the hospital people They kept insisting that you wouldn’t be arriving that day as I had previously predicted you would. But at 11:47pm you did make your way into the world, and you couldn’t have chosen any more pleased parents than we two waiting to greet you.

Two days after your birth, we set out on our trip back home to Sinop. The hospital people assumed (I am sure) we would drive to the airport, get on a military plane and be taken back to whatever base we had come from. But your dad was not stationed at a base with facilities for families, therefore you and I had no status. Sinop was the last stop for the plane, so coming from Sinop had not been a problem. Going back, the plane was puddle jumping and dropping people at bases all over, leaving no room for you and me. (Insert appropriate Christmas music at this point.)

It took us three days to make it home by way of public transportation after your birth. Not having planned on so much travel, we ran out of money at one point and had to borrow from some other GI’s in order to have bus fare for the last leg of the trip. You lived in the cardboard box provided by the hospital for your first four months, and you were well protected and cared for by Turks and Americans in equal measure.

Thanks for asking me to write this. It has made me aware of how much of the story isn’t included. I’ll have to work on that.
________________________________________

Directions

2009-12-14T19:48:00.000-06:00

We are having a get together at my house on Thursday. For directions just click on point B and select get directions. Now just enter the address of your house and it'll give you directions to my place.

View Larger Map

The Nativity of Kathy Hart

2009-12-14T17:31:00.001-06:00

I was raised with my story starting: My parents waited anxiously for the phone call and the news that I had finally arrived. They had a long wait because I was happy where I was and didn't intend on coming out to play. I managed to hang on for an extra three weeks before making my presence known on June 18, 1963 in the city hospital in Harvey, Illinios. My maternal Grandmother was the first to see and hold me. A nurse at the hospital placed her in my arms and she whisked me out of the hospital and to my new life. My parents were overjoyed when Grandma laid me in my mother's arms. They had waited a long time for me, because they couldn't have children of their own.

32 years and 345 days later, I was able to put the rest of the story together as I met my birth Mother for the first time. She told me a story filled with sadness, poverty and perseverance. A young, divorced mother already with one toddler, another on the way and no job and a very poor family. She was forced to make the ultimate sacrifice a Mother can make. Placing my best interests ahead of her own heart's feelings, she reluctantly placed me up for adoption. For almost 33 years she wondered, worried and cried over the only daughter she ever had. However, since she had only ever shared this "secret" with a few very special people, no one understood why in the Middle of June each year she would become sad for a few days.

You would think that was the end of the story, but this one has an ironic twist to it. She had told my birth Father that she had lost me and then she moved away before she started to show. The ironic part is that his oldest Sister had a dear friend who was having difficulty accepting the fact that she couldn't have children and had decided to adopt a child.......

The Nativity of Ken Shuman

2009-12-14T09:56:00.000-06:00

In the fourth year of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s first term as President of the United States - Harold & Elenora Shuman of Danbury, Texas were expecting their third child. Harold was born and raised in Danbury and is a WWII veteran. Harold worked in the oil field for Phillips Petroleum Company. Harold and Elenora lived in a simple framed house that Harold had built himself. The couple had two daughters so Harold was really hoping for a son this time. When the time came for Elenora to give birth the couple drove to the Hospital in Freeport, Texas. Freeport had the nearest hospital to Danbury – but was still a thirty minute drive away. Because there was no Hospital close – the child was born in a chemical plant. The hospital in Freeport was owned and operated by Dow Chemical Company for their employees and local residents. When the couple arrived at the hospital – Elenora was taken to the delivery area while Harold filled out the paperwork. While he was signing all the forms – Dr. Steele the family doctor walked up and said “congratulations it’s a boy”. You see, the boy was so ready to come out and play that the couple barely arrived at the hospital before the delivery happened. Harold and Elenora named the boy Kenneth Wayne. Harold liked an actor on a television program who was named Kenneth. Kenneth was born on January 19, 1957. Kenneth is the third child and oldest son of six children born to Harold and Elenora. As a child Kenneth was called Kenny and he grew up healthy and spirited. There were no angels at his birth (that anybody saw anyway). There were no shepherds or even any chemical plant workers who came to celebrate the birth. There were a few wise men that came to see the family but they certainly weren’t Kings. Kenneth enjoyed a normal childhood and grew in wisdom and stature and every once in a while was in favor with God and

Jesus Wants to Save Christians - Epilogue

2009-12-09T12:07:00.000-06:00

There’s a pattern here- a pattern we find in the story of the Bible that gives us insight into the deepest truths of how the universe works – Egypt, Sinai, Jerusalem, Babylon. Salvation is what happens when we cry out in Egypt. Because we all have our Egypts, don’t we?

Addiction, suicidal thoughts, anger, rage – we’ve all got darkness and slavery in our hearts somewhere. Prejudice, hate, envy, lust, racism, ego, dishonesty, greed – we each could make our lists. And they would be long. The wrong and injustice we see around us every day right down to the smallest details involving how we think and feel and act. The Bible uses the word sin for this condition of slavery. The technical definition of sin in the Scriptures is “to miss the mark.” We’ve all missed the mark in some way.

At the center of the Christian experience is crying out in our slavery and being heard by God. Trust that through Jesus, God has done for us what we could never do for ourselves – rescue, redemption, grace. This grace takes us to Sinai. Sinai is where we find purpose and identity. God doesn’t just want to save us; God is looking for a body, a people to incarnate the divine.

We’re invited at Sinai to join the God of the oppressed in doing something about our broken world. And that always involves hearing the cry of the oppressed and then acting on their behalf. If we forget them, we lose track of our own story.

Our story then takes us from Sinai to Jerusalem. And Jerusalem raises the question, “what will we do with our blessing?” What will we do with what God has given us? Will we remember Egypt, or will we lose the plot?
And sometimes we lose the plot. We become proud, we start to feel entitled, we allow our abundance to isolate us from who we really are. And we find ourselves in exile, which can be abrupt and shocking, and sometimes exile can be so subtle, we don’t realize what’s happened until later. And in exile we can slip into despair, or we can re-imagine everything – confession, repentance, a fresh start, a clean slate. We cry out in our exile and God hears us and we experience rebirth.

Jesus wants to save churches from the exile of irrelevance. If we have any resources, any power, any voice, any influence, any energy, we must convert them into blessing for those who have no power, no voice, and no influence.

It begins with someone crying out and someone else hearing. And it’s hard to hear the cry when you’re isolated from it. (Luke 16:19-31) Walls isolate. So can gates and freeways. But when we hear the cry, everything changes. Because when we hear the cry, we’re with God. When God gets Moses’ attention and lays out for him what liberation is going to look like for his people, he tells Moses to “go.” (Exodus 3: 10)

“Listen,” and then “Go.” The going will take a multitude of forms. It will be movement, action, life. It will involve risk, it will mean conversations with people who are nothing like us, and it will probably involve questions and criticism and perhaps even rejection from people who haven’t heard what we’ve heard.

It isn’t just about trying to save the world. It’s about saving ourselves – form the kingdom of comfort – from the priority of preservation – from the empire of indifference – from the exile of irrelevance.

Jesus wants to save us from making the good news about another world and not this one. Jesus wants to save us from preaching a gospel that is only about individuals and not about systems that enslave them. Jesus wants to save us from shrinking the gospel down to a transaction about the removal of sin and not about every single particle of creation being reconciled to its maker and restored to wholeness.

Jesus wants to save us from religiously sanctioned despair, the kind that doesn’t believe the world can be made better, the kind that either blatantly or subtly teaches people to just be quiet and behave and wait for something big to happen “someday.”

The Bible begins with Abel’s blood “crying out from the ground.” The Bible ends with God wiping away every tear. (Revelation 21:4) No more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain. Hope – The Christian message is always about this hope.

Jesus chose the path of descent; he comes into Jerusalem on a donkey, not a horse, with children, not soldiers, weeping, humble. And he dies, naked, bleeding, thirsty, alone. Maybe that’s what he means when he says, “Do this in remembrance of me.” The “do this’ part is our lives. Opening ourselves up to the mystery of resurrection, open for the liberation of others, allowing our bodies to be broken and our blood to be poured, discovering our Eucharist – our “good gift.” – listening and then going. Because when we do this in remembrance of him, the world will never be the same; we will never be the same.

Jesus Wants to Save Christians - Chapter Six

2009-12-02T14:55:00.001-06:00

In Egypt – there is an endless cycle of despair. This is where Exodus begins, without hope. And God is nowhere to be found. That is what makes the story of Exodus so compelling. A new day is about to dawn. And it will begin tonight. Because God has heard the cry of the people, and God has come to do something about their oppression.
On the night of the exodus, every Jewish man was instructed to take a lamb “for his family, one for each household,” to sacrifice it, and to “eat the meat roasted over the fire… with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.” (Exodus 12:3, 8, & 11) For Israel, the symbol of revolution is a lamb.
Pharaoh is being judged. Plaques have brought the world’s superpower to its knees, but before the journey can begin, there’s a meal - a meal unlike any other. And central to this Passover meal is the command never to forget it. Never forget your despair & hopelessness. Never forget that you were rescued from slavery & oppression. Exodus 12:26-27
John the Baptist declared; “look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) And what does Jesus do on the night he’s betrayed and arrested? He has a Passover meal with his disciples. Jesus takes the ritual remembrance of that night unlike any other and he makes it about himself. For Jesus, his coming death is about the new exodus.
And what is our response to this? In the Scriptures, it’s written again and again that we are to remember and be thankful. The Greek word for thankful is from the verb eucharizomai. It’s from this word that we get the English word Eucharist, the “good gift.” Jesus is God’s good gift to the world.
The church is “the body of Christ”. The church is a living Eucharist, because followers of Christ are living Eucharists. A Christian is a living Eucharist, allowing her body to be broken and her blood to be poured out for the healing of the world.
Writer Anne Lamott says that the most powerful sermon in the world is two words: “Me too.” Me too – When you’re struggling, when you are hurting, wounded, limping, doubting, questioning, barely hanging on, moments away from another relapse, and somebody can identify with you – someone knows the temptations that are at your door, somebody has felt the pain that you are feeling, when someone can look you in the eyes and say, “Me too,” and they actually mean it – it can save you. When you aren’t judged, or lectured, or looked down upon, but somebody demonstrates that they get it, that they know what it’s like, that you aren’t alone, that’s “me too.”
Paul understands that the power of the Eucharist comes from its weakness, not its strength. Paul doesn’t say, “To the strong I became strong.” He only says, “To the weak I am weak.” At the heart of the church, in the soul of the Eucharist, is identification with the suffering of another human being. The church says to the world, “Me too.”
Jesus’ death, the breaking of his body and the pouring of his blood, is for Paul an end to a whole system of “commands and regulations.” And among those commands and regulations is the wall in the temple the divided the one group of people, the Jews, from the other group of people, the Gentiles. Jesus has made peace. “His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross by which he put to death their hostility. (Ephesians 2:14-16) Peace has been made. A church is where peace has been made.
In the new humanity our world gets bigger, our perspective goes from black-and- white to color, our sensitivities are heightened, we’re rescued from sameness and uniformity, because the wall has come down and peace has been made. A church is the new humanity on display. All of these people – who are divided, who never sit down and listen to each other – in the new humanity, in the church, they meet, they engage, they interact, they begin to feel what the other feels, and the dividing wall of hostility crumbles.
This is why it is very dangerous when a church becomes known for being hip, cool, and trendy. The new humanity is not a trend. When everybody shares the same story, when there is no listening to other perspectives, no stretching and expanding and opening up – that’s when the new humanity is in trouble.
The way of Jesus is the path of descent. It’s about our death. It’s our willingness to join the world in its suffering, it’s our participation in the new humanity, it’s our weakness calling out to others in their weakness. What does it look like for us to break ourselves open and pour ourselves out for the healing of these people in this time in this place?
It’s written in the letter to the Hebrews that they shouldn’t give up meeting together because they should “consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” (Hebrews 10:24) The phrase “good deeds” comes from the Hebrew word mitzvot, which refers to actions taken to heal and repair the world. The Eucharist is ultimately about what we do out there, in the flow of everyday life. Church is people – people who live a certain way in the world.
How are people taught to keep the exodus, the grace of God, alive in their lives? By remembering the poor. When you give unconditionally, you will be reminded of the God who gives unconditionally. When you extend grace to others in their oppression, you are reminded of the grace extended to you in yours. Every time we take part in the Eucharist, we’re reminded that we were each slaves and God rescued us. The church must cling to her memory of exodus, because if that memory is forgotten, the church may forget the poor, and if the poor are forgotten, the church may forget what it was like to be enslaved, and that would be forgetting the grace of God. And that would be forgetting who we are.
Our standing in solidarity with the single parent, the unemployed, the refugee, our joining the God of the oppressed to work for justice in the world, doesn’t just make a difference for those who are suffering – it rescues us. The church, the Eucharist, says no to religiously sanctioned despair. The Eucharist is an invitation to be the new humanity. To suffer, to bleed, to open the heart, to roll up the sleeves, to have hope that God has a plan to put the world back together, and it’s called the church. In the Eucharist, there is always hope. Hope for the poor, and hope for the rich.
The Eucharist is about people with the power empowering the powerless to make a better life for themselves.
The Eucharist is not fair. Giving to those who can’t give in return, that’s not fair. Breaking yourself open and pouring yourself out for people who may never say thank you, that’s not fair. Because God is not fair. This is a God who is defined by action on behalf of the oppressed. God is about giving the good gift. Jesus is God’s good gift for the healing of the world. The church is Jesus’ body, a good gift for the healing of the world.
The Eucharist is about the church setting the table for the whole world. The Eucharist is about the new humanity. The Eucharist is about God’s dream for the world.
The Eucharist is saying yes to human community. It’s about the freeing of human conscience to experience the total acceptance of God, and it is about human community and its right and longing to be free. It is the way to a universal religion adequate to the challenge of saving human community and the ultimate renewal of all things. The church is the living, breathing, life-giving, system-confronting, empire- subverting picture of the new humanity.
Jesus has rescued us. His blood equals our redemption. He’s the good gift. The church says yes to the good gift. The church is the good gift, for the world.

Jesus Wants to Save Christians - Chapter Five - Part Two

2009-11-10T15:18:00.000-06:00

O.K. group here is part two of chapter five. I wanted to break this part out because I think it will stir plenty of thinking and conversation from us. The views expressed by the authors aren't the views that most of us were taught growing up in church about the book of Revelation. Let me remind us all - you don't have to agree with the authors take. I do hope you will think about what they say and do some personal study, however. I also want you to know that the authors interpretation of Revelation is not a new one. Many Christians have understood Revelation this way for a long time.

Enjoy - and I look forward to our conversation on Thursday night!

A tragic example of what happens when Christians miss the central message of the Scriptures is the way in which the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, is taught and understood in American culture. Revelation is a letter from a pastor named John to his congregation. To understand how significant the letter is, it helps to understand its first-century historical backdrop.

First, the emperor: The Caesars, who ruled the Roman Empire, sow themselves as gods on earth, sent to bring about peace and prosperity. Throughout the first century, the Caesars had taken their divinity more and more seriously, demanding more and more overt displays of worship and acknowledgment from their subjects. Many of them demanded that their subjects worship them as the Son of God, the divine one ruling the earth with the favor of the god. One Caesar had a choir that followed him wherever he went, singing, “You are worthy, our Lord and our God, to receive honor and glory and power.”

Second, economics: The Caesars understood that at the heart of the empire is economics. If you want to truly control people, you need to control their money. So if you went to the market to buy or sell goods, you first needed to give an offering acknowledging Caesar as Lord and that you were an obedient subject of his kingdom. If you didn’t, you couldn’t take part in the economy, which meant you wouldn’t make any money and you’d eventually starve. It is believed that a system was developed to identify who had made the offering to Caesar and who hadn’t and this system involved some sort of mark you received to acknowledge your confession of Caesar as Lord and your ability to take part in the market.

Third peace: The Roman army would march into a new land or region, one they had not conquered and announce they were taking over. They would demand that the citizens of that land confess Caesar as Lord. If they refused, they could be killed, often crucified, as a public demonstration of what happens when you defy Caesar. This had a way of bringing people in line with the Roman way.

Fourth exile: The Caesar in power at the time of John’s writing understood just what a challenge the church of Jesus was to his rule. These Christians believed that someone else, someone not him, was the true Son of God and that he alone deserved their worship and acknowledgment of divine status. Caesar believed that the way to get rid of this threat was to send the pastor into exile so that he couldn’t lead his people.

Revelation is a letter written from John, the pastor, to his church during his time of exile. He writes in a subversive literary style called apocalyptic. It uses a vast array of symbols and images and stylized language to convey profound truths about how the world works. John refers to a beast, which is his word for the corrupt, destructive system of violence and evil that is pervasive in our world. He writes of a dragon, the one who does the work of the beast on earth. And then he talks about a mark of the beast.

We can assume John’s audience knew what the mark was – how you bought and sold in the market. The mark was a symbol of your participation in the military-economic complex of the Roman Empire. The mark represented an all-encompassing system aligned against people doing the right thing. The mark spoke to all of the ways humans misuse power to accumulate and stockpile while others suffer and starve.

The mark was anti-kingdom, and John says don’t do it. Don’t take the mark. Don’t take part in the animating spirit of empire: Resist – Rebel – Protest. Revelation is a bold, courageous, politically subversive attack on corrosive empire and its power to oppress people. The people who read this letter would have been confronted with a fundamental question: Who is Lord – Jesus or Caesar? Whose way is the way – the way of violence or the way of peace – the way of domination or the way of compassion – the way of building towers to the heavens or the way of sharing our bread with our neighbor - the way of greed and economic exploitation or the way of generosity and solidarity?

Who is your Lord?

Imagine how dangerous it would be if there were Christians who skipped over the first-century meaning of John’s letter and focused only on whatever it might be saying about future events, years and years away. There is always the chance that in missing the point, they may in the process be participating in and supporting and funding the various kinds of systems that the letter warns against participating in, supporting, and funding.

That would be tragic.

That wouldn’t be what Jesus had in mind.

That would be anti-Jesus.

That would be anti-Christ.

Were the people in John’s church reading his letter for the first time, with Roman soldiers right outside their door, thinking, “This is going to be really helpful for people two thousand years from now who don’t want to get left behind”?

It’s a letter written to a real group of people, in a real place, at a real time, enduring excruciatingly difficult times. Christians were being killed by the empire because they would not participate.

John comforts them, challenges them, warns them, teaches them, inspires them – don’t’ take the mark of the beast.

Jesus Wants to Save Christians - Chapter Five - Part One

2009-10-28T11:47:00.001-05:00

Early in the morning of March 19, 2003, several planes took off on a bombing mission to inaugurate a US military effort called Iraqi Freedom. The target was a palace compound called Dora Farms. It was believed that the Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein, was staying there, that the bombs would kill him, and that American military objectives would be met.

The missiles missed their target. They landed in homes nearby filled with Iraqi civilians. A camera crew filming the removal of the bodies from the remains of the houses came across a man whose son and two nephews were in one of the houses. Sitting among the rubble, the man said, “Due to this behavior, America will fail. She will fail completely among the countries. And another country will rise and take America’s place. America will lose because her behavior is not the behavior of a great nation.

America is an empire – and the Bible has a lot to say about empires. Most of the Bible is a history told by people living in lands occupied by conquering superpowers. It’s a book written from the underside of power. It’s an oppression narrative. The majority of the Bible was written by a minority people living under the rule and reign of massive, mighty empires, from the Egyptian Empire to the Babylonian Empire to the Persian Empire to the Assyrian Empire to the Roman Empire.

This can make the Bible a very difficult book to understand if you are reading it as a citizen of the most powerful empire the world as ever seen. Without careful study and reflection, and humility, it may even be possible to miss central themes of Scriptures. Because what’s true of empires then is true of empires now. What we see in the Bible is that empires naturally accumulate wealth and resources.
(Stats on page 122)

Now, when many people get a glimpse of how the world really is, whether it’s through travel or study or reading statistics like the ones just cited, it can quickly lead to guilt. We have so much, while others have so little. Guilt is not helpful. Honesty is helpful. Awareness is helpful. Knowledge is helpful. Guilt isn’t.

God bless America? God has. And we should be very, very grateful.

Empires accumulate. And that accumulation has consequences. Blessing and abundance can turn into burdens and curses.

Moses spoke of the need to constantly tell the exodus story, the one about rescue from slavery, “otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt.” Deuteronomy 8:12-14

How does a person forget God? The answer we’ve seen again and again in the Scriptures is that you forget God when you forget the people God cares about. Over and over God speaks of the widow, the orphan, and the refugee. This is how you remember God: you bless those who need it the most in the same way that God blessed you when you needed it most.

Entitlement leads to immunity to the suffering of others, because “I got what I deserve” and so, apparently did they. Moses warned about his as well in Deuteronomy 8:17-18, when he said, “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord you God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.” In an empire of entitlement, when the fundamental awareness is lost that this is all a gift, luxuries can begin to seem like necessities. Excess can become normal. And it can be very easy to lose perspective on just how much we have.

In the same way that entitlement can cause us to lose perspective, it can also cause us to resist checks on consumption.

What we saw with Solomon is that his wealth and abundance naturally led to the priority of preservation. He had to allocate a growing portion of his resources to protecting and securing what he had accumulated. And so he built military bases and bought chariots and horses. This is where the propriety of preservation leads: to larger and larger standing armies, stockpiles of weapons, and shows of force. Which cost more and more money. Which have to be maintained with more and more resources.

The US accounts for 48 percent of global military spending.

When it’s written in the Psalms that some trust in chariots and some trust in God, this is a statement about empire and power. It’s a contrast between two different ways of being in the world. Empires accumulate. Accumulation gives birth to entitlement, entitlement demands preservation, preservation has consequences, consequences are a burden – and that burden takes faith to carry. This is the religion, the animating spirit, of empire.

The temptation in an ever-expanding empire is to fail to hear the cries of those who haven’t directly benefited from the abundance that the empire has been blessed with. If the system works for you, it can be quite hard to understand the perspective of people who have the boot of the system on their neck. If you have the power, it can be hard to understand the voice of those who have no power. If you have choice, options, and luxuries, it can be hard to fathom the anger of those who don’t.

Which takes us back to the road to Emmaus. Whatever Jesus taught these disciples from Moses and the Prophets, it changed their belief about what had just happened in Jerusalem. They had been walking home as followers of Jesus possessing an understanding of the Scriptures diametrically opposed to the work of Jesus in the world.

Followers of Christ missing the central message of the Bible? It happened then, and it happens now. And sometimes the reason is, of course, empire.

Last Night's Discussion:

2009-10-23T07:07:00.000-05:00

Saw this article today, reminds me of our discussion last night.

http://blog.sojo.net/2009/10/22/i-am-perfectly-happy-not-liking-evangelicals/

Group meeting is at the Shuman's tonight!

2009-10-22T14:07:00.001-05:00

Jesus Wants to Save Christians - Chapter Four

2009-10-21T15:32:00.001-05:00

Egypt, Sinai, Jerusalem, Babylon, and on to another man on the road leaving Jerusalem, a man named Phillip. Phillip, one of the first followers of Jesus, was from a small Jewish village on the north side of the Sea of Galilee called Bethsaida. Bethsaida was part of a region called the Orthodox Triangle, one of the most religiously devout regions outside Jerusalem at the time. In places like Bethsaida, there were strict rules about what you could and couldn’t eat; serious observance of the Sabbath; faithful attendance at the religious feasts in Jerusalem; and prayers every day. Philip came from a very small world of very committed Jewish worshipers of God, doing everything they could to be true to their religion. And then Phillip met Jesus, and everything changed. Philip left his village to follow Jesus, deserted him at the cross, reconnected with him after the resurrection, and now he’s on a road leading out Jerusalem, where he meets a eunuch – a eunuch who’s leaving Jerusalem.

Jesus tells his disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Luke tells us that the eunuch wants to know more about Jesus. Luke also tells us that the eunuch is headed home, to Ethiopia, in Africa. Africa is, for a small-town conservative Jewish man like Phillip, “the ends of the earth.” Someone from the ends of the earth is asking questions about the new exodus in Isaiah as he heads home.

The disciples are amazed at and overwhelmed by this new reality in which everybody everywhere can understand the new thing that God is doing through Jesus. People from all over the world understand each other. And on a road leaving Jerusalem, we have an African asking questions about Jesus, hearing the significance of Isaiah’s words explained in a language he can understand.

It makes so much sense to the eunuch that as he and Philip pass a body of water, the eunuch asks if he can be baptized. This question about baptism takes us back to Egypt, to Moses’ leading the Israelites through a body of water, which is referred to as the baptism of Moses. (1 Corinthians 10:2) The water symbolized their death to the old and their birth in the new, the movement from bondage to freedom. Baptism is a picture of exodus.

According to the law, a eunuch is excluded from the assembly. (Duet. 23:1) As a good conservative Jew, Philip should have viewed the eunuch as “damaged goods” and refuses to baptize him on that basis. If Philip baptizes the eunuch, he will be breaking a serious rule that he was raised to respect and follow – a rule that determined your standing with God.

This is the tension throughout the early church. What do you do when your religion isn’t big enough for God? What do you do when your system falls apart because the new thing God is doing is better, beyond, superior, more compelling? This isn’t just a tension for Philip; it’s one of the central struggles of the early church. For many of the first followers of the Way, Jesus was wrapped in layer upon layer of Jewish culture, custom, and lifestyle.

For Paul there are two fundamental modes of existence, two pervasive and ultimate realities in which humanity exists: the old condition of darkness and sin and slavery, and the new reality of light and forgiveness and freedom. Paul uses the phrase “body of sin” in a very communal Jewish sense to refer to the reality of the sinful mode of existence of all humanity. It’s the realm and reality of the powerful’s fearful coercion of the weak, whether they’re using tanks and bombs or “the customs of Moses.” It’s anywhere that power is misused. What he’s against is religious rituals that replace the freedom, the liberation, brought by Christ. When people are manipulated with quilt and fear, when they are told that if they don’t do certain things they’ll be illegitimate, judged, condemned, set to hell forever – that’s violence.

The gospel is leaving its former confines, Luke wants us to know, and it’s heading to the ends of the earth. And that means nothing looks like it used to.

The eunuch was traveling by chariot. Pharaoh, an African had chariots, Solomon bought and sold chariots. In the Scriptures, the chariot is a symbol. It’s symbol of empire. It’s a symbol of oppression and violence. It’s a symbol of wealth used in the priority of preservation.

In the Psalms, it’s written that “some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.” (Psalm 20:7)

Jesus has been telling the disciples about the kingdom of God – the realm, the reality, the way in which the weak are put first and the widow and the orphan and refugee are remembered and “justice and righteousness” are upheld, as the queen of Sheba would say. But the disciples aren’t asking about that kind of kingdom. Their question is about another kind of kingdom. They want to know if the old kind of kingdom is going to return, the one with horses and military bases and palaces. Their question is essentially, “Are you now going to pick up the sword and start swinging, purging our land of the Roman Empire so that we can have our privileged stat as God’s people back?”

They still don’t get it. They want to take back their nation for God. Jesus urges them to consider “something for everybody” but their question is about what the future will look like for them. Their question about kingdom shows that they have confused blessing with favoritism.

Luke gives another detail about the eunuch: he is in charge of the treasury of the queen of Ethiopia. He’s in charge of the wealth of one of the empires of the nations. And he’s just been baptized, he’s said yes to the new exodus, and he’s joined the Jesus movement. The wealth of the nations is entrusted to a Jesus follower.

Instead of building towers and forcing others to make storehouses out of bricks so that some are stockpiling while others are slaves, this new movement is ruled by generosity, and compassion, and sharing. The gospel for these first Christians is an economic reality. It’s holistic and affects all areas of their lives. It’s an alternative to the greed and coercion of empire.

Luke writes that the eunuch “went on his way rejoicing.” (Acts 8:39) Acts is a story of movement, motion, and progress. It’s people being caught up in something that simply must expand, and stretch, and go. Because no one city, no one religion, no one perspective, no one worldview can contain it.

Luke wraps up the story of Acts with Paul in Rome, miles from Jerusalem, at the center of a thoroughly non-Jewish world, sharing the message with whoever is interested. He “welcomed all who came to see him.” All – that’s who this Jesus is for.

Jesus Wants to Save Christians - Chapter Three

2009-10-14T09:22:00.001-05:00

After years in exile, a significant number of Israelites eventually do come home to Israel. They return to Jerusalem, rebuild its walls, and construct another temple. But when those who had seen Solomon’s temple see the new one, they’re heartbroken, because it’s nothing like its former glory. Things just aren’t what they were.

They’re not in Babylon anymore. They’re now home, but it isn’t what it used to be. The Roman Empire, the superpower of their day, conquers Israel and begins a long, oppressive occupation of their nation. Instead of being hauled away to a foreign land by a conquering army like before, this time a foreign army has come to them. Roman soldiers march through their villages, ordering people to carry their packs while taxes are collected so the Romans can build an even bigger army to conquer more nations.

Imagine going to Jerusalem for the festivals and gathering with thousands of other Jews and singing together the great songs of David about the days when things were better. Songs about victory, songs about the power of God, songs about all of the nations bowing down to your God. Imagine growing up with that history, that heritage, that story, and then trying to explain to your children just what these Roman soldiers, who don’t even believe in your God, are doing in the streets of your village.

This is Israel at the beginning of the first century. Occupation, oppression, shame, and humiliation. A nation of people wondering where their God is, asking, Why is this happening to us again? Home, and yet still in a sort of exile. Clinging to the suspended promises of the prophets, looking forward to the day, the day of hope, the day when another son of David would come and lead then in a new exodus.

430 of slavery in Egypt – 430 years in exile – 430 back in Jerusalem, but still in some form of exile – and then Jesus is born.

Here is the new son of David, one who can hear the cry of the oppressed, and he’s inaugurating a new marriage covenant as he leads them in a new exodus. At one point Jesus even says, “I am the way”, which is a new exodus term.

Jesus keeps insisting that a new kind of kingdom is “coming” and he’s forever explaining to his hearers what this kingdom is “like,” that it is “upon you”, and that it is “near”. Power is flowing through Jesus to the broken, blind, and lame – those who need it the most, who have no power. Jesus is a servant who uses his power in the service of compassion and love – that’s what a servant does.

Isaiah (42) had said this would happen. A son of Davis, who uses power purely, leading a new exodus, showing the way to a new city and a new temple, displaying a new humanity.

Jesus insists that his work will lead to a renewal of all things. Anticipation grows as Jesus travels from town to town, village to village, teaching and healing and comforting and explaining and announcing that God is doing something new, something big, and that God is doing it through him. Massive crowds listen to him, people give up everything to follow him, children line the streets and sing about him as the new son of David.

And then it’s over. Jesus is arrested – and tried like a criminal – and then killed.

Luke tells the story of two of his disciples heading home after his death. (Luke 24:13-35) They’re walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus, the village they left to follow him. How embarrassing. Can you imagine returning to your hometown after having made an error in judgment this large? Dropping everything to follow a man because you thought he was something that apparently he wasn’t?

For these disciples, Jesus’ death is the end of hope. For their fellow traveler, Jesus’ death isn’t the end of hope; it’s actually the beginning of hope. It’s as if Jesus says, “If I do it like everybody has done it since the beginning of time, how would that change anything?” If evil always takes some form of violence, then more violence isn’t going to solve anything.

The only way to break that cycle is for someone to absorb it. A true leader of a new exodus would have to resist ever using power in the form of violence against another human being. Isaiah called the one to come a suffering servant. (Isaiah 52:13-15) Someone would have to have the courage to put away the sword, forever, regardless of the consequences for his own security. No matter how tempting it is to pick it up and start swinging, someone would have to say, “Forgive them, Father, because they just don’t’ get it.”

So all of creation is in sort of exile, east of Eden, estranged from its maker, far from home, what’s the penalty for that? What would be the payment to end that exile?

The prophets had declared that someone would come who would be willing to pay that price, the price for all of creation breaking covenant with God. And if that price was paid, that would change everything. Everything and everybody could then come home.

In a couple of hours, using nothing but the Hebrew Scriptures, this man converted all of their despair to hope and a vision of a new future.

In Jesus’ day, people could read, study, and discuss the Scriptures their entire lives and still miss its central message. In Jesus’ day, people could follow him, learn from him, drop everything to be his disciples, and yet find themselves returning home, thinking Jesus had failed.

Which is a bit like walking with someone for hours, only to discover that you had missed who they really are the whole time. Because the stranger is, of course, Jesus.

Jesus Wants to Save Christians - Chapter two

2009-10-07T14:59:00.001-05:00

The descendant of Solomon find themselves enslaved in Babylon. They once had the palace and the temple and slaves and the thriving economy and the massive military. They had wealth, and influence and peace and blessing, but they lost it. They forgot their God, they neglected the widow and the orphans and the refugee, and everything fell apart.

“By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered. There on the poplars we hung our harps… our tormentors demanded songs of joy…How can we sing… while in a foreign land?” Psalm 137:1-4

They hung up their harps. The harp was an instrument of joy and celebration. The harp was a sound you heard when life was good. But the Israelites are not in Jerusalem anymore; they’re in Babylon - Where they hang up their harps. And they weep. They cry out in Babylon.

When the system works for us, when we have the power and choice, when we’re ruling from Jerusalem, when we have no needs to speak of, who needs to cry out? Crying out reminds us of our dependence. Weeping leads us to reconnect with God.

It didn’t take long for these exiles sitting by the side of the river in Babylon to connect their agony with the story of their ancestors who were slaves in Egypt. If God freed our people once before, couldn’t God do it again? And so it’s here, in exile by the river, amid the tears of despair, that God’s people begin to dream again.

Prophets rose up in the midst of all of the despair and hanging of harps and proclaimed not the end but the beginning of something new. On the heels of colossal failure, the Jewish prophets imagined the greatest picture of hope and the future anybody’s ever thought of anywhere.

The real problem, the ultimate oppressor, is something that resides deep in every human heart. The real reason for their oppression is human slavery to violence, sin, and death. There’s an Egypt that we’re all born into, and that’s what we really need an exodus from.

An exodus is a departure, a leaving, a movement. It’s motion, energy, and action. An exodus is something you do, something you’re caught up in, somewhere you’re going, something you join because you don’t want to stay where you are. The prophets called it “the way”. (Isa. 40:3)

Apparently, anyone can join (Isa. 40:5). Everybody is welcome to come home. People of “the way” headed home. (Isa. 48:20) Now “the way” wasn’t a new idea. (Exodus 13:21)

But in the new exodus, the one in which everything will be different than it was before, the truth will be so deeply etched into people’s consciousness that they will naturally do the right thing. New exodus people, remarried to God, leaving exile, headed home.

They understood the danger of returning. The danger of returning is that we will forget what just happened. And so the way, the prophets insisted, would lead back to some sort of new Jerusalem.

But the prophets didn’t stop here. A new exodus, a new way, a new marriage with a new covenant, a new city, with a new temple, one big enough for the whole world to worship together in – what’s left for the prophets to promise? What’s left is love. (Isa. 29: 19-25)

For the prophets in exile, no vision was too large, no dream too big, no hope too beyond what would happen in the new exodus. A movement bigger than any one nation, bigger than any one ethnic group, bigger than any one religion – all of which raises the question, who will lead it?

Isaiah calls him a “Prince of Peace” and predicts that he’’ “reign on David’s throne… upholding it with justice and righteousness…forever.” (Isa. 9:6-7) Isaiah said that he’d have the Spirit of God on him and would “proclaim good new to the poor.” (Isa. 61:1)

Here by the river, in exile, all of these expectations began to coalesce into one person: a servant, a prophet like Moses, a prince of peace, a way out of exile. What began as hope for a Jewish leader for Jewish people needing an exodus from exile in Babylon evolved over time into the expectation of a leader who would be for everybody.

And this is how the Hebrew Scriptures, also called the Old Testament, end. With all of these suspended promises, hanging there, unfulfilled, undone, waiting. A group of people by a river who have lost it all, asking the questions:
What if we had it all back?
What if we could do it again?
What would we do differently?
What if a child was born and a son was given?
What if David had another son?

Jesus Wants to Save Christians - Chapter one - part two. The Cry of the Oppressed.

2009-09-30T15:54:00.000-05:00

Jerusalem
David’s son Solomon comes to power. Solomon is brilliant and wise and wealthy, and Jerusalem, the capital of the kingdom begins to gain a global reputation. A queen for the land of Sheba comes to visit Solomon. She’s from far away, from a different land, from a different kind of people, with a different religion. And she wants to know more about these people and their king and their God in Jerusalem.

Wasn’t this what Sinai was all about? God was looking for a body, a nation to show the world just who God is and what God is like. And now it’s happening: foreigners from the corners of the earth are coming to ask questions and learn and just who this God is.

After survey the kingdom, Sheba says “Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness.” And what does she mean by “justice and righteousness”? - Freedom, liberation from violence, protection from anything dehumanizing. She understands that God has given all of this wealth and power and influence so that Solomon would use it on behalf of those who are poor, weak, and suffering from injustice. Sheba gets it. Solomon, like us, can use his power and wealth to do something about the cry of the oppressed, or he can turn a deaf ear.

The Bible tells the story: “Here is the account of the forces labor King Solomon conscripted to build the Lord’s temple, his own palace, the terraces, and the wall of Jerusalem.”

Solomon had slaves. Slaves who labored to build his temple, palace, and other buildings. Wait. The Lord’s temple? This is the same Lord who sets slaves free correct? The defining event of Solomon’s ancestors was the exodus right? And now Solomon is building a temple for the God who sets slaves free… using slaves? This is a major moment in the Bible. In just a few generations, the oppressed become the oppressors. In a few generations these wandering former slaves who were newly rescued from an oppressive empire have become empire-builders themselves. Solomon isn’t maintaining justice, he’s now perpetuating the very injustice his people once needed redemption from and, in the process, building a kingdom of comfort.

Solomon uses his massive resources and wealth to build military bases to protect his…massive resources and wealth. His empire-building leads him to place a high priority on preservation. Protecting and maintain all that has been accumulated is taking more and more resources.

Moses said (Duet. 17:16-17) that the king “ must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord had told you, ‘You are not to go back the way again.’ He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.”

Solomon breaks covenant with God. Jerusalem is the new Egypt. Solomon is the new Pharaoh. Sinai has been forgotten. This puts God in an awkward place.

Babylon
God is searching for a body, a community of people to care for the things God cares about. God gives power and blessing so that justice and righteousness will be upheld for those who are denied them.

At the height of their power, Israel misconstrued God’s blessing as favoritism and entitlement. They became indifferent to God and to their priestly calling to bring liberation to others. There is a word for this. A word for what happens when you still have the power and the wealth and the influence, and yet in some profound way you’ve blown it because you’ve forgotten why you were given it in the first place. The word is exile. Exile is when you forget your story. Exile isn’t just about location; exile is about the state of your soul. Exile is when you fail to convert your blessing into blessings for others. Exile is when you find yourself a stranger to the purposes of God.

And it’s at this time that we meet the prophets, powerful voices who warned of the inevitable consequences of Israel’s infidelity.

God hates their religious gatherings! When God is on a mission, what is God to do with a religion that legitimizes indifference and worship that inspires indulgence?

God doesn’t have a problem with eating and drinking and owning things. It’s when those things come at the expense of others’ having their basic need met – that’s when the passionate rants of the prophets really kick in.

God want to live among the people in the sacred union of the divine and human, but they aren’t interested. “But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets. Amos gets kicked out of the palace. Jeremiah gets beaten up and put in stocks and thrown in a pit, and the people don’t change. They don’t remember Egypt. They’ve forgotten Sinai. They’re too comfortable. The system works for those with the power and influence to change the system. They can’t hear the cry.

Eventually God has enough. Everything falls apart, the temple is destroyed, many are killed, and those who survive are carried off to a foreign land called Babylon. And in Babylon, the survivors become “servants.” And what is a servant who serves against their will? A slave. The Israelites find themselves slaves in a foreign land. Does that sound familiar? Sounds a lot like Egypt, doesn’t it?

The Cry of the Oppressed - Chapter One

2009-09-23T14:02:00.001-05:00

Egypt, the superpower of its day, was ruled by Pharaoh, who responded to the threat of the growing number of Israelites in his country by forcing them into slavery. They had to work every day without a break, making bricks, building storehouses for Pharaoh.

Egypt is an Empire - built on the backs of Israelite slave labor.

But right away in the book of Exodus, there is a disruption. Things change. And the change begins with God saying:
“I have indeed seen the misery of my people… I have heard them crying out… I have come down to rescue them… I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them…”

A God who sees and hears. A God who hears the cry. The Hebrew word used here for cry is sa’aq, and we find it all throughout the Bible. Sa’aq is the expression of pain, the ouch, the sound we utter when we are wounded.

But sa’aq is also a question, a question that arises out of the pain of the wound. Where is justice? Did anybody see that? Who will come to my rescue? Did anybody hear that? Or am I alone?

The Israelites are oppressed, they’re in misery, they’re suffering – and when they cry out, God hears.

This is central to who God is: God always hears the cry of the oppressed.

Egypt

What started in a garden is now affecting the globe.

The word for this condition is anti-kingdom.

There is God’s kingdom – the peace, the shalom, the good that God intends for all things. And then there is what happens when entire societies and systems and empires become opposed to God’s desires for the world.

Egypt is an anti-kingdom. Egypt is what happens when sin builds up a head of steam. Egypt is what happens when sin becomes structured and embedded in society. Egypt shows us how easily human nature bends toward using power to preserve privilege at the expense of the weak.

Exodus… is about liberation from occupation.

God sends a shepherd named Moses to lead them out of Egypt. But that’s not the end of the story.

It’s actually a beginning. Their journey takes them to the foot of a mountain – a mountain called Sanai. And what happens at Sinai is revolutionary.

Sinai

It’s here, at Sinai, that God speaks.

God hasn’t talked to a group of people since Eden.

Sinai is the breaking of the silence. God is near. God is about to speak. It’s believed that this is the only faith tradition in human history that has as its central event a god speaking to a group of people all at one time.

Rescue, redemption, liberation – it’s all received from God. It’s all grace. It’s all a gift.

God invites the people to be priests. It’s an invitation to show the world who this God is and what this God is like.

Sin always gains a head of steam when it goes unchecked. And that always leads to institutions and cultures and structures that are anti-kingdom. This leads to dehumanizing places, like Egypt had become, which these former slaves standing at the base of Sinai know all too well. And God’s response is to form a different kind of nation, a “holy” one shaped not by greed, violence, and abusive power but by compassion, justice, and care for one’s neighbor.

It’s as if God is saying, “The thing that has happened to you – go make it happen for others. The freedom from oppression that you are now experiencing – help others experience that same freedom. The grace that has been extended to you when you were at your lowest – extend it to others. In the same way that I heard your cry, go and hear the cry of others and act on their behalf.

God measures their faith by how they treat the widows, orphans, strangers – the weak – among them. God’s desire is that they would bring exodus to the weak, in the same way that God brought them exodus in their weakness.

Exodus 22

Jesus Wants to Save the Christians

2009-09-15T13:35:00.000-05:00

We're going to be discussing the book Jesus Wants to Save the Christians by Rob Bell each week in our small group. Here is what we will be talking about this week:

Introduction

As a result of the murder, the text says, “Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.”

East of Eden.

There is a place called Eden, a paradise, a state of being in which everything is in its right place. A realm where the favor and peace of God rest on everything.

And Cain is not there. He’s east of there.

And he’s not only east of Eden, but in chapter 4 of the book of Genesis, the text says that he was “building a city.”

It’s not just that he’s east of where he was created to live, but he’s actually settling there, building a city, putting down roots.

The writer, or writers, of Genesis keeps returning to this eastward metaphor, insisting that something has gone terribly wrong with humanity and that from the very beginning humans are moving in the wrong direction.

God asks Adam, “Where are you?”

And the answer is, of course, “East.”

East of where he’s supposed to be. East of how things are meant to be.

_______________________________

We are east of Eden.

Something is not right.

The Germans have a word for this. They call it ursprache (oor-shprah-kah). Ursprache is the primal, original language of the human family. It’s the language of paradise that still echoes in the deepest recesses of our consciousness, telling us that things are out of whack deep in our bones, deep in the soul of humanity. Something about how we relate to one another has been lost. Something is not right with the world.

The Roman Empire, which put Jesus on an execution stake, insisted that it was bringing peace to the world through its massive military might, and anybody who didn’t see it this way just might be put on a cross. Emperor Caesar, who ruled the Roman Empire, was considered the “Son of God,” the “Prince of Peace,” and one of his propaganda slogans was “peace through victory.”

The insistence of the first Christians was that through the resurrected Jesus Christ, God has made peace with world. Not through weapons of war but through a naked, bleeding man hanging dead on an execution stake. A Roman execution stake. Another of Caesar’s favorite propaganda slogans was “Caesar is Lord.” The first Christians often said “Jesus is Lord.” For them, Jesus was another way, a better way, a way that made the world better through sacrificial love, not coercive violence.

A Christian should get very nervous when the flag and Bible start holding hands. This is not a romance we want to encourage.

And the ursprache continues to echo within each one of us, telling us that things aren’t right, that we’re up against something very old.

And very deep,

And very wide,

And very, very powerful.

For a growing number of people in our world, it appears that many Christians support some of the very things Jesus came to set people free from.

Are you ever disappointed with God?

2009-07-24T15:27:00.000-05:00

This Sunday I'm filling in for the preacher at a church on Sunday morning. The title of my message is Trusting God In Spite of Disappointment. I think it's a pretty good message.

What do you do when God disappoints you? What do you think? How do you feel?

Bring Something Sunday!

2009-07-14T09:12:00.000-05:00

Hey group – this Sunday July 19th, I would like to ask you to bring something to share in our worship gathering. It can be anything. You can bring a reading, a poem, a story, a book, a picture, a scripture passage, a card, a quote, or even something to eat or drink. I don’t care what it is – just bring something. Thanks in advance for your participation.

Week of Prayer for Children

2009-07-09T13:58:00.000-05:00

You’re Invited!

If you believe that informed, united, intercessory prayer can alter the course of the lives of children, and if have a passion for making a difference in the lives of at-risk children, then join A Week of Prayer for Children and participate in The Leadership Summit! This is an ideal opportunity for those who lead congregations, children’s ministries, or for those who participate as prayer and outreach leaders. It is also focused on leaders in the private sector with concern for the future of our children.

A Week of Prayer for Children, August 16-23, 2009
A prayer guide will be available by July 1st via the Internet from any of the sponsoring groups for all who want to pray in unity around specific, identifiable needs of our children. The guide focuses on 7 systemic issues facing children in the greater Houston area. There is no need to go anywhere. Pray wherever you are! Pray in your prayer closet, at family devotion time, in small groups, at work, and in your congregation. Do so with the knowledge that your voice is being joined in informed, unified prayer with thousands of others across the area.
A Leadership Summit, Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Did you know that Houston is ranked among the lowest in the nation among cities regarding several critical aspects of caring for children? The Summit will provide up-to-date information on the issues and current needs of at-risk children; it will highlight practical ways to respond; it will mobilize prayer for the children of our city; and it will draw media attention to the needs of children.

The Summit will be held at the facilities of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, 3471 Westheimer, Houston, TX, 77027 from 11am – 1pm. Hear a presentation of strategic information regarding at-risk children in the Greater Houston area and join your voice with others in a united season of informed prayer.

Sponsors
The Summit is sponsored by a growing number of congregations and ministries that are listed on page 2 of this Fact Sheet. If you would like to join the list of sponsors, contact Jim Herrington at jim@missionhouston.org.

The cost of lunch at the Summit is $10. To register go to this link (https://secure.ga1.org/05/childrenatrisksummit)

The Wellspring Creed

2009-06-03T15:34:00.000-05:00

We believe in God – the creator of the universe:
God is full of mercy and grace,
God is just and loves justice,
God is love and is on our side.
God’s hope is to be in relationship with every person,
God’s plan is to restore all of creation to wholeness, and to see his dream for the world - his kingdom come.

We believe in Jesus the Christ:
Jesus is the human expression of God,
Jesus is the savior of the world,
Jesus is the living demonstration of God’s dream for the world.
Jesus came to put the world right again,
Jesus came to display the justice of God,
Jesus came to provide real & eternal life – life as God intended it to be lived.

We believe in the Holy Spirit:
We believe that the Holy Spirit is here now,
The Holy Spirit guides us into truth,
The Holy Spirit empowers our lives as we seek God’s kingdom as our first priority.

We believe that God has a purpose for each of us, and so in faith:
We commit to recognize & honor God,
We commit to pursue a relationship with God,
We commit to embody the character of God,
We commit to align our lives with God’s dream for the world – helping to make the world a better place.

Amen

easter blessing 2009

2009-04-14T10:50:00.000-05:00

blessings on you...

you who have waited these forty days.

who have sat with anticipation in the garden.

who have remained in the upper room.

who have hoped for today.

and blessings on you...

who have waited much longer than forty days.

who have lost, been scorned, and are broken-hearted.

who have been prideful, or ashamed, or simply alone.

for you who have run out of hope.

blessings on all of you for today is a new day.

today will not take away the pain.

today will not solve everything.

today will not make the past different or better.

but today, in this space, you are loved.

not loved because you have behaved well.

not because you have sinned less.

or because you believe in a man that may have died on a cross.

you are loved because many people in this room have made a commitment.

a commitment to be a people not just of words, but of action.

you are loved because you are here.

you are welcomed,

and you are blessed.

amen.

happy easter everyone!

Deep Change or Slow Death

2009-04-01T16:22:00.001-05:00

In his book "Deep Change" Robert Quinn coined the phrase slow death or deep change. Every day individuals and congregation make choices that lead in one of these two directions. Deep change is hell! It's frighening and messy - yet it is key to any kind of transformation. It takes great faith to journey into deep change. Why do so many who claim to be people of faith, have so little when it comes to this important aspect in life?

If you come up with an answer please let me know because currently I'm left scratching my head.

House

2009-02-09T09:25:00.001-06:00

Question???
What kind of house did Mother Theresa have?
What kind of house does Greg Mortenson have? (Three Cups of Tea)
What kind of house does Blake M. have? (Toms shoes)
What kind of house does Ruben have? (made a difference in D's life)
Answer???
I really don't know what any of these peoples house looks like, but I do know that they made an impact on the people around them and the community,

So... I ask myself "What kind of "house" does Wellspring have"
We don't have any idea what it might be for the futere, but are WE making an impact in the community.

For me, I am going to TRY to stick with the commitment that it doesn't matter what our "house" may look like. I know this is probobly a no brainer for most of you, but for me I realized yesterday that I was really wrapped up in the "outward" appearance of Wellspring. I don't want our identity to be in a building, but I was there.... and I am glad for the changes... it allowed conversation to help me realize how bad I was there.
Hope this makes sense.
D

Legislative Action on Trafficking

2008-12-09T20:12:00.000-06:00

Hey guys, here is a good story that tells of good progress in Human Trafficking assistance. (Even though it was a long time coming.)
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/special/immigration/6154231.html

This next link is a editorial by Bob Sanborn that describes the depths of Human Trafficking in Houston. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/6132874.html

Mr Sanborn also mentions a bill (SB 89) going to the State Senate. This bill will provide for a state task force that will help in combating human trafficking through Texas as well as providing for public awareness, education and victims assistance.

christmas

2008-12-04T11:50:00.000-06:00

the other day i got to visit st. paul cathedral's first advent service of 2008.

there were oh, about a thousand people there...

full choir-adults and kids,

and of course the place is HUGE and breathtakingly beautiful.

we got to sing one christmas carol, 'come o come emmanuel' and the whole time i kept thinking about how badly i want to be back in houston so i can sing christmas carols with my friends at wellspring...and maybe even do a powerpoint with lots of holidays photos.

can't wait to see you guys...two more weeks! hope you're all doing well :)

2008-10-28T23:40:00.000-05:00

In these troubled times, I thought this appropriate:

Corcovado parted the sky
And through the darkness
On us he shined
Crucified in stone
Still his blood is my own
Glory behold all my eyes have seen
Have seen

I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed to be a witness

Some have flown away
And can't be with us here today
Like the hills of my home
Some have crumbled and now are gone
Gather around for today won't come again
Won't come again

I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed to be a witness

So much sorrow and pain
Still I will not live in vain
Like good questions never asked
Is wisdom wasted on the past
Only by the grace of God go I
Go I

I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed to be a witness

I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed
I am blessed to be a witness

-ben H.

Something to disagree with???

2008-10-15T23:19:00.000-05:00

Thought the song was fantastic and the quotes and their authors very provoking. Maybe something to think about.

(I'm not quite as savvy as textelc, so I posted the link and not the video, sorry...)

ike

2008-09-13T17:23:00.000-05:00

i have been watching that hurricane in complete horror. i heard that the shuman's and the napier's are alright, what about the rest of you? i realize it might be awhile before any of you even see this since there's a loss of electricity. just know that i stayed up all night watching that damn hurricane roll in and i was thinking of all of you every minute. wish i was there with you all...

God Of This City

2008-09-02T21:53:00.000-05:00

You're the God of this city

You're the King of these people

You're the Lord of this nation

You are

You're the light in this darkness

You're the hope to the hopeless

You're the peace to the restless

You are

For there is no one like our God

There is no one like our God

Greater things have yet to come

Greater things are still to be done in this city

Greater things have yet to come

Greater things are still to be done here

I've been hearing bits and pieces of this song lately, I don't remember exactly when or where, however when I heard the story of it's lyrics I was immediately taken. I don't want to mess up the story so check out this interview of the band Bluetree.
The song has been recorded by Chris Tomlin, but check out the Belfast version by Bluetree.

birthdays

2008-08-14T07:11:00.001-05:00

i hope everyone else over there that also has an august birthday had a good time celebrating! miss you guys!

in germany

2008-08-02T18:59:00.000-05:00

i miss you guys :(

i'm in germany right now and i've been asked a million questions on how all of you are doing...and it makes me miss you guys a lot...can't wait to be home and with all of you again!

I want to say something

2008-05-20T09:40:00.000-05:00

I want to say something...
I'm not sure what...
I'm not sure when...
I'm not sure why...
I'm not sure how...

I just know I want to say something!

TRAFFICKING

2008-05-09T21:03:00.000-05:00

I'm not quite sure what has made me pay so close attention to the discussion we've been having lately. Shannon came to town and on a Wednesday night not too long ago shared many things with us about the her ministry. The one thing that struck me so hard that night were the stories of human trafficking. I've heard these things before but this time there was something that grabbed my attention. I'm not much on research but I couldn't/can't get this thing off my mind. So, I went looking around and found a lot of numbers that, even though I've heard them before, still astound me. Here are a few numbers involved:

27,000,000 - trapped as slaves around the world

800,000-900,000 – The number of people trafficked across international borders, world wide

14,500-17,500 – The number of foreign nationals trafficked into the United States each year.

200,000 – The number of American children at risk for trafficking into the sex industry.

5000-7000 – The number of Asians trafficked into the United States each year.

3000-5000 ea. – The next largest groups from Latin America, Europe and Eurasia.

Or how about the ages involved. 8 year old kids working in fields and sweat shops around the world and in the United States. Girls as young as 13-14 year old girls sold as sex slaves. 10-12 year olds taken from their families to become soldiers. Not to mention the adults that are taken out of their country on the pretense of good jobs and money to support the family left behind, only to find themselves in a field or factory working to pay off the debt that never goes away.

I'm not through looking into this and I hope y'all keep looking too. The only thing is, what do I do with all this new found information? How in the world can this kind of stuff be happening in the 21st century? I'm praying that God will show me, or us, what to do with this.

Remember, this is not only in Asia, Africa, Europe, Mexico or South America. This is happening in the United States of America.... The great State of Texas.... The very culturally diverse City of Houston.... and possibly my own community of Spring.

http://www.unodc.org/pdf/Trafficking_toolkit_Oct06.pdf
http://www.jnet-trafficking.org/
http://www.humantrafficking.org/
http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/annualreports/tr2006/assessment_of_efforts_to_combat_tip.pdf
http://www.humantrafficking.org/uploads/publications/2007_TIP_Report.pdf
http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/
http://www.cahthouston.org/

I don't think I'm finished yet...

Some Kingdom Thoughts

2008-02-27T13:35:00.001-06:00

Here are two other takes on the idea of the Kingdom of God:

1. From Scott McKnight in his book "A Community Called Atonement"
Jesus decides to express his whole vision in one phrase, and he chooses " kingdom of God." It is here and it is coming, and it is small and it is big, and it is powerful and it it sometimes silent, and it is for big folks and little folks, and it is for off-the-map sinners and on-the-map righteous prigs (if they'll just learn to follow Jesus and stop thinking so highly of themselves.) The kingdom, is the society wherein God's will is established and practiced. "Kingdom" once again, it about people, about what I will call the ecclesial community.

The church is a local expression of God's kingdom. It is a community in which God's will is to be actualized. The church is the alternative society to the structures of power found in the world. The kingdom is justice and peace and a society wherein God's loving will is lived out.

The kingdom of God, is the society in which the will of God is established to transform all of life. The kingdom of God is more than what God is doing "within you" and more than God's persoanl "dynamic presence"; it is what God is doing in this world through the community of faith for the redemptive plans of God - including what God is doing in you and me. It transforms relationship with God, with self, with others, and with the world.

2. From Brian McLaren in his book Everything Must Change:
"We talked about eh metaphor Jesus used again and again to convey his essential message: the Kingdom of God. We considered how this message of the kingdom - conrtrary to popular belief - was not focused on how to escape this world and its problems by going to heaven after death, but instead was focused on how God's will could be done on earth, in history, during this life. We described God's kingdom in terms of God's dreams coming true for this earth, of God's justice and peace repacing earth's injustice and disharmony."

"What could change if we applied the message of Jesus - the good news of the kingdom of God - to the world's greatest problems?

What do you think?

perhaps?

2008-02-21T12:16:00.000-06:00

The "kingdom of Heaven" is a condition of the heart - not something that comes "upon the earth" or "after death."

-Friedrich Nietzsche

The Jesus Creed (Wellspring Edition)

2008-02-18T20:34:00.000-06:00

Sunday I was thinking of how long it has been since the Jesus Creed was posted. So here it is again. This is what I believe, how about you.

We believe in Jesus Christ who healed the sick, the blind, and the paralyzed and even raised the dead. He cast out evil powers and confronted corrupt leaders. He died for the sins of the world, rose from the dead, and ascended to the Father. He sent the Holy Spirit. We believe in Jesus who taught in word and example, sign and wonder. He taught the way of love for God and neighbor, for stranger and enemy, for those rejected and those ignored. We believe in Jesus, who called disciples, led them, gave them a new purpose and sent them out to preach good news. He celebrated, he sang, he feasted, he prayed and he wept. We believe in Jesus, so we follow him, learn his ways, seek to obey his teachings and live by his example. We have not seen him, but we love him. His words are words of eternal life to us, and to know him is to know the true and living God. We do not see him now, but we believe in Jesus. Amen.

napier family hoe down

2007-12-10T10:18:00.000-06:00

who: wellspring & friends

what: the fire, smores, drinks & food. plus a good 'ol napier time.

they'll have some desserts & drinks,

but if you want something...bring it :)

where: east cypress forest drive.

2nd to last house on the right.

as for the exact address, i'm gonna need some help on that.

when: this saturday the 15th; 8pm

christmas

2007-12-06T09:38:00.000-06:00

so, i've been commissioned to plan a chrisssymas party for wellspring! i guess the first question for all of us would be the date...how about NEXT sunday the 16th after church?

would most people be around? i think that would be a blast...we could all bring something and do a potluck if everyone is okay with that.

we'll need to find somewhere to have it...maybe someone else's house?

add your comments & let me know what you think!

Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these.....

2007-12-05T21:56:00.000-06:00

Jesus lives next door. He's an eight-year-old girl and her three year old brother. The Son of Man looks like those starving Ethiopian children. He only gets breakfast and lunch at school, when he makes it. His mama is a crack whore. Nobody knows where his daddy is. I heard his mama lets her "Johns" do things to him.
Poor King of Kings.
Jesus is two houses down and has six children. Now he's pregnant with the seventh. I don't know if he hasn't figured out what birth control is, or what, but how does he expect his husband to feed all those babies on that salary? And you know with all those kids the Lord of Lords can't work. That means hardworking taxpayers' money has to go for Christ's food stamps.
He needs to get fixed.
The Lord is a crazy man--paranoid schizophrenic. If he doesn't take his medication, he walks up and down the street, cussing and spitting on everybody he passes. He's homeless. Nobody knows where his family s-if he's got one. Digs out of trash cans for food. Somebody ought to get him off the street.
I'm starting to see the Son of God everywhere I go. He's always crying or egging or looking pitiful. Why doesn't he pull himself up by his bootstraps? This is America!! Makes me mad. He's ruining our neighborhood.
Somebody ought to do something about him.
Somebody.

-Claudia Mair Burney

thanks

2007-12-03T00:49:00.001-06:00

so i just checked our blog, which i haven't done in forever, and realized that the last post was way back in september.
i hadn't even noticed that mark had posted...it probably wouldn't have meant as much as it does reading it now.
i don't really have anything inspiring to say, i guess i just wanted to tell you guys thank you.
the last few months have been hard on me...all of you know that because you've heard the story a million times.
i just like that i feel at home with all of you, like i can tell you my stories over and over and i know that you'll listen.
i know that you'll care when i'm having a bad day, and that i can actually be honest.
i've never really believed it when people told me that they cared about me, but i'm starting to...
with all of you.
i think all of you mean it...that perhaps you actually like me, and might even care.
that's a nice feeling.
like a hug, or sunshine when i'm cold.
the holidays are here...and the noise is getting turned up.
that word describes it nicely...thanks mark.
i wish for all of you that it would go smoother...that things would be easier this time, this year, this holiday season,
but the reality is that it might not and i hope that's okay too.
all the pain getting stirred up...all the things we should have said or not said,
all the time we've spent over this past year abusing each other and being selfish.
i hope that if all that does come up that you have peace.
that you can stand in the storm of hustle & bustle,
of ribbons and bows and presents,
and food and travel and stress,
and expectations and short tempers and regret...
that you could stand still as it all tosses around you,
and that somehow you could be at peace.
i don't know how to do that...
so my prayer is for me too.
but i'm learning how,
and you all are making that process so much easier.
...thanks.

Notebook

2007-09-05T21:09:00.000-05:00

There is a lot of noise in my life right now. When I get like this I tend to go back through the notebook in my bible, where I've jotted down thoughts from here and there, hoping to pick up some piece of wisdom left behind.
Most of them are meaningless now that I've forgotten why I wrote them down. Words like "contentious". That was obviously wrote down so that I might look it up in the dictionary and expand my vocabulary or get more meaning from something I heard. Yet the dictionary remains closed.
Or there's a name, Lisa Terkeurst, and a question, "Who holds the key to your heart?". I don't have any idea where this came from and yet when I look at it the question haunts me.
Who does hold the key to my heart? My wife of course, oh and Jesus... yeah that's it, Jesus. At least that's what I like to think. The truth is, that my pride holds the door closed most of the time.
I wrote down prayers to. Mainly to help me focus on what I was praying about. But reading them brings back memories I thought were buried in the dark corners of my consciousness. They bring tears of sorrow for lost children, broken promises and misguided dreams. They also remind me of a time when I relied more heavily on God and not so much on my own strength.
I wrote a verse to a song we sing.

"God is bigger than the air I breathe,

The world we'll leave.

God will save the day and all will say,

My Glorious"

And then I wonder, if I truly believe that, why can't I turn the noise in my life over to Him. He is bigger than anything I can imagine. He is bigger than my little noise. He should be able to handle my little noise. Well, of course he can.

Let it go...no,wait. But isn't that what we've always been told? We only need to let it go. I'm sure I have that highlighted in my bible somewhere. OK, so here... let it go...no, wait, not yet...OK, now.

One Scoop or Two?

2007-09-05T11:54:00.000-05:00

I saw this piece today and my first thought was that I wanted to share it with friends who would "get it," who would appreciate all that it was saying and some of what it didn't say. That's you guys! Though some of you may not be into poetry, give this one a try, ok?

Jere Pfister says she saw a sign near her Heights home on North Main that captured her attention and her imagination. The sign looked like an ice cream cone with a scoop of vanilla on top. The word "Jesus" was faded but visible on the ball of ice cream. Here's the poem the sign inspired:

I wonder what Jesus-flavored ice cream would taste like.
Cool and metallic like the new cathedral in Los Angeles,
Where even the statues and Stations of the Cross are patented,
Copied, sold in-house or by mail order via the Internet.
Or salty like the tears of the wails of mothers of lost children,
Sweet trustiing children who only obey their elders?
Would Jesus ice cream taste sweet like love, sweet love,
Or bitter, sweet, lumpy, like the road to sustained love.

Would Jesus run down my hand and arm on hot days
Staining my clothes, making my hands sticky to touch
Like a vanilla-flavored ice cream cone on a hot July day,
Cause me to lick my fingers, suck them, use my spit
To clean the Jesus streaks from my arms and round my lips.
Would Jesus feed me, nourish me like communion
Is supposed to, but rarely, hardly ever does, anymore.

Are We Doing Good…Well?

2007-08-24T14:12:00.001-05:00

At this year's Willowcreek Leadership Summit Dr. Michael Porter a Harvard business professor challenged us to ask the question, "are we doing good, well". His contention is that most congregations that are trying to do good – aren't doing it very well. He said that at best we are ineffective and at worst we could be doing harm. He suggested that we change our mindset from charity & giving to that of delivering a service to a customer. He recommended that we ask "how can we add value to this particular customer." For Porter results are the key. He recommends a strategic approach that asks four questions: 1. Do we have clearly defined goals about what our objective is? 2. Where will we serve? 3. How will we serve? What specific needs will we address? More is not better. 4. How will we create alignment? Porter advocates for a sustainable solution model. There was much more to his presentation and I recommend you check it out at www.willowcreek.com/leadership2007.

I was really challenged by Porter's presentation. I believe that getting Christians to "do good" is valuable to them, to the person being served, and to the Kingdom. However, I was challenged to move beyond just the act of service. I was challenged to think more strategically – to see that providing sustainable solutions is what the Kingdom is all about. I will think differently about what my congregation ought to be doing and how I will help other congregations in the future. What do you think?

Humility, Grace Among Tools for Resolving Conflicts

2007-08-13T09:53:00.000-05:00

By Trisha Taylor

In March, I attended a workshop made up of Baptist denominational leaders and secular professionals. During lunch, as we exchanged pleasantries and unwrapped our plastic tableware, one of the participants, a young and thoroughly secular financial analyst, raised her fork and asked, “So, why are church people always fighting?”

As you can imagine, we were deeply uncomfortable. She seemed oblivious to the provocative nature of her question. Seated around the table were a half-dozen Southern Baptist ministers representing at least as many points of view. We were fundamentalist and moderate, male and female, traditional and emergent. Her sincere but offhanded question hung in the air.

The easy answer to her question would go something like this: “We fight because there are people who don’t agree with us, who need to be set straight. We who are right must defend the truth against those who are wrong. Besides, we’re not really fighting; we’re just correcting the error in our midst.”

There is a more complex answer, though. We fight when we lack the emotional maturity to navigate the anxiety that our differences create in us. We may lack the ability to tolerate and appreciate the ways that others differ from us. We may lack the ability to express calmly and firmly what we believe in the face of opposition. We may lack empathy, the capacity to see something from someone else’s point of view. We may lack the maturity to stay lovingly connected to a person with whom we disagree.

When I was a teenager with strongly held opinions and typical teenaged arrogance, my parents taught me to preface my passionately delivered speeches with the phrases, “In my opinion . . .” or “I could be wrong, but . . .” or “The way I see it . . .” At the time, I thought their requirement that was unreasonable. After all, I knew I wasn’t wrong and I didn’t think there was another reasonable way to see things. But this way of communicating gradually changed my heart, as I’m sure my parents hoped it would, and I realized that humility—an important Christian virtue, after all—means entertaining the possibility that my opinion could be incomplete or uninformed or even (gulp) wrong.

But what if I know for a fact that I’m not wrong? Humility still demands that I take some time to listen—really listen—to the person with whom I disagree, listening for her point of view, listening for her feelings, listening to her heart. Of course, most of the time, I lack the maturity to really listen to understand another person. Instead, I listen impatiently, waiting for my turn to refute what I am hearing. Or, I listen to gather ammunition to use against my opponent.

But listening to another person is a gift of grace. I believe that it is the truest practice of the second commandment—that we love our neighbor as ourselves. After all, I already know what I think, what I feel, what I want. To love my neighbor means that I am willing to spend time and energy exploring what he thinks, what he feels, what he wants. Defensiveness gives way to empathy, a practical expression of love.

We may fear that empathy will make us weak, that we will lose the resolve to be assertive. Actually, once we have listened well, we have earned the right to express our own opinions. Paul reminded us to “speak the truth in love” and once we have nailed down the “love” part, we are free to speak the truth as we see it. Of course, we have deeply held convictions as well as personal preferences and we must learn to assertively communicate our opinions as part of a healthy approach to conflict.

As we express our own point of view, we remember that it is just that: our own point of view. So we may say, “I see that differently. What I think is . . .” or “May I tell you how I see this?” We may even concede part of the argument by saying, “I agree with this part of what you are saying. Where I differ is . . .” We may even say, “I believe that the Bible teaches . . .” or “I believe that this is God’s will,” but we are careful never to use our spiritual convictions, however deeply held, to coerce others into doing things our way.

So, I thought about all of this as I left the lunch meeting in March and I developed a little fantasy that makes me smile. In my mind, I replay the scene. All of us, denominational and secular leaders, are sitting down to lunch when the woman, the financial analyst, asks thoughtfully, “So, why are church people so loving?” Well, I can dream, can’t I?

Trisha Taylor works with the Center for Counseling, network of Christian therapists dedicated to professional mental health care guided by a Christ-like model for growth and transformation. Therapists are available for workshops, individual counseling, and working with church staffs and other leaders.

a gift of gifts

2007-07-10T15:24:00.000-05:00

so i'm really excited that group will be at the kovar's this week! only thing is, i've got therapy that night...so boo for juli. sucks, but i know i'm doing something good by being in therapy.

i have an idea for us...i don't know how well it will work, but i'd like to try:

i'd like us to come up with a list or a couple of things that we feel everyone else in our little group is really great at...perhaps we may go even as far as calling each other 'gifted' in some way.
i know for me, that i didn't really think i had anything brilliant to say when i started writing the blessings, but you guys encouraged me and made me feel as if i might be kinda good at it.

i think there are a lot of us that may feel that same way, and it may do us some good to hear what we're good at from others. i figure if we don't know someone well enough to know what they're good or gifted at, then maybe we should spend some more time getting to know them! this doesn't have to be anything fancy, and some of us may not even want to do it or find it valuable, but i really like the idea of it.

i hope all of you have a great thursday night and i wish i could be there.
i'll be thinking of all of you...

blah, blah, blah

2007-07-03T11:49:00.000-05:00

So I was telling some of my friends the other day that things in my life seem a little blah lately. I thought alot more about what I had said and was of course trying to fix it so that my life would be awesome and energetic. Well, obviously not much has happened, I am albe to spend time on the blog at noon on a perfectly fine day, and I hate getting on the computer in the middle of the day, but as I said, things have just been blah. Anyway, as I was thinking about it, I thought that maybe I have been spending a little to much time focusing on me and I think that maybe if I spend some time thinking about others and getting involved in whats going on around me maybe I can quit being petty about silly things and feeling that things are blah. So, how are yall doing. I wonder how are friend Shannen over seas is doing. I am actually going to take it a step further and google her today and see if I can catch up. I am sure her life is not blah right now. Juli had been doing some really need stuff with the kids at the YMCA, I know she is a blessing to those kids, even though she probobly wishes things would slow down, it sure doesn't seem if her life is blah.
Well, hopefully I will get better at this blogging and get better at getting involved with the world around me, even doing the simple things like sharing my life on the blog. I know Mark, you are still shocked that I wrote. Lets just hope this isn't a one time deal. I am very close to hitting delete because as I read over this I want to say to myself, God, this just doesn't make sense. So, I say get over it, because if it doesn't make sense to you I am sorry, just know that blogging is a hard thing for me becuase anyone can read and make judgements, but I want to start living a little more community, so here it is.

sunday's homework

2007-06-23T10:59:00.001-05:00

ponder these questions before sunday if you can, and if not, then i'll have 'em waiting for you:

a) where do you feel wellspring has been....where is it now....and where is it going?

b) acts 2:41 says that the early christians 'committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers.'

how are we doing each of those individually, and how can we continue to add some depth to them?

i think these are good questions for our little community to be asking...
and i think there are more to come.
questions of what it means to live missionally and what our place is in this big world,
but for now, think of these...and i'll see some of you on sunday.

6-17-07

2007-06-18T22:00:00.000-05:00

what does it mean to be devoted to a teaching?
to read it repeatedly?
to strap or bind it to one's body?
or simply to remember as you walk through life...
step by step?

who gets to interpret such readings and teachings?
do you? do i? do we?
who do we give permission
to translate,
to decode,
to interpret?

how do we decide what is
truth,
justice,
and faith?
how do we know if we're close-
if we're on the right track?
how do we know where to act,
what to do,
and who to love?

so many questions with responding echoing silence.
may you continue to ask to listen to respond.
it is in community that we being to understand
what it means to be devoted and to walk in faith.
be blessed as you ask your questions.
perhaps that's all we can do right now...
is ask.
perhaps that's when we grow and mature.
perhaps that's when we actually become the church...
step by step.
amen.

6-10-07

2007-06-18T21:37:00.000-05:00

let us be blessed
as we join our minds
as we read, learn, and view the past
remembering times of long ago.

let us be blessed
as we join our hands
as we learn the lines of each others faces
the troubles of one anothers hearts
living life together
and changing the world
side by side.

let us be blessed
as we break bread together
as we fill our stomachs and our hearts,
laughing, loving and learning with one another
sitting close enough to feel each others energy and pulse
close enough to hear the beating and the rhythm of our hearts

let us be blessed
as we bow our heads
as we choose to be silent,
if only briefly,
allowing ourselves to be vulnerable
and perhaps strangely warmed.

let us join
minds,
hands,
and hearts
as we travel down this road together.

let us laugh together
let us cry together
let us hope
and change
and dream
together.
ever growing
ever trying
ever loving.
in sickness and in health
in good times and bad
until,
if we choose it,
till death do we part-
and perhaps meeting in a place that we do not know yet.
amen.

6-3-07

2007-06-18T21:35:00.000-05:00

blessings on you
who stand in the tension and flux
of understanding God.
in the struggle to understand what is
and what isn't,
what was
and what will be,
what we are
and what we should be.
blessings on you
who step out of the battle waging on
who choose to be peace
who choose to listen
and who choose to be humble
in a world that seems so very sure
and so very lost.
blessings...as you change,
as we revisit places we've been,
and look toward the places we'd like to see.
as we embrace dialogue,
as we choose love,
and as we rejoice in this journey.
continually thankful for the chance to
grow,
the chance to think,
and the ever-present chance to change.
amen.

Prayer

2007-06-10T19:37:00.000-05:00

I can't pray sometimes because, like Karen said, I'm often too embarrased or ashamed to face God with the crap in my life.
I can't pray sometimes because I'm afraid of the answers or results.
I can't pray sometimes because I lack the faith.
I can't pray sometimes because I don't feel like I deserve the attention of God.
But when I make it back into prayer, back to fellowship with God, I know God will be there to welcome the prodigal son and it feels so good. To be able to lift a prayer to the one who spins the universe is a awesome thought. To be able to talk to God in the middle of a conversation with someone else and know He's there and listening is an awesome thought.
Prayer is an integral part of my belief in God and Jesus Christ. Without prayer I'm not sure where I would be in my life. Too many struggles, trials and pains to go through alone.

Travelers

2007-05-29T15:52:00.000-05:00

We're all travelers in this world.
From the sweet grass to the packing house.
Birth 'til death.
We travel between the eternities.

-Prentice Ritter

I'm indeed blessed to have traveling companions

such as I do. I can only hope that God uses me in these travels

and that all I do can be to glorify Him.

The Father at work

2007-05-25T08:30:00.000-05:00

In order to move from spectator to kingdom missionary as Juli posted this week I feel the questions below should be addressed:

Jesus referred often (in the scriptures-John 5,8,others) and did exactly what the Father told him, so

1)where is the Father at work-I must join Him with my life

2)where is the Father at work in the larger body-Wellspring community must join Him collectively

Question: Do we individually know these answers and do you sense the work the Father would have Wellspring join in on and do?

what it means to not just be a spectator to this 'kingdom show'...
sitting, watching, having your heart stirred, your pulse racing,
palms sweating with anticipation and excitement
yet still remaining seated.

5-20-07

2007-05-22T22:11:00.001-05:00

ask yourself what it means to 'practice daily your belief',
what honesty, authenticity, and transparency look like,
what it means to not just be a spectator to this 'kingdom show'...
sitting, watching, having your heart stirred, your pulse racing,
palms sweating with anticipation and excitement
yet still remaining seated.

ask yourself what it means to truly commit,
to your family,
to your community,
to the decision that this is not a passing fad,
an emotional high,
but instead is a life change.
choosing to let go of selfishness,
of inconvenience,
of fear.

ask yourself what it means to truly be different,
to truly live in community,
to truly not just be a bystander,
but a believer that a new way is possible.

are you willing to rearrange your life?
are you ready to try so hard...
palms calloused, brow sweating, muscles aching
from the struggle of swimming against the norm,
against the status quo?
are you bold enough to believe that our talk is not in vain?

this is achievable.
new life is possible.
one decision at a time-
transformation will begin.
amen.

mother's day

2007-05-17T10:12:00.000-05:00

5-13-07

today is a day for hope.
a day to celebrate, to grieve, to remember, and to be thankful.

a day to celebrate the mystery of creation
to grieve what was and what should have been
to remember those who have helped mold you into who you are
and a day to be thankful for the patience and kindness you have been given.

today is a day to be still.
to take the opportunity to seek out feelings or loss, of joy, of anger, and of love.
the opportunity to acknowledge your past and those who touched it
the opportunity to gaze upon your future,
and the change for you to touch and inspire.

today is a day of grace.
grace for those who hurt you,
who lived out their own pain in your life
for those you struggle to love...and to forgive.
grace for you who will too inflict pain upon,
and those you will request grace from.

share yourself today.
bless someone today.
feel yourself loved and cherished...
for today is a day of creation.

5-6-07

2007-05-08T13:54:00.000-05:00

allow yourself to be blessed
as you step into this safe place
as you seek out your own inner melody
and as it becomes clearer
as you are able to share
more of yourself and more of your story.

allow yourself to be blessed
as you begin to feel and almost see
the rhythms of others
a vibration so strong
that as we come together in true intimacy
and begin to live life together
harmony happens.

allow yourself to be blessed
as each new coat of paint is brushed
as new stories are told
and more of sacred life revealed
the color ever growing brighter,
fuller,
more alive.

let us dance together.
let us sing together.
let us read together.
let us watch, and learn, and teach together.
let us resonate, and create, and grow together.
let us continue to bless each other. amen.

4-29-07

2007-05-01T21:34:00.000-05:00

what would it look like
for you to be responsible
and vulnerable.

what would it feel like
for you to search, and learn, and find
while being connected , intimate, and honest.

what would it sound like
to hear the voice of God through direct connection
and the voice of love through deep community.

what would life be like
to try your hardest
to fail
to be challenged
to be encouraged
to be teachable
to teach
and to practice life together along the way.

today you have the ability and the choice
to dream of what life can look like
for you, for your community, and for the world.
the decision is yours, it's mine, and it's ours.
welcome to the journey...
what a relief to know you don't have to travel it alone.
be blessed.

An Incarnational Missionary

2007-04-24T21:28:00.000-05:00

I cant help but think that Os Hillman, Ed Silvoso and a host of workplace ministry leaders are taking hope-love-change and Jesus right to the people.Its amazing to see the momentum in this area over the past 5 years,Google it and see. You ask why? Where do most men and women today spend the majority of their time? Workplace! So why not build disciples who dont have to go out of their way on Saturday night or Sunday afternoon to be a missionary.If Jesus did life and reached hurting people in the normal course of a regular day then why not me.In Anointed For Business Silvoso states that Jesus performed 39 miracles in the marketplace out of the 40 in the new testament, coincidence or was he going to the people and meeting them where they did life every day? Avodah is a Hebrew word meaning "work" and this same root word also means "worship". This word Avodah meaning work is worship has helped me see new meaning in what is otherwise a cut throat ,shareholder value world. Student-Mom-Worker in my opinion are the same thing, its what you do from 9 to 5. So , how incarnational am I?Do I exhibit that inner peace-Shalom-wholeness? I am asking myself the tough questions, how about you?

4-15-07

2007-04-16T21:43:00.000-05:00

be blessed
as you choose togetherness.
as you battle the lines between
the orthodox and the ordinary,
the spiritual and the secular,
the holy and the human.
be blessed
as you choose to make the steps
to reach out
to share your heights and depths
make the sacrifice of your 'safe space'...
keeping others at a distance,
close enough for presence
yet far enough to remain unscathed
by the messiness of relationships.
be blessed
as you seek to be holistic.
as you feel your heart strangely warmed
by the joys of feeling understood
and no longer alone.
choosing not to separate,
but to be opened and made whole.
share enough to memorize the details of others' faces...
break the bread
break down the barriers
and break into intimacy.
amen.

In Light of Juli's Comments Sunday

2007-04-16T14:11:00.000-05:00

When I read Shannon Hopkins' Monday Morning Questions (something she does each week and that I will be glad to share with you if you send me your email) about her missional experiences in London, I was impressed that she had in some ways responded to Juli's remarks about inviting people to a meal/investing in their lives. Here's what Shannon said:

Is Hospitality just about opening up your home? Actually I think it is less about opening up your home and more about opening up your life, however because we live in homes that is of course part of it. Hospitality is not about turned down sheets and chocolates on pillows, but it is about receiving others where they are at and allowing people space to rest and pause, a place to be themselves, and a place to wrestle with what is going on in their lives. And providing hospitality is as much about ourselves as it is about the quest for “one learns about himself as he is loved, annoyed, grieved, respected-all in community and with the guest” (from Radical Hospitality). Hospitality is a context that allows for us all to be sharpened and transformed.

Kinda cool, huh?

easter

2007-04-15T13:01:00.000-05:00

open your eyes.
you've kept them shut,
waiting, long enough.
still your heart.
it's been breaking,
lamenting, long enough.
rest your legs.
you've been in the desert,
wandering, long enough.

hallelujah.

rise early.
see the sun's rays glinting on the horizon.
impatience and adrenaline flow through your veins,
exciting every limb.
feel every hair raise in anxious expectation.
feel the cold dew on your feet
as the rising morning fog swirls around
and you desperately run.
feel the pounding of your heart
and your hand clasp around the prize.

hallelujah.

the curtain has been torn,
the stone rolled away,
and the tomb has been emptied.
stand there with the shoved-aside women.
your eyes widen in amazement
hear the pounding of your hear in your ears
and for a brief moment-
cynicism, doubt, and confusion-
are gone.
a smile crawls across your face,
because you know
you have found the prize.

your grieving
your crying
your waiting
is done.
welcome to a brand new day.
hallelujah. hallelujah. hallelujah.

Cookout Sunday!

2007-04-12T09:44:00.001-05:00

This Sunday is supposed to be a beautiful day with a high of 75. Many of us enjoy eating outside. There aren't many places in the area with outside eating spaces -so - all of you are invited to come to our house after church for an outdoor cookout!!! (I'm buying a pavilion for the back yard) I'll be grilling hamburgers, hot dogs, and chicken. We'll also have salad. I hope you'll come join us - even if it's only for a little while.

See you Sunday

Grace for all!

2007-04-10T20:16:00.000-05:00

GRACE

Recieving what you don't deserve.

MERCY

NOT recieving what you do deserve.

I heard a story about grace last weekend and the reality of it really came clear. I'll try to tell it:

It starts with a man in prison. There is no explaination why he's there, his guilt doesn't seem to be doubted by anyone but he has been there for 14 years and he has constantly been appealing to the governor for release.
Finally the wardon comes to see him and gives him the news he's waited on for years, he has been granted a full pardon. The wardon, expecting a joyful or at least a somewhat happy response, was surprised by the indifferent attitude of the inmate. The wardon explains that they had called his sister to pick him up. When he left he had the cell unlocked and the door opened, though the inmate made no move for the door.

A little later the custodian came through to clean the cell and was surprised to find the inmate still in the cell.
"Why are you still here?"
"I'm a prisoner, I belong here."
"But you've been set free you don't have to be here."
"Yes, I know. I have the paper right here. I just don't know if I can believe it."

The inmate returned to the bunk that had been the center of his world for so many years.When his sister shows up she greets him with some question about why he's still in his cell. He explains he doesn't understand why he has been pardoned now after so many years of trying to get through to the parole board and he's not real sure it isn't some big joke. He confides that he really doesn't know how handle his new found freedom so he opts for the comfort of familiarity. Even though it is a prison cell. She tells him that she doesn't know why or how, only that he is free. She suggests they just take a walk and he leaves the cell with her hand in his arm.

I'm sure I didn't do the story justice but seeing it brought tears to my eyes. I wondered how many people don't accept Gods grace just because they don't understand it. Maybe they just can't believe it could be for them. Since it can't be earned or bought it couldn't possibly be meant for them.

Well my friends (and readers of long boring blogs), it IS for you and me. Gods grace has set us free from the prison of sin if we only accept it. His grace shown to you through his son Jesus dieing on the cross, some 2000 years ago, and rising again three days later. He beared it all. All our sins, all our short comings, all our faults.
That's what Easter is all about. New life through Gods grace through Jesus Christ.

P.S.- I really didn't intend for this to become a sermon with a bunch of "church" words and phrases, but there it is.

4-1-07

2007-04-05T17:37:00.001-05:00

may you have hope
as you realize that you too yell hosanna
and crucify.
as you realize that life is about moments...
one moment crying out in adoration
and the next turning your back on love.

may you have hope
as you seek out the tempter.
as you acknowledge that we each deal
with our own humanity...
with hungering of belly and soul,
with belief that we can do it alone-
independent of help and love,
that it is us that can will existence.

may you have hope
as you sit with christ.
as you eat the last meal.
as he washes your calloused feet.
as you fall asleep despite his begging.
as you then abandon him,
and as we all gather together
to hold the hammer and nails.

have hope
for, despite our failures
despite our disappointments
despite our brokenness
he will rise again
bathed in glory.
your hope has not been in vain.

Power: Faith and Healing

2007-03-31T10:55:00.000-05:00

what do you think?

This month we would like to share about healing and the move of the Holy Spirit. From our many travels around the world and our gospel expeditions we have seen the mighty hand of the Lord work in wonderful and spectacular ways. We have been eyewitnesses of healings, deliverance's, and most of all the miracle of the new birth. Sometimes people ask us, "Why do we not see the same type of spectacular healing here in America as we hear about overseas?" This is a valid question, but unfortunately it leads some to question healing altogether. The answer to why this may occur, and granted there are many healings and deliverance's happening right now here in America, rest with Faith. Hebrews 11:6 "And without FAITH it is impossible to please Him, for those who come to God must believe that He is, and that He is the rewarder of those who seek Him." You see, apart from faith God cannot move.

In places like Asia and Africa the spiritual world is very prevalent. It is apart of daily life and most BELIEVE in it. Where as in Europe and America, we are, for the most part, very skeptical when it comes to the supernatural. Skepticism, or unbelief, even occurs in the church and we tend to conform our beliefs from our environment rather than by what the Word of God has to say. The word is clear that Christ Jesus is never changing (Heb. 13:8) and throughout the word of God we find a healing Lord. Read Mark 5:21-34 to see faith of an individual in action and healing because of it.

When we minister the word in far reaching places to people who believe in evil spirit and supernatural works it isn't hard for them to believe in the supernatural God we preach. As we teach about what Christ did and what He can do in them their faith begins to rise. They know of the spiritual world, and when they hear of a healing God who will take away their sins, helps them physically, and listens to their cares and worries they say, "YES, I want this Jesus. Yes, I want to be healed. Yes, I BELIEVE He can heal me." They come to this decision because they also feel the lack from the constant visits to witch-doctors that seem to do more harm than good. They come to this decision because they know instinctively in their heart that no stone, idol, or earthly object can ultimately heal them. They come to Christ because when truth hits their heart faith springs forward.

I can remember a moment in India when we had a small church service where many Hindus came to see and hear of this God who does wonderful works. A local man who did intense physical labor came forward when we asked if anyone would like us to lay hands and believe for healing. We prayed and believed for this man. Two hours later he walked, after gathering his family (wife and two children), 10km from his village to the place we were staying. He reported to us his back had been completely healed. He then wanted us to pray for the rest of the ailments his family was suffering from. We explained it is from the power of God who heals and we simply believe in that power and pray. He laid hands on his family with us as we prayed and they too received healing. Consequently they now all believe in Jesus and carry the testimony of a healing God.

There is much to be said about healing in the Lord, but know this, if you are suffering and want a work of the Holy Spirit simply BELIEVE. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, so meditate upon scriptures that deal with healing. Walk by faith and not by sight and claim, "I am healed in Jesus name!" Watch what wonderful things happen when you couple faith with what you speak.

Tim and Will

SUPPORT THE MISSION OF
TRAVEL THE ROAD

3-25-07

2007-03-26T18:00:00.001-05:00

you are blessed
as air travels through you
expanding your lungs to their full capacity
as you hold your breath
and as the tinge of pain
from waiting and holding it all in overwhelms you.
as life twists, turns, and flips you,
heartache after heartache
working through the strain of life's struggles
and trying to find the glimmers of hope
through the darkness of suffering.
you are blessed
even in those times when hope is not enough
when to persevere seems foolish
and when our character fails us
do not allow circumstance to deter you
there is something much deeper,
even when not seen,
that holds you there
singing to your subconscious
something that keeps you coming.
the hope that God is who he says he is.
that if we really truly try,
we too can rejoice.
we too can tell the story of suffering,
of perseverance,
and of character.
that we too can know,
deeply and intimately,
what it means to hope.

This got my attention!

2007-03-20T09:20:00.000-05:00

Our good friend and emerging missionary Shannon Hopkins was quoted in one of the books I've read recently. Her words really grabbed me.

"If we have no power, the emerging cultures will not be drawn to us. They are not afraid they are going to go to church and be changed. They are more afraid they will go to chruch and not be changed."

Wellspring Group Meeting

2007-03-15T15:31:00.000-05:00

We will be meeting at the Napier's for tonights group meeting.

3-4-07

2007-03-05T09:35:00.000-06:00

i encourage you
in times when you forget what it is to smile
when your heart is so heavy it hurts
and it feels as though no one understands

i encourage you in your 'lostness'
in your dark nights
as you descend the depths of silence
and as you brush the bottom of your soul

as your voice grows hoarse
as your confidence weakens
as you question-as you doubt
as you wonder who is friend
and who is foe

i encourage you
to passionately wait
to diligently seek
to quietly hope
to grit your teeth
to clench your fist
and to continue on.

for God has not forgotten you
you have not been abandoned
God will renew you each morning
and will deliver each promise.

feel yourself held.
rest.
breathe.
trust.
and above all else,
hope.

What is Post-Christendom?

2007-03-02T15:37:00.000-06:00

Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch have a lot to say about Christendom and post-Christendom. They believe the epoch of Christendom is over. What do you think?

Here are some of their thoughts:

We acknowledge that the epoch of history that shaped the contemporary church has crashed like a wave on a shore and left the church high and dry. That epoch is known as the era of Christendom. Christendom has been in decline for the last 250 years.

Christendom is the name given to the religious culture that has dominated Western society since the fourth century. Awakened by the Roman emperor Constantine, it was the cultural phenomenon that resulted when Christianity was established as the official imperial religion, moving it form being a marginalized, subversive, and persecuted movement to being the official religion in the empire. Whereas followers of Jesus at one time had to meet secretly in homes and underground in catacombs, now they were given some of the greatest temples and meeting spaces in the empire.

The net effect over the entire Christendom epoch was that Christianity moved form being a dynamic, revolutionary, social, and spiritual movement to being a static religious institution with its attendant structured, priesthood, and sacraments.

Christendom describes the standardized form and expression of the church and mission formed in the post-Constantine period (AD 312 to present). It is important to note that it was not the original form in which the church expressed itself. The Christendom church is fundamentally different form the NT church, which is made up of a network of grassroots missional communities organized as a movement.
Christendom is marked by the following characteristics:

Its mode of engagement is attractional/extractional as opposed to missional/sending. Come to us.
A shift of focus to dedicated, sacred building/places of worship. The church in the Christendom epoch is more static and institutional in form.
The emergence of an institutionally recognized, profession clergy class acting primarily in a pastor-teacher mode.
Church is perceived as central to society and surrounding culture. The church holds a place of honor and respect in the community.
The Christendom mode church is dualistic. It separates the sacred from the profane, the holy from the unholy, the in from the out.
The church in Christendom is hierarchical. It’s top down and bureaucratic in it’s approach to leadership

One Foot in Front of the Other

2007-02-28T09:12:00.000-06:00

The AIDS Walk is fast approaching! I want to invite all of Wellspring to join me and the Bering Omega team. We'll have a table that clearly identifies the folks related to our hospice (Omega House), dental clinic, etc. So we'll be easy to find. For those concerned about whether it will test their physical capabilities, no worries. The walk isn't three miles and the pace is very slow because most folks are people-watching more than exercising! If you are still hesitant to walk but want to be involved, I'll gladly accept your donation!!! Check out my page for details.

Anyone up for some Anne?

2007-02-24T07:43:00.000-06:00

That's right - Anne Lamont's coming to Houston. I read her book 'Traveling Mercies' and loved it! I'm not sure what she will be talking about - it doesn't say, but you can't go wrong with Anne Lamont. Check it out here. It will cost about $25. Let me know if you're interested. If you haven't read Traveling Mercies I would suggest reading it.

lent

2007-02-19T17:05:00.000-06:00

so ken has given me permission to try some things this lenten season.
the first thing is going to be a 'fat tuesday' meal at pappasitos on 1960!
we'll get there tomorrow around 7 and will hopefully eat ourselves into a bit of gluttony.
(i might even bring some mardi gras beads...don't get excited rodney, you've got to keep your clothes on at dinner!)
following that is ash wednesday, and i encourage all of you to pop into a catholic, episcopal, or lutheran service...(there may be other denominations doing it as well).
it's short...and they usually do several a day.

for those of you that may not have grown up in a church or lifestyle that included lent...
you can check out some info on wikipedia

i'm usually the last person to be a proponent of anything traditional...
but i'm working on that.
it's real easy to get excited during advent leading up to christmas...
and many times i forget about the time leading up to the crucifixion.
this is a good time for reflection...
and perhaps for our community to try something new.

2-18-07

2007-02-19T16:14:00.000-06:00

blessings...

in the moments where the cost to follow seems
too much
too hard
too long.

a place where eyes grow tired of searching
hands grow weary from the work
voice is strained from the yelling
and the heart is breaking from the waiting.

feel yourself tethered
your mourning, your anxiety, your desperation
will not carry you away.
this is where even your groans are understood.

blessings...

as you do the hard work of letting yourself go
erupting out onto the other side
stepping into the grace
into the rhythm
into the light.

allow the crying to cease
allow the yelling to subside
feel yourself enveloped in love and patience
by something much bigger than you
something that does not grow weary
and that will never leave you.
rest here...
here in this embrace.
amen.

From "A Minute Of Margin"

2007-02-17T18:45:00.000-06:00

Speaking of Community......Perhaps our techno world is anti-community?

Loneliness, Boredom, Stress, and The Media.
In the years ahead we will live increasingly in fictions. We will turn on our virtual-reality systems on and lie back, experiencing heavenly pleasures of sight and sound in a snug electronic nest. The real world will almost be totally blotted out from our experience.A quote from "World Future Society"

Life is meant to be participatory and relational. In the past life was "experience rich" but "stimulus poor". Today that ratio has reversed, and much of this trend is due to the pervasive presence of media in our current environment , it is easy to lapse into a media saturated existence. When lonely, or boredom or stressed, the first thing we often do is activate our media surroundings,which usually means turning on the television. In a previous era we would have perhaps have visited a friend.This is not to say that all such media usage for loneliness is inappropriate. But if over used, it will result in more isolation, not less.It is therefore wise to guard against media constituting our only barrier to loneliness.Loneliness and boredom are often traveling partners. While loneliness can motivate to move toward community,boredom can motivate us toward creativity.We should not fear boredom as we do, it can be useful. If we tolerate a bored state for long it can become a seedbed of imagination and to short circuit boredom is to short circuit creativity.The temptation is to immediately solve boredom with media. When children are bored, we usually rescue them with television,videos,or computer games. Instead, if we allow boredom to build with no possibility of electronics, imagination will begin to surface. This is called play.Play is the business of childhood. It is healthy for kids to get bored and to have to play their way out of it. In addition to loneliness and boredom,stress is another factor that drives us to a relaxing media respite. This is acceptable from time to time.But when a media respite becomes a media overload,turn off the television. When media saturation becomes physical sedentary and socially isolating,move to restore appropriate levels of physical and social activity, where real healing is found.

THE RX
Allow boredom to nourish the imagination rather than consume and reenergize your participatory experience. Dont live a vicarious virtual-reality existence, create a personal-experience reality and in doing so, you will increase physical exercise,connect to others,and build community.

blessing

2007-02-12T15:45:00.000-06:00

per ken's request, i'll be adding our weekly blessing to the blog.
thanks to all of you for being so supportive of it.

2-11-07
you are blessed.
your inheritance is waiting,
since the dawn of time
when God molded chaos...
even then,
the Kingdom was waiting for you.
you are blessed
because at one point
you too were a stranger.
someone was kind to you
because you were different.
someone listened
when no one else would,
and perhaps even clothed, fed, or cared for you...
a stranger.
you are blessed
as you attempt to open your eyes.
your blindness is gone...
if you choose it.
your heart is softened...
if you want it.
and your hands will begin to help...
if you will only try.
you are blessed
as you choose love over indifference
as you meet eyes with a stranger
as you individually and corporately seek to help
as you are overwhelmed
as you cry out against injustice
and as you are taken into the warmth unseen
as a friend...
no longer a stranger.
be loved.
be welcomed.
be blessed.

I like this quote

2007-02-07T14:18:00.000-06:00

Youth is not a period of time. It is a state of mind, a result of the will, a quality of the imagination, a victory of courage over timidity, of the taste for adventure over the love of comfort. A man doesn’t grow old because he has lived a certain number of years. A man grows old when he deserts his ideal. The years may wrinkle his skin, but deserting his ideal wrinkles his soul. Preoccupations, fears, doubts, and despair are the enemies which slowly bow us toward earth and turn us into dust before death. You will remain young as long as you are open to what is beautiful, good and great; receptive to the messages of other men and women, of nature and of God. If one day you should become bitter, pessimistic, and gnawed by despair, may God have mercy on your old man’s soul.

General Douglas McArthur

Real People in the Real World

2007-01-29T14:36:00.000-06:00

When we dialogued yesterday about eternal life, what Jesus might have meant when he did the big John 3:16 thing on old Nick, and even got into how David, a "man after God's own heart," seemed to be fairly proficient at messing up, I was reminded of a list that an African American pastor used once in a sermon with much enthusiasm.

I liked it so much I asked for a copy. He was making the point that our "heroes of the faith are flawed." While it may be too telling about me, I have to confess that I find great comfort that the Bible is filled with stories of the real-ness of people such as:

drunkards like Noah
liars like Abraham
tricksters like Jacob
murderers like Moses
adulterers like David
idolaters like Solomon
backsliders like Elisha
cursing sailors like Peter
doubters like Thomas
spoiled brats like James and John
persecutors like Paul
sinners like you and me.

write it

2007-01-28T11:49:00.000-06:00

so at my very baptist university we had a week long university-wide conversation about art and how it is effected and effects faith.
we even had our very own dr. sloan give a lecture.
i was surprised.
i thought that, being one of his first public lectures, it would be something powerful, something enlightening, something uplifting...
and it was, but not in the way i had expected.
on the topic of biblical writing and poetry, sloan decided to pull from lamentations and the psalms.
lamentations is a sad, sorrowful, book of despair.
it's hard to read for most, and something i think most of us tend to skim over.
from my OT survey class i remember the discussion of how lamentations begins every verse or line with the consecutive letters of the hebrew alphabet.
some think this is a nemonic device since everything was committed to memory...
but as sloan pointed out, that would be really hard to do considering there are several lines beginning with a, with b, with g and so on.
most of the lines begin with a word we translate to mean 'how?', but it actually is more like an unpronounceable moan.
so perhaps, he offered, that this was not for sheer memorization but for survival.
that when we mourn, if we aren't tethered down...we can tend to allow that slow moan to turn into outright shrieking hysteria.
it is freedom to mourn and grieve, but in such a way that keeps it somewhat contained.
sloan laughed when he said that you must have lived many years if you had looked to the psalms for consolation and daily reading.
perhaps i have lived many years.
the psalms, too, are sad.
it's funny to read some of them since they start off with such, again, sorrowful words and yet end with a 'praise God!' or something. sounds like us sometimes. we can relate to someone else all the shit that's going on with us, and then at the end finish it with something ridiculous like 'but God is still faithful....yada yada yada'.
why do we do it?
sloan mentioned lots of other things too, things that i'm sure most people-like our own ken w.- know from their own long days of religious schooling.
he touched on the many places jesus drew from the psalms and how that was probably the collection of writing that had the greatest effect on jc.
and...the point of all this...sloan addressed how, back in the day, lamentations were used during worship.
the people were in a hard place...they felt alone and deserted and confused...and they used that honesty in worship.
i want us to use whatever it is...maybe we are in a moment of celebration or mourning...either way, i want us to use it.
ken has been asking for us to find heartfelt ways of worshipping...
and so i wonder, what if we could all jot down our thoughts and begin to form ways of using it in worship.
maybe a poem, maybe john or rodney or some other musician were to make it into actual music...
i don't know. i just want us to begin to use our lives to worship with.
i don't want to sing songs about things i've never experienced and never felt. some of them the rest of you have felt or gone through, but i haven't, and maybe some of you can relate to that.
anyways, something to think about i suppose.
let me know what you guys feel about it.

This is so not spiritual

2007-01-27T12:02:00.000-06:00

After reading the previous post by Ken in which the author gives a wonderful quote describing the searching of a follower of God, I hate to break it up with something as non-important as this; but since we are in community and in this community I tend to be the only one to spread the gospel of soccer I found the following article to explain the "coming of becks" highly relevant. I'm not a huge fan of Mr. Beckham but his arrival could be significant. While reading, PLEASE click on the Steven Gerrard link and take seven minutes of your life to witness one of the truly great athletes of our time.

The Link:
http://www.burnsidewriterscollective.com/sports/2007/01/its_beckhamania.php

2007-01-24T10:49:00.000-06:00

"A church which pitches its tents without constantly looking out for new horizons, which does not continually strike camp, is being untrue to its calling. ...We must play down our longing for certainty, accept what is risky, and live by improvisation and experiment."

This is a quote of a quote. The origional quote is from the book The Church as the People of God by Hans Kung. I found it in the current book I'm reading called The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsh.

the big 5-0

2007-01-15T16:07:00.000-06:00

yes, ken shuman is celebrating...
and we plan on helping him do that.
thanks to karen (party planner extrordinaire) we'll be celebrating 'traditional baptist style'...meaning, bring your own pot-luck dish. anything you want, but enough to share...and by anything, we mean ANYTHING. (i guess this isn't totally 'traditional baptist' after all! ha!)

so give shuman a call for directions if you haven't made it over to the new estate...

should prove to be a pretty fun evening...come and help us toast one of our favorite guys :)

An Incarnational Lifestyle?

2007-01-12T13:01:00.000-06:00

In the book “Exiles” Michael Frost makes the case that following the example of Jesus includes the following four aspects. I would like to know what you think.

An active sharing of life, participating in the fears, frustrations, and afflictions of the host community. The prayer of the exile should be, “Lord, let your mind be in me,” for no witness is capable of incarnationality without the mind of Jesus.
An employment of the language and thought forms of those with whom we seek to share Jesus. After all, he used common speech and stories: salt, fruit, birds, and the like. He seldom used theological or religious jargon or technical terms.
A preparedness to go to the people, not expecting them to come to us. As Jesus came from the heavens to humanity, we enter into the “tribal” realities of human society.
A confidence that the gospel can be communicated by ordinary means, through acts of servanthood, loving relationships, good deed; in this way the exile becomes an extension of the incarnation in our time. Deeds thus create words.

God tells Pat Robertson what's coming up for 2007

2007-01-03T05:53:00.000-06:00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia (AP) -- Evangelical broadcaster Pat Robertson said Tuesday that God has told him that a terrorist attack on the United States would cause a "mass killing" late in 2007.

"I'm not necessarily saying it's going to be nuclear," he said during his news-and-talk television show "The 700 Club" on the Christian Broadcasting Network.

"The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that."

Robertson said God told him about the impending tragedy during a recent prayer retreat.

God also said, he claims, that major cities and possibly millions of people will be affected by the attack, which should take place sometime after September.

Robertson suggested in January 2006 that God punished then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with a stroke for ceding Israeli-controlled land to the Palestinians.

The broadcaster predicted in January 2004 that President Bush would easily win re-election.

Bush won 51 percent of the vote that fall, beating Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.

In 2005, Robertson predicted that Bush would have victory after victory in his second term. He said Social Security reform proposals would be approved and Bush would nominate conservative judges to federal courts.

Lawmakers confirmed Bush's 2005 nominations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. But the president's Social Security initiative was stalled.

"I have a relatively good track record," he said. "Sometimes I miss."

In May, Robertson said God told him that storms and possibly a tsunami were to crash into America's coastline in 2006.

Even though the U.S. was not hit with a tsunami, Robertson on Tuesday cited last spring's heavy rains and flooding in New England as partly fulfilling the prediction.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What is the deal with this? We know that God and Pat are tight. Anyone who smiles as much as Pat can must have some good friends. Apparently, God lets Pat in on some good gossip and it's not very good news. Doom and gloom, etc. Now according to Pat, God has given him "predictions" in the past. Some of which have come true, but not all. So, are we supposed to get from this the notion that if God tells us some dire prediction, we can assume that a 50% success rate is good enough...from God? Now,when it doesn't quite come out as predicted we get get this quote:

"I have a relatively good track record," he said. "Sometimes I miss."

So in his next breath he says He gets it wrong sometimes. So who are we supposed to believe is really speaking here? God or Pat? I just do not see what the point of Pat Robinson is.

I could guess the future as well as anyone and if I had a 50% rate of success that would be pretty good I think.

I will give it a try: I predict that ratings and revenue will slip on the 700 Club and Pat Robinson will say stupid crap to get his mug in the news.

Party

2006-12-27T08:59:00.000-06:00

NEW YEARS EVE PARTY AT THE NAPIER's NEW CRIB!!

Everyone is invited, bring anyone one you wish. If you are bringing a big crowd give us a heads up so we can prepare.

e-mail us or Ken for Directions

Thoughts to ponder this holiday season

2006-12-26T13:23:00.000-06:00

Wellspring . . . Space

The following is from Moby's web-site. If you don't know the guy he's apopular DJ with some pretty intresting thoughts. This was taken from moby.com in the journal section. (props to Mark Berry for mentioning this site in his blog)
Read it, pondered it, thought it might be worth discussing:
BTW, it's a little long but worth it:

"i don't want to burst anyone's(or everyone's)bubble, but i'm a weird sort of christian myself.i don't go to church.i find dogmatic and judgemental christians to be just as offensive as dogmatic and judgemental muslims, jazz fans, pure-bred dog owners, etc(for the record:nothing wrong with islam, jazz, or pure-bred dog owners. my criticism is reserved for dogma and judgementalism).i won't ever argue with anyone about religion or claim that i'm right and they're wrong.but in my own weird and subjective way i'm a weird little christian.i believe that there's something somehow divine about the teachings of christ, and the fact that christ's teachings compel us to be selfless and forgiving and humble and loving and non-judgemental.this is one of the reasons that i get so annoyed with contemporary christianity and it's seemingly comprehensive disconnect from the actual teachings of christ.but, nonetheless, i find it odd when people come to moby.com or myspace to say 'moby, we christians do this/that/etc'.i kind of want to say, 'uh, dudes(notice the contemporary colloquialism, that's me trying to fit in)i'm one of you, ok?'christ compels us to be better than we usually are.christ compels us to forgive those who've wronged us.christ compels us to love our enemies.christ compels us to be humble and non-judgemental.christ compels us to care for the neediest.christ compels us to be non-violent.christ compels us to recognize that the material world and all of our posessions will ultimately turn into dust, so we shouldn't get too attached to our bodies, our lives, and our stuff.and, most importantly(in many ways), christ compels us to love one another and look after one another, and to see all people as our own family.so when i call myself a christian it's because i find christ's character and teachings to be incredibly compelling and, well, divine(cos they're too weird/impractical/perfect to have ever been invented by a human being).all of the other stuff: virgin birth, apocryphal gospels, did christ have a wife/brother/twin/dog/etc?,i find to be interesting window dressing.if someone came to me and said: 'i have proof that there was no virgin birth and that christ had a brother and a wife and a boston terrier!' i'd say: 'ok. but his teachings are still pretty remarkable, regardless of the circumstances of his life, right?'i also have great respect for other religions, especially those that stress the virtues of love and compassion and forgiveness and humility.and i'll never, not for a second, say 'what i believe is right, and what you believe is wrong.' what i believe is what i believe. it's subjective and it makes sense to me and it changes as i change and as my experience in the world changes.constancy is not, in my opinion, defined through rigidity, but rather through love and adherence even through changing circumstances.and as for christmas, i hope that everyone has a wonderful christmas, regardless of how you choose to celebrate it(or not celebrate it).i always hope that somehow we can see past the fun and awesome pagan trappings of christmas(trees, mistletoe, december 25th, candy canes, etc) to remember that on christmas we celebrate the birthday(even if jesus wasn't actually born anywhere near december 25th)of a man who wanted us all to be more forgiving, more compassionate, less judgemental, less violent, and less materialistic.ultimately christmas is about celebrating the birthday of a man who wanted us to love one another and to look after one another regardless of our religious or political or ethnic or gender differences.thanks, and merry christmas.moby

The Stages of Faith

2006-12-21T09:20:00.000-06:00

About fifteen years ago I was introduced to a concept called “The Stages of Faith”. A breakout session speaker at a conference I attended spoke on the subject. I was intrigued by the content but it really didn’t connect with me because the timing wasn’t right. What is interesting is that I’ve not heard or read anything about the subject in any other place since that time. Until recently that is. In the book “The Complex Christ” Kester Brewin discusses the concept originally developed in the book “The Stages of Faith” by James Fowler. Here are the stages and some comments by Brewin. I would love to know what you think.

Stage one is the Intuitive-Projective stage. At stage 1 a child might have a view based on fantasy or what they have picked up from TV.
Stage two is the Mythical-Literal stage. By stage 2 children are beginning to take on the stories and beliefs of the community and are able to solidify them into some sort of narrative.
Stage three is the Synthetic-Conventional stage. At stage three many adults fall into the trap of thinking that any further change is unnecessary. People at this stage are loyalists who hold deep convictions but while their beliefs and values are often deeply held they are typically not examined critically and are therefore tacitly held to. That is, they know what they know but are generally unable to tell you how they know something is true except by referring to an external authority outside of themselves. The most common examples of this are “the Bibles says so” or “my pastor teaches this.”
Stage four is the Individuative-Reflective stage. At this stage people begin to critique the beliefs, teachings and practices of the group. Stage four is about the realization that what lies beneath the apparent simplicity of faith is unsymmetrical complexity. Anyone who has been through this stage or knows someone who has will know that it can be lonely and protracted. St. John of the Cross described this stage as the “Dark Night of the Soul.” This is a hard and narrow path that mystics from every creed agree is an essential part of the road to mature faith.
At stage four people raise doubts and call things into question. Churches that are stuck around stage 3 become intolerant and unchanging. Many Christians give up and leave the church at this stage.
Stage five is the Conjunctive stage. Stage 5 is a place of humility. At this stage doubts and criticisms aren’t extinguished, but people are able to hold things in tension and appreciate mystery. People at this stage have a deep simplicity, yet realize the “organic and interconnected character of things.”
Stage six is the Universalizing stage. The people in stage six are not perfect, but they challenge the obsessions with survival, security, and significance. They threaten the standards of righteousness, goodness, and prudence. People at this stage challenge the status quo and often die at the hands of those whom they hope to change. There are few who make it to this stage.

“It’s important to note that one can never force individuals from stage to stage. It is no good egging someone on to Stage 4; what is important is that the path is clear for them to travel when they find their way there in their own time.”

This sounds interesting

2006-12-13T05:41:00.000-06:00

One Punk reveals an unlikely minister
PTL upbringing gives Jay Bakker an unconventional view of religion

By AARON BARNHART
McClatchy Newspapers

For Jay Bakker, the son of televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, loving God meant always having to say you were sorry.

"I had this idea of an angry God, that everything I did was bad and wrong," he says about his childhood, which until the age of 13 was spent living, literally, in a theme park, Heritage USA, built by the millions of dollars the Bakkers raised through their Praise the Lord ministry.

Despite his seemingly idyllic upbringing, "I thought I was losing my salvation," Bakker says. Those feelings of guilt only intensified in 1987, when a sex and accounting fraud scandal brought the PTL empire crashing down.

Eventually his parents would divorce, Jim Bakker would go to prison and Jay would spend his teen years adrift in a haze of drugs and alcohol.

Now rehabilitated and married, Jay Bakker, who turns 31 later this month, is a minister of the Gospel himself. Tattooed, pierced, unordained, unshaven and unconventional, Bakker preaches out of storefronts to mostly 20- and 30-somethings who, like him, find the old-time religion has nothing to say to them.

And like his father, Bakker is on TV, though only for a few weeks. One Punk Under God, a documentary about his life, airs for six weeks beginning at 8 tonight on the Sundance Channel.

Q: What was it like growing up inside Heritage USA, a theme park with a 500-room hotel?

A: My life was very guarded, but we had a lot of fun at Heritage, too. We'd run all around playing cops and robbers. Some little old lady would come around the corner, and we'd be like, "Freeze! Miami vice!"

Q: You don't seem to have a lot of traumatic memories of that time.

A: I have traumatic memories of when we lost PTL.

But, you know, I was heavy as a kid. I got made fun of a lot. That was hard.

There were kids who said stuff. There was this (DJ) who would always make fun of my mom on morning radio.

There were still tough times. I got in trouble, got punished, spanked. I had to go pick my own switch once.

Q: What was that year like for you, the year it came apart?

A: I was losing my friends. I wasn't able to go back to school. I wasn't able to play with some of my friends because their parents worked for my parents, and Jerry Falwell (who was brought in to run the church) didn't want anybody to be seen with the Bakkers.

We went to live in Gatlinburg, Tenn. My dad owned that house in Gatlinburg. He owned the parsonage. Jerry Falwell kicked us out. They had the (Heritage) security guards make sure we didn't take anything out. I remember sitting in my room as a little kid crying because I couldn't stay in my house anymore. We were forced to leave, and I couldn't understand why.

I saw my dad cry for the first time. He was on the phone with Jerry Falwell, and he was saying, "I'm only asking for one thing. Take care of the partners. Just make sure you take care of the people." And he was bawling, and that scared the daylights out of me. My dad always had a heart for people, but I never knew how much.

Q: When you look at other TV evangelists, was your father like them or not?

A: Well, in some ways he was, and in other ways he wasn't. I mean, (there were) the constant telethons because you have to pay television bills and staff bills. But if you put his show next to Christian television today, there weren't a lot of gold and white and red Las Vegas-looking sets. It was, like, stucco and a couch (on the set). My mom did shows on penile implants and did interviews with people who were dying of AIDS in the 1980s when nobody was. They did comedy. They had a live band. It was almost like Johnny Carson.

Q: Your dad also hopped off the Pat Robertson-Jerry Falwell political express.

A: He did. I remember he was asked by George (H.W.) Bush to be mentioned because he had a lot of pull at the time. And he was like, "No." People were so fed up with all that stuff (preachers in politics) that a lot of people's anger was pushed toward my family. But they weren't involved in politics.

Q: I would think after all you went through, the one occupation you would cross off your career list would be "minister."

A: See, me and my dad and my mom, we've all had our downfalls and our conflicts, but my dad instilled in me to help people. I remember after PTL fell, he took me to the toy store and said, "I want you to pick out a bunch of toys. They're not for you." We went and spent Christmas with this really poor family. It made a huge impact on me. When I realized what grace meant — the unconditional gift, the undeserved favor, the reflection of God in our lives, and that God loved me no matter who I was or what I'd done — I realized I was going to be a minister.

I hate this time of the year......

2006-11-22T09:25:00.000-06:00

I hate this time of the year when this time of the job falls in it. As most of you know I'm finishing a hospital in Cypress(7 days a week 10-12 hours a day..I'll see ya'll soon). Everybody sees it coming, everybody knows it's inevitable and everybody's a little nervous. They're nervous of what's next, who they have to work for, where they have to drive, what kind of work it's going to be or worst case if there is even going to be any work. It's this last part that is the reason I hate this time of the year. I'm sitting down to my desk this morning to write the dreaded ROF's (Reduction Of Force). Five men who have families, mortgages and bills to pay will be entered into Houstons unemployment count today. Yeah I know "it's all part of the job and everybody knows it's going to happen". Yes, thats true and at least it's not the 35 men I had to let go 2 years ago at this time. But, it takes on a different feeling when it's your signature on the bottom of the paper and it's Christmas time.
Fortunatly I know some people who can probably put these guys to work tomorrow. But it makes me think about those that don't have work or can't get work for some reason or another. It makes me thankful for where God has led me. It makes me thankful for what he's blessed me with. Even when I'm pissin' and moanin' about my car not running right or my house doesn't look right or the dog tore a hole in the screen or the carpet is dirty I aught to be thankful.
So here it is Ken this is what I'm thankful for:
I'm thankful for a God that loves me (in spite of me being me)
I'm thankful for family that loves me (in spite of me being me)
I'm thankful for people who are willing to sacrifice there lives for our country (they're the real hereos)
I'm thankful for friends who accept me for who I am
I'm thankful for having something to piss and moan about.

This is F-ing funny!

2006-11-18T20:20:00.000-06:00

We all know that at wellspring some of us cuss and some of us don't. Some of us are offended and some of us aren't. Well, I think it's about time that we all agree on what is best, this article may help (haha!)

http://www.burnsidewriterscollective.com/general/2006/11/on_swearing_hey_mfer_read_this.php?page=1

I'm thankful are you thankful?

2006-11-02T16:36:00.000-06:00

We play around with this phrase often – but I in no way intend to be disrespectful or ungrateful. I am very thankful to God for many things. I’ve been thinking lately about how thankful I am that there are people in my life who support and encourage me. As we’ve been talking about lately – I’ve got people who validate me and affirm me. Please allow me a few lines of personal privilege to say thanks to a few people.

First, without the community we call Wellspring I would have quit long ago. I’m grateful to all of you for being willing to get out of your comfortable box and be on this journey with me. I know it’s scary, uncertain and often uncomfortable. Thanks for having my back. Thanks for trusting me. Thanks for making the ride a fun one.

Second, I want to say thanks to some friends who keep checking on us and who keep believing in us. Thanks for your friendship and your trust. Thanks to Rusty, Scott, Tom, Ben, Jim, Paula, Linda, Paulette, Bob, Robert, Galen, Rick, Karen and I’m sure a few others who I’m not thinking of right now.

Third, I want to say thanks to several family members. As with the others, thanks for believing in me and trusting me even though you don’t understand completely what I’m doing. Thanks for your encouragement and support. Thanks to Peggy & Don, Nancy & Larry. My parents are amazing – thank you.
Thanks to Rachel, Jason, Abby & Josh for being curious.

Fourth, I want to say thanks to my amazing wife Becky. Thanks for letting me experiment and be “out of the box” even though it means less security. Thanks for being patient with me. Thanks for having my back. There is no one that supports me or defends me more than you. You are the “lioness”.

Fifth, thank you God. Thank you for the gift of your Spirit that keeps guiding me. Thank you for “peace” that is beyond my ability to understand. Thank you for provision and protection. Thank you for letting “me” do this.

I’m thankful are you thankful?

Wellspring . . . Space

Are You a Peacemaker?

The Wellspring Community

The Wellspring Community

Chrisians Need to Repent!

Why Are People Turned Off By the Christian Sub-Culture?

Answers to Tough Questions

The Nativity of Rachel Shuman

The Nativity of Becky Shuman

The Nativity of Jessica Stricker

Directions

The Nativity of Kathy Hart

The Nativity of Ken Shuman

Jesus Wants to Save Christians - Epilogue

Jesus Wants to Save Christians - Chapter Six

Jesus Wants to Save Christians - Chapter Five - Part Two

Jesus Wants to Save Christians - Chapter Five - Part One

Last Night's Discussion:

Group meeting is at the Shuman's tonight!

Jesus Wants to Save Christians - Chapter Four

Jesus Wants to Save Christians - Chapter Three

Jesus Wants to Save Christians - Chapter two

Jesus Wants to Save Christians - Chapter one - part two. The Cry of the Oppressed.

The Cry of the Oppressed - Chapter One

Jesus Wants to Save the Christians

Are you ever disappointed with God?

Bring Something Sunday!

Week of Prayer for Children

The Wellspring Creed

easter blessing 2009

Deep Change or Slow Death

House

Legislative Action on Trafficking

christmas

Something to disagree with???

ike

God Of This City

birthdays

in germany

More Human Trafficking links

I want to say something

TRAFFICKING

Some Kingdom Thoughts

perhaps?

The Jesus Creed (Wellspring Edition)

napier family hoe down

christmas

Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these.....

thanks

Notebook

One Scoop or Two?

Are We Doing Good…Well?

Humility, Grace Among Tools for Resolving Conflicts

a gift of gifts

blah, blah, blah

sunday's homework

6-17-07

6-10-07

6-3-07

Prayer

Travelers

The Father at work

5-20-07

mother's day

5-6-07

4-29-07

An Incarnational Missionary

4-15-07

In Light of Juli's Comments Sunday

easter

Cookout Sunday!

Grace for all!

4-1-07

Power: Faith and Healing

3-25-07

This got my attention!

Wellspring Group Meeting

3-4-07

What is Post-Christendom?

One Foot in Front of the Other