Communitas Collective

Glenn approached me about helping out with his idea he had about an online community for Pastors and church leaders who are tired of the church institution as we know it. He envisions a place for dreaming, venting, praying, encouraging or just bouncing ideas off of each other. When he asked me about being a contributor, I was pretty excited - it gives me an outlet for all of my whacked thoughts about how church as we know it is dying and how many Christians have forgotten how to live...things like that. It also will help me to keep the discipline of organizing and developing my random thoughts. So anyway, if anyone has any interest in checking it out, go to www.communitascollective.com. I recommend it because the other writers on there seem very gifted at this and I have already been very encouraged.

Easteritis

I've never really done a lot to prepare for or celebrate Easter, being that I grew up a contemporary American Protestant Evangelical Christian. So now, even though I'm an iconoclast, I want to make sure that the things that I consider most sacred, most purely Christ-centered, I do the right way.

So that brings us to Good Friday and Easter, the centre (which means 'center', but Canadian-style!) of the Christian calendar. The last thing I want is to sit in a church service on Friday night hearing the same thing I've heard the last 30 years every Good Friday(wow, how bad does THAT sound?!). Instead, I want to celebrate death and resurrection in a way that Jesus lived...and died.

I was thinking about fasting maybe, but that seems so self centered...that could be a part of it I guess. Heather works on Saturday, so it would be fun to do something with the Kids that would be meaningful (Coloring Easter eggs does NOT count...no matter what whack-job Easter Egg/Jesus/Resurrection/New Life analogies exist).


Right now, if you ask my daughter how she got to be so cute, she will answer 'because Jesus made me'. That's pretty friggin' awesome.... She doesn't understand why people killed Jesus, but she understands that Jesus died and came back to life. She's kind of obsessed with it right now. I guess that's all I really want - to be obsessed with Jesus' death and resurrection and to understand and believe that all that I am is because Jesus made me.

This Week at the Fringe:

If you are in a Christian/Church circle, you HAVE to be tired of that word! ‘Community’ has to be the most overused word in Churches since the Willow Creek era began…or before. Or even better ‘Authentic Community’. Like many things in the church, we love talking about it but we suck at doing it.

We did an introduction to ‘Life Together’ by Dietrich Bonhoeffer to discuss this concept. It seems to me that the reason we are so bad at Life Together is because we have so much we don’t want to give up: our time, our control, our individualism, our image we have made of ourselves…..the list goes on. So we settle for shallow bible studies with snacks done at people’s houses to imitate life together.

The first Chapter of Life Together, Bonhoeffer keys in on how much Christian communities of the past longed to be together….because they were called to the ends of the Earth. It was because of this sending out that made coming back together so powerful and important.

Maybe the reason churches struggle having meaningful time together is because of what we do with our time apart?

The 4 Hour Work Week

Tim Ferriss is crazy. He is a genius. He is a crazy genius. If you haven't heard of him or looked checked out his website, I highly recommend. I'm not sure if there is really anything that is concretely applicable to me, but I just find him fascinating. Everything he decides to do, he masters in no time. It's like he just doesn't understand limits like rest of the world. I, on the other hand, am WELL aware of my limits.

I realize that there are a lot of the of reasons why he can accomplish the things he does: Efficiency, Time Management, Outsourcing, being a friggin' genius...but the most challenging part to me is the way he views the world...I just can't imagine even attemping the stuff he does.

I want that kind of perspective - where reality is what I make it. Reading about what he does inspires me to dream...and want to take it beyond dreaming. My thing is fear of failure - especially in terms of money.

So for me, I need to decide what I want to do and I need to just do it. I plan to read the book soon so I will see if anything further clarifies when I read.

Searching for God knows what

I'm reading Don Miller's book "Searching for God Knows What." Tonight I read about how he decided he didn't believe in God, and so he told God and he did not believe in Him anymore. Then he talked about how, as he walked home he felt alone and, for the first time - scared. He was scared to die. He also compared his unbelief to when he decided he did not believe in Santa anymore. When he discovered that Santa wasn't real, it was like a veil was lifted and truth was revealed. When he made the claim that God wasn't real, he was compelled to tell God....that he didn't believe in Him. He also talked about how he realized later in life that his rejection of God was actually a rejection of a specific mindset towards God.

So this brings me back to me. First of all, the Santa thing took me by surprise. Really? Doesn't exist? No wonder my kids never get anything for Christmas. Also though, I am surprised and shocked at how long I bought into the a specific image of God that just doesn't really hold true in life. Why didn't I walk away? Why didn't I rebel more. I think three reasons:

First of all, the basis of my faith hasn't changed. I still believe in a Jesus that lived and died to set humanity free from it's hatred and destructive way and that Jesus wants to be in a relationship with me to save me from myself. This hasn't changed and I can't see this ever change. I may say it a little differently now then I did in High School, but it would be the same message.

Secondly, I didn't have a reason to. I think people turn away from God because they decide that they want something that causes conflict with what they perceive Gods wants them to have. ie. Youth Pastor says don't have sex until marriage, girlfriend is hot, therefore I don't believe in God. I hung around the 'right' people. I primarily didn't want the things that were in conflict with my faith. Along with this, most of my friends and family were in the Christian circle, so peer pressure was 'positive'.

Third, I was afraid to see where that other path would lead to. I was afraid of people who swore too much or had lots of tattoos. If I saw people drinking or smoking if made me uncomfortable (I honestly am surprised at how sheltered I was. I am having a true moment of self-realization). I felt that I was diametrically opposed to people like that. They were bad, I was good. My job in life was to make them good.


So now, I swear some, I drink some, and I smoke some. What changed? I think being in ministry changed me. I saw how evil people in churches can be and I saw how loving and compassionate people who drink and smoke can be. I realize now that Jesus died for everyone and all people need him....and people in the church can be farther away from His heart then people outside. I think that's a peculiar aspect of free will and grace: in any given moment a murderer or rapist could be more in tune to the Kingdom of God then I could.

The Season Reason

I'm taking a break. My job is busy, Christmas required the use of a credit card, and I feel like we are going the wrong direction. We are more wrapped up in American living than ever. The line 'The wages of sin is death' feels real to me right now. The wages of a few small, selfish decisions has led us to this unending battle for more money to get more stuff. My realization that I need salvation is more real than ever.

Maybe this incredibly selfish, materialistic, off-based time of year is the perfect time to find redemption. Maybe this is the time for something new. If you are reading this, please pray for my family to find freedom. Pray for me to be connected to my purpose, to find out how I am supposed to be connected to his purpose right now.

Isaiah 61 has been very good for me right now.

Family Time

Every day since Advent started, Heather and I have been doing a little family time with the kids, reading the days scripture, singing a song, talking about meanings of some of the symbols around Christmas, and praying together. So far it has been very cool and I'm excited about continuing it. We have great kids!