Thursday, March 10, 2011
Exciting times
So...break the routine and this is what you get. ;) The routine included spending an hour or so at Starbucks and allowed for a bit of blogging...kina. See, the thing about Starbucks, and if you've done this you can back me up here, on any given day there could be quite alotta people sharing that same pipe...which slows things down significantly. I expressed this frustration to my wife suggesting that I could get more done if I left later in the day, which she took as, "you really ought to change your schedule" though in reality I had a plan "B", but I suppose that first hour of her days wasn't proving so productive either. See we ride share. We take off from the house, she drops me at the train station (or local coffee house) and continues on to the salon and when I'm finished supporting my client I take the train back to the village and she picks me up on her way home. The unexpected consequence of this bump in efficiency is that I'd been developing a routine that allowed for a daily blog, and now...well you know what the up shot of this has been. Not that I was doing a great job of blogging to start with, but here I am sitting at Starbucks and it's a bit like waking up, "wasn't there something I was supposed to be doing?" I suppose what I'll have to do now is set time aside to blog from home? Or maybe, maybe I schedule some special Starbucks time? ...or maybe...hum, I'll do both. Only the Starbucks time will actually be for unspecified ministry. We'll see. ;)
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Taking it off
Don't put it on until you take it off.
In Roman 13:14 and Galatians 3:27 Paul talks about putting on Christ, but this is in contrast to the carnality we're already wearing.
Isn't our nature is to "put it on"? ;)
The public face(s) that we wear just like outfits we wear to the office or to dining out, or for working in the yard.
People who attempt to wear Christ over the top of their own pretense only end up making Christ look bad, just as attempting to wear a beautiful gown over the top of a jump suit would simply look bizarre.
The problem is this; The death experienced in the garden was literally separation from God.
In the long term this would realized in the deterioration of our bodies. But there was an immediate consequence as well, because man was originally created "linked" to God so that there was complete security in the relationship.
Imagine a life where there was truly nothing to worry about, ever, to any degree, simply nothing to ever worry about...total absence of fear.
Well two things happened as a result of Adam's sin. First, that link was severed so that the security and confidence that emanated from within was no longer present. And second, his eyes were open to recognize his vulnerability and guilt.
Adam's first thought was to hide! Maybe God wouldn't find him until he could figure out how to disguise his failure...
His next thought was to "put it on". He needed to cover his shame and so he came up with a solution for his "nakedness" by fixing fig leafs over the "offencive areas".
Maybe he could pull it off? Maybe God wouldn't notice? With his "shame covered" why should there be any questions about conduct? (This was all uncharted territory because Adam was first to experience...well, anything!)
But of course God knew before He even went into the garden to confront Adam.
Each morning we wake up and we have a choice, and the most natural thing to do is to pick up our favorite, most comfortable pretense and "put it on".
Our belief is that this has covered our shame (though for some of us it is our biggest shame) and it is our way of dealing with those deep seated fears that we're generally unaware of because they've just kina been there from the very begin.
When we attempt to put Christ over the top of our pretense what we get is disfigured morality and no one is fooled.
Take it off. Get real. Get honest. And then just take it off.
Then you can clothe yourself in Christ with all sincerity. ;)
In Roman 13:14 and Galatians 3:27 Paul talks about putting on Christ, but this is in contrast to the carnality we're already wearing.
Isn't our nature is to "put it on"? ;)
The public face(s) that we wear just like outfits we wear to the office or to dining out, or for working in the yard.
People who attempt to wear Christ over the top of their own pretense only end up making Christ look bad, just as attempting to wear a beautiful gown over the top of a jump suit would simply look bizarre.
The problem is this; The death experienced in the garden was literally separation from God.
In the long term this would realized in the deterioration of our bodies. But there was an immediate consequence as well, because man was originally created "linked" to God so that there was complete security in the relationship.
Imagine a life where there was truly nothing to worry about, ever, to any degree, simply nothing to ever worry about...total absence of fear.
Well two things happened as a result of Adam's sin. First, that link was severed so that the security and confidence that emanated from within was no longer present. And second, his eyes were open to recognize his vulnerability and guilt.
Adam's first thought was to hide! Maybe God wouldn't find him until he could figure out how to disguise his failure...
His next thought was to "put it on". He needed to cover his shame and so he came up with a solution for his "nakedness" by fixing fig leafs over the "offencive areas".
Maybe he could pull it off? Maybe God wouldn't notice? With his "shame covered" why should there be any questions about conduct? (This was all uncharted territory because Adam was first to experience...well, anything!)
But of course God knew before He even went into the garden to confront Adam.
Each morning we wake up and we have a choice, and the most natural thing to do is to pick up our favorite, most comfortable pretense and "put it on".
Our belief is that this has covered our shame (though for some of us it is our biggest shame) and it is our way of dealing with those deep seated fears that we're generally unaware of because they've just kina been there from the very begin.
When we attempt to put Christ over the top of our pretense what we get is disfigured morality and no one is fooled.
Take it off. Get real. Get honest. And then just take it off.
Then you can clothe yourself in Christ with all sincerity. ;)
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Return of the Starbucks ministry...
Hum…so here is that break down I was eluding to. Even schedules need “debugging” as this “daily blog” clearly indicates...I think Day 3 was supposed to be close to a week ago.
It would appear that my ministry is getting in the way of my ministry…which isn’t really a new problem.
One of my discoveries at BCCF was that so long as a pastor is available there are going to be interruptions and really this is the whole point of being “the pastor on call” anyway.
It’s important to understand that the real job isn’t about the “work” at all. The work is merely a mean to get at the job, which is to minister to flock and reconcile the lost to their Father.
But when is a pastor not on call?
Certainly hiding a Starbucks doesn’t exempt me…I seem to have something of a Starbucks ministry that follows me wherever I go...perhaps I should do a Starbucks tour (just thinking out loud).
Sort of a continuation on a theme...
When BCCF decided that they no longer wish to host Sanctuary I ended up taking our morning devotionals to the Starbucks across the street and the result of that was a 15 minute devotional that typically ran over an hour with random people drawn in out of curiosity.
Don't get me wrong, it isn't as though those 15 minute devotionals had ever run any less that 40 minutes to begin with. But with random persons popping in, asking questions, asserting positions, and proclaiming declarations that had to be tactfully defused it was wonder that the manager never ejected us.
But then we seemed to have come into "favored" status. There were times I even found that my latte had been "up graded" or mysteriously covered.
This is where role of “shepherd” becomes the most accurate title as I spent a good percentage of my time herding folks back to the point of the lesson...while being careful not to scare them off. Sheep frighten easily. ;)
All that to explain that this past week or so the situation here in San Diego has been that when I come to Starbucks with the intention of blogging I find myself engaged in deep conversation over matters of faith, theology and the person of Jesus Christ. And should I attempt to use the coffee house down the road I don’t seem to be able to access their WiFi. Doh!
Today I am back at Starbucks and I have already gotten past this morning’s few distractions (I think) but I've gotta recognize that this isn’t really working.
What I refuse to do is become one of those guys who is so "elevated" in his self-importance that he forgets what he’s really all about.
The people that I reach at Starbucks ought to be able to bend my ear just as much as anyone who attends our fellowship. And if the real Church has no walls as Mark Foreman asserts, then anytime I step out on the street I'm on-call.
At least that's my excuse for this week. ;)
It would appear that my ministry is getting in the way of my ministry…which isn’t really a new problem.
One of my discoveries at BCCF was that so long as a pastor is available there are going to be interruptions and really this is the whole point of being “the pastor on call” anyway.
It’s important to understand that the real job isn’t about the “work” at all. The work is merely a mean to get at the job, which is to minister to flock and reconcile the lost to their Father.
But when is a pastor not on call?
Certainly hiding a Starbucks doesn’t exempt me…I seem to have something of a Starbucks ministry that follows me wherever I go...perhaps I should do a Starbucks tour (just thinking out loud).
Sort of a continuation on a theme...
When BCCF decided that they no longer wish to host Sanctuary I ended up taking our morning devotionals to the Starbucks across the street and the result of that was a 15 minute devotional that typically ran over an hour with random people drawn in out of curiosity.
Don't get me wrong, it isn't as though those 15 minute devotionals had ever run any less that 40 minutes to begin with. But with random persons popping in, asking questions, asserting positions, and proclaiming declarations that had to be tactfully defused it was wonder that the manager never ejected us.
But then we seemed to have come into "favored" status. There were times I even found that my latte had been "up graded" or mysteriously covered.
This is where role of “shepherd” becomes the most accurate title as I spent a good percentage of my time herding folks back to the point of the lesson...while being careful not to scare them off. Sheep frighten easily. ;)
All that to explain that this past week or so the situation here in San Diego has been that when I come to Starbucks with the intention of blogging I find myself engaged in deep conversation over matters of faith, theology and the person of Jesus Christ. And should I attempt to use the coffee house down the road I don’t seem to be able to access their WiFi. Doh!
Today I am back at Starbucks and I have already gotten past this morning’s few distractions (I think) but I've gotta recognize that this isn’t really working.
What I refuse to do is become one of those guys who is so "elevated" in his self-importance that he forgets what he’s really all about.
The people that I reach at Starbucks ought to be able to bend my ear just as much as anyone who attends our fellowship. And if the real Church has no walls as Mark Foreman asserts, then anytime I step out on the street I'm on-call.
At least that's my excuse for this week. ;)
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Day 2
Day two of the Daily Blog no more explanations, today, we’re straight into it. ;)
Earlier in the week my FB post was “teaching what I know and getting schooled in the process”. And it’s funny because I’ve been a believer for a long time and the Gospel of John is hardly new material, yet the depth of God’s word just seems to go on forever…deep and complete.
We all know the story of Nicodemus, who comes to Jesus by night, looking for a little something new, maybe some novel perspective that’s fresh and enlightening. But what he gets is more than he bargained for because he’s about to be schooled.
It’s a wonderful peek into a conversation that could only take place between Jesus and someone who had an extensive understanding of the Torah.
At first Nicodemus wants to retort, but it doesn’t take long for him to recognize that class is in session and he’d be better just to listen, and this is what makes Nicodemus special among the Pharisees.
Why he was there in the first place isn’t entirely clear. He may have come out of his own curiosity. He may have been there checking things out for the group.
He may have been looking for answers after an extremely demonstrative Jesus turned the Temple upside down by driving out the money changers, but whatever the motivation, this VIP of the Sanhedrin was able to quiet himself long enough to receive more candid information from the Rabbi Y’shua then anyone else thus far.
Like Nicodemus, I had initially thought I knew something. But as I began working out the sermon for this week I found that I’ve been schooled again. ;)
Earlier in the week my FB post was “teaching what I know and getting schooled in the process”. And it’s funny because I’ve been a believer for a long time and the Gospel of John is hardly new material, yet the depth of God’s word just seems to go on forever…deep and complete.
We all know the story of Nicodemus, who comes to Jesus by night, looking for a little something new, maybe some novel perspective that’s fresh and enlightening. But what he gets is more than he bargained for because he’s about to be schooled.
It’s a wonderful peek into a conversation that could only take place between Jesus and someone who had an extensive understanding of the Torah.
At first Nicodemus wants to retort, but it doesn’t take long for him to recognize that class is in session and he’d be better just to listen, and this is what makes Nicodemus special among the Pharisees.
Why he was there in the first place isn’t entirely clear. He may have come out of his own curiosity. He may have been there checking things out for the group.
He may have been looking for answers after an extremely demonstrative Jesus turned the Temple upside down by driving out the money changers, but whatever the motivation, this VIP of the Sanhedrin was able to quiet himself long enough to receive more candid information from the Rabbi Y’shua then anyone else thus far.
Like Nicodemus, I had initially thought I knew something. But as I began working out the sermon for this week I found that I’ve been schooled again. ;)
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Doing it daily...
So, it's always been my belief that you prep the best you can and then you just start doing it.
Do what?
Anything really.
It can be assumed that no matter what you have decided to take on it's probably not going to be pretty in the beginning.
Amplifiers fail, toilets get clogged, uniforms get wrinkled, and the players forget their lines...until it's well rehearsed and the bugs are worked out which is something that simply cannot be done without putting it out there and dealing with the reality of it.
I reserve the right to announce my "grand openings" months after the whole thing is actually up and running. And the reason for this is that, as I'm certain you have found out for yourself, anything worth the doing requires a bit of "beta-testing" and a good "shake down" before it's really ready for public consumption.
The important thing is that you not become discouraged in the process...thus, don't be too quick to announce.
Few things are as discouraging as the din of "naysayers" as they peer over your shoulder grinding down your enthusiasm and by holding back on the "big announcement" I get to fly freely under the radar (not to mention that is gives those "hip/in the know" people the opportunity to become involved before anybody else...a very attactive prospect for those of that bent).
So...as silly as it sounds the thing of which I speak is this "daily blog".
Understand that any forum for self-expression is no problem for me. Expressing myself is something that come quite naturually to me and I love to do it.
In fact, learning to blog is actually a lesson in restraint for me. It has been with some amount of discomfort that I have learned just how quickly any thing said openly can be refitted with a whole new context. And the harder you run to chase the thing down the further out of reach it gets.
At some point, in what I hope is the not too distant future the Sanctuary SoCal website will be officially announced, and this blog, along with our forum, our YouTube channel and my Twitter page will all be exposed and it will be too late to see if I've got this figured out.
Do what?
Anything really.
It can be assumed that no matter what you have decided to take on it's probably not going to be pretty in the beginning.
Amplifiers fail, toilets get clogged, uniforms get wrinkled, and the players forget their lines...until it's well rehearsed and the bugs are worked out which is something that simply cannot be done without putting it out there and dealing with the reality of it.
I reserve the right to announce my "grand openings" months after the whole thing is actually up and running. And the reason for this is that, as I'm certain you have found out for yourself, anything worth the doing requires a bit of "beta-testing" and a good "shake down" before it's really ready for public consumption.
The important thing is that you not become discouraged in the process...thus, don't be too quick to announce.
Few things are as discouraging as the din of "naysayers" as they peer over your shoulder grinding down your enthusiasm and by holding back on the "big announcement" I get to fly freely under the radar (not to mention that is gives those "hip/in the know" people the opportunity to become involved before anybody else...a very attactive prospect for those of that bent).
So...as silly as it sounds the thing of which I speak is this "daily blog".
Understand that any forum for self-expression is no problem for me. Expressing myself is something that come quite naturually to me and I love to do it.
In fact, learning to blog is actually a lesson in restraint for me. It has been with some amount of discomfort that I have learned just how quickly any thing said openly can be refitted with a whole new context. And the harder you run to chase the thing down the further out of reach it gets.
At some point, in what I hope is the not too distant future the Sanctuary SoCal website will be officially announced, and this blog, along with our forum, our YouTube channel and my Twitter page will all be exposed and it will be too late to see if I've got this figured out.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
The smallest of seeds...
Even the might oak begins as just a seedling. Do not despise small beginnings. The mustard seed is the smallest of seeds yet when it is grown provides shade and shelter. ;)
I've turned my schedule around a bit so that I have "blog time" now.
Unfortunately, I used most of that time today recalling Google account info, because the Blogger info isn't working anymore...guess I should have seen that coming.
I'm certain the same is going to be true of our YouTube account as well. ;)
Blessing World, Jesus loves you...PD
I've turned my schedule around a bit so that I have "blog time" now.
Unfortunately, I used most of that time today recalling Google account info, because the Blogger info isn't working anymore...guess I should have seen that coming.
I'm certain the same is going to be true of our YouTube account as well. ;)
Blessing World, Jesus loves you...PD
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