Migrating

Migration has occurred:

http://sacredsideways.wordpress.com/

Church |RE|framed

It's Saturday and church is around the corner. I'm already battling with my false self, the one that says, "you don't need that!", or "it's a waste of time". I honestly believe these things at times,usually every Saturday and Sunday morning. I think part of it comes from being a washout as a pastor. Too young, too ignorant, too self absorbed. I'm coming to believe that I'm supposed to go through these battles in my cranial conversation. I'm beginning to come to terms that I will ALWAYS be dissatisfied with church. I will ALWAYS be able to pick out something wrong, ignored, incongruent, or blatantly hypocritical. That will always be the case if I go without checking myself. I will see several hundred people tomorrow, some familiar, most unfamiliar, but each is one of my ABBA's beloved. I wonder how the ABBA of Jesus will view church tomorrow? I wonder what He will think of all the noise and distractions? Maybe, those things aren't even on His radar. Maybe He's more in tune with comforting the widow crying out in her loneliness, or the young couple struggling with infertility, or the family celebrating the safe return of their son from a tour of duty in Iraq. I'm sure he's gonna be paying attention to the high school girl who was just rejected by her best friend's. I think He has bigger things on His plate than my petty petitions and complaints. I pray that this Sunday I can go to church with the desire to worship my ABBA, by sharing in His concerns for His beloved. Will you join me?

The Greater Problem

Throwing this one out there... The bigger problem we have is not how we "DO" church, but the fact that we have no concept of "WHO" we actually are in Christ. Until we answer this question, how we "DO" church is a prolific distraction keeping us from discovering and growing in our "true" identity. Thoughts, questions, hymnals being thrown at me???

A Gem of a Christmas Reminder... Who Penned this Observation???

"Man is so preoccupied with himself, he has such urgent need of all the space and all the time for his own things, that nothing remains for others, for his neighbor, for the poor, for God,"

Emergent Theologians

A friend of mine, Jonathan Brink, wrote an entry on his blog about the need for emergent elders. Great points were made and a biblical scan supports the call for emergent elders in efforts to more fully express who we are as a community. This also has me thinking about the need for emergent theologians. These would be brothers and sisters fascinated by the deep narratives of God's word, His language, His themes. They would also need the skills of a master story teller to gather the community and share of their travels and invite all to travel with them. Their theology won't be found in treatise and volumes, but in blog entries and fictional works. Their efforts directed at revelation of the magnetic force of the divine Narrative and how deep the Narrative runs in time and eternity. These are theologians without a title or position, they are theologians because they are theologians. Their ponderings happen in the trenches of life's warfare. They spare nothing to engage pain and suffering when it is presented, and work endlessly to understand how God is expressing Himself in our grief, suffering and inconvenience. Their thoughts and considerations are not blatant stabs at one's sources of guilt and shame, but a gentle and directed calling for those wanting to see Christ more fully exposed in their personal orthodoxy and ultimately in their personal orthopraxis. Do you know some of these theologians? Where can they be found?

Blogging Buddies

Not much time to blog here these days as I have been reading & writing on other blogs as they offer inspiring dialog.