when i was going to sleep last night i was overcome with the idea that churches are like organic farming versus corporate farming. the corporate farm has all the right machines, tools, fertilizers etc. the organic farm has the right tools for the most part yet there is still a need to create new ones and use old ones in new ways. these organic farm tools take finese and care to operate. there are no chemical used on an organic farm so the crops need a lot more hands on care, weeding, pruning, watering. the corporate farm needs large tracts of land to be efficient the organic smaller ones. organic farms cycle the planting so the soil can naturally recover and then in its season produce a succulent crop, while corporate ones keep dousing the ground with more chemicals to force another season from a tired land, eventually the land succumbs and is abandoned. corporate farms produce lots of food but its all the same, acres upon acres of the same crop all grown to the same specifications. organic farms produce less food but it looks like it is suppose to, not perfectly formed copies of a perfect specimen. and the taste, have you eaten an tomato produce by a corporate farm they are everywhere there isnt much to enjoy, but when you bite into an organic tomato the fruit is juicy and filled with taste, taste that God put there. so what are we doing with our churches producing a horde of look alike and act alike followers who will do what ever they are told. or are we creating a generation of followers who are full of bumps and many colors and tastes, but ones that can be noticed in the crowd. not sure if any of this makes sense but i does to me so here it is for what its worth.
::..:: gathering my way ::..::
August 26, 2004
|August 23, 2004
so we went to a different church sunday, invited by friends. the place was very welcoming great sermon, good music. charismatic which is a new experience for me, a few people falling on the floor after being prayed over. anyway it made me wonder about the whole model of church. does it work? is it biblical? why are we so attached to it? the service lasted two hours didn't seem like it, but is it good to let one person speak, no matter how annoited for about an hour with no interaction. would it be better to be leading a discussion, interactive etc. i dont have an answer just a restless sense in my spirit that there is a different way to open people to God. not that we should destroy existing models but do we have the ability to risk trying new ones in an established context, or do we always have to create new/different communites to experiment? have we become so comfortable with our present model that it has become an idol? so what is church to look like in a pre-post world where christianity is no longer seen as important, if it ever was by the world at large. i feel God pulling toward a place/idea/feeling that taking risks in how we connect with God is the goal. a place where we are truly open to explore and question and doubt and fear. maybe that is the journey we have always been on in our pursuit of God but i feel we have been at the rest stop to long and the result is a chaotic collage of attempts to be right, yet none ever reaching that goal. or maybe that is silly to think we need to be right, maybe we just need to be trying, with a sincere desire to be lead by the Spirit of our God to places we have never known, yet always known.
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August 13, 2004
i had my proposal to start missional communites in and around the university of cincy approved by our denomination last night so that means they are going to give some cash to try and do a project to combine campus minstry and starting missional communities. we are planning a sacred space/alt.worship event for september and i will try to start some smaller exploration groups or whatever you want to call them just trying to create a place for people to honestly and humbly explore what it means to follow GOD.
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August 10, 2004
so we went to vermont saturday (ludlow to be exact) and came back monday, about 1700 miles in three days. we went for various reasons. there was a gathering of adoptive families with kids from ethiopia. its was so cool to see what God can do with a willing heart. stories abounded of escaping death and then thriving and blossoming. the day was beautiful and setting beautiful it was just about a perfect day. we needed to go to make some decisions on a few things and as usual a few more things get worked out in the mix. all the driving gives time to think and talk and then meeting and being with people who have committed their lives to kids just makes things clear. and vermont is one beautiful place.
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August 04, 2004
waiting in line at the bank yesterday i saw a bit of an inteview with dennis hastert, speaker of the house. it was interesting that he was blaming trial lawyers for some failure in the legislative process, they were the ones responsible, could it be that trial lawyers are enemy number one now because john edwards is the dems vp choice. no but that wouldnt happen in the usa. what if edwards was an ex vet or ex pastor, would they then be enemy number one for the republicans, it is amazing to me how we change our views by using a subtle difference like the one in the hastert interview. could someone please just speak with honesty and transparency, wait this is the usa.
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