::..:: gathering my way ::..::

i came across this quote looking for something,
"dissent is the highest form of patriotism" howard zinn.

webster's defines dissent as, 1 : to withhold assent 2 : to differ in opinion. shouldn't differing in opinion be something we celebrate and not fear. have we lost our understanding of what a republic is suppose to be? isn't it a place where a voice no matter who's it is to be heard and actually listened to. we seem to judge our ability to be friends or have a relationship with a person on the idea that they should think and feel just like us, to me that is the beginning of the end of freedom. shouldn't we learn how to embrace differnces and not fear them? anyway i think we need to get back to idea of speaking out when we have an idea that differs from the norm/status quo and we need to listen to those that dissent from what believe.

posted by John @ 9:42 AM

i keep reading/hearing a lot about what church is suppose to be. got an email from a guy i don’t know about a conference in raliegh/durham area and the guy who is the main facilitator says the traditional church should just die/end. i listen to all the conversations that talk about what it means to be emergent and the pain being felt by being attacked from those who aren’t emergent. what i see is a whole chaotic mess and i fear we will land right where we started. where is the talk about basic ideas of sacrifice and love. where is the conference that talks and teaches us to give everything we have away so others can have what we do. where is the voice of the oppressed in this mess. where is the voice of the widow and orphan and alien. when you look at the history of israel the times they were most distant from God is when those people were most neglected. so in this age of welfare and social security the church is neglecting those most needy, we plan mega places to serve them but not relationships. i remember a friend telling me how he worked in a soup kitchen and never left his spot behind the counter no one serving did. well one day he left his spot and sat down with one of those oppressed people and the person didn’t know what to do he wasn’t suppose to be there but he was and they had a great time and became friends. if we keep talking and planning about what church will or needs to be i fear we will miss the child crying in the street who just needs to be loved and fed and clothed and........... maybe i am just ranting but i think we have traveled a great distance away from our God is the pursuit of getting closer so what do you say can you give something away today so someone else can live a better life?

posted by John @ 10:13 AM

had an interesting experience today. arsene had his foot and ankle run over in a parking lot when he was in dc last weekend and woke up the other day in pain. i called an ex-client who is an ortho doc. designed and built his first office. well he is now the chief team doc for the cincinnati reds. they treated arsene for free which was cool but when jane the docs assistant introduced me to him he just looked at me like i dont remember you and he seemed really aloof. the thing is when i did his office and he repaired my acl we had long deep conversations about life and where and what we wanted to do. talks that i remember vividly. how is it a guy justs forgets that or seems to forget that? not sure but it felt really odd, like now that he is famous and rich does he not have time to talk to people like me anymore or am i just being wierd about it. anyway there is nothing seriously wrong with arsene and he will be running again soon.

posted by John @ 1:12 PM

so church today was interesting, non-participitory to a large extent, the speaker was really good although what he had to say was something i would question. the idea of prayer was talked about and how its simple, casual and easy, not formal and intimidating. God isnt there to judge us and he is our friend kind of like having coffee with your buddy. i understand that we should feel comfortable praying and imagining God, but i think we go to far when we make it seem like its just a casual conversation with a buddy. God is creator of all things and i think maybe the evangelical church has lost something in its quest to make God more accesible. maybe when we make it so easy to imagine God we make it too easy to not live out radically transformed lives for God. maybe if we were a little less casual about how we view God we would be a little less casual about how we live. following God is difficult and if we continually tell people its easy how can we expect them to understand sacrifice?

another thought i had this am was that God has allowed me to see the kingdom every day. God has used sydney and me and our family to create an amazing place of love and joy, something that would have never been created without God. children from different places brought together through different means to create a place where God is revealed each and every day. not that it is becuz of me but it is a gift from a living God who asks us to give him all we are and everything we have. we are in a time a transition and i am beginning to see God clear the path to where we are to be and part of that is seeing what God has already been doing and done with us, i am excited about the next few months and the changes that will happen and how God is going to create a new world for us.

posted by John @ 10:54 AM

so i am going to delaware in a few weeks to interview with a firm element design group. the job sounds great the place is rehoboth beach. waiting again for the 10th to come so i can go. things are still chaotic around here having conversations about moving some of the kids get upset others say when do we leave. kind of feel like we are on an adventure figuring out what is ahead, where is God leading us/me i actually like an adventure. sydney stated last night that we have lived in cincy for 17 years, i think it is time for a change. kids still doing well adjusting simeon keeps opening up more and we keep finding out that he is very wise. at times it just blows me away what my kids have survived and how much they love life and each other, thank you Lord for letting me be their dad.

posted by John @ 2:48 PM

the last month has been amazing. amazingly hard, joyous, painfilled and miraculous. we brought two more kids home two weeks ago simeon 10 and anna 4 have been welcomed and folded into the family. there are a few things that have happened but overall it has been a smooth transition. other things happening; i have been sending my resume out for arch and ministry jobs just felt a leading to do so and see what happens. had an intial interview with one place and was told that adopting 10 kids is my ministry and if i dont see it as such i was wrong. there were/are many things that bothered my about that comment/question. who are we to judge what any given person is capable of doing. just becuz i have adopted 10 kids as opposed to having them all through biology does that make it a ministry, what does that say about perceptions of adopted kids versus biological. if leaders cant get past their own fears of being different or radical how can they expect the people they lead to do so. if we have the idea that a person can have only one calling or ministry are we limiting what God can do with us? i have been struggling with the idea of just giving up and walking away from the church in any form not leaving my faith but leaving the screwed up mess we have made of church, is that right i dont know. i do know i am tired of being told that i am doing all i should with having 15 kids, tired of a people, the church not seeing that God can do amazing things with us if we let him. if we each only have one thing to do i fear we will fail. tired of being told different is bad. i think what keeps me going are the few people that come and go in my life that do understand and see things the way i do at times, but not always. one of the guys i meet with regularly said i cant quit, those words were like sauve to a gaping wound, yet i sit here thinking about giving up the fight to help others see a different way a way that is based in sacrifice not systems, emerging or otherwise. i would like to hear what you have to say about all this what do you do when you feel like giving up?

posted by John @ 1:19 PM

do something different today, ASK FOR LESS

posted by John @ 9:48 AM

simeon and anna are here they arrived last wednesday. it has been a really smooth transition so far. anna is chubby the orphange she was in feed the kids five time a day, trying to compensate for the places most of the kids had come from i guess, she also speaks english very well. simeon is a joy, gentle and shy and funny. he knows some english but is shy to use it around me and sydney. he taught himself to ride a bike already and reads his bible and prays each night when he goes to bed. the other kids are excited to have two new siblings and have made them part of the family without much effort. it always amazes me how the kids just accept additions to our family with love and acceptance. thank you LORD for these kids and for allowing me to be their dad.

posted by John @ 9:36 AM