Communion

As I’ve been discussing, I am participating in a home fellowship. I have mentioned that we haven’t arrived yet, that we are merely in the beginning of a journey. I have recognized that what we are trying to do is generally different than what anyone has seen before, and therefore almost no one, including those involved, sees the vision of where we are trying to go. To remedy that situation, I have been thinking about sharing more of the vision to those who are joining us regularly. This week I was able to do this for the first time.

The topic I chose to discuss first is that of communion. It has been a central part of what we do since almost the beginning, and we want it to continue to have a prominent place. And yet I admit I feel like Continue reading →

Blood on Our Hands

Over 1,110 Palestinians have been killed in the past 21 days. 367 of those have been children. The humanitarian infrastructure of Gaza is on its knees- already devastated by years of comprehensive siege. There has been a deliberate, systematic destruction of all places of refuge. …we received word that the Israeli army had shelled Al Quds hospital…

This is so disturbing, and to think that it’s mostly possible thanks to our support! I pray for peace, the end of hate, and for the victims.

Further Thoughts on Church

Those of you who have been following me know that I am part of a home fellowship, and have some thoughts about church that are different than what is most common. I wanted to say a few things about this. First, to my knowledge only one of my friends so far has read one of the two books that have influenced me recently. Without having done so, you probably won’t have an understanding of the vision of the church that I’m seeing. It’ll take some time and thought to grasp the ideas which are being offered—it’s not something which can be communicated real quickly. That’s because what is being offered is more of a paradigm shift rather than a matter of just tweaking what we’re already doing a bit.

That said, I’ll try to give you an idea of Continue reading →

U.S. Policy on Israel

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has of course been in the news again here recently. The Israeli attacks have sparked a renewed outcry, which is the catalyst for my addressing the subject. I understand Israel wanting to put an end to the rocket attacks, but the conflict isn’t so simply nor is it just part of a cycle of retaliation. Now I don’t pay much attention to the main stream media, but it has been accused of reporting from Israel’s side. Whatever the case is with the media, the U.S. has certainly been far from an unbiased mediator. From what I’ve heard, the pro-Israeli lobbyists are so powerful, that they have forced the president of the U.S. to back down from some semi-critical statements he made regard Israel.

As mentioned, the Continue reading →

Christian Church

(Note: This is my best understanding of this subject from what I have heard, but I don’t guarantee it is without error.)

I recently delved into the confusing subject which is the history of the church movement that I grew up in and was involved in for most of my life. The church I grew up in is a Christian Church. It seems to me and probably anyone on the outside, that all churches (at least which aren’t a part of a different religion) would be Christian Churches, and I imagine that was part of the original idea in this confusing label. To be fair, up through even my parent’s generation, denominations were a lot more important to people. Saying that one was a part of a Christian Church I imagine stuck out more for the fact that one was Continue reading →

Forgiveness


Forgiveness…
does not mean that an offense didn’t matter
is not ignoring an offense
does not require the offender’s request nor repentance
is not a one time act
does not mean there aren’t consequences
does not minimize an offense
does not exaggerate an offense
is choosing not to hold an offense against another (though choices may still be made in light of it)
is letting go of one’s bitterness
is a decision one must continually choose to hold to
allows healing to begin
allows one to not be consumed by anger

For example, two people are in a relationship, and one cheats on the other. The offended person chooses to forgive the offender. This means that they are going to choose to not continually hold that against the other Continue reading →

Rethinking Church

(Note: I have written the following post in response to comments shared on this post.)

I once heard it said that every generation needs their own reformation. The idea is that we never quite get it all right, so we need to keep improving rather than thinking we’ve got it made. You are correct in seeing a thread of changes through time, and yes, where I am in my thinking and belief has developed out of a specific background (mine is reformation->restoration). I think however there isn’t only one thread anymore. The reformation birthed several threads, as did the Second Great Awakening. I just read that George Barna is going to be releasing a book this spring on seven major groups of Christianity.

It’s obviously true that many calls Continue reading →

Christians and Government

I believe one of the biggest blind spots in American christian’s view on politics, is not seeing how we unbiblically tie our christian agenda onto the government. (I think once you see it, it looks almost absurd, yet few seem to see it.) That is, we say “As Christians, God’s will is that we (fill in the blank).” But then we make a big blind leap and say, “So we must get our government to (fill in the blank).” Since people think this way, it’s no wonder they get so tied up into politics! The first major problem is, if the “right” person doesn’t win, then God’s will apparently can’t move forward, as if God depended on a government—our government—in order to act in the world. A second, just as significant problem is, if the government is Continue reading →

The Election

Well, I did vote Tuesday. Once again, I split my vote over three parties, and almost no one I voted for won. I debated about the presidential candidate a fair amount. There were things I liked and disliked about each of the three candidates on the ballot. It seemed that Obama received the most focus, with people being either for or against him. While I’m sure there were/are many other people in my position, all the most vocal people seemed to either think Obama is going to be the country’s savior, or that he will completely ruin the country. While I think the choice of president does influence the country, I think it does so only so much. In many ways the country will continue on either way. (I just had the thought, I wonder if the choice Continue reading →

The Dirt on Presidential Candidates, Etc.

Earlier this summer I heard from some news source that John McCain had admitted to having an affair. I thought that would be the end of his campaign, as conservative Republicans would be disgusted with him over this. Remember, these conservatives are the ones who got Bush elected to office based on moral issues, and nearly impeached Clinton for his messing around in the White House. I was really quite surprised that I never heard another peep about it from the media, to the point where it felt like I had just imagined the issue. I looked up this issue online, because I wanted to find out what the story was.

The challenge was to try to sift through the allegations, spins, lies, biases, etc., in order to try and get an accurate picture of Continue reading →