We need a holistic approach

18 Apr posted by

photo (51)

Last weekend I attended a two day event about young people and their engagement in the church. It specifically looked at the Hemorrhaging Faith report which looks for the reason behind the mass exodus we the church in Canada are experiencing. I say mass exodus and I’m not joking. According to the report, 70% of children who grow up in the church will leave the church. It’s scary to look at these numbers and wonder what will become of us. I believe there is hope if we start to address this issue and get to the heart of why people are not engaged with the Gospel, which I think we can agree as a message is pretty engaging.

One of the things that was discussed at this event was the need to include young people in the life and activity of the congregation beyond collecting offering and handing out bulletins. We heard stories of engagement and experience. We discussed opportunity and purpose. Ultimately at the heart of everything I heard was a cry from the youth for a relational church. A church where people engage with one another not just politely but intimately. There was a sense that the faith was not being passed down but instead being hoarded. I think if you’ve seen an episode of Hoarders you know how devastating hoarding can be. It isolates you from your family and friends. It builds up walls and prevents contact with others. This is completely opposite to what we see in Jesus’ life and hear in his teachings. When we keep our faith to ourselves and fail to build up the next generation we are prohibiting any kind of connection that could be made.

Connecting with one another across the generational divide is essential. The youth are our future and we are charged with the responsibility of caring for them, teaching them and encouraging them on their walk of faith. We aren’t doing this as well as we should and this conference couldn’t have come at a better time. Coincidentally I was also recently sent a book entitled Connecting Church & Home by Dr. Tim Kimmel to read and review. It is all about family and connection. It speaks to the heart of our problem. The book places a strong emphasis on the investment of family not just in bringing their children to church but also teaching them at home. When you think about it, the church gets one hour a week to impact the lives of these children. The parents also have a responsibility to pass on the faith at home and encourage spiritual discipline and growth. It is a holistic way of looking at church. If one part suffers, the whole body suffers so all must be engaged and connected.

Statistically we see this represented in the Hemorrhaging Faith report. Parents with low personal spiritual discipline only had 10% of the children who remained within the church whereas those who had high personal spiritual disciple brought up 75% of the children who remained. The more engaged in their faith the parents are, the more likely the child will be as well. This goes back to to the relational component that youth are craving. If we value something we are more willing to talk about it and share what we know. Do we as Christians value what we have? Are we willing to build relationships and share our experience with those around us?

Dr. Kimmel really addresses how important grace is in the process of life and the necessity of engagement on all sides in order for it to be a success. I really found the book to be an interesting read. It encouraged something we often forget in the Church, the notion that we must be bold enough to try even though it opens us up for failure. If we never try we will not know what we could have become. I encourage you to take a look at both of these resources if you are able to get your hands on one. If we are to truly look towards the future we must look at what our young people need and require. They deserve the opportunity to engage with the Gospel in a real, relational way. We need to start looking for ways to make that possible and open ourselves up to new possibilities.

I was provided a copy of Connecting Church & Home by Dr. Tim Kimmel and asked for an honest review.  The opinions expressed are my own and have not in any way been influenced.

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Filed Under: Book Review, Christianity, Church, Faith, Family Ministry, Youth

It takes a village.

9 Apr posted by

Bible
Every night before bed my son and I read together.  He dives under the covers and we read stories that take us to far away places like Little Critter Land and the Island of Sodor.  We also read the classics from my youth like Robert Munsch and The Berenstain Bears. When we were at Costco a few weeks ago we found the Berenstain Bears Storybook Bible and have already read through it completely and are now turning to our favorite stories each night.  My son loves the story of Jesus and finds David to be quite compelling.  It’s been a really fun read together and the pictures are quite delightful.  Each story also comes with commentary from Mom of course and I think he finds it funny.

I love to talk to my son about life and faith and all kinds of things as it happens around us but it’s not something that I do in an age specific way.  It’s something we live in this house and as a result I don’t really think about programming it into our day at a specific time, it’s just what we do.  I think this may be unusual in the Christian circuit, or at least it feels that way to me today.  My son went to a Jump into JK program at our local Christian School to try it out and see if it was a good fit for him.  As he is a shy fellow he wouldn’t let me leave so I got to see what they were doing and I was amazed.  As all the kids sat around the mat they knew word for word ‘Jesus Loves Me’ and X sat there giving me the side eye as I had obviously failed him in not teaching it to him.  It’s not that we don’t listen to Christian music ever.  I have it playing on my iPhone in my mix and he knows some of the songs pretty well.  As we were driving out of the school parking lot he was belting out the chorus from Josh Turner’s Long Black Train.  Hearing a three year old sing “But there’s victory in the Lord I say” is pretty funny especially after he couldn’t sing Jesus Loves Me.

I think part of this stems from the fact that I tend to bounce around.  We’ve been lucky lately in that I’ve only been supplying in one congregation but we move from church to church as a family and as X. is fairly shy he doesn’t jump in and out of Sunday School programs easily.  I teach him at home.  We pray and read and talk about Jesus but he doesn’t get those kid songs that I remember from my youth. I wonder if this is a good thing or a bad thing.  I wonder how it will impact him as he grows.  He is very comfortable in church and is generally well behaved for my husband.  He enjoys listening to hymns and singing along where he can.  Also he shouts out ‘Amen’ at inappropriate times and I find this hilarious. He’s a kid who’s not church-schooled but is very churched.  I wonder how this will work in the future and I suspect he has an advantage, his mom is someone who has resources and tools to teach him at home.  Maybe it’s not conventional but it works for us and he’ll learn it’s okay to probe and question in faith from us.  I’m glad I can do this for him but I wonder about the other kids.  What happens to the families in the church when programming ceases to exist for them.  Where do they turn or do they turn anywhere?

The first thing on the chopping block for any church seems to be Sunday School or child related programming.  This is especially true when the numbers are small.  This is so backward to me.  We should be investing in our children.  Sharing with them and showing them that they are important, that they in fact are the future.  We should let them know that they matter and we should be learning from them, after all Jesus did say unless we become like children there is no getting into the kingdom of heaven. This is a real problem for us.  How can we learn from the children when we don’t see them or place any value on them besides the ten minutes they entertain us during the children’s time in worship?

Do we value our children? Are we giving them what they need?  Do we look to them as our future?

These are questions we really need to be asking.  Like it or not our children are the future.  It’s not about us, it’s about them.  It’s about helping them grow in faith and helping them discover the world around them.  It’s about finding ways to engage and encourage them as they  make their way.  It’s about sharing the gospel in an exciting way because it’s an exciting message. While my son may not know Jesus Loves Me, he will hopefully grow up knowing that God loves him and it’s okay to make mistakes as long as you get back on that horse to try again.  He’ll learn about grace and forgiveness, redemption and living life to the fullest.  I want him to fully engage, to question and ponder.   We will teach these things to him and when we settle once more in a charge I am hopeful that a congregation will assist in this. It takes a village to raise a child.  We need to be that village for our children. To love them and lift them up in faith. To pray for them and give them everything they need to make their way into the world.  Are we doing that?  Are we giving them everything we have?  If not, maybe we should think about what we are doing and ask ourselves if it’s enough.

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Filed Under: Church, Faith, Musings, random church things most of you probably don't care about, Uncategorized

The yeast…

5 Feb posted by

I’ve been experimenting with bread making this week.  It’s not as exciting as you think.  My husband went into our back room and dug out my bread machine so I only have to layer everything in a precise way and press a button.  It’s pretty easy, or so you would think.  Here is my first attempt.

failed bread
It looks awful, right?  It was even worse inside.  Uncooked and mushy, we couldn’t even make croutons out of this loaf.  What went wrong?  Lots of things I believe.  The first of which was the temperature of the liquid when it connected with the yeast.  You don’t want boiling hot and you definitely don’t want cold.  I think my liquid was too cold.  I also think the recipe I used didn’t call for enough liquid so the bread didn’t mix in the machine correctly.  Nevertheless I persevered and look what happened.

Bread again

This loaf worked.  I made sure that the water was exactly the right temperature.  I watched it like a hawk to ensure that the moisture level was correct and then I ate it smothered in jam.  It was definitely worth the effort and I realized something very important. Yeast is a little picky but when added at the right time, to the right mix amazing things can happen.

Because of my failures and final success with yeast, I started to think about Jesus and what he says about yeast.  Having a better understanding of how yeast works and the multitude of ways it can fail, I realized something important. Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like yeast that is worked into flour. When yeast is worked in and the right setting is there, amazing things can happen.  If however the setting is wrong, there’s nothing the yeast can do and ultimately the bread will fail.  It would seem to me that as God’s people we should be trying to keep ourselves open and ready for the spirit to move within us, to be the yeast in our lives and help us expand and grow.

I think ultimately we would say we want this but it’s scary to contemplate. When you look at bread, when you look at what yeast can do, how it changes and shapes the dough, that kind of change is frightening. Do we really want to double in love, in service, in devotion and commitment?  Do we want our churches to double in love, in service, in devotion, and commitment?  I think if they did amazing things could happen but our lives and church and worship would look very different from how they do today.

Are we ready to open ourselves up and prepare ourselves to do God’s work in the world or are we frightened of what that means?  Do you think you’re ready for yeast to be added to the mix?

 He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”  Matthew 13:33 NIV 

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Filed Under: Christianity, Church, Faith, Musings, Reflections, reforming

Even Lions fans have hope.

1 Jan posted by

Life in 2013 has been quiet thus far.  I made two batches of potatoes for dinner tonight {one with chives, the other with cheese} and have settled in for some much needed coffee after a late night watching the ball drop and trying to encourage my son to stay in bed.  I adore coffee and it’s magical energy producing powers which enable me to function. I’m grateful to those who grow the beans which keep me going.

This last week was wonderful. We spent time together as a family, I’m finally feeling better after a nasty bout with a chest infection and I didn’t go to church. Where did I go instead you might ask? I went to the Lions game. My Mom and Dad got all of us tickets and I made the trek down to Ford Field.

photo (6) 2
It was awesome. I love football and the game was so much more fun to watch in person. We settled in early and I enjoyed some delicious food while watching the practice on the field. As I sat there with my Sloppy Jane in one hand, and a giant drink in the other I turned to my brother and said ‘this is some good church, isn’t it?’. He laughed and shook his head but seriously there were some things I noticed at the stadium that really struck me as a church goer and a minister.

First, the football crowd has a much better community spirit than most of the churches I have been to. The people who were season ticket holders knew each other well. They were hugging and calling out New Years greetings to one another as they found their seats. They also extended that friendliness to us. People were turning around during the game and chatting with one another. The man sitting right in front of us was asking my husband questions and needling my brother {who’s a Bears fan} and there was no hesitation. The warmth and friendliness of the people was rather shocking and quite pleasant. As I sat there I wondered why those of us in the church aren’t more like this. Why we don’t turn around and chat with one another more? Why we don’t extend honest, open affection to those who are visitors? It’s something we should really be working on.

Second, there was excitement in that room. I know we were there to watch a game so that’s expected but I found myself wondering where the excitement went for worship. I often {though not always} find that as I lead worship I am much more excited about it than those who are attending the service. It seems at times as if we’ve sunk into a routine and have lost the thrill for what is is we do. We forget that worship is a celebration and a time to really connect with God. There should be moments of quiet and reflection but also there should be joy and dancing.  I think we should look for ways to make church interesting and enjoyable for people.

Last but definitely not least was the fact that people gathered together for a common purpose and really connected because of it. This was a community of people who even while watching their team go down in defeat after one of the worst seasons imaginable didn’t let that get them down. They were looking towards the future and as we left I said and heard others say, there’s always next year. Hope is something we all need and it seems to me that those of us in the church who in fact have reason to hope have lost our faith. We are struggling and have forgotten about the one who saves and redeems. We’ve lost sight that there is a future possible if we just work towards it. Too many of us are wallowing in our own worries to look into the future and plan for a different season, a different way of doing things. There was hope in that stadium even while the season ended. As a church we need to find hope once more.

It is my hope this year that we move in a positive direction. That we start to live out our faith in community and hope. That we develop an excitement and enthusiasm for the gospel once more. That we begin to believe that a future is possible. If Lions fans believe that a future is possible surely we as believers in the hope and truth Jesus offers can start to see that as a possibility too. It’s time for us to move on out of this negative season in the church and begin preparing for the next stage, the next step. We need to move forwards into tomorrow.

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Filed Under: Church, Football, Hope

Are we ready for Christmas?

18 Dec posted by

Joy

Today day was simple and quiet.  I am still in recovery from a nasty virus but I figure by the weekend I’ll be 100%.  I’ve pleaded and begged with my husband not to bring anything home with him from work and am drinking my greens every day so I feel good and ready to celebrate Christmas.  It’s kind of funny when you think about it.  How ‘ready’ we get.  My dress is ready and waiting, I just need to pick out a scarf to go with it. I’m in decision making mode about whether I should wear a gown or just keep doing my ‘naked preaching’ thing.  I’m getting a hair cut tomorrow and have new makeup for the holiday parties I’m going to attend.  Overall my preparations far exceed those of the original participants.  I wonder if I’m missing the point somehow.

Maybe the point isn’t getting myself ready but just living in a state of readiness.  Like the shepherds who just happened to be there and Mary who said yes when asked without really thinking about the consequences.  Maybe readiness is how we are supposed to be living.  Always looking, seeking, searching for something more.  Never ceasing in the effort to be experience and see. Perhaps I need to work on being always ready instead of living to prepare.

It seems as though sometimes in the Church we live to prepare.  There are seasons and struggles and constant preparation as we wait for things to happen.  We have emergency budgets and slush funds {many of which are falling to dangerously low levels} and for the first time in memory it appears we are reaching a point for which we can no longer prepare.  We cannot possibly expect what will happen next and for that I am grateful.  We need a little chaos.  We need to be thrown off our game and ripped away from the rules and regulations that define us.    We need to exist as God created us to exist, in loving relationship with him and others.  Our obsession with preparedness is not helpful as it prevents us from living to our full potential.

Jesus himself was an inconvenience and at times if we’re honest still is.  He entered the world at the most inconvenient time for his parents coming into their lives while they were sleeping in a stable.  As he grew he continued to push people of balance taking them beyond where they were comfortable.  At one point he sent his disciples out with nothing, completely unprepared so they would be forced to rely on others and build relationships with them.  When he died he left his disciples with no plan and when he came back he was vague and they continued their wait for answers until the Holy Spirit descended. With Jesus it wasn’t never about getting ready but always living in that state of readiness to accept whatever mission one was called to.

Jesus comes unexpectedly in the night asking us to drop everything and there really isn’t any preparing for that.  Are we ready for Christmas?  I’m not sure it matters.  It’s coming like a tidal wave and there’s no stopping it.  Maybe the better question is are we ready for Jesus?  For that inconvenient intrusion that inevitably shakes us to the core and forces us to evaluate everything.   Are we ready for his entrance into our lives, our faith, our churches?  Are we ready to hear how we’ve got to drop all we know and follow him where he’ll take us?

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Filed Under: Advent, Christianity, Christmas, Church, Musings, Reflections

Everything changed.

23 Nov posted by

When Jesus arrived, everything changed. Nothing remained as it was and the world was flipped upside down. Love entered our midst and we discovered that God would do anything necessary to be with us. Doubt remained though among the people.  Not everyone could see the gift that was offered. They weren’t looking forward, they were looking back. Back to the time when life was comfortable and they knew what to expect. No one expected a baby. No one expected that baby to grow to be a teacher who broke rules and put people first. They wanted something familiar, something they knew.

I was listening to a song by Eddie Kirkland this week and a verse really resonated with me “The future was bright and clear she planned for a wedding day.  Her daddy would hold back tears giving her hand away.  But now all her hope and fear in a cradle lay ’cause a baby came and everything changed.”   When God enters your life, everything changes.  Mary would not have expected her life to turn out as it did yet she followed.  So many people throughout the history of God’s people had to make difficult choices that forced them to leave their dreams behind.  Abraham left his life behind for a new land. Moses chose to go against the life he’d always known and led people into the desert.  David stood up to a giant and became a king.  So many others were asked to make a choice and their lives were changed.

A single choice can change the direction of your life.  Three years ago my life changed.  My plans for ministry and my family no longer mattered and I had to make a choice regarding what I would do.  My son needed some extra care so I chose to stay home and my whole life changed.  As I’ve watched him grow, I’ve grown.  I’ve had time to write, to dream, to vision for the future.  I’ve discovered that God is never finished with you and sometimes when you make a choice, everything changes.  Sometimes your plans for the future aren’t actually the future you’re meant to have.

A single choice can change the direction of your life.
A single choice can change the direction of an organization.
A single choice can change the world.

It can be tempting to look back and wonder what might’ve been had things been different.  It’s common to wish that things didn’t have to change, that pain and uncertainty wasn’t part of the equation.  It’s normal but it doesn’t change the fact that life is uncertain. The future isn’t always clear and that’s okay. We may not know where we are going but if we have faith, God will go with us and lead us to a new future. We just need to surrender our control and walk boldly into an uncertain future.  If we let go of what we know we might find a new future filled with more promise than we thought possible.  God is looking to enter our midst but we have to allow him to enter.

If we let God in everything will change.  Are we ready for that?
Are we ready for everything to change?

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Filed Under: Christmas, Church, Faith, Hope, Musings, Reflections, The Advent Project

Rooted in love.

12 Oct posted by

Yesterday my son, his best ‘friend’ Monkey Monkey and I made the journey to place where my siblings live. We had lunch, went to Costco and generally had fun.  Monkey Monkey went with us everywhere as my son is his caretaker.  He feeds him, kisses him and puts him to bed each day.  Sometimes if something particularly bad has happened I need to give Monkey Monkey a kiss to make it better.  My son really loves his friend.  Most kids have something they love like this.  It’s hoped I guess that the love they show for their favorite toy/blanket/insert thing here is a reflection of the love they are getting.  When a child is rooted in love, is established in love they learn to love others in that model.

I guess you could say that who we are is a reflection of where we’ve been and who we’ve grown with.  I find it curious that some of my real life blogging friends are writing about the ‘toxic sludge’ that has invaded our local churches.  They’ve spoken of the anxiety and toxic mess we find ourselves in and they want to dig us out of the mess.  As I read about their dreams and desires I find myself wondering how we got into this mess in the first place. It’s curious that an organization which claims to be keepers of the truth would have deteriorated this far.  I think it’s safe to say we are in trouble and we need help.

This morning my devotions took me to the 3rd chapter of Ephesians and I ran across this verse:

“…And I pray that you being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:17-19 NIV

The problem could be that we aren’t rooted in love, we’re rooted in sludge.  Some people would say this isn’t so.  They’d say that we’re rooted in love but the world is in sludge. They’d say that people ‘out there’ just don’t like church anymore and it’s not our fault that we’re {anxious/depressed/frustrated/angry}, it’s theirs.  It’s their fault that we’re in financial hardship.  It’s their fault that we’re struggling to attract people.  It’s their fault…

I think it’s easier to blame others than it is to see that you’re in fact part of the problem.  Look at the Pharisees.  They were good, devout people and they had a lot of rules to follow.  They weren’t technically wrong you know.  There were loads of rules and they knew them by heart.  They spoke the truth of the law a lot of the time but they never got to the heart of the message.  To know something and live something are two different things.  The Pharisees spoke truth but failed to act in love.  They were rooted in tradition and rules instead of God and God’s gift of the law.  They knew the truth but they didn’t live it.

One thing that set Jesus apart from the religious people of his day was his desire to love people and share that love with others.  He spoke God’s truth in this world.  He spoke love to all people and lived a life that was accessible to everyone.  We need to live like this, rooted in the love of God and established in his word and accessible to all people.

When I watch my son love his Monkey Monkey I feel so incredibly blessed.  This little boy knows how to love in a big way.  He’s lived in love, been surrounded by love from a large extended family and collection of friends and that has shown him what love is.  He’s taken what he’s seen and made it his own. As a family we’re not perfect by any measure but that’s okay.  We try and we love and we continuing living in that love. This is what the church should be. We should be first and foremost a collection of people who try and love and live in that love.

Who we are is what our legacy will be.  If we don’t address this toxicity and fear we will pass this to the next generation as a model for what the church should be.  We are called to be living in truth, living in love.

Paul addresses this futher on in the book of Ephesians when he says:

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.  Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us…” Ephesians 4:31-5:1 NIV

If we live in God and are rooted in God’s love we will follow God’s example.  Who we are is reflective of where we are rooted.

I guess the question remains, are we rooted in love?
I suspect that if we root ourselves in love we’ll find ways to get out of the mess that we are in.

What do you think?

 

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Filed Under: Bible, Christianity, Church, Faith, Musings, random church things most of you probably don't care about, Reflections

When an iPhone meets the ocean.

18 Sep posted by

This year for our vacation my family travelled to PEI to sit in the sand, eat delicious food and basically just slow every cell in our bodies down so we could truly embrace life once more. It was wonderful. The red dust under your feet, the green hills rolling along and the majestic blue of the ocean just calms the soul and creates a haven unmatched anywhere else in the world. On the Island I can be still, sleep and dream. Things slow down and sometimes you just have to dance in the ocean and dance I did.

One day when the sun was shining bright as the wind blew lightly through my hair I danced in the ocean. Spinning and splashing with my son we had a marvelous time.  It was quite freeing until my iPhone flew out of my pocked and landed on the ocean floor. One moment I’m dancing and the next I’m standing there in shock at my stupidity wondering if I’ll ever see my beloved phone again. I’m sure it was quite a sight, me standing there bent over examining the ocean floor, praying to Jesus that I would find my phone.  After a few uncertain moments I spotted it, my pink iPhone cover was poking out of the ocean floor almost completely buried beneath the sand. I was equal parts relieved and dismayed. I found my phone but would it ever work again? It did work, it does work. I am so grateful.

After the initial shock I got to thinking how lucky I was that I had covered my phone in a protective case. On it’s own the iPhone is a little fragile. It has body and substance but could use more protection. The case surrounded it, protected it and became it’s saving grace. It wasn’t a requirement for the phone to work but it was essential in keeping it working this rocky situation.

I have an iPhone cover in my life. It’s my faith, my trust in Jesus and the community of believers that I surround myself with. There are times when it seems like I don’t really need those things. When life is going swimmingly well and I can walk along happily on my own. But there are times when life gets tough and life seems uncertain.  In those times I am able to turn to God, to my faith in him and the people that I gather with regularly to worship with.

This may seem trite and silly to you but I’ve noticed a lot of people lately declaring the lack of necessity of church. I’ve seen posts on Facebook and been told in person that you don’t have to go to church to be a Christian and I suppose that is true in a sense. You can follow and read and study on your own but there is some measure of comfort, of community that comes from meeting with those who believe as you believe, who walk the same path you walk. You can’t find that on your own.  It’s tough to find a community in isolation.  The church is more than a meeting place.  The church is community, it is the people of God gathered.

We all need some protection, a community that rallies around us and supports us in good times and bad. When life gets tough and faith is hard to hold on to the church and it’s people hold onto it for you until you find your way again. I am grateful for the church and it’s community. As frustrated and irritated as I seem at times with the lack of movement and motivation, it is necessary, important and vital for those of us who follow Jesus. Jesus said when two or three is gathered he is there. I need this. I need community and I need Jesus. There have been times in my life when I found it next to impossible to find God let alone pray to him.  The people who held me up in prayer, who rallied around me and offered comfort sustained me through my darkest period. As Christians we need each other. We need community.

I am grateful that I have the church as imperfect and troubled as it is. I am grateful for the community, for the support and for the spirit that enters our midst when we gather together. A lot of the time I complain and wish things were different but I need to remember the things that are good about  it. The reasons we want it to continue are things we should celebrate and give thanks for.

While I wouldn’t recommend tossing your iPhone into the ocean to get a clean look at things sometimes it’s the odd things in life that help you find clarity about other issues. From now on when I cry out against the church and plead for change and focus I will try to remember the good things. We are a community of imperfect people who lift each other up in a world that can be very isolating. If only we could get others to see it that way as well…

 

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Filed Under: Christianity, Church, Musings, Reflections

Water your own grass.

11 Sep posted by

I was doing a little reading this week and came across this thought: “If the grass is greener in someone else’s yard, maybe it’s time you watered your own.  How long has it been since you’ve taken stock of what God’s given you and said, “Father, thank you”.”  {Craig Groeschel, Soul Detox} This is brilliant, absolutely brilliant. How long has it been since you watered your own grass?

Sometimes in life we forget the blessings that we do have. We start longing for things, material and immaterial. We begin believing what the world tells us and start thinking that we don’t have enough, we aren’t good enough, we should have more and be more. When we start envying what our neighbors have we forget what blessings we do have. When is enough, enough?

I know this is something I struggle with at times. There’s a fine line between dreaming and coveting it seems. I want to push myself to be better, to strive for more and discover who I was created to be but that sometimes can deteriorate into why not now, why not ever, why not.  It can quickly become I want, I want, I want.

This is something we struggle with as a church as well. We look at other congregations and see how well they are doing on the outside. We want what they have. We covet their numbers, success and secrets. We begin envy them and we start wondering why it can’t happen for us. In the end we fail to see the struggles they have and we forget the blessings we do have. When we fall into envy, when we covet and desire we often forget our blessings and fail to be thankful.

This week let’s water our own grass. Let’s wake up each morning and give thanks for one blessing we have received from God. If you’re up to it, write them down and by the end of the week you will have a list of seven things that you are grateful for, that are blessings in your life. Let’s count our blessings together and thank God for what we have been given.

Will you join me?

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Filed Under: Christianity, Church, Musings, Reflections

Sometimes messy is good.

21 Aug posted by

The smell of coffee lingers in the air. This particular brew is perfect. There is body. There is texture. It is bold. This coffee is not for the faint of heart. I reach for the cup as I reach for God. Warmth radiating from my fingers as I wrap my hands around it I while I chat with God. This ritual, this moment of connection is familiar to me. This moment when I meet God with coffee is one that I cherish.

My well worn notebook sits beside me, waiting to capture moments of grace and truth. The back cover is long since gone, it’s pages as mostly filled. The book is tattered and torn. It’s pages filled and crumpled. Today is day 111. One hundred and eleven days of getting up, meeting God and facing the day. One hundred and eleven messy mornings filled with grace, struggle and moments of wonder. I would have to say that it’s been a journey towards God, a journey towards who I am created to be. It hasn’t always been smooth but it’s been worth every moment.

When I look around my life it is often the messy things, my notebooks and my favorite novels that reflect who I am. They are loved, cherished and used. Why aren’t more Bibles like that? Seeing well used, well loved, written on and mucked up Bibles is wonderful. It means they are read, devoured and reflected on. They become part of a person. They reflect who someone is. I want to see more messy Bibles. More messy parts of life.  More of the real things. As I’ve watched VBS pictures pop up on my Facebook feed over the last couple of weeks I’ve marveled at the glorious mess that is faith. I’ve seen joy. I’ve watched faith come to life. I’ve witnessed the church being church and it’s been fantastic.

Messy is good. Messy is real. Messy is life.

Maybe we should be working towards messing things up. Perhaps we should make things messy and let go of budgets and buildings and just throw ourselves into the ministry of the church. It would be difficult at first but in time I think we might see that God has never been tidy and our attempts to make him so have only hindered our work.

Are you living a messy, beautiful life? How do you approach your faith?

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Filed Under: Christianity, Church, Faith, Musings, Reflections
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