we don’t want to do this

What are your early impressions about praying? What images stick in your mind? Here are some that come to me:

• The pastor who gave really beautiful, well-crafted, poetic “Congregational Prayers” on Sunday. I knew I could never pray like that. I felt so lame that I wondered what was the point in me praying?
• The pastor who stood up one Sunday morning and said, “the most genuine prayer there is is, ‘God, HELP!’”. He might be right: it is certainly heartfelt, but that seems just a bit insufficient. Is God just interested in hearing from me when I need help?
• Going to a Sunday mass. I heard the congregation reciting lots of formal prayers in unison (I didn’t know them, so I could only listen). There was something beautiful about listening to them, smelling the incense, watching them bow in unison. There was a community feel to this. But I was on the outside and my friend said that sometimes, he just checked out during these recitations - his mind not engaged with what his body was doing.
• Driving down the streets of Erbil, Iraq on a Friday. We turned a corner and came to a halt. The street outside the mosque was jammed with men kneeling and standing and praying in common, following the lead of the imam. Again, it was a powerful example of community life through prayer.

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Once again Jesus is after our heart condition and what is the motivation behind our actions. While Jesus is the ultimate expression of love of the Creator God to His creation, the tough thing about Jesus for me is that He does not allow compromise or human rationalization or justification for deviation from God’s standard of our heart, mind, and actions. It is a perfect love and a perfect standard.

The good news is He is about us being honest with Him and seeking forgiveness. I note that Jesus is not saying if we give, but that as we give, (an implication that we are to give), adding to be careful about the attitude in which we give. One aspect of his message is that we cannot please God and men at the same time.

I had to ask myself is this true in all cases? (more…)

here are notes for conversation at the Porch Christmas Eve Eve party. Please add your comments…

Yesterday, I was having a conversation with a friend about the state of the world and culture and life. Good, deep stuff. John is part Chickasaw and a deep thinker. He observed that in traditional societies, you think about yourself in relation to the community. You are part of a connection between the generations. A life well lived is one in which you contribute to the community and to future generations.

Contrast that with the more consumerist, Western model in which we find ourselves. We tend to see ourselves as individual units, are individual economic units. There is a primary focus on the accumulation of wealth, acquiring and consuming.
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Here are my notes from our planning meetings for next quarter. Don’t hesitate to talk with any of us to get more insight. Bottomline for most of us is that The Porch is something that is satisfying something very deep in many of us - even if we cannot entirely tell why; that we are being challenged more and learning more about Jesus than we have in a long time; that we don’t have this figured out, still learning. And I would add that things like this and like Alpha are disruptive to status quo, and that forces us all to have to think, which is interesting and scary at the same time.

Below is what we covered about Communication, Schedules, Sustainability, and Thinking Long Term.

Do you have any comments? Use the comments link below

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Jesus says,

Again, you have heard that it was said to an older generation, ‘Do not break an oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ But I say to you, do not take oaths at all – not by heaven, because it is the throne of God, not by earth, because it is his footstool, and not by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King. Do not take an oath by your head, because you are not able to make one hair white or black. Let your word be ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no.’ More than this is from the evil one.

INTRODUCTION

My first impression looking at these verses was this is something that we don’t do anymore. We don’t make vows or take oaths except in rare occasions, like in court or the marriage vows. So how does this apply? I found some background information and reflected on what Jesus is getting at. It seems to me he is pointing to these things: Truthfulness and Profanity, which I think may have a little application to you and me.

BACKGROUND

I found some helpful background at Net-Bible to help understand the meaning. (more…)

I believe there are several core principles that have guided us and help us think about what the future might hold. Below are the ones I see. Can I invite you to comment and add to these? I will elaborate as I have time or there is interest

The three key emphases for me are:

• Building relationship with God
• Building community with each other
• Serving where we live

These principles that guide us are:

• Experimentation and continual learning
• Respect for people and respect for the Word
• Plural, lay leadership
• Deep church
• A meeting arc that allows for reflection and participation with God
• Sabbath
• Natural opportunities for building community
• Invitation to service and to bless

Here is what I mean. (more…)

How do you spend your time? How many people do you really know who are not “in the Club”? Can you be transparent with people who may not understand you? What if you took a risk to listen to - really listen to and show respect for - someone of another religious, spiritual, or philosophical bent? Does that mean I cannot have an opinion? Of course not! But maybe if I shut up more, I might hear the other person, give them the benefit of the doubt, and have true conversation.

Last week, Jason said we need constant conversion. My guess is that I, you, this culture need that conversion in this this area. Especially here in frenetic Seattle. Here are some thoughts as we get ready for Saturday. (more…)

When I think about Jesus’ words in Matthew 5 regarding retaliation, I think about conversion.    Conversion is the act of changing from one way of functioning to another. Given that definition, it’s rather odd that when we talk about conversion in the religious sense, we speak of it as though it happens to us only once.  On the other hand, my experience has been that having a relationship with God is not about one experience of conversion but rather a series of them.  God continually comes to me and shows me that the way I’ve been doing things just doesn’t work.  It’s time for a change.  It’s time to start doing things differently… It’s time for a conversion.

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One thing Christmas means to me is incarnation: God With Us. God invading culture, time, space, context, and humanity. I like to think of it as God con carne, “God with meat”. This is profound and controversial and sets following Jesus off from all other endeavors. (more…)