Tuesday, August 7, 2007



This Sunday at church we will have a "ministry time" for the leaders of the church.





What does this mean and why?





What this means: Prayer is in some ways a mysterious and mystical thing. God's word tells us that it is more than just a conversation with God, but that it is also a means to plug-in to the power source of our salvation for energy and healing. Much of this is done in private, but there are also times when it is done in public in the Bible. It is done in public for annointing, laying-of hands etc to call people to healing or often to the next level of leadership. When we connect to this power source [God] normative and strange things can happen. Sometimes it feels like nothing...sometimes a whisper...and sometimes like a thunderbolt racing inside you. I have experienced all of these through the years. In a sense I am a "charismatic with a seatbelt," or perhaps "a biblicist who does shrooms" depending on your frame of reference. What that means is that God CAN do anything, but it is His perogative and not something to be drummed up. Entered into with faith, yes...but not manipulatively. Church is neither a freakshow nore a lecture-hall...it is both and neither as God chooses. At one end of the extreme are religious nutjobs who make a spectacle every time they do anything...and at the other end are people who just worship the words of the Bible as answers unto themselves instead of conduits to God Himself. Jesus does a little of both, and that is called balance.

Why this week?

This week Nehemiah asks for God to "strengthen his hands" for the task in front of him. As 5-stones begins to awkwardly lurch into re-start mode the leaders here will need Gods power and for people to love and support them. And this is what we will enter into this week.

If you are comfortable with this...engage


If it seems weird [I understand, I was there once] just sit back and observe and pray and discern in your own spirit what is true and not

The fun of following Jesus is that he is both God and man and when he shows up at church both components are there. The human part is most visible in his empathy with our weaknesses and as a teacher through his word. The divine part are those nudges we feel inside and those moments of worship or healing that are a connection with something far weirder and more wonderful than anything our imagination can create. Balance is learning to enjoy and walk...in both.

Have I said "balance" enough yet...?

also: we may have a "bobcat" in the service as an object lesson this week...just to raise your expectations.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

NOW!! You have me excited. I love hearing/reciving words from people. Filling up our leaders sounds great . I'll be praying over this process this week.

 

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