for the time being

Hi, well be sensible, well-all described

2010-11-23T22:25:27.862-06:00

Hi, well be sensible, well-all described

You know something that makes his chosen affiliati...

2009-11-11T10:34:41.538-06:00

You know something that makes his chosen affiliation a moot point? Christ can work through anyone and anything. The man being Catholic does not mean the Lord will not work through him to bring people to Christ. Thre are many things about the Catholic Church that I disagree with but what he is saying in his song still ring true. Christ is Risen from the dead is a great song and its story is true. The mans background does not change this.

so what are you going to talk about?

2009-11-09T18:09:20.858-06:00

so what are you going to talk about?

I did not realize you picked things up again with ...

2009-11-05T21:55:52.601-06:00

I did not realize you picked things up again with this blog. Sweet.

Nice blogging on spirituality the theosophy and the spirituality are the common things for self enlightment and to know the self.
Theosophical teachings , Articles, theosophy definition by HP Blavatsky, Raghavan Iyer, William Q. Judge, Robert Crosbie, The Secret Doctrine , Isis Unveiled

2009-11-04T06:56:37.711-06:00

This comment has been removed by the author.

With my children, I take an accountant relationshi...

2009-11-02T10:07:17.277-06:00

With my children, I take an accountant relationship when there is a willfulness on the part of the child to do his own thing without respect for others. I take an editor relationship when I see a desire to please or improve.

Amen Geoff. I wholeheartedly agree. Of course ...

2009-11-02T07:08:11.115-06:00

Amen Geoff. I wholeheartedly agree. Of course we would all choose editor relationships...we are messed up by the Fall. It's difficult to have people speak hard truth into your life. But quality accountability relationships built on love are necessary for this reason. I don't necessarily think these need to be different people either. Peace, Jeff

I love this song regardless of whether the man is ...

2009-10-30T19:20:34.635-05:00

I love this song regardless of whether the man is Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterian, and so on. He is loving our Lord through this beautiful song. I, like Eric, am proud to call Matt my brother in Christ regardless of the religious traditions he follows. We need to come together as brothers and sisters in Christ and be united. The kind of fighting we have seen in the past and today between demoninations needs to stop and we need to simply love each other as Christ instructed. I have Catholic, Baptist, Pentacostal, and evangelist brothers that I love and communicate with frequently. We don't judge each other's traditions, we just love each other, and it is powerful.

Thanks for the comment on the other song you like Ben! I'm going to have to check it out and everything else this guy has done.

Praise God.

I want to know why you aren't in the Missions ...

2009-10-21T20:23:39.012-05:00

I want to know why you aren't in the Missions and Ecclesiology class with Ben and I.

Hey, I grew up Baptist (in churches that taught th...

2009-10-11T03:55:39.209-05:00

Hey, I grew up Baptist (in churches that taught that Catholicism was of the devil) and switched to Presbyterian (first PCA and now EPC) a few years ago; yet I fell in love with Matt's music from the very first time I heard his radio version of "Your Grace Is Enough." I still don't think I could be a full-fledged Roman Catholic, but I'm proud to call Matt my brother.

There is another song by this guy that I really li...

2009-10-09T12:21:32.050-05:00

There is another song by this guy that I really liked, the chorus pairs quotations from Chrysostom and Paul (Eph 5:14):

Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave
Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with Him again
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave

and the bridge is pretty good too:

O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O church, come stand in the light
The glory of God has defeated the night

TJ, very true, about everything. well, almost. ...

2009-10-05T12:10:01.596-05:00

TJ,

very true, about everything. well, almost. I agree with you that these are really a part of all of us, and that certainly I have succumbed to some of these behaviors.

But I don't agree that the only way to alleviate these problematic people is to have a strong leader at the top. I certainly believe in strong leadership, but not necessarily situated at the "top" in a heirarchical manner.

For me, most of these "characters" exhibit the lack of one or two characteristics: faith and humility, often both. They either poo-hoo something because they lack faith, but also want to be known as realistic and commonsensical. The "been-there" lack the imagination that comes with faith and the "reminds me of" and "bulldozers" lack the humility to listen to others and understand the world as others might see it. "Pouters", "Air-talkers" and "Gossips" just reek relational havoc.

But I guess I should have said "10 people not to have on a church plant TEAM", because that is what I'm talking about. of course, once you are started, you just minister to/with whoever comes.

While this is good food for thought, I'm not s...

2009-10-05T10:32:36.227-05:00

While this is good food for thought, I'm not sure I completely agree with your argument. It seems that each of these personality types creep up in everyone from time to time. I would agree that these people have the potential to destroy a ministry, but that is why it is so important to have a strong leader at the top. We are always going to be working with imperfect people, it is our job to help them discover and utilize their gifts in an effective manner.

I may have this wrong, but you seem to be prioriti...

2009-09-28T11:43:04.176-05:00

I may have this wrong, but you seem to be prioritizing a quiet time or "devotional" aspect of spirituality above other parts of spirituality. From a theological perspective do you see a hierarchy of some of the expressions of faith (parenting in a godly way, social action, devotional time, studying scripture, ministry, etc.)? I struggle with the balance of it all seeming to prefer extremes: lots of devotional, quiet, alone time pursuing/listening to God OR lots of service OR intentional spiritual study with my kids OR accountability. It is the pursuit of all of these things at once that seems to make me dizzy. My gut tells me that the pursuit of God in all of these areas is what He desires, but I am curious whether you think one is more important than another. Maybe I am just not quite getting it since I am not in vocational ministry or theological studies. ;)

Walls are not usually broken down with a single la...

2009-09-21T10:08:06.161-05:00

Walls are not usually broken down with a single large wave, but a small trickle through the cracks, eroding away the foundation to become a small stream which when joined by other seepages slowly grows into a rivulet. The momentous collapse of the wall creates obstacles around which the gushing water cascades. Only after the passage of time are the cracks filled in with dirt and debris, the river widening to become still waters.

Similarly, the course of a river is not changed with the erection of a wall, but small streams cutting furrows across new ground. Water presses against the banks, cresting low spots to carve a new path to the sea. The river carries the waste of world which snags on the rocks of life, shunting more water in the newly cut direction until the whole river follows that pioneer trickle to the sea.

Thanks, Geoffrey. Been wrestling with the Angel Ba...

2009-09-21T04:29:10.828-05:00

Thanks, Geoffrey. Been wrestling with the Angel Badiou for a while now. Your summary is very helpful, now that I've moved to thinking about sophistry and truth.

Challenging, insightful thoughts, Geoff. Thanks.

2009-09-15T15:05:42.574-05:00

Challenging, insightful thoughts, Geoff. Thanks.

While I'm not necessarily anti-vaccine, I am a...

2009-09-11T22:22:05.994-05:00

While I'm not necessarily anti-vaccine, I am anti anti-biotics...at least abuse of them. I read a really scary book about this called "The Killers Within" by Mark Plotkin and Michael Shnayerson (sp?). It is not for the faint of heart and rather depressing but it hints at some of what Geoff suggests (only it's about bacteria instead of a virus).

walls=boundaries=clear expectations and it goes a ...

2009-09-09T14:41:02.621-05:00

walls=boundaries=clear expectations and it goes a long way to 'working' relationships. It works so well we want to do the same thing with God, but those walls=religion. We build a religion based on the things that we are good and tend to gather with others who strive to do the same things. Only the rocks in the tumbler are of all different types, and limestone usually doesn't do so well in the tumbler with the agates.

maria, yes we receive peace in prayer and learn pr...

2009-09-09T12:17:40.793-05:00

maria, yes we receive peace in prayer and learn proper boundaries. it is here that we learn to live as One in Christ.

and Jeff, I like the rock tumbler idea. and I definitely agree with pride being the root of disunity.

gh

Geoff, I like the analogy of discipleship as a ro...

2009-09-08T23:00:46.601-05:00

Geoff,

I like the analogy of discipleship as a rock tumbler. When we live in close community we will certainly have conflict just as the rough edges on rocks in a tumbler rub against one another and help smooth and polish all the stones. If we live in isolation from one another, we may avoid conflict but are we really learning anything about living in Christ? Living in Christ's peace doesn't mean there is no conflict between us as Christians but that we are committed to one another and pursue reconciliation when we wound or are wounded by a brother or sister. Though it has many faces, I think pride is the culprit in breaking the spirit of unity.

By the way, Robert Frost is my favorite poet and I didn't even mention "Mending Wall" but my post is too long already.

Jeff Andrews

corporate peace or personal peace? Boundaries are...

2009-09-08T22:04:42.842-05:00

corporate peace or personal peace?

Boundaries are good, personal,interpersonal, corporately, etc. Crossing boundaries leads to conflicts. Not understanding boundaries leads to crossing them inadvertantly. Communication is the key to knowing boundaries. Prayer is what leads to personal peace. In prayer we discuss our boundaries with God: who he has made us to be, his control over our lives, offenses committed by our neighbor, and our choices to live within God's boundaries or not. We receive peace when we can accept his love and provision, accept who he made us to be, and submit to his way.

Thanks Ben. yeah, i'm thinking a lot about id...

2009-09-08T21:43:01.822-05:00

Thanks Ben. yeah, i'm thinking a lot about identity and how our protection of these lead us out of peace, even when we are well meaning (i.e. arguing over how to follow Christ).

but can i still be a "hipster"? I mean I have a blog and a twitter account... :-)

gh

Geoff, we're preaching through Ephesians right...

2009-09-08T21:14:32.608-05:00

Geoff, we're preaching through Ephesians right now, so we just had someone preach on this about a month ago.

I think Christians don't live in peace because we don't actually believe the gospel very well. We find it easier to buy into the stories our culture tells us, where we find our identity in who we exclude, whether it is another race, another nation, another political party, another aesthetic taste, or another musical preference.

In the True Story, the Gospel, there is no male or female, Jew or Gentile, slave or free, American or Iraqi, Democrat or Republican, hipster or yuppie, but we have a really hard time believing it because we spend a lot of time listening to the other stories.

So ultimately I think it comes down to the stories we believe and inhabit.

for the time being

Hi, well be sensible, well-all described

You know something that makes his chosen affiliati...

so what are you going to talk about?

I did not realize you picked things up again with ...

Nice blogging on spirituality the theosophy and the spirituality are the common things for self enlightment and to know the self. Theosophical teachings , Articles, theosophy definition by HP Blavatsky, Raghavan Iyer, William Q. Judge, Robert Crosbie, The Secret Doctrine , Isis Unveiled

With my children, I take an accountant relationshi...

Amen Geoff. I wholeheartedly agree. Of course ...

I love this song regardless of whether the man is ...

I want to know why you aren't in the Missions ...

Hey, I grew up Baptist (in churches that taught th...

There is another song by this guy that I really li...

TJ, very true, about everything. well, almost. ...

While this is good food for thought, I'm not s...

I may have this wrong, but you seem to be prioriti...

Walls are not usually broken down with a single la...

Thanks, Geoffrey. Been wrestling with the Angel Ba...

Challenging, insightful thoughts, Geoff. Thanks.

While I'm not necessarily anti-vaccine, I am a...

walls=boundaries=clear expectations and it goes a ...

maria, yes we receive peace in prayer and learn pr...

Geoff, I like the analogy of discipleship as a ro...

corporate peace or personal peace? Boundaries are...

Thanks Ben. yeah, i'm thinking a lot about id...

Geoff, we're preaching through Ephesians right...

Nice blogging on spirituality the theosophy and the spirituality are the common things for self enlightment and to know the self.
Theosophical teachings , Articles, theosophy definition by HP Blavatsky, Raghavan Iyer, William Q. Judge, Robert Crosbie, The Secret Doctrine , Isis Unveiled