The Plan...

The Plan...

So this post is based off the discussion that our life group had last Sunday.

At our church for the past several months we've been walking through The Story which is the Bible, but abridged to highlight the actual story of God's people and Jesus' life without so much distracting detail.  You can find information about it here: http://www.thestory.com/home

I admit I was kind of skeptical at first because (and I think you would have been too KT!) why not just read the real Bible and focus on the story??  It's awesome anyway :)  But, as we have been reading and discussing the story as a church, it has become a really powerful thing that everyone in our church can relate to and talk about.  It has also really drawn my attention to how little God has changed, and how much the possibilities in our relationship with Him have changed.  I'm not going to plug a product here, but it has been fun to be a part of.  This last Sunday the section of the Story that we were reading was Jesus' birth.  It raised some especially deep and profound questions about God's nature and purpose that I'd like to just put out there...I miss talking to you KT!

So, here they are:

When did God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) come up with the plan for our salvation?  If he knew all along that we would be in need of redemption why didn't it come sooner? or at the beginning?  When did they "sit down" and say: "Ok, it's time for us to create a way to bridge the gap"?

Which makes me think about the 'fact' that God is omniscient--is he really? or does He maybe choose not to be?  Whether he is or isn't, it is TRULY amazing that he lets us have free will and just works with our stupidity to make his plan come about--I would be cause all sorts of 'changes of heart' if I were him, right?

Another question was--how seemingly horrible was this plan!?!?  Sure, we'll just put all of our hopes on a teenage virgin and her (hopefully) husband and then this baby will come and everything will be grand!  I wonder if the angels were looking for a contingency plan? :)

So, these are just some things that I've been thinking about...miss you bunches!

Megan

"Calling God"

It's the little things in life. And discovering them too.

One thing being on tour has in common with the "normal" 9-5 life is the struggle to create space to simply be quiet with God, to focus on the prayer you're thinking/saying. My introverted side likes to think prayers while I'm walking from point A to B, or at least likes the idea: inevitably, I begin one of those sessions and someone will come up and start distracting me, or my attention will wander off all by itself. I've tripped over a solution, quite spontaneously and unwittingly...

Other people have an absurd respect for a certain device; hold it up head height and it keeps people at bay almost as effectively as [good] bug spray does with bugs. If I'm just walking and trying to focus on God, people don't hesitate to come "interrupt" partly because they don't know they're interrupting. But if I "call" God on my cell, just holding it up to my ear while I pray out loud, I stay focused better and people usually go, "oh she's on the phone, alright I'll catch her later."

It's not something I'm hiding -- it's not a shame thing, praying, spending time with God. I don't mind telling people, they already know I'm slightly...uh, unique. But since I don't always have the luxury of getting away by myself to recharge like Jesus did...this is an interesting, if impromptu, solution.

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Notes from the road...

Random place I found God: there's a lovely guy in the cast who's re-inspired me to find joy in serving other people, noticing and empathizing with them in a very Jesus way. He's very spiritual but not very "Jesusy"...not so into Christianity.

Things on my heart: I've jumped successfully through a few of the IJM internship hoops, including a phone interview and post-interview follow ups. Right now they're going over everything and selecting their candidates; those selected will then be interviewed by their respective field office. I really want this and I really hope that lines up with what God wants. I'd also like prayers for finding more time/space. Tour is crazy enough and I love a lot of things about it, but we've been inundated with problems, including things taking longer than they should (like not getting a break between load in and the show, for instance), although I'm grateful for the opportunity to try and be Jesus in the midst of conflict. 

The game: Most of you know I love to play "where is God in this, how does this connect back to God?". When you watch this amazing clip from La Veillee Des Abysses, can you find God in it (i.e., allegorically, does it remind you of something, etc.)? I have a few ideas but I'll wait to share until you guys have had a chance to comment -- I'd love to hear what you see.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15gEYdyVvlo

Practice Resurrection

In developing something like a Way of Life or the monastic Rules or any other plan/system/structure for nurturing spiritual growth or discipleship, I continue to think about a poem by Wendell Berry. It ends with the sentence, "Practice Resurrection." I've found that sentence to be one that sticks with me. To "practice resurrection" speaks of resurrection as something that is lived, that is embodied in practice. Also, it speaks of resurrection as something that we practice for. We practice spiritual disciplines in order to better live resurrection.

The rhythms that Melissa wrote about in her post end up being ways in which we practice resurrection...

"Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front” 
by Wendell Berry,

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,

vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.

So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.

Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.

Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion – put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?

Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn’t go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.

Resurrection Rhythms

Years ago I got to know KT through a Christian community called Immanuel that had committed itself to a "way of life." That way of life was a series of simple commitments that we made together in order to grow in discipleship and become more like Jesus.

Now I'm part of a different faith community called Servant Church, and we're in the process of trying to create a similar tool that our life groups can use. As a church, we frequently articulate that we're trying to be "inviting, becoming, and demonstrating" the love of God -- so these are rhythms of inviting, becoming, and demonstrating that we're trying to develop together in our lives. This is just a draft, and we'll almost certainly keep revising it over the next few months. But I wanted to share it with all of you in case you also want to try practicing some (or all) of these rhythms with folks in your life. (If this blog is the only Christian community you have right now, then feel free to share with us how your life with God is going, and we'll pray for you and brainstorm with you; putting on rhythms of discipleship was never meant to be figured out in isolation).

We are introducing these rhythms to our life group for the first time tonight, and we would certainly appreciate prayers that God's Spirit would show up in surprising and life-giving ways as we begin to take a few baby-steps together toward becoming more like Jesus.

In Christ,
Melissa Jerkins

Chapter 29

This is an experiment.
It might fail, miserably.
But it might not. :)
And as always it's a fluid concept.

In the last couple of years, church has become something I want to be rather than just something I should do. Given the gypsy nature of life as I know it, I've had to get creative and I think inspiration has struck, the idea being:
I'm sort of a Christian island in an ocean of people, for now.
But I know lots of amazing people all over.
So this will be my Christian community, my 29th chapter of Acts.

This is a blog with lots of author/administrator types, so that it's not just me posting (because how boring would that be). People can post their thoughts, others' thoughts, scripture, podcasts, links to other sites, pictures, whatever inspires them, anything that connects back to God -- so you know, everything and the kitchen sink. Ideally, sometimes anyway, these will each spawn interesting threads of conversation.
I know I'm not the only "island" out there so anyone else who feels that way for whatever reason is welcome in my "church home" any time (since I don't have an actual home to host people in right now!). This should be a home for all the wayward ragamuffins, fringes of society out there, not just me. Who knows, maybe this little "open source church" will do more good than just keeping me in line...
Because this is my primary community while I'm on the road, some of my posts will be more personal, not because it's about me but because I want SOMEbody to have my back in a praying sort of way, as well as kicking me in the seat of my pants when I need it. Anyone else is welcome to do the same.
Another aspect of this that isn't directly part of this bloggish thing: communion via skype. I'll/we'll keep you posted on how that plays out.

I love all of you who are coming with me. To quote a certain Caribbean pirate, bring me that horizon!

P.S. This site won't always be so plain -- for now content was more important to me but eventually I or someone else will make it pretty -- Anyone who feels inclined to "decorate", you are more than welcome to, this tech stuff is not my jam! And it might be cool if it changes every so often...