The worst tool for evangelism. | Stuff Christians Like – Jon Acuff

The worst tool for evangelism. | Stuff Christians Like – Jon Acuff

Spoke directly to me....

I wish every church said what this church says in their bulletin … | Stuff Christians Like – Jon Acuff

I wish every church said what this church says in their bulletin … | Stuff Christians Like – Jon Acuff

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas

I am reading a book The Fire of the Word by Chris Webb and in his second chapter he shares a piece of art by Caravaggio. It is "doubting Thomas" and it is incredible. It was created in the 17th century, I believe, and I wanted to share it.  I am not sure if/how it speaks to you, but I cannot take my eyes off his finger in Jesus' side. So raw. I am also stuck at the face expression on each man.  I also note the hand of Jesus guiding Thomas.  Maybe you have some thoughts.  Would love to dialogue about it!

Lead us not into temptation - Richard Rohr

Talk about turning something UPSIDE DOWN!  This is good...very good.  We have talked so much about we see ourselves through muddy lenses.  Rohr speaks to this. Click on the link.

Lead Us Not Into Temptation

Little

Little

An article I came across my reading relating to how we see ourselves much bigger than we are.  And how 'being little' has its value.  click on the link above.

Love to you!
Julie

Summer Reading

I plan on doing some summer reading and thought I'd start a post for anyone interested in sharing what you're reading this summer too!  Will I read all these books?  No.  It's just my book list...which is never-ending. :)

Some books I hope to read this summer:
The Fire of The Word: Meeting God On Holy Ground  by Chris Webb
Hinds' Feet On High Places by Hannah Hurdard (supposed to be an allegory about the Christian spiritual journey)
Half-Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls (she wrote The Glass Castle)
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein (a kid's book from the dog's point of view)
The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the quest for political power is destroying the church by Greg A. Boyd
UnChristian by David Kinnaman

What are you reading?

Mission Statement

Have any of you written a personal mission statement? Have you ever thought about it? It is something I am pondering and exploring. Not one about being mom or home schooling (though, those are intertwined within), but for Jennifer.

Women of the Passion, Part 1: The Woman at Bethany Anoints Jesus

I just read this today.  It is so timely as we, a women's group, honor Holy Week.  Much love!

Women of the Passion, Part 1: The Woman at Bethany Anoints Jesus

Hope

"Hope is an orientation of the spirit and the heart; it transcends the world that is immediately experienced, and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizons. . .
It is an ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed. . .
Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out."
the late Vaclav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic

Contemplative Discipline

"For radical Christians, contemplative discipline is learning to see Jesus with the eyes of the heart in ways of worship and prayer that expose us to irradiation by His way of self-giving . . .We take the risk of being impregnated with a new self, Jesus' new self. This core identity in Christ imparts new instincts that enable us to decipher God's secret solidarity with the poor, excluded, and disepowered." (from an Episcopalian priest in DC)

Calling God By His First Name | Stuff Christians Like – Jon Acuff

Calling God By His First Name | Stuff Christians Like – Jon Acuff


Had to share this one....tears by the end.....I love the way our amazing God works good for ALL things-even when we don't follow the "rules".

Much Love,
jennifer

Time=Love

I am quite behind on my blog reading theses days....today I came across one from Jon Acuff (Stuff Christians Like author and one of my favorites) that got me thinking about our conversations on Thursday nights. Sometimes we...I...think we have to solve the great problems of the world to 'love our neighbor' when all along I am ignoring my actual neighbor. My favorite part of this blog he wrote is time=love; I immediately thought about how Jesus spent time. He was not rushed by life or his friends, family...even in the case of the death of his friend...he gave his time over and over again.


Do we really love people who aren’t Christian?"

March 14, 2012 in Uncategorized with 5 Comments

“Dad, stand up so everyone can see what I’m going to look like in 20 years.”

That’s how I introduced my dad during the devotional meeting at work. And it’s true. I’m going to look like him, which means I’ll look like Anderson Cooper or Steve Martin. Those are the two people folks always think my dad looks like. (At Lowe’s one day someone approached my dad nervously, because they thought he was Anderson Cooper, and if he was in town a natural disaster must be about to hit the area.)

After, what I think was a pretty awesome introduction by me, my dad and I got to hear a guy named Al Andrews talk about dreams.

Al wrote an amazing children’s book called The Boy, The Kite and The Wind. In his speech, he said, “A dream never makes sense. We’re supposed to have crazy dreams. If what you dream is fairly possible, it’s probably not the dream you’re supposed to have.”

It was a really inspiring/convicting message. My dad and I talked about it in the car later that day, and here is what he said:

“I think my dream is to get Christians to love non-Christians.”

My first thought was, “That’s kind of silly. I’m great at that. That’s not a dream. We already do love non-Christians!” But then my dad continued to share his idea.

“We think we do. We think we’re doing a good job at that, but how do you really show someone love? You spend time with them. You stand with them. You be with them. I think that’s a big part of what love looks like.”

And suddenly, I could no longer judge the validity of my dad’s dream. The truth is, by that definition, I don’t love non-Christians.

I started to look at my life and realized I don’t spend a lot of time with people who aren’t Christians.

I work with Christians.

I live in a neighborhood that is largely Christian.

I go to church with Christians.

I go to dinner with people from church.

I go to breakfast with Christians.

Save for the person who cuts my hair, I was shocked at how insulated I had become from the world. If spending time with non-Christians is one of the signs you love them, then I’m not doing a very good job with love.

Now the easy response to this is “Yeah, but you live in the south. It’s different where I live.”

And maybe it is. The south is considered the “Bible Belt” after all. But even when I lived in Massachusetts, I didn’t live my life that differently. I worked with a lot more people who weren’t Christians, but I don’t necessarily know that I spent time with them. I tended to be the kind of Christian who liked to pray for far off people in far off lands, to say “God, give me a mission field! Give me people to reach!” And then I would sit down in my cubicle completely blind to the reality that God had already given me people to reach.

There was a building full of them. They were my coworkers. But it’s easier to pray for fictional people or the people you meet on a one-week mission trip than it is to pray for the messy, 3D people you work with.

What’s the fix? What’s the solution? To tell you the truth, I don’t know yet. This is a fresh thought that is unresolved. But someone did tell me a story that I thought was pretty interesting in the context of this challenge.

My friend knew a father who wanted to reach his local community. He wanted to step out of his Christian circle and spend time with non-Christians. We often think that’s complicated or difficult, but he found a really easy way to do it.

Every Monday night he and his son, who had graduated from college, went to a local pub in their neighborhood. For three hours, every week, they sat in the same spot. Week after week, month after month, they sat and talked. My friend went with them one night and said it was amazing. In three hours, dozens of people at this local bar came and sat with them. They talked, they shared, they listened, and they became friends. Weddings, funerals, unemployment, all stages of life passed through that small booth, and slowly but surely everyone there learned that these two guys wanted to spend time with them.

When the son later graduated from grad school, the guys at the bar threw him a party. They had become family. Why?

Time = love.

It’s a pretty simple equation, and it’s one we see Jesus live out in the Bible. I’ve written about that before. Jesus was a pretty ineffective communicator by our modern standards. He could have been speaking to thousands of people on hilltops every night. Instead, he “wasted time” on slow, long dinners with a handful of people everyone looked at as sinners. Why? Because time = love. And Jesus knew how to love people.

Question:
How much time do you spend with people who aren’t Christians?

Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story

Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story

Click on the link above....Rachel held Evans (author of Monkey Town) posted this video from TED today. It really does compliment what we have been talking about. I am left pondering how many "single stories" I am basing my thoughts off of.

Much Love,
Jennifer

Loving our Neighbour

Great posts on the blog. Here's one from Simone Weil, which is not a "feel-good" one:
"God is not present, even if we invoke Him, where the afflicted are merely regarded as an occasion for doing good."
Hmmm . . . . .sure makes me examine myself and my motivations and my heart . . . . .

Be brave, brave, brave.

"Be brave, brave, brave." Whether you agree with his positions or not, he really gets the undercutting of our humanity as we discussed last Thursday. This video will move you.

VeggieTales - VeggieTales: Gated Community

Just a little addition to our discussion. We are steeped in heavy stuff with this book, so I thought you'd all get a laugh out of this one! Love you! Julie

Faith: Doing and Being - How do they coexist?

I don't know about you, but this book, The Dangerous Act of Loving Your Neighbor by Labberton, is pulling and tugging pretty hard on my ideas about faith. As I read through James and the Labberton book, I keep thinking - I don't like what I'm reading, I don't know how to do what James is speaking to. I read James pretty clearly saying, "Do something about/with your faith! Put the New Life within you in motion." Ugh...that's scary. DO something...I have the tendency to dive in too far, and then pull back in isolation. Boundaries...how does that mix in to all of this 'doing' stuff?! And, then, there is sooo much need...how does this all make sense in the context of what I am supposed to do with this New Life in me?!

So, then I read this quote today by Luther and wanted to share in case any of you are also struggling with how the doing/being part of the spiritual life can coexist in harmony.

"You are saved by faith alone, but if faith is alone, it is not faith" ~Martin Luther~

Quote from C.S. Lewis

Rachel Held Evans had a great post this AM about "who" are we supposed to follow, the bible or Christ? She had this quote from C.S. Lewis and I want to share it....I LOVE it!

"It is Christ Himself, not the Bible, who is the true Word of God. The Bible, read in the right spirit, and with the guidance of good teachers, will bring us to Him." C.S. Lewis

Fire of the Word

Enjoyed listening to Chris Webb's synopsis of his new book -- sounds excellent, and timely -- and so true! After all, that is one thing we are trying to do with this group -- to expand the Scriptures / the Gospel so that it becomes real for each one of us.

Am now reading Simone Weil (French philosopher) and am intrigued by her book, which until now I have only heard quotes from. So here are a couple to ponder, which seem to me to fit into what we've been trying to learn -- or unlearn?! -- these past few months:

"...the paradox of its being easier for a non-Christian to become a Christian, than for a "Christian" to become one. . ."

In light of possible books to study next, she (Weil) wrote about "The Love of Our Neighbour" from which I quote: "The Gospel makes no distinction between the love of our neighbour and justice."

And, "we must prefer real hell to an imaginery paradise."

Just wandering thoughts . . .for the beginning of a new year!!