Me and my nephew, Ezra, being all emo and stuff.
I'm cool. He drools. We rule.My brother wrote a decent article on enthusiasm at his blog. Although he doesn't know anything about football apparently, the article itself is pretty good. You can find it here.
There was no lesson this week so I posted the Oath for the Kingdom that we read together at Sanctuary. You can find it just below this post.
shalom, matt
On this day, in the presence of those who stand beside me and in the presence of God Almighty, I pledge myself to the
Am I really ready to touch the untouchables in our community? Do I really realize the cost, the emotional commitment and inevitable heartache, the time commitment and disappointments? I've been re-reading The Irresistible Revolution (see links for Amazon link to the book) and just finished the chapter about his trip to India. Everything in me screams out, "I want to go to India. I want to visit the sick and dying, the lepers and the diseased." But something within me creeps up underneath all of that and whispers that I'm not ready to handle that kind of pain and loss. I push back but can't seem to quiet that voice. Is it God telling me I'm not to that point in my faith yet? Is it "the other one" trying to prevent the inevitable step of faith into the unknown realm of Incarnational love and compassion and "doing greater things than even [Jesus has] done?" For now, I don't know. I know what I want: I want the kingdom to become reality in my life, a reality that spreads naturally from me into the "least of these," those that Jesus went to with the message of kingdom. I want to go there.
Where are you in the transformation?
shalom, matt
I posted lesson 4 notes for Wednesday's lesson. You can find them here.
shalom, matt
I just posted a butt-load of pics from a couple different events we've had. You can find them at my eSnips page in the link section. Or, for those of you like me, who are too lazy to do that I'll be nice and post the links below for your direct access.
The first set is from the Boats, Bluegrass and BBQ Festival, which is a fundraiser for Wellspring, the homeless shelter in town that we work with.
The second set is from the Farmhouse Retreat we just had this past weekend.
shalom, matt
If there was any doubt as to why I like Michael Baysinger that has been summarily erased from the face of the earth. Michael has graciously created a site for the audio messages I'm teaching on Wednesday nights. You can find the audio at www.myspace.com/thekingdomproject
Thanks, Michael. You may just get moved to first on the myspace friends list.
shalom, matt
So, I've been thinking some more about this idea that we are becoming the kind of people who can realistically define themselves as Love. We are made in the image of God, and as we said on Wednesday night, His image, according to 1 John 4:18 is Love. This is how he defines himself. We see this played out in the life of Jesus on earth. He perfectly incarnates all that a human is supposed to be, namely, the untainted love-image of God. This is what we are striving to becoming. This is the goal we are reaching for.
As Christians we are good at doing loving "things": mission trips, service projects, handing out bottles of water, serving in church, teaching, praying for others, etc. These are all good. However, I have to ask the question of all of us: are we doing these because we should as Christians or are we doing these things because we are Love? Do these things flow out of our Being, our "us-ness," the core that makes us who we really are? Do they flow out of the Love incarnated in us? Or are we doing these things out of a sense of "ought-ness." "I ought to go on this trip because I'm a Christian?" "I ought to love me neighbor because I'm a Christian." Do you see the difference? Perhaps it's a fine line, too fine maybe to really distinguish the difference. And, regardless, the task is getting done, right? However, if we are trying to be changed into the Incarnation of Jesus on earth, if we are striving to live our life like He would live it if He were us, then what we do, say, and think must flow out of our being. In order for this to happen we need to be transformed by the indwelling Spirit, be changed into the kind of people whose being--whose "us-ness"--can be defined as Love.
This is the image we were created in and what we will one day become completely and totally.
shalom, matt
You can find lesson three in our kingdom series here on eSnips.
shalom, matt
Why did we talk about Essenes, Pharisees, Zealots, Sadducees, Herod and Caesar and a bunch of other things that don't seem to have much connection to my world today? Well, first off, because I'm the teacher, that's why? And second (with a lot less arrogance), I want you to understand that the kingdom we are talking about right now is based in a real time, in a real place, with real people, dealing with many of the same issues that you are dealing with, and that Jesus' message to them continues to be equally valid in our day. These groups that we talked about exist today, particularly in our church culture. There are some, much like the Essenes, who insist on initiating the kingdom of God through prayer, and fasting, and withdrawal from everything that wreaks of the world. They pull away from the world and its pain and corruption.
There are some who, like the Pharisees, insist on laying down an unending list of rules and "don't-do-ems" in order to purify ourselves from the corruption of the world. While we should be careful what we allow to influence us, following Jesus was not about keeping a list of rules; it was about finding and living life to its fullest measure. We are free in Christ, not bound by rule after rule after rule.
On the flip side of the coin, the Sadducees just sold out to Rome and the pagan culture. This is the opposite side of the Pharisee coin. Culture is too powerful and we should just make the best of it, try to do some good stuff along the way. That's not how God's kingdom enters the world.
Jesus came with a different way. Be in the world, celebrate God where you find him there, awaken humanity to the God image within them, proclaim that the kingdom way is available through me, live differently than the world. Show them that this way is the best way of living. This is the way that I've shown you. If you love people then show them my way.
May we live, show, love, and awaken the world.
shalom, matt
You can find my notes from lesson 2 of our series on the kingdom here. If you have further thoughts on our discussion I'd love to hear them.
shalom, matt
Take 5 minutes and watch this. Guy took a picture of himself everyday for 6 years and then collaged them together in a time lapse video. Very cool to watch him transform over the course of 6 years.
shalom, matt
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