This will come as no surprise but I've done a lot of thinking about the church the last 23 years of my life--what it means to be the church, what the church does, how to be effective as a church, etc. Over the years I've embraced some ideas about the church only to discard them years later as my understanding of the church changes or as culture changes, or both.
As Community of Grace is only 2 1/2 years old, we have the chance to truly shape our "church" from the ground up--to, from the beginning, live out what we think and believe the church to be.
So I've been doing a lot of reading and praying about the church and the kind of church God is calling us to be. Some of the things I've been thinking about have been confirmed again and again in my reading and conversations with other leaders. Some new ideas are emerging that I'm honestly wrestling with and what those ideas might mean for how we build our community of faith together.
The one thing that comes back again and again is this--to make sure we see ourselves as a dynamic mission rather than a static institution.
More to come
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Sunday Musings
Jeff's version of the Lord's Prayer was fantastic this morning at both worship services. (A bit of an embarrassing moment--I think we all thought the standing o's were for him, but I think they were really for the sermon. Weren't they?)
Community of Grace has a great board of directors. The leaders are smart, mission-minded, and financially wise.
I really love being a pastor.
Our city is reeling from two very public tragedies this weekend: 1) The crash of two TV helicopters, killing two pilots and two cameramen. It was gripping, hard, sad, watching the news media having to grieve publicly in the moment while also trying to tell the story. 2) The shooting death of a young police officer. Profound reminders of why the world needs reckless grace.
I was fighting a flu bug yesterday--or food poisoning. I went to bed at 7:30 pm. Woke up about midnight feeling kind of achy. Took some aspirin and work up in the morning drenched. Must of had a fever. Felt great for worship, however, though I still get the occasional kick to the gut.
We held our board meeting today at the new site of the Grace World Headquarters. Jeff and Diane are doing a great job in renovating the place.
One of our Grace'rs was joking with me about the amount of writing I send out to our congregation--the emails, updates, devotionals, etc, plus the blog. I told him people may not read the stuff, but in 2 1/2 years no one has complained that I don't keep you all informed! :)
Community of Grace has a great board of directors. The leaders are smart, mission-minded, and financially wise.
I really love being a pastor.
Our city is reeling from two very public tragedies this weekend: 1) The crash of two TV helicopters, killing two pilots and two cameramen. It was gripping, hard, sad, watching the news media having to grieve publicly in the moment while also trying to tell the story. 2) The shooting death of a young police officer. Profound reminders of why the world needs reckless grace.
I was fighting a flu bug yesterday--or food poisoning. I went to bed at 7:30 pm. Woke up about midnight feeling kind of achy. Took some aspirin and work up in the morning drenched. Must of had a fever. Felt great for worship, however, though I still get the occasional kick to the gut.
We held our board meeting today at the new site of the Grace World Headquarters. Jeff and Diane are doing a great job in renovating the place.
One of our Grace'rs was joking with me about the amount of writing I send out to our congregation--the emails, updates, devotionals, etc, plus the blog. I told him people may not read the stuff, but in 2 1/2 years no one has complained that I don't keep you all informed! :)
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Harry Potter
I've just started the last Harry Potter book. This past Tuesday, during a meeting with my pastor buddies, 2-3 of them had already finished the book. They said it was fantastic.
I'll let you know.
Tim
I'll let you know.
Tim
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Seeing the Future
This will surprise few of you who know me or read this blog. I'm kind of a controlling type person. (KIND OF?!?! I can hear many of you yell!) I like to know what's up, where what is headed, and keep things within my sphere of influence. I recognize this is both a strength and weakness (anxiety issues being one of the great downsides to control!)
I saw this trait (quirk?) in me a week ago. I was at Disneyland and decided to try out the newly refurbished Space Mountain. I hadn't been on it in years. For those of you unfamiliar with the ride, it is a roller coaster in the dark. It's great fun.
As always, I asked to sit in the front car. Two reasons--it's the fastest (or at least seems to be the fastest) car in the ride. Second--though it's dark, sitting in the front I am able to barely make out the track, which gives me the chance to see into the future and prepare for it, rather than letting it happen. This way I can anticipate the curves and the little drops. In other words, I'm able to control the ride to a certain extent rather than simply surrendering my life to it.
Some of you would much rather simply let go and let the ride take you on an adventure. Me--I prefer to know where the adventure is headed.
Following Jesus is a bit of both. On the one hand, if we seriously follow Jesus we're never quite sure where he's going to take us. There is no path. He is the path. That kind of following continues to stretch me.
On the other hand, if we seriously follow Jesus, we do get to see, at least a bit, the future coming toward us. He's always a step or two ahead of us which means he's already headed into the future preparing it for us.
For those like me who don't like surprises, who like to know what's up ahead, the good news is that Jesus is up ahead. And for those who simply like to shut their eyes and let the future carry them away, the good news is that the future-shaper, Jesus, goes ahead of you to keep you in his will.
I'm off to control something.
I saw this trait (quirk?) in me a week ago. I was at Disneyland and decided to try out the newly refurbished Space Mountain. I hadn't been on it in years. For those of you unfamiliar with the ride, it is a roller coaster in the dark. It's great fun.
As always, I asked to sit in the front car. Two reasons--it's the fastest (or at least seems to be the fastest) car in the ride. Second--though it's dark, sitting in the front I am able to barely make out the track, which gives me the chance to see into the future and prepare for it, rather than letting it happen. This way I can anticipate the curves and the little drops. In other words, I'm able to control the ride to a certain extent rather than simply surrendering my life to it.
Some of you would much rather simply let go and let the ride take you on an adventure. Me--I prefer to know where the adventure is headed.
Following Jesus is a bit of both. On the one hand, if we seriously follow Jesus we're never quite sure where he's going to take us. There is no path. He is the path. That kind of following continues to stretch me.
On the other hand, if we seriously follow Jesus, we do get to see, at least a bit, the future coming toward us. He's always a step or two ahead of us which means he's already headed into the future preparing it for us.
For those like me who don't like surprises, who like to know what's up ahead, the good news is that Jesus is up ahead. And for those who simply like to shut their eyes and let the future carry them away, the good news is that the future-shaper, Jesus, goes ahead of you to keep you in his will.
I'm off to control something.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Gray Beards and Multi-vitamins
The last couple of weeks I've noticed a recurring ad on some of the TV channels I watch. The ad is about a multi-vitamin for men 50 and over. I kept wondering why they would advertise to that target market on a station I'm watching until I realized I am the target market that station wants to reach!
To top it off, I decided to re-grow a mini-beard, or goatee. What's with all the gray hair?
Who is this older, graying man I see in the mirror and where has he taken the younger, hip Tim?
To top it off, I decided to re-grow a mini-beard, or goatee. What's with all the gray hair?
Who is this older, graying man I see in the mirror and where has he taken the younger, hip Tim?
What's So Reckless About Grace?--Part 5
I keep coming back to this theme for several reasons. 1) I'm obsessive. 2) It's a theme that has some real power behind it for those of us who follow Jesus. 3) I think, once it captures us, that reckless grace can transform our relationship with Jesus, our congregations, and the world around us. 4) As one comment put it, we may have a book here so I'm bouncing these ideas off of you to see where this might take us.
I've been mulling over different pictures of reckless grace and reckless optimism. Here's one:
A man and woman fall passionately in love with each other. Their love grows to the point that they want to do something absolutely reckless--commit themselves to each other for the rest of their lives! No more dating other people. No more what's mine is mine. Sharing the same house day after day after day after day. Taking care of the other when the other is sick. Putting up with their annoying habits. Getting older with them. Being willing to forgive and forget again and again and again...Marriage is crazy. It's reckless. It doesn't make sense. But it's precisely that recklessness that makes it work for so many people. For people in love, the action doesn't seem reckless at all. That reckless commitment is the springboard to undying love, freedom,grace, hope, joy, companionship, and the list goes on and on. Marriage truly is reckless optimism.
Reckless grace is always counter-intuitive in that when it seems to be recklessly giving up everything, it gains everything instead.
It's that reckless optimism that moved God to lay it all out there for us in Jesus.
I've been mulling over different pictures of reckless grace and reckless optimism. Here's one:
A man and woman fall passionately in love with each other. Their love grows to the point that they want to do something absolutely reckless--commit themselves to each other for the rest of their lives! No more dating other people. No more what's mine is mine. Sharing the same house day after day after day after day. Taking care of the other when the other is sick. Putting up with their annoying habits. Getting older with them. Being willing to forgive and forget again and again and again...Marriage is crazy. It's reckless. It doesn't make sense. But it's precisely that recklessness that makes it work for so many people. For people in love, the action doesn't seem reckless at all. That reckless commitment is the springboard to undying love, freedom,grace, hope, joy, companionship, and the list goes on and on. Marriage truly is reckless optimism.
Reckless grace is always counter-intuitive in that when it seems to be recklessly giving up everything, it gains everything instead.
It's that reckless optimism that moved God to lay it all out there for us in Jesus.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Hairspray
Monday is my day off and I'm pretty "religious" about making it my day off. Usually we use the day to run some errands and try to see a movie. Yesterday we saw Hairspray, a musical comedy about a serious subject--racism in the 60's. Jan and I had seen the Broadway play and loved it. And we loved the movie. The music is great. The acting is supurb. And the storyline, without being preachy, reminds us that regardless of the color of our skin--or the size of our bodies--we all belong. It's a movie I'd see again. I recommend it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
