Unravelling the religious stuff - a ramble with words...

And so I pick away at the stuff that has clinged to me over the years - do this , do that, do this do that, it seems like a continuous game of Simon Says. Its like opening up a cupboard that you have not opened for years - there is that old shirt, still stained with the mud slung at me - look how easily it falls off now that its dry and crusty !

Some stuff should stay - the Sabbath, the Word, the Prayer, the sacrifice, the Spirit, the friends, the worship. Let the rest go. The rules, the meetings, the place, the building, the time to start and stop, the chairs, the chosen leaders, the golden child, the saintly one, they who must be obeyed for they have heard as they are higher !

Higher than who ? The not chosen ones, the tarnished child, the sinner, those who dont speak well, they that follow and dont lead, the humble, the weak, the lost, the dying, the dead, the forsaken, the one sheep, the woman at the well, the forgiven ?

If all else does not match someones expectations , measuring stick, doctrine or rules, I thank God He chose me.

Thank God He chooses

YOU.

John 15:16
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.

When God seems distant

Sometimes it feels like God is distant, somewhere else, maybe on a holiday somewhere nice ?
Did I say something to offend or forget to call ?
What do you do if you are missing a friend, someone we have'nt spoken to for a while - give him a call - send a text, an email or even get out that stick thing they call a pen and write one of those .... oh yes - a letter !
Waiting for someone to talk - why not give them a call ?
Just do it - do it now .....

Heres a great site to check out ....http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Main_Page

A dare thought

I spent some time a short while back talking to a friend about some issues I needed to clarify, sort out and move on from. Armed with good advice and a clear view on something that made me the way I am, I am now peeling off the religious barriers that I have put up over the years.

It looks like religion sticks to us without us even knowing and before we know it, hey - we look, feel and sound religious. One thing that was told to me early on in consulting - wear the suit and the clothes will make the man. Dress for the part and you will soon be acting the part. Not so true as a Christian.

Another friend of mine's favorite saying at the time was - 'Dont just talk the talk, walk the walk.' St. Francis of Assisi said "Preach Christ, and if you MUST, use words". Ha - wish I had come up with that one !

The problem with my religious attitude is that I talk myself into thinking I'm doing great, but Jesus said He wants to see fruit - wheres da fruit ?


Check out this fruit picture - see http://www.shelleylake.com/

(This is for you who can't remember what fruit looks like - its not that apple pie from Mac D !)

Jesus had a lot to say about religious people, He drove them nuts. He cut across the nonsense and spent time with people who were unacceptable (lepers, tax collectors etc), not the right religion, (samaritans and Romans) and even messed with their rules (picking corn on the sabbath, healing on the sabbath)


He messes with me by cutting across my religious attitudes and says "Chris, its time to walk the walk, not just talk the talk."

Do you dare think that the Holy Spirit might want to upset your religious attitude, to get you bearing fruit?

I dared and it started an unravelling of the things that are not of God and readdressing my focus on Jesus, not those rules and regulations.....

Newboys - I dunno

Great URL : http://www.newsboys.com/music/ you can listen to the music on the web !!

Heres a song by The NewsBoys that sums up how I felt a while ago ... its better heard that read.....

I Dunno

I dunno nothing that I haven't been taught,
I dunno why I was born into the family I’ve got,
I dunno if I ever had an original thought,
maybe not, maybe so, maybe later, I dunno
I dunno how I can end a prayer, then turn on a friend,
I dunno what I was thinking when I just pressed send,
I dunno why I still criticize the things I dunno
I dunno, I dunno, I dunno, but this one thing I know

YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
Without your love, I’m just a broken machine
YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
Without your love, it’s all a mindless routine
YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
Without your love, I’m in another free fall
YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
Without your love, I’ve got nothing at all

I dunno what goes down the moment we die
Do we get halos & harps? Do we sleep? Do we fly? I dunno
how, when and why this world will finally end,
Speculation’s gonna grow, who knows best, I dunno
I dunno if I should push ahead or stop and grieve,
I lie awake and wonder how to make a city believe,
I dunno when it’s a ministry and when it’s a show
maybe neither, maybe both, I dunno, but this one thing I know

YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
Without your love, I’m just a broken machine
YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
Without your touch I’m not a full human being
YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
If I should ever leave, where would I go?
YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
I look to you ‘cause you’re the lover of my soul

HERE’S TO THE LOVER OF MY SOUL
HERE’S TO THE LOVER OF MY SOUL

I dunno when to walk away or stand and fight
just when I’ve got it wrong, I’m sure I heard you right
and when my arguments are watertight you expose every hole with a flash and a flood and I know
I hear you call in the eye of the storm and I know you’ve had my back since the day I was born still
stoking my heart
still stirring my head
you’re my pillar of fire
you’re the wine, you’re the bread, and

YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
Without your love, I’m just a broken machine
YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
Without your love, it’s all a mindless routine
YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
Without your love, I’m in another free fall
YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
Without your love, I’ve got nothing at all

YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
I dunno nothing that I haven't been taught, I dunno why I was born into the family I’ve got,
YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
I dunno if I ever had an original thought, maybe not, maybe so, maybe soon, maybe later, I dunno
YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
I dunno when I’ve got it right or wrong, I dunno how I can wrap it in a four minute song, but I know
YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE
My grip is better when I’m not hanging on, your love is making us strong (all along)
Your love is better than life

So whats changed ? (3)

Whew, we have been through some hectic weather here over the past few weeks and apparently still some more to come ! It amazes me when chaos is all around and people help each other out. We lost power for 24 hours and had showers, food and good company at a friends apartment along with 3 other families – thanks to the Ulbrichts ! This a picture of a ship grounded and hour north of us - on the beach !

Early on in the year I had what I would call a crisis of faith. I came to a point where I was not sure if what I was doing, where I was going and if what was being said and done matched my personal belief. It got to a point where I had to write down what I believed – what are my core doctrines … they where almost the same except for a few that I always had suspicions about…

Tithing – don’t get me wrong, I am all for giving and even to give all to God and others. Tithing looks too much like a religious line drawn that says God will bless you if you do this – I thought God loved us unconditionally, and pours out His blessings on us even when we don’t deserve them. I’ve seen too much condemnation around the tithing issue – theres a lot of poor people struggling to keep a rule. I cant find Jesus talking about tithing – if you find a scripture where He talks about it, please let me know ? I do read about the rich young man and Jesus said give all you have to the poor, He did’nt mention a tithe at all. Its one of those rules, if you can do it you feel good, if you don’t you feel bad and condemned. Not much grace there…



Large 'mega-church' – I’m all for effective governance and stewardship of what God gives us, but building a congregation that supports a clergy and pays millions for offices and buildings each year while people struggle with Aids, lack of water and sanitation, starvation and have no homes makes no sense. God does not live in temples, He lives in us and collectively we are the expression of church, the people, not the building or the organisation. The first martyr, Stephen found out what happens when you talk about peoples temples, he was stoned for suggesting this – how strange that we now build so many buildings to congregate so many people. Have we slipped back to temple building ?

It is important that we as followers of Jesus are very clear about what is church - otherwise we can get the wrong vision, one of buildings and sanctuaries. Yes, I know a vast number of christians worship in buildings we call 'churches' but we spend a lot of time, money and effort on the buildings we call church when we should spend that time, money and effort on the people - churched or not.

Jesus said "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. " Somewhere we have ended up going into all the world making denominations out of men and teaching them how to build organisations......

I'm not anti organisation but I do belive that there must be a better way - surely a more effective way of impacting the world for the kingdom. We need to get a balance between congregational worship times, personal worship time and time we need to spend 'salting' the earth.

So whats changed ? (2)

Have you ever wondered whats it all about ? Have you ever asked why do we do it that way and who said its the way it should be done ?

I often wonder what it is that makes us take a move of God and try and make a religious practice out of it. It must be something inside of us - we maybe think that by doing the same thing, the same way, even at the same time, that it somehow will get a different result. But it does not - we get the same result.

Why is it that we meet in the same place, every week, with more or less the same people, sit in the same seats at the same time and listen to just about the same person tell us something we most probably have heard before ..... and we expect something different to happen ? It even happens in our relationships, we react in a certain way to someone and do the same reaction day after day but expect them to treat us differently ....


We read from Johns gospel tonight about the chucking of the money changers and cattle sellers out of the temple. Jesus deliberately made a whip of cords and systematically went about chasing them out and overturning their tables. Jesus was at least 30 years old and had no doubt seen these guys over the years taking advantage of the people fullfilling their Jewish obligations by buying the animals etc for sacrifice.

But this time He did something different - He made a whip and made an impact.

We are doing something different - we have decided to make an impact but not in the same place, at the same time, in the same seats. We have started at home with friends to see what God is saying to us about making an impact. I know the Holy Spirit is with us, I know He has something specific for us to do.

There was a song recently written about 'breaking and moulding' etc. I could not sing it because I was in the process of being 'broken and moulded'. I often thought, "if only the people knew what they were singing - it sounds wonderful but its painful to be broken and moulded." He needs to bring me to a place were He can use me

God calls me to make a difference but also to be the difference. I've learnt that the best way to do this is in relationship with Jesus, daily, hourly, minute by minute.

Its time to "walk the walk" as well as "talk the talk".

Make an impact - do something different today - be something different today - get a different result !

Aussie ?

Aussie cricketer Brett Lee and a famous person !Taken this morning at Sanitarium - the place I contract at - he is sponsored by the Weetbix brand.

Got a cricket bat signed as well as a ball for the kids.

Tim Cahill, Socceroos midfielder, was there as well but he plays for Everton and therefore any signiture would have been irrelevant.

Lighthouses ...

Thank God for Lighthouses. If it was'nt for them, we would be shipwrecks. Rocks are useful to. They stop you from sinking in sand, but when you floating on water and close to the shore, a lighthouse indicates where there is danger - Beware of the Rocks !!



This a photo of a lighthouse near us, just up the coast. We need people in our lives to be a lighthouse in our walk. I have lighthouses, posted around. They say "Be careful - these rocks could hurt !!"

Offense is like a rock. In fact Jesus was referred to as the rock of offense. Its easy to get offended when there is disagreement.... its harder to sort the offense, the longer it stays to roost. It has a habit of digging in, entrenching itself like it had a right to be there. Many times it does - but we give it that right to entrench, to dig roots.

Dont let offense get the right to any part of you. Keep the forgiveness manual close by.

Do you know that we need to have lighthouses (people) in our lives. Ifwe dont heed the warning of the lighthouse, we sail in dangerous water to our peril.

Look how sturdy the base of the lighthouse is. Pick a lighthouse who is firmly based in the Word and walks with the Holy Spirit. You will know those you can trust. Its easy to lend an ear only to those that you want to listen to, as they say the things that you want to hear. Its much harder to listen to the warnings of a lighthouse standing on a solid base.

So whats changed ? (1)

Its a strange thing - transition. You feel you are between things but you are where you are now - know what I mean ? Maybe not, if you have not transitioned from something you where so actively involved in to very little activity in the same area. What it it does is force you to identify what matters most.

I gave a talk at a pre-work morning meeting about what matters most. I know now that the following three things matter most -
1. My relationship with God
2. My relationship with others and
3. My relationship with myself. Funny one that last one, always thought I knew me !

You see when we are overly involved, committed and overstretched, we become focused on things, projects and activities at the expense of relationship. For me, a christian, it meant doing what God had for me, what others felt I should do and what I thought I should be doing, eventually all the doing got the better of being, being who God wanted me to be.

Yes, the transition things is also strange because it makes you use that stuff called Faith. There has to be a point where believing that God has something for you and trusting Him to show you without forcing the issue and doing what you think is best, comes into play. It would be so nice to be able to say - "Hey God said I must do points 1 to 27 of how to be the Church", but no He does'nt, He says, "I want you to start walking this way, but keep listening and looking, I want to speak to you, I want to show you something, I want you to walk on this journey with Me, I have a plan for you....". The best thing we can do is start to walk.

What am I reading ?

http://www.dearchurch.com/

Been reading a book called Dear Church by Sarah Raymond Cunningham.

Some of you may find it hard hitting but it says a lot about what we have become, we being the church. What are we doing with what God has given us, we build steeples, organisations, programs, we market like there is no tomorrow and waste a ton of money on the things that don't matter that much. We convince ourselves that they matter, but the impact it all makes is minimal - are we making disciples - I thought that was the last thing Jesus told us to do - or do we make people into copies of ourselves ?

The first

It may be the first day of the blog but the past 6 months feels like a long journey...

After a number of years intense involvement in a large church, its time to change.

Many leave out of offense, some leave from boredom, others just don't feel they fit, while others want to change the system but get frustrated because a system is not only made up of rules, regulations, codes of conduct etc but is made up of people who are happy with the system the way it is.

Don't get me wrong, its not the word large or church that is the cause of this change, I believe its God. Yes, He uses circumstances and people to wake us up, but if we believe that He is in control and we are committed to what He has for us, then we will walk the way He tells us to go.

I hope that this blog helps those I know and others I don't to at least get a small glimpse of my walk with God - over time you will matbe get to understand some of the changes in the way I view the church (the global church not just local church) and what we and specifically, I am meant to be.....welcome to my blog site.......