The institutional church body could be compared to a body suffering from the affects of the use of anabolic steroids. Part of the body stands out and appears strong and healthy while the rest of the weaker and unseen, yet vital, parts of the body are slowly becoming unhealthy and/or dying. Sure, on the surface and temporarily the body is collectively strong and able to grow quickly, but long term it's individual members will be devastated. If the body stops the abuse and functions as it was meant to then it will be healthy, endurant, and proportionate.
Are we preparing for a sprint or a marathon? Are we seeking immediate rewards at the expense of our members? So the question remains: Can we continue to justify the perceived immediate and temporary gains of the institutional church body as outweighing the cost of the future crippling side-effects to the individual members of that body?
Friday, January 9, 2009
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Where thieves break in and steal
A few months ago my wife purchased some cosmetics online from a well known company. She used her debit card to make the purchase. Yesterday, "Black Friday", I received a phone call from my bank asking me if I just spent $9500.00 at an electronics web-site. "Um...NO!", I said. Luckily my bank has a system that flags "unusual transactions" and shut down my card and called me right away. This thief was dumb and greedy enough to attempt a very large purchase. But, if they had taken only a little at a time we might have been too late to catch it. Luckily we don't have much money to "store up" and protect in the first place.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Contractions?
I'm not really a "the sky is falling" kind of guy, but I am fascinated when scientific data confirms what the bible speaks about. Check this site out to see what I'm talking about. It reminds me of when I was in the delivery room with my wife while she was getting ready to have our baby and the machine she was hooked up to would print out the level of her contractions.
Book Meme
How often do we pray that our lives might be free from pain and pressure? How often do we ask for protection from the consequences of our sin? If an unhappy circumstance enters our life, we immediately pray that it might be removed, without looking for ways that we may grow through our suffering.
Dialogue With God by Mark and Patti Virkler
This post is a response to this post.
Dialogue With God by Mark and Patti Virkler
This post is a response to this post.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Forsaking Neighbors
Over the last six months I've taken the initiative to meet some of my neighbors. Actually, my kids have taken the initiative to meet my neighbors which has forced me to introduce myself when I'm out searching for them. I couldn't ask for better neighbors. I've never had neighbors who were more willing to lend a hand when someone needed something. They don't "go to church", but they act like the Church. Some of them profess to be Christians. Some of them don't. But, even the ones who don't profess to be Christians act more like a neighbor than others who profess to be and do "go to church." This not only confuses me, but also my neighbors who act like neighbors to each other. I have a neighbor who lives right next door who introduced himself to the neighborhood when he first moved in but hasn't had much fellowship with anyone since.(2 years ago) Most of the neighbors have the opinion that he is not a very nice person. (1000 points to whoever can guess his vocation) I happen to know that he is a nice person, but his loyalty is to a certain group of people that meets elsewhere. The entire neighborhood was given an invitation to join them, but if you decided not to...well.... This situation reminds me of the parable of "the good Samaritan." I have a lot of "Samaritan neighbors." I have a few "priestly neighbors." (No "Levitical neighbors" that I know of) This brings up the ironic question of...which of my neighbors needs to experience the love of Christ the most? As early as a year ago I would have pointed fingers and said, "see, I told you church people suck!" But, what if a "priest" is laying in the ditch and needs someone to love them and show the love of Christ to them. Even if they don't realize it. It would be extremely arrogant of me to pass them by simply because of who they are or profess to be.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Proud Dad
My daughter, Abigail, attends a small private montessori school. She has 9 kids in her class ranging in age from 7-10 years old. The kids are all very well behaved most of the time with the exception of a ten year old boy who has been kicked out of school many times. He has been disciplined for hitting, kicking, choking, pushing, etc., etc., etc. In fact, my kids have been the recipient of this abuse several times. This child could be considered the "bully" of the school. Most of the time he is guilty. This child has been labeled with almost every disorder in the book. (i.e. ADD, OCD, ADHD, etc.)
Yesterday Abigail was playing with three of her closest friends at recess. One of these kids came up with a plan to make the "bully" (hereinafter called...Tom) mad so he would retaliate and get expelled from school. Abigail spoke up and said this was wrong and they should not do it. The others told her, "we don’t care we’re going to do it anyway." At this point Abigail left them and reported their plan to the teacher.
The teacher on duty put a very quick stop to their plan and thanked Abigail for telling her. The teacher was aware of the consequences Abigail was going to face from her "friends" and said if they treat her badly for telling, then she should again come to her and she would handle it. Well, that was indeed the case.
Abigail risked the wrath of her closest friends to help an, this time, innocent Tom. Kids can be extremely mean to each other. I was very proud of her for doing what is right, even though it was extremely difficult.
This is just another instance that convinces me that my kids are teaching me more than I can teach them.
Yesterday Abigail was playing with three of her closest friends at recess. One of these kids came up with a plan to make the "bully" (hereinafter called...Tom) mad so he would retaliate and get expelled from school. Abigail spoke up and said this was wrong and they should not do it. The others told her, "we don’t care we’re going to do it anyway." At this point Abigail left them and reported their plan to the teacher.
The teacher on duty put a very quick stop to their plan and thanked Abigail for telling her. The teacher was aware of the consequences Abigail was going to face from her "friends" and said if they treat her badly for telling, then she should again come to her and she would handle it. Well, that was indeed the case.
Abigail risked the wrath of her closest friends to help an, this time, innocent Tom. Kids can be extremely mean to each other. I was very proud of her for doing what is right, even though it was extremely difficult.
This is just another instance that convinces me that my kids are teaching me more than I can teach them.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Apples to Apples
A farmer named Bob and his neighbor, farmer John, went to a tree farm together to purchase some trees. When they got there they looked at all the trees and saw that there were only small withered apple trees left to choose from. The last few years they had experienced extreme drought in the area and it had taken its toll on all the farmers. They each decided to purchase twenty trees, despite the fact that they were small and unhealthy looking. They returned to their farms with their new trees.
Farmer Bob looked after his farm very meticulously, always fixing things when they needed fixing. He had big beautiful buildings to store all of his equipment and other belongings. He decided that he needed a greenhouse to put his new trees in to protect them from the sun and strong winds so he could nurture them to good health. He built a greenhouse out of cedar wood and large glass windows with shades on each window. He built each tree its own cedar planter box to put inside the greenhouse. Every few days he would fetch buckets of water from the spring. He then ran it through his purification filters he had built and splashed on the trees just the right amount of water and opened the shades to allow the perfect amount of sunlight in. He would prune them if they got too tall so they could remain in the greenhouse under his watchful eye. His trees began to look much healthier. After a few years his trees were looking very good, and one or two trees even started to produce a few apples. He was very proud of himself for his hard work and dedication to his beautiful trees. He had not seen farmer John since they bought the trees and he was curious as to how well farmer Johns trees were doing. So, he prepared to visit his neighbor.
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Farmer John returned from the tree farm and grabbed his shovel. He took his trees out into the pasture behind his house. There was a fresh spring that ran through his pasture then across his farm for 20 miles all the way through farmer Bobs farm. The spring continued through farmer Bobs property and out the other side. The ground around this spring was very fertile and that is where farmer John decided to plant his apple trees. He planted them right on the edge of this life supporting vein in the open pasture where he knew they would be cared for and fed by the crystal clear water and abundant sunshine. Every once in a while he would walk out to the pasture to observe the trees. He noticed they were looking very healthy and starting to blossom. One of the trees though had tipped over so he simply propped it back up supporting it against a healthier trees’ branches. He left them and tended to his other chores. After a few years the trees were towering into the sky. They were a luscious green with the branches sagging from the weight of the abundance of fruit. There roots had gone deep into the earth tapping into the source of the spring and twisting and tangling together to form a solid foundation. They had also gone to seed and there were many new apple trees emerging all along the waters edge and out into the pasture. The trees that started to grow farther away from the spring were shaded and protected by the mature trees long enough to get a healthy start with their roots reaching out to each other as if to show them the way to what is sustaining them.
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Farmer Bob arrived at farmer John’s farm. They greeted each other and sat down for some cold cider. Sipping his drink farmer Bob sympathetically asked how farmer John’s trees were doing. He figured they had not made it as he did not see any shelter for them when he arrived. But farmer John stated they were doing quite well as he pointed out the window directing farmer Bob’s sight to the vast orchard across the pasture. This is when he noticed the barrels full of apples on the back porch and beyond them the soaring trees gently dancing in the breeze with fruit so plump and ripened it was visible from that distance. Amazed, farmer Bob asked him how he did it. Farmer John said," I simply planted them there knowing they would be nourished by the spring, and they not only grew taller and stronger, but multiplied." "But what about the violent wind storms that sweep through the valley during the night", asked Farmer Bob. "Weren’t you concerned about your trees?" Farmer John replied, " I would observe them and noticed the trees used the damaging winds to their favor by pruning the dead branches and spreading the seed. The harder the wind blew, as a result, the more the seed would spread." Farmer Bob not completely convinced and slightly concerned with farmer Johns careless and irresponsible lack of control over his trees, and yet, discouraged by his own trees’ lack of growth and fruit bearing, hastily returned to his farm.
Farmer Bob opened the doors to his greenhouse and walked through, pacing back and forth, contemplating what he had just observed at farmer Johns. He thought to himself, " I’m positive that my trees would not survive in the open, exposed to the elements. While they appear mature enough their roots are too shallow. I need to protect them. Won’t they always need my nurturing to stay alive and healthy?" Then it finally came to him. Why hadn’t he thought of this before? He now realized exactly what it was he was supposed to do. He calculated that he had enough cedar trees on his farm to chop down and use the wood to make multiple greenhouses and many planters. He had just enough money to purchase the glass and supplies and many more apple trees. He would build the greenhouses wider and taller and closer to the spring. Each greenhouse having its own purifying filters feeding its occupants just the right amount of water coming from the spring. His plan was working and he had many trees and a few in each greenhouse were actually healthy enough to produce some small fruit.
Farmer Bob looked after his farm very meticulously, always fixing things when they needed fixing. He had big beautiful buildings to store all of his equipment and other belongings. He decided that he needed a greenhouse to put his new trees in to protect them from the sun and strong winds so he could nurture them to good health. He built a greenhouse out of cedar wood and large glass windows with shades on each window. He built each tree its own cedar planter box to put inside the greenhouse. Every few days he would fetch buckets of water from the spring. He then ran it through his purification filters he had built and splashed on the trees just the right amount of water and opened the shades to allow the perfect amount of sunlight in. He would prune them if they got too tall so they could remain in the greenhouse under his watchful eye. His trees began to look much healthier. After a few years his trees were looking very good, and one or two trees even started to produce a few apples. He was very proud of himself for his hard work and dedication to his beautiful trees. He had not seen farmer John since they bought the trees and he was curious as to how well farmer Johns trees were doing. So, he prepared to visit his neighbor.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Farmer John returned from the tree farm and grabbed his shovel. He took his trees out into the pasture behind his house. There was a fresh spring that ran through his pasture then across his farm for 20 miles all the way through farmer Bobs farm. The spring continued through farmer Bobs property and out the other side. The ground around this spring was very fertile and that is where farmer John decided to plant his apple trees. He planted them right on the edge of this life supporting vein in the open pasture where he knew they would be cared for and fed by the crystal clear water and abundant sunshine. Every once in a while he would walk out to the pasture to observe the trees. He noticed they were looking very healthy and starting to blossom. One of the trees though had tipped over so he simply propped it back up supporting it against a healthier trees’ branches. He left them and tended to his other chores. After a few years the trees were towering into the sky. They were a luscious green with the branches sagging from the weight of the abundance of fruit. There roots had gone deep into the earth tapping into the source of the spring and twisting and tangling together to form a solid foundation. They had also gone to seed and there were many new apple trees emerging all along the waters edge and out into the pasture. The trees that started to grow farther away from the spring were shaded and protected by the mature trees long enough to get a healthy start with their roots reaching out to each other as if to show them the way to what is sustaining them.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Farmer Bob arrived at farmer John’s farm. They greeted each other and sat down for some cold cider. Sipping his drink farmer Bob sympathetically asked how farmer John’s trees were doing. He figured they had not made it as he did not see any shelter for them when he arrived. But farmer John stated they were doing quite well as he pointed out the window directing farmer Bob’s sight to the vast orchard across the pasture. This is when he noticed the barrels full of apples on the back porch and beyond them the soaring trees gently dancing in the breeze with fruit so plump and ripened it was visible from that distance. Amazed, farmer Bob asked him how he did it. Farmer John said," I simply planted them there knowing they would be nourished by the spring, and they not only grew taller and stronger, but multiplied." "But what about the violent wind storms that sweep through the valley during the night", asked Farmer Bob. "Weren’t you concerned about your trees?" Farmer John replied, " I would observe them and noticed the trees used the damaging winds to their favor by pruning the dead branches and spreading the seed. The harder the wind blew, as a result, the more the seed would spread." Farmer Bob not completely convinced and slightly concerned with farmer Johns careless and irresponsible lack of control over his trees, and yet, discouraged by his own trees’ lack of growth and fruit bearing, hastily returned to his farm.
Farmer Bob opened the doors to his greenhouse and walked through, pacing back and forth, contemplating what he had just observed at farmer Johns. He thought to himself, " I’m positive that my trees would not survive in the open, exposed to the elements. While they appear mature enough their roots are too shallow. I need to protect them. Won’t they always need my nurturing to stay alive and healthy?" Then it finally came to him. Why hadn’t he thought of this before? He now realized exactly what it was he was supposed to do. He calculated that he had enough cedar trees on his farm to chop down and use the wood to make multiple greenhouses and many planters. He had just enough money to purchase the glass and supplies and many more apple trees. He would build the greenhouses wider and taller and closer to the spring. Each greenhouse having its own purifying filters feeding its occupants just the right amount of water coming from the spring. His plan was working and he had many trees and a few in each greenhouse were actually healthy enough to produce some small fruit.
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