tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14136406.post5709100580377081050..comments2023-09-05T05:32:54.958-07:00Comments on Middle Range: Sanitized Travel Journal - Part IVDavidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18302064270295361674noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14136406.post-38696253520701801352007-07-07T17:02:00.000-07:002007-07-07T17:02:00.000-07:00If you ever stop laughing...THEN, my friend, you a...If you ever stop laughing...<BR/><BR/><BR/>THEN, my friend, you are in trouble!WTF?!https://www.blogger.com/profile/00485727784706231437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14136406.post-43048473748016713052007-07-06T09:59:00.000-07:002007-07-06T09:59:00.000-07:00We’re doin’ okay, and I imagine you’re doin’ just ...We’re doin’ okay, and I imagine you’re doin’ just right…we will fall short in the struggle, it’s a good thing Jesus’ is driving.<BR/>I dig NT as well, but I just call him Tom.<BR/><BR/><I>The church exists for the purpose of blessing other people and communities.</I><BR/>Yes…in part.<BR/>But understanding the ‘doing’ of church (the what), doesn’t get to the how and why. The <I>what</I> gives us portions of the process. But more than ‘blessing’, our primary aim in life is to love and glorify God, participating in the expansion of His kingdom in relevant way in the time allotted us, and to train people to continue the kingdom ministry of Jesus.<BR/><BR/>I’m an alcoholic. Simply knowing and understanding that I need to be sober, and refusing to discuss the ‘context’ outside of that (e.g. drunk), can be short sighted. And so it is with the church, and the people in it…messy, with scraped foreheads and over-thought sensitivities. <BR/><BR/>My jaded discerner often reads - ‘A purpose for the church is a ‘good idea’, but you want me to leave the comfort of my bean-bag? Why can’t I just continually matriculate in the ‘good idea’ – safe, scared and alone [as I’ve made myself believe is okay] – rather than sharing a heart with community and God?’ And in this we lead.<BR/><BR/>I tell you Steve-o, I’m sortin’ though the decisions that got me here…and it’s pretty funny.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18302064270295361674noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14136406.post-69971265895964131782007-07-05T17:20:00.000-07:002007-07-05T17:20:00.000-07:00"expending energy defining who is "in and out""......<I>"expending energy defining who is "in and out""</I><BR/><BR/>...and Jesus just turns this whole thing inside out!<BR/><BR/>That is one of the things about Him that is so atractive and repulsive at the same time!<BR/><BR/>...I love that He is this way, but I tremble that it means that I have to be this way too, and hate that it exposes me when I am not (sometimes, not all the time, and by His grace <B>less</B> of the time).<BR/><BR/>We are supposed to be the group that exists for those outside of it...<BR/><BR/><BR/>...I have been reading a TON of NT Wright lately and he refuses to discuss Jesus outside of the context of the call of Israel to be a source of blessing to the world; a call which Jesus personally fulfilled, which evidenced the failure of Israel to fulfill it (until, of course, Jesus could fulfill that call on behalf of Israel).<BR/><BR/>So...<BR/><BR/>...Israel was to be a nation that existed for the purpose of blessing <I>other</I> nations.<BR/><BR/>...the Church is to be a community of people that exist for the purpose of blessing <I>other</I> people and <I>other</I> communities.<BR/><BR/>How are we doing?<BR/><BR/>How am <I><B>I</I></B> doing?WTF?!https://www.blogger.com/profile/00485727784706231437noreply@blogger.com