On church...

I ran into this quote in an article today. I think I want to read the book!

Church was to be the result of people working together in the kingdom, not the focus of the work itself…we have made the church the point of God’s work and not the kingdom. And in doing so, we have unintentionally substituted the gospel of the kingdom (“Repent, the kingdom is at hand”) for the gospel of the church (“come to church to meet Jesus and grow spiritually”). We have substituted the work of the Spirit (transforming our inward character into the image of Jesus) for the work of the church (attending this class, this program, and this ministry). We have substituted the work of worship (which has always been the primary vocation of God’s people) for the passive consumption of church services (watching our paid professionals do their thing on stage).

From 'Death By Church' by Mike Erre

I Can't Sleep

It's ridiculous, really. I'm tired. Really tired. Still, I seem to drag all through the day only to get a second wind, or in this case, sometimes a first wind, just as I'm brushing my teeth to go to bed. Then, I lie there. Awake. Or, I feel like if I'm not going to sleep anyway, I might as well make use of this energy while I've got it and end up puttering on other stuff. Then the morning comes. Somewhere far too late I actually fell asleep. It's not enough. The alarm clock rings and I'm angry. It's a stupid piece of plastic but I'm still angry at it. Drag my bottom out of bed only to go through the whole process again.

I need to break the cycle and get some sleep. Going to go give it a try.

Current Read

Coraline, Neil Gaiman

Raspberry Layered Dessert

For those of you that were at Journey this morning and were asking about my dessert recipe, here it is:

2 cups oreo crumbs
1/2 cup butter (or margine)
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 pkg (250 grams) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup icing sugar
3 cups thawed cool whip whipped topping, divided
1 cup boiling water
2 pkg (85 grams each) Jell-O raspberry jelly powder
3 cups frozen raspberries

Mix crumbs, butter and cinnamon. Reserve 2 Tbsp.; press remaining into 9X13 pan. Beat cream cheese and sugar until blended. Stir in 1 cup Cool Whip; spread onto crust. Refrigerate

Add boiling water to jelly mixes; stir 2 min. Add berries (frozen); stir until slightly thickened. Pour over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate 30 min. or until set but not firm.

Cover with remaining Cool Whip and reserved crumb mixture. Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm.

It's quick (only takes about 15 minutes), easy and tasty! Enjoy!!

I would have posted it with a picture except we ate it all...mmm...

Playful Faith

By Keri Kent

The stakes in children's ministry, if you think of it, are high. We are responsible for the next generation of God's faithful. Based partly on our input, these young charges will follow Christ—or not. There are so many temptations vying for our children's attention and allegiance. This is serious business.

Consequently, we too can be tempted—to the sin of taking ourselves far too seriously. While our calling to minister to children is important and significant, it is also provides us an opportunity to engage in the spiritual practice of play.

Would anyone you work or minister with describe you with words like "playful," or "child-like" or "fun"? How about your family?

Once, Jesus' disciples—who were beginning to realize that God's kingdom was not like earthly kingdoms—asked him to clarify: who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? In other words, how do you move ahead? By way of reply, Jesus "called a little child, whom he placed among them. And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes a humble place—becoming like this child—is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18: 2-4).

Children are playful. What does it mean to play, to be childlike (which is a bit different from being childish)? What did Jesus mean when he said that the greatest in his kingdom were those who chose to be like little children? Did he want us to be playful? Does that mean we all ought to play more dodgeball? Or was he talking only about humility?

"There is no mistaking that one must learn to resemble a child in order to enter the kingdom," writes Brennan Manning in his book The Importance of Being Foolish. "But to grasp the full force of the phrase 'like little children,' we must realize that the Jewish attitude toward children in the time of Christ differed drastically from the one prevalent today. We have a tendency to idealize childhood, to see it as the happy age of innocence, insouciance, and simple faith. In the Jewish community of New Testament times, the child was considered of no importance, meriting no attention or favor. The child was regarded with scorn."

Manning notes that a humble attitude allows us to see God's grace for what it is: pure gift. But how do we cultivate humility? It's not easy in our culture, which lauds individual opinions and accomplishments, which teaches that self-esteem and self-confidence are of the highest value. It's not easy when you are supposed to be a "spiritual leader"—which some folks (sometimes even those leaders) think that means you have to be "deep" or serious all the time. But what if playfulness is a path to humility?

While we may have a different perspective on childhood than Jesus' contemporaries did, he continues to call us to trust him. And to realize we're not "all that." Leadership often tempts us to believe too firmly in our own importance. Play stretches our ability to be a fool, to engage in that which has no purpose other than simple joy. Play forces us to loosen our grip on our ambition for a while; it trains us in humility. We often want to avoid the risk involved with being silly. It's odd, since Jesus said we ought to be humble, that we seem to find it difficult to let go of our self-importance and image management—especially if we are leaders.

The pressures of ministry—counseling, teaching, caring for people—can be overwhelming. We forget how to play, or think it a waste of time. We worry what people would think. But play is necessary to restore our souls from the damage of our accomplishment-driven, workaholic culture. Play is a spiritual practice.

Kids "play" soccer, baseball, lacrosse, or whatever else their parents sign them up for, but these sports seem to have become a business, which costs money. Some children play video games, which do more damage than good, and certainly offer none of the health benefits of tag.

Many kids and parents use the word do rather than play. "Billy does football in the fall and hockey in the winter," we'll say. We don't say our kids are going to play a game; we say they "have" a game. Rather than playing, our kids have obligations. Though we may use such language unconsciously, our word choices are stunningly accurate.

Do you know how to play? Often adults engage in sports, but it is with a sense of competitive intensity. Or, perhaps you are in a sports league, but you have to justify it as "relational evangelism." You're not just playing, you're building bridges to share the gospel. But what if "just playing" is what God invites us to do as part of our spiritual practice?

Many adults who exercise see it as drudgery. Or it becomes an obsession, a god they compulsively sacrifice large amounts of time and energy to. They don't play, they work out (again, an interesting word choice). They exercise in an attempt to look younger, to stave off the inevitable aging process. Or it becomes a stimulant, another addiction. Rather than just enjoying a game of catch with the kids or a walk through the woods, we feel the need to engage in extreme sports.

True playfulness, on the other hand, brings joy; it teaches us trust. We can believe God is able to keep the universe humming right along without our help. Play is truly an act of trust, and trust is a key part of childlikeness.

Do you ever feel as if the joy has been squeezed right out of you? Do you think that the kingdom of God will fall apart if you don't keep working very hard? In many ways, church culture mirrors the world's culture: accomplishment-driven, workaholic, stressed. Such an environment gets a lot of tasks done, but destroys souls. What would happen to our ministry if we valued "being with God" as much as we did "doing for God"? And what if that "being with God" included not just times of soulful reflection but also, childlike playfulness?

Perhaps you think you don't have time to play. Could you play one day a week—on the Sabbath, when your focus is on loving God and loving others? Sabbath is a spiritual practice, of which play is a quintessential part. In play, we shed the shackles of schedules, efficiency, even purpose. The playfulness of Sabbath is the key to its ability to restore our souls.

Keri Wyatt Kent is a speaker, freelance writer and author of six books, including Rest: Living in Sabbath Simplicity, (Zondervan 2009) from which this article is adapted.

"Weak people can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." (Gandhi)

A friend of mine posted this quote as his facebook status today. I like it. It's appropriate for this current season of my life. That said, I wonder if it wouldn't be more apt to say 'forgiveness makes you stronger' or 'A lack of forgiveness makes you weak." Denying forgiveness destroys. Forgiveness repairs, builds up and renews.

Which one comes first, the chicken or the egg?

I'm just a big kid...

I kind of want to have it!

Current Read

JPod, Douglas Coupland

Real Estate, anyone!?

Many of you know that I've been dreaming about my own place for some time. Just came across this gem. I guess you just never know what sort of treasures are hiding just around the corner.






This place seems very modern, BUT… HERE’S THE INNOVATIVE PART!!... This 1 bedroom loft apartment was built inside a grain silo.

Tee hee..

Stole this one from my friend, Dayna. It made me smile.

Current Read

Labyrinth, Kate Mosse

Normally when I'm absent (not absent minded, just absent) from the blog world for a while it's because the speed of life (similar to the speed of light but different) has started spinning recklessly out of control and is tossing me around like a rag doll. I'll be honest that my most recent absence started there but was furthered by a much more delightful turn of events. I got home this morning at 2 am after spending the last 9 days on vacation with my family in Mexico.

Three words stand out in that last sentence.

Vacation.

Family.

Mexico.

Each deserving of it's own post.

And pictures.

They're coming.

I promise.