I was there!
In case you missed it…
Or just like re-living it…
Mosaic Stadium (11/11/2007)
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Category Archives: Life
Wondering
No idea what to title this post, so I’m stealing from myself…
In my quiet house, I finished “Telling Secrets” by Frederick Buechner tonight.
Towards the end, he speaks about some healing experiences he had through involvement with an AA group.
The thoughts that followed echoed in the corridor where my mind camps out occasionally…
“I do not believe that such groups as these… or Alcoholics Anonymous… are perfect anymore than anything human is perfect, but I believe that the church has an enormous amount to learn from them.
I also believe that what goes on in them is far closer to what Christ meant his church to be, and what it originally was, than much of what goes on in most churches I know.
These groups have no buildings or official leadership or money.
They have no rummage sales, no preachers, no choirs, no liturgy, no real estate.
They have no creeds. They have no program.
They make you wonder if the best thing that could happen to many a church might not be to have its building burn down and to lose all its money.
Then all that the people would have left would be God and each other.”
WMW
I’m sitting in Oklahoma City (nearly) on the campus of Oklahoma Christian University. A group from my city travelled down for the World Missions Workshop, and I was grateful to join in.
I wanted to come because this workshop had been significant to me in years gone by. It had played a role in inspiring me to see my faith and the kingdom of God in more global terms. It had served to stretch my perspective and live a bit larger than before.
It’s done that this time around too.
My mind is actually swimming just a bit right now.
On a simpler matter, it’s also been a treat of a weekend to meet a lot of old friends. Several people I’ve met at different points along the way have shown up here. Add to that a lot of new relationships formed this weekend, and it’s definitely been worth the 30+ hours of driving to get here! I may debate that in the midst of the 30+ hours back home… but for now, I’m sticking to that!
Some more of this may figure into future posts. For now, I’ll leave it here.
Take care, my friends.
Credible
Here’s a recent wave of thought on God’s kingdom…
How do you react when you encounter something that you have no framework to process? You hear of an offer that MUST be too good to be true. You meet someone who approaches life in a way that never even crossed your mind. Most of us subconsciously aim to discount this new thing: “If I
can’t deal with it, I’ll discredit it or dismiss it.”
First-century folks were no different. One group of onlookers observed Jesus displaying deeds and power that were downright unnerving to their world-views. They charged that he must be tied into powers of evil (Luke 11:15ff).
After pointing out the obvious flaws in their reasoning, Jesus makes this bold statement:
“But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you.”
The finger of God?
The kingdom of God has come?
To you?
Something new was here.
Now.
God’s breaking-in to our world in a powerful and redeeming way… it had touched down.
Now.
You and I live in these days.
British writer Michael Green captures this reality of the early church as a new kind of community…
“They made the grace of God credible by a society of love and mutual care which astonished pagans and was recognized as something entirely new. It lent persuasiveness to the claim that the new age had dawned in those who were giving it flesh. The message of the kingdom became more than an idea. A new human community had sprung up and looked very much like the new order to which the evangelist had pointed. Here love was given daily expression; reconciliation was actually occurring; people were no longer divided into Jews and Gentiles, slave and free, male and female. In this community the weak were protected, the stranger welcomed. People were healed; the poor and dispossessed were cared for and found justice. Almost everything was shared. Joy abounded and ordinary lives were filled with praise.”
So I sit here, thinking…
Live powerfully.
Live in awareness that our lives declare the news of God’s kingdom—it is here and on the rise.
Live like the early disciples, whose lives made this news credible.
Football Season
Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a football lover… now, that’s the beautiful game.
So hailing a couple of the most exciting guys I’ve seen, here’s a few highlights from…
Barry Sanders
Reggie Bush
It’s got to be fun to be THAT good at something!