But if we are the body
Why aren’t His arms reaching?
Why aren’t His hands healing?
Why aren’t His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren’t His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?
There is a way.
Published June 15, 2005 by Rebecca Matheson
Published June 15, 2005 by Rebecca Matheson
Tuesday morning. The only one at home. Sitting in the corner of the lounge with coffee, Bible, journal. Favourite place – or becoming so. Its windy outside which makes the shaddows from the light coming through the windows more interesting. Have to write Personal Creed today, but that can wait.
I can choose my response to today. I’d rather it be less of a mess than the past few. Brining stuff back to God last night will have a large part in that response. I could distance myself from what’s going on, let myself think continually through it or let it sit knowing God is in complete control – the better option.
To go from here. Frustrated I vent frustrations on a few. Unfair not to listen first. I can’t change that (past), but a mental note for next time. I’m sorry I do that.
Can tell a little about God talk in some ways, when problems seem too much we take the first step of getting angry, pouring out dissatisfactions and fears and forgetting to stop. Get so caught up that we forget to listen when maybe that’s some of what we should be doing first. Not to say don’t bring it all to God. Raw emotion, exact problems, honesty of your situation. God wants to hear that. Just not taking the time to stop and be still.
Words, be they said, thought, written are less important coming from you than from another. God knows it all anyway.
What would it be like to approach a problem in reverse? I wonder if that’s part of what happens when it is too hard to pray when you are forced to either (completely ignore God) or to read something. A Psalm, whatever.
I don’t know how true or how clearly I’d prescribe to doing it differently. Worth thinking about though, that and having the presence of mind in that kind of situation.
Thankyou God for knowing me.
Help me to lsiten to you and to others first.
Keep honesty in place.
Let me put you first in everything – including problems.
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Church stuff…. conversation with mum about more stuff.
Meeting on Saturday will be going ahead, Vote if kicking the Roe’s out was the right move. Yes I should go. Blah.
I will vote YES and dont mind saying it, it wont change.
Whatever the outcome, Dad, Mark, Geoff all resigning from leadership. Some staying so leadership isn’t crawled over with the wrong people… much being handed over to another Bretho guy.
We will be leaving WPC.
I had already made that descision.
Looks like some church hunting will be happening – as much as I hate the ‘church shop’ slogan, I guess I need to find somewhere that will work (both in getting there and fiting in).
🙂 mum saying stuff about that ^ freedom to choose is nice. I dont have to go same place as them – wouldn’t anyway unless I chose to. Intentionally getting annoyed and going out of my way to assert myself infront of her my have stuff to do with it.
So yes, changes ahead.
Prayer would be good.
Published June 7, 2005 by Rebecca Matheson
Tired. But oh what a good Tuesday. Goodbye tedious Tuesday forever – maybe.
Facinating Evangelism class. Best described – as I cannot be bothered completely reviewing, through some quotes I picked up. Minorly amusing looking at them because they tell little of the class. (on another note, this is what Tom wrote about Hyper Reality re: that class. How convienient!) continuing…
“Human beings are (have become) human doings” – Darren
“We are middleclass with upperclass taste.” – Mark Sayers
“There was a boxer who had a plan, then he got hit” – Mark S quoting someone
and instead of a a wwjd type thing > heaven = wwtc i.e. “World without the crap”
Much more from that class. Jesus mistaken as a gardener actually having a point > his (God’s) continuation of the Genesis project, perfect environment for humans.
So much stuff God. Strange how Evang. was the class in all of YITS that I was dreading the most – for some screwed up, naive reason and I ended up really enjoying and getting heaps out of it. This is your world, where your heart is (though I don’t know why), and ours should lie. In people. Help me God to invest in others and to do my bit to ‘grow’ the kingdom of God. Be my voice, in my words, my lifestyle, my relationships.
Old Testament test went well. Very glad that class is over.
Afternoon break, so much fun.
Photos – taking and being stupid. Laughing my guts out at what Jo said.
Accountability was good. Do regret one thing. Got talking to Katie about Laura (sister) and John (probably future brother-in-law). Talk moved to long distant relationships. Anyway, K trying to grasp how it would possibly work, which is very understandable. In my inability to find words, placed it somewhat flippantly back to being used to moving around lots (call it ‘brushing it off’ if you will). Which, yeah is true. But I could have persisted a little more and tried to explain better – in so doing, may have shared a bit more about what it is like. That it’s crap to have to do friendships that way. And to have treated her, I guess with a bit more…. hmm respect.
….more that I’m leaving unsaid. The God conversation aspect that doesn’t need to be public.
Published June 5, 2005 by Rebecca Matheson
Desparity… exaggeration. Tomorrow is a new day.
Church was good… no further descriptive words. After announcement and none of the expected someone get up to protest, things went on normally, a better normal (which happens every now and then). Amanda did a good job leading. Lots of focus on Jesus – sermon included (funny that for a church). It was what was needed. My mind returned to what I read last night…
Colossians 1:21-23
21Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
Anyway, sat or rather participated with a somewhat better attitude than yesterday’s. Enough to say I even enjoyed myself – or rather, God. God reminding me of various stuff, thoughts in my head. Sense somewhat of community. Surprise surprise. Older guy… Ian Broadley (had to ask Nathania his name afterwards) started talking to us quite out of nowhere… mainly about workloads, YITS, uni etc… he asked about the Solomons, or rather the integration into the ‘Australian Way of Life’…. funny that 🙂 haven’t been asked that in a long while.
I got my act together this afternoon. Emailed Rowan for an extension for the Personal Creed. Hopefully my reasons are vaild enough. Wrote the Evangelism essay – which wasn’t as hard, once I worked out what the topic was talking about… Study for Doctrine test tonight and tomorrow morning over Subway… save the oral presentation for our long 40min Monday breaks x2. Must bring computer. Is it enough to suggest things are a little more under control.
🙂 for God.
I actually found the PE essay kind of interesting. What of more I’d like to do, when feasible. The topic being: Incarnational Mission relating to evangelism. Hopefully okay for a cram session maybe didn’t include enough practical examples. Read it if you like.
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Introduction
Incarnational Mission plays a key role in evangelism. John 1:14 (NIV), tells that, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.†As Christians we are called to imitate the life of Jesus and by incorporating this action of the incarnate God into the act of mission, resulting in the concept of Incarnational Mission. This can be more clearly defined as, “The immersion in the life of Jesus rooted and growing in a particular context.†(Taylor, 2004) Simply put, Incarnational mission brings the concept of mission i.e. evangelism into the environment where it is most effective, amongst people in their typical culture.
Incarnational Mission
Mark Norridge states that, “Marshall McLuhan has famously said: “The medium is the messageâ€, implying that the means of communicating the message contains a message itself. If this is indeed the case, then our efforts to communicate God’s love to God’s world can take no higher form than that which God Himself employed.†(Norridge, 2004)
The ‘means’ taking the form of anything from; overseas missionary work, by which the ‘missionary’ is called to, temporarily adopt or understand another culture (Hesselgrave, 1982: 131) to the implementation of activities undertaken by many emerging or organic churches in getting involved in their community and employing a lifestyle both Christian and culture specific.
By intentionally immersing yourself within a culture, be it modern, postmodern, western, international or other, you seek to meet the people on their level. Paul explains this well through his letter to the church at Corinth, “To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews… I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.†(1 Cor 9:20-22 for full text see appendix) By seeking common ground, you can be effective salt and light (Matt 5:13) where there is a genuine need in a culture that will respond far better in their apathy to ‘Christ coming to them’, than the passive act of waiting for the outside world to come to our churches.
Living out a lifestyle of this kind has implications for those involved, “Lifestyle and words go together. People notice that there is something different about us. They may put that down to our simply being nice people and Christians don’t have a monopoly on being nice! Unless we tell them why we’re different how will they know?†(Pollard, 1999: 77) So, despite Incarnational mission being, ‘to go out’ to the world in culturally appropriate ways, there needs to be words behind our motive so as to be able to adequately explain “why Christâ€, and to be secure in the balance of being ‘in the world but not of the world.’ (Rom 12:2)
However, “The picture Jesus paints for his disciples is to live life with one hand clasped in the hand of God and the other reaching out to serve the needs of others.†(Posterski, 1989: 148) (Mrk 10:42-45) there are numerous examples of this both through once off youth/congregational attempts and those that seek to live Incarnational Mission daily. Be it to visit the same café a given morning of the week and seek to build relationships with the workers and other regulars, or the more drastic step of living in an unfamiliar culture and learning the ways of another.
Relationship is by far the most effective means of reaching others. Words are by no means the most effective way of communicating. Others will respond when they are both comfortable in a situation – this usually means a familiar environment, and have reached a point where they can trust the person they are listening too. A force fed measure of ‘Bible bashing’ will only make the individual on the other end resistant and will undoubtedly result in offence of an unwanted belief being shoved down their throat. By presenting a familiar lifestyle and not segregating through boundaries of foreign activity, the incarnational missionary has a far more effective means by which to live and share the truth.
Conclusion
By incorporating lifestyle into evangelistic approach, employing incarnational mission, we start placing the onus back on ourselves as Christians. Instead of our passive means of making church attractive to the world we create a situation that has relevance to outsiders. “It’s not the church that has a mission; the mission has a church.†(Morris, 1994) and as part of this church we are called to be the salt and light of Matthew 15, and follow in the footsteps of Jesus by becoming involved in the world we are called to disciple.
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Published June 3, 2005 by Rebecca Matheson
I want to remember what I saw on the train last night. Because it was remarkable and I doubt I will experience anything quite like it – very frequently. The actual feeling can’t be expressed very well, but there was something different. If I knew how to recreate it I would, over and over.
Simply.
A man and his little boy – who was probably about three got on the train. I would have normally not given them too much attention but after a while I looked up. They were deeply concentrated on eachother, the little boy was. The man was deaf and this wide eyed three year old was talking and signing, completely absorbed in his dad’s face.
What struck me more was when I looked around at the assortment of others who were intrigued by the interaction.
A middle eastern guy standing behind them, above them, an anglo younger guy sitting across the aisle, an asian student, another paint splattered worker an older lady beside/behind them, the young lady to their left, those sitting opposite them, me.
There was no hostile or cold staring environment. Absolute delight written across people’s faces. As if they’d caught this rare moment of light. All watching, unobtrusively.
Aware that others had caught the moment. Not caring. Smiling.
God, our love should be like that. I want to be completely absorbed in you. I want also to be an onlooker in others lives, to experience that joy in their focus on you. Unity in the commonality of something beautiful. Wonder at childlike facination. Saturated in a moment of how things should be.
To love like that. To live like that.