Category: <span>Church</span>

Published May 24, 2008 by

Changes

I haven’t mentioned them previously due to either uncertainty or confidentiality but there have been some pretty significant changes going on.

In two weeks Geoff finishes up where he’s worked for the last three years for a new job – closer to what he originally wanted to do with IT. It’s been a slow and interesting haul working out what was happening and if he/we’d actually head down that route.

And last night Geoff and I let the youth kids know that we’d be finishing up at the end of this term. This too has been a long and interesting journey. Because to be utterly honest we don’t want to be finishing up.

I’m really not sure about the whole often held idea that God has a set plan laid out for our lives, but regardless I think this is what we need to be doing, and we’ve kind of been told. We have no idea what’s next. In some way it’s a part of establishing what it means to be a Christian and not to be a part of such an obvious ‘ministry’ (Gosh I’m starting to really hate that word). It’s a sucky thing to be leaving youth behind, it will be interesting to see what’s ahead, but for now, I’d rather be back hanging out with 14 year olds. What lies ahead for the youth at YVV is also in question, please be praying for that, there’s no smackingly clear direction or person.

Christianity Church Life Ministry

Christianity Church God plans youth

Published May 22, 2008 by

Whelmed

I’ve been using up my blogging energy lately being overwhelmed with all the work I have to finish up before uni ends for the semester. I have one week left of classes and a folio week-extra time to finish things off. So I’m peddling my face (read bum) off trying to fill out my folios enough to get me through this lot classes. The direst of circumstances would see me failing packaging and having to do it again (that would be torture) but I think I’ll be okay. It’ll just be a jammed ugly few weeks

On a slightly *lighter note, post of the day to Naked Pastor for Flee to the Desert, because I thoroughly identify.

*as aptly pointed out this is not lighter, merely different

Church Life Post of the Day Uni

homework Post of the Day procrastination slacker too much Uni

Published May 18, 2008 by

Church our saviour

The busy front must recognise the homework, the housework, the social inevitables, the tedious hunt for a new couch. The heart must recognise the crappy situations going on in Burma and China. The fingers must recognise a lack of touch to keys a small apology and the brain is simply flying around like a ninny making sense of frustrations I should have in someway long gotten over and in others, adhere to for sanity, reality and sensibility’s sake

I met a girl on the train the other day, she was terribly intentional about starting up a conversation. It was soon established that she came from (and I wont name it) a rather large and what I’d describe as hypey church in the city. Hypey from experience. We kept talking. I turns out she works there etc. etc. Her conversation (Once she’d established I was a Christian) was loaded with Christianese and she presented the appearance of quite a settled, ‘Everything is great when you have Jesus’ life, except that it was more, ‘Everything is great when you have church’. It disturbed me

One of the reasons I’ve delayed writing this post is that I have a good old fat tendancy to be rather rude and harsh and I’m not very good at being tactful. Look I’m trying assume the best that she had a particular extroverted personality that simply expressed itself in that way. But it did progress some thoughts.

Then last night I had the chance to hear Erwin McManus speak at CityLife – a huge church (He was great btw). I struggle incredibly in going to large, very polished churches, something feels really out of whack. I’m not dissing CityLife here, they had some ripper decent theology in their songs. But big and flashy always brings the thought home.

Christianity wasn’t ever meant to be a show, and I understand that it gels with some, perhaps even fits a particular culture but to me it presents a face that feels really fraudulent and it actually scares the pants off me.

Living authentically is difficult. Talking about Jesus is difficult. I wish for my life if anything, to be brutally honest.

What happens when that doesn’t happen in our communities? When they themselves become our world. Our work, our friendships, our lives.

I know that God will probably drag me nicely across the floor in terms of being far less judgmental when it comes to alternate expressions, and I know I have much to learn from the courage and the enthusiasm of others but it’s rather complicated at the moment, because the walls fly up and render me pretty well incapable of even participating when dumped in any situation of the like. I have a terribly jaded, critical beast in me that hates what I see (badly) and hurts for the people I know who have been repelled from this institution we call church.

I want for my life to be tied to His and not simply to a beurocracy, an idea or a specific community. So much good can easily go wrong. We do need community, but it cannot become God.

Christianity Church General On The Train

Church

Published April 23, 2008 by

Geoff talks

Scott has posted up about Geoff’s preaching gig last Sunday.

Here it is.

I am still unsure about the cohort we seem to attract on the rare occasion this happens – it seems we (or he) is a novelty. At least it makes for a fun lunch afterwards.

I like Ranges. It puts YVV in it’s proper size bucket – too big. That saying, I like YVV too. I am still lacking a gauge for how much.

Church

Church Geoff preaching

Published April 14, 2008 by

Base level and back to insight

Apologies for surviving on coffee for the past three or so days – the posting quality indicates that although the good black stuff is a stimulant, it sort of just exists to taste nice and to keep you awake, rather than provide any kind of clarity of thought.

I must rave on about some of the stuff at Forge. I did find the whole deal very different to last year’s gig. Dangerous Stories was this beautiful play of theory and inspiration. Grassroots was more a lovely kind of depth filled encouragement basement that affirmed the heart behind things rather than just ideas.

I say encouragement but in a small way I need to flip that on end again and say I came away with a little lingering sense of hope while staring at a mountain with this bloody big compulsion to change. Erm… I hope you get the gist

My favourite workshop of the whole weekend – and possibly my favourite of the lot (besides Danielle Strickland who was hilarious and just really good, oh, and Tall Skinny Kiwi) – was a workshop by Steve Drinkall – ‘God doesn’t need another Church’.

I was going to explain it through but after a short Google search to find a link, I found the stuff pretty much explained.

Monks, Cheerleaders and Activists.

It was so good to hear about something that’s being lived out and it is stories like these that give me confidence (For a sometimes very young feeling 22 year old) that I can be a part of something similar and that it’s something that I want to be on about.

Christianity Church Coffee

Christianity Forge grassroots mission