all said and done Posts

Published June 1, 2005 by

Crossing post/modernism

While I have it on hand….

interesting excerpt from book: More Ready than you Realize (Brian McLaren) p.75-76

Why I should put more effort into reading, remind myself that I like being challenged, keep up that habit I let slide. Started reading intentionally last night, realised how much I’d missed it. Prayer for keeping it up would be good.

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We are used to people writing for us. Newspapers and popular magazines pitch at an eighth grade reading level, easy for all of us. Textbooks are generally written not only by knowledgeable people, but by skilled educators who pay attention to our learning styes, attention spans, and format prefrerences. Popular novels (the ones most of us read, if we read them at all) are written to be popular, and that means easy for us, accesible to us. We assume, if the Bible is in any way inspired, that the Holy Spirit would be so kind and considerate as to similarily gear it exclusively to us. Reasonable enough… at first glance. But think again. If the Bible were written for twenty-first century readers, how would it have come across to its original hearers in the sixth century BC or eight century AD?… And assuming the world is still spinning, how would a style and form targeted on a twenty-first centruy demographic cohort feel for advanced readers in the twenty-ninth century?

It is hard for us, spoiled as we are by being marketing targest, but the Bible askes us to rise above our narrow parochial tastes. It asks us to learn, to understand, to imaginatively enter an alien geography… alien cultures… and social structures. It asks us to stop absolutizing our perspective and, instead, to see our modern or postmodern view points simply as views from a point – limited, contingent, changing, not privileged. In so doing, the very form of the Bible begins teaching us something about humility and perspective.

Christianity General Life

Published May 31, 2005 by

No time

Finished. 2000wrds on the book of Job. a Bible Study thing. Major pest to write. Done. Not posting here, not worth it, boring and long. More ‘other’ to do. Too busy.

Consequently, no journal time, no God time, no other time. What am I doing online?

Talked with Burkes (don’t hurt me!) last night about Bible reading. How yeah, I’m not getting much out of it, nor very motivated. Encouraged, maybe even a bit motivated to get back into it, with more specific intentions rather than my read and forget method (that I seem to use for everything). God poked me again on the way home today about that. Haven’t done it.

I should get offline.

General Life

Published May 30, 2005 by

Prophesy (unabridged)

Good day today. Interesting and weird stuff about angels and demons in Doctrine. Of which led to a conversation at lunch with Sam, Warrick (CL lecturer), Tom, Kym and a few others that were just there. I said how I’d been thinking – strangely about angels yesterday (before I knew this mornings topic) for no apparent reason. Warrick asked if it happened a lot or before or soemthing, and my ‘Oh all the time’… led me, very surprisingly to proceed to tell him of some of the bizzare stuff. The ideas I get in my head (or verses) to tell others. Let off quite a speil, strange because there were a few others there. Even mentioned how I thought God has told me how long until I get married or something (but am holding that pretty loosely).

Anyway, Warrick asked me about prophesy and did I think it was that… not sure, maybe. Was reminded of a conversation or two I had with various people about stuff like this and how _ was saying it might be prophesy. Not to say the idea does not sit right or anything, it’s just a little hmm… thought provoking, strange (I like that word too much tonight).

Warrick encouraged me to pray about it, and about God, you using me to speak into others lives. If you want me to do that so be it. I wouldn’t mind knowing a bit more really, the experience I had with a prophesy someone gave me, well was mixed.

It was nothing huge I guess, just a note she passed to me. Encouragement, that was good. But then something about reminding me that God was with me through this tough time – an unbeknown to her – there wasn’t one, not for months.
Skeptism about it all. I appreciate her doing what she thought God was telling her to do and saying what she though, but yes.

Then again, maybe that was for now, not the actual words, but the experience – thought prompting.

Yes, so interesting day. Good time hanging otu with Katie, Sam, Tom, Mark, Dave… hmm there was someone else there.

Talked about love in CL. Good stuff, wish we had more time though. More about that maybe tomorrow.

Christianity General Life

Published May 29, 2005 by

Rebirth (elaborated)

So my mind running parallel avenues. That of today and of a song ‘Re-birth’ by Ignate which surprisingly due to style, somehow found it’s way into the favourable.

An elaboration on some of what I wrote earlier…

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rebirth my faith to child like
Went to Paul’s church today, for gush mission spot thing. Tij, Cathy and Prowdy also there.
Interestingly I most enjoyed being in a ‘non-disfunctional’ church (all churches are to a certain extent, but yeah). It was like it should be. Maybe I’ve never really connected with WPC (my church) properly. I love the place, the people – those I still know. I like it for memories sake but it’s not working for me anymore. I might wear critical lenses, having been a part of it for so long… It’s missed something. Maybe it’s the community aspect. You see them Sunday and that’s it. I miss that, surrounded by community for most of my life 24-7 to nothing.
Differences: the older people enjoyed themselves, there was genuine…joy, worship. A freedom WPC lacks.
I feel constricted.
and at the moment I don’t really know what to do about it.
Change churches is the obvious, but to where? Is that what you want?
So they are kicking the ___’s out of church. Strange really. They’ve been there so long, and I never knew. Yeah I saw them walk out of church that time… and names mentioned in passing. 3 years it’s been going on. I don’t understand how people can get in and intentionally work to create factions in a church because of their dislike of the pastor, changes etc… Christianity – what about living it?
Lunch at La Porchetta’s… I think that’s pizza of some variety 3 days in a row now, didn’t mind to much. Then found a park near the Murrabanong (sp?) river. Dry but beautiful. Prowdy led us on some bush bash… explore the area thing. Was good.
Encouraged to hear about gush/merge stuff first hand. Emails and MSN really don’t do ideas justice… made some things clearer. Good to hang out with them all (understating the ‘all’ but anyway)
…to be daring
rebirth my faith to childlike
and God to know you and find my sufficency in you.
2 Cor 5:6-10
6Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7We live by faith, not by sight. 8We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
misread ^ … an out of context thing, the body as the Church. Thought provoking.
2 Cor 5:17-21
17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
rebirth
and so to end a highly disjointed sequence of thoughts, boring day details and stuff.
stuff is good.

General

Published May 28, 2005 by

Why building character is not the primary concern (unabridged)

I get tired of self evaluation, implimenting change – trying to work out what to deal with next. It’s ridiculous God. Why do I always forget that all I need is to listen to you, seek you, learn to know you. I get so wrapped up in ‘bettering me’. Where’s the balance God in developing charcter and taking self awareness to the point where it cripples you? How God, do I know? Is it when I get down because I feel I’m not learning, not being challenged? Is it when, because of my life and the lack of abundance of busy, or the alternate, too busy to analyse and that being where I go flat. Does so much of my God relationship focus on trying to build up a likeness, while too frequently forgetting about the actual relationship factor?

In my weariness of ‘rebecca evaluation’ I have done just that. re-evaluated me. A good thing as maybe I identified the ‘should be’ obvious. Acting out on changing it is a different matter. Too long God have I looked to you for challenge, for what I do not need as a primary focus. Lord I only need you. How easy it is to get wrapped up in anything else.

God, I think I know what I need, but I really don’t. You know. I do know that I need you every minute, not for what I can learn or become, but for who you are.

Instead of asking for growth Abba, let me know how to love you. To see you as God and to hold you in the highest honor.

You are God.
And if my life does not express that, If I haven’t grasped that concept, then any growth, strength of character is meaningless.

“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” – Ecclesiastes 12:13

Because you are God.

You know I like irony, don’t you God? Where I evaluate my evaluations, think about thinking and am forever wrapping myself back to the start.

General