Read this in a commentary today:
"A gospel that does not affect every aspect of the Christian's life is a shallow faith, if not a dead orthodoxy."

I agree with this wholeheartedly but I'm not sure I'm a good example of it. My faith seems to be perpetually shallow. Thankfully what I feel and what things seem like is not the end of the story.

If you read this offer up a prayer for me as I endeavor to get healthier.

Ravi Zacharias addressed the UN on September 10 of this year. Well worth the reading. Here is the transcript.

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves
Starbucks, Starbucks, Starbucks
Drive, drive, sleep

This morning we had our first official "common meal" as a church. This is a strange enough endeavor for us but to top it off we made it breakfast. Even less clear about how to do the 'bread and cup' in that setting. We then read Mark 1 aloud and discussed some of what we saw/heard there and how it was hitting us. I'm sure everyone is still processing this, I know I am. Thankfully we have the HOly Spirit, who is, by the way, an excellent church consultant.

This quote is from "Wild At Heart" by John Eldridge. Still figuring out how much I agree with what he says but it won't be much and there's a lot of good stuff.

"It is fear that keeps a man at home where things are neat and orderly and under his control. But the answers to his deepest questions are not to be found on television or in the refrigerator."
Ouch! That one hurts. I would probably add the computer to that list.

Anybody figured out how to be content yet?

Couple of quotes from Messy Spirituality by Mike Yaconelli

"Rest is the ultimate humiliation because in order to rest, we must admit we are not necessary, that the world can get along without us, that God's work does not depend on us. Once we understand how unnecessary we are, only then might we find the right reasons to say yes. Only then might we find the right reasons to decide to be with Jesus instead of working for him."

"The church, by and large, has had a poor record of encouraging freedom. She has spent so much time inculcating in us the fear of making mistakes, that she has made us like ill-taught piano students: we play our songs, but we never really hear them because our main concern is not to make music but to avoid some flub that will get us in dutch." Robert Capon

I'm confronted today by Jesus' admonishment that I not think like the pagans who are always asking, "What shall I eat? What shall I drink? What shall I wear?" It seems that a major portion of my day is given to thinking about these questions or others like them. On top of my own issues regarding what I eat and what I wear I have to deal with what my daughters are going to wear and eat. Some of you will understand when i say this makes me want a pizza.

Not so clear socio-spiritual conjecturing.

As we have been working out and working through the issues of simple church/house church a couple of thoughts have taken hold of me. Something about our culture's view of meals makes it difficult to get across the value of a common meal for the church. There doesn't seem to be one prevalent factor in this regard but ones I see are: 1)utilitarian view of eating, 2)superficial party dynamic (eating is only hedonistic), 3)supremacy of individual choice. I didn't articulate those very well but there is something there.

Second issue is family. Now that I've started giving more creedence to Paul's use of the family as analogy it makes a lot more sense that the Enemy would put so much effort into destroying families and family relationships. Broad definitions of family can be helpful but the clearest picture of family is that of parents and children, brothers and sisters. Even the broader definitions of families ( any combination of individuals in a close living arrangement) need this basic definition of family to make sense. With so many people coming from screwed up family situations no wonder its so hard to get anywhere using that analogy.

Bringing It All Back Home
Notes from a house church in Auckland

I'm not sure there can be a community that is truly successful when its members do not laugh and celebrate with frequent gusto.

Scott Peck

Spiritual Warfare and Sin: A Saint In Embryo

For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I
see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind,
and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my
members.
--Romans 7:22-23

The regenerate man often has a more difficult time of it than the
unregenerate, for he is not one man but two. He feels within him a
power that tends toward holiness and God, while at the same time
he is still a child of Adam's flesh and a son of the red clay.
This moral dualism is to him a source of distress and struggle
wholly unknown to the once-born man. Of course the classic
critique upon this is Paul's testimony in the seventh chapter of
his Roman epistle.

The true Christian is a saint in embryo. The heavenly genes are
in him and the Holy Spirit is working to bring him on into a
spiritual development that accords with the nature of the
Heavenly Father from whom he received the deposit of divine life.
Yet he is here in this mortal body subject to weakness and
temptation, and his warfare with the flesh sometimes leads him
to do extreme things. "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit,
and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one
to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would"
(Gal. 5:17). That Incredible Christian, 53-54.

"Lord, sometimes I could wish I were not 'still a child of
Adam's flesh and a son of the red clay.' But I live in this
flesh and realize constantly my total dependence on You for
spiritual victory. Grant it today, for Jesus' sake. Amen."

Read "Insight for Leaders" online at: http://www.litmin.com/tozer.php3

In Our Weakness

While we are unwilling to admit we are weak
no-one will believe we can truly understand
what it means to lose; what it means to fail-
-sometimes miserably.

If you have attempted to convince others you are strong,
I have bad news for you, they are not fooled.
Your weakness is common knowledge.
It is published in every human heart and known by every mind.
It is simply called "humanness." It is being human,
and this weakness is common to all.

It is not our strength God seeks to use, but our weakness.
Our strength brings US glory.
Our weakness brings HIM glory.
So, He chose two people well past childbearing age -
-to birth His nation.
He chose the least of Jessie's sons
-to be king of His nation.
He chose mere fishermen and vile tax collectors
-to spread His good news.
Now He chooses you and I even in our weakness,
(perhaps because of our weakness)
-to accomplish great things.

If you have yet to accomplish great things,
and if the prospects seem dim,
perhaps you have been and are being,
-too strong.
It is, then, your own strength which has limited you.
It is your own self sufficiency
which has hampered your usefulness.
It is good that you are here at the end of you
weak and looking to Him for strength.

Isa. 40:29, Isa. 53:3, Ezek. 34:16, Joel 3:10, Rom. 15:1, 1Cor. 1:25, 27, 2Cor. 12:9-10

Copyright(C)1999 Hudson Russell Davis

The future of the church depends on whether it develops true community. We can get by for a while on size, skilled communication, and programs to meet every need. But unless we sense that we belong to each other with masks off the vibrant church of today will become the powerless church of tomorrow."

Larry Crabb

Sittin' here with my friend Jeff, trying to splain the blogging thang.

Good time with the church family yesterday. We had to overcome and adapt since the local clubhouse manager forgot to leave the key out for us. Nice to have so much flexibility. However, insects are reason number #37 to have the church indoors.

And now to sleep...zzzz...nyst be at the SBUX very early...zzzz

Read the first chapter of Dallas Willard's "Renovation of the Heart". Should be good. Also reading a new book on worship that was edited by DA Carson. Really good thoughts & various perspectives.

To check or not to check? What kind of question is that?

Now I'm trying to keep up with a 1/2 dozen blogs. This could become an obsession. Trying to limit myself to 2-3 times of checking in each day.

So hot and tired on the 4th of July.

I've never done well at journaling but have no trouble talking for hours. We'll see how this goes.