I'm a Christ Follower (Mac vs. PC Parody) Part 01

Too good to not post. Stay tuned for more... :-)

Shaun Groves says...

Whatever you decide to do for a living, decide to love God more than yourself, love the poor and the sick and the hopeless more than your own happiness, love the intern as much as the boss, love your kids more than a promotion, love your wife more than your laptop. This is God’s will for your entire life. To pull this off you’ll need to buy as little as you can. The more stuff you own the more you’ll feel you have to work, the more depressed you’ll be when work isn’t fun, and the more you’ll equate God’s will with what you do for work, and the less time you’ll have to discover all the other things life is supposed to be about.

Dena says....AMEN!!!!

Wish someone had told me all of that about 20 years ago...or even ten. If they had, I might have discovered what life is all about when I was 30-something. Good thing is, it's never too old to start over. It certainly takes a lot of work to get rid of all the junk I've accumulated, though.

Iron sharpening iron...

...causes sparks.

I've been studying quite a bit lately about "intentional community". I'm fascinated by the concept...so much so that I honestly don't think I would be opposed to living in a community/group-living situation. Of course, I like my "space", too, so what seems ideal right now, after too many years of just me and the cat, might prove a bit more than I could handle for more than a week or so. I'd like to try it, though...seems like it would be extended-stay church camp. Until someone used my toothpaste. Or borrowed the book I was reading. Or ate "my" last banana.

We have a community of sorts (well, it IS "community"--we just don't live together) in our small group. It's been a psychology student/people-watcher's dream to see how our various lives have melded together into one body. It's fluid. Unexpected things happen. God shows up in our midst. We laugh. We cry. We talk about deep, "relevant" issues. And sometimes about sports. (Well, usually about sports and other deep, relevant issues.) ;-) We eat good stuff. We love each other.

We don't, however, always like each other, I think. Personalities clash. Politics make ugly "body-fellows" at times. We don't always understand one another...and sometimes we don't even try.

And yet, we're sticking together. Even with our clashing personalities and political views and differing opinions. And I see God at work...even amidst the sometimes-flying sparks. I know I've been changed. And it's been good. Even when it's been tough.

And I don't have to worry about anyone using my toothpaste.

GKK--Living example of Isaiah 58:10

Not my video--I found it on YouTube...good stuff. (Not guilty of the misspelled words!) ;-)

What I'm learning...

People are beautiful. And ugly. And beautiful and ugly at the same time, all rolled into one big, sometimes indecipherable ball. We're attracted to the beautiful parts, but when we start building relationships--real community with others--we have to make the choice, somewhere, that we're going to accept the ugly along with the beautiful and learn to deal with it. Or not.

There's a price to pay, either way. I was reminded of that again this week. As you dig deeper in in any type of relationship, as the "newness" wears off, as you start to see people for who they really are when they're being real, you're just bound to run smack into something ugly that you don't really like all that much. And then you're faced with the choice: do I walk away and keep myself insulated from the "junk" or do I dive in and embrace the ugliness, knowing there's more beauty on the other side?

I'm diving.

And I hope others, when faced with the ugliness buried beneath my smile, make that same choice with me.

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt...

I'm still looking for the words. Not finding them. What do you say when your life is completely changed? When all that seemed so worth pursuing and gaining now seems worthless and ugly? And all that seemed alien and for "someone else" now seems the most beautiful way? How do you explain that you went somewhere to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the hurting and realized that YOU were really the hurting one and Jesus wrapped his beautiful, dirty/homeless/broken/addicted/scared/angry/schizophrenic arms around you so tightly that you could scarcely breathe and whispered peace and love and joy in your ear? And you FINALLY understood what it means to be the body of Christ?

GKK has changed my life. It's where my heart has found a home. It's where I met Dave. And Mark. And Greta. And Mary Edna. Regina and Jack. Heather. Freddie and Van. Matt. Danny. Eric. Liz. Chico. Cheyanne. Annie. LT. Mike. Beth. Josh. Kevin. Greg. Vicki. Phil. Mr. Bill. Mrs. Hue. Gabe. Uncle Larry. Nash. Ralph. Mary. Jeff. Thurman. Miss Rose. Sammy. Melvin. Ryan. Lezlie. Melea.

Many churches, one God. Many hands, one body. Many hearts...one home.

I'm listening, I'm listening!!

So...when you hear a song four times in less than 24 hours, what do you think? WIBI needs to change their "heavy rotation" selections? Right/wrong place at the right/wrong time? Maybe God's trying to get your attention through one of the normal channels he uses? Maybe I should listen closely? I did.

I love this song...it's one that I (no exaggeration) crank up the volume as LOUD as I can get it (unfortunately, in the Jeep, that's really not all that loud) and sing at the top of my lungs...well, sing all the words I know at the top of my lungs, anyway. This is one of those songs that I've never taken the time to actually read the lyrics, so I knew most of the words, but there are a few lines that I've never understood what he's saying. I looked them up today.

Funny thing. The lines I never understood (the ones I've bold-faced/italicized) were the ones that I needed to hear right now. God's like that, isn't he? I love those days when I feel like I've been given a whole new lease on life...yesterday's all been washed clean, today's an empty slate and I hold a brand new piece of chalk.

"Burn for You"--TobyMac

I’m a brand new man, I’m a conscious man
I’m a man who’s burnin’ for you
The mistakes I’ve made have been chased away to the bottom of the ocean blue
I’m a brand new man in a foreign land, I’m a man who’s feelin’ that fire
And it’s all so clear when I’m standing here at the peak of my desire
So won’t you move me like you used to
I want the world to know I burn for you

I feel revived again, I am alive again
(Burnin’ for you) You got me lifted and lifted you lift me up
I feel revived again, I’m energized again
(Burnin’ for you) You got me lifted and lifted you lift me up

Woke up in a sweat, those ghosts in my head
Had a grip, but I slipped on by
It’s a whole new day as the darkness fades
And the sun’s climbing in the sky
I concede, my love, that I need your love
I’m before you, a broken man
And it’s only you, no substitutes who can renew this soul again

You got me higher than Kilimanjaro
Got me believin’ I can “save the day”
I’m up and running like their ain’t no tomorrow
I’d rather burn for you than fade away
I’d rather burn for you than go my way

I’m a whole new guy with a whole new vibe
Changed inside – more flame in the fire
Can’t stop, won’t stop praying for desire
Like the bunny on the screen feel so energized
Old shell gone without a trace, new face
No more shortness of breath, new pace
Live life now without the taste of fear
TOBYMAC, Double Dutch now let the smoke clear

Quoting nakedpastor again...

Sometimes you find someone who speaks your own heart so clearly that there's no need to set it up or embellish it...my favorite line is in boldface, so you can't miss it!

Once again church had a slight feeling of artificiality to it yesterday. Even though it was “good”, I kept getting this anguished feeling in my guts that we’re putting on a show, that we were presenting something from the front, that we were the production and they were the audience. I’m sure many there didn’t feel that way. And maybe I have issues. No, surely I do. I know you know.I just get so tired and suspicious of organized Christianity and official Churchianity. I get this deep feeling in my guts that something is terribly wrong. And I despair that any amount of tweaking and adjusting and altering is just changing the furniture on a sinking ship. I’m still looking for the real, the true, the most valuable jewel. Yesterday at church blatantly reminded me that I still haven’t found what I’m looking for. I know that it isn’t elsewhere. It’s here, now, breaking in upon me like a flood… if only I would have the courage to abandon all I’ve tried or acquired and possess it! But it can’t be possessed, can it!? It is a gift. It is a reality. It is like the air that can’t be owned but must be breathed in order to truly live.

I’ll be honest: the urge to quit creeps in on me in times like this. I didn’t use to be this way. I realize I may be acting out of my negative experiences with churches and being a pastor. But I’ve always felt there was something more, something else. This is what keeps me going. At times like this I feel like John Dunbar in Dances With Wolves: injured in the US Civil War, who accepts a post on the western frontier and “goes native“. I want to go to the frontier, live simply, go native, and enjoy the simple pleasures of love and community.

I know that already happens here a lot and it will continue to happen in this community. It’s just the Sunday morning thing. It’s the ritual, no matter how contemporary or radical, that I haven’t the stomach for any more. It’s when we stop being normal and behave like we’re in church. Can we gather without losing ourselves?

God's Katrina Kitchen update...

I've copied this from their website. Please keep the GKK staff in your prayers as they make decisions regarding the upcoming move. If you know me very well, you know that GKK is dear to my heart--given the opportunity, I would pack my bags and move there in a heartbeat...there's truly nowhere else in the world I would rather be at this moment in time. The full-time staff as well as the short-term volunteers are the hands and feet of Jesus to the still-hurting Gulf Coast residents...the media may have forgotten them, but God has NOT forgotten.

God's Katrina Kitchen is... MOVING!!!

At the July 2nd, Gulfport City Council meeting, GKK was denied our request for a one-year extension on our current site. The property owners willingly offered an extension our our lease, as they have claim to have no immediate plans for redevelopement of the property, but our operation here on the site was denied. The courtroom was packed, many supporters of GKK, yet the city council members voted to not extend our temporary operation here.

At this time, we are seeking another nearby site, as there are many citizens who are still needing our services. According to recent reports, over 30,000 families still remain in FEMA trailers. Without the faith-based organizations, many say they "would not know what to do."
As God impresses upon the hearts of people from all over to come to the Gulf Coast to volunteer and assist their fellow citizens, we will do all we can to continue to house and feed them. We believe God will provide a new location.

Please agree with us . We pray that God will direct us to the location He has for us. We pray for favor and ease in approval for operating on the new site. We pray for provisions for the move, both in finances to cover the move and infastructure for the camp, as well as the volunteers to make the move possible.

We are looking forward to the awesome praise report of how God works through this situation!