Missional thinking...

Too good to not quote in its entirety. From Larry Chouinard at Spiritual Conversations.

You might have missional tendencies if:

1. You talk more about the Kingdom of God than you do your local church.

2. You are more in awe of the radical Jesus than you are the charisma of your pastor/preacher.

3. You feel a greater sense of community in the parking lot than in the pews.

4. You've oftened muttered leaving a 'church service', "there's got to be more to it than this".

5. You've often wondered why the church couldn't meet in the park or Starbucks once in a while.

6. You've cringed at the coldness and indifference of church people when someone shows up at our 'church service' that looks and smells different.

7. You've wondered why Christians only hang-out with Christians when Jesus seemingly never missed an opportunity to party with the riff-raff.

8. You've wondered what God does the other six days of the week.

9. You've had the urge to spill your guts to the next artificial inquiry, "I'm fine, how are you?".

10. You've had the compelling urge to join the preacher at the podium to present an alternative perspective.

11. You've wanted to fall to your knees while everyone stood for another happy-clappy song.

12. You've wanted to close a 'service' by shouting from your pew, "NOW WHAT?"

13. You sometimes find more spiritual depth and authenticity in the lives of those who do not go to church.

The big purple pie...

So, in the spirit of all things transparent, I've taken a deep breath and decided to (actually quite literally!) put my money (or lack thereof) where my mouth is.

I'm committed to being out of debt (and by "out of debt", I mean completely--including no house or car payment) by the end of next year. Doable? Yes. Tough? YES. But committed I am...and now that I've posted it for the world to read, I have even more of a reason to stick to it--I would hate to have to admit failure to the entire world!

So...you're all invited to keep watch as I slice away at that purple pie. Right now, I'm pretty excited. Check back with me in a few months...we'll see how I feel about it then. I put myself on a strict, but not stupidly so, budget a couple of months ago and it's amazing how much progress I've made already. I don't really mind my new way of life...living with less makes me value more what I DO have. And makes me look forward with great anticipation to what I WILL have someday (financial freedom).

"Crazy Sexy Cancer"...

This is Kris Carr's story of her journey since she was diagnosed in 2003 with a rare, incurable cancer. I love the quote on the homepage of the Crazy Sexy Cancer website: "Why, when we are challenged to survive, do we give ourselves permission to truly live?"

Her documentary film will air on TLC on August 29 and her book goes on sale August 27.

I can't do her story justice...the website's great. Can't wait to see the documentary.

Facebook

It annoys me. More than MySpace. So, I'm just going to look at everyone's lovely photo albums and leave the rest of it alone. I don't need any more annoyances in my life.

That's all. ;-)

So...I've learned something new!

I've added RSS feeds from four of my more "talkative" blogger friends. I don't always have something new to say, but these guys usually do.

"NakedPastor" always has something to say...even if you don't agree with him (I mostly DO), the ensuing conversation is usually quite stimulating. If you're looking for transparency (hence, the "naked" title), David seems quite willing to oblige. He's certainly challenging me, transparent though I believe myself to be, to step it up a notch.

"Love in the Key of Longbrake" is...well, just incredible. Joshua is seriously an AMAZING artist...as skilled in painting a beautiful canvas of words as he is with the photos he shoots. He's on a cross-country journey right now--from Indiana to a seminary in Seattle. He's one of those people I would love to meet someday, but would probably be so awestruck and tongue-tied I would make a fool of myself (THAT doesn't happen often! Well, the tongue-tied part, anyway...)

"Something Else..." is Jon's blog--another step in his journey of living authentically. He's been talking about "intentional community" lately and, of course, that's one of my favorite subjects. He is thought-provoking, blunt, and a deep thinker.

"Defined" is from Nate...also quite thought-provoking (must be a family trait or something!) I appreciate his perspective--I love the "iron sharpening iron" process when believers don't see quite eye-to-eye on something.

Thanks to Hersch for being the bridge that led me to Longbrake and Jon...and indirectly then to Nate--I'm glad my world includes their voices.

Is this how we live?

"Red is grey and yellow white...

...But we decide which is right. And which is an illusion."

And how, then, do we decide? And, how do we "justify" that decision when it flies in the face of everything we've believed for...oh, most of our lifetimes?

So I've been thinking a lot lately. Thoughts that have turned my world totally upside down. But upside down in a good way, I think, because I've stopped to examine parts of my belief system in a new light. Things are not always what they seem. Some of what I've always "seen" in one color now seems to be another...and I must decide what's right and what's illusion.

God is not a Republican. Dr. Dobson is NOT the spokesman for the American church. Jesus was not a Christian.

I listened recently as a friend told me that the Clintons (for whom I do NOT care, just so you'll know) are "single-handedly responsible" for the moral decline in the United States over the past few years. Sorry. Don't buy that. Take responsibility for your own morality...or lack thereof. The Clintons certainly have not been the poster children for all that's right in the US, but..."single-handedly responsible"? No way. We became a nation of excuse-makers and rule-breakers and liberty-takers LONG before Bill Clinton took office or Monica Lewinsky was even born.

I've decided I really loathe politicians in general...and some in specific. Not just because they're Democrats, because some of them aren't. Some of them are (gasp!) Republicans. Greed and stupidity (and maybe even just pure, unadulterated evil) run rampant on both sides of the aisle. God isn't looking to see if they're red or blue--he's looking for a heart that loves him. (And if he really had to choose a political party, it would probably be the Green Party--at least, they're about social justice and taking care of the natural resources we've been given).

And I'm sick of the self-righteous crap coming out of Colorado Springs. Dobson is not the poster-boy for all things Christian...and he doesn't speak for me. Well, on second thought, maybe he IS the spokesman for the American church--maybe that's at least part of what's wrong with the American church! The body of Christ needs to get back to being the body of Christ--if we would do what we're called to do (love others, serve others, etc.), we wouldn't need Dobson and others of his ilk politicizing the church and trying to legislate morality.

I've posted some of the "Christian vs. Christ Follower" videos because they line up pretty well with what I've been thinking lately...I can't help but believe that God must want to vomit (it's scriptural!) over much of the lukewarm crap that masquerades for "church" here in America today. But hey, we're wearing our "secular"-logo-knockoff Christianized t-shirts ('cause they'll know we are Christians by our clothes, right?), listening to our "family friendly" Christian-music-only radio, and parking our butts on a pew for an hour every Sunday morning to get our "God fix" for the week, so we must be okay.

What happened to living the life of a follower of Jesus every day? Do we even have a clue what that looks like? And how it might completely rock our world if we actually did it?

The bottom line is: I'm fed up with life as usual. I'm fed up with church as usual. And now I have to decide what to do with all of this being fed up. What is right? What is an illusion?

Who I am when I'm real...

Someday I'll find my voice again...

...or maybe the voice isn't really lost--just hesitant to speak up about the thoughts that have been running through my head lately. Until I'm feeling braver, here's a Franciscan blessing:

May God bless you with discomfort
At easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships
So that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression and exploitation of people,
So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war,
So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and
To turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness
To believe that you can make a difference in the world,
So that you can do what others claim cannot be done
To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.

Amen.

How, then, shall we live...?

"At our best, we become Sabbath for one another. We are the emptiness, the day of rest. We become space, that our loved ones, the lost and sorrowful, may find rest in us." Wayne Muller from "Sabbath"

And think on this...

Courtesy of the Emerging Grace blog. Good stuff...copied with permission. :-)

Think on this...

"The gospel doesn't reside in western Michigan or Wheaton, IL or Dallas, TX, or Colorado Springs. The gospel isn't exported with American missionaries to other countries. The gospel is nomadic, a God-created gypsy, a "word" without a country, yet comfortably at home in all cultures."--From the African Bible Commentary

I'm a Christ Follower (Mac vs. PC Parody) Part 03

Are YOU "down with the JC?" ;-) This is my favorite one so far. And, just for the record, *I* am listening mostly to Nanci Griffith right now on my NON-JPod. Wonder if he has a "Contemporary Christian Folk" genre on that thing...??

I'm a Christ Follower (Mac vs. PC Parody) Part 02

If anyone has heard me ranting about those STUPID offering envelopes, you'll know I was laughing hysterically when I watched this one!!