you can't hear if you think you've already heard...
there's so much noise... so much static... between our words and our lives... if the message we have is such "good news" then why are we communicating it so poorly, or not at all?
what's more important... our words or our lives? (trick ques... maybe)
what is one without the other?
what's life without words?
what's words without life?
this is going to be a "fun" exploration...
see you wednesday
F
there was again a sweet sense at thegathering (yes one word) tonight at the REALM. we brought the conversations series to a close by creating a series of small conversations for us to delve into.
the picture that i will remember from tonight is watching students engage in life together through conversation... but isn't that one of the best ways to engage life?
i am proud of this community... they/we remind me a lot of the disciples in the sense that at times they/we really seem to get it... if only for a night and only for a conversation... if only for a glimpse... for a glimpse is a step closer on the journey.
live well...
may the subject of our conversations reflect the pursuit of our hearts...
F
again... for me just proves the nature of conversations and the effect, power and influence conversations have in our lives.
i had a buddy who is also a youth pastor from literally right down the road just randomly pop into my office yesterday to just hang. the conversation was refreshing for me because there was no agendas... no strings attached to the words that were being shared... just life being handed back and forth. two guys... no turf wars, no agendas. just words, life, and dreams of what tomorrow should look like.
yes... that should be our reality.
that was a glimpse of life through words.
refreshing...
F
you can't hear if you think you've already heard...
we will continue to challenge our presuppositions or the things that we think we thought we knew... did you follow that?
fresh eyes, unlock the doors, open the windows...
to what should be!
there's a lot of static between your ears and whats real!
F
got this from one of my buddies blogs... pretty funny!
i hope everyone creates some greats memories this weekend... accumulate experiences!
remember that this weekend is all about REMEMBERing what jesus did and who jesus is. this weekend is not about rituals, but instead should reflect our reality... in short, this should just be an extension of our lives.
may our lives be a lived in reflection and remembrance...
F
i am the type of person who takes what i do very seriously... last night was a good night... emphasis on the word good... that doesn't mean that it was bad, just good. so if i am not careful i take a lot on myself... i wish that some things would have gone a little better last night; again not to say that they went bad, i am just a perfectionist in a lot of things. where last week i left "floating" in a sense, last night i had a heavy heart just reflecting on the night.
with that said, i went to bed with the heaviness and therefore woke up with the heaviness. immediately... i tried to go to what we learned last night and wrestle this morning with what it meant to die to self...
remember the image there is the opening of the safe, the vault that we have allowed to hold all the "stuff" that we have let define us... particularly the sin that keeps us disconnected and keeps us from intimately knowing and pursuing jesus more authentically...
this morning i was challenged to lose that stuff that i may live... not just exist... live life to full. aren't you tired of a life lived not to the full? some of us may not even know what that looks like.
may you, may we lose the life that we have allowed to define us so that we may live the life that we have been called to define us.
because at the end of the day... its either death or death!
F
What if our lives were just one big conversation?
What would your life sound like?
F
its late... i have been here all day 16 hours to be exact... and may i say that today was just RIGHT!
tonight there was just a sweet time of worship and a pure sense of being in god's presence... i feel overwhelmed to be a part of this... what is this... the church. for the first time in my life i am beginning to understand from experience and not just words what it means to be the church and be a part of something bigger than i am... to be a part of a community seeking and pursuing what it looks like to be disciple. i am not saying that we have it figured out, i am simply saying that we are striving and pursuing together and wrestling together with what it looks like to love him and love people...
because at the end of the day, what else is there?
NOTHING!
if i can articulate exactly where i am... i think i understand humility in this moment. i think i understand what jesus meant when he said that his adequacy was enough to cover my inadequacies.
just a humble part...
F
i wonder why so many conversations i have about god often end up somewhere along the lines of lack of knowing god the way that we should know him or even want to know him?
why is this?
why do christians continue to struggle in connection and intimacy to knowing god?
last week we looked at what has come to be known as the "lord's prayer" (luke 11:1-13) which we now know more accurately probably should be called the "disciples prayer"... jesus models for us the connection, the intimacy between he and his father and then turns to us (the disciples) and says do as i do.
when you have CONVERSATION with me may it be intimate, may it be revered, may we come to know that he and he alone should be our provider, not a glorified genie in a lamp...
translation... THIS IS NO JOKE! when we talk with god, we talk with our creator, we talk to the creator... the artist that had you in mind from the beginning.
this is why paul says to live life and NEVER stop praying... he understood this!
he understood that he will "find" god when he seeks with ALL his heart. (jer 29.13)
may we come to understand that our conversations with each other set the stage for conversations with god and god with each other!
F
if our conversations shape our lives... therefore shaping how we experience god... how are your conversations?
Q: is there a connection between our conversations and how we experience god?
- or -
Q: is there a connection between our conversations and our experience of and with god?
F
this month (march for those of you who need some help there) we will be starting a new series called conversations. i hope for it to be an open platform filled with discussion and interaction. for the meat and "rip your face off" part of the series we will look at some incredible conversations that jesus had with people.
see you tomorrow night... for our new series conversations.
F
