I seriously love this quote

17 gallons of tears(by a fellow etsy seller)
My absolute most favouritest current quote, of which I could read 50 times and yet not tire of, is found below. At a time when "authenticity" is a popular spiritual fashion accessory, I crave to see it's existence proved through unabashed honest communication.

"You don't have to be around the church long to learn that where there is unity God blesses, and that where there is discord, He doesn't. Unity is the prelude and primary condition for power in prayer (Matt. 18:19). Unity always exist in the Spirit in the body, no matter how we fuss and fight, but unity must travel from spirit to soul to heart and mind and action before it bears fruit among men.

However, the quest for unity need not prevent discussion, difference of opinion, or even sharp disagreement. It is one thing to agree so deeply in heart and soul and spirit that we can violently disagree in mind, without disturbing unity or breaking the agreement which profits prayer. It is another to so let disagreements enlist angers and party spirit that inner energies are drafted to unconscious battles and conscious debates. Paul and Peter battled heavily (Gal. 1-2) and yet the Father worked stupendous miracles in and through both of them, and wherever they went the church prospered! Men fought Paul everywhere. Most of the letters of the New Testament are written about quarrels or are themselves involved in settling some dispute. Yet the early church was filled with power. We can fuss at each other strenuously without disturbing true unity. We must not so make an idol of unity that we drive necessary irritations of communication underground and so provide lip service to unity while we are inwardly frustrated into hating. The restoration of unity also means the restoration of honest communication. Anger, jealousy, spite, envy and the like tear the fabric of unity, not honest communication. If men's hearts are knit as one, the mental exercise of debate serves only to heighten respect and increases banter and fun. We need not fear to fuss and fight, as long as we immediately forgive and laughingly embrace. Unity moves from spirit to soul and heart by the route of openness, not tight-mouthed silence."

~ John Sanford, "The Elijah Task"

it is finished

"twouble with twitters"

positioned to love

bomobob(a fellow etsy seller)

"You and I cannot demonstrate love or joy or peace or patience or kindness sitting all by ourselves on an island. No, we demonstrate it when the people we have committed to loving give us good reasons not to love them, but we do it anyway."

~ Mark Dever, "What Is A Healthy Church"

He goes on to suggest that if your goal is to love all Christians, then commit yourself to a concrete group of Christians (church) with all their failures and weaknesses. Stick with them through thick and thin for 80 years and then evaluate how successful you were at loving all Christians.

Sounds like marriage, but then I think that's how it should be viewed.

silence

michelle stone(by a fellow etsy seller)
A favourite local blogger (who also shares my name!) posted something over at her Redemption Junkie blog that really struck me. It speaks to me because over the past year I have come to adore silence when I'm alone. I find these words illuminating.

Unfortunately, in seeing ourselves as we truly are, not all that we see is beautiful and attractive. This is undoubtedly part of the reason we flee silence. We do not want to be confronted with our hypocrisy, our phoniness. We see how false and fragile is the false self we project. We have to go through this painful experience to come to our true self. It is a harrowing journey, a death to self—the false self—and no one wants to die. But it is the only path to life, to freedom, to peace, to true love. And it begins with silence. We cannot give ourselves in love if we do not know and possess ourselves. This is the great value of silence. It is the pathway to all we truly want.

--M. Basil Pennington

it's confirmed, i'm a wishful dreamer!

life is but a dream(by a fellow etsy seller)

Not so long ago, I gained a step-dad in Lawrence at the age of 40, and I'm thrilled my mom has him in her life. I've been enjoying his recent comments. He has a way of challenging my thinking that is thought provoking. I love that because it's a rare gift. It's what I need and pray for.

Here's something interesting he said yesterday in the comments:

"What you are hinting at requires a genuine heart desire filled with love and laying everything else aside. This requires a cost and i'm not sure that there are those who really want to move with God that strongly, because of the work and effort it would take to make a change. The buzz words being mindsets and paradigms."

Ah, the path of least resistance! Though I'll never resign myself to the status quo, I guess this confirms once again that I have and always will be a dreamer. :-)

This girl will continue to believe that Jesus' way will always be cutting edge, radical, and new. Although God is not confined by the 66 books of the Bible, I'll also continue to believe that the principles laid out in the NT for having a healthy community are timeless.

In the end, my heart cry is not for something new (we already have that), but for healthy maturing Christian community where we reflect the nature and the heart of Jesus, in spite of ourselves.

The "Moses Model"

the odyssey

I blog for myself and not for any other reason. I don't pine for comments, so it's always fun to get one because it's like a "bonus".

My good friend Lawrence, who happens to my mom's fabulous husband, made an interesting comment in passing yesterday. He mentioned what's typically called the "Moses Model" in regards to how a church is primary lead by the senior pastor. What's weird is I had only just heard the term the night before.

Here's what I've gathered recently: Moses was Israel's leader. He had 70 elders. He was a deliverer. God gave him the Law. Moses was a type of Christ. Christ has now come. We have our High Priest. Christ is our deliverer. Christ fulfilled the law.

Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house. For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. ~ Hebrews 3:1-6 (NKJV)

To me this means that Jesus is the Head of each church, he is the "Senior Pastor". So it would appear to me that if Moses was "replaced" by Jesus, can any one then "replace" Jesus'?

I can't reconcile that anywhere in the New Testament. If anything, I can find plenty to contradict it.

I suppose I'd be nuts to end it at that because I'm sure I'm being offensive to those who are senior pastors. The thing is, is the "Moses Model" good for anyone, even current senior pastors? Is any person capable of carrying that kind of burden alone?? How many pastor's have suffered needlessly because they have more authority (even just a little more) than anyone else? They become the target for all the complaints. This doesn't sound like a safe position for any pastor.

I used to think, "well someone has to have the final say". Yes it's true, and that person is God. I have all the faith in the world that Jesus is capable of leading each church and of granting it's leaders the ability to hear him as they look for the answers they need.