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September 18, 2008

Comments

DougG

JR,
Quite interesting blogs the last few weeks. I see a parallel to the transition from the end of Gospels to the first few chapters of Acts. Just looking at the church Jesus "left behind": desertion, a mission, waiting, empowerment, persecution, scattering, boldness, "wild goose", miracles, giving, charity, personal failures, etc.
One I might add, which is kind of personal right now, is "downward mobility". For me it is a mushing together of Heb 6:9-12, Phil 2, and pretty much all of Jeremiah. That any ministry God will deem successful has to include a combination of me serving every last person (mustard seeds?) as though they were the most important person to me, because they are to God. Personally, as I work thru this with Dean, it is a scary road because of my past (and never feeling valued) because it strips away any and all ego and pride, puts self out there for total trust in God, puts you at odds with others/churches that aren't on that road, and forces you to apply severe grace in almost every situation. When I feel overwhelmed by it all and think of turning back, I think of the verses in Isaiah where God asks, "What fault did you find in Me?"
Regards, Doug

swmrr

Hi J.R. Thank you for sharing so openly these past few weeks. I have a much better picture now of what is going on. I hope at some point the following question "fits" in your story: How can praise and worship help your mission along without it becoming ego-centric? I realize that classical musicians often come across as ego-centric with what appear to be draconian approaches, impossibly high standards, and so on. I see just as much ego-centricness in so-called "contemporary worship" where subjectivity is king, a great deal of suspicion applied to someone who is classically trained, and people acting completely irrationally to please the worship leader, because he "sings like Bruce Springsteen" or whatever the flavor du jour happens to be.

I reached out to the church I went to in college, and found out that it is "healthily intact" in many ways. Other churches I have been involved in since then are completely unrecognizable. The remarkable characteristic for my college church is that people from around the country always remarked on the high quality of the worship. It was not about a particular sound or person. It was about a community on its knees or standing in reverence before God. I would be willing to travel the 6 hour car ride just to be there for the worship. This church also had a strong network of house churches, where worship on a more intimate level was amazing.

I look forward to hearing about the birth and/or "renewal" of authentic, honest worship as the Renew house churches develop. Thank you again for including so many people in your journey as you keep us up to date with this blog.

swmrr

Something to balance any recent cranky comments from me - about suspicion - Just went to an urban area to help a friend of mine.

Helping this person gives me a tiny window into the life of a pastor. It takes a great deal of security to not push a hurting person into an "easy solution." This person and I showed up as directed at different places but were given a different story each time. I see why it can be hard for some segments of the population to ask for help. If being made to lose all dignity is part of the process, why bother? I called a few days later to see how things were going, and this person decided against fighting any more. Recent dealings with paranoia have made me much more sympathetic to this person's situation, and hopefully far less pushy. So I am still grateful for this past Spring's events.... :-)

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