I was just looking through a bunch of my friends profiles and realized under Religious views most of us don't have Christian. At least not in those words. I just love jesus, another follows him, another follows his teachings some are simply a bible verse. All ways to buffer the statement "Yes I'm a Christian" Now I'm not saying its bad to do this (especially since I do it too) I just find it very sad.
How did the term Christian go from a group of disciples that radically loved people, had strong community ties, cared for the sick and the widows, and shared the gospel with everyone. To a term coined for Right wing fundamentalists who are hypocritical, and judgemental??
Now I know its not likely that any of us can change the perspective of the world, but don't you think we could change our worlds. What my church calls "oikos" a greek word that refers to the 8-15 people God has stategically put in your life to have influence on.
It's time to rebrand Christianity. That name is powerful enough, we are calling ourselves a "little Christ!" Let's find some ways to get out in our community and love people because we're Christians. I want to be able to put myself aside because like it says in the book I'm reading, "If we are not willing to wake up in the morning and die to ourselves, perhaps we should ask ourselves whether or not we are really following Jesus."
So let's worry less about calling ourselves Christians, and focus more on being Christians. Any ideas??
May 28, 2008
May 21, 2008
Quick update
I just had to take this time to give a quick update on Seven San Diego! It's finally starting to feel like a routine down here at the new church, everything runs smoothly now that we're starting to know what we're doing. Just in time too, because we had our very first out-of-state missions team show up this past week!
What a breath of fresh air it was to have such an excited and willing group of individuals to help out for a week. I wouldn't dare say we've lost our excitement in planting this church, but it is good to be reminded of how exciting this adventure is that God chose to lead us on. These kids had that look of excitement written all over there face the entire week.
We had them put up door hangers, administer surveys , hand out drinks w/ flyers, run the block party trailer, clean up Laureens yard, and set up all the things for church on Sinday. These things may seem small to you but to a church with very few available hands, these were things we would have never had time to do. The best part for me was them seeing our church and thinking up ways to improve there own! There church is huge and yet they leave here in a contemplative state about how to maybe improve some things. Not they think there church is bad they just know things can always get better.
One thing about starting a church from scratch that I've noticed so far, is how focused a new church is on non-believers. We are always looking for new ways to grab the community's attention and much less on facilitating in-church events. That's one thing I don't want us to lose in our years to come at 7 SD, the lost is why we moved and the lost needs to be what keeps us here. Then as a secondary will have a bunch of fun things for those that call 7 SD there home church.
All that really just to say "Thank You Sagemont Church for your servant's hearts and your joy for life!" You will not be soon forgotten.
What a breath of fresh air it was to have such an excited and willing group of individuals to help out for a week. I wouldn't dare say we've lost our excitement in planting this church, but it is good to be reminded of how exciting this adventure is that God chose to lead us on. These kids had that look of excitement written all over there face the entire week.
We had them put up door hangers, administer surveys , hand out drinks w/ flyers, run the block party trailer, clean up Laureens yard, and set up all the things for church on Sinday. These things may seem small to you but to a church with very few available hands, these were things we would have never had time to do. The best part for me was them seeing our church and thinking up ways to improve there own! There church is huge and yet they leave here in a contemplative state about how to maybe improve some things. Not they think there church is bad they just know things can always get better.
One thing about starting a church from scratch that I've noticed so far, is how focused a new church is on non-believers. We are always looking for new ways to grab the community's attention and much less on facilitating in-church events. That's one thing I don't want us to lose in our years to come at 7 SD, the lost is why we moved and the lost needs to be what keeps us here. Then as a secondary will have a bunch of fun things for those that call 7 SD there home church.
All that really just to say "Thank You Sagemont Church for your servant's hearts and your joy for life!" You will not be soon forgotten.
May 14, 2008
Happy New Years!
I'm saying that because if New years is related to resolutions I need a re-do. I resolved to Blog once a week, memorize the Johns and Jude starting in summer, and learn spanish. We are in the middle of the 5th month and those resolutions are all but gone out the window. I tell you this not to just announce my failures and apologize for the empty time between blogs. I simply announce that I'm getting back on track.
I spent this past weekend at hume to have a long needed rest. While there I prayed a lot and tried to not put solutions in my mind before giving God time to answer. During one of my quiet times I remember thinking I'm commiting to an hour of devo time just like I did in Joshua. That thought was immediately followed by a "Yeah, don't you have enough commitments your not sticking too??" Ouch! This was followed by some great verses from a book I've found talking about the apostle Peter. It talked about how Peter full of passion would say things like if everyone else leaves you I will stay. Making commitments he wasn't able to keep. Even though he fails Christ in his time of need He forgives Peter and uses Him to start the church.
You can't fail if you don't give up . So let's not consider this a failure just a delayed victory! I'm back and refreshed and look forward to writing many more of these in the future. Bear with me and help me out, a little nudging is always a good thing!
I'm saying that because if New years is related to resolutions I need a re-do. I resolved to Blog once a week, memorize the Johns and Jude starting in summer, and learn spanish. We are in the middle of the 5th month and those resolutions are all but gone out the window. I tell you this not to just announce my failures and apologize for the empty time between blogs. I simply announce that I'm getting back on track.
I spent this past weekend at hume to have a long needed rest. While there I prayed a lot and tried to not put solutions in my mind before giving God time to answer. During one of my quiet times I remember thinking I'm commiting to an hour of devo time just like I did in Joshua. That thought was immediately followed by a "Yeah, don't you have enough commitments your not sticking too??" Ouch! This was followed by some great verses from a book I've found talking about the apostle Peter. It talked about how Peter full of passion would say things like if everyone else leaves you I will stay. Making commitments he wasn't able to keep. Even though he fails Christ in his time of need He forgives Peter and uses Him to start the church.
You can't fail if you don't give up . So let's not consider this a failure just a delayed victory! I'm back and refreshed and look forward to writing many more of these in the future. Bear with me and help me out, a little nudging is always a good thing!
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