The invent of the internet has brought about a myriad of social sites such as Facebook, My Space Twitter and You Tube where people interact with quick snippets, punch lines and a never-ending assortment of initials and symbols. :), lol, jk etc. etc. etc. It's as if the whole world has forgotten how to actually have a conversation. In fact, a blog post like this is about the closest one gets to having a real conversation anymore. Which is why most of us wait anxiously for someone to post a comment on what we write.
I don't know about you, but I long for the days when we could sit down and have a real conversation where friends got together and talked about real subjects with real concerns. I long for deep conversations that delve into the depths of a subject rather just bantering back and forth on material that is full of more fluff than substance.
The invent of social media has really been a blessing as it has allowed people to keep a glimpse of the lives of friends and family from large distances, but it has so simplified the relationships that it seems to have been a replacement for meaningful ones that are full of real questions that ask more than "how are you" and statements like "hope all is well". Both are good, but can never really be addressed well through a quick note on Facebook.
The Lord has designed each of us to long for real relationships. Of which, I have been blessed abundantly over an over with. It is because of these relationships that I am where I am in life right now as many have guided me and assisted me on my journey. But, it's also because of these relationships that I long for more. I long for more imput. I long for long conversations and I long for real conversations.
Friday, November 07, 2008
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Traditions
Monday night at our home church gathering I tried to begin digging into what or who we are and why we exist in this form of ministry. I did so because of the questions that we were asked at the board meeting at the Nazarene church. Questions like: "How do you plan to reach new people for Christ". (If you know how let us know). "Why can't you do the same thing within our church?" "Why do you need to start a new church?". "How will you be different?" etc. etc. etc.
As we had our discussion, I think we came to the conclusion that the traditions of that church stood in the way of allowing for new ones to be made. We have a hard time imagining our pastor standing up front and asking questions to the body and to just keep asking them until they are answered. We can't see the vast majority of the people being comfortable with sharing their lives in front of the group. To hope that the people would feel free to pray out loud for those around them is a waning desire. For us to be intimate in our conversations would be extremely difficult. It's not that all the things in that church are bad, mind you, it's just that because of the nature of people to be people of habit, it makes it hard to try new things. To turn the ship, so to speak, is much easier in our setting as a new ministry, than it is for the old ship.
We are at a place that we are beginning new traditions and hopefully, not being so attached to them that we cannot ditch them if we need to. We don't have the "old guard" saying "that's how it's done" or "how it's always been done", preventing us from exploring new methods, practices and systems.
I believe in traditions. I just believe that traditions are something that we must carefully examine to determine if they are traditions that are Biblically based or traditions for traditions sake. We've all heard the story of the woman who always cut off the end of the ham when she cooked it. Her daughter asked her why she did it and she said, I don't know, my mom always did that. So she asked her mom and she said the same. Finally the great grandma was asked and she said because her pan wasn't big enough. Trivial story, but so are some of the traditions that we hold so dearly in the church.
May God grant us wisdom as we seek to discover all that He has in store for us.
As we had our discussion, I think we came to the conclusion that the traditions of that church stood in the way of allowing for new ones to be made. We have a hard time imagining our pastor standing up front and asking questions to the body and to just keep asking them until they are answered. We can't see the vast majority of the people being comfortable with sharing their lives in front of the group. To hope that the people would feel free to pray out loud for those around them is a waning desire. For us to be intimate in our conversations would be extremely difficult. It's not that all the things in that church are bad, mind you, it's just that because of the nature of people to be people of habit, it makes it hard to try new things. To turn the ship, so to speak, is much easier in our setting as a new ministry, than it is for the old ship.
We are at a place that we are beginning new traditions and hopefully, not being so attached to them that we cannot ditch them if we need to. We don't have the "old guard" saying "that's how it's done" or "how it's always been done", preventing us from exploring new methods, practices and systems.
I believe in traditions. I just believe that traditions are something that we must carefully examine to determine if they are traditions that are Biblically based or traditions for traditions sake. We've all heard the story of the woman who always cut off the end of the ham when she cooked it. Her daughter asked her why she did it and she said, I don't know, my mom always did that. So she asked her mom and she said the same. Finally the great grandma was asked and she said because her pan wasn't big enough. Trivial story, but so are some of the traditions that we hold so dearly in the church.
May God grant us wisdom as we seek to discover all that He has in store for us.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Mindlessness
I don't know about you, but I often find myself sitting here reading the computer screen searching for who knows what simply to take up time. I don't know if it's my way of escape or my excuse to not do things that should be done. Anyway, I'm going to try and be more faithful with my time.
Be praying for me in this.
Be praying for me in this.
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