so there has been a lot of discussion since Don Miller posted his two blogs suggesting that the traditional sunday church vibe is not for him and i responded with my piece titled 'Why you should stop going to church' which was not actually at all about encouraging people to stop going to church, but more trying to enlarge our definition of what church is about... you are the church so you don't go [...]
so about a week ago, Blue Like Jazz author 'Donald Miller' blogged about why 'I don't worship God by Singing, I connect with Him elsewhere' and the internet went wild - Burn the Witch! Okay not quite, although Don did tweet a little later, 'Blogged about not going to church today. More shame and guilt @replies than I’ve ever received on twitter. I feel immense forgiveness.' He followed this one up with one titled, 'Why I [...]
this is a super great psalm and just one of those where virtually every verse can be looked at and appreciated and spoken into - for that reason i want to encourage you to go and read the whole psalm and then come back here and share what stood out for you. i am just going to be looking at two specific sections that stood out for me: 8 Praise our God, all peoples, let the sound [...]
music played such a huge role in my visit back to South Africa that we have just returned from. the first was a gift within a gift. we were given the use of a car by two people [only one of whom i actually knew before the trip and hadn't been in contact with for about 15 years til a week before i posted a 'looking for a car' ad on Facebook] who decided that [...]
so today we fly back to americaland and i leave a changed man. but maybe not in the way you would expect... i don't feel like i have grown so much as i have regressed, but in a good way though. as in 'returned to former state' - or returning at least. in some Christian senses i guess we have been living the dream - 19 months at the Simple Way [you know, the mecca [...]
had lunch with a friend of mine who doesn't 'go to church' any more... i know, i know, i should have been spending the whole meal challenging him about how important it is and how pathetically self-focused he is being and something something about the body of Christ and all that... but i was too busy finding the encounter so refreshing. you see, Bill [let's call him that - i know how friendly you okes [...]
as i read the first four lines of this psalm it felt like i was part of a liturgical choir speaking them out: 1 Praise awaits You, our God, in Zion; to You our vows will be fulfilled. 2 You who answer prayer, to You all people will come. the psalm is subtitled as being a song of David and so maybe that is why it conveys that fullness of message and delivery. i can imagine a congregation [...]
So we are continuing through Mark and this is a bit of a dejavu passage as Jesus repeats a miracle He has done before [feeding the crowd] but this time with a slightly smaller crowd and the disciples are still struggling to get it. To add to his frustrations his good friends the Pharisees pitch up demanding a sign leading into a deep sigh of frustration and him actually climbing back into the boat and [...]
As we continue through Mark we come across this interesting story with Jesus healing a man who is mute and deaf but not necessarily in the traditional way we might expect Jesus to heal someone which creates all sorts of beautiful questions and opportunities. So join me as i take a little journey through Mark chapter 7 verse 31-37: [for the next post on The Request for a Sign, click here]
i refer to John 15.4 all the time: 'Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.' and i also love o use Psalm 46.10 which talks about being still and knowing that I [God] am God: 'He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I [...]