this is how i’m doing: in case you were wondering…

Yesterday I had the opportunity to teach at homegroup.  We were going through the Village church’s character traits (truth, Christian spirituality, foot washing, missional living, and community) and this week was on community.  Can I just say how monumentally convicting that was?  To lead the group on what our church and what scripture says about living in community when I have been the poster boy for the exact opposite for the past few months.  God is not afraid to cut us deep, because in doing so He is saving us from death.

I tell people that I’m an introvert, mostly because I am but also because I don’t want to be vulnerable; I don’t want people to have access to my weaknesses and faults.  I want to be in control of the image that others see.  It is one of the loneliest feelings, being surrounded by fellow believers who I won’t let close enough to see the whole me.  I fear rejection and judgement but have never received either from this group of guys.  It has been the opposite; acceptance, grace and mercy.

Tonight I decided that I don’t want live like that anymore.  I want to strive for community.  I want to put forth the effort because I realize how much I need it.  I realize that it’s not easy and that it takes effort — every day.  Everyday I’ve got to choose community; choose to pick up the phone and call my guys, even if it’s just to say hi.  That’s my new goal for April — to be in community with my home group.  Prayers and words of encouragement are welcome

I just discovered the awesomeness of Skype and then realized that I don’t have anyone to talk to…

In slightly geekier news, I found a wonderful program that lets me use Windows Remote Desktop from my Mac — I also found one that turns my laptop into a light sabre… one of those products is more productive than the other, but I’ll let you decide

I found this gem of a disclaimer in the back of the macbook pro booklet:

“This computer system is not intended for use in the operation of nuclear facilities, aircraft navigation or communication systems, air traffic control systems, or for any other uses where the failure of the computer system could lead to death, personal injury, or severe environmental damage.”

Guess it can’t do everything…

One of my favorite Dave Ramsey quotes is:

“Imagine what the people of God can do for the Kingdom of God if they didn’t have any debt!”

I’m on baby step 2…

I still get a newsletter and updates from a church back home in Killeen that I have’t attended in over 8 years — how do they keep finding me??  I’m to lazy to tell them that I’m not coming back haha.  Anyway, recently I got a letter from the pastor of this church that disturbed me a bit.  Some background; the church was pretty much dying, and apparently there was some inner turmoil about the time that this new pastor took charge.  They have nearly twice the number of members than active attenders and were struggling to make ends meet which resulted in the sale of their south campus building.  They have an aging downtown facility which they claim is outdated and will not provide for future growth so they are selling the current facility and building a new bigger and better one soon.  They just kicked off their capital campaign which was the topic of the most recent letter.  In it, the pastor stated:

“Our new facilities will give our church family the space for meaningful worship, Christian education, fellowship, and recreation.  We will have a greater opportunity to share in ministry, outreach, missions, and to invite others to Christ and His church.”

My question, and what I take issue with, is this — can a building influence worship?  Or, SHOULD a building influence worship?  I just don’t buy the tired excuses “I can’t worship to that style of music” or “I can’t get into worship sitting in a pew”.  I think that line of thinking results from a misunderstanding of what worship truly is.  Christian culture has (in my opinion) done a great job of narrowly focusing the definition of worship to what we do on Sunday morning before the sermon.  Terms like, “worship leader” and “worship music” and even “worship service” seem to place more emphasis on the event than on the act or art of worship.

If you cannot worship in an environment, the environment is not the problem; it’s a heart issue.  I cannot imagine “because the drums were too loud” being a valid excuse when Christ asks why we did not worship Him.  “The service was too crowded” doesn’t cut it either.  We are called to worship in spirit and in truth — that call is not environment dependent.