Important question...

If a nonbeliever had my job would it look any differently?

Pastor Chris Brown says, it better be yes! 

"It WILL cost you to be like Jesus, may I remind you that it cost him more" 

Wholehearted living

Wholehearted living is about engaging in our lives from a place of worthiness. It means cultivating the courage, compassion, and connection to wake up in the morning and think, No matter what gets done and how much is left undone I am enough. It's going to be ad night thinking, Yes, I am imperfect and vulnerable and sometimes afraid bu that doesn't change the truth that I am also brave and worthy of belonging.

 -Brene Brown

From her Ted Talk

 1. Love is Grown Through Connection

• Connection is why we are here. It gives purpose to our lives.
• It is very difficult to love people more than we love ourselves.

2. We Cannot Give What We Don’t Have.

• We can’t give help when we cannot ask for it
• we attach judgement to help. therefore we self-judge when we need to ask for help and we judge when we offer help.

3. Professing vs Practicing

• Love is a practice.
• We profess “love you. love you. love you.” and practice something totally different.
• The space between how we behave and what we want to be – that gap is where we lose people.

4. What Kills Love Also Kills Organizations

• Shame is like termites. You must shine a light in the dark places to find it.
• Shame can only rise to a certain level before people disengage to self-protect.

Fall Ministry Season at City Life

As we enter in the season of fall, which is typically the most intense ministry season, I want to encourage each of you as Ministry Partners at City Life. As a leadership team we have set some pretty high goals, and our hope is that you will jump full-steam ahead with us as we seek to introduce Jesus to more people than ever before. 

Our goal in this season is to ramp up all areas of ministry in order to double our normal growth rate! Which means we hope to reach 250 worshipping people at City Life this fall. We are currently right around 160, so this is a BIG goal. However, we see it as more-than-possible because we have more people in ministry than ever before, a very strong group of team leaders and leadership teams being developed in many of the ministry areas and more people to join in prayer. We have the space, we have the people and most importantly we have Jesus. Our two main vehicles working towards this goal is the launch of the second service and the public launch of Celebrate Recovery. We not only want more people in the seats but we hope and dream that each person is growing in new ways in their relationship with Christ. 

Specifically for Kid City, this means that we need to prepare to be caring for and teaching upwards of 60 kids each week (split between the services). THIS IS SO EXCITING!!!!!!! This season will be one for:

- helping to equip each and every one of you to serve SMARTER not harder

- welcoming new team members and building them up

- building up the Kid City Leadership Team (KCLT) hoping to have a "Director" for each age group

- creating "teams" of volunteers who will always be serving together

- fostering an intentional environment where kids feel loved, welcomed and safe

SO, what does this mean for you? 

- I invite you to dive into scripture about our call to reach the lost and make disciples, click here for some places to start :) Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you into what this looks like for you and your family

- INVITE PEOPLE TO CHURCH!!!! 

- take the next 4 times you serve to evaluate opportunities for improvement

- stay in communicado with me and Joe Reid about ways that we can better equip you for your ministry... We are here to support you!! 

More to come, but I just couldn't wait to share this exciting news. I am in love with our church and all of the ways we are seeking to be salt and light on this earth. 

Matthew 5:13-16 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Fellowship at 441

Willow Creek recently did a series on the importance of inviting people into your home, into your "space." How by inviting people in you are opening the door for real conversations, deep relationships and for people to be truly seen. 

The residents of 441 Crescent love this. We value community, friendship,  vulnerability, FUN and we value prayer.  And. We want to "do" each of these with you in our living room! 

We hope to foster an environment where old friends and new friends can come together to catch up on what God is doing in our lives, what we are learning and share how we are growing. We can encourage, pray and laugh with one another! There will be no agenda, no expectations, and no schedule other than prayers and praises to wrap things up. We are hoping and praying for a space where we can each just show up, be seen and be loved AND everyone is invited. 

Starting one week from today, every Tuesday night from 7:30 - 9:00pm we will be hosting what will be dubbed as "Fellowship at 441"... it is a come as you are, bring a snack if you want, bring some scripture or a passage that you felt prompted to share, or don't and just show up... thats most important anyways. 

Hope to see you soon!! Invite your friends and soon-to-be friends. 

Lots of Love, 

441 Girls

P.S. Here is some inspiration and further reading on vulnerability :D 

I have been learning a lot lately about the importance of vulnerability and what it means to be a whole-hearted person, from the likes of Brene Brown, Donald Miller, Glennon Melton and Shauna Niequist! A lot of the things I have been reading lately are about being true to yourself TO yourself and also being willing to be fully yourself to other people. By being vulnerable we can experience the world more fully and invite others to do the same.  So often people just want to be heard, to be seen and to be loved. It is important that we are seen, heard and loved for exactly who we are... not the appearance that we put on.

 A couple of quotes I love: 

"If we're going to find our way back to each other, vulnerability is going to be that path. And I know it's seductive to stand outside the arena, because I think I did it my whole life, and think to myself, I'm going to go in there and kick some ass when I'm bulletproof and when I'm perfect. And that is seductive. But the truth is that never happens. And even if you got as perfect as you could and as bulletproof as you could possibly muster when you got in there, that's not what we want to see. We want you to go in. We want to be with you and across from you. And we just want, for ourselves and the people we care about and the people we work with, to dare greatly.

"True friendship is a sacred, important thing, and it happens when we drop down into that deeper level of who we are, when we cross over into the broken, fragile parts of ourselves. We have to give something up in order to get friendship like that. We have to give up our need to be perceived as perfect. We have to give up our ability to control what people think of us. We have to overcome the fear that when they see the depth of who we are, they’ll leave. But what we give up is nothing in comparison to what this kind of friendship gives to us. Friendship is about risk. Love is about risk. If we can control it and manage it and manufacture it, then it’s something else, but if it’s really love, really friendship, it’s a little scary around the edges." Shauna Niequist

To my beautiful friends

First, I don't know if I have sent this to you yet, but this is an amazing talk from Brene Brown on vulnerability... it is about 20 minutes long but worth every minute. Have a pen and paper ready, because she has so much goodness packed in :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o A lot of the things I have been reading lately are about being true to yourself TO yourself and also being willing to be fully yourself to other people. By being vulnerable we can experience the world more fully and invite others to do the same.  So often people just want to be heard, to be seen and to be loved. It is important that we are seen, heard and loved for exactly who we are... not the appearance that we put on. So, I don't know if any of that is helpful to you.. but it is what I am learning about and trying to apply because it is so easy for me to want to be the "strong" one who has everything together and is happy all of the time, when in reality I am struggling with lots of things all of the time. Thanks for being vulnerable with me, and opening up. I appreciate you so much and would love to hear your thoughts on this!! Also, this blog by Glennon Melton would be fun for you to peruse: http://momastery.com/blog/2012/01/19/telling-secrets-2/

Secondly,  I found this version of Psalm 139 and I love it and thought I would remind YOU that you are a child of God, that you are loved wholly for who you are, that you are beautiful and wonderful and loved beyond all measure.

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
    you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
    Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
    I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
    you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
    how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
    all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
    before I’d even lived one day.
Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful!
    God, I’ll never comprehend them!
I couldn’t even begin to count them—
    any more than I could count the sand of the sea.
Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you!
    And please, God, do away with wickedness for good!

To be a Christian means to excuse the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” C.S. Lewis”

A Proverbs 31 kind of woman

⁰ 

Scripture shapes us | The Bible is more than a book

" Whereas the church and its related institutions tend to focus on “moral acts,” Scripture is far more concerned with shaping our imaginations, our patterns of thinking, which, inevitably find expression in transformed commitments and practices. Behavior serves as a display case for our deepest commitments. "
-Seized by Faith, Joel Green

Welcoming the Stranger

City Life held a training session on Wednesday about immigration offered by Matthew Soerens. Soerens is the US Church Training Specialist for World Relief, where he assists churches in understanding the complixities of immigration from a biblical perspective.

“Why is immigration policy important to evangelicals? Certainly because we believe what the Bible teaches about treatment of ‘aliens in the land.’ It is also because so many Hispanic, African and Asian immigrants are evangelical Christians who are in our denominations and churches by the millions. They are us.”
Leith Anderson, President, National Association of Evangelicals


Pasted below are a few of the action steps from the FAQ section on their website: http://welcomingthestranger.com/learn-and-discern/faqs/

How is this affecting the church?

Demographers tell us that immigrant churches are the fastest growing segment of evangelical churches in the U.S. Increasingly, when we talk disparagingly about “those people,” we are talking about ourselves, because the Church is one Body of which each of us is an interdependent part. When one part suffers—as many undocumented brothers and sisters are, as individuals are forced into the shadows and families are divided by current laws—every part suffers (1 Cor 12:12-26).

What should our church do?

We suggest several steps:

Prayer—for wisdom as your church engages with this issue, for immigrants in your community, and for your political leaders

Listening—to immigrant brothers and sisters’ experiences, as well as to what the Bible has to teach us about how to interact with the foreign-born; the “I Was a Stranger” Challenge is a great discipleship tool to help us to listen to what Scripture says

Education—help others in your congregation to understand the issue; some churches have dedicated a sermon or Sunday School class to the topic, or created opportunities for interaction between immigrants and non-immigrants within the church; we have several resources for educating congregations available, including a template PowerPoint Presentation and a small group curriculum

Advocacy—your legislators need to hear the moral voice of churches and their leaders; some churches have created or signed on to a statement in support of immigration reform; others have visited, written to, or called their legislators to share their opinion; you can send an online message to legislators via World Relief’s website

Service—the best way to understand the immigration issue is to build relationships with immigrants, and service, such as through providing English classes, is a great way to begin; World Relief’s offices throughout the U.S. may be able to provide assistance in getting started

Evangelism—While many immigrants bring a vibrant faith with them, others will encounter the transformative message of the gospel for the first time in the U.S. Immigration provides a missional opportunity to make disciples of all nations—right on our doorstep

What should we encourage our government to do?

Many evangelical churches and leaders have advocated immigration reform based on the following principles:

• Securing our borders in ways keeping with humanitarian values, making it much more difficult to enter the country illegally;
• Providing a new mechanism for lawful entry to the U.S. for those who want to work here, making it easier to migrate lawfully in keeping with the U.S. economy’s labor needs;
• Reducing the backlog for family-based immigration petitions, to more quickly reunite families; and
• Providing a way for those already present in the U.S.to earn legal status by paying a fine, paying any taxes due, and making efforts to learn English, avoiding the extremes of either mass deportation or amnesty.

We believe this is the most just, compassionate, and reasonable way forward, especially compared to the other ideas on the table.  Other proposals include:
Mass Deportation—but this would be extremely costly, costing at least $80 billion just to remove everyone plus an estimated $2.6 trillion over ten years in lost economic activity
Amnesty—but “forgetting and forgiving” without consequence ignores the reality that the law has been broken and could send the wrong message or encourage future illegal immigration

Kid City 2012

A few of the things we did in 2012

• Consistently discipled 30 kids, reached over 100 kids
• Spent 88 hours on Sunday mornings with kids, helping them to learn more about Jesus
• Two ministry fairs
• Move to new building
• New scheduling system 
• a TON of new volunteers
• Secret Agent VBS
• New Director
• New Assistant Director
• Kid City Leadership Team Developed
• Multiple Brainstorming/Task Force sessions
• Kid City Outreach Carnival
• Grand Opening of Kid City/ Joyful Birds
• Move to one service
• New Curriculum
• Creation of age specific groups
• Packed up old space
• Developed processes
• New name tag system
• Intentionally secure area
• Kids Choir
• Themed rooms
• New discipline procedure
• Two baptisms
• Three graduations
• Seven adoptions
• Participation in Spiritual Consecration month

24 Random Acts of Kindness for turning 24!

SO, I have pretty great roommates. Saturday was my 24th birthday and it is one that I will remember for the rest of my life. Rachel and Phoebe planned an entire day of surprises. It started at 9am when I woke up. I came downstairs and found two presents under the christmas tree. The first was a journal, that had a note describing what the surprises were. We would be embarking on a day full of serving, doing 24 RAKS (random acts of kindness). The following pages had ideas that they and other friends had thought of. The next present was a large, heavy bag that had 50 granola bars, 6 boxes of candy canes, 5 cans of food, and two additional surprise appointments.

But before we started our adventures, we, of course, had to host our weekly Saturday Morning Pancakes. We made gingerbread christmas pancakes AND s'more pancakes topped with the most delicious syrup around: Currey Farms Pure Maple Syrup. Our friends were all in on the surprise and helped by writing notes of encouragement and signs that we would use later in the day :) 

Phoebe and Rachel had already made the cookie dough for cookies that we baked and packaged before  the pancaked eaters came. This was SUCH a special day. I couldn't wait to get started! So below you will find our list as well as some pictures, I loved this birthday and these people and this community. From the bigger tasks to the small, this was an amazing opportunity to spend a day with friends, making other people smile and spreading Christmas cheer!! 

#1 We handed out 60 candy canes throughout the day, with a smile and warm Christmas greetings!

#2  Holding the door open for a woman in a wheelchair
#3 Our friends helped us write about 30 notes of encouragement that we left on peoples cars.
#4 We picked up trash downtown and everywhere we went
#5 Bought coffee for the next person who would come in line

#6 Gave away 10 bus passes to patrons as they were getting ready to pay for their fares

#7 We did some caroling in the bus station before we left "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!" 

#8 Delivered flowers to two patients at St. Mary's hospital in the emergency and critical care units

#9 Sticky notes in random places to make people smile

#10 Saw a friend from church and gave her a BIG hug

#11 We handed out about 50 granola bars as we went, mostly to those in line for dinner at Degage Ministries

#12 Made breakfast for our friends

#13 Wrote thank you notes

#14 Delivered anonymous presents to kids

#15 Returned carts in the Duhtler grocery store parking lot

#16 We made and delivered cookies to our neighbors, meeting some that we had never met! 

#17 Donated 5 cans of food 

#18 Since it was raining we bought an umbrella and gave it to someone who was getting soaked! 

#19 Donated a huge box of clothes! 

#20 Took pictures with a man that we met downtown, his name was Shawn

#21 We held big, neon signs that had encouraging notes up for people to see as they were driving 

#22 Having intentional conversations more then just a "Hey, how are you?"

#23 We made cookies with neighborhood kids and then dropped them off to families in their neighborhoods, while caroling of course! 

#24 Gave a frozen turkey dinner to our neighbor!!

This is our new friend Shawn, he told us that the best way to spread Christmas cheer is to read this book. 

Huge THANK YOU to these beautiful women! I am blown away by your ability to love others and especially me. You are selfless and thoughtful and made this a birthday that I will never forget. You not only made my day but a ton of others as well. I am so thankful for you!!!! 

Abandonment Prayer

Father,
I abandon myself into your hands; do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you:
I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only your will be done in me, and in all your creatures.
I wish no more than this, O Lord.

Into your hands I commend my soul;
I offer it to you
with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord,
and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands,
without reserve,
and with boundless confidence,
for you are my Father.

Charles de Foucald

Redeemed.

9.
Lost.

13.
Pregnant.

14.
Abandoned.

15. 16. 17. 18.
Abused.
Neglected.
Beaten.
Used.
Sold.

19.
Redeemed.

Lord, you work in mysterious ways. Ways that I will never understand. I don't understand how a 13 year old girl can be abused, raped, impregnated, abandoned... left into a vicious cycle of abuse. Not only her. Her baby. The one that would teach her about forgiveness some day. A child with a child, treated in the worst of ways. Stripped of her identity, stripped of freedom. This is not justice. This is not peace. But you work all things together for your good. Redeemed. Lord you redeem. A story that needs to be told. She is not embarrassed. She is not ashamed. You gave her a story, a heart break so that she might bring people to YOU. An opportunity.

"Mom does God love bad people too?"
"yea honey, God loves everyone!"
"Mom, so does that mean God loves the bad guys we used to live with?"

Forgiveness, forgiveness in the deepest of ways.

19.
A mother. A lover. A Christian.
Redeemed.

Thankfulness!

Today I am thankful.

Our Bible Study reading this week was 2 Samuel 7- God's Promise to David and David's Prayer. Essentially David wants to praise God for all of the things he has done for him in his life and wants to build him a fancy temple. God does not like this idea and makes his point very clear, he has other plans in mind! David then gravels in prayer asking God why is he worthy of God's favor and blessing.

We broke up into smaller groups to talk about things we are thankful for in our own lives. This had the possibility of being fairly surface-y with the "typical Christian answers" I am thankful for all of the blessings in my life job, house, family and/or friends but while we definitely did affirm these things we dove deeper into the root of thankfulness and transforming the culture of our own lives into one of thankfulness. Even in the hardest situations seeing God's grace, love and purpose.

God's purpose was also brought to the table. In my own life, especially in this time, I am thankful that God has revealed himself, and his purpose in my life! PTL! Since I have moved to Grand Rapids I have been searching for a Church, "Church Shopping" if you will. I thought this would be a relatively easy process-- that God would magically plant me in the Church that is right for me. Well 10 churches, 7 months of feeling unsettled later... it happened! Phoebe and I walked through the doors off City Life and have no intention of looking back. The past 5 weeks have been a whirlwind of God revealing his hand in this process. If I had been led to City Life 6 months ago, I don't think I would have been receptive to it. The past season has been one of prayer and discernment. Discerning what I was looking for in a Church, asking God to open my eyes and my heart to his will. Through the process of Church shopping I realized that I was drawn to smaller churches that opened not only their doors but their hearts to the least of the least. I was searching for a Church that would not only challenge me personally, spiritually and emotionally but that could also benefit from my unique spiritual gifts, passions and strengths. A Church that could be my home away from home. A Church that could capture my passion and run with it. And I am very happy to report that through God's faithfulness and unfailing love I HAVE FOUND IT!

You see, I --like David in 2 Samuel 7-- with seemingly pure intentions thought I knew what was best for me. HAH. God snickers. His plan was greater than I could have ever known. He knew that I needed a time of discernment, prayer-- essentially a time of wandering in the desert. This brings me back to thankfulness. I am thankful that God is faithful, even when my bull-headedness gets in the way. I am thankful that God shows up time and time again, you just have to be willing to let him drive, sit back and enjoy the ride. I was forced to put myself in uncomfortable, vulnerable situations and these very situations are what have led me to the position I am in right now. This morning I sat with Pastor Christy at Sanchells Cafe and accepted the postion of interim Team Leader of Kid City at City Life! I am absolutely bubbling with excitement and although I am nervous I can't wait to see what God has in store.

Lastly, while passion filled a very important person in my life called me to say hi, a person whose salvation I pray for on a daily basis. I told him about the exciting news and at the end of the conversation he said to me for the very first time of my life "I will be praying for you" HALLELUJAH PRAISE THE LORD! A step in the VERY right direction.

City Life Dream Statement

• We have a dream for a church of many ethnicities where people worship together, pray together, work together, dream together, and eat together.
• We have a dream that the community surrounding our church feels, smells, and begins to taste life in the Kingdom of God.
• We have a dream of a church leadership team consisting of men and women of both majority and minority cultures.
• We dream of a church where we disciple the poor to share with those who have even less.
• We have a dream where we disciple the middle class to curb consumption and thoughtfully help those in need.
• We have a dream for a church that expresses itself creatively in problem-solving, worship, and community impact.
• We have a dream for a church where the mentally ill find wholeness in community, and where the mentally stable find community with the mentally ill.
• We have a dream for a church that offers hospitality to strangers, immigrants, refugees, and newcomers.
• We have a dream for a church that finds its purpose in the Father, follows the path of the Son, and receives its power from the Holy Spirit.
• We have a dream for a church that values and depends upon community; it is a place where no one stands alone, no one rises to the top alone, and no one falls down alone.
• We have a dream for a church that wrestles with the tension of caring for those both within and outside of the church.
• We have a dream of a church where addicts are set free.
• We have a dream of a church where grief and sadness are absorbed by the care of the community.
• We have a dream of a church where people go to great lengths to find lost people -- learning a new language, going to a foreign neighborhood, and stepping out of comfort zones.
• We have a dream of a church that binds up the brokenhearted, proclaims freedom for captives, releases the prisoners from darkness, comforts the mourning, and bestows on the poor crowns of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and garments of praise instead of spirits of despair (Isaiah 61:1-3).

"The new rules for Sex, Love and Dating"

LOVE these sermons by Pastor Andy Stanley.  Listen to them all!

http://www.northpoint.org/messages/the-new-rules-for-love-sex-and-dating

He addresses single people directly. Primarily because he wants to reach people before they royally screw up their lives through unhealthy relationships. Having been single for the vast, vast majority of my life I am so thankful for a pastor who boldly confronts these hard issues and decides not to tip-toe around them.

The main premise is to not look to relationships/marriage to FIX you or to fill a VOID in your life. Rather, focus on you, who you are, and the beautiful creation God has made you. Become the person that the person you want to date would date. Maybe its not a revolutionary topic but it is a revolutionary way of thinking. Don't just sit around waiting. BECOME. LIVE. SEEK. THRIVE. GROW. Don't wait for God to bring someone into your life to become the person that he has created you to be. Be that person now and through doing that maybe you will find the person that God is working on for you. But maybe not. Seek God first and the rest will fall into place. God has created marriage as the closest, most intimate form of relationship that humans can experience. Marriage is a reflection of the relationship that God strives to have with us, if only we will let him. Relationships can ruin people and the effects of a bad one can send ripples into our future far beyond our comprehension. This is the weight and the seriousness that we need to be aware of. Pastor Andy talks about the preparedness that should come before choosing to enter into a relationship with someone. Its not all rainbows and butterflies, it is hard-work. Work that will only be perfected through practice. Practice being the person you want to be today. Because your present will one day be your past which will show up in your future. The decisions you make today affect the person you are and thus affect the person you will become. Don't wait to become the person you want to be. Practice loving in the friendships/relationships that you have currently... after all you know what they say... "Practice makes perfect!"

"“The reason married people get into so much trouble when they’re married is because they believe in a myth. And the myth that they buy into is called the right person myth – if I marry the right person, everything will be all right. When I meet the right person, everything will be all right.” 

“The correct approach,” he emphasized, “the approach that will serve you so well, is to decide, I’m not just hunting, I’m not just seeking. I am intentionally becoming the person who the person I’m looking for is ultimately looking for.”
Relaying a personal story told to him while preparing for the series, Stanley spoke of a young woman who grew up in a religious home, had a Sunday school background, went to college, graduated and came to Atlanta. 

Putting on the “back burner” her beliefs, she immersed herself in the singles dating culture and was “living the life, having fun.” 

One day at a social gathering, she met who she thought to be “Mr. Right.” After spending a few minutes getting to know him, she saw he was the total package – the looks, the job, and the personality. On talking with him further, it became very apparent that he was a Christian, who was committed to living out his faith in every aspect of his life. 

Going home that night, she told her mother all about “Mr. Right,” gushing over all his qualities. But her mother turned to her after and said, “Sweetheart, the problem is a guy like that is not looking for a girl like you,” to which she literally fell to the floor in a puddle of tears. 

“It was a defining moment for her as a single person. ‘That guy I’m looking for, he’s not looking for someone like me.’ Her priorities changed, her life changed, and she is going in a different direction now.” 

Asking the congregation once again, “Are you who the person you are looking for is looking for,” the megachurch pastor urged singles to stop believing in the fairy tale that somehow when meeting the right person all the other things would fall magically into place.
He encouraged singles to put effort into their relationships, and not just base their relationships on chemistry and passion alone, which took no work and could be felt with thousands of other people at any given time."

Human Life Well-Lived... a paper for my management seminar

Human Life Well-Lived

The importance of living in a community.

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,

and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin

1 John 1:7

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ

Galatians 6:2

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet

together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the

Day drawing near.

Hebrews 10:24-25

               As I began to think about the task of this paper, a thought first popped into my head about a recent conversation I had with a friend. We were discussing relationships and noted how seemingly “happier” one gets when one enters a relationship, especially at the beginning. I then, went off on a rant about how it frustrated me that our happiness should depend on another person. She then countered back, that maybe our thought process is wrong. We have grown up in such an individualistic society that, especially for women, we have been hardened to presume that we can make it on our own, become the best that we can be and to portray this strong, and independent persona. Personally, I have always had a can-do, will-do attitude, knowing that I can achieve whatever set my sights on. My friend challenged this, asking if it is correct to think that we can do anything on our own. From a Christian perspective especially, we have some things wrong. It is not about us, who we are or what we do, rather it is about God, who he is and what he does. Williams states “IF you live in a world where everything encourages you to struggle for your own individual interest and success, you are being encouraged to ignore the reality of other points of view—ultimately, to ignore the coast or the pain of others.” Beyond living for God, we are called to live for each other, laying down our own lives so that others should live. At the heart of this is servant leadership, as I will discuss later but also is the importance of building up a strong community and economy around one another. In Wendell Berry’s “Feminism, the Body and the Machine” and Rowan Williams “Human Well-Being and Economic Decision Making” they explore the issues while challenging the status quo that is current reality.

A note from Einstein

http://www.aip.org/history/einstein/essay.htm


"How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people -- first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy. A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving...

"I have never looked upon ease and happiness as ends in themselves -- this critical basis I call the ideal of a pigsty. The ideals that have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. Without the sense of kinship with men of like mind, without the occupation with the objective world, the eternally unattainable in the field of art and scientific endeavors, life would have seemed empty to me. The trite objects of human efforts -- possessions, outward success, luxury -- have always seemed to me contemptible.

"My passionate sense of social justice and social responsibility has always contrasted oddly with my pronounced lack of need for direct contact with other human beings and human communities. I am truly a 'lone traveler' and have never belonged to my country, my home, my friends, or even my immediate family, with my whole heart; in the face of all these ties, I have never lost a sense of distance and a need for solitude..."


"My political ideal is democracy. Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized. It is an irony of fate that I myself have been the recipient of excessive admiration and reverence from my fellow-beings, through no fault, and no merit, of my own. The cause of this may well be the desire, unattainable for many, to understand the few ideas to which I have with my feeble powers attained through ceaseless struggle. I am quite aware that for any organization to reach its goals, one man must do the thinking and directing and generally bear the responsibility. But the led must not be coerced, they must be able to choose their leader. In my opinion, an autocratic system of coercion soon degenerates; force attracts men of low morality... The really valuable thing in the pageant of human life seems to me not the political state, but the creative, sentient individual, the personality; it alone creates the noble and the sublime, while the herd as such remains dull in thought and dull in feeling.
"This topic brings me to that worst outcrop of herd life, the military system, which I abhor... This plague-spot of civilization ought to be abolished with all possible speed. Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism -- how passionately I hate them!

"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed. It was the experience of mystery -- even if mixed with fear -- that engendered religion. A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, our perceptions of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which only in their most primitive forms are accessible to our minds: it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute true religiosity. In this sense, and only this sense, I am a deeply religious man... I am satisfied with the mystery of life's eternity and with a knowledge, a sense, of the marvelous structure of existence -- as well as the humble attempt to understand even a tiny portion of the Reason that manifests itself in nature."

Human Life Well-Lived

Very cool article I had to read for my Mgmt Sem class.... its a must read!!


http://www.stwr.org/economic-sharing-alternatives/human-well-being-and-economic-decision-making.html

"IF you live in a world where everything encourages you to struggle for your own individual interest and success, you are being encouraged to ignore the reality of other points of view—ultimately, to ignore the coast or the pain of others.”

"It is the extra things that make us human; simply meeting what we think are our material needs, making a living, is not uniquely human, just a more complicated version of ants in the anthill." 

"As for the essential character of human mutuality, this connects for me specifically with the Christian belief that we are all dependent on one another's gifts, to the extent that if someone else is damaged or frustrated, offended or oppressed, everyone suffers, everyone's humanity is diminished."

"Which is why the visible presence of religious people of diverse faiths in the arena of public debate is not a menacing move towards religious tyranny, the imposition of belief systems on an unwilling public, but the opening up of that arena to the best possible range of perspectives to help us push back against barbarism, injustice and the erosion of the human spirit." 

"And a stable economy depends on our willingness to question the imperatives of unchecked growth – which in turn is a moral and cultural matter. The energy for resistance has to come from the sort of stubborn moral and cultural commitment to humane virtue that I have been speaking about." 

"I would urge you, then, to pick up what is still alive in that legacy, to revive the passion for humane social existence; to reflect on what human character is needed for stability and justice to prevail; and to resist the barbarising and dehumanising of economic life which jeopardises natural and human capital alike. Sermons are meant to have three points: there are mine. Revive, reflect, resist. Your history suggests it can be done; so do it."

What kind of human character do we want to see?? 

A long list of superlatives...

So apparently I have been using an abundance of superlatives this week. And in turn, I started using the word superlative quite a bit, not knowing quite what it meant, but it seemed to work in most situations. As I thought about not knowing the meaning of this word... I decided to look it up. Dictionary.com defines it as of the highest kind, quality, or order; surpassing all else orothers; supreme; extreme: superlative wisdom.

Well that seems to be quite the right definition for the vacation I am currently on with my best friend and my Aunt, in the Florida Keys. We have had 5 straight days of 82 degree weather with barely a cloud in the sky, both places we have stayed at have not only met but exceeded our expectations and we have just so happened to be finding fun around every corner :) 

Our place here in Marathon, FL on Vaca Key is phenomenal. We open our front doors to the beach on the Gulf Coast of the island. There is a tiki bar steps away as well as two pools and a water sports arena. I am burnt red like the lobster we caught and then cooked yesterday out of summerland key with my cousins friend and his family and have completely ran out of adjectives that are synonyms for perfect. "It doesn't get better than this"

I am struggling with why I deserve a vacation like this and how a place like this can be so seemingly perfect with so much other hurt in the world, but I think any place can be made to seem this way. It is the "Disney effect" if you will, everything looks so prim and perfect so the privileged can enjoy a retreat from the real world. Dont know if this makes any sense tonight but for some reason it makes me wonder....