Some Thoughts on Spiritual Practices

-- Read Genesis 28:10-22

Like Jacob...“We wanted more. We wanted a deeper sense of purpose. We wanted a stronger sense of God’s presence. We wanted more reliable ways both to seek and to stay in that presence -- not for an hour on Sunday morning or Wednesday afternoon but for as much time as we could stand.

And yet the only way most of us knew to get that was to spend more time in church. So we volun- teered more, dreamed up more programs, invited more people to more classes where we could read more books. The minute we walked back to our cars, many of us could feel the same old gnawing inside. Once we left church, we were not sure what to do any more. We knew some things we could do to feel close to God inside the church, but after we stepped into the parking lot we lost that intimacy. The boundaries were not so clear out there. Community was not so easy to find. Without Tiffany windows tinting them blue, people looked pretty much the same. From the parking lot they looked as ordinary as everything else. The only more out there was more of the same.

That, at least, is how it looked to those of us who had forgotten that the whole world is the house of God. Somewhere along the line we bought -- or were sold -- the idea that God is chiefly interested in religion. We believed that God’s home was the church, that God’s people knew who they were, and that the world was a barren place full of lost souls in need of all the help they could get. Plenty of us seized on those ideas because they offered us meaning. Believing them gave us purpose and worth. They gave us something noble to do in the midst of lives that might otherwise be invisible. Plus, there really are large swaths of the world filled with people in deep need of saving.

The problem is, many of the people in need of saving are in churches, and at least part of what they need saving from is the idea that God sees the world the same way they do. Like Jacob, people seem willing to look all over for this treasure box marked ‘GOD’. They will spend hours launching prayers into the heavens. They will travel halfway around the world to visit a Monastery in India or to take part in a mission trip to Belize. The last place most people look is right under their feet, in the everyday activities, accidents and encounters of their lives.

No one longs for what he or she already has, and yet the accumulated insight of those wise about the spiritual life suggests that the reason so many of us cannot see the red X that marks the spot is because we are standing on it. The treasure we seek requires no lengthy expedition, no expensive equipment, no superior aptitude or special company. All we lack is the willingness to imagine that we already have everything we need. The only thing missing is our consent to be where we are. Many years ago now,a wise old priest invited me to come speak at his church in Alabama. ‘What do you want me talk about?’

‘Come tell us what is saving your life right now,’ he answered. It was if he had swept his arm across a dusty table and brushed all the formal china to the ground. I did not have to try to say correct things that were true for everyone. I did not have to use theological language that conformed to the historical teachings of the church. All I had to do was figure out what my life depended on.” -- from “An Altar in the World”, by Barbara Brown Taylor.

Based on the following texts, what do you think the spiritual practices that sustain our life in community should be?

-- Micah 6:6-8 -- Matthew 22:34-40

Five Crucial Questions

One of the difficult things whenever you are charting new ground is to free yourself from the bonds of where you have been before. What I mean is, when you are considering launching a new kind of Church, the first thing you reach for are the forms of Church to which you are most accustomed.

Therefore it is very difficult to have a discussion that is fresh because we our lenses are always colored by those forms we know. Some we like and some we don't. This can sometimes lead us to ask the wrong questions, sending us down the wrong road entirely.

In an effort to ask the right questions, here are five that seem important to me at this moment. Don't answer immediately. Take some time to be in prayer. If you think of another question, add a comment so people can be thinking about those questions, as well.

* What spiritual practices will drive Our community?

* What will be the goals of our community?

* By what measurement(s) will we define success?

* How important is being ‘successful’ in fulfilling our goals and aspirations?

* What leadership model(s) will the community adopt?

Timing

Timing is a difficult thing. You can say or do something one day that is a total flop, but you might try the same thing a little later, and it works perfectly. I think often that is a question of timing - ours vs. God's.

When I was fired last April 3oth, I thought the timing was all wrong (not that I wanted to get fired at all!). Lily had one year left before going to school all day, and Amy desperately wanted to spend much of that time with her (instead she is working all day!). I was hoping for Nathan to be able to finish out his time at PRCA, since he was going into 5th grade and PRCA ends after 6th grade (that's still up in the air). I had been looking for an opportunity to do something different for some time (but no doors opened up to us) - it felt like I was cut adrift when I received that letter saying I was terminated. No clear path, unsure what to do or where to go.

And yet, looking back, God seems to be ordering all things. The last months have flown by as we have sought the Lord and experimented with what it means to live in true community, and to collectively study the word of God deeply. We had a very successful retreat in January, a great time of togetherness and seeking God's will in which so many took a leadership role in one way or another. We had a wonderful coffee shop concert in North Arlington that drew in a lot of people.

Now, as we continue to heal, I am starting to hear different things from different people. Some are ready to 'move on' and 'find a path'. Some think we should find a bigger facility. Some are scared to 'lose' the community that God has forged over the past few months if we were to grow too large.

Let's do this...let's continue to ask the Lord what HE would have us do. Rather than coming up with great plans on our own, let's seek the Lord and be silent before Him. Where would He have us go? Where can we join Him in the kingdom work he is already blessing? What might God say to us through an apostle like Paul - for good and bad? Most of all, let's be patient as we seek His face. I believe He will make Himself known to us when the time is right!

Think about these words God spoke to Solomon in I Chronicles 28:

⁹ "And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. ¹⁰ Consider now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a temple as a sanctuary. Be strong and do the work."

THANKS!

Thanks to:

1. Bill Akins

2. Connie Bingham (and Earl!)

3. DeeDee

4. Jamie Williams

5. Anne Stovall

6. JP

7. Micah Lewis

8. Casey Brown

9. Amy Gibbons

This is the order my posts were answered this week. I will be passing out free gifts this Sunday at House Church...Micah, I'll get you back when we have lunch...also, you and I are in charge of the next mentoring group as Grady will be in Africa!

I appreciate you chiming in, as I have no other real way to know if what I am communicating is effective or not. Thanks too, for your kind comments - we are so pleased to open our homes, Bill, and so proud to be journeying together with such a fine group of believers. It renews my faith in God to be with you all!

Grace and Peace

Ryan

Just a check to see if anyone is listening

OK, so this is a test - only a test. A test of: 'is anyone actually paying attention to this blog'?

So, make a comment, and receive a gift, it is that simple. Your comment can be, I want my free gift! That's OK! Even if you don't want or need a gift, put a comment down under this post, please.

Language of the Ordinary

LANGUAGE OF THE ORDINARY

-- Laura Bardwell

Spirit, come;

sit at my soul's table.

Eat bread, drink wine.

Speak the language of the ordinary

broken in grace.

Come, and will you tell me the story of my faith?

Tell me again what it could become.

Open wide the doors of houses it might build

With your steady craftsman's skill.

Then go, visit others,

upturn the telling of their tales.

But leave an imprint of your visit

on this chair, the handle of the jug,

the cloth's stain.

Give at least the memory of your breath

to the smoke of candles spent

here at the edges of this room.

Scripture for this Sunday

Sunday we will be going through a number of Paul's letters, and it would be good if everyone could take a moment to read through them ahead of time. Take some time and jot down the similarities and differences between these passages. Here are the scriptures:

* I Corinthians 3:1-4:5

* Ephesians 4:1-7

* Ephesians 5:1-21

* Philippians 2:1-11

* Philippians 4:2-9

* Colossians 2:6-15

* I Thessalonians 4:1-12

* I Timothy 5:1-6

* Titus 3:1-11

Hope this finds everyone well!