hope...

is the breath that gives faith the beat love needs.

so you say you want a revolution.

would anyone agree with me that the Christian church is beginning to stir with an emotion of change? with more love and hope to offer to a hurting world?

a future not our own.

it helps, now and then, to step back
and take the long view.
the kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,
it is beyond our vision.

we accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of
the magnificent enterprise that is God's work.
nothing we do is complete,
which is another way of saying
that the kingdom always lies beyond us.

no statement says all that could be said.
no prayer fully expresses our faith.
no confession brings perfection...
no set of goals and objectives includes everything.

this is what we are about:
we plant seeds that one day will grow.
we water seeds already planted,
knowing that they hold future promise.
we lay foundations that will need further development.
we provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.

we cannot do everything
and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
this enables us to do something,
and to do it very well.
it may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for God's grace to enter and do the rest.

we may never see the end results...
we are prophets of a future not our own.

-Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador

prayer.

at times i dread it because it's time consuming. and others because of who is praying with me. i would have to say that 99% of the time my outcome is one for a change of heart. i do feel better. it's worth it. but prayer.... what is it? why do we need to talk to G-d to make us feel good about ourselves? when we pray with others, why is there judgement? is it selfish on our part when we pray? if G-d knows everything why do we even need to pray?
as i'm understanding a bit more of G-d's Kingdom, Revolution, Dream, etc. i see that prayer is an act just like baptism to show our commitment to G-d. we are not in control. but our concern for other's in G-d's Kingdom is G-d's concern. we are called to love. in our faith that we believe G-d is watching over us, there's hope. hope for a better future and love for the entire Kingdom. we make a commitment through prayer to give us hope that we're not in this alone.

church deconstruction.

if we would take away everything the church is today, the good and the bad, what is left. we would go back to the beginning of it all. whether the beginning may be the early manifestos of God's Kingdom or the start of all time.

what did it look like in the beginning?

for one: it was good. but in the process of "being" it got all mucked up with sin and the things that don't matter.

another: it was what it was meant to be. simple and pristine.

so what things today make church, church? what would you take away, from what it is today and all the bitter taste it leaves on the palettes of peoples tongues, to the simplicity and originality of restoring us back to God.

take away everything, the good and the bad:

- the music - the hymns - the projector - the powerpoint - the slides - the computers - the production team - the cameras - the tv evangelist - the healing - the miracles - the building -  the steeple - the chairs - the pews - the coffee bar - the sunday school - the "core" classes - the children's ministry -  the youth group - the nursery - the preschool - the parents night out - the mothers of babies club - the sports teams - the prayer - the dress clothes - the mohawks - communion - offering - loving other people - giving to the poor - caring for widows and orphans - random acts of kindness - having hope - purpose - prayer - the confession of sins - baptism - cheesiness - being fake - special music - family - trust - easter lily's - the bible

so leave all the people, take away everything that has been called "church". what you have left is Jesus and people. if we started all over again, how beautiful it would be. the fruits of the Spirit. purpose. meaning. a life worth living. people who love. one's that care for all people, good and bad. being provided for when you have nothing. giving everything that you have to the ones who don't have it. 

the church.