Comments on: Yet Another Voice of Frustration

By: Andrew Wallace, Newcastle Australia

Andrew Wallace, Newcastle Australia — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 09:44:58 +0000

Fantastic .. great to hear about people getting into small groups .. and “not asking permission’ .. I love it

May I recommend robert fitts book avaliable at his web site called, “Church in the house a return to simplicity”

http://www.robertfitts.com

He’s the father of Bob Fitts, the well known worship leader from YWAM Hawai

Andrew

By: jeffgoins

jeffgoins — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 05:40:42 +0000

love your blog title… i hope this frustration leads us towards a church that we can believe in.

By: Leland

Leland — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:05:41 +0000

“Fellowship?” What an archaic term to describe interpersonal relations, perhaps unintentionally chosen to mirror the otherness, the alienation, of those involved. It is a special word, so seldom used, that — even spoken so robustly by Gimli — it strikes the hearer as contrived, synthetic, the connotative antithesis of the word’s denoted intent; a word invented to describe the pretended familiarity of those who employ it amongst their fellows.

I have no use of such fellowship, with dwarves or others, and certainly not within the local body (another example of contrivance in terminology, but I’ll limit this rant to a single subject). The hand extended in such fellowship is too often meant to maintain others at arm’s length, to be excluded rather than embraced.

In fact, the accompaniments to such fellowship — the music (with its droning hymns or repetitive worship) the banal homilies too often vaguely reminiscent of Dr. Phil or Tony Robbins, and the stilted, ritualised interactions, are wholly without value. Indeed, the contemporary church, so maddeningly hollow and presenting only a facade devoid of anything remotely human — let alone Divine — in appearance, is so far removed from any need or desire I possess, and serves so minor a ministerial function in my life, that, were it to disappear entirely, its absence would scarce be noticed.

By: Aaron G

Aaron G — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 03:49:33 +0000

I think small groups are so important. My wife and I go to a bible study on Thursday nights. We have thought about starting one in our house as well.

By: Peg

Peg — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 03:30:22 +0000

Hi Aaron! I like your new “digs”! I just updated my blogroll to include the new url… I’m slow but I catch up eventually

On your post — I can so relate. That’s one reason why I think small group studies — meeting either at home or at church — are so important. It’s impossible to be intimate with 100+ people but you can get real with just 10 or 12. Last August I found 10 like-minded folks at the church where I work and we’ve had a Bible study group going in our home every Wednesday since then. (btw I didn’t ask permission to host one, just called people and said “come”) Talk about a blessing!