Are You Ready to Go For a Spin?

“As each age passes it can not be reclaimed”

Try as we might. No matter how much fear and hatred we throw at it. Whether we like it or not the wheel keeps on turning.

See the video this quote was taken from here.

A Manifesto for the Church

7catz over at I Don’t Know Yet tagged me with this Meme.

Rules:
1. Post to your blog on the subject “A Manifesto for Church”, outlining your thoughts on what an ideal church would/should be like. Posts can be as detailed or as short as you like.
2. Include a copy of these rules.
4. Put a link to your post in the comments to this post.
5. Tag at least 4 other people.
6. What happened to rule 3?
3. Ah, here it is
When I was tagged for this meme, a rush of things came to mind about what I think an “ideal” church should be. I even started writing them out. As I read over some of the other posts on the topic, I was struck by how similar many of the posts were. There seems to be a growing number of people who are tired of “church as usual” and long for something deeper yet simpler. Church with out the programs, with out the masks, A church were we can be active participants, not just spectators. A Church where we all have a voice, not just the few deemed “spiritual” enough by the leadership or the people who are clean enough on the outside to project the desired image.

Should is a big word, and I don’t even want to attempt to say what an “Ideal” church should be. What a church should or shouldn’t be will vary greatly depending on the make up of the members, the community the church is in, and an endless list of other factors. I decided to post what the Ideal church for my family and me looks like at this moment.

Sunday Mornings at the local State Park
A time of family prayer
A couple devotions with the boys, and good discussion afterwards. It amazes me how much they get it
A short time of Bible Study or discussion with Jenny.
Maybe some hotdogs or brats on the grill and a nice hike.
Extreme teeter tottering with my boys

Tuesdays with another couple God placed in our lives
My wife and I have been going through some tough times in our relationship, and God has blessed us by giving us some great friends who have jumped at the chance to come up under Jenny and I and disciple us and help us to strengthen our marriage.
Wednesday mornings with my Friend Rob
Good conversation. Good coffee & Great Bagels.
A place were I can be open, Where I can challenge and be challenged.
Friday Night Bible Study.
Good Friends, Relaxed atmosphere, Laughter, Openness.
Active engagement with The Word of God.

I’m supposed to tag some people, but the people I had in mind have already been tagged. So I tag anyone who might be interested in responding.

Thin Line Between Madness and Brilliance

“This is either madness or brilliance”

“Its remarkable how often those two traits coincide”

I love that little interchange between Will Turner and Jack Sparrow as they are preparing to commandeer the Interceptor. I started thinking sometimes following Christ is a matter of walking that thin line between madness and brilliance.

I think about Jesus’ disciples leaving their jobs and their comfortable lives to follow someone they didn’t even know. Or Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses to the door of Castle Church. Or Paul standing on Mars Hill Sharing the Gospel with a group of Pagans. I could post for hours listing others who have walked that line.

I believe Christ calls all of His follower to live their lives where Madness and Brilliance intersect.

Grace Is Not a One Time Event

Tyler over at Following Him Alone wrote this beautiful post about Grace. Grace that is more than just “God’s unmerited favor towards us” I’ve posted a couple excerpts I really liked. But I would definitely read the whole article.

“Grace wasn’t favor that I didn’t deserve! Grace is simply the overwhelming power of His unfailing love worked through every moment of my life, and really through eternity. I don’t get more of it some days than others, it is as constant as His love, which is the one true constant in the universe.”

“Much of the body of Christ lives as though grace truly is unmerited favor, and so they don’t see it as an act of love but instead as an act of forebearance, staying the hand of an angry God. But Grace is not an act of forebearance, of that I can absolutely assure you.

This misconception positively drives the “normal Christian life” of Americans. You know, now that you are saved you must toe the line and be outwardly righteous because God isn’t going to be patient with all of these sins now that you are saved. Oh yes, they will say, you are always saved, but there are blessings here and in eternity and so you need to behave properly and be one of us so God doesn’t have to constantly be remembering that you are under grace and not available to be wiped off the face of the earth.

And so we live under a false grace that is anything but graceful. A grace that we do not deserve, that is completely unjustified. It is the gospel of guilt, of being unworthy little wretches.”

My Friend that lives under the Bridge

This is my friend that lives under the bridge. When he is in the police roundup in the local paper they don’t even give his name any more. They just call him the man that lives under the bridge.

But he’s not just the man who lives under the bridge, he not just some one to chuckle at when you see his name in the paper. He is my friend, and he is someone who is created in the image of God. I’m glad that I have a wife who remembers that when I forget. I have known my friend for a few years now. There has been many times I have thrown up my hands and said ” I’m done with him” or “That guy will never learn” or “There’s no hope for him”

I know that if there was hope for me then there is hope for him. I am not afraid to hope for him.

Father, forgive my for losing hope for my friend, for not loving him the way you loved me. Help me to see him through your eyes. Help to not just tell him about your Love, but to show him your Love every time I see him

Amen

Thoughts on Being a Missional Church

Moving the church outside the walls doesn’t necessarily make it missional. If the purpose of our activities is ultimately to bring more people into our church, That is not missional.

Being a missional church is about moving outside the walls, not to grow our church, but to extend God’s love to those around us.

A missional church can’t be concerned about getting a return on their investment

A missional church must me a church where people see them selves as participants in the mission of God, not just passive recipients of his Grace.

As the body of Christ we are God’s physical representation here on earth. Being missional is about being a redemptive force in our community. Its about God’s will being done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

A missional church is more concerned about how it can enable and encourage its members to serve the community more than it is concerned about offering “services” to its members.

A missional church must be less concerned with making converts than it is with making disciples.
The old way of doing church was attractional. (How can we bring them in?) A missional church is incarnational. (How can we embody Christ in the community?)
Being missional must come from Love. For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son.

A truly missional church must be a loving church. People are smart if they sense that we are doing the things we are doing with the motive of getting them to come to our church they will know, and it will turn them off.

Being a missional church is about loving people like this.

Put The Pipe Down

“Religion is the opium of the masses.” Karl Marx

I was listening a local Contemporary Christian Radio station the other day and Marx’s quote came to mind. There is a lot of truth to his statement. There are very few songs on CCR that challenge people to step out side their comfort zones and follow Christ. On local station boasts that it is “family friendly” and “uplifting and encouraging” and only plays only “uplifting and positive news”. It’s so “soothing” at times I have to change the channel before I nod off on the way to work.

Religion can be like an opiate. The outward practice of religion can bring comfort to us. Singing songs with like minded people on Sunday, sitting passively in the pew, having a nice dinner after church, uttering a prayer before dinner, maybe reading our Bible from time to time,listing to Christian music, etc. We can so immerse ourselves in churchianity that we can become oblivious to the world around us.

That is the difference between being religious and following Christ. Following Christ means facing rejection, stepping out side our comfort zones, putting the needs of others before our own, and at times pain. When we make the shift from just believing in God to Following Christ we will start to be aware of all that is wrong in the world, instead of tuning it all out. The things that bring Jesus to tears will move us to tears. The things that provoke him to anger will provoke us to anger, and most importantly the things that move Him to action will move us to action

What Would Happen?

A friend of mine sent this to me. I thought it was worth sharing.

I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bibles like we treat our cell phone?
 

 What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
 What if we flipped through it several times a day?

What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
 

 What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
 

 What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it?What if we gave it to kids as gifts?

What if we used it when we traveled?

What if we used it in case of emergency?

This is something to make you go….hmm…where is my Bible?

Oh!  And one more thing. Unlike our cell phone, we don’t have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill.

Makes you stop and think, “Where are my priorities?”

And no dropped calls!

Lost sight of Him

John 5:39-40

39You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, 40yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

Its been awhile since I posted anything but I finally decided to post tonight.

In less than a year I went from a basically fundamental Christian to what many would call an “emerging” Christian. The process has been disorienting to say the least. At times I felt like I had been sucked into a black hole.  Sometime during this transition I made a big mistake. I got so lost in theology and thoughts about what was wrong with the church-That I lost sight of Christ.  My relationships with God has suffered, My relationship with my wife and children have suffered, my witness with the kids who ride the church bus has been effected all because I lost connection with the Source. I’ve decided participate in Glenn’s May Synchroblog and will elaborate about where I am at in my journey.

Has any one else ever found it easy to lose themselves in thoughts about God or the Church and completely lose sight of Christ?  How did it effect your life?

Road Trip to Toledo

Yesterday afternoon my wife and I piled the boys in the car and drove off for Decatur just to get out of the house. Decatur is about a twenty minute drive, and we figured we would just go to Walmart, take the kids out to McDonalds, and head home. We didn’t make it to Wal-Mart. We eventually made it to McDonalds, just not the McDonalds in Decatur, IN. We ended up stopping at a McDonalds off of I-75 about twenty minutes south of Toledo, OH.

When we left the house we had absolutely no thought of going to Ohio let alone all the way to Toledo. Just south of the Decatur City limits is a highway that goes to Ohio. Jenny saw a sign for Wilshire, OH and  as a joke she said “Lets go to Wilshire.” Without hesitating I said “O.K.” and off we went. What we thought would be just a little road trip across the Ohio State line and back, turned into a little impromptu tour of Northwest Ohio, eventually leading all the way to Toledo.

On the way home I started thinking that maybe our little unplanned road trip is how God intended the Christian journey to be. We would have been satisfied with a quick afternoon trip to Decatur, but God had much more than that in mind for us. He led us all the way to Toledo. It wasn’t a straight shot all the way either, we ended going through towns like Wilshire, Ohio City, Rockford, Lima, Findlay, Bowling Green, Perrysburg, and many more.

I think many times we see the Christian Journey more like an afternoon trip to Decatur, than a road trip to Toledo, and the sad thing is we like it that way. God is offering us a full life, He wants to take us places we have never been before, places where have never even thought of going, he wants to move us outside of our comfort zone. But instead of taking him up on his offer we drive to Decatur, go to Wal-mart and then go home. We stop short of embracing the full life that He offers us.

After Wilshire we stopped in Ohio City to load up on snacks, and then ended up in Rockford where we decided to buy a map of Ohio. It wasn’t until we bought the map that we even thought of going to Toledo. The map let us know where we were, gave us options of where we could go, and let us know how we to get there. It gave us a point of reference.

On the way home from Toledo I started thinking about the map, and about the different ways we can relate to the Bible. I think one way to relate to the Bible is to see it as merely a rule book containing little more than a series of commands to follow, with no room for freedom. The other way to relate to the Bible is to see it as more of a road map.

Obviously the Bible does contain specific commandments. But when we look it as nothing more than a rule book we miss the beauty, depth and richness of the story. We become so focused on separating the black from the white, that we miss the big picture, we don’t take the time to enjoy the journey, and we miss the beautiful, colorful scenery God has placed all around us.

Another way to think about it is this: Let’s say that instead of buying a map in Rockford we bought an Ohio state driving manual. We could have sat in the parking lot of the gas station and studied the book till we had it memorized, but when we pulled back out on the road we would still have no idea of how to get to where we wanted to go. In fact the map showed us not only how to get to our destination, but it was only in opening the map to see the big picture, and starting to drive that our destination was revealed.

As I said before a map gives us a point of reference. It helps us understand where we are and lets us know where we can go from there. A map helps us make good decisions about which roads to take, A map gives us the big picture and give us confidence that we know where we are going. I also think that a map offers us freedom. When we open the map and a destination is revealed we still have a choice about which roads to take. The map revealed that Ohio had a great highway system and we discovered that there was more than one way to get to Toledo, as long as we used the map as guide we would be fine.

In Sunday school a while back the teacher was talking about his life before and after coming to Christ. First he drew a vertical line which represented the will of God. Next he drew a horizontal line that represented how he lived his life before Christ. Last he drew another vertical line right on top of the first line, which represented how he tries to live his life now. The teacher went on to talk about the importance of being in the Word, and how being in the Word helps us line up our lives with the will of God.

I remember thinking that this was a very narrow way of seeing both the Bible and the Christian life. I wanted to offer another view. To represent the will of God I would draw two parallel lines with some room between them. In various places between the lines there would be dots, which represent various stopping points along the way. To represent a life lived within the will of God, I would draw a line that moves freely between those lines, curving to the left or the right  to intersect with the various dots along the way. I think this second picture gives a fuller representation of the freedom that is found in Christ.

We almost didn’t make it all the way to Toledo. As we were pulling into Bowling Green I started to have my doubts. My wife wanted me to drive the rest of the way,because I am much better at finding my way through strange city’s and I can also become the world’s worst side seat driver in those situations. “What if we wreck?”  “What if we get lost.”  “I have a bad feeling about this” “What if the car breaks down” and a thousand other thoughts started going through my head.

On the north side of Bowling Green we saw a bowling alley, and I said “I know instead of going to Toledo lets go bowling in Bowling Green, that’d be a pretty good story to tell when people asked us what we did over the weekend” Jenny wanted to push on to Toledo, because that is where we said we were going and she didn’t want to stop short now.

Here we were at least a couple hundred miles from home and less than forty miles from Toledo and we still almost stopped short. Its like were standing on the banks of the Jordon with the promised land in sight, and I was saying I don’t know if this is such a good idea. I think we should stop here.  I don’t believe God will take us any farther. I almost listened to the majority report in my head, and turned back. I wonder how often that happens. How many times we make it past Decatur, past the state line, past Wilshire, and when we are almost to Toledo, we stop short at Bowling Green.

I’m glad we made that right turn before Decatur and that we made it all the way to Toledo. God used this trip to speak to me in a powerful way. I think that sometimes putting our selves in a position to hear God takes stepping out in an act of faith. It takes embracing the Christian Journey as an unplanned road trip to Toledo, instead of seeing it as just a quick trip to Decatur.

Deeper Than Individual Issues

I did something last night I have never done before. I made a contribution to a political campaign. It wasn’t much, but I gave a little something to the Barack Obama Campaign. I have always had an interest in politics and have always held strong views., but this is the first time I have been inspired enough to give and money to a campaign. I live in Indiana and our primary isn’t until April, meaning that  Indiana very rarely plays any part in choosing the party candidate so I decided to help in the best way I could.

If I was to vote purely based on issues I would probably have to go with Mike Huckabee, but the reasons I support Obama go much deeper than individual issues. With Obama I get the sense that my voice really does matter, I like that he is challenging the American people to get involved, to become part of a movement of change. He is not asking us to put our trust in him to change the country, he is asking us to believe that We can change our country (and the world) for the better.

I believe that Obama will be a voice of unity, rather than division, a voice of hope rather than pessimism. A voice for peace in a time of war. I truly believe that he is the only true voice of Change in this year’s presidential race, and I think that change is something that this country desperately needs, Change in America is something that the world needs.

I think what finally solidified my support of Obama is his views on Foreign policy. He understands that America’s greatness dosen’t depend on our military but on our people. Through the expansion of civilian programs he wants to encourage and empower individuals to become agents of redemptive change in the world. 

As I read through his Foreign policy statement these are the themes that stuck out to me. Diplomacy, reconciliation, peace, dialog, leadership, compassion, partnership, openness. After eight years of unilateralism, war mongering, and division, The type of leadership that Barak wants to bring to the table will be a welcome site, not just to American, but to the World

 

Thoughts about leaving

 I’ve been having a conversation with a pastor I know, and I a shared with him that my wife and I haven’t been going to church on a regular basis. He asked me why and I decided to really answer him. Here is my answer

There’s a lot of things.

Some of it has to do with that my wife and I have been struggling with drinking, but that’s only a small part of it. It goes much deeper than that.

So much of what I see going on in the church (not just our church, but all over) seems so inward focused. I have a hard time seeing what new playgrounds, basket ball courts, new fencing etc. have to do with the Gospel, with advancing the Kingdom of God. I can help but think about how many people could have been fed with the amount of money is spent on building bigger buildings

My wife and I feel very boxed in. We know that God desires worshippers who worship him in spirit and in truth, but we have a hard time doing that sitting or standing in our pew, reading lyrics of a screen. And I’m tired of singing songs that speak of Jesus as if he’s my boyfriend.

I’m tired of shallow relationships and cliques, I’m tired of shaking hands with a smile on my face and being asked how I am. When I know that they don’t really want to know. And to be honest more than not when I ask that question of someone else I don’t really want to know either.

Church doesn’t seem like an environment where I can ask questions, and receive meaningful answers, and I have a lot of questions, over the last few months I have been in the process of rethinking a lot of things about what it means to follow Christ, What a Christian really is.

I’ve shared some of this with Pastor Lyle and he knows that Jenny and I have thought about leaving the church a lot lately, but God just seems to be telling me to Stay. I had a conversation with a friend the other day and she said “Aaron you know if you leave God will bring you right back. Before long the Church will be the biggest mission field around.” and I think she’s right.

Sorry to unload on you like this. Its just that I am done holding this all in. I hope this isn’t more of an answer than you were counting on.

I don’t want to make this post to long so I’ll share more on the conversation in another post.

Is anyone else thinking about leaving their church, or have maybe already left?

What was on your list of reasons?

Once Again

Alan Knox over at Assembling of the Church wrote a thought-provoking and challenging post entitled Wont Get Fooled Again. Judging from the comments this post has resonated, not just with me, but with many. Alan starts off his post with the statement “Once upon a time God used a donkey” What I take from the post is this. God had a plan for the world, for his people, and we came in with our programs, institution, budget meetings, building committees and messed it all up.

This post is prompted by Alan’s post and is written….

For those of us whose heart breaks when we see a big beautiful church with all its programs sitting right across the street from a rundown trailer court in the grips of the Enemy

For those of us who believe that Communion can happen around a table in an ordinary home or dare I say even in a pub. Who believe it doesn’t have to be given to us by a priest or ordained minister

For those of us who believe that corporate worship doesn’t have to take place in the church.

For those of us who don’t believe that God commands us to give 10% to our local church or be cursed.

For those of us who believe building relationships with those around us is more important than building bigger buildings.

For those of us who don’t believe God is a republican (or a democrat)

For those of us who feel closer to God when we are in the community serving others than when we are sitting in the pew.

For those of us who believe God wants us to bring the gospel to lost and not wait for them to come to us

I  Say Once Again…

Once again Gods people will turn the world upside down

Once again we will live radical lives in the midst of the world

Once again our light will shine on the streets, not be hidden behind church walls

Once again we will love those around us without an agenda, but just because God loves them

Once again we will eat with drunks, and prostitutes, thieves, and beggars

Once again we will gather in the streets, in homes, in valleys and mountains

Once again we will drop everything and follow Him

Once again we will put or trust in Him, not in your Christian celebrities

Once again we will live transformed lives in the midst of the culture

Once again we will realize that God does not live in temples built by Human hands… that he desires worshipers who will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. Everywhere, at all the time.

Please feel free to fill in the blank. Once again…

Contentment on the Streets

 I sat down and grabbed my laptop to find the perfect 42″ flat screen 1080P HDTV to replace my old 27″ TV when I ran across a post by Jonathan Brink entitled Perspective on my stuff.

Jonathan ends the post with this “Because a chair is simply a chair isn’t it? But when I don’t have a chair and I need one, everything looks good. But when I have several chairs, only the cherry stained one’s from Pottery Barn will do.”

I started asking myself … At what times in my life have I been the most content with the amount of my material possessions? The surprising answer is when I had the least. Also I don’t think it is coincidental that those were also the times I had the least amount of media exposure.

In 1995 I set out for California with a couple bags and a big cardboard box full of stuff, with in a couple of months I ended up on the streets of San Jose with nothing more than the clothes on my back.  I won’t go into detail about all the weird and drug soaked circumstances that led me there, but eventually I ended up in the Haight Asbury district of San Francisco surrounded by a community of other people who had as little as I did.

Over the next few months I hitch hiked up and down the coast, and all the way over to New Mexico for the Rainbow Gathering, then back to California. I lost the little bit of stuff I had more than once, and rarely had more than five dollars in my pocket. Yet I was content The funny thing is that during the time of my life that I had the least not only was I the most content with what I had. I was the most generous.

Rarely was a sandwich eaten that wasn’t shared, If we only had one cigarette it was passed around no matter how many of us there was. If you had two shirts and your brother or sister had none, you would give them one of yours. If some one was in need of food more than you, you gave up your share with out a thought. It just struck me that it was a lot like the early church. (If you leave out all the drugs, tie-dyes, and dreadlocks)

Another thing about my time on the road is that I rarely watched television or listened to the radio. I wasn’t bombarded with images & voices telling me that if I wanted to be happy, I need to buy what they had to sell. Even when I did watch TV, the barrage of ads didn’t persuade me because I had a community of people around me who valued me, not because of what I owned, but as a fellow human being, and sojourner.

Why is it that the people I knew on the road were less materialistic, more generous and content than your average middle class Christian?

What can the church do to create a sense of community similar to the one I experienced on the road?

Thoughts??

Father, help me to realize that my value is not found in what I have, but in my identity as a child loved by you. Help me to be less materialistic, and held me to be more generous with what you have blessed me with, not just my finances, but with my every fiber of my being. Help me to remember that I don’t need a flat screen TV, when millions will go to sleep this night with empty stomachs. Help me to care less about my own needs. Give me a heart that cares for the needs of others.  AMEN

Thoughts on Tithing

 My wife and I received our annual tithing statement from our church the other day. The amount was admittedly much less than it should be, and we were convicted of our need to give more. Accompanying the report was also a generic form letter that challenged us to give more, parts of the letter didn’t sit well with us. I want to share a couple of paragraphs from the letter and some thoughts on the parts that bothered us. ( I wonder if they send out 2 letters- One to those who give 10% and another one to those who don’t??)

Along with my thanks and encouragement I would also like to challenge you. As Christian we are commanded to bring our tithe into the storehouse. The Church you attend is a your storehouse and you tithe is 10% of your first fruits or income. Many times I will hear people say “I’m just not sure what God wants or expects from me” In the principle of tithing God makes it very clear, your tithe is 10% and he wants it given tp the place where you worship.

At the bottom of your tithing statement you will see a total amount. This represents all the monies you have given towards General giving, building funds, missions, etc. When you receive your W-2 you will also see a box that says total wages. If your total is not 10% of the amount then your giving is not at the level the Lord commands. If this is the case then I ask that you make it a matter of prayer and fulfill what the lord mandates in His Word.

What happened to being under grace and not under the law?

Malachi 3 is often given as the proof that God commands us to give 10% to our church. There are a couple of problems with that. Malachi was written to those who were under the law, and if I am reading the passage in it’s proper context the passage seems to be speaking directly to the Jewish priests.

Malachi 3:10 also says “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.”

It seems that the purpose of the tithe in question was to distribute food to the needy. Some of my growing frustration with the institutional church may be coming out here but if I were to give 10% of my income to the church. How much would go directly to providing for the needy in our community? or to bringing the Gospel directly to those on the outside? And how much would go to pay mortgage on the building, utility bills, maintenance of the building and grounds, internal programs, and supplies, etc?

I want to say clearly that I see nothing wrong with giving 10% directly to the church if that is how the Lord leads you. However I do believe to say that if someone isn’t giving 10% directly to their church they are not giving as the Lord Commands is legalism at its worst.

I don’t think that God is as concerned with the exact percentage of our income that we give as much as He is as the condition of heart as we give. I do believe that he wants us to give generously, not out of fear of being cursed, or because we are supposed to. God wants us to give out of love for him and love for those around us.

I also believe that God doesn’t just want 10% of our income. He wants us to give 100% of ourselves to Him and to those around us.

What do you think?

Does God command us to give 10%

Should a persons tithe be given only to the church?

The Virtues of the Kingdom

I found this list of Kingdom Virtues over at Spiritual Conversations by way of The Weary Pilgrim.

Humility in an age of Self-Promotion
Forgiveness in an age of Retaliation
Patience in an age of Instant Gratification
Generosity in an age of Greed
Compassion in an age of Self-Absorption
Love in an age of Eroticism
Truthfulness in an age of Deceit
Gentleness in an age of Competition
Kindness in an age of Personal Rights
Self-control in an age of Addiction
Justice in an age of Violence
Peace in an age of Fragmentation

This list really shows how counter culture a life fully lived for Christ really is. I was just struck by how impossible it would be for me to live out any of the virtues on a daily basis with out a relationship with God.

Virtues like these don’t come naturally. They come through allowing our selves to be transformed through the love of the Father.

Heavenly Father, help us to recieve your love, so that we may in turn pour out that same love on those around us. Help us to embody these virtues today, and every day. Amen

Just a Broken Pilgrim

I wanted to start off the new year fresh. I decided to start a new blog, instead of continuing with the Colorful Journey. I want this new year to be a year of pilgrimage, a year of renewed desire to follow Christ. I have also recently been confronted with my own brokeness (sinfulness) and the need for me to acnowledge it, confront it, and deal with it openly.

My wife and I were sober for a long time. But recently we have allowed alcohol back into our lives, and it has cost us much. I have lost my place as leader of our church’s bus ministry, I have lost my witness with my children, my sister, and  the children who ride the bus, and so many more.

I have come to realize that alcohol is not the cause of my problems, but rather my brokeness, and my unwillingness to confront it, confess it and deal with it, or rather get out of the way and let the Spirit deal with it. I hope that as I post thoughts along the way I can help others as well, and recieve help from others as well.

I’m not going to make the same mistake I did last time and try to come with “big” or deep” posts all the time. I work a full time job, have a 40 minute commute each way, and have responsibilities to my family, and others. I hope to post a few days a week, but I am not going to stress out about it if I don’t. As always I welcome comments and discussion