Making Noises

We received the following in an email from our church’s vision team.  Our answers are below each question.

The Vision Team would welcome your perspectives on the following questions.

1.  What is most important to me about my congregation?

 

The close friendships we have made where we feel totally accepted and can be truly authentic.

2.  What do I worry most about when I think of my congregation?

 

In general:

 

We’d say that sometimes in faith communities there exists a reluctance for authenticity and honest discussion.  Such an atmosphere is not fostered, welcomed, or encouraged.  There also exists, in some faith communities, a shame based culture, as well as pressure to conform, “go with the flow,” don’t rock the boat, etc.

 

For example:  Christians, because of who we are in Christ, may labor under the mis-conception that we *should* never experience any form of mental illness etc. and if we do we berate ourselves for the same.

3.  If I could change one thing about my congregation at the drop of a hat, what would it be?

 

Legalism and the focus on sin, daily confession, keeping short accounts, etc.

 

From:  http://www.gracewalkministries.blogspot.com/:

 

“Under the covenant of law, one was not totally forgiven but must receive ongoing forgiveness in order to remain in a guilt free state. Yet at the cross, God poured out all His forgiveness toward those who are His. We don’t need to ask anymore! Paul described total forgiveness in Colossians 2:13-14.

The cross of Jesus was God’s final word about our sins. So let’s stop acting like it wasn’t by continuing to ask Him to do something He’s already done – forgive us.”

4.  What are opportunities and threats that face my congregation?

 

There exists an opportunity to become different than other churches.  A church that is inclusive, grace-based, and fostering an atmosphere of total authenticity.  Faith communities embracing total authenticity involve some measure of risk, uncomfortableness, etc. One would think that in a faith community more so than any other community (i.e. a “work” community) one could be free to be totally themselves, but this is not always the case [in our experience].

 

Threats include:  ignoring the opportunities for change, contentment with the “status quo”, making things more complicated than necessary such as outreach, missions, etc.

 

It will be interesting to see what may come out of this.  There was also a discussion group held last Saturday that we weren’t able to attend.  I believe the focus of the Vision Team is to find (negotiate, navigate)  a way forward for our church.

My sister-in-law and father-in-law are both in the hospital; SIL is having complications from a surgery she had before Thanksgiving and FIL is recovering from knee replacement surgery–he is Type 2 Diabetic and struggling post-op with blood sugars and bleeding.

On top of that, for us, we found out Sunday that a friend of mine from church has cancer and she has likely less than a year to live. Pray for a miracle.

It is when things go wrong, when the good things do not happen, when our prayers seem to have been lost, that God is most present. We do not need the sheltering wings when things go smoothly. We are closest to God in the darkness, stumbling along blindly. —Madeleine L’Engle

Psalm 91 from The Message

1-13You who sit down in the High God’s presence, spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow,

Say this: “God, you’re my refuge.

I trust in you and I’m safe!”

That’s right—he rescues you from hidden traps,

shields you from deadly hazards.

His huge outstretched arms protect you—

under them you’re perfectly safe;

his arms fend off all harm.

Fear nothing—not wild wolves in the night,

not flying arrows in the day,

Not disease that prowls through the darkness,

not disaster that erupts at high noon.

Even though others succumb all around,

drop like flies right and left,

no harm will even graze you.

You’ll stand untouched, watch it all from a distance,

watch the wicked turn into corpses.

Yes, because God’s your refuge,

the High God your very own home,

Evil can’t get close to you,

harm can’t get through the door.

He ordered his angels

to guard you wherever you go.

If you stumble, they’ll catch you;

their job is to keep you from falling.

You’ll walk unharmed among lions and snakes,

and kick young lions and serpents from the path.

14-16 “If you’ll hold on to me for dear life,” says God,

“I’ll get you out of any trouble.

I’ll give you the best of care

if you’ll only get to know and trust me.

Call me and I’ll answer, be at your side in bad times;

I’ll rescue you, then throw you a party.

I’ll give you a long life,

give you a long drink of salvation!”

Brad Jersak,http://www.bradjersak.com/ (author of “Can you Hear Me – Tuning into the God that Speaks”) was in Calgary this past weekend.  My husband and I and two friends of ours attended.  The conference was about the practice of Listening Prayer.  Or, as Monk Lawrence [a contemplative Monk 1611-1691] put it, “the practice of the presence of God.”

Here are some notes from the conference:

• Act like Jesus is with us and we are sitting down to have an intimate conversation with Him, as if He was here face-to-face with us.

• Going into a safe place in your hearts when praying– means wherever you imagine your safe place to be; for some, it might be beside a running stream in a meadow, for others a mountaintop, and others a special place in their home., to practice the intimate daily discipline of dialogue with Him (as opposed to what can happen –  a monologue as if He’s not here.)

• It can be hard to hear His voice if not used to it and  listening for it.  To ascertain if  it’s really is the voice of God, ask God if it is from Him, Satan or ourselves when a thought comes into your mind while practicing listening prayer.

• It’s scriptural – see Ps. 45, Heb. 1, John 10.

Listening to God for Direction

A life of intimacy with God leads us.  Often there are two extremes of direction – one extreme is that God has a specific will for everything, which can lead to feeling like we are walking a tightrope and fear (e.g. in Matthew, the parable of the talents, the guy who buried his talent – he was afraid of risk and making a mistake).

God does not want to cripple your will, nor is He interested in killing all our desires.  Know, too, that not all our desires get the green light from God.   Nor is He  interested in robots. It’s possible to get caught up in being way too afraid of making a mistake.

Another extreme is just to do whatever you want as long as you obey His commandments, etc. and following the moral will as long as it is not sin.

Let God convince you to make up your own mind.  Recognize His voice and follow it – “let Jesus have your feet” and attempt to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.  This requires an intimacy with God and the spiritual practice of listening prayer so that we know God’s voice when we hear it!  Pray “I don’t know what to say or do here God” and open your hearts.  Inquire of the Lord in faith and live by his Word (Ps. 32.8, 2 Sam.7:1).  Step out in faith because God is with you.  Proceed and the Lord will let you know.  Trust Him to guide you and provide course correction.  Which may happen and we need to be sensitive to it (Acts 16).

Prayer exercise for direction – because the Holy Spirit is in your heart and is your guide and counselor you can trust that.  Imagine in prayer when you are asking for direction — going to the right or the left and instead of being afraid of getting it wrong, allow the Holy Spirit to direct you.  If a door opens, take note of the Holy Spirit’s reaction (and trust Him to have one).  If you are feeling from the Holy Spirit a sense of rightness, joy, or peace about a decision, rather than a sense of deflation, negativity, dread, etc. it’s the way He wants you to go.  Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between our own reaction and the Holy Spirit’s.  A good way to work on distinguishing is through apologies (often we don’t want to apologize, but the Holy Spirit is nudging us to do so!).  Proceed towards the open doors and trust that the Holy Spirit will have a reaction, and He will.

The voice of God and the Guidance of the Holy Spirit does not often come from a strong voice and if we are feeling that, we need to take a step back and wait for the quiet voice to come.  The Holy Spirit’s voice is a voice of peace.  It’s not demanding,  preachy, or compulsive.  To help in ascertaining God’s voice, take the Fruits of the Spirit and apply it to God’s voice.  Also see Prov. 3:32, Heb. 12 and 1 Cor. 13.

Contemplative (Listening) Prayer and Healing

Retreat to a safe place to meet with Jesus in the midst of affliction.  Sometimes He will heal it and sometimes He will suffer it along with you.

Physical and Inner Healing:

Start with Jesus in a safe place in your heart as a type of “foyer” before going into the dark place (especially for inner healing) and also as a retreat to go back to when it gets too hairy.  This is a safe place in our hearts that the evil one can’t touch.  No matter what you have been through, there is a place in our heart that God has reserved for Himself (I thought that was pretty cool!).  Note — this is not conditional upon your response to the Gospel.  Romans 5.

Visualize a safe place in your heart where no evil can go, only you and God. (My safe place was on a blanket, on the beach, having a picnic with Jesus)  (Personal aside – I think it helps to be really good at visualization to practice listening prayer.)

So for physical healing – ask Jesus into your safe place to lay his healing hands on you.  Physical healing doesn’t always happen, but you always have His love and blessing.  Naturally I prayed for physical healing and while I felt better and more peaceful, as if in  His presence, I do not think I have experienced total physical healing.

Inner Healing – Jesus as Messiah.

Two things Jesus does – lifts burdens and breaks yokes.  Burdens = painful emotions, grief, hurt, anger, loss, etc.  Isa. 61 – He takes our inner sorrow and replaces it with joy and peace.  If you are struggling with someone, release them to Jesus for Him to deal with this.   [Personal note -- this was a very powerful prayer exercise for me -- I released some family members to Jesus and I asked God what inner healing I needed and he said "self-hatred" - I saw Jesus put his hands on me and He took all of the self-hatred onto Himself --I saw it as if it was physically leaving my body through His hands.]

This was an awesome conference and this spiritual discpline I believe is very powerful.

I subscribe to their email service.  Every day I receive a email from them with excerpts from their books.  (see link in my blogroll side bar to Ransomed Heart’s website.)

There’s some good stuff in these emails.

With a mother who died when I was a small girl, an absent father, and years spent in abusive foster home situations,  it is only God’s grace that I am not more screwed up than I am.  What I should have gotten from my parents as a child, teen and even an adult, and what actually happened were completely dichotomous.    From “Captivating” by John and Staci Eldredge:

From our mothers we receive many, many things but foremost above them all is mercy and tenderness. Our mothers show us the merciful face of God. We are nurtured at their breasts and cradled in their arms. They rock us to sleep and sing us lullabies. Our youngest years are lived within the proximity of their apron strings and they care for us in all the meanings of the word. When we get hurt, moms kiss us and make it better.

Little girls need the tender strength of their fathers. They need to know that their daddies are strong and will protect them; they need to know that their fathers are for them.

From them, we learn that we are delighted in, that we are special…or that we are not. How a father relates to his daughter has an enormous effect on her soul – for good or for evil.

Eldredge pulls no punches when he takes on the bricks-and-mortar church.  From The Sacred Romance he talks about Isa. 57: 9-10 and draws a parallel between Israel’s reluctance to repent and admit her “weariness and fainting” to the church’s “Systems of Guilt”:

Instead, she looks for ways to use her personal assets to redeem herself. Jesus spoke to the people about rest and thirst. The Pharisees demanded that they obey a constantly growing weight of religious laws and traditions, and chastised them for staggering under the load. They led people in the exact opposite direction from where their salvation lay—in admitting their weariness and fainting. As long as they hoped in their self-sufficiency, they would not call out to God and receive forgiveness, healing, and restoration.

So many of our contemporary churches operate on this same system of guilt. When our people are crying out for communion and rest, we ask them to teach another Sunday school class. When they falter under the load, we admonish them with Scriptures on serving others. One wonders what would happen if all activity motivated by this type of guilt were to cease for six months. Much of organized Christianity would collapse even as the Pharisees saw happen to their own religious system. As Jesus talked about thirst and rest, he brought people to the reality of their own heart.

As Steve McVey (Grace Walk Ministries) and others have put it, God wants us to be His bride, not His slave.

Portions originally published in The Messenger in 2008

©Making Noises

On February 29^th, 2008, approximately 15 youth participated in a prayer labyrinth at our church. Only 4 – 5 youth at a time could go into the room that the Labyrinth was set up.   The Labyrinth’s purpose was to draw the youth closer to God and to cause them to desire reconciliation.  A prayer labyrinth is a very personal, private experience and a way to commune with Christ and most of the youth that went through the Labyrinth were silent and contemplative upon exiting. .  In this case, the “Labyrinth” wasn’t actually a labyrinth at all but rather a series of 11 stations of prayer that people rotate through.  This seems to be the modern-day equivalent of a Labyrinth, although true Labyrinths exist at retreat centers and the like and can be located outdoors in peaceful, garden-like settings.

Certain stations are designed to help you focus upon removing distractions in your life to more deeply commune with God and other stations are more outward focused to assist you with your daily walk with Christ and focus on Christ living through you.  Often, there is a communion station.

History of the Prayer Labyrinth – from www.mtoliveretreat.org:

The labyrinth’s Christian history dates as far back as the fourth century, at which time a labyrinth was imbedded into the floor of a basilica in Algeria. Early labyrinths contained four circuits on which devout people would slowly meander while praying and seeking repentance and forgiveness.

In the Middle Ages, it was common for Christians to make a pilgrimage to the city of Jerusalem, which they considered the center of their world. Around the 12th century, when it became too dangerous for Christians to travel to Jerusalem, several cathedrals containing 11-circuit labyrinths served as a substitute for an actual pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The labyrinths in these pilgrimage cathedrals came to be called the “Chemin de Jerusalem” or Road of Jerusalem. The beautiful labyrinth in the cathedral in Chartres, France has been preserved from these days of pilgrimage.”

And finally, from – http://dev.knoxunited.ab.ca/index.php?page=labyrinth:

The Labyrinth is not a maze, built to confuse, but a single pathway winding to the centre and returning out again on the same path. On the Labyrinth walk, we engage an ancient spiritual practice of pilgrimage and self discovery. The movement is a body prayer through the architecture of the soul. As we move to the centre, healing, transformation and the divine can be known.

Labyrinth’s available to the public in Calgary include:

The Conference Centre at Country Gardens, 24306 Lower Springbank Road, Calgary, Alberta, Phone 403-242-5722

Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd, 408 38 Street S.W., Calgary, Alberta, Phone: 403-246-8123.

FCJ Centre, 219 – 19 Avenue S.W., Calgary, Alberta, Phone: 403-228-4215 note: this is an outside labyrinth.

Parkdale United Church, 2919 – 8 Avenue N.W., Calgary, Alberta, Phone: 403-283-3301.

Knox United Church, 506 – 4 Street S.W., Phone: 403-269-8382.

I can do more than complain and rant about legalism.  I can provide alternatives.  So, without further ado, here’s  a collection of grace filled resources  for your reading and listening pleasure.  May these help us all in our “grace walk.”

• http://www.ransomedheart.com/default.aspx – podcasts and blogs

• http://www.gracewalkministries.blogspot.com/ – Steve McVey’s blog, founder of Grace Walk Ministries – home page here:  http://www.gracewalk.org/ for podcasts of his sermons, books and more.

• http://www.henze-associates.com/blog/ – variety of messages about who we are in Christ, and what true grace and freedom really means to  all of us struggling in our walk of faith.  In particular:  http://www.henze-associates.com/blog/2009/08/02/cal/the-power-of-the-gospel/

• http://theshovel.net/:

Dig with me and uncover the joy of life and freedom that’s been buried under piles of religious dirt. … Check out the real Jesus Christ, not the religious icon … and you just might discover the real you.

• http://www.realanswers.net/ :

People to People Ministries — proclaiming Jesus Christ and the reality of His life in you.

Subscribe to a weekly newsletter, listen to podcasts, and more. By the way, Bob George (the founder of People to People Ministries) was and is instrumental in my and my husband’s “grace walk” journey.

• Richard Rohr’s “Radical Grace”  http://www.cacradicalgrace.org/ – where you can sign up for his daily email meditations – very thought provoking.

• http://www.thegraceproject.com/ — This seems to be the website of a church in London, UK, and has a lot of resources – audio casts, blogs, articles, sermons, etc.
• http://www.themeetinghouse.ca/
  

• Drew Marshall http://www.drewmarshall.ca/listen2009.html – out of Toronto, Ontario, and podcasts of every program are available online.  With interesting guests and conversation, it’s

Canada’s most listened to talk back radio show.

Inspired by Geez Magazine’s articles “30 Sermons You’ll Never Hear in Church”, I present to you “30 Sentences You’ll Never Hear in Church”: [with contributions by Randy Dueck and Cal H. Henze]

1. You are totally under grace.
2. Daily confession and keeping short accounts are not necessary to keep you in right relationship with Jesus Christ.
3. Alcoholism, and other addictions, are NOT as a result of sin in your life.
4. You are totally, completely, forgiven and a child of the King, perfectly and wonderfully made.
5. We don’t need your money.
6. If God leads you to volunteer with ___ ministry, great, but there’s no pressure here.
7. We accept you completely for who you are and won’t try and change you – that’s God’s job.
8. Your heart needs are the most important to us and we want to know what we can do to help you in your time of need.
9. There’s no judgment or criticism here.
10. If you are ever in a time of emotional, physical, or spiritual crisis, you can count on the friends you make here, and the people of this church, any time day or night.
11. We want to give our fatherless/motherless young children a mature believer to help them.
12. Demands for performance are never treatment for a broken heart.
13. There’s no dress code – or hair length – necessary to Worship the King.
14. Your abuse and pain are real.
15. We like drums.
16. Music is amoral.
17. It is finished – Christ’s death on the cross took your sin away – past, present and future, forever.
18. Everything is permissible but not everything is profitable.
19. Church membership is optional to serve.
20. Women in leadership are welcome.
21. God’s really quite mature — He doesn’t sulk like your housecat if you do something stupid. [with apologies to cat-lovers everywhere!]
22. God can’t even imagine being angry at you.
23. Our sermons aren’t a “guilt trip” to “control” our congregation – they are designed to provide spiritual nourishment in a non-judgmental, grace-filled way.
24. We won’t attempt to provoke an extreme emotional response in our worship service with repetitious, 7-11 songs [*7 songs, each sung 11 times].
25. We don’t put God in a box.
26. God hears all your prayers, not just those that follow some formulaic ritualistic religion-approved format.
27. Talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words.
28. When we say we’ll pray for you, we’ll really do it!
29. You’ll know we are Christians by our love.
30. We’re not here to moralize the world.

This fellow seems to believe God expects perfection for us to approach Him, apparently.  Hmmm.  News to me.

Seems pointless to attempt to discuss this, but try I did: *sigh*

It was like swimming upstream against a very strong current.

Our “conversation” is reproduced below:

Him: 

Striving for mere excellence in approaching God is inadequate, our only hope is obedience.

Me:

“Obedience? What about just resting in His finished work in us?  Why do we need excellence to approach God–He is our Daddy!  I am confused.”

Him: In Response: 

“Excellence is like striving for 95%, allowing ourselves still to fail. But we need to strive for perfection, for 100%. Only obedience to God can take us to that level. Mere excellence isn’t good enough.”

[Emphasis added by me.]

Me in response to above: 

“Yeah but aren’t we just setting ourselves up for failure, disappointment, guilt feelings, etc. by this ‘striving?’ Not to mention doing it in our own strength which is impossible?”

  Me, a few minutes later:

“I suppose this isn’t really the place for this type of discussion.”

His last reply:

“It’s much better to strive for God’s standard and fail, than to not strive for God’s standard at all.”

(In other words, I guess,

“it’s much better to beat myself up on a daily basis for falling short of God’s standard, try to do it all on my own without the Holy Spirit,  and feel constantly guilty and ashamed for messing up.  That’s better, yep, than to rest in His finished work, embrace His love and mercy, and accept our brokenness and that it REALLY IS FINISHED.”)

Yep, grace seems to have left the building there….well if it even lived there in the first place.  These belief systems seem to be so inter-generational, so ingrained, passed down, and re-inforced by some pastors in some churches, it is almost impossible to “break” them.  Like a great big “to-do” list of rules and regulations- if I do this, if I do that, maybe then Jesus will really, really love me and accept me if I become perfect.  Almost like earning our salvation.  Pharisees, anyone?

Contrast that with the words of Jesus in Matthew 11:28-30 (the Message):

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me-watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Yes I am tired.  I am worn out.  I am burned out by “religion” and I so want to learn the “unforced rhythms of grace.”  Teach me Jesus.  And teach me how not to be legalistic in my grace.  Such legalism makes me no better than the original legalists.

Hearing God’s voice–I struggle with this.  What does it mean?  Do we stop our lives long enough to even listen when He does speak?

The leader of our small group describes it thus:  “When you hear His voice (or see/feel etc) and know in the depths of your heart that He led you there.”

When God speaks it is as if a light goes on in my soul and a surety enters my heart that yes, this is “Him.”   Kind of like an epiphany.  which www.dictionary.com defines as:

a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.

Most recently God spoke to me about something relatively mundane–walking around Rosebud AB on Saturday in between the meal and the performance–I was in agony, feet hurting from “dress up” shoes and God said to me  “you don’t have to dress up, to be like others, just be yourself.”   Being ourselves is good enough for Jesus.  More than good enough, it is perfect.

The fact is I wear runners and comfortable casual clothes almost exclusively.  Partly because of chronic pain issues and partly because that is just the way I am.

Reminds me of Romans 12:2.  Since I am a non-conformist by nature, sometimes it seems this scripture was written directly to me:  ‘Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.’

Humour helps us learn. This marriage series “Laugh your Way to a Better Marriage”  is coming to our area this weekend. Here’s a Youtube video of Mark Gungor talking about the difference between a man’s brain and woman’s brain.

Tale of Two Brains

Will post more information after the conference.