Friends or co-opters of gifts

Since moving to San Francisco I've learned a lot about those in my past. I've realized that true friends still care for you even when they can't use your gifts and talents, while those you thought were your friends seem to forget you exist, all because they can't use you anymore.

More and more I believe that Christ truly calls us to know someone intimately before we ask for a persons gifts and talents to be used at our expense. Recently my dad and I were discussing a church in VA that just lost their pastor and my dad is filling in. I asked him to pose a simple request to the church as they search for their new pastor, Do you truly know this man? How can a church know a mans spiritual, intimate, and private life by simply listening to a sermon and reading a resume? Too often we see someones talent and fail to test their relationship with God. What a dangerous place to take the children of God. How can a true man of God take a church as simply a hired hand, not knowing the people on a personal level? I do not believe this the kind of man God calls to lead His people.

Never again will I allow myself to be used the way most churches and orginizations use people, but more importantly, I pray I never use anyone to advance my own agenda.

Thank you to all of my friends that are still there, even though I have co-opted and mistreated you. Thank you for sticking with me as God taught me these valuable lessons. I love you and thank God that you all played a part in my learning.

A New Law continued

Why is there such a phariseean spirit among us today? In my own life I see signs of creation of new laws in order to gain a deeper spiritual understanding, or a closeness with God, when I simply need to submit to Christ. Must we always seek to establish new laws in order to preserve our elite spiritual status? Is it to much to ask for a Christian to simply be that, a follower of Christ, not a writer of law. My life must seek humility rather than law.

A New Law

I think Derek Webb has a pretty good understanding of the American Christian don't you.....


don’t teach me about politics and government
just tell me who to vote for
don’t teach me about truth and beauty
just label my music

don’t teach me how to live like a free man
just give me a new law


i don’t wanna know if the answers aren’t easy
so just bring it down from the mountain to me


i want a new law
i want a new law
gimme that new law


don’t teach me about moderation and liberty
i prefer a shot of grape juice

don’t teach me about loving my enemies

don’t teach me how to listen to the Spirit
just give me a new law


what’s the use in trading a law you can never keep
for one you can that cannot get you anything
do not be afraid
do not be afraid
do not be afraid

News from SF

Ok so there really is no news to report, other than Katie and I leave early tomorrow to go to Ohio for her sister's, Lauren, wedding. My parents are coming up, so it'll be a great time with our families that we haven't seen for two months.

Things are great here in the city, life is happening 100mph and we have to force ourselves to slow down sometimes. We held our first "service" on Sunday and we're so excited to see the harvest that God has prepared for such a time as this.

The business is growing steadily and Katie is loving the neighborhood center. There is so much more to write but we're getting up at 3am so I'm turning in.

Thank you all for your prayers, we miss you.

Oh yeah I almost forgot, I've added the links to a couple of friends blogs over on the right so check them out. Ryan and Ken are great guys and great friends, so read there stuff.

"And it is getting hotter, and the ice caps are melting, and there is a buildup of carbon dioxide in the air. And I think we really need to address the burning of fossil fuels. If we are contributing to the destruction of this planet, we need to do something about it."


- Pat Robertson, admitting on his television show, The 700 Club, that recent heat waves have convinced him of the reality of global warming.

Community

Community is a popular word these days in the Christian realm, as well as in the secular, often bandied about with ill-defined meaning. Perhaps its increasing importance results from the fact that well documented research supports what many have already concluded - commitment to community is not as strong as it once was. Those who continue to affirm its importance frequently must demonstrate its value to clarify its purpose.

Here in SF we participate in "Faith Community" not in the traditional sense of a local meeting or congregation, but in the sense that the Christian faith is the foundation upon which the community rests, the common subject matter the community explores, and the common experience the community seeks to understand and articulate. As Christ spoke directly to the early disciples, we believe that Christ continues to teach those who seek Truth. We aspire to be a community where such a search characterizes our life together.

We are also a community of learning, as individuals who have responded to God's call in our lives gather to embark on a journey that radically transforms as our lives follow in service of our King.

We as a community also seek to be a community of "hospitality" characterized by our understanding of Christian love. In a city that is filled with sojourners, our desire is to be a place where people meet God through our lives and carry "community" wherever they go from here.

The intentional definition of community creates the setting in which we are discipled and seek to make disciples for our God.