Our Spiritual/Physical Body

A friend at church recently brought up a subject that I must admit I'm intrigued by...the idea that our spiritual and physical natures are much more connected than we might initially realize. What we do with our body affects us spiritually. In fact, Jesus, in the New Testament, fully embraces physical humanity walking, eating, drinking, crying, weeping, working, etc. He does all this, and yet, He is also God - and God is Spirit. This is profoundly interesting to me. We tend to separate our spirituality into a back corner or at least back in a place where it can be in our lives but not too connected to everything else. I don't think this is possible for a follower of Jesus! Look, some of the most profound activities we do as a community of faith is physically act out our faith - even in our worship (bread & wine for communion, water immersion baptism, raising our hands, getting on our knees in prayer, etc.). So, I'm pondering how to better embrace and integrate my physical and spiritual connectedness as a follower of Christ. I think that's being more like Him...WWJD...

Easter in the NW

So one of the biggest weekends for churches all around the world occured...yes, Easter. Despite the bunnies, eggs, egghunts and the fact that it followed Washington's spring break, it felt like a great Saturday and Sunday at least for Common Ground Church. To see many of the volunteer's faces as they served the community at our Eggstravaganza was pretty cool. I watched our church really open up and talk to friends and neighbors and show that following Jesus isn't weird and that going to a church could be pretty fun. The overall attendance was a bit lower than I had hoped and prayed for, but, I know God was speaking and moving for those who came. In fact, one of the highlights for me was not only seeing my neighbors in church, but I also go ride to church with my family - for the first time in over 2 years! I prayed this morning that our church would continue to let God work in our homes, neighborhoods and friendships to draw more to know Him.

The E-Myth for Churches...

I recently read a book given to me by a friend called "The E-Myth" and I must say, I did enjoy it. This is really a book geared toward helping small businesses, but, I thought it applied to small, startup churches (like Commonground!) as well. It points out that many who begin startups are workers who worked for someone else then decided they could be their own boss just as easily and so they quit working for someone else and start their own gig. Sounds good, but the problem is that one cannot just do the work you've always done when you are a business owner - you must wear other hats like vision, marketing, finance, management, etc. So, the book did a good job of pointing out that you cannot run it all well like that - which is why so many small ventures die. Some of us have the entrepenuer strong, others have the management part strong, others have the technician/worker strong. All three are vital. Good insight I think. The book then delves into the solution of sorts which is to decide one's goals in life (personally), then, for the small biz owner to plan the business with those life goals in mind. I did like the idea presented in the book where a small biz learns franchise way of doing things - everything reproducible without the owner's hands having to be in it - a reproducible business that one could sell to an investor or other owner and be able to produce the same great results somewhere else. How could that apply to churches? That's what I've been chewing on...

Cross-dressing friend

I just found out that a friend from across the pond likes to dress up in women's clothing and has a different name when he does so. He was worried that my wife and I would not want to continue being friends with such a revelation. I must admit I was shocked, but, I certainly don't see any wisdom in ending the friendship. I let him know that my wife and I were not into that scene, but, that we support them as friends and continue to care for them. I believe that God made us to be creative people, and, cross-dressing is certainly creative in some sense, so, I'm not sure whether or not it would actually be considered sin. I'll have to study this out a bit. I mean, could a follower of Jesus have such a hobby? What should the church's stance be, Biblically speaking? Food for thought here...

If You Want To Walk On Water, You've Got To Get Out Of The Boat

This was a nice little book by John Ortberg about Simon Peter, one of the original 12 disciples of Jesus, and his famous walking on the water episode in the New Testament. It is a great metaphor for anyone wanting to accomplish something big for God that involves risk. This story really shaped the decision my wife and I made to leave Tennesee and move all the way to Washington state to help start a new church. As in one of the chapters of the book, many of us remain 'boat potatoes' for too long - theorizing and talking about accomplishing great things for God and yet remaining in our seat assignments. Even though Peter wasn't perfect, he was at least willing to risk failure to do something no human had done before - he trusted his God enough. How about us? Do we trust in a God that can move mountains and allow land-loving followers to walk on water?