NOW Oct 22, Inland Vineyard

I will be doing a night of worship at the Inland Vineyard on Oct 22. I am hoping to see some old friends there.
Kim Gentes the founder of Worshipmusic.com will be leading as well. The special treat for me is to have my son in law Trey Tatum leading with us as well. You can follow this link for more info. http://www.worshipgathering.com/nightWorship.php

I am part of a church because.......

Recently (Febuary)I became an active member of a local church, that's recent when you consider I wasn't really connected for about 9 years. Church is a quirky thing in our day and age at least it is in my opinion, you can pretty much pitch your tent anywhere you want, gather a group of people, develop a set of rules and call it church. It's hard for Protestants to say much to defend the constant fragmentation of 'the church'. I think the Orthodox and Catholics can argue for consistency and continuity far more persuasively than 'we' can. I hate to place myself in the 'we' but that's who I am. I looked into Orthodoxy and I was a Catholic, so to some degree I understand there positions. More importantly I appreciate them and believe we have allot to learn from them, but that's another blog at another time.
What I am writing about is my connection to a local church and why. I was confirmed Catholic and converted to Protestantism when I was eleven and joined up with the fundamentalist evangelical sect of that stream. I went from being a Quaker, the West Coast version, to Calvary Chapel to Vineyard. And yes C.C. and Vineyard are fundamentalist at the core. From that early age I became involved at a level that could put a full time minister to shame. I was at everything and doing anything needed from the time I was 11 to 43. At that point I hit the wall, had lost any sense of direction, I was just an all around mess for a while. Was the time and energy that I gave to 'the ministry' worth the loss? The answer was clear, No! Opportunity isn't the same thing as doing the Lords work. It took it's toll and for almost a decade, with the exception of putting my toe back in the water here and there, I avoided 'church'. To be frank, I felt it did me more harm than good for a boat load of reasons. I became so tired of the hype, the promises, the visions, missions and calls to action by insecure and ambitious people. It really wasn't hard to identify in others what at one time had been so prevalent in me.
But then I came across this little independent church, that had some questionable lineage of it's own, it was born out of the disruption of another church. And although not perfect, of course I knew the chance of any church being perfect was blown the minute I walked through it's doors, it has become home.
I have never sought perfection. I can't tell you how many times I have had people tell me, 'Well no church is perfect' as an excuse for a lack of integrity, accountability, honesty, authenticity and innocence. I'm not looking for perfection, that would be stupid, that isn't going to happen. I just want to be connected and work out my faith with people who are honest about who they are and what they are, sinners in need of a Saviour! I want to be with people who want to make a difference to whatever degree God grants them the grace to do. Enough with the 'change the world' challenges and calls. How about changing the world we actually live in starting with ourselves. How about realizing we are not two clicks away from the person living under the bridge. I honestly believe if a person doesn't get that, that they don't get it.
Evangelism at it's core is simply, 'one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.'
What I have found at this little church is leadership that is accountable to an appropriate degree, innocence, a willingness to take a risk if it will benefit the community of faith, integrity and authenticity. Ordinary people seeking to do an extraordinary thing, change lives, one person at a time. Facilitating a real relationship with the Lord, that is based on His strength, His holiness, His compassion and His beauty. Gosh it's kind of a 'it is not I who lives, but Christ who lives in me', thing.

I am happy to be a part of this place, glad that I get to contribute with my life experience, talents and gifts, it helps me to know that those things which have been gained at a price, can be put to good use somewhere.

Like I wrote earlier church today is wide open, it's like going to Cold Stone for ice cream and coming up with whatever combination you want. I'm not advocating this, nor saying it's best, but it is, what it is. The key is in the ingredients. At the core is there integrity, accountability, honesty, compassion and a big old portion of God's grace. Is there an honest, fair and practical understanding of the Word of God, not a rigid and often times unfair use of the Bible to guilt, shame and beat people into compliance.
I have always encouraged those I have had influence with to not check their Bible and brains when they walk through the doors of the church. Listen, watch, think about where you are, what is being said.
If we are going to have a positive, encouraging and beneficial experience with 'church', we need to be engaged and we need to care.
I'm happy I'm 'back', I know Jesus loves His bride as fragmented as she might be, wherever you belong, make sure it's a place that has the beauty of the Lord on it.

Time heals all wounds?

Anyone who has ever experienced a tragedy has heard the phrase, 'time heals all wounds', when one is going through the pain and agony of the trials and tribulations of life it seems so trite and it is beyond ones imagination that something so simply stated could be possibly true. Emotional pain is deeply felt and so real it is hard to imagine it ever going away or lessening. It is difficult to believe that things will ever be okay again, let alone that things can one day even be better.

But for the most part I think it is true. The 'for the most part' is a qualifier, because there are some wounds that diminish in terms of the pain, but never, ever truly go away. I recently came across a tape of a memorial service that a friend of mine gave me of his sons funeral. His son Jeffery a friend of mine had died prior to the end of our senior year in High School of cancer. He died an agonizing and prolonged death. His father gave me this tape at least a 20 years after the death of his precious boy, yet the wounds remained. The pain was evident, the sorrow was something he would take to his grave. So there are always exceptions to any statement that attempts to explain in brief, something as complex as the death of a child, a murder of an innocent mother, the rape of a vulnerable and defenseless human being, a wayward child, or death of a marriage. I acknowledge this in an attempt to not belittle or invalidate the horrific experiences that people face that will never fully be healed in this lifetime.
That said, there are many experiences that we have in this life, when we are going through them feel we could never ever recover from the pain and devastation of these these events introduce to our life.

The reality appears to be though that the pain does ease, the effects of the trauma wane and we somehow are able to move on in our lives. This is truly a gift from God. Many people turn to God in times of trouble, hoping that He will see them through the 'dark night of the soul', some don't. Whether one turns to God or not, the truth is time still heals and we do recover because our creator in His wisdom has made us in such a way that we do heal. I choose to give thanks to God for this wonderful ability, the ability to recover, to heal, to feel joy again. Of course when you are going through the difficulty it is close to impossible to believe or feel that this could be so. In fact when you are in the middle of your trial, it's hard to feel anything at all other than the pain. It's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel when you are enveloped in utter darkness. One thing is almost certain, it isn't much of a help to the suffering one, to hear saying like, 'time heals all wounds', it also doesn't help much to hear stories about how you went through something horrible and made it through. For the most part people just to know that you are with them, you love them, you are not obligated to come up with something that will alleviate their pain and suffering. In most cases it's supposed to hurt! God created those feelings too. How do you lose a child and not feel your heart is being ripped from your chest? I don't understand how it works, I just know that if I didn't experience the pain that I have, I wouldn't be the person I am today. Having gone through it and come out on the other side, I am a more understanding, compassionate person.

Yes there is a time to say something but it's not when someone is filled with anguish and grief. My son recently took a nasty spill on his bike, hitting his forehead and getting some nasty asphalt burns, he was crying and very upset. The fact is when I saw him and heard his story, I got shooting pains down my legs, I felt so bad for him and simply comforted him. I didn't launch into a tirade on bike safety. Did we eventually talk about what happened and how to prevent it of course, but when he was bleeding and upset was not the time.

Being a Christian and for the most part spending the majority of time with the tribe, I have observed a real lack of compassion from those who have been the recipient of such and all encompassing compassion. We are so quick to lecture, to thoughtlessly throw out a Bible verse, I'm not against Bible verses, but they are not to be indiscrimately used as some sort of magical cure all. Christians who lack compassion scare me.

Time heals all wounds? Yes I believe it does and I believe it is a gift from God and the pain is a gift to, it makes us better people.