As a main part of Pathways (the church plant that I am involved in) we are excited about opening up a 'missional cafe'. I have removed the name of the cafe because we want the first 'google' spot to be for the official website and right now it is for my blog. The main focus behind this cafe is to connect with people primarily the ages of 13-30 (this doesn't mean we are leaving older people out, we are simply decorating and having the feel of the place focused on attracting the younger generation). We will be offering fair trade products (simply put, we are buying the coffee and other products from overseas at a price that will enable them to make a profit). Most other places who offer fair trade coffee (ie. Starbucks) have only one blend that is fair trade and the rest they pay peanuts for. As well as being a coffee house where we will interact and meet new people, it will also be our place of worship. In October, we will be returning to weekly or bi-weekly worship services where all the cell groups come together in corporate worship. Currently we meet every 6-8 weeks at some random location. This will be great to be able to go to the Cafe.
Anyway, please pray that all goes well with getting the Coffee House up and running and that we will be successful at it.
Cheers
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Be the Church, don't go to Church!
My dad's blog inspired me to write this one. I actually wrote it as a comment on his blog but decided to publish it myself. The link to my dad's blog is on the side called Tim Thompson...Reflections. In his blog entitled "What is a church?" he talks about two other blogs about the subject and explains a little bit about his experience. This brief blog is a little bit about my experiece with what the church is. I hope you enjoy.
Church to me is the people that belong to it (I know I say this all the time and my family is probably getting sick of me saying it). It is not the building where we meet, it is not the living rooms or the golf course. Church is living the life that God has called us to live. I like the phrase "Be the church, don't go to church!". I myself have just recently left a big church of 400-500 people in the congregation to be a part of a cell based church plant in a smaller community. From my experience, I am growing in my spiritual journey better now than I did at the big church. I feel more connected with fellow believers, I find it easier to share my faith and invite people just to 'hang out' instead of inviting them to a worship service that will most likely be very boring to someone who hasn't experienced Christ yet. Learning how to "Be the church" is helping me live my life for Christ everyday as opposed to the 'rut' that some people get in by just living the life on Sunday's.
This being said, I also believe that everyone and every demographic is different so what works for me and my community doesn't necessarily work for another. I think that every community, small or large, should have options for people to meet God the way in which they feel most comfortable. If someone you meet doesn't feel comfortable going to a worship service, invite them out for golf or coffee and just love them.
I believe as Christians (even if we attend regular services in a 'church' building) need to really focus on living the life, not just on Sunday's, but everyday. Be the church on the golf course, be it at the mall or in the grocery store. Be the church all the time!!
Thanks for reading my ramblings.
Church to me is the people that belong to it (I know I say this all the time and my family is probably getting sick of me saying it). It is not the building where we meet, it is not the living rooms or the golf course. Church is living the life that God has called us to live. I like the phrase "Be the church, don't go to church!". I myself have just recently left a big church of 400-500 people in the congregation to be a part of a cell based church plant in a smaller community. From my experience, I am growing in my spiritual journey better now than I did at the big church. I feel more connected with fellow believers, I find it easier to share my faith and invite people just to 'hang out' instead of inviting them to a worship service that will most likely be very boring to someone who hasn't experienced Christ yet. Learning how to "Be the church" is helping me live my life for Christ everyday as opposed to the 'rut' that some people get in by just living the life on Sunday's.
This being said, I also believe that everyone and every demographic is different so what works for me and my community doesn't necessarily work for another. I think that every community, small or large, should have options for people to meet God the way in which they feel most comfortable. If someone you meet doesn't feel comfortable going to a worship service, invite them out for golf or coffee and just love them.
I believe as Christians (even if we attend regular services in a 'church' building) need to really focus on living the life, not just on Sunday's, but everyday. Be the church on the golf course, be it at the mall or in the grocery store. Be the church all the time!!
Thanks for reading my ramblings.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
God in the OT!
Well, it sure has been a while since I wrote on this blog. I find myself not even remembering that it even exists. I remembered today so I decided to write one.
I've been reading through Numbers (something about it interested me, I don't exactly know what!!) and I am finding it quite interesting to hear about the stories of the Israelites in the desert. Today I was reading the story in Numbers 11 when God sent the quail to the Israelites.
When the people of Israel were wailing because they only get manna and no meat, Moses approached the Lord and asked that He lift the burden of all these complaining people off of him and put it on many people. So God did as Moses asked. He put the spirit that was upon Moses on seventy other elders in Israel. Then God told Moses to tell the people that He will send them meat for 30 days, until they were sick of it. Interestingly, Moses questions God on how He is going to do this. Moses says to God, "Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot, and you say, 'I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!' Would they have enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them?" (Numbers 11:21-22). To which God responds, "Is the LORD's arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you." (Numbers 11:23). I find it crazy that Moses, who sees the manna fall from heaven everyday and who has been through the many miracles that God has performed to get them to where they are at this point, still has doubts as to what God can do. Anyway, the next day God sends an enormous amount of quail for the Israelites to gather and eat. They were piled three feet high and for as long as they could walk in one day!! WOW, that's a lot of meat! Then God did something that is a bit confusing to me and the reason behind this blog. He sent a severe plague among the people of Israel and killed many because they craved other food.
My confusion is this: Why did God not just say no and tell them to be content with the manna that He sends them everyday. Why did He have to give them what they asked for but then kill some of them because they were greedy. To me, this doesn't really sound like the loving God that I know. It seems kind of cruel if you ask me. It seems like God is saying, "OK, I'll give you what you ask for, but I'll kill you because you asked for it."
As it confuses me as to why God chose to do it this way, it definately teaches a very important lesson on selfishness. It teaches me not to ask for something out of selfish desires, and to always be grateful for what God has given to me. Praise Him who gives us immeasurably more than we will ever deserve!!
Just thought I'd share my thoughts for today with you!!
I've been reading through Numbers (something about it interested me, I don't exactly know what!!) and I am finding it quite interesting to hear about the stories of the Israelites in the desert. Today I was reading the story in Numbers 11 when God sent the quail to the Israelites.
When the people of Israel were wailing because they only get manna and no meat, Moses approached the Lord and asked that He lift the burden of all these complaining people off of him and put it on many people. So God did as Moses asked. He put the spirit that was upon Moses on seventy other elders in Israel. Then God told Moses to tell the people that He will send them meat for 30 days, until they were sick of it. Interestingly, Moses questions God on how He is going to do this. Moses says to God, "Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot, and you say, 'I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!' Would they have enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them?" (Numbers 11:21-22). To which God responds, "Is the LORD's arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you." (Numbers 11:23). I find it crazy that Moses, who sees the manna fall from heaven everyday and who has been through the many miracles that God has performed to get them to where they are at this point, still has doubts as to what God can do. Anyway, the next day God sends an enormous amount of quail for the Israelites to gather and eat. They were piled three feet high and for as long as they could walk in one day!! WOW, that's a lot of meat! Then God did something that is a bit confusing to me and the reason behind this blog. He sent a severe plague among the people of Israel and killed many because they craved other food.
My confusion is this: Why did God not just say no and tell them to be content with the manna that He sends them everyday. Why did He have to give them what they asked for but then kill some of them because they were greedy. To me, this doesn't really sound like the loving God that I know. It seems kind of cruel if you ask me. It seems like God is saying, "OK, I'll give you what you ask for, but I'll kill you because you asked for it."
As it confuses me as to why God chose to do it this way, it definately teaches a very important lesson on selfishness. It teaches me not to ask for something out of selfish desires, and to always be grateful for what God has given to me. Praise Him who gives us immeasurably more than we will ever deserve!!
Just thought I'd share my thoughts for today with you!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
