Life Together

i was reading today on another blog.

i read the book,  life together by dietrich bonhoeffer years ago and don’t remember it impacting me as much as this quote did right now:

In the Christian community thankfulness is just what it is anywhere else in the Christian life. Only he who gives thanks for the little things receives the big things. We prevent God from giving us the great spiritual gifts He has in store for us, because we do not give thanks for daily gifts. We think we dare not be satisfied with the small measure of spiritual knowledge, experience, and love that has been given to us, and that we must constantly be looking forward eagerly for the highest good. Then we deplore the fact that we lack the deep certainty, the strong faith, and the rich experience that God has given to others, and we consider this lament to be pious. We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts. How can God entrust great things to one who will not thankfully receive from Him the little things?

If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have been placed, even where there is no great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith, and difficulty; if on the contrary, we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, so far from what we expected, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ.

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Life Together. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1978.

i am giving thanks for north point this morning.  how about you?

That’s what i’m talkin’ about…

i got an email from my friend andrew today.  andrew was the founder of the 1010 project and just recently took a job with amnesty international in london.  it’s been a tough few months as he has tried to make the transition from boulder, colorado to the other side of the globe…without his family.  melia, his wife, along with konner and tanner, have had to wait back here in the states while they all finished the school year.

i know the days are growing longer and the wait must be incredibly difficult.  he sent me a copy of the email he sent to melia after church yesterday.  it blew me away.  he invited me to share it with all of you:

i wanted to tell you about today – sunday….

for some reason, i got up and went to church, the same church i went to last week.  don’t know why i chose the same one – maybe it is because i knew where it was.  i walked in and found a seat on my own, near the back somewhere…

a man sitting behind me leaned in and asked me if it was my first time.  i lied and said it was – it might as well have been.  anyways, he came up and sat beside me.  the song service began, and for some reason it was very emotional for me.  it went on and on, with the leader allowing time and space for real worship, it seemed.  i sat down and was weeping.  the man let me be, but after a while he asked ‘ you ok??’  i just shook my head.  he just let me be.  finally, i asked him… ‘ please pray that my family can come, this week.’  he didn’t ask any details, but he just prayed.  he prayed for a visa.  he prayed for it to come on monday.  he prayed that our family would be a family again.  out loud.  right there.  in the middle of the service.  

after he prayed, he told me he had to go.  he took my mobile number and took off.  i sat and listened to the sermon on my own, then after – another man came and sat beside me.  he introduced himself and said the other guy told him about me.  he asked about the family…., and he as well just prayed for me, for us.  he told me to call him when our stuff arrives so he can get a bunch of guys to help us move in.  

i got up to leave, and another man grabbed me and told me he saw me last week but did not get a chance to say anything.  he took me back in to get my information and i told him what was up.  he asked what i needed, and all i could say is my family.  i said, ‘i know nothing of this place’, and he said back, ‘but we do.’  we can do most things, but we cannot read minds, he said to me.  

as i went out the door to leave, i got my bike, and another man said to me, ‘nice bike – very nice bike.’  i agreed, of course, and we started talking bikes.  he is a mountain biker, along with some other guys in this church.  anyways, he asked, and i told him the same story about our family.  he offered to lend us his car this week for when you land.  offered to put me on the insurance so i could drive it….  

they all are looking forward to meeting you and the boys next week.  they all are praying.

imagine a church with that kind of fellowship…from men, no less.  

this is what we are looking for.

a church with anything less than this is unacceptable.

anybody ready to take the challenge?

A balanced church – seven

i love st. augustine grass.  thick blades.  dark green.  healthy.  strong.  tall.  for those of you that were with me a few years ago, you got to hear my weekly update on my quest to resurrect the lawn in my front yard.  due to pure stupidity, i killed my beautiful st. augustine carpet.  apparently, socal landscaping practice doesn’t work so well in the great state.  go figure…

after three years of patient shepherding of my little st. augustine flock, it was back to health.  fat (phat?). lush.  growing.  the pride of temple drive.  then came spring.  then summer.  now…a fungus.

it’s taken my lawn hostage.  brown patches.  frog eyes (what the landscaping experts call them…they’re really ugly).  dead grass.  irregular growth.  the beauty of my front yard is now reduced to wasteland.  a toxic catastrophe of epic proportion.  sadness.  frustration.  depression.  all that hard work for nothing…

i really hope you share my pain.  or else be bold enough to laugh in my face and tell me to get my priorities straight.

here’s the lesson, tho…  i’ve been talking this past week, or so, about what makes a healthy, balanced church.  one major component is fellowship.  good, strong, healthy, bold, honest, loyal, committed relationships.  people who stick with you no matter what.  you can count on them.  they’ve got your back and won’t vanish when things get tough.  friendship full of laughter, tears, conflict, resolution, fun, understanding and forgiveness.  

but nothing will kill fellowship quicker than fungus…er, sin.  you work diligently, yet sometimes it creeps in.  the sin might be small.  completely unnoticed to everyone…but you.  so you ignore it.  but sin corrupts. it works its way into relationships and begins to slowly infect.  you disregard it  but it does its work.  you overlook it.  but it passes on its infection to everything it touches.  it will kill.  

the answer?  for st. augustine, its heavy doses of powerful fungicide, patient work to purge the lawn of dead grass and the remnants of the infection, protecting the healthy grass from any remaining fungus, and the slow process of letting the grass grow back to health.

i’m not sure its much different for the church.

A balanced church – six

a lesson from a toilet…

i don’t know if you’ve ever replaced a wax ring underneath your toilet, but i think it’s something that everyone should do at least once in their life.  i’ve done it a few times…not enough to be crowned a wax ring specialist, but certainly enough to pass on this bit of wisdom:

there is nothing about this job that is comfortable, logical, or user-friendly.  it’s awkward.  there’s not enough room to work.  it stinks.  it’s messy.  it’s heavy.  fittings are rusted.  it leaks when you start to work on it.  your hands get sticky and it gets on everything.  did i say that it stinks?  there’s nowhere to hold on.  screws don’t want to go in the holes.  the wrench doesn’t fit.  you seldom get it right the first time.  you can’t do it alone.  if you try to do it alone, all you’ll get is frustrated.  even though you need a partner, there’s nowhere for them to fit.  communication is nearly impossible because nothing about the job makes sense.  one other thing…it stinks.

why do i tell you this?  because it reminds me of fellowship.  not the fake kind, but the real thing.  dealing with people is not always the easiest thing to do.  it’s awkward.  it’s messy.  sometimes there’s nowhere to hold on.  things don’t fit.  communication is difficult.  sometimes it’s just plain old hard work.

but it’s got to be done.

by the way…this time, the toilet came out and went back in with no problems.  no problems!  i haven’t checked for leaks yet, though…