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Naked on the road to healing
Saturday, November 21st, 2009 | Uncategorized | 5 Comments
Over the last 2 years, my attitudes towards nakedness and nudity have undergone some fundamental changes. When I speak of nakedness, I am primarily talking about the the emotional and soul state of nakedness, that of hiding nothing from someone, of being fully vulnerable. I think nakedness has deep meanings, so I’ll also use the word nude to talk more about the state of being physically nude (unclothed).
A couple of years ago you couldn’t have told me I would find myself sitting in a small wooden shack, thigh-to-thigh with 10 sweaty nude men who I had met the day before, in 100 degree heat (Celsius, mind you); each of us running bare-bum to the frozen lake and jumping into the hole we had cut. And I wouldn’t have believed you if you said I’d be loving every minute of it. But that’s exactly where I found myself last New Year’s Eve, getting cultured up in the Finnish sauna experience. Sauna was invented in Finland, and “sauna” is happens to be the only Finnish word imported into the English language. Most people have a sauna in their homes, and use it almost daily. Since moving to Finland in 2007, both my wife and I have been more nude than ever before in our lives, including our honeymoon (which featured heavily in nudity). This is more true for me than it is for me, she recalls bathing with her family and other periods of nudity as a girl, but I don’t personally have any recollection of being nude as a child, except for a few instances that I shall explain shortly. But I’m a bit European now. I wear mid-thigh speedos, and am completely comfortable being nude with members of the same sex. Going to the sauna is one of my favourite parts of the week, we do it at least weekly, those of you who’ve visited us will understand. I find being nude completely relaxing, freeing, and therapeutic.
Being naked, is somewhat of a different matter. › Continue reading
Should the Church teach tithing?
Monday, March 30th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 8 Comments
I’ve finally finished reading Russell Earl Kelley’s book on tithing, “Should the Church teach Tithing?”. It’s an incredibly detailed, in-depth look at every scripture referenced to support tithing, and then every scripture used to promote higher New Testament standards. It’s probably not an easy read for most, it’s taken me 4 months to slug through 274 pages, but it is incredibly worthwhile, and many revelations can be gained from it that don’t relate to tithing or giving.
Update: I’ve run into some semantic issues discussing this with people. It’s worth nothing that tithing and giving are NOT synonymous. Tithing is here defined as a required tenth of your income paid regularly to “God” (via paying to a church, or however you tithe). Voluntarily giving of your money is totally different, so the two concepts should be clear in your head before you read my review, or the book itself.
I’ll sum it up for you. The answer is no, the church should definitely not be teaching tithing.
Openness, candidness and honesty
Sunday, February 22nd, 2009 | Uncategorized | 3 Comments
For as long as I can remember, I have valued open and clear communication. I strive to communicate myself clearly and concisely, and I am frustrated when I fail to communicate myself, or when I witness mis-communication. I firmly believe that friendships, families, corporations, and governments function BEST with the minimal limits to their communication, and a fundamental embrace of openness, rather than closed-ness.
At work, I strive to keep open communication with my team especially, but also with the general staff. I encourage my team to always be honest, and when they don’t know an answer, to be comfortable saying so. Though it’s not always easy, I have found incredible freedom in owning my failings upfront, and acknowledging when I drop the ball. (It helps that I have good bosses, btw.)
Socially, I try to never sweep things under the rug. If someone has hurt me, or I have hurt someone, I generally work to specifically resolve the issue. I want to talk about it. I want to bring light to it. If I have had a crappy day, I will tell you. If you have had a crappy day, I hope that you would tell me. I value candidness above politeness and “not wanting to burden someone.” My heart weeps just a little bit when a friend retells a painful event with honesty, and their spouse or a mutual friend sugar-coats the same story to me later on.
With, not for – another thought
Sunday, February 1st, 2009 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment
What if Jesus hanged out with prostitutes, corrupt tax collectors, and other sinners… not because he primarily wanted to convert them, or because he wanted to illustrate some lesson, allegory or principle…
but because they were his friends, and he loved them.
Thoughts inspired by nakedpastor.
The church and homosexuality
Thursday, January 8th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment
I just finished reading 2 excellent essays by gay Christians, examining the two opposing viewpoints within the church, and especially the gay Christian community. I love reading honest, well researched and well thought out arguments. The two viewpoints referred to are thus:
I believe that homosexuality is an “issue” that remains un-dealt-with, in much of Christianity today. I know of too many homosexual people who love Jesus, who have had grievous sins committed against them by others who profess love for Christ, because of their homosexuality. It saddens me. As is pointed out in one of the essays, regardless of your viewpoint, homosexuality may be THE issue – like slavery in the past – that Western Christianity as a whole currently faces, or isn’t facing because of ignorance to the necessity of facing it.
How’s that for a run on sentence? I, like CS Lewis, use run on sentences to full effect. But enough of me. I highly recommend that you read these two essays. They are long, by casual internet reading standards, but they are well written and I believe do closely and fairly examine both sides of the argument.
May God lead you to love and peace.
With, not for
Sunday, November 30th, 2008 | Uncategorized | 4 Comments
I look forward to the day when people, en masse, realise that they don’t need to (and can’t) do anything to earn God’s favour, and start to simply live with Christ (rather than for Christ).
This is from Wayne Jacobson’s book – He Loves Me – via my good friend Dallas. The emphasis is mine.
As you grow increasingly certain that his love for you is not connected to your performance, you will find yourself released from the horrible burden of doing something for him. You’ll realize that your greatest ideas and most passionate deeds will fall far short of what he really wants to do through you.
I used to be driven to do something great for God. I volunteered for numerous opportunities and worked hard in the hopes that some book I was writing, some church I was planting, or some organization I was helping would accomplish great things for God. While I think God used my misguided zeal in spite of myself, nothing I did ever rose to the level of my expectations. Instead, my pursuits seemed to distract me from God, consume my life, and leave me stressed out.
I’m not driven anymore. I haven’t tried to do anything great for God in more than a decade, and yet I have seen him use my life in ways that always exceed my expectations. What changed? I did, by his grace.
My desire to do something great for God served me far more than it ever did him. It kept me too busy to enjoy him and distracted me from the real ministry opportunities he brought across my path each day.
I used to start my day laying out my plans before God and seeking his blessing on them. How silly! Why would I want God to be the servant of my agenda? God’s plans for my day far exceed mine. I can almost hear him now as I awaken: “Wayne, I’m going to touch some people today. Do you want to come along?”
It’s amazing how gentle that is, but all the more powerful because it is. I don’t have to go. God’s work won’t be thwarted by my lack of participation. He will touch people anyway, but I wouldn’t miss it for the world. He does things I’ve never dreamed of and uses me in ways I could never conceive. His focus on touching people instead of managing programs has revolutionized my view of ministry. It requires no less diligence on my part but directs that diligence in far more fruitful endeavors.
If you’ve never know the joy of simply living in God’s acceptance instead of trying to earn it, your most exciting days in Christ are ahead of you. People who learn to live out of a genuine love relationship with the God of the universe will live in more power, more joy, and more righteousness than anyone motivated by fear of his judgement.
The Ten Commandments
Thursday, November 27th, 2008 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments
It’s become my conviction that fundamentally we are not supposed to follow the Ten Commandments. I mentioned this in my post about The Shack… the perspective that I fundamentally follow Christ, and he may lead me where he wills. I want to dig into that a bit here, because I think choosing to follow the Ten Commandments is at odds with choosing to follow Christ.
My three main thoughts on this are:
- It can move the focus off Christ and his grace, and back into performance based law keeping.
- They’re too easy. The Ten Commandments are too easily kept… and allow us to fall into the trap of pride and “arrival”.
- God didn’t need The Ten Commandments, or want us to live under them at all.
Truth
Sunday, November 9th, 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments
I like the idea that:
Something isn’t true because it’s in the Bible; it’s in the Bible because it’s true.
The Shack
Wednesday, September 17th, 2008 | Uncategorized | 4 Comments
I just finished reading The Shack, by William Young. I was a little wary of reading it, solely because it’s becoming popular in Christian circles, and I find that’s a recipe for poor quality, at least in music. Perhaps I need to repent of judging the Church… We’ll come back to that one day.
Anyway, I didn’t want to enjoy it for the reason I just stated, but after an unbiased read, I actually loved it! I would go as far as saying it’s a novel I would recommend to anyone/everyone. It captures the loving, holy, just, all-powerful nature of God in a way I’ve seldom seen written. The God of The Shack is absolutely the God I have experienced in my personal life, and in the Scriptures. So kind, so good, so desiring to take care of his children, and so worthy of our praise.
There are a few minor negatives to the book, and those all revolve around the writing quality. It does come across as a first novel, which I believe it is. That wasn’t enough to drive me to distraction, and after the first couple of chapters I didn’t notice so much. I do know a couple of folks who were quite distracted by the writing quality, so do bear that in mind if you’re editorially inclined.
I’ll spare you a full review. I don’t think it warrants one (it’s just that good!) But what I do want to do is respond to a couple of articles I have read, and bring attention to some conversation surrounding this novel. This is by no means exhaustive, rather me getting my thoughts out of my head, and for the benefit of those who have provided me these articles, and are awaiting a response.
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