I think this is a must read book.
In fact, I think it is part of the revolution that needs to take place in most churches.
Here's a pastor's review of it.

I've watched this discussion for sometime now as if it were a Canary In The Coalmine. This blog post from a seasoned pastor gets closer to the real problem. If you've got pastors doing things they are expected to do, even required to do, and yet they are not building up the body of Christ, then what can we expect? We often call(hire) a pastor to lead a church. But that leadership is more in line with Hero or sole leadership. We expect the pastor to do certain things, many things and most things at the church. Fix broken relationships, fix broken systems, broken buildings, broken people.

The reality is that most of the fixing goes on in the lives of the members. Many of our members serve and minister to the flock with some measure of skill. To the extent that they do, a church is healthier. To the extent that the call of the pastor reflects this and the church values this, then the health of the church is improved and sustainable.

The Iron rule says, Don't Do For Others What They Can Do For Themselves. It may be that you don't really understand the Golden Rule if you don't understand the Iron rule. Lots of Canaries have succumbed to this self induced disease. The air has grown toxic in many churches. Leaders and pastors need to take back their proper roles. When this is understood and properly executed, graveyards will lose business. And pastors will breathe much better.

Another pastor's take on this topic.
http://prodigal.typepad.com/prodigal_kiwi/2010/08/pastoral-ministry-co-opted.html

Dean's prescription for Coffee withdrawl.

I've never been able to live above all the highs and lows of life. I wonder if it is an elusive dream that I have. Living a life of peace and calm regardless of circumstances or influences seems to be possible, yet so often out of reach. I wonder if there are any secrets to living a life above the noise and chatter of this world.

There seem to be some hints that I can find in Paul's letter to the Philippians. Let's read a little of his letter first.

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. 1:3-8

Paul is in this thing with others. They are together. They have like minds and goals, to get the word out that the King of the universe is watching you and me. He's watching us as we might watch old home movies of family. They don't mean a lot to others, but to the family, they are timeless treasures. And God looks at us the same way. Imagine God at the movies if you will. And you are on the big screen. You are not the hero so much, nor the villain. Those roles are reserved for others, more qualified. No, you are just you. But for God, that is enough.

And Paul's great joy is that there is a team with him in sharing this movie. He gives it outstanding reviews, it's a must see movie, you've got to go. Paul is captivated by it and so are his friends, and you will be too.

I think in this going together, Paul found great courage and optimism. Ask yourself this kind of question, am I alone in this thing or do I have friends who are in this with me? Paul had friends across Europe and Asia who were with him. And that made them unstoppable and gave buoyancy to their lives. it gave strength to Paul even while he was chained to prison walls or prison guards. His circumstances were not allowed to control his courage for this reason. His circumstances did not dampen his emotions, nor destroy his resolve. So often our circumstances can serve to paralyze us, stop us in our tracks. Paul had friends who were in this movie with him. That to me is key, a secret we can all share in. That is how his circumstances served to advance the gospel.

That should leave you with a few questions, maybe an answer or two. Am I in this thing called Christianity for the right reasons? Is it more than hand me down religion? Am I caught up in the fire of God and His love for me and others. Or am I performing in a poor B rated movie simply because it seems like the thing to do. Look around, who's in the cast? Is God the Director, Jesus the Star, the Holy Spirit the Producer, are your friends crazy in love to make this movie? Are you acting in it because it's a job or it's a great life?

Answers to those questions may yield secrets of living a life above the noise and chatter and difficulties. They may set us free indeed.

I remember camping with my scout troop in Northern Jersey one year, it was brutally cold for New Jersey that weekend. The temperature went down to -14 on Friday night and the wind chill was near minus 50. We were camping in army style pup tents. Crazy for sure. But we did it. Not much sleep.

The next morning we all got up early and moved into a cabin. We could barely get the temperature up in the cabin to freezing. But it was still better than sleeping outside. We had an old woodstove burning non-stop and a fireplace going as well. Room around the stove and fireplace were at a premium. That night I took my rubber boots with steel shank soles off and place them off to the side of my sleeping bag. The next morning when I put them on, I might as well have been putting on blocks of dry ice. They were frozen solid. At 15 years old, I still hadn't learned a few lessons yet.

I went outside and did some messing around another area of camp. Pretty soon, my feet were well on their way to frostbite. In fact, I couldn't feel them anymore. I laid down on a bunk in a leantoo open air cabin. I felt fine. I was about to die, but I felt fine. I slept like never before. My troubles were over. I felt no pain, until Richie Nielsen came over to wake me up. He shook me pretty hard and must have realized that I was in trouble. He built a fire in the firepit out in front of the leantoo. As it roared, I sat on top of it and put my boots with my feet frozen inside right above the heat. He saved my life. That's a fact that I carry every day. Those steel shanks became like radioactive inserts in my boots, providing heat for hours that Sunday in New Jersey.

Paul's life was saved as well. It was saved so he could tell others about the great movie that was going on and never stops. And there are lots of other people there as well, making that movie. And guards as well as prisoners were set free, warmed at the fire that never goes out.

Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.  1:12-14

Courage and fearlessness for Paul came from his complete devotion to the gospel mission and his gospel missionary friends. Deeper still, this life of peace in the middle of a storm, came from his devotion to God, the only God who is completely devoted to us. That's where peace comes from.

In the table of contents of my July 2005 copy of Fast Company magazine, you can find this teaser about the article Change Or Die, "All leadership comes down to this: changing people's behavior." Really? Is that what leadership considers it's most pressing reason for existence, it's greatest value? I think Paul would say so. Here is a slice of change that he offers and encourages.

 I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God's grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. Phil 1:3-11

God is working in you. I describe this as God's makeover. God loves us too much to leave us as we are. And Paul's focus is on love,

"that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ"

That sounds like a life of love and change to me. The two are so tied together that you can't have one without the other. It is not because we are such bad people, we just start with a handicap in the race. We have been born into a world that is colored with love but enamored with utility.

If you are useful to society than you are onboard in some fashion or another. If you are not useful, than you are cast away or left alone, little more than the moldy crust of old bread. Does that sound too harsh? If feels harsh to me. And yet I believe it to be reality. Consider one war in the last century alone. World War 2. 60 million lives were extinguished in that war alone. More than Chicago, Los Angelos, Houston and New York City. Hard to imagine our country with all those people missing.

While that war is a lifetime in the past, the underlying causes are still with us. Why do you think there is such a push to go to college, make something of yourself, join the military or learn a skill? It's all so we can become useful to society. That part sounds pretty good to me. I think most of that is healthy. The part that I don't get is the millions of men and women who languish in prison. The millions with health concerns that inhibit their perceived usefulness to society. We have a sophisticated judicial system that does it's job quite well. Imagine how involved and devastating it is to remove someone from the streets or society and place them in prison. That we have come to this place cries out for interest and concern.

Paul lived in the middle of these problems. And he does very little in the way of complaining about them. He does mention that he is in chains, but he does so to share the idea that his troubles give him the chance to share the gospel. To share good news in a place where good news is at a premium. To share the love.

He's not chastising the church at Philippi. He's congratulating them that they are in this Gospel ministry with him. They charge his heart and mind with energy as they too become a living gospel. They are growing more and more like Christ and he couldn't be more pleased in their devotion.

The church you are a part of and I am part of can be like this as well. My church is not bad either, but it too has started with handicaps. It has to struggle as times to be more than it is, to continue to grow in love. This is what the church comes down to, changing people's behavior. We move beyond seeing people in their utility to seeing people in their journey with Christ. We don't get to separate them into sheep or goats now. That will be left to God later. We need to look at them all as sheep, especially while we can, early in their lives, anticipating that love will grow them into servants of God, not simply servants of society.

This is the role of the church. Change and Love. The church I believe is the only group of people who can do it. And if they can't, we can die trying. It will be a whole lot better life than one lived in the service of utility.

Paul loved to think and dream about his friends at the church in Phillipi. They were never far from his heart and mind. They were God's most precious servants. They were His emissaries of love. I don't think God can do it without us, His church? He sure seems to put a lot of trust in us. Let's change, let's love, it is the only thing that really changes the world. God is not finished with us yet. The makeover continues.

From time to time I fall in love again. Usually it's with Debbie, my wife. I well remember the last time, it was a lot like the first time. I followed her around, tried to fulfill her every wish, cooked, cleaned, washed and so on. All to say how much I love you to her. I wonder sometimes if it all seems strange to her. What's up with him? He's acting so goofy. Or maybe we've been married so long now, what's gotten in to him, midlife? I honestly don't know what she thinks when I go through those moments when I look at her with the same kind of love we first had and the first time we held hands and it de-spined me.

She can still send shivers down my back. That first love comes along every now and then, can't predict it, or even provoke it, only enjoy it. What's funny is, it happens with God too. And I've noticed that every time I read Philippians, I'm more susceptible to it. I enter into the love story that Paul writes about and I feel the love. He seems to be writing about his love for his church members, his longing to see them again. It's an extravagant love, even mushy perhaps. I don't think Paul thought of them everyday in that way, but when he wrote to them from prison, I think he was enjoying another first love experience with them.

And the secret sauce of his love was the love that God showed and showered upon him. The bold love which Paul felt for his church friends was fired in the oven of God's call and care to Paul. Paul loved them because God loved him. Doesn't John write somewhere that we love because God first loved us? And Paul could be most unlovable, God loved him anyhow. The Philippians could be most unlovable as well. But Paul loved them anyhow. They were certainly less trouble than the Corinthians or the Galatians, but they had their problems as well. Yet, Paul writes of them as if he was dying to see them. That's love.

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Phil. 1:3-6

²⁷Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel ²⁸without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. ²⁹For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, ³⁰since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.

Partners in the gospel. Imagine that. The bond that paired Paul with the Philippians was the Gospel. The Gospel is a love story in itself, isn't it? I think Paul loved these people from the first day he got off the boat in Europe and walked his way up to Phillipi from the coast, a ten mile walk or so. But he loved them again, as if it were the first time.

Sometimes we wonder how he could continue to serve God through all the suffering. He suffered terribly you will remember. All for the Gospel. I think it was for these moments as well. He suffered because of love. He felt the love, over and over again. Do you suffer as well? If it is related to your service to God, take heart. You can fall in love again.

Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. 1:12-14

Love advances in all places. Evil may seem to be in control, may even seem unstoppable, but the Gospel is winning. Love always does. Fall in love again. Read Philippians, like it was the first time. Feel the love.

Paul likes to mix it up in this letter to His dear friends in Philppi. Here's a quick look at what he's got mixed up.

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. Philippians 1:9-11

In the introduction of his letter, he mixed love with growth in Christ.
From this text I suggest a simple formula,
love = spiritual growth.
The reverse would be, no love = no growth.
I said it was simple. At least in description. Unfortunately, we see too many instances where it is not simple to achieve.

I have been to quite a few museums over the years, maybe some day I'll list them. I would go back to any of them given the chance and take a look at the exhibits again with renewed interest and enthusiasm. I went out to the Charles M. Russel museum a few years ago and would love to go back there in central Montana to see the great paintings of the plains Indians and the rugged mountains of the west. My spirit rises in that place with every painting or sketch I view.

Museums do that for me. All except one. I will never go back to this museum. It is in Jerusalem, called Yad Vashem . This museum wrecked me and is killing me as I write about it at this very moment. And I haven't been back there for years. I've been to Jerusalem twice now. The first time I went into Yad Vashem and was overwhelmed with horror. The second time, years later, when everyone got off the bus to go into the museam, I stayed put. I would not, could not go in. I prayed. Actually, I argued with God. I did not need to go into the museum to see the pictures and artifacts a second time. They were still fresh in my mind. They never left.

Pictures like this one haunt my mind.

Don't try to make me feel guilty since I haven't posted much here. Facebook is kind of a mircobloggery for me so I've tossed a hodgepodge of items up there. Just had a break in the weather this week and the breaks bring out a certain kind of energy, so I'm back here. Weather changes are often good in that way. Maybe a Coldfront Party should be held.

We had a party this week at Capitol View, what can I say? As a church sponsored event, I couldn't be more excited along the lines of Hannibal in the A Team, remember him. He used to say, I love it when a plan comes together. I do too. I remember planning some complicated missions in the army using a number of helicopters and crews to move soldiers and arms around. Some complex planning and contingency coordination. I really enjoyed the after-action times where we sat down and took a look at how things went. There was little judgment, just simply a good look at facts and perspectives at how well we accomplished the mission. I always felt better after them, even if we had a screwup somewhere during the mission. We learned to accept the screwups as essential parts of risky missions. But we took risks because we needed to. And we still do.

I didn't see any foulups this week at Corn Stalk, or Corn Roast, or Corn Feed or Corn Feasteavil or Corn you name it. There probably were some somewhere. I take that back, I did hear the P.A. system squeal one time. Ambiance. What would a festival be without a little bit of squeal? All of it was a remarkable day of fun and fellowship with our community. I like these kinds of no ropes attached events. We don't stand out in the parking lot with handcuffs and try to tie someone up and drag them into our church. We simply provide a space, place and energy for people to come together and beat back the ordinary in their lives. Capitol View is in a unique spot in town to do just that. It is our mission. I enjoy watching that mission grow and take residence in the hearts of our members. We've got a ways to go I think and I can see some of the things that will happen in the future there. You could say I've got a vision.

That vision is born of my searching in the Word, searching the culture around me, my interests in what can be done and last but not least, watching how God is working in the hearts of Capitol View members. This last area may be the most interesting to me. The practical workings of a vision only seem to come to the surface when events are planned and carried out. Several members of Capitol View provided planning and more than a few more carried it out. It is the heart of these planners and providers that interests me so much. What makes us want to share in this way? What motivates us to roast corn, slice watermelon, sing songs, listen to music on a Sunday afternoon? What was in our hearts.

It starts with good news, great news in fact. God is for you. God is with you. God thinks you are great. You know otherwise, don't you. You know how bad you are, or how homeless you are, or how hungry you are, or how long it's been since you've even tasted watermelon. God knows all that for sure, but he knows a whole lot more, He knows you through and through. It's that conviction that motivates this kind of fellowship and service. I think that's what brought us together for our Corn Roast and will bring us together for our next community event. I do love it when a plan comes together.

Washington Post article outlines latest AntiChrist description of President. Have we seen this before?

I stopped by my office(Barnes and Noble) in Boulder this week and it was a refreshing few minutes as I walked through the stacks of books. The store appeared to be brand new and even had a fireplace next to the cafe. Pretty cool. I was kind of tired from tripping around the mountains so we didn't get to stay long. When I got back into Lincoln I was ready for some time at the office. Yesterday seemed like a good time to show up so I spent some time at the O street office(Barnes and Noble, one of two in Lincoln).

I came across a new book by Hitchens, no, not Christopher but his brother Peter.

Now I kind of like Christopher Hitchens. I like his communication style, his ready ability to call forth his ideas, his patience with those who do not agree with him and just his general demeanor. He uses sarcasm a lot less than other Atheists that I have seen or at least a much more sophisticated from of sarcasm. What I have seen of him in interviews and such have left me interested in his thoughts and thinking. So yes, I've read some of his Atheist viewpoint.

Having read him and some of his co-Atheists, I find myself more thankful than ever that I believe in God. Atheistic belief and thinking leaves me cold and without awe. It certainly offers questions to consider but it does little in providing answers to questions about meaning and the joy of life itself. It's randomness leaves me out in the rain and cold. So I live a life that rejects it flat out.

But that doesn't mean I can't find some of the Atheists and their presentations interesting and intellectually challenging. I don't claim to have special powers that protect me from being overcome by their ideas and turning traitor to God. I just don't swing that way. I'm fairly comfortable with leaving questions on the shelf and not having answers, to a point. But I also get jazzed just enough by some questions to go out and do an all out search for some answers or at least plausible alternatives.

So I've read some Hitchens, Gould and Dawkins. If it gives you any comfort, the list of books I've read on the other side is much longer. I recently read Dinosaurs, An Adventist View by David C. Read. As a lawyer, he too put forth his ideas in a clear and concise manner, worthy of my respect as well. I recommend his book as an aid to helping understand the debates that rage around this topic. He does not rage of course, but gets down to the significant questions right away and does not shy away from answering the questions and giving good reasons for his answers.

I'm comfortable reading on both or maybe all sides of an issue. I don't know if you are, but I am. It is part of my character to want to hear out the other side. I don't fear it like some seem to. I get sharpened by it. I well remember having a Stephen Gould book at church just before 2,000. A woman saw the book and the authors name and seemed to want to get away from me as fast as she could. At the time, that was the only Gould reading I had done. As an evolutionary biologist, I had little interest in other areas of what he had to say mostly because I knew the main thrust of his writings without reading them. I've had my share of biology classes from evolutionists. But his book, the one I had with me in church that day was not about biology but Chronology. It was about the year 2,000. Remember the Millennium factor and the fear and the time change and computers and fears that all came about because we would see a massive failure of computers in society?

His book suggested that we were off base in our calculations for the year 2,000 by four years. I found that fascinating and I also found some support for it in our own Bible commentaries. In short, the fear and speculation around the year 2,000 was nothing short of amazing to me. I spent part of that year calming peoples fears and watching some folks predict the future based on fear. As I think back to that year, many people wanted to take the fear of the turn of a new millennium and turn it into a motivation for life change, sort of like the fear of cancer, maybe a spot on your lung, to get you to quit smoking.

I find that sort of motivation useless, even damaging. It's one thing to change your life for the better, to improve your health. But it does not seem to work when it comes to spiritual health. It's like missing the real point. It seems to me that it is going after something by aiming for where it is instead of where it will be. Remember Gretsky's saying, A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be."

Fear is not where the future is. Fear of Christ's return and the events associated with it is not the future. I'm not foolish enough to say that there will be no fear on that day when He returns, I'm simply saying that fear will never bring His return closer nor will it prepare one for that day.

So I bought a book yesterday at my O Street office, by Peter Hitchens . The Rage Against God. how atheism led me to faith. Peter is the brother of Christopher Hitchens, the well known speaker for Atheism. So the book immediately caught my attention. I bought it with little scrutiny, just because I imagine a good contrast in the book between the two brothers. After reading a bit last night, I am not disappointed but more intrigued.

What intrigued me yesterday as well was the conversation I had with the lady who checked me out at the sales counter. She is a friendly and thoughtful lady who knows me and knows I am a pastor. She's Catholic and I'm Adventist and we had one of those memorable conversations that confirms my belief that Christ's return is the greatest event in universal history. I could argue that the Cross was and is the greatest event but for now I want to suggest that we need to see the return of Christ as part two of the Cross, not a separate experience. To go to the cross is to be ready for His return. To enter into Calvary and participate in its cleansing is to long for Christ's return and the return of the world to a condition that pleases God. Fear is not a significant part of it for me. Anticipation is.

As she saw the book she really perked up. As I explained to her who it was from and how it was sort of opposite of Christopher Hitchens, she really got animated. She had been hearing a lot of last day madness from a relative or friend and she had to turn it off and even ignore what is going on in the world to keep her sanity. She told me that she has stopped reading the Wall Street Journal with it's gloomy economic news and not watched much news on TV because it was so bad and so on. Ignorance is bliss she said.

Once again, I see another person motivated or assaulted by fear to live their life in a certain manner. It stuns me actually to think that as an Adventist, I of all people should have something to offer her that creates a splendid anticipation of His return, not a lurking fear of the future. In my experience, fear will fail to do any good. The fear that is described on that day will only overtake those who have decided fully against God and His plans for their lives. Those who are satiated with God will have no fear and they will walk into the welcome arms of our Great Creator, Father and Friend. Fear will have nothing to do with them. They run to, not away from God. For them, fear is not a part of that day, nor has it been a part of their recent days. Anticipation born of love is their great motivation.

Fear is not the future, it should not even be the past. The future is bright and it is in God's hands, no better place to be than that. No fear in that future.

Salt Lake Tribune Article about the two brothers.

Interview Video with Peter Hitchens ---- Also Below

Guardian Article

Peter Hitchens Author Interview--The Rage Against God from Gorilla Poet Productions on Vimeo.

Been plenty busy lately and then took a 4 day vacation up to the Rockies around Estes Park. Very nice time. We did very little cooking and just ate out each evening. I think our last trip with Bert and Donna spoiled us since that is what they usually do, eat out. Makes sense I guess, don't know why we slaved over camp cooking all those years.

But the trip was not about eating so much as just taking a breather from a busy schedule. Vacations do that for me. They stop my brain from one activity to another, very important for my always on, always analyzing brain. Sometimes I wish I had a switch for it. Vacations are about as close as I get.

A good trip makes you glad to get back and back into loving your work and your people who make your work possible and useful. We are glad to be back in Lincoln and back in the saddle. Got plenty going on all ready, but it's all good. Check out this NYT article on Getting Away .

Here are a couple of pics of my favorite things, my wife and the mountains. The third pic is of something that is not my favorite of course. But it was interesting to me nonetheless. What do you think it is? Hint, it is in Nederland Colorado. Do a Google search on News and Nederland and see what you come up with.

Saw this on a church website, thought it might help. Then again, it might not.

For my Birder friends in the corner of the state.

No, I repeat, I do not miss my typewriter. But here is a little over a minute of musical typing, something I'm sure I did all the time when I first learned to slap the keys.

I like Baseball, Football is ok, the Olympics get some of my attention, but this is the sport I like the most. These guys are what team is all about. Watch them work together.

It seems that the most difficult part of community is the part where we start to get close to one another. In fact, the closer we live and associate with one another, the greater the chance that we will be repelled by one another.

The highways of America are a prime example. If there is one place where we get close to one another every day, the highway is it. America's interstates are America's most accomplished community if proximity is the primary characteristic of community. If I pass a 100 people a day on the highway, that's 36,000 a year, millions in a lifetime. Where else can I get that close to someone? I mean, today alone, I only drove a mile or so, but I got close to 30 or 40 people.

But I really never got that close to them, did I? The rules of the road, following the lines that mark the lanes, I got within feet of all those folks, but in my heart, I was miles away. I was on my way someplace, by myself just as they were. We did not stop to find out where they were going and they did not check with me to see how things were going in my life. We were close, but we were not community. Our cars were like giant magnets that drew each others car to within a few feet of each other, but suddenly repelled each other as we got too close. It's a strange effect.

It is also a strange picture of many places or churches where we attempt community. Community happens when we stop thinking of ourselves and where we are going and we take a break with someone else in order to understand them and their destination for the day. Our fenders come to a halt, we turn off the engine, we park alongside one another and pull up a chair and offer ourselves by assisting others in their journey. We stop focusing on self and we become community, if only for a few moments. We break through the barrier that would repel us and join someone else in their joy and journey.

Barbara Brown Taylor writes in An Altar In The World:

The wisdom of the Desert Fathers includes the wisdom that the hardest spiritual work in the world is to love the neighbor as the self--to encounter another human being not as someone you can use, change, fix, help, save, enroll, convince or control, but simply as someone who can spring you from the prison of yourself, if you will allow it. All you have to do is recognize another you "out there"--your other self in the world--for whom you may care as instinctively as your care for yourself. To become that person, even for a moment, is to understand what it means to die to your self. This can be as frightening as it is liberating. It may be the only real spiritual discipline there is.

By myself, I can never practice this spiritual discipline, simply because it requires another to set me free to practice it. It requires community. Let me use the words of Hebrews to vow a vow, to meet together more frequently, more intentionally, more communally.

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:25

I can't believe I didn't go to Union College. Where can I sign up? What should I take?

Slinga De Ink from CueMotion Studios on Vimeo.

Go Union

Pastor Dean has been working on these studies for a while now. I did not know how well he has progressed until this week when I ran across his study page, find it here.  I think he's doing an excellent job of sharing studies from the Word in a fresh and inviting way. Take a look and download some of them to share with your friends and neighbors who have questions. He writes in a topical fashion which makes it much easier to match up a study with a person's need. Go Dean.