Adventures of Camion

My Moving Update

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 23:26:52 PST

So I've tested wordpress and it has it's ups and down.
It would have way more Ups if i knew PHP. But we'll see how that all goes.

If your wanting the RSS Feeds they are all follows

Blog Feed
http://kevininc.com/?feed=rss2

Comment Feed
http://kevininc.com/?feed=comments-rss2

So I would assume this change will occur sometime tomorrow or Wednesday. So Stay tuned.

With the transfer I lost all Categorized 90 Blogs that I put in by hand. UGH
I've Also not found a good template I like. So you'll have to deal with the change.

Consider this my last blog from this Blogger feed.

Remember-
1. For those of you that visit this site by actually visiting the website, You will see a new design.
- You have nothing to do
2. If you receive my blog by subscribing to the XML or RSS feed in your Blog Reader, please update. Accordingly.

Until Next time.

Stay Tuned!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 00:48:16 PST

Just wanted to let you know that I'm in the middle of packing up my old website and transfering to the new one. There are two things to be aware of.

1. Those of you that have no clue what an RSS feed is, or use a blog reader, then do nothing. Your viewing experience will be unchanged, other than viewing the amazing new template i post. But be forewarned, I haven't found the template I like enough yet to edit.

2. To you blog rollers, you will need to change the XML page file that you link too to get my updates. I will post it before I move. But just be warned that this xml feed will no longer be used in a couple of days.

That is all!

p.s. I'm holding off on blogging about the second half of my conference, as well as I think i forgot to really proof the last three posts. So sorry for any confussion with the tables I tried attaching.

p.s.s. Has anybody ever seen trucks packed that tall and wide? I have at the Mexican Border! it's insane!

Cool Website

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 15:06:29 PDT

click here

Ecclesia - Discipline of Solitude

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:00:00 PDT

This guy really want's his prayers to be answered.
While looking for pictures I stumbled across a Wiki Howto-Pray site. This made me laugh too, but in a way I probably can't or shouldn't explain here.

So we were talking previously about our "Journey of becoming our True Self in Christ," in the earlier post and the importants of Solitude. I'm going to put the quote up again, because it speaks volumes to me.

Solitude:

In solitude we meet our demons, addictions, feelings of lust, anger, and our immense sense for recognitions and approval. But if we do not runaway, we will meet the One who says "Do not be afraid I am with you, and I will Guide you through the falley of Darkness.

Solitude is a time that we meet our imperfection, and if allow it to, it will crush us. So the choice is to either press forward leaning on an understanding that God will come through with his promise, or ignore the discipline living a life no different from an Atheist.

Prior to the event where Jesus was betrayed by Judas, and taken away by the guards to charged, jesus spent the night in solitude. While his friends and disciples where sleeping Jesus had a pretty powerful time with his Father. Can you imagine Jesus during the whole night asking his father for things to occur. I'd imagine it would get pretty old and repetitive asking for a different plan of attack to save the sinful world.

So with that being said, it's time for another Table.

Discipline of Solitude
Silence --> Prayer --> Meditation --> Contemplation

Silence - I think we underestimate the power of Silence. Especially in a Church Service. We are so quick to fill a void of silence with a CD of music, or the sounds of an acoustic guitar to fill the supposed void. Taking the time to be silent allows us to calm down and not be in a rush, but also take in some of the wonders of the world around us that we wouldn't normally here. Birds Chirping, the branches whistling in the wind that passes through, or even the wisdom given to man to create loud sounding motorcycles that pass by the street.

Prayer - I should go further into this than I am, but prayer is communication. Its telling God how great he is, how thankful you are, thing's your struggling with, things you want advice with, things you need help with, etc.

Meditation and Contemplation - unfortunately when i look the two up in the dictionary Contemplation is used when defining meditation. I apparently lost what he was saying because i was pushing onto page two of my notes at this time, so i didn't write the difference down. But if you think about Jesus' situation before he is about to be betrayed, I can imagine a Jesus being very human in not wanting to be the Sacrifice. During that evening though, I can see how meditating and contemplating the plan that God had for his Son's life he took as his own. He meditated on the purpose that his death on the Cross meant to the world. I can imagine him meditating on things all the way back to Adam and Even and how the plan was set from the very beginning of time. I can imagine Jesus contemplate what would happen if he ran away, or fought back. I can imagine Jesus' growing this overwhelmed sense of compassion that had to grow far greater than the pain He was about to endure.

Solitude:

In solitude we meet our demons, addictions, feelings of lust, anger, and our immense sense for recognitions and approval. But if we do not runaway, we will meet the One who says "Do not be afraid I am with you, and I will Guide you through the falley of Darkness.

It's pretty dang important, and gives us so much strength if we give the time to God to transform us into the likeness of Christ.

Im not saying it's easy, but it's worth it.

That wraps up most of Wil's discussion on the Inward Journey. Tomorrow we begin talking about the Outward Journey. Don't worry I've got much more to talk about with the Inward Journey. We haven't even gotten to Keith's afternoon's discussion.

Until next time.

Ecclesia - Image of God

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:00:00 PDT

Who is this invisible character in our lives?
How do we get to know Him?
Is there a formula to getting to know him?
Is there an example we can learn from?

I think it's safe to say that an Atheist, whether they want to admit it or not, could imagine a God or supreme being. So what does that mean for a believer. If we don't dig any deeper than just belief in God, we never change or become transformed into being more Christ like. Our view of God becomes stagnant and unchanging, leading us down a road of passivity, and a lukewarm faith.

What atheists don't realize is that we humans are here on a journey. We are on a journey to find our true self in Christ.

Time for another Table.

Creation Fall Redemption Eschaton

Image Formed Deformed Conformed Transformed
of God True Self False Self New Self True Self

Creation - Adam knew exactly who God was and himself
Fall - (when Adam and Eve Sinned) The image of God became Deformed, and they grew a false self of who they where.
Redemption - (Christ Dies for our Sins) Christ enambles us to know who he is and gain a new self in Christ.
Eschaton - (The day of Armageddon when all humans will be judged for their past) We will gain a True sense of Self and who God is.

Now i probably didn't do the greatest job of explaining this, but the idea is that we can know who God is without knowing who we are in Christ. This requires time of Solitude.

What does solitude look like in this Journey to getting to know our True Self? Well I'll end with a quote that was shared.

Solitude:

In solitude we meet our demons, addictions, feelings of lust, anger, and our immense sense for recognitions and approval. But if we do not runaway, we will meet the One who says "Do not be afraid I am with you, and I will Guide you through the falley of Darkness.

Tomorrow we talk about the Discipline of Solitude

I made the dumb switch

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:00:00 PDT

Okay so maybe it's not visible to you, but Wordpress is installed in a directory unknown to you. Don't even try Angelo it's not under Wordpress or WP. I'm testing it out before i take my blogger account offline.

But just wanted to send out a post stating that i'm more than likely going to transfer over to WP and want your input on Plug-in's, Widgets, Addons, Sidebars that you really like.

This new web platform should look a lot better than the crap design I have now, and should hold more information like my twitter and books I read, and current blogs I read. So, stay tuned for the new face lift.

Ecclesia - The Integrated Journey

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:00:01 PDT

Wil, began his talk about how he had grown up working for Campus Crusade for Christ. Through his involvement with CCC, he became distant with his wife and kids. He even told his wife that his ministry is CCC and everything else needs to take a back burner. I wish i could say this experience is foreign to me, but I know it all too well. It is a trap I have been so afraid to fall into, and i'm not even married or dating anyone.

Wil went on to say and point out that pastors, staff members, leaders of the church don't have what it takes to "go the distance" in ministry. This is why all to frequently people never really hear about Church Growth anymore. The news that seems to be spreading is the Church health in how it's struggling with members in ministry burning out.

He then went on to share a diagram
________________________________________________
Inward Outward Upward
Self Others God
Psychology Ministry Theology
Knowing Self Loving Others Knowing God
Solitude Service Prayer
-------------------------------------

So to recap. There are three areas that we need to keep in balance (Inward, Outward, Upward). Whether we are in a ministry position or not we as followers must have this balance and discipline. It will allow us to be effective and live a healthy life that will continually be transformed into the likeness of Jesus.

Easy enough right? I'm beginning to sound like the A+B+C= Presence of God formula again.

Whether you realize it or not, the Inward-Outward-Upward Journey becomes our "Spirituality" or our path to knowing who God is and developing a "Relationship" or friend during our journey of trials and tribulations here on earth.

Now don't get overwhelmed by the table formula above. This is a very high level overview of what all the areas really consist of. So don't think i'm going to be leaving you hanging about how to start or develop a relationship with Christ is all about. Too many times (myself included) have given someone a bible, or devotional book, hoping they would read it and start their "relationship" with God.

But for now what I want to you know is that, busyness allows us to not focus on ourself. We as humans can't spend all of our time being outwardly focused. In order to know who God is, we have to learn who we are.

How do we learn who we are, or even what we are?

Great question. I'm so glad you asked.

Tune in next time!

Ecclessia - The Integrated Journey

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 23:10:33 PDT

So Friday I attended a conference called "The Integrated Journey" with Wil Hernandez and Keith Matthew. Apparently these guys have written some things, I on the other hand couldn't tell you who they were from Adam. Needless to say i enjoyed every minute I was there.

Throughout the day
To my Amazement
- I have no clue who Henri Nouwen is.
- I was amazed that everybody was focused on the same goal and not trying to undermine one another
- They talked about stuff that I felt I knew had gained wisdom on and hadn't read out or learned from a book which was a cool feeling.
- I felt very much like an outsider with the inside scoop. I was giving advice to church staff members. It boggled me with excitement.
- They talked a little bit about the Church machine.
- How much they down played pastors now a days, in how they aren't training themselves to go the distance in ministry.
- That someone finally talked about the importance of pain in the growth process.
- Discipleship is where it's at!

That is just the surface. I took 9 pages of notes during about 6 hours of discussion. Lets hope i can make sense of them in the next few posts. But believe me. You do not want to miss out on what was discussed last Friday.

If you want to know more information about the Ecclesia group, you can go to the link below. I know nothing about it. So don't come looking to me if they are a cult or something. haha.
http://www.ecclesianet.com/

Put your thinking caps on, because it's going to be a challenging gut check ride! I hope your excited.

Question

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 19:55:09 PDT

Does anybody know where this Draft Takes Place! I think i would be perfect for the Job! I even have the nick name

FIre Truck!

Farewell To Yuri

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 00:27:35 PDT

So two weeks ago, our life group had to say goodbye to Yuri. She moved here to study, and has to go back to Japan. Luckily we were able to give her a fun send off by having a game night. We didn't know she was going back until the very end of the night. But the night was filled with a game of Pictionary, and trying to guess who did what based on the statement they picked out of a bowl.

The night was fun

Are you in a Life Group?

p.s. if your waiting for my review of the conference, I hope to write some stuff tomorrow about it. I have about 10 pages worth of butt kicking notes. So, trying to fit that into one post, would end up not getting read. So, i'll probably split it all out over the course of a few posts. The stuff shared, just has to be talked about.

MUST!

Duh!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:00:00 PDT

I remember back when Revolution did this. I think we gave out 200 bucks per service. I'm not quite sure on the details.....

Two things about this.

I think this is great that the leadership has decided to challenge the church to go out and do things like this.

On the other note, it saddens me, that something like this is breaking news for the church. Not this church in general, but the church as a whole. News is filled with lots of negatives. My guess is though if the news was always positive, we'd stop listening to it, or watching it. Sometimes we just need to know were better off than the people we see in the TV.

It only takes one person to start a Revolution. I gave a gift last week. Now it's your turn! Find a need that someone has and try to fulfill it.

A Failed Success

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:28:46 PDT

My attempt at attending the first day of the conference was not very successful. It first started out with a wonderful Hour and a half stroll through rush hour traffic only to find that the conference was being held somewhere else. I unfortunately didn't get the news, because JR's Grandmother had passed away. I saw on his blog/twitter that he was back in the midwest dealing with that. Unfortunately I didn't realize the email to get information was managed by him as well.

Luckily through a friend I know, I was able to get JR's number and call him to try and figure out what the plan was? He was apparently flying back when I had called him, so he was never able to relay the message.

But none the less he returned the phone call and found out that the meeting will be occurring tomorrow.

I'm not going to lie, the whole thing makes me a bit nervous. I mean class participation is not always my strongest qualities. I'm very much a learner from what others say. Since we will be separated into groups of four, the pressure is on to talk about my experience in ministry. Which seems very odd. My assumptions are that, I will be the only person that that doesn't or has never had a profession of working for a church in a ministry leader type roll.

So anyways. Wish me luck!

Oh and JR seems quite nice and Personable, if anybody wanted to know.

-------------
Below is a brief overview of what will be talked about.

This particular gathering is focused on our journeys. As Wil Hernandez points out in his book Henri Nouwen – A Spirituality of Imperfection, Nouwen took at integrative approach to spirituality. There is the inward journey, the intersection between psychology and spirituality. There is the outward journey, the intersection between ministry and spirituality, and there is the upward journey, the intersection between theology and spirituality. We will take time to examine each of these dimensions as well as consider the significance of how each of these dimensions of our lives interacts with the other.

Pretty intense stuff I tell ya!

Oh and the success was that I got to talk to JR. instead of just see him from a distance

The conference has about 30 people in it, so it's a nice small group. I think it will be really good for us all I look forward to meeting the group in the morning.

Meet the Author

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:26:11 PDT

Today, I get to not necessarily meet the guy that wrote this book, but I'll more than likely get to see him which is pretty cool.

This will make having seen my third Christian Author. Leading up to this point, i've met Max Lucado (who is also a pastor down in Texas during my first mission trip) and Lee Strobel's Daughter (she has written Christian Fiction and is in a bible study I used to attend back when I attended a church down in Mission Viejo)

Today's 5pm post was supposed to be about the church being an Instrument. That post will not be showing up today due to the fact I will be attending this conference. The theme is Inward, Upward, Outward. I'm pretty excited about the day and a half conference. And hope to come back having met a lot of great people and learning a little bit about myself and the church.

Also since the conference runs more than 12 hours on friday in the area of Hollywood, I will not be posting about the book either. I know this saddens you all deeply, but I just don't have anymore reviews in cue to post while i'm off running errands and having a life.

But!!

providing things go well, and how much small group time there is (as to not be completely rude) you can follow me on my twitter as to what's going on.

http://twitter.com/thecamion

Re-Sketching the Church - Chapter 1 - Church as a Foretaste

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 19:42:28 PDT

The Church as a foretaste demonstrates what life is like when men and women live under the rule and reign of God. It is a community that has learned to love one another, encourage one another, forgive one another, exhort one another, and live in harmony with one another.

Sometimes when I read and think about the early church described in Acts I tend to think that they were a bunch of loving hippies. They shared everything. They offered up there homes for traveling disciples or even strangers to come into their home to have a meal and sleep for the night as they were passing through the town. How crazy is that. Now a days, most people would never think about letting a stranger into their house, let alone let them sleep under the same rough that their spouse or children where in.

But if you really think about what it means to be a church and to be "A sign" we as a church need to come to grips more and more that what we own burns in rapture anyways. Now i'm not saying be fiscally irresponsible with money, or give everything you have away to live under a bridge hoping someone will take you in.

But imagine what Church would be like if you could freely share your sins, if you never had to worry about your next meal because you knew someone was looking out for you and your health, or you knew that you always had a friend to call, whether it was three in the morning to talk about something that's bothering you.

What does it take to become family so that we may be "A sign" to others so that when they do come visit us, they can get a real picture of what Heaven will be like?

Funny Story

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:09:15 PDT

So the church I grew up in back home heavily supported missionaries. Every once and a while I had the privilege to go out to dinner with a few of them as a little 5 year old or so and watch my parents talk to them (hence I don't remember one stinking story they talked about). I can remember telling myself that I could NEVER be a missionary. The idea of going overseas just didn't seem plausible and too scary for me. I also remember telling God to never ask me to become a missionary. At the age of 5 I knew I wouldn't be able to handle being oversees and that far away from friends and family.

Well since then i've been on the following mission trips
99- Arizona Navaho Nation Service Projects
01- Mexico Orphanage Service Projects
06- Mexico Built two Houses with a youth group from Mission Viejo
07- Mexico with the CCF Alumni from Indiana back to the Orphanage

So for someone that never thought he could be a missionary (for more reasons that just the distance), I sure have seemed to put myself in areas of service.

So, in a round about way, today I think I hit a nerve in my next steps of employment.

And it scares the crap out of me.
But seriously gives me a ton of drive!

More to come as I learn more about the opportunity and talk with some people to make sure I'm truly insane.

Much prayer needed!
Thanks in advance.

Re-Sketching the Church - Chapter 1 - Church as Sign

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 19:40:09 PDT

You See, God created the church to be a sign of His coming Kingdom, and in as much as the church is faithful to her calling, to that degre she becomes a credible sign.

It kind of just hit me as i was reviewing the quote and the section of the book, on how people will daily ask for signs or miracles. We as people look up to the clouds awaiting for something to happen when we as a Church body are to be the full filment to that sign people are crying out for.

Jesus tells us that we are to be the light of the world. Spreading hope in a hopeless environment. We as a church are supposed to live a life together that acts as a sign to the world that if you want God, follow the sign (the church) and it will lead you to God.

Now i've always known that we should be a light in the world, but honestly I failed quite miserably at college doing that. Most of the time that I spent at my first college was either in class, at work, CCF, or in my Dorm room or at the Campus house where i lived my second year. And the Second college consisted of helping out that ministry heavily, going to school, studying, hanging out at my apartment, or hanging with friends I had known for years.

(update - I recently connected with a friend via Facebook telling me that if it weren't for me and a friend, he would have never found jesus' love so apparently i did do some showing of light to people}

I had created the "Christian Bubble" around my life. It can be very easy to be a Christian around your friends if they are all Christian. I can remember one of the biggest questions or statements being "I don't know how to relate with Non-Christians). I don't know if this is because of the bubble they put themself into or just pride, but i remember thinking that same thing back in college. But at the same time, i can be sitting with someone else at the table, and have nothing to say because nothing comes to my mind to ask them. Christian or not! Lots of awkward silence around me apparntly.

I honestly think one of my fears of working for a Church would be that I would create the bubble environment around myself, This bubble would keep me focused on developing people that already know Jesus, and become so busy with running the ministry that I would forget the world around me. This would render me useless in trying to be "A Sign."

What about you, have you been in the bubble?
or
Are you in the bubble needing to get out?

And at a higher level? What is the Church doing that is keeping it from being a sign.

Has the culture of your church switched to thinking only internally and the health of those in the group?
Is it okay to focus on themselves?

Re-Sketching the Church - Chapter 1 "The Mission"

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 19:38:52 PDT

I can still remember Edward Demings Umbrella Model I was taught in College on how to move a business to a JIT (Just In Time) or Lean Manufacturing place of business. The first step was to always have a clear Mission/Vision Statement and ensure that the employees buy into the Mission Statement.

(In case you didn't know, Deming was the guy who tried implementing Quality and Effeciency Standards back in the states before we dropped the Atomic Bomb on Japan. And then after we did, he went over to Japan and well... He's the reason why we trust Japanese products to last as long as they do. So this guy made serious history. He consulted with one of the professors I had in college).

How many of you can recite your company's Mission? I sure as heck can't remember any of mine. Even with the one i was with for 4 years. It's often quite comedic for Managers to here from employees fresh out of college and try to tell them the way to run their business. Especially something as lame as a mission statement. Or is it? I know i got my fair share of laughs behind the back when I would bring it up. But the idea is true. They teach it in the movie Mighty Ducks. Yes I said might Ducks.

A team of individuals acting as individuals focused on the potential of winning, but more or less having an undisciplined act of hope. And through a run of the mill kind of way, Conway motivates Bombay to coach and direct the team to their first win.

I was actually looking for the video clip where Bombay Ties the whole group together in hopes to get the team to work together, but i couldn't find it in a short form. But understand the idea that a group can accomplish a lot of things when they are focused on the Goal or Mission Statement.

So Chapter 1 begins to talk about "Remembering our Mission." And as I go forward I tend to think about how it applies to Revolution, but also at the same point, how is it applied and created for a Start-up Church.

I'll close with two questions to answer.

What is Church?
What is it supposed to look like?

Sweet Baby Jesus

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 01:09:45 PDT

In case your wondering, I like the Tuxedo Shirt Jesus!

Re-Sketching the Church - My Personal Battle

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 19:36:12 PDT

So to start out the training, I would obviously have to get rid of some baggage right? Unfortunately I wish i could just take off some of my weight. haha.

But in my times of reflecting for a future job, I've been battling the question "do I really want to put myself in that war-zone." Now over the past few years, i've realized that having a job in the secular world was a place God could use me. And He did! I developed many a great friends and relationships and have lead people to a deeper understanding of who God is and/or renewed their faith in Christ. I truly wish i could take all those friendships with me, but leaving is never easy. So the choice is out in the open.

Now to change the direction a little bit over to the idea of Re-Sketching a church. Much like my battle with deciding future job, a choice needs to be made. We as members of God's children need to make a choice to change. One thing I learned in my previous job is that the business has to continuously improve. If they don't, then products are no longer bought from customers, equipment starts deteriorate, morale decreases, etc. The church must act the same way. We must continuously improve who we are and how we do things. God doesn't like Lukewarm Christians. We must make a choice to engage or turn away.

I think the first choice to a successful Re-Sketching of the church process, is deciding whether they want to engage in the change or not. All the sermons in the world, and acts of kindness can help promote an environment for a group of people to want to change and grow. But ultimately it comes from within.

God can use just one person (heck he can even use a donkey in times of need) to start the Domino effect of a Revolution.
Are you willing to help Re-Sketch what the "Church" is doing in your home, on Sunday's, in the US, or even the World at large?

What's your battle keeping you from engaging in the war?
Mine was Satan knowing that as soon as i walked out the door, I had a huge bulls-eye on my forehead to be attacked along with friends and family members of mine.

Tough guy image FAIL!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 15:21:03 PDT

I saw this on a video log of a group i follow. I laughed.

I hate reading!

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 19:54:32 PDT

So this post may come as quite a suprise to you. I was going through some online coupons on a website, and found that they were offering 40% off. I didn't realize it was for only one book until it came time to check out. Sadly I can't even blame it on the fine print or it being hidden somewhere in the ad. The whole thing was described in the Blog Title. Go figure. But either way I'm excited about what is coming my way none the less with the little discount that I received.

So the followig are some books i'm expecting to arrive in the next week or so.

You may see that three of them are quite Relational and about Relationships. At least so i'm told. So since the books where deemed good reads, I figured it would be interesting to here the authors views on some things, as well as maybe fine tuning my Mack skills... seeing as that I have ZERO!

1. Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man?s Soul
- What can i say i'm a reflective kind of guy. I want to know what i'm hiding haha.

2. Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Women?s Soul
- I know enough about women to say I know absolutely nothing about them. But i'm sure the book would help to understand that. I'm not sure if this book was made for man to read, but the description for the Wild at heart said it was for Woman to read as well into what there men desires. So who knows if i'll finish it base on the TMI (To much information) Factor.

3. The Sacred Romance: Drawing Closer to the Heart of God
- I've heard that this is a good book. I haven't been given any reason why, but i'm assuming the subtitle would help give a good description. But, the three books listed above where all written by the same Author, so I assumed it would be good to have for the library.

4. Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality
- I had a number of acquaintance that I knew read this book. It was pretty strange to me to here who liked it and who hated it. So I finally broke down to purchase it for the library to read. Well see how much I love or hate it. Either way i'll learn something.

Anyways. So ya. thats my future book reading for the rest of the year probably. Sad I know.

I hate reading

Re-Sketching the Church - The Need's

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 19:34:44 PDT

So how do we love others when newcomers come in have a very judgmental mindset. I don't know if you have ever been in the mind of a Christian looking for a new church, but it can be quite scary. And I don't mean scared of being accepted. I mean the list that a Christian comes with in their head to judge a group of people that are trying to grow closer to God by helping one another. If a pastor/group of people/friends have a friend attend and decline attending, it can be very shattering and take it quite personal.

So my guess of going through the book, it will teach me or us how to Re-sketch the church away from the culture that has been set as the norm. Anybody can have a weekly meeting and share stories. What sets us apart from the rest?

If you remember a couple of days ago I talked a little bit about what goes on in the head of a new visitor.
(Note: Some of the things mentioned may only go on in the head of a Christian because it is what they liked at the previous church. Others are only because the church the attended lacked this so they are searching elsewhere.)
When Re-Sketching the Church, what is the audience we are trying to attract? Are we a "Put on your Sunday Best for God" Church? Are we a church that wants to attract other christians or others that dress, think, feel, behave like us? Can we all get along under one roof as a family?

Below are some things people may think about when walking into a new church service and not necessarily in this order.

1. The Pastor of Church
- Their personality
- Their Spouse
- Their background
- Their Preaching Style
- Their Personal Appearance
2. The place the Church meets at
- Some people are turned off by meeting in a classic Church, highschools, bars, bowling alleys, etc.
- Certain Distractions
- The Part of town that the Church meets every Sunday
3. Music Worship
- Hymns Only
- Contemporary Worship Only
- Singing but no Instruments
- Loud
- Judging the Hearts of the Worship band without even meeting with the group individually
-Quality of the Soundsystem and how it's used
-Skill of the musicians
4. Statement of Faith
-What the church believes about the bible and it's conception
- How the Universe was made
- Other doctrine important and unimportant to ones Salvation.
5. Childrens/Young Adult Ministry
- Do they have one
- Who leads it
- Is it well planned out
- Is it well known across the Christian Church Group that this church has a great Kids Program
6. Website
- Do you have one?
- Does it have the information I need to give me a good idea of what your church is like
- It's too professional. I can't believe people could be that happy in all those pictures.
- The Church experience didn't match what I thought the website conveyed.
7. Greeters
- Was I approached
- Was I appreciated for just being here and felt valued as an individual
- Was I pressured to serve anywhere the first visit
- Did i get the sense that people cared about me (and family).
8. Challenges
- Was i given a challenge that nobody will keep me accountable for
- Did I feel bad about myself by being challenged by X person.
9, Culture
- Am I going to have the ability to hide among the masses and not be seen and play church
- Am I going to have the ability to challenge myself and others growing in faith ways God only knows.
10. Serving Opportunities
- They have all positions full and don't need my help in the childrens dept/Worship band/tech crew etc.
- Does the church support missions
- Does the church go on any mission trips

These are just a few.

Over the past couple of months in my time of reflection of debating whether to work for a church/ministry/non-profit organization is accepting this unseen War. There have been times in my life where I have seen things occur that have been totally a Spiritual battle. And for that experience you could not convince me to believe in any other faith that doesn't include the God that sent his Son to Die for us so that we may live in heaven forever. You just can't.

So when I myself start consulting for a church to tell them what there doing wrong, or I myself start stating I don't like this about your or my church. I begin to realize

"Some times I feel we are so bored or consumed with the physical battle between one another that we have to bicker about song style and preaching styles, and what we study on Sunday's that we don't want to see the Spiritual battle.

As I look at the cover of the book, I see that there are 5 parts (Equipping, Awaken, Healing, Dreams, Giving Light. A lot of times (even know with me) I want the church to be at the Giving light Stage. But this can't happen until the church buys into the cause and equips itself through devoting themselves first to reading the Scriptures and impressing the words upon their hearts.

Before any church is ready to give out light in a healthy way, they must first Train and equip themselves for the battle.

Are you ready for the Training session?

Is this church?

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 07:00:01 PDT

Is this the "Church" we are promoting to others?

Some people believe it is.

The Fall Season

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 02:28:37 PDT

Some advice to those of you that live in states where Leaves change colors and fall to the death on the ground!

Re-Sketching the Church - Love

noreply@blogger.com (Kevin) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 19:30:23 PDT

So yesterday I asked you about Love. Everybody wants to be loved or appreciated. It's who we are. But I bring this subject up for an important reason. I've been to a lot of churches (visited), I've been a part of a few, and now kind of co-consulted for free a preview church in Oxnard. If we don't have love? What honestly do we have? I've heard time and time again that I don't like church because of all the "cliques" that are in them.

The underlying theme of a growing church is the love of people. And the love of new people showing up. Nobody wants to bring their family and friends to a place where they get ignored. Okay let me rephrase that. I know there are people out there that want to hide and "Play" church and live a separate life outside of Sunday Morning service. But for those looking for a group to belong to and have friends, most of those individuals would not want to bring there family and friends to a place where they are ignored and treated like an outcast.

So as I reflect on how I love people I realize that my insecurities allow me to want to choose who to love. I obviously don't want to have to start a friendship where I know our personalities will conflict, or eventually get hurt, burned, or taken advantage of. It's not a good feeling. So whether I realize it, I choose to love. You chose to love your spouse in the morning (if you have one), you chose to not not let your dog poop in your neighbors yard. You choose to love lamp..... Okay just making sure your paying attention.

In order to love others though, we have to learn to love ourselves. I've been told and find partially true in the fact that "the main reason we don't like other people is because they remind them of their own faults." Why would we want to hang around people that remind them of the very thing we don't like about ourselves. Now I don't mean love the sin, or imperfection. We have to take ownership to our own faults if we ever want to become better people.

This will ultimately help in the battle to focus on the spiritual war, and not the battles between men.

Phillipians 4:8

8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

What are you thinking when you see someone you don't like? Not to get all positive thinking on you, but it honestly is a good habit to practice.

Easier said than done right! But none the less it is a reminder and a challenge to help you through the day.