As far as protocol goes, I was a pretty lousy Christian.
I wasn't in church once! No home church. No new "hip" church. Nope, instead I was partaking in the Big Climb. Annual fundraiser to get folks to give money to leukemia and lymphoma research. In return, I walked up a flight of stairs. Twice. (Shrugs) Somehow it all works out and they get mucho dinero.
The on Monday night I skipped small group (c-group, bible study; call it whatever makes ya happy) because a friend of mine was having a CD release party. I still have a cassette tape he made in high school. When you've been friends for 13 years... you're kinda obligated. ;)
With all that, it felt like a bit of a God-less week. I have two female friends who I absolutely love to death and can't imagine them being unChristian. But they both say they don't feel like attending church right now. Actually, I can think of three. One doesn't like the feeling of forced community, one didn't like the gossip that was being portrayed as "Christian concern", and another decided to do what she wanted to do and became ostracized from her Christian peers.
Feels like the church (as people) kinda failed those gals. I live a pretty quiet life, so there really isn't any gossip to deal with. I slide into church, have a good time, and can slide out with as little conversation as I please.
Still, the Sunday service focuses me. The Monday night bible study teaches me things I hadn't considered before. I value those kinds of experiences.
I didn't pray before I went up the stairs. I didn't bless my friend's synthesizer before he started to perform. No, I read my bible some, did my standard praying in the morning, and hoped that God was taking care of my friends. Not as God-less as I made it out to be.
With all that said, I appreciate the weekly touchpoint that Sunday services can provide.
Now we'll see how well I can attend and enjoy both services I plan to go to tomorrow. (I still think 3 ours of churchness is a fair chunk!) Toodles
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
A Sunday with no church. And I'm planning it that way!
Yes, scandal of scandals; this is the one Sunday a year where I plan to skip church.
http://www.llswa.org/site/TR/Events/BigClimb?px=1071381&pg=personal&fr_id=1040
I figure it falls under the purview of Jesus healing on the Sabbath. (No, I'm not claiming to be just like Jesus! I'm just sayin', if it's good enough for him...) Hey, it's only one Sunday a year, right?
If nothing else, I consider it a way of thanking God for sparing my best friend and letting her survive cancer.
Best case scenario, I get some folks and friends to donate to a good cause. I get nothing out of it except exercise and time with my loved ones. (Well, maybe I'll get a mug and t-shirt. Nothing of "significant material or financial value", how's that?)
Breakin' the rules. And still okay with it. Go figure. ;) I reckon God'll understand and forgive me.
Who knows, God might even bless me too!
http://www.llswa.org/site/TR/Events/BigClimb?px=1071381&pg=personal&fr_id=1040
I figure it falls under the purview of Jesus healing on the Sabbath. (No, I'm not claiming to be just like Jesus! I'm just sayin', if it's good enough for him...) Hey, it's only one Sunday a year, right?
If nothing else, I consider it a way of thanking God for sparing my best friend and letting her survive cancer.
Best case scenario, I get some folks and friends to donate to a good cause. I get nothing out of it except exercise and time with my loved ones. (Well, maybe I'll get a mug and t-shirt. Nothing of "significant material or financial value", how's that?)
Breakin' the rules. And still okay with it. Go figure. ;) I reckon God'll understand and forgive me.
Who knows, God might even bless me too!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Active, Involved, but not Employed
I have an agenda.
There, I said it. I still feel that it is a pretty harmless agenda, though. I think it would be nice to have conversations with people in church.
I know! Scandal!
Two Sundays ago? Sat next to a nice little couple, quite delightful to talk to. Had a brief chat with them this week while I was engaged in a task, and I actually remembered them and their faces. What can I say, in a new church I want to engage people.
Old church, I pretty much know everybody. I don't need to sit next to them during church, I can converse with them afterwards quite easily. We can just pick up where we left off and not have to worry about "who you are and what you're about". Just hop right into the details.
New church, not so much. I know -maybe- 3 people in any given Sunday. Odds of me sitting next to someone I know? Unlikely.
Which doesn't mean I don't see opportunities to help. For example, their slideshows? Arrrgh. Half the time I just want to run up and find out of they are paying attention. The singers jump around, I admit. All singers tend to. But sometimes the slides are just plain bad. However, if I'm up there running the powerpoint? Well then I'm just back in my role from the old church, and I'm unlikely to converse with anyone. Not my ideal scenario.
My small group is trying to organize a blood drive, so we needed to make an announcement. I'm quite used to yelling at large crowds of people, giving them information, and letting them return to their anonymous existences. I volunteered for the first sermon. No one seemed willing to "have a presence" for the second services, so I gave the shpiel for that one too. (For the record? The second shpiel was -much- funnier. But they only laughed at one joke! Oh well.)
Helping out where I can interact? Where I'm allowed to engage people? That I'll do.
Being trapped in the same surroundings I'm take the here-and-there break from?
Nope. Not yet.
There, I said it. I still feel that it is a pretty harmless agenda, though. I think it would be nice to have conversations with people in church.
I know! Scandal!
Two Sundays ago? Sat next to a nice little couple, quite delightful to talk to. Had a brief chat with them this week while I was engaged in a task, and I actually remembered them and their faces. What can I say, in a new church I want to engage people.
Old church, I pretty much know everybody. I don't need to sit next to them during church, I can converse with them afterwards quite easily. We can just pick up where we left off and not have to worry about "who you are and what you're about". Just hop right into the details.
New church, not so much. I know -maybe- 3 people in any given Sunday. Odds of me sitting next to someone I know? Unlikely.
Which doesn't mean I don't see opportunities to help. For example, their slideshows? Arrrgh. Half the time I just want to run up and find out of they are paying attention. The singers jump around, I admit. All singers tend to. But sometimes the slides are just plain bad. However, if I'm up there running the powerpoint? Well then I'm just back in my role from the old church, and I'm unlikely to converse with anyone. Not my ideal scenario.
My small group is trying to organize a blood drive, so we needed to make an announcement. I'm quite used to yelling at large crowds of people, giving them information, and letting them return to their anonymous existences. I volunteered for the first sermon. No one seemed willing to "have a presence" for the second services, so I gave the shpiel for that one too. (For the record? The second shpiel was -much- funnier. But they only laughed at one joke! Oh well.)
Helping out where I can interact? Where I'm allowed to engage people? That I'll do.
Being trapped in the same surroundings I'm take the here-and-there break from?
Nope. Not yet.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Changin' It Up (From the comfort of my own couch)
Yesterday was the exception that prooves the rule.
Normally I'm only to happy to go to church every Sunday. Get out, surround myself with Christian folk, and sit up straight in a chair. (I still maintain that it is physically impossible to sit up straight in a wooden pew for any length of time greater than half an hour.)
Emphasis on "Normally". I don't know what it was yesterday. Maybe because I woke up late from my morning nap and would have had to rush. Maybe my commute to Ballard/Belltown is getting to me. Or maybe I'm just a lazy son of a gun. For whatever reason, I ditched the outside world. I don't think I even unlocked the door all day. Stayed home with the cat and the couch.
My standard Sunday consists of a barrage of tv-dom, and yesterday was no exception. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. The Incredibles. Stargate: SG-1. Still, I figured I needed something resembling a sermon/message, so it would have to be either VeggieTales or The Passion of the Christ. My stomach is stronger than my mom's, so I went for the second option.
I'm still impressed by the movie. Take away the buckets of fake blood and it really is a beautifully shot flick. The moody building where we see Judas make his deal. The shots of the moon as the clouds roll by. The hilltop where it all happens. My favorite part is where Jesus is building a table and has a nice conversation with his mom. Good stuff. Helps me see Jesus in a more human light.
For example: Jesus is walking (perhaps limping would be a better description) with his cross on his back, trying to get up the hill. His mom sees all this and tries to run to his side. The look in his eyes (Jim Caviezel was quite excellent, as always) just showed how much he cared for this woman. It brings up a quote/idea which I fully subscribe to;
Don't ever underestimate what a person will do for someone they love.
I find that to be mind-numbingly true. People will stay in battered relationships. They'll endure hours of childbirth or midnight shifts to cover the bills. People will absolutely throw logic and caution to the wind if it means helping someone they care about more than themselves.
So when I see that look pass between Jesus and Mary, I don't see a fake-blood soaked actor in a foreign country with carefully planned cameras and lighting. I see someone who loves this person, and countless others, and is willing to undergo whatever suffering and agony he has to in order to save their lives.
If someone said I could save the lives of everyone I knew by being shot, I'd like to think I'd still do it. (Doesn't mean I'd like it...)
Kudos also go to the person that helped Jesus carry the cross. And of course, to one of my favorite people in the bible, the criminal. He sees Jesus up on the cross, bleeding and dying. If there was ever a time when you could doubt this person, it would be then. But that's the time that he chooses to believe and asks Jesus to take care of him. Bruised, cut, and soon to have his life expire, Jesus still takes the time to care for someone else.
Yes, I'm aware that there may be historical inaccuracies. The cross may have been shaped like a T, not a t. Maybe this person was here instead of that person. I don't really care. Details are just that, little things to make a picture clearer. In this instance, all I care about is the story.
The story is of a man who went through inordinate suffering (I'll spare you the cinematic details. It's rated R for a reason) just to take care of the rest of us. Many who he didn't know at the time. So I got a reminder of that.
Sounds like a perfectly good church service to me.
Normally I'm only to happy to go to church every Sunday. Get out, surround myself with Christian folk, and sit up straight in a chair. (I still maintain that it is physically impossible to sit up straight in a wooden pew for any length of time greater than half an hour.)
Emphasis on "Normally". I don't know what it was yesterday. Maybe because I woke up late from my morning nap and would have had to rush. Maybe my commute to Ballard/Belltown is getting to me. Or maybe I'm just a lazy son of a gun. For whatever reason, I ditched the outside world. I don't think I even unlocked the door all day. Stayed home with the cat and the couch.
My standard Sunday consists of a barrage of tv-dom, and yesterday was no exception. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. The Incredibles. Stargate: SG-1. Still, I figured I needed something resembling a sermon/message, so it would have to be either VeggieTales or The Passion of the Christ. My stomach is stronger than my mom's, so I went for the second option.
I'm still impressed by the movie. Take away the buckets of fake blood and it really is a beautifully shot flick. The moody building where we see Judas make his deal. The shots of the moon as the clouds roll by. The hilltop where it all happens. My favorite part is where Jesus is building a table and has a nice conversation with his mom. Good stuff. Helps me see Jesus in a more human light.
For example: Jesus is walking (perhaps limping would be a better description) with his cross on his back, trying to get up the hill. His mom sees all this and tries to run to his side. The look in his eyes (Jim Caviezel was quite excellent, as always) just showed how much he cared for this woman. It brings up a quote/idea which I fully subscribe to;
Don't ever underestimate what a person will do for someone they love.
I find that to be mind-numbingly true. People will stay in battered relationships. They'll endure hours of childbirth or midnight shifts to cover the bills. People will absolutely throw logic and caution to the wind if it means helping someone they care about more than themselves.
So when I see that look pass between Jesus and Mary, I don't see a fake-blood soaked actor in a foreign country with carefully planned cameras and lighting. I see someone who loves this person, and countless others, and is willing to undergo whatever suffering and agony he has to in order to save their lives.
If someone said I could save the lives of everyone I knew by being shot, I'd like to think I'd still do it. (Doesn't mean I'd like it...)
Kudos also go to the person that helped Jesus carry the cross. And of course, to one of my favorite people in the bible, the criminal. He sees Jesus up on the cross, bleeding and dying. If there was ever a time when you could doubt this person, it would be then. But that's the time that he chooses to believe and asks Jesus to take care of him. Bruised, cut, and soon to have his life expire, Jesus still takes the time to care for someone else.
Yes, I'm aware that there may be historical inaccuracies. The cross may have been shaped like a T, not a t. Maybe this person was here instead of that person. I don't really care. Details are just that, little things to make a picture clearer. In this instance, all I care about is the story.
The story is of a man who went through inordinate suffering (I'll spare you the cinematic details. It's rated R for a reason) just to take care of the rest of us. Many who he didn't know at the time. So I got a reminder of that.
Sounds like a perfectly good church service to me.
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