Barb

Its been a while since I did a church visit, but a few weeks ago I went to Sovereign Grace Community Church. It is part of a community of churches my aunt mentioned I should try out. It meets in a local high school auditorium. I'm happy with the church I currently go to on Saturday nights, but it leaves Sunday mornings open to try out other places. This church was filled to the brims with large families. I felt a little out of place because I wasn't wearing a denim skirt like all the other women ;-) I knew few of the songs and the pastor's sermon was nothing to write home about. HOWEVER...I'd give it another try. I felt welcomed there. All because of Barb. Walking in, I was given a mummbled "welcome" from the greeters, pointed in the direction of the auditorium, and given the familiar "you must be a visitor" look. I sat down and waited for the service to start. A lady came over, said 'hi', firmly shook my hand, and said, "My name's Barb! I haven't seen you here before? Is this your first time visiting?". We chatted for a few mintues and she mentioned going to find her kids before service started. She ended with a, "Nice to meet you. I'll see you after service and we'll chat more." I sat there in shock! After service? I had been invited to stay and chat? Often at church, we are good at saying "visitors are welcome to stick around for coffee and snacks" but we often are saying it to ourselves or it falls on deaf ears that have just heard about the offering we are going to receive. But being specifically invited to chat with a new found friend made staying worth doing. Someone knows I'm here. Someone wants to talk to me. Or, my biggest thought, someone will know if I ditch out early (which I did...I had plans that didn't permit me to stay long after, maybe next time). Amazing. Barb has it right. She's the best greeter ever and I doubt that was her official role for the day. I mean, when was the last time you remembered the name of a church greeter?

What Happened to Friendship?

I am starting to think it is “sooo 1990’s” to think that love=sex. It seems that the new trend for the 2000s is friendship=sex. Having the day off, I tuned into Dr. Phil and Oprah. Both shows were about same sex marriage, being gay, and being lesbian. The people in relationships often have great things to say about each other. They were attracted to the other people’s personality at first. But beyond that, physical intimacy was added. It seems that we, as a society, have lost sight of how to be good friends…just friends. We admire someone, we enjoy being with them, we talk, we make memories, we share secrets, we laugh…and now, we have sex? It is hard for boys and girls to be just friends, but now, girls and girls can’t be just friends, boys and boys can’t be just friends. We are confused in our relationships. We don’t trust people. We are paranoid about them. And yet, we desire intimacy, we desire to trust people and think being physical will fulfill that need.

I think our relationship confusion hinders our ability to form community. There is no trust and honesty when we don’t know how to be friends. Our friendships grow and die at rapid paces. With our growing dependence on cyber relationships, where people put their best foot forward, our friendships grow quickly. With the lack of cyber relationships in the past, few people know how to deal with failed cyber relationships. The dream, the best foot forward, idealist relationship dies with a confused bang. With our added physical acts, our relationships die with a bang, causing more mistrust. How can we have community in a large group when we can’t even have intimate, non-sexual relationships between two people?

While we have lost our bodily boundaries, we have not lost our desire for intimacy with each other. Thoughts?

Lyrics of Life

I've been hearing a thought provoking song recently. Its Nickelback's "If Today Was Your Last Day". What a great song! Great lyrics. My favorite line is "live like you'll never live it twice". All questions...I like questions.


If Today Was Your Last Day - Nickelback

My best friend gave me the best advice
He said each day's a gift and not a given right
Leave no stone unturned, leave your fears behind
And try to take the path less traveled by
That first step you take is the longest stride

If today was your last day
And tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past
Donate every dime you have?
If today was your last day

Against the grain should be a way of life
What's worth the prize is always worth the fight
Every second counts 'cause there's no second try
So live like you'll never live it twice
Don't take the free ride in your own life

If today was your last day
And tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?
Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past
Donate every dime you have?
Would you call old friends you never see?
Reminisce old memories
Would you forgive your enemies?
Would you find that one you're dreamin' of?
Swear up and down to God above
That you finally fall in love
If today was your last day

If today was your last day
Would you make your mark by mending a broken heart?
You know it's never too late to shoot for the stars
Regardless of who you are
So do whatever it takes
'Cause you can't rewind a moment in this life
Let nothin' stand in your way
Cause the hands of time are never on your side

If today was your last day
And tomorrow was too late
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?

Would you live each moment like your last?
Leave old pictures in the past
Donate every dime you have?
Would you call old friends you never see?
Reminisce old memories
Would you forgive your enemies?
Would you find that one you're dreamin' of?
Swear up and down to God above
That you finally fall in love
If today was your last day

My Little Bro

My little brother had a good post the other day, so I thought I'd share that:

http://itriedtrying.blogspot.com/2009/05/christian-crazies.html

Our Father...Who Art In Heaven...

There's something about the Lord's Prayer. Mumbled at the end of countless meeting at the church where I worked, I found it to be rote and dry, merely words without heart, a cultish chant. But I've been re-thinking these words and have come to find the age-less, pure words focusing, uniting, and pure. There's something about each and every word. As I uttered "our..." I was reminded of the common bond Christians and all humanity have. We are all in need of a Father, the Saviour. Wow. All that from one word. Being a "Baptist", I like to change up the words and be a little more specific or imaginative to keep the "chant" from becoming cultish once again...bring on the trespasses vs. temptations debate :-)

Research

Quick...where's San Jose, California? Is it by the ocean or the mountains? While the answer stays the same, the way we come to our conclusion has changed over time. A mere ten years ago, I would have gone to the bookshelf and grabbed an Atlas or Encyclopia. I would flip through the pages and find California or flip through the index and find San Jose. Five years ago I might have called a knowledgable friend or took a mental note to look it up in Encarta (remember Encarta? the digitization of an Encyclopia) when I got home. However, as we were eating dinner last night at a restaurant and the question arose, it was merely a question of who would look it up on their mobile. In less than five minutes (maximum) we had our answer complete with a visual, color map of San Jose and the surrounding area. (Its on the coast, by the way).

With all the information at our finger tips, is this good for us? We are learning how to access information at the speed of light (quite literally). However, I see reasoning, socializing, and logic getting thrown by the wayside. We are losing the tangents that reasoning and team research bring us. And really, how useful is the informaiton we are accessing anyways? Much of it is simply fluff that does not better our lives by any scope of the imagination. Consider our San Jose question: we looked it up quick and the question was quickly answered. However, if the technology had not been available, what else would we have learned? Would we have heard a story from someone who had been there? Would we have reasoned (as we did later) that their hockey team is the Sharks and why would that be a team from inland? Is my life better because I know where San Jose is? Will I even remember the answer next time the question comes up or simply turn to Google again? Would we have just let the question slide and used the five minutes for another discussion? Who knows.

Face to Face

Imagine you and I plan to meet for coffee. You're there, ready for my arrival. I show up with my brother, my tv, a deck of cards, my ipod, and a treadmill (it looks like a Verizon commercial). We sit down to coffee. While I'm talking with you and drinking my coffee, I'm talking with my brother, watching tv, playing solitaire, listening to music, and walking on my treadmill. Would you feel like we were having quality time? I would hope not. Would you feel valued in the presence of my entourage? Probably not.

Yet, this is what I see happening in our society. I sit at my home, online, watching tv, chatting online with multiple friends, talking on the phone, eating dinner, playing solitaire, and sometimes lifting hand weights...all at the same time! While this is alright once in a while, this is no way to socialize and no way to maintain the close friendships God desires for us, has designed for us, as catalysts of growth for us and others. A smaller and smaller percentage of our conversations anymore are face to face. Every day there are new ways to communicate faceless. Taking into consideration that much of conversation is non-verbal, this is sad and confusing. We are losing the art of live face-to-face conversation. I'd like to see a study on eye contact. I bet our eye contact is not what it used to be.

I think we also do this with God. Whether you are an introvert or extravert, the thought of spending even ten quiet, still minutes face-to-face with God sounds like a lazy waste. It is sad because even ten minutes are so powerful. So, stop, you can do it. You can take the next 10 minutes. Go in Peace.