A Prophetic Teacher once said, "If you dont go away from this with something of worth which you want to outwork into your life, or you hear what i am saying and there is no beneficial life application - Its Not Teaching". GAZ.DRUM@NTLWORLD.COM - LETS TALK This blog is dedicated to truths or views which lend themselves to LIFE APPLICATION when the walls of church are no longer there to '''KEEP US SAFE AND SEPARATE TILL HEAVEN'''.

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Losing My Religion


Or am i losing my faith............................ quite a worrying thing to say out loud.
I dont think im having a crisis of faith, but im definately losing sleep to a crisis of perspective, rather reminiscent of having a bit of metal removed from my eye ball once. Apparantly, if you put up with if for a day or so, the eye grows a layer of skin over the debris to protect the rest of the eye and eyelid from further damage. So, having done the above in the hope that nature would take its course and it would get better of its own accord, i find myself at the eye hospital in a head brace with a lady saying 'Keep Looking Ahead', while she uses the needle from a syringe to free the debris from its new embedded home. The part that im relating to here is she is saying look straight ahead, and all the time she is shoving a needle in my eye and moving my field of vision at her command with every poke and stab. Yeah - so, thats what im feeling regards life and vision and stuff, and its all been contextulaised in the below inner voice conversation.

Just been on hols to a farmouse in a tiny village in rural ultra catholic france. Its all villages, different communities and you can see each new village from the last, and each has a church of its own. So around my village is 10 other villages with 10 other churches. So, im beginning to think what i could contribute if i moved there, trying it on for size, getting some vision and perspective and dreaming a few contexts to make a contribution.
The funny thing is that God knows im a visual person, so in our village the Marie (mayor and civic offices) are bang next door to the church. Do i work with the church (static) to serve the community, or do i work with the mayor. It may be plausible that both are christian, but if the mayors office was not, who would most be serving the purpouses of the kingdom.
I know this is all a bit bla de bla, i did say it was my inner voice, but its actually a real issue, thinking it through in a real place with real people and real opportunities and yet, two buildings representing potentially two differing governments and yet both or one may serve the purposes of God more, Which?? Honestly? I am flummuxed, the needle in my eye bending my line of sight this way and that as i ask the same old questions in a new setting.
I am worried that i risk something that the sally army did, which was starting as a fully dynamic cross cultural mission during the war years (christian words to songs s sang in pubs and donning uniforms in uniformed norm) to actually being increasingly about one hand of the two handed gospel - social action. I m concerned that i am being more drawn to see the quality of lives improve over and above a communication of who jesus is? Really................... lots to chew over at present. Perhaps i am feeling the void of church which is full of words and little action, invisible to the community around it, unmissed if it dissapeared tomorrow. would my town feel the pain of the kingdom withdrawing from it? If the church walked out of town tomorrow, would anyone notice, and if not, had the kingdom come there at all?
I wonder how mother theresa did it? Her angle was less to be jesus to people, and more that she poured herself into others believing herself to be serving jesus in each of them, as unto the lord himself. hands and words? hands before words? hands over words?

g
puzzling

8 Comments:

Blogger Vance said...

Both.Secular society needs God .The 'church?' needs God.
If you have God don't deny what you have to anyone.
The God you've got want's to go where He is not.
The job title is 'being a bridge'.BETWEEN TWO POSITIONS .Heaven and earth.
The Mission is a marriage -the two become one.
Choose your bit of earth with the Holy Spirits help and go to it .It could be the office ,it could be Greenland'it could be the vatican,it could be the bit within your skin.

5:25 am

 
Blogger Johnny said...

...just interested in where you're getting your perspective of the Sally Army from? We wrestle with this question ourselves quite a lot. I guess the most accurate view is that the global SA is now so diverse, that it's sometimes difficult to say precisely what IS The Salvation Army?

PEACE & BLESSINGS

2:09 pm

 
Blogger al bino said...

Your right, referencig the SA as i have is a huge sweeping statement. I think its in the context of an old fella who once said to me, "Gaz - i was with a work the other day who have led 100 young people to Christ in the last year.....but now they are all Back In The World............long pause................ Hallelujah, cause thats where they are meant to be. I guess that its about where movements seem to have a pinnacle moment, a season if you will where we - as church - largely a separated dualistic entity from life and the world - our street even....how we had a moment - where it all came together, where we had so immersed ourselves in the culture and needs of the world that we truly scratched an itch...............but as culture is in constant transition, we can remain static, often holding onto a strategy or WAY which was alsos meant to be transitionary, just as culture is transitionary. A personal observation is that the church in general is seeking to re discover its point of engagement, some dont have that reference point which the sally army had - uniformed and musically stylised in such a relevant way, but at a moment in time.
It was an observation made by someone leading a seminar saying about anointings being passed on and anointings in the grave, pointing out that it took three generation to get to 'isreal' as a people Abe Isaac and Jacob - kind of a three generational punch. We have needed another one for some time. The point raised was Elijah, to Elisha........ then meant to pass onto the King but for a lack of faith it ends up in the ground with Elisha (perhaps referenced by the soldier falling into his grave and jumping up alive).

I feel some relevance on that.......... that anonitings are meant to be accumulative and transgenerational. However, we have two issues in our time, the need for one generation to be willing to pass it to the next, and the next generations ability o be able to pick it up and mix their own flavour. The reference in the seminar was to works in the grave, its wasnt very kind so take your pick of historical movements........... but its important to say that the new church movements of the last 40 years did not fare well, int hat they were coming to an end..........unless we get another generation crossover............... at least that woudl be two generations so we arent starting from scratch everytime. Controversial, but it made some sense.
A friend said we must hold onto that which is enternal, and be willing to let go of that which is transitionary culture which is a constant, without making transitionary culture 'spiritualised or sacred'. We must be willing to let culture shift and shape with each generation, whilst holding ONLY to eternal truths which are of ETERNAL CONSEQUENCE.
Our cultural relevance is somethign we need to constantly review, the salvation army really did hit a moment in time with their style and approach, a generation has grown up with that cultural reference point - it has seen a generation through, it has been a wineskin for one particular generations harvest of wine. And Thats GOOD.
But at best.......its downright terrible, that we are still so dualistic and 'over here' in our sub culture of church, that we are still - hundreds of years on, thinking how to get to where the people are to touch them. We need to find a way to save people into christ, without saving them into what we are in and OUR cultural preferences.
We need to find a way to help people be not of the world without takign them out of it into a place to keep them safe to heaven. I just dont see that in scripture.
Also - i personally feel we need to feel a meausure of relief - not to keep somethign going, or re invent it, if its meant to go through a 'cross ' - for resurrection life. my ramblings xx
We need to rediscover seasons, i so wish we could have the pillar of fire and smoke back, so we know when to move and not settle. PEOPLES INHERITANCE IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE GROUND OUR GENERATION HAS GAINED - NOT OUR TRANSITIONARY CULTURAL REFERENCE POINTS. How? dunno, but there are things we need to let go of - all of us.

3:48 pm

 
Blogger Johnny said...

Thanks for the response, Gaz. I'm gonna have to take some time to read, re-read & digest this: a lot of stuff to take in.

I'll probably draw on some guys with bigger brains than me.

J

8:59 am

 
Blogger al bino said...

Hey jon, sorry to hurt your head, made mine throb too,i do tend to rant. Feel free to come back at me and give me hard time. Pull and push me with specific thoughts questions etc - always happy to go for a walk and wonder.
g

8:40 pm

 
Blogger Vance said...

Hi Gaz, true enough about The Rivers moves turning into stagnant backwaters because of our unwillingness to flow where it wants to take us..The 'culture' that keeps us together becomes damming debris 'if' we stop where we shouldn't.Then a FLOOD (REVIVAL) IS NEEDED to clear out and clean out the channel till we clog it aagain.When WE are moving the Church is great.
You said "i so wish we could have the pillar of fire and smoke back, so we know when to move and not settle."We have this- the tabernacle in the desert was a COPY of the Heavenly reality.We are the tabernacle and The GLORY IS IN US. Trouble is when we 'stop' moving with/following The Holy Spirit.
Personally I reckon this would be a lot easier if Ididn't belong to a body- but I DO.gUESS THE BEST THING i can do is keep moving WHEN HE MOVES, REst when He rests and avoid the logjames unless He sends me crashing into one to try and get some movement?

5:25 am

 
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4:32 am

 
Blogger SuZen said...

Hello All,

Losing my religion happened muchas tiempo ago as I saw the hypocrisy of christians pushing jesus, then slandering each other. It was basically a fashion statement, going to church. Makes everyone think you're on the good side of things. But religion is another way to control the masses my friend, you only know what you've been told and you're guilty, baby, guilty, from the outset. Jesus had it right, but he would be the last to go to any church. All thinking they got the last word on truth. Whatta bunch o' bull...
So I opted out and struck my own path, found all kinds of ways that God has to catch sincere souls, doesn't matter the FORM, just that you want the Truth bad enough. And don't take anyone else's word for it, just 'cause they say they got the answer doesn't mean they DO!
This world is a crazy place to wake up in, mass confusion, who's got the reins? This idea of GOD is mismatched to Truth, as if God were some dude in the sky we can shake our fist at when things go bad, or get on our knees and pray to to get something we want. God is Life itself, everywhere, everything, even YOU if you've got the gumption to cop to it. We're the arms and legs of the creator, so whattcha gonna do? Get on over to my blog, we have the same name, check out Emerge and See for some real answers.

10:22 pm

 

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