The Living Reminder

(Note: The leaders of the Renovatus Church of Christ Home Communities have begun reading Henri Nouwen's book, The Living Reminder, with senior minister, Kevin Woods. While the conversation below is a result of their dialog, ANYONE is certainly welcome to chime in! To pull a line from O Brother, Where Art Thou, "Come on in fellers! The water is fine!")

Henri J. M. Nouwen is just killing me! For this tiny little booklet only being 80 pages, it seems like I can hardly finish a single page without turning to my journal to wrestle with God! It's not a quick read ... thought I am tempted to blast through it. He makes ministry so ... personal!



The only way for Home Communities to become the dynamic heart of the Renovatus ministry is for her leaders to grasp the "connection between ministry and spirituality" and to understand that "service is prayer and prayer is service." (page 13.) So what does that mean to you personally? Is this provoking a lot of introspection for you? What has your prayer life been like since starting this book? And for that matter, what have your ministry moments (especially with your Home Community) since starting Nouwen? Has there been any change in your style of ministry? In your spiritual discernment? In your sensitivity? Do your people feel even more like YOUR people?

I know it's only been slightly over a week, but I'm already beginning to sense that God is beginning to move. Have you noticed?

The Kingdom

So lets talk about the kingdom of heaven. If you were not able to join us on Sunday we began our three month long journey through the Gospel according to Matthew. We will be discovering what the kingdom of heaven that Jesus often spoke about is.

Here are some stories told by Jesus and recorded by Matthew. Read one, read two, or even read them all.

Matthew 13.31-35 (page 586 in the Renovatus Bibles)
Matthew 18.21-35 (590)
Matthew 19.16-30 (590)
Matthew 20.1-16 (590-591)
Matthew 22.1-14 (592)

Lets teach eachother. Lets challenge eachother. Lets question eachother. What is this kingdom? What was Jesus teaching? How do you live it out? Do you have any insights, understanding, observations, or questions that should be shared with the community? Don't be shy...interact...discuss...

You DO NOT NEED AN ACCOUNT to comment. Just type a response, sign your name (unless you want to remain anonymous), click the spot called "anonymous" and then publish your comment.

Psalm 151. A Psalm of You.

Are you ready to let your heart pour? Recently at the Renovatus church we studied 2 Chronicles 20; a story about an impossible situation in which God miraculously delivered His people.

Maybe YOU have been rescued from an awful situation, or perhaps you are, at this moment, standing on the "impossible" side of the problem and are looking toward the heavens crying out, "God! Where are you? Aren't you going to do ... something?"

So here is the challenge: Take some time and write a Psalm of your own. Read through a few Psalms from the Bible for inspiration, or if you like, here is a quick outline from 2 Chronicles 20.

1. Speak of God’s exalted position. (20:6.) Carefully choose these words! What characteristics impress you most about Him? What attributes are most outstanding? Take note of who He is.

2. Recognize God’s performance in the past. (20:7-8.) His is a perfect record that will stand forever. (And by the way, His reputation is at stake in your life!) You may decide to recite historical mile-markers from the Bible or other historical resources, or you may prefer to praise Him for personal experiences that He has brought you through. Take note of what He has done.
3. Praise Him for His power! (20:9.) Be very thoughtful with these words. Are you able to praise Him before the storm hits? Can you praise Him from the middle of the storm? Does praise well up in you because you survived the storm? Take note of what He can do.

So, will you share your psalm?

I love it that we are raising up artisans at Renovatus!

Lent

On Sunday the challenge was made. How will you respond?

Genesis 3:19 (page 4 in the Renovatus black Bible) says, "You were made from
dust and to dust you shall return."

Ash Wednesday starts the Lenten season by reminding its participants that they are dust. Or as the band Kansas put it, "all we are is dust in the wind". By fasting for 40 days we are to be reminded of our great need of a saviour. We are dust. There are 46 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter, six of those days are Sundays. In tradition Sunday's were exempt from fasting because they were the days when we celebrated the Lord, our saviour. We are dust...but...

2 Corinthians 5:17 (696) says, "...anyone who belongs to Christ has become a
new creation. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"

We are dust, but have been given life! For the next 46 (minus 6 Sundays) days what will you fast from? Share with the community anonymously or sign in with your name, what you will give up in order to be reminded of your need for Jesus.

And for those of you who are really dangerous: what will you replace it with in order to live more authentically for Christ?

Continuing from the previous conversation...

Here are John's next words. Interact with them. What do we learn, what is he communicating, what questions arise? Throw some thoughts out there.

1 John 1:5-7
This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is
light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have
fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not
practicing truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light,
then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son,
cleanses us from all sin.

Will The Real Jesus Please Stand Up?

I find the apostle John to be an intriguing character. The Bible holds five of his writings (the Gospel of John, his letters creatively titled 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, and the book of Revelation), most of which serve as some of the most interesting books of their type found in the Scriptures. What I like about John is mostly learned in his Gospel account (gospel means "good news", so in essence it is Johns account of the good news of Jesus Christ). John lovingly refers to himself as "the one Jesus loved" or as the guy who is faster than Peter. I like that. It's real. It's arrogant. What I also love is that John is an artist. You see, I am not an artist. I like art, but creation does not come naturally to me. When you read his writings everything is not chronological and orderly, rather things seem to be placed more poetically or artistically. Sometimes I'm not quite sure what John is saying, kind of like when I read poetry.That's cool. I like that.

With all that said, lets jump into 1st John (it's the letter near the back of the Bible on page 743 if you've got our Renovatus black Bibles). This letter was written when John was very old. I imagine him sitting at some old rustic wood desk with a quill and parchment leaning awkwardly on the table because of the pain in his back. With all his years of mission work, of leadership, of imprisonments, of service for his beloved friend Jesus fresh in his mind he has sat to write to his church in Ephesus. He has spent many years in this city as their elder and now people have begun to teach things that question the very foundation of John's life. These people (or "false prophets" as John calls them) are callled Gnostics. Gnosticism doubts the true nature of Jesus. Because, in thisbelief system, nature and humanity were at it's core flawed and corrupt. The Absolute Supreme Being (God) is unknowable. Jesus, therefore, could not be God in flesh, because matter is evil. Therefore, Gnostic's, believe that when the man Jesus was baptized, the spirit Jesus descended on him and lived and worked through him until shortly before the man Jesus was killed. This is, by far, an oversimplification, but it will due for now.
This was what John's most loved church in Ephesus was beginning to accept as truth, a 'truth' that John vehemently disagreed with.

With all that said, let's interact with John's words:

John 1:1-4
The one who existed from the beginning is the one we have heard and seen.
We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is Jesus
Christ, the Word of life. This one who is life from God was shown to us, and we
have seen him. And now we testify and announce to you that he is the one who is
eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was shown to us. We are
telling you about what we ourselves have actually seen and heard, so that you
may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his
Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy will be
complete.

Here is our goal:

1. What connections can we make between the way John started his letter and what we know about its recipients?
2. What are you first impressions of John's words? Knee jerk reactions?
3. If you have knowledge or insight please share them
4. If this reading brings up thoughts or questions please share them
5. And let's never forget the application. If we don't let God's words change our behavior we'll make baby Jesus cry. What does application look like? How? Why?

Please comment freely.