One of the things that I do - apart from speak, write and tell jokes – is a gig with Camp Quality. CQ is a charity that assists children who are dealing with cancer and its associated treatment by giving them something to smile about in the midst of what is probably an exceedingly bleak part of their lives. Take a look at http://www.campquality.org.au/ for more info.
What I do with Camp Quality is operate Giggle in Qld and NT. Giggle is an animatronic robot the size of a 6 year old child who rides a tricycle. As the operator, I follow Giggle with a remote control and visit with the children in the wards and clinics. One side of the remote operates the bike; the other Giggles head. I wear a headset mic and when I speak Giggle’s mouth moves and my voice comes out of the robot. I also wear an earpiece so I can hear what the children are saying to me. $20 says now all of you are going to go to http://www.campquality.org.au/ and check out Giggle!!
So I have been in Sydney since Sunday getting to know the new robot, training with him and now, bringing him home to Qld in the Giggle van.
Over the past 4 days though, I have been meditating on a scripture. When I travel, I do so with my xxxChurch.com “Jesus Loves Porn Stars” New Testament. Apart from the conversations that get started when people see it (with Christians especially!) it is nice and small for my suitcase. I usually read NIV, but this one is The Message and I love what it has brought out for me to chew on anew.
I won’t go into everything in one entry, but consider this for starters…
“Since Jesus went through everything you are going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get you own way. Then you’ll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrranised by what you want.” 1 Peter 4.1ff, italics mine.
I began to italics the things I loved but I think I would have had to end up doing the whole passage!! Three keys:
1. Learn to think like Jesus. Isn’t this the answer to living the Christian life? Two problems. First, we aren’t very good at knowing how Jesus thinks (see the Intro of the book under the subtitle HCYKWJWDIYDKWHD?). And then, most of us really haven’t sacrificed our minds and had them renewed properly.
2. Expecting our own way is an old sinful habit. Let’s get this clearly in context though. Peter is saying that our wants, need and desires and expecting God will give us those just because we have them and convince ourselves (or have a Televangelist convince us for us) that God therefore has to is out of kilter with the Spirit of God. Peter is really saying here “Get into line!”
3. True freedom comes in pursuing what God wants; and our wants simply tyrannise us.
If there was ever an endorsement for the Law of Denial, then I don’t know what else is. Man has this weeks reflections been a challenge. More on that next week…
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Working it out - not with a pencil (Law 14)
Many of the discussions I have had with people about the book in the past little while have been about how to live out the 17 Laws. This is a great question but one which, as I am honest about in the Introduction and throughout the book, I have not totally figured out yet myself. I have thought about going on some sort of human experiment like the "what would Jesus do?" experiment that the congregation does in Charles Sheldon's classic novel, "In His Steps". You know: not do anything for a year if it contravened one of the 17 Laws. (I am about to go on two similar endeavours this year: one is for an article about not using a car for a month, and another is for a book I am writing about fasting, but more on that another time).
Over the weekend, I did a comedy show on the Gold Coast for a Christian Singles Conference. I had some 'chores' to do in Brisbane on Friday, so headed to the Coast Friday afternoon, even though the show wasn't till Saturday night. On Saturday morning, I woke up, showered and get ready for the day thinking I would have nothing on at all. I was having a Latte in the hotel lobby before breakfast when I noticed Peter Hobson walking through the lobby. Peter is the miniter at Glebe Rd. Uniting Church in Ipswich where I had spoken/comedied (is that a word) at one of their services in 2008.
We exchanged "What are you doing here" pleasantries and Peter told me that he was doing a session at a conference up the road from the hotel at Robina/Surfers Paradise Uniting Church who's keynote speaker was Shane Claiborne. If you have read 17 Laws, you know that Shane is one of the founders of the Simple Way community in Kensington; a suburb of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania USA (see http://www.thesimpleway.org/) and someone who's ideologies are very similar to mine.
My days program was sealed. I headed to the conference, was blessed with a special day rate (thanks to the church youth pastor and conference host, Ralph Mayhew) and sat back to enjoy a couple of sessions with Shane (speaking, not 'sessions' for those of you with too much knowledge of drug use!)
During the second session, a questions was asked about how one goes about hospitality in such a dangerous environment. This was an interesting question for me for two reasons. One, with a wife and small children, I too wonder about inviting a stranger off the street into my home to practice Godly hospitality. Second, because the answer provided a key to working out the 17 Laws.
Shane said that when they started The Simple Way community, they just had an open house. As a result, stuff went a bit skewey at times and problems reared their heads quite often in the early days. But, he said, from that has come a wisdom from community - together the SW community has worked together to discover what is appropriate and what needs to have some limits on it. I think Shane talks about this a little in "The Irresistable Revolution" too.
For me, this was an important point. As someone who is a bit of a planner, I like to have everything worked out BEFORE I get going on something. And while I know Shane was not advocating being silly about it, there are some things that you just have to step out and work out along the way, not work out with a pencil beforehand.
So rather than trying to work out how to practice the laws and then go do it, I guess we just have to do it and then work out what it means to practice the laws. And this, my friends, is the Laws of Mess in practice right there!
Over the weekend, I did a comedy show on the Gold Coast for a Christian Singles Conference. I had some 'chores' to do in Brisbane on Friday, so headed to the Coast Friday afternoon, even though the show wasn't till Saturday night. On Saturday morning, I woke up, showered and get ready for the day thinking I would have nothing on at all. I was having a Latte in the hotel lobby before breakfast when I noticed Peter Hobson walking through the lobby. Peter is the miniter at Glebe Rd. Uniting Church in Ipswich where I had spoken/comedied (is that a word) at one of their services in 2008.
We exchanged "What are you doing here" pleasantries and Peter told me that he was doing a session at a conference up the road from the hotel at Robina/Surfers Paradise Uniting Church who's keynote speaker was Shane Claiborne. If you have read 17 Laws, you know that Shane is one of the founders of the Simple Way community in Kensington; a suburb of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania USA (see http://www.thesimpleway.org/) and someone who's ideologies are very similar to mine.
My days program was sealed. I headed to the conference, was blessed with a special day rate (thanks to the church youth pastor and conference host, Ralph Mayhew) and sat back to enjoy a couple of sessions with Shane (speaking, not 'sessions' for those of you with too much knowledge of drug use!)
During the second session, a questions was asked about how one goes about hospitality in such a dangerous environment. This was an interesting question for me for two reasons. One, with a wife and small children, I too wonder about inviting a stranger off the street into my home to practice Godly hospitality. Second, because the answer provided a key to working out the 17 Laws.
Shane said that when they started The Simple Way community, they just had an open house. As a result, stuff went a bit skewey at times and problems reared their heads quite often in the early days. But, he said, from that has come a wisdom from community - together the SW community has worked together to discover what is appropriate and what needs to have some limits on it. I think Shane talks about this a little in "The Irresistable Revolution" too.
For me, this was an important point. As someone who is a bit of a planner, I like to have everything worked out BEFORE I get going on something. And while I know Shane was not advocating being silly about it, there are some things that you just have to step out and work out along the way, not work out with a pencil beforehand.
So rather than trying to work out how to practice the laws and then go do it, I guess we just have to do it and then work out what it means to practice the laws. And this, my friends, is the Laws of Mess in practice right there!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
The Grip of the Former Image (Law 2)
I woke up this morning in a tent. My son, Zane, and I decided to do a little "possum hunting" - we have had possums in our yard and Zane really wanted to see them. So we pitched the tent in the back yard, put out a plate of apple, and settled back for a night under the stars.
Zane was a little scared, but got off to sleep okay. When I woke at about 6.30am, Zane was still sound asleep. My usual morning routine is to go to the bathroom, let the dog out and then make a coffee to enjoy on the deck as I study the Bible and then read a little before I make breakfast and start work for the day. Today, my routine was shot. I didn't want to wake Zane with the tent zip, and I didn't want him to wake up without me there in case it freaked him out. So I wriggled my toes (did I mention I was busting?!) and waited for him to wake.
As I lay there, I realised that my morning routine was going to be disrupted which meant - UM AH! - I wasn't going to make my Bible reading time! But then as I reflected on that I thought, "From where does this 'read the Bible every day' rule come from? From God? Or from me?"
This was the "Golden Calf" being kicked. In my image, God is happy when I read my Bible religiously every morning. In His own image, God is happy when I am with my son, enjoying time together with him, and loving him by considering his emotional state.
I'm not against Bible reading. But ask yourself why you read the Bible. Or even memorise it. The only place I can see that even remotely suggests that memorizing scripture is good is in Psalms (Ps 119:11). And that's not even about memorizing it but knowing it. My daughter and son go to a Christian school where one of the weekly tests is memory verses. Some weeks they have memorized the verse, but if I ask them what it means, often they say, "I don't know". There's a big difference between knowing a verse of scripture and knowing what it means to live it. Anyone can rattle of a verse, but it is no measure of where you're at with God.
So what about you? What areas of your life have you elevated something, even something good and helpful to our Christian walk, to a Golden Calf like state?
Zane was a little scared, but got off to sleep okay. When I woke at about 6.30am, Zane was still sound asleep. My usual morning routine is to go to the bathroom, let the dog out and then make a coffee to enjoy on the deck as I study the Bible and then read a little before I make breakfast and start work for the day. Today, my routine was shot. I didn't want to wake Zane with the tent zip, and I didn't want him to wake up without me there in case it freaked him out. So I wriggled my toes (did I mention I was busting?!) and waited for him to wake.
As I lay there, I realised that my morning routine was going to be disrupted which meant - UM AH! - I wasn't going to make my Bible reading time! But then as I reflected on that I thought, "From where does this 'read the Bible every day' rule come from? From God? Or from me?"
This was the "Golden Calf" being kicked. In my image, God is happy when I read my Bible religiously every morning. In His own image, God is happy when I am with my son, enjoying time together with him, and loving him by considering his emotional state.
I'm not against Bible reading. But ask yourself why you read the Bible. Or even memorise it. The only place I can see that even remotely suggests that memorizing scripture is good is in Psalms (Ps 119:11). And that's not even about memorizing it but knowing it. My daughter and son go to a Christian school where one of the weekly tests is memory verses. Some weeks they have memorized the verse, but if I ask them what it means, often they say, "I don't know". There's a big difference between knowing a verse of scripture and knowing what it means to live it. Anyone can rattle of a verse, but it is no measure of where you're at with God.
So what about you? What areas of your life have you elevated something, even something good and helpful to our Christian walk, to a Golden Calf like state?
Monday, January 5, 2009
WHAT THE BLOG IS ABOUT
I have had a great break over Christmas/New Year. Over that time I have had a chance to reflect on what this Blog would look like and what each entry would entail. I have to admit that I have struggled to come up with something that would make the Blog both interesting to read and gripping enough to want to write on a multi-weekly basis, if not every day. Yesterday, I got my answer.
My good friend, Pastor Pete, and I had coffee. Pete was one of my readers of the book before it was released. Yesterday's coffee saw Pete pretty much jump in and say how much he has enjoyed reading the book but wanted to pick my brains about how to actually live out the 17 Laws in everyday Christian life. To try and quote Pete - "How does the average Christian in the local church context live out the concepts of the book into practice?"
So there you go: there is the direction of the Blog, for the near future at least. No doubt, if you have come here, it will have been because you have read the book and are interested in discussing some of the themes therein. And, if you are like Pete, you are probably wondering how to go about living it out. As you would have picked up in my tone, particularly in the Intro and Epilogue, so do I.
SO... I intend to take up the challenge, just jump in and begin to live out/apply the Laws, and Blog my experience in doing so. My hope is that you will also share your experiences in living out the 17 Laws.
I do want to remind you though that in the book I make it clear that 17 Laws was never meant to be instructional. I said to Pete yesterday that if I had done so, I would have patronised you good readers by a) suggesting I know more about your context than you (which I do not) and b) taken away from you the joy and struggle of workin out how this looks and should be applied in your context. While I will be sharing my personal struggles, joys and so forth as I seek to understand and apply the Laws in my own context, I hope you too will use this Blog to share your stories also. By sharing together, I hope we can al begin to really get a grip on Followship together.
Looking forward to being covered in dut from the rabbi's sandals with you.
Mark G
My good friend, Pastor Pete, and I had coffee. Pete was one of my readers of the book before it was released. Yesterday's coffee saw Pete pretty much jump in and say how much he has enjoyed reading the book but wanted to pick my brains about how to actually live out the 17 Laws in everyday Christian life. To try and quote Pete - "How does the average Christian in the local church context live out the concepts of the book into practice?"
So there you go: there is the direction of the Blog, for the near future at least. No doubt, if you have come here, it will have been because you have read the book and are interested in discussing some of the themes therein. And, if you are like Pete, you are probably wondering how to go about living it out. As you would have picked up in my tone, particularly in the Intro and Epilogue, so do I.
SO... I intend to take up the challenge, just jump in and begin to live out/apply the Laws, and Blog my experience in doing so. My hope is that you will also share your experiences in living out the 17 Laws.
I do want to remind you though that in the book I make it clear that 17 Laws was never meant to be instructional. I said to Pete yesterday that if I had done so, I would have patronised you good readers by a) suggesting I know more about your context than you (which I do not) and b) taken away from you the joy and struggle of workin out how this looks and should be applied in your context. While I will be sharing my personal struggles, joys and so forth as I seek to understand and apply the Laws in my own context, I hope you too will use this Blog to share your stories also. By sharing together, I hope we can al begin to really get a grip on Followship together.
Looking forward to being covered in dut from the rabbi's sandals with you.
Mark G
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
