Changing Course

A little over 10 years ago, I came to spend a summer in Maryland to help out a new church, well as most of you know that lead to me moving to Maryland almost 9.5 years ago to be a part of that church. My faith journey since then has been about being part of church plants in Maryland. Its been a great time of learning more about God, myself, people, and all the relationships that connect them. There have been joys greater than I could have imagined as well as defining struggles and sorrows. Its definitely been a wild ride and one that has left me with friends who will forever be part of my journey.

No, I'm not leaving Maryland, considered that a few years ago, but I'm confident that this is where I still need to be. So the change in course... seeking a new church. This is somewhat uncharted territory for me, sure I hunted for a church when I went to college, but I remained connected to and loved by the church I grew up in. So for the first time in my life I find myself without a church. So, yes a scary and exciting time ahead as I seek the people with whom God is calling me to build community, serve along side, and grow closer to Him.

This is also a sad time, tonight marked the last gathering of the last remaining house church from the network of house churches some dear friends and I started a little over 6 years ago. It was totally God though, all of the remaining 5 of us have been sensing for a variety of reasons that we were no longer really being church and that we should pursue other church communities. So, a night that had you asked me how it would of go, I would have thought of many tears and complete sadness. Though it was a somber discussion and departure, there was also a sense of peace and unity, a much needed confirmation from God that it was time to end.

We still have a few discussions to have with those who have supported over the years as well as among ourselves concerning the logistics to "officially disband," so those will happen over the coming weeks.

For now I'm thankful for the opportunity to have been part of a simple authentic church for this long and for the courage, honesty, and faithfulness of this group of friends to realize we were no longer being church, so the time has come to move on to the next phase of our faith journeys.

Perspective

I finished reading "The Shack" a few weeks ago and it has left me pondering many things - God's love and our perspective clouding our relationship with God and others being 2 of the big topics.

I don't think I can address the Love topic here without giving away more of the book than I probably should, so I'll save that for conversations with others who have read the book.

As for perspective, probably a bit of minor topic in the book, but one that life events have brought it to the forefront of my thoughts. The Shack suggests that the main character has some struggles because of his perceived reality. So if we all have a perceived reality, then what happens when our perceptions aren't in line with others sharing our reality?

I was talking with some friends tonight about a joint adventure of which 40% of us have one perspective and 60% have another. These perspectives greatly affect the direction of our adventure and are not complementary perspectives. I know our general rules of groups say the 60% rule, but how do you manage the disappointment of the 40%? (No I'm not talking about the upcoming election, but the same questions probably apply to our nation for that case - possibly with a less obvious majority)

Theses differing perspectives have been emerging for some time, but were failed to be confronted or shared in an attempt to spare one another's feelings... the result a whole lot of awkwardness and anxiety over confronting the need to embark on different adventures

So, can communication in relationships keep the difference in our perceived realities to a minimum?

"Hearing" from God

I was reading Young's "The Shack" earlier today and a concept he introduces really grabbed me. I'm still reading, so this isn't about my overall opinion on the book, just the concept of how God communicates with us. The main character receives a note in the mailbox that appears to possible be sent to him from God, so the concept of whether or not God does send paper mail comes into the discussion. In the midst of the discussion, Young suggests that in modern religious expressions we've been taught to believe that God only communicates to us through scripture and maybe the occasional thought we get.

I guess I've actually been toying with this concept over the past few weeks, but it was articulates so well in this fictional story. Did God ever tell us that he no longer speaks to us as he did to His children that came long before us? or did some human decide that God no longer communicates in ways of Bible times and thus its become part of our basic beliefs?

Sure I know God has guided me as I've been studying scripture, and there's been the favorite of modern day evangelicals open and closed doors, and there's been the occasional waking from a solid sleep w/ a heavy burden for a friend. But are there messages that I've received that I've brushed off as something else or missed it entirely.

Audible calls from God - Samuel's life story is one of my favorites, so as I think back to God calling him and Eli sending him back to bed. I've never heard my name without explanation in the still of the night, but could some of those times I thought I heard someone call me from a crowd - could it have been someone calling another "Kari" as I've always explained it, or could God have been calling me and I failed to recognize his voice? Or more realistically some combination of the 2...

Dreams are the subject I've been thinking most about lately, does God still speak to us through dreams? I've met a few people who claimed to have had God inspired dreams which became fodder for many chuckles and conversations of others, but were they really out to lunch. Really, let's think back - Joseph's tales of his dreams weren't exactly welcomed with encouragement from his brothers. I'm not questioning the prophetic nature of every single dream, but the ones that stand out as different from your average dream, the ones that I wake up from and think - if I didn't struggle with the mysterious nature of "deja vu", I'd think that might have been the precursor to a "deja vu" experience yet to come. In modern times it seems that concepts such as "deja vu" which could be either good or evil has been wrapped up in the "Crystal Ball toting, fortune telling, palm reading, etc." evil spirituality. No, I'm not suggesting that all of the aforementioned aren't evil, but why is it that we've decided that we need to run far away from all things that we can't explain because we've seen some impostors and some truly evil beings take advantage of other people through in those cases evil means.

Back to the subject of dreams and well to add to it prophecy. If God used prophets and dreams of every day people to speak to His people long ago, why wouldn't he do it today as well? Yes, I agree that because we have the Holy Spirit (a mysterious and spiritual concept as well) in order to be continually connected to God, so we no longer need the "holy of holies" concept of communicating with God and that's clearly told in the Easter story, but what I haven't found is where God said, "no I will no longer meet you as a blinding light in the midst of journey, or give you a glimpse of times to come in dream, or call your name out loud, etc."?