Outside the Pigeon Holes

"When our eschatology (end-times view) has more to do with the "destruction of the wicked" than the 'restoration of ALL THINGS' then we really should re-think the Jesus we are preaching. The world is waiting for some GOOD NEWS not DOOM & GLOOM!" - Blaise Foret This is my take as well...Not that I don't believe that there will be some kind of 'recompense for the wicked' (what it looks like I do not know - only God truly knows), I just believe that Jesus' focus and the whole purpose of His work in his ministry, on the cross and in His resurrection was restoration and hope, not destruction and punishment. Scripture says destruction is a work of the enemy. As difficult as it can be, I believe that hope and restoration should be first and foremost in my heart and mind as well - even in the face of the immense evil that we face in the world. It is what Jesus modeled up until his last breath. Punishment, wrath and anger are not listed as b...

Don't let the spirit of religion dictate your 'fear of God'...Let your fear - the awe, the reverence for God's hugeness as the Creator - come naturally through a growing understanding of Who He is and how much he loves you. This is in great contrast to the obl igatory fear that religion teaches about a God who throws people into the pit of hell with no mercy or grace.. Religion's goal is control and slavery to rules. God's goal is relationship, restoration and reconciliation.  At least that's what Jesus teaches... :)

http://forum.xcitefun.net/beautiful-picture-of-space-earth-blue-moon-t13275.html I was meditating today on a reality, which is a mind-bender for me. God's identity and feelings are not dependent on my behavior. A reactive God whose emotions are tied to the behavior of man is a God of human construct. This idea led into some really deep thoughts...and some humbling things... God is not codependent. God is complete on his own and does not need my perfection to make him happy or fulfilled. Following the way that God leads is for my benefit and/or the benefit of others/the earth. God is completely secure no matter how badly I screw up. I don't need to worry that my mistakes disappoint Papa so much that he is driven to drink. He is not taken by surprise or shocked by what I do. Those feelings are my own - they are useful in helping me realize where I have gone wrong, but they are not a reflection of God's feelings. They come from the limited perspective I have as a human....

Vineyard Westside has a monthly worship service called "Enter In" which is a simple format of music and prayer time around a particular theme such as healing or grace. The last one was "Rest". It opened with a prayer and then the band went into about an hour of music, familiar tunes as well as some extended free-flowing music interspersed with singing of spontaneous prayers. Being the geek that I am I brought my sketchbook, oil pastels and pencils for any arty inspirations I might have. At the beginning of the song "I love your presence" I had a picture form in my mind. So I drew it, not really knowing why it had come to me. It had sort of a sad feeling...Like looking out the window on a rainy day. When I finished drawing it I sat with it a few minutes more and then put it aside. Worship continued. The band moved into the song "Let it Rain" - one of my favorites. During the song I felt like Papa was asking me if I wanted him to break off some of...

I have done these in the past...I always find it interesting how the gifts change with where I am in life and what my focus and interests are at that time. The top 10 are usually pretty consistent but they move around to different rankings over the years...My last test gave me this as my top five: 1. Faith 2. Wisdom (tied with Exhortation and Evangelism) 3. Mercy 4. Teaching 5. Pastor/Teacher At that point in my life I was soaking up all the newly found awesomeness of being free from alot of toxic junk I had picked up over the years. I was reading a ton and learning about praying for others on the spot, sharing my faith and sharing the freedom I had found... Today I am in a different place. I am allowing myself to ask the questions I have always had, going deeper into owning my own faith which is exactly what I was taught to do and was set free to do - in the previous 'season' of life (sorry, Steve, for the season reference!). I am also coming back around to focusing on my crea...

Three things I was told this week: 1 - I am 'lost' because I don't believe non-Christian religions, homosexuality and adultery (among other things) should be banned in this country (no answer given on how this would be accomplished or what the consequences would be for violating these bans. I was simply told to read the Bible). 2 - All Christians should vote for God's laws only because man's laws are of Satan (never given clarity on what exactly that means). 3 - The reason God created people was to torment the devil (this from a teacher I greatly respect). Did I wake up on a weird planet last Monday or am I having an extended nightmare?

It all started with a nosy neighbor (or someone) who felt the need to report me to the city for 'code violations' on my house. Rather than come talk to me face to face and maybe ask if I might need help repairing a huge two-family house (on a one person income) they simply made an anonymous report to the city. That resulted in this letter ( click on pics to see them larger) : Note that the date they wrote the order was August 20th...Note the requested completion date: Here is what they were asking to be completed in that time frame: Yeah...Right. So, had 'anonymous' asked I would have shown them the thousands of dollars worth of structural work that I am trying to get taken care of on the inside. I would have explained that I am well aware of the work that needs to be done on the outside and it would get done as I was able....Or as soon as I won the lottery and could afford to hire the professionals to do it. But, no...Mr or Mrs. Anonymous didn't have the courage to...

You broke the bonds And you loosed the chains Carried the cross Of my shame Oh my shame You know I believe it But I still haven't found what I'm looking for ... -U2 Jesus is True. That's the one thing I know for sure. Because I've met Him. Beyond that, it's all just commentary (props to Rob Bell). Some random thoughts on life, love and faith from a girl who's just calling it like she sees it and who is done apologizing and hyper-spiritualizing her way through the journey. There are beautiful Christians who aren't Conservative Republicans. My daily struggles and questions and processing does not preclude me from being a good prayer minister. I can be a Charismatic without subscribing carte blanche to Pentecostal traditions. It's OK to enjoy the love I have been given. Everyone is a hypocrite about something. Chances are I am more annoyed at myself than God is. The Bible is not an object to be worshiped. The One whose li...

Found this in my drafts but never published it...This was a turning point in my journey...And I don't regret at all having made this choice. I determined that I'm probably violating the will of God by even being interested in seizing the day and throwing worry to the wind.... Probably this is all a trick of the devil to get me to make a whole lot of bad choices. But if I were to be honest, the last 6 years of my life were the result of one colossally bad choice, but in it, I have found a closer, more authentic, relationship with Father God and company! So, bring on the bad choices! Ok, I don't really want to make bad choices...I just don't want to spend the rest of my existence trying to manage myself so microscopically that I forget to live.

I am coming to a place where I think that maybe God doesn't have one single thing that he wants for me to do...I mean, maybe he does for some. I believe he has plans for us, but I don't know if it's a spelled out destiny with some big job to do. I am coming to believe that maybe He created me with the purpose of letting me be me, making choices and flowing in the gifts He has placed in me. Yes, He wants to see me do wonderful things. And perhaps there's a 'right track' in some form or another that He leads me toward (whether that is a career path or a relationship, or a geographical location)...But the important thing is that I do everything from a place of love...And in that I can accomplish great things or small things, but when done from that place, from the heart of Christ, everything is worth doing. I am starting to believe that maybe the idea that we have been sold in Christian books and teachings is that each of us has to have some BIG THING to do. And ...

http://affirmativethinking.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/freedom1.jpg I am finding that the more I believe Papa's version of who I am, simply trust Papa in His love for me, and the more I simply live, that the junk I used to carry seems to simply fall away. There really is peace that surpasses understanding! Thank you, Jesus!

                                                     (image from: http://farm4.static.flickr.com) The other day I was driving home from work and having a very familiar battle with 'the voices' (the ones of doubt and fear that plague me and rarely let me rest in where I am). They were again nagging me, second guessing me, my life, my choices, etc. Then I got the feeling that I needed to just let the words flow rather than resist and battle each one (as I usually do). So I stopped fighting and just 'stood'. The flow of thoughts washed over me and I began to relax. A vision began to appear in my head. I was standing up, facing a huge dragon. The words were coming from his mouth in the form of the fire that he breathed. I stayed there facing him. I let the fears and ac...

This is something that I have always believed to be a possibility. Despite what my upbringing in evangelical Christian circles has taught me. Despite the idea we all have of perfect justice that punishes the wicked for their heinous deeds. Despite the popular idea that when you die you're SOL if you haven't signed off on your one way ticket to Heaven by accepting Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. Deep down I have always wondered just how far the love of God will go. If I am to believe that God is all knowing and all powerful, and that His will is for no person to perish, and that according to the Bible, in the end, God's will shall prevail, how can I dismiss the possibility that God would reach into the eternal and rescue ALL of His kids? I've never been one to swallow what I am told without question. In fact many know me to press the envelope and question even what Scripture says. I have never been of the camp that takes every word in the Bible as my author...

Watchful, yes...But I refuse to worry...The enemy wants nothing more than for the people of God to be in a state of fear over politics or any other pattern of this world. We are dual citizens RIGHT NOW of Earth (where we have been given reign) and Heaven where we are welcome at all times in the spiritual realm. Papa's storehouses of hope, wisdom, grace and most importantly Agape love are free for the taking to fill up on and pour out. Go get it, brothers and sisters and experience the change in perspective from up there!

I was reading my Bible last night (Message Version) and this was what I stumbled upon: "Jesus said, 'no procrastination. No backward looks. You can't put God's Kingdom off til tomorrow. SEIZE THE DAY '" - Luke 9:62 Woohoo!

This is from a show called KEY LIFE... In regards to taking faith risks - "Go out and do something that will make uptight Christians doubt your salvation." -Steve Brown Do I smell undignity in the air???

Mark Lowry has some good thoughts on the underlying tendency toward "earning" that can still be part of us even after we understand that we can't earn God's love. Are we saying salvation is a free gift but if you keep it, it's up to you? The Gaither Vocal Band sang a song, several years ago, called We Shall Wear A Robe And Crown. It's a nice song. But it had a line in it that said, "When I get to Heaven, I'll tell King Jesus how I made it over." I told Bill I'm not singing that line. When I get to Heaven, I'm not gonna tell King Jesus how I made it over. He's gonna tell me how He brought me over! I can't make it to Heaven if He doesn't bring me. I don't know where Heaven is. The smartest minds on earth sent a toy car to Mars ... How are we gonna find Heaven? He's got to save us; He's got to keep us saved; He's got to take us home ... or we're not going. We say we believe salvation is a free gift, unmer...

I kept hearing about this...Now I have seen it...It is very cool!

This is an OLD post from MySpace...It's from 2006. I was re-reading some old ones and this was such a great example of how God deals with people in such personal ways. It's why He is such a good Father! I respond well to humor. And He knows this...So this was how he dealt with me on pride: May 1, 2006 Last week I was slighted by the Bible study leader at Shiloh. She made a really insensitive comment to me when I shared something that was kind of personal. One morning after that I was laying in bed thinking of skipping the next Bible study. In my mind I started composing an e-mail to the leader explaining why I wouldn't be there. I daydreamed about how I would dish out some biting sarcasm. In the middle of relishing in those verbal one-two jabs, I suddenly had an image of myself...I shrunk down into this little cartoon character, punching away at the air. A huge hand came down and with thumb and forefinger plucked my up by the hood of my sweatshirt. There I was dangling from...

At Vineyard Westside we think baptism weekend is the best day of the year - even above Christmas! We have a big outdoor party with worship and food and baptisms. Usually there's a group of people who sign up for baptism but many feel called to publicly declare their faith right there on the spot. Yesterday we had a lot of folks who have been believers for a long time who either re-committed or were baptized for the first time...Here are some of my favorite pics from the day: Ryan - one of our pastors and his wife, Allison This is my friend who 6 mont hs ago didn't want to live . Today she is a shining example of what the abundant love of Christ can do . D ave pr aying over his daughter just before baptizing her. Dave's wife, Colleen and their older daughter praying with them. If you want a total tear fest, check out all the pics on slideshow! http://picasaweb.google.com/Sketchisfuzzy/Baptisms2008/photo#s5225453654259894578