Outside the Pigeon Holes

I love the discussion and analysis here , in a brilliant post on Brian Mclaren's website , of the varying definitions of churchy words that get thrown around in inter-denominational discussions...I believe wholly that there is sin, that God has wrath and there is judgment, but what that loo ks like to me (through much of my own journey through the Spirit's teaching and God's 'refining fires') may differ greatly from that of my fellows. I believe that God's wrath is much more restorative than it is punitive and that sin has much more to do with 'love-breaking' than law-breaking....I believe Jesus teaches a way of living that is much more challenging to walk than the simplified 'black and white' thinking I was raised with. Yes, there is a time and a place for that, but I have come to understand that it isn't nearly as often as I once thought. #lethispeoplethink . 

Not that I am surprised, but this excerpt from Kurt Willems http://www.redletterchristians.org/evangelical-reject/   confirms it...  "In so far that evangelical means the belief in repentance and conversion into a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ through the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit, the term  ('evangelical') describes me .  What I continue to find, is that such a central conviction is  NOT  enough to appease those who want the term to mean other things.  So, based on my experiences, I want to let you know that:  You Might Be an Evangelical Reject If… You’re uncomfortable calling  other branches of Christianity “apostate.” You worry that those who cling to terms like “ orthodox ” often do so because they believe it to be synonymous with “ Neo-Calvinism .” You have significant questions about controversial theological “hot button” issues of the day and are  some-what comfortable with the subsequent cognitive di...

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...

"Every long lost dream led me to where you are Others who broke my heart, they were like northern stars..." The scars are worth what I have found at the end of the broken road. Our God, He is good.

I happen to enjoy and find value in many things that probably are not very "Christian"....I like heavy metal music (the non- Christian kind), I like going out to bars, having a drink and singing some karaoke. I love working on theatrical productions and horror films and the USS Nightmare Haunted boat. I once had a blast backstage at a drag show. Yes, yes, I know...I probably should have instead been at church praying for the salvation of all those drag queens....BAD Christian! But you know what I found there? I found a group of people who were enjoyable to be around, who laughed and loved on me, welcomed me in, gave great fashion tips and were fellow performers who I could share backstage stories with. I suppose I could look at it in one of two ways - this welcoming in was a ploy of the devil to tear me away from my Christianity and lure me into a lifestyle of sin and degradation...Or I could see that I spent time with a group of folks who differ from me in some foundationa...

photo credit: raphael gerber I was not born to be traditional. There is nothing traditional about me or my life. Never really has been. No matter how hard I have tried to cram myself into that box - thinking that eventually I will get there, I have to come to terms with the fact that God did not make me to be run-of-the-mill. I have a knack for completely obliterating any box that reads "This is what life is supposed to be", "These are what milestones you should have reached by age 40", "These are the kinds of people you should hang with if you're a good Christian girl", etc. etc...Sometimes I look at people who have 'that life' and think I am missing something. It seems like if I had kids or was married or had an income that was heftier that I would then be a real grown up. Then again, maybe that's just a lie straight from the pit of hell...Even though I'm single with no kids, living in a one-bedroom apartment with a menagerie o...

Funny how when you step out of comfort zones you get...well...uncomfortable! Saturday and Sunday were kinda weird...I worried alot. I second guessed a lot...I imagine I'll have lot of that until I get my full grown Eagle's wings... :) Saturday I saw my girlies at Zen and Now...Theresa and Tracy played "Guido" and got the decree signed for me because I didn't really feel like dealing with the ex - we always end up arguing. I hate that...Harmony is one of my top 5 strengths. Disharmony eats away at me. And I'm not in a place where I can yet let go of my irritation. Planning to maybe take care of that tonight at Monday group - a little clean-up mini-sozo - offering up forgiveness in the presence of supportive friends. Hopefully one day we'll have peace with each other. We're both good people at heart. We just aren't good together. I took the puppers to the dog park yesterday afternoon. Sometimes I forget to appreciate them. They are such blessings...I...

It all began Friday night. My friend Jim was playing piano at The Syndicate. I had a couple of friends who were going to go with me to see him. But they were called away by cleaning duty at home. So I was left wondering if I should journey down to the piano bar alone. That's when Paul said: "Carpe Diem...You should go". ...So I did. And had a wonderful evening. Jim played at this huge white Grand Piano which made me think of my beloved Barry Manilow. :) He was taking requests so I asked for "Desperado". I love that song and it brings back a wonderful memory I have of riding in a convertible with Allen across the California desert back in the 90s. Following that someone (not me, I swear!) requested "Mandy" by Barry Manilow. So Jim sang that one and then went right into another Manilow tune "Could it be Magic" - one of my favorites. I listened to the music while writing a letter to Gina - my oldest and dearest friend. I also talked to Jesus for...

A friend of mine said this to me last night and I don't think he realized when he said it that it would become something so meaningful. I am going to take the rest of the summer to walk out this concept of seizing the day. I have lived a life of fear and in recent years God has been ridding me of it. I have stepped into things that I never would have before without analyzing and hyper-spiritualizing it to the point of paralysis. What I have learned quite clearly in recent days is that you can follow all the 'rules' and the 'they says' and still end up flat on your ass. So I have been taking the bull by the horns a lot more than I used to and it has been great! I have scraped my knees a few times and taken a horn in the gut more than once. But it beats sitting on the sidelines worrying. I used to think that living life this way was ungodly...I mean, what if you make a mistake? What if you do something bad? What if...What if...What if..? Well, WHAT IF??? What if God...

Just a pondering in my ponderous journey of faith... A fictional example of man-made doctrine: Church of the Vine ** is the exclusive representation of the Kingdom of God on Earth...No one comes to the Father except through it...Here's how that works: 1. 32.3% of your earnings must be given to the Church of the Vine . Anything less is mortal sin, for God needs your money. 2. Homage must be paid to Papal Majesty Tim**...For he is the exclusive representation of Christ on earth... 3. To request forgiveness of sin, we must make restitution first to Tim...Tim then mediates for us to Mary who mediates to Joseph (a woman could never of course have free access to the Lord. She must speak through her husband) who mediates to Jesus who mediates to God. 4. If we have paid our 32.3% faithfully and have given at least a tenth of our time to serving the church of the vine, then we will be restored to right standing. 5. If we follow this process all the days of our lives we will earn eternal sa...

We watched E van Almighty tonight. It was a very fun movie, created by Tom Shadyac and Steve Oedekerk - the same team responsible for Bruce Almighty. They are both fellow Christ followers and also what writer Bob Briner once termed "roaring lambs"...Roaring lambs are folks who, rather than sit on the sidelines and decry the lacking "values" of the entertainment world, step into it and shine light into the darkness. Roaring Lambs will often tell you that "those people" are just like anyone else and their hostility or rebellion toward the message of Jesus Christ is due in part to poor representation (I state while pointing squarely at the mirror). While many will debate whether or not the film is theologically perfect, I enjoyed Evan Almighty for it's humor. And at the same time I was struck by the deeper (sometimes less comfortable) spiritual truths that it reveals... Here are just a few: 1. God always operates from love. Even though it sometimes do...