Balancing Kiwis

“What should the local church look like?” - Great question, and I
don’t know. I wonder a lot these days that the bible isnt there to prove us
right - It’s probably more to prove that God is right and the rest of us are
just guessing. . . .

A couple of things I’ve been pondering about the church - I’m not certain of
much, but this (I think) I know:

1) She is beautiful. 
2) He is building her.  How much time do we spend trying to “build”?
3) Our part . . . “plant and water”

“We each carried out our servant assignment. I planted the seed, Apollos
watered the plants, but God made you grow. It’s not the one who plants or
the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes
things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at minimum wages.
What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be
God’s field in which we are working.” - Paul, 1 Cor 3:5

4) How?: Could it be simpler than we ever dreamed?
“Don’t begin by traveling to some far-off place to convert unbelievers. And
don’t try to be dramatic by tackling some public enemy. Go to the lost,
confused people right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom
is here. Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables.
Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously.
Don’t think you have to put on a fund-raising campaign before you start.
You don’t need a lot of equipment. You are the equipment, and all you need
to keep that going is three meals a day. Travel light. This is a large work
I’ve called you into, but don’t be overwhelmed by it. It’s best to start
small. Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The
smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won’t
lose out on a thing.”

- Jesus, Matthew 10

“Many poets are not poets for the same reason that many religious men are not saints: they never succeed in being themselves. They never get round to being the particular poet or particular monk that they are intended to be by God.”

“In order to become myself I must cease to be what I always thought I wanted to be.”

Just brilliant . . .

“It has been said that a pilgrimage is to pray with your feet . . .

I’d say we’re just about to begin, but I have a suspicion we’ve always been walking - Perhaps it’s that we’re only just now beginning to see . . .”

- From “Harambe’s Journey”, Ch 1.

On the morning of April 12th a team from our community have put together a car show -   great cars, great food and great conversation - come and join if you’re in the central fl area.  Contact me for details here.

cheers, mark

“So Others May Live”

fight4humanity.com 

See You There. 

fight4humanity.com.

I thought I heard the music today.

I saw August Rush at the theater this week. This one is a movie that will probably polarize everyone who sees it. To many it will be a cheesy, feel-good schmaltz-fest with little or no bearing on real-world living. As a story, many will dismiss it (and as I look at critical feedback many have!!) as boring and pointless.

So why do I love it so much?

***SPOILER ALERT - No major plot points given away, but read on at your own risk***

It’s the story of a boy who hears music everywhere. In the fields, the wind, the traffic, the thud of a basketball, the rain, the sun. All of it . . . a massive orchestra playing in harmony with a universal music being played for those who can listen.

It begins with our child protagonist waxing lyrical about a music that he hears all around us, but that many become unable to hear. It is a music that wraps around and seeps into the cracks of everyday living, and he tells us that the music beckons us to a greater reality, a deeper living. Some of us (we are told) have instruments that can play this music, if we will only learn to hear it. When we do join the music, something extraordinary happens - people open up. Others hear us play, and want to begin to play along. Haunting melodies and harmonies intertwine as the orchestra that is real life plays. When asked where his music comes from he replies that it is “as if someone is shouting it to me. When I write it down it’s like I’m calling it back to them.”

As a story it doesn’t really impact me . . . It’s too far fetched . . . unless . . .

Unless it does indeed reflect (unintentionally) a greater truth. What if we imagine, or even dare accept, that there might be a greater reality around us - a mystical reality that inhabits our world but often remains hidden except to those with eyes to see? - Then the fable of August Rush could take on a different meaning entirely.

What if there truly is a music that is being played all the time from this greater reality? If so then could it be that in “real life” we could use our gifts and talents to play along and become a part of something bigger, deeper and more mysterious than any of us ever dreamed? What if our role was simply to learn to hear the music again, and then to learn to play in harmony with that? What if when we did, others would catch a glimpse of a Deeper Music and perhaps even align themselves with it and find that life seemed . . . more “right.”?

What if this music really was a call from a Mystic? And that we could call it back? Ridiculous I know . . . I could be wrong. But I’m trying to listen.

And crazy though it seems, I thought I heard the music today.

I don’t know where they came from, but they DO walk among us. They were here . . . Just minutes ago.

It was unplanned - a short phone call: “we are coming.”  Minutes later another call: “we are here”.

They walked silently into the room, all four of them.  A question was asked, but the answer never shared vocally.  We sat for some time - not a word was uttered, and yet there was a complete understanding.  They had what they came for, and the future had been planted.  Now to wait, but for what?

What does the future look like?

 Thanks for the link, Tina . . .

Click here to take the lost quiz for yourself

Your results:
You are John Locke

John Locke 70% Mr. Eko 60% Sayid Jarrah 60% Michael Dawson 56% Boone Carlyle 55% Claire Littleton 52% Dr. Jack Shephard 52% Charlie Pace 52% Walt Lloyd 48% Hugo “Hurley” Reyes 46% Sun Kwon 45% Kate Austen 40% Jin-Soo Kwon 40% Shannon Rutherford 36% James “Sawyer” Ford 35% Ana-Lucia Cortez 32%	You have experienced things out of the ordinary and because of that you have faith. You are also a good strategist and hunter.

This Thursday a gathering from our community will hang out and watch “The Guardian” (See review below) and chat about themes of saving lives, living lives and risking everything.  Join us or contact me for more details.