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Godspacelight
by dbarta
Advent 2018Meditation Monday

Meditation Monday – Are We Hungry Yet?

by Christine Sine
written by Christine Sine

by Christine Sine

Tom and I have just returned from celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving with good friends in Tsawwassen B.C. It was a wonderful weekend of feasting, fellowship and reminiscing.

Gratitude is the Right Place to Start

It was an enriching start to my preparation for the coming season of Advent and Christmas which I love to begin with a week of gratitude and thanksgiving. Saturday night we ate turkey, stuffing and gravy with a rich assortment of vegetables, then finished with a scrumptious dessert. I ate until I thought I would never be able to eat again. We wrote words of gratitude on leaves around the candle then we shared them and reflected on the delight of the abundance God had blessed us with. It was a feast of a different sort that I think will keep me satisfied for much longer than the food. Maybe I need more than a week of gratitude I thought. Maybe a whole month will help.

What I noticed was that the food did not satisfy for long. By Sunday morning I was hungry again and relished the scrambled eggs and muffins for breakfast.

Hunger for The Bread of Heaven

On Sunday we went to church where the pastor began his sermon with the words “Are you hungry?” And believe it or not my answer was yes. My body was ready for another meal. Then we came to communion, where he talked about the bread that comes down from heaven, and the words in John 6:35 I am the bread that gives life. If you come to My table and eat, you will never go hungry. Believe in Me, and you will never go thirsty.

As we drove home to Seattle that afternoon I found myself reflecting on these words. As I start to prepare for Advent and Christmas what am I hungry for? Am I hungry for things that only satisfy for a few hours or days or am I hungry for the bread of life that will satisfy me forever? To be honest it’s probably a bit of both but how do I make the choices to focus predominantly on that which will sustain me through eternity?

As I reflected on this, the Christmas story was replayed in my mind.

I thought of Mary and Joseph whose hunger to serve God must have made them vulnerable to misunderstanding, even possibly contempt from their friends and family. They were willing to put their lives on the line because they believed God had called them to be family to the coming Messiah.

I thought too of the wise men whose hunger for a glimpse of the Messiah had made them drop everything to follow a star, a rather uncertain guide for their hard and probably perilous long journey. They too put their lives on the line – I suspect they had many scary adventures on their journey but their hunger for the bread of life endured.

Then my thoughts went to the priests and religious leaders in Jerusalem. They knew where the Messiah was supposed to be born and they listened to the wise men tell of their quest to find this Messiah and worship him. What puzzles me is why they too did not have the hunger in their hearts to follow the wise men to Bethlehem. Had their hunger for the bread of life been sated by wealth and power? Were they afraid of the consequences if they went against their often harsh Roman rulers? Or had they lost their appetite through disillusionment at the slowness of God’s fulfillment?

What will it take for me to hunger for the bread of heaven revealed in the birth of Jesus Christ… against all odds, in the coming months?

What does my heart hunger for as I prepare for Christmas this year?  Like Mary and Joseph, I must believe in the truth of God’s coming Messiah with all my heart and be willing to put everything else aside to come and worship. That I know means taking time to slow down and listen. Christ has already been revealed to me in so many ways yet I still know he wants to be rebirthed in my life. How will I keep that hunger alive as I move towards Christmas?

What am I willing to risk to see my hunger satisfied? The wise men risked everything on their journey. They wanted to be changed by their encounter with the Messiah and they did not give up until they knelt before the Christ child and worshipped him. As I look ahead I know it will be easy for me to get distracted or to take my encounter with Jesus for granted. After all I have been a follower of this Christ child for a long time. But there is a hunger in my heart for something new and I pray that hunger will endure.

What about you? What does your heart hunger for as you look towards Christmas? Prayerfully consider this. Write down what you sense God is saying to you. What could you do now to make this possible?

 

 

October 8, 2018 0 comments
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freerangefridayPrayer and inspiration

Freerange Friday: Blessed are those who Mourn

by Lilly Lewin
written by Lilly Lewin

By Lilly Lewin

This season has been a hard one for many of us. There is conflict and pain and misunderstanding. There are floods, and earthquakes and a tsunami. There is famine and poverty here at home, and abroad. There are votes that count, and votes we cannot control. All of this gives me pause and can lead me down the dark road of despair if I’m not careful. A good friend reminded me of the Beatitudes this morning. And she reminded me of the great practice of lament. We all need to be honest with our pain and our grief. We need to express it in order to heal. My good friend Mark Scandrette created a fantastic resource on living out the Beatitudes called The Ninefold Path. Each Beatitude has a prayer posture and a BEAT, or practice, to live out. There is a great resource guide you can do on your own or with a small group too. But today, in the midst of the pain and grief of our world, I want to offer Mark’s Beat #2… on The Way of Lament, Blessed are those who Mourn . Watch it below and do the prayer posture. Allow the God of love and hope to bring you comfort. Allow the peace of Jesus to flow over you! And Light a candle today and remember that the darkness cannot overcome the Light.

October 5, 2018 2 comments
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poetryPrayer

God does not want us burning out

by Hilary Horn
written by Hilary Horn

By John Birch ––

I see a tendency in people these days, not just Christians, to over-complicate their lives, and I include myself in this. To fill each moment of the day with ‘stuff’, get involved in far too many things, feel guilty about having ‘down time’ and chilling out when I could be doing so much more, afraid of wasting time.

The danger in doing this is that each day becomes way too focused on ‘me’ and leads eventually to burn out. I’m so busy doing all this stuff that I’m getting less aware of the world around me, less aware of how my friends and neighbours are, less focussed on family and even my own well-being. I’m in some way trying to convince myself and God that I’m making the best use of each day of my life. And I’m obviously not!

God does not want us burning out.

God wants us to simply ‘be’. God wants us, in our normal working lives to be listening, to be aware of the world around us, to be willing to help where help is needed, be willing to share words of comfort or faith where appropriate, to be strong, to be focusing on being rather than on me, to become that which God wants us to be.

Grant us, Lord,
listening ears,
eyes that see,
willing hands,
humble hearts,
words that speak,
faith that stands.
Help us, Lord
to be everything
that we should be.

October 4, 2018 1 comment
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Uncategorized

How do we fix the drip & support gen next?

by Hilary Horn
written by Hilary Horn

By Tom Sine —

I enjoyed offering a Futures/Creativity Workshop at First Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids last March.  

As I was leaving  the Workshop Pastor Randy Buursma shared “that First CRC Church has always been a “two-fer” congregation.”  I asked “what does that mean?”

Randy said “several years ago when I first came to the church being a ‘two-fer’ meant members attending Sunday morning and Sunday night.”  He added, “Now he said it means members attending twice a month.”

Randy’s experience is not unique.  I am finding over the past decade more and established evangelical and mainline churches have also been experiencing a sharp decline in attendance. How do we fix the drip?

A couple planting a new church here in Seattle started with meeting for worship twice a month to make it easier to get started.

As American Christians become more affluent not only is their attendance declining.  So is their annual giving.

According the State of Church Giving 2015.  Sampling 11 of the major American protestant denominations their members gave 3.02% of their income in 1968 and only 2.17% in 2015. How do we fix the drip?

Even more concerning is these members and their congregations gave even a smaller share to neighbors in need.  In 1968 these churches gave 64% of their giving to benevolence as compared to only 34% in 2015. How do we fix the drip?

Research show members in established evangelical and mainline congregations also have less time to volunteer to reach out to those in need. How do we fix the drip?

How do we fix the drip in established churches?  How long can reduced participation and giving continue in evangelical and mainline churches before the vitality of congregations disappear?

For this blog I suggest that some of us who are older can help fix the drip before it begins by supporting Gen Next as they launch!

Young leaders who are planting new churches and seeking to make a difference are often facing even more daunting challenges than established churches.  

Recently we were fortunate to have JR Woodward, from V3 Church Planting Network, meet with church planters in our home.  He provided some very helpful insights, based on discipleship models in early Methodism, to enable members in these new plants to be better stewards of both their time and money as followers of Jesus.

I am encouraged to find that many older leaders, in our established churches, want to find ways to support the young starting these new church plants.  However, I find that few of them recognize how much more difficult for this generation to launch economically than when many of us got started.

First, millennials are saddled with much higher school debt than older generations.  School debt is averaging almost $40,000 for recent college grads. Some seminary grads I have met recently, that want to plant churches, are carrying over $100,000 in college and seminary debt.

Second, housing costs take a much higher percentage of total income  for millennials than they ever did for Boomers or Xers.

Christine and I are enjoying experimenting with one alternative housing model to help a new generation launch, plant churches and make a little difference in times like these.

Over 20 years ago Christine and I bought an old house built in 1910 here in Seattle that was divided into three separate flats to experiment in intergenerational living we call the Mustard Seed House.

We offer reduced rent.  Every week we share a meal, checkin time and prayer once a week and seek to be mutually supportive.  We also garden together once a month, enjoy the produce and enjoy sharing in hospitality with friends as well.

Our top floor is a three bedroom flat. Trevor and Hilary and their two young sons live there.  They are very invested in planting the new church I mentioned earlier with Converge.

Christine and I live in the middle floor which is a two bedroom apartment with our pup Goldie.  

Dan & Lisa live in our basement unit which is a one bedroom flat.  They are also involved in the church plant with Trevor and Hilary though they are employed elsewhere.  We enjoy learning from them.

Finally, Luke, a recent grad from Seattle School of Theology and Psychology, also lives in a separate unit in the basement that we call our “monk’s cell” that has it’s own bath. Luke is an active member at an ElLCA innovative congregation that also attracts a lot of younger Christians here in Seattle called Church of the Apostles.

One way, those of us who are older followers of Jesus, can both reduce the drip and increase our investment in growing the church is to open our homes to a new generation of changemakers in times like these!

We would be happy to email you a copy of our community contract at Mustard Seed House and answer any of your good questions.

 

We would also be interested in any ideas you have come up with to SUPPORT A NEW GEN OR REDUCE THE DRIP IN CHURCH PARTICIPATION IN TIMES LIKE THESE!

twsine@gmail.com

 

October 3, 2018 0 comments
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Poemspoetry

SMALL PARCELS; a poem

by Hilary Horn
written by Hilary Horn

By Ana Lisa de Jong —

SMALL PARCELS

We carry ourselves in small parcels,
forgetting grace likes to burst at the seams.

We carry ourselves as apologetic examples of humanity,

forgetting all vessels here are made from clay.

We carry ourselves as small voices amongst a strident world

forgetting how sound carries from another sphere.

We carry ourselves as dim candles,
forgetting faint lights shine brightly in the dark.

We carry ourselves as so much less than we are.

Let’s raise our heads and breathe.

Smile at ourselves until our hearts swell.

 

October 2, 2018 0 comments
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Advent 2018

Meditation Monday – Lessons I’ve Learned from Ford vs Kavanaugh

by Christine Sine
written by Christine Sine

by Christine Sine

I It’s Sunday afternoon and I am still struggling to put my Monday Meditation together. It will be October 1st and my plan was to write to start our new focus “Getting Ready For Advent and Christmas with a post on simplicity and sustainability but this week’s events totally derailed that idea…. or did they? They have encouraged me to think about how Jesus’ mother Mary was treated by her society too.

Like many of us I have been riveted to the screen as Dr Ford and Judge Kavanaugh testified before the Senate committee. I tried to listen with an open and impartial mind but as the events unfolded I realized that is impossible. All of us are shaped by pre-existing beliefs and values and that always colors the ways we interpret events. I posted some of my feelings on Facebook and have been both horrified and intrigued by the responses. I found this BBC article (thanks Jennifer Porter) and this one both gave very helpful information to those who are still suffering with traumatic memories.

Here is some of what I am mulling over as this investigation continues.

  1. None of us are impartial in events like this. I wanted to weep as I listened to Dr Ford share respectfully and lucidly to an all male and obviously hostile committee who seemed to have no respect nor belief in what she was saying even before she said it. *h contrast Kavanaugh’s appeal to power and his conspiracy theory comments as well as his anger and lack of control in front of a committee that was obviously already receptive to what he said appalled me…. but that of course is my opinion – as a woman and as won who has been abused both by physical violence and by the use of power.
  2. Women hurt and often wait years to be heard.  Whatever happens, this very painful, public hearing has encouraged many women to “come out” about their own pain. Some shared openly on my Facebook post. Others messaged me privately. Others posted their own or shared on YouTube. Evidently hotline calls spiked 150-200% during the hearings. Most have hidden these assaults for years. Some didn’t want to say anything “because it wasn’t rape”.
  3. Sexual violence of all kinds can have life-long effects and should be taken seriously. It was heartrending to read some of these reports, even more horrifying to hear that many of these victims were disbelieved by their families and friends. Some have not spoken to parents and siblings for years as a result. Some have faced violence as a result, just as Dr Ford and her family have faced. That they have had to leave their home is horrifying.
  4. Many still see women who are raped and assaulted not as victims but as perpetrators. Part of what amazed me was how many called Dr Ford “a party girl and a slut” and therefore she needed to accept the consequences. No such allegations were leveled at Kavanaugh for his heavy drinking and heavy partying. He was not expected to accept the consequences of his out of control behavior.
  5. Most of us are unwilling to really listen with an open mind to those who think differently from us. I have tried to read all the reports that people have referred me to with a willingness to have my mind changed, but so many others do not seem to be willing to do the same. In his sermon this morning, our rector Rich Weyls reminded us that we are called to be path clearers and obstacle removers. Part of what it means to follow Christ is that we clear away the obstacles that prevent others coming closer to Christ. Tragically the response of many Christians to this debate has created obstacles rather than destroying them.

Icon Mary and Jesus

How did Mary’s Society Respond to Her?

As I reflect on these things today I realize that this is probably a very important place to start my preparations for Advent and Christmas. How was Mary treated after she announced her pregnancy?

  1. Was Mary forced to stand in front of the village elders for her “crime”? In Palestine 2,000 years ago adultery could condemn a woman to death by stoning – only the woman mind you. Who I wonder saved her from that fate? Was it her family? Somehow I doubt it as they are never mentioned in the story of Jesus birth. Was it Joseph who stood beside her? If so he must have been an incredible man to go against his society in this way and to believe the unbelievable story that she told about Jesus’ conception.
  2. Was Mary labelled as a slut and a loose woman? I wonder if Mary was spat at and called a slut as she walked down the street in a heavily pregnant state. Did she have to face the advances of men who wanted to take advantage of her as she moved towards birth, and even after? Was she violently attacked by men who thought she should have been stoned? How could she possibly hold this story to her self. Yet, to tell the story of what had really happened would have been considered blasphemy and for that too she could have been put to death. What an incredible woman she must have been.
  3. Who were the safe people Mary could go to and share what had happened? I wonder as I read the gospel account of Jesus birth in Luke 1 if her cousin Elizabeth was her safe person to talk to. She lived about 90 miles from Nazareth where Mary lived. That is quite a journey for a young girl to make. Did she go because her parents rejected her and she knew her cousin would welcome her?
  4. Was Jesus thinking of his mother when confronted with the woman caught in adultery as told in John 7:53–8:11? I have often wondered about this. This story is a poignant story of the forgiving and loving nature of God. It is also the story of a young man who loved his mother deeply and, I suspect bore much of her pain.

The hearing this week has brought a new and very human dimension to the story of Jesus birth for me. It has taken me away from the rather sterile images of a glowing Madonna and child to the realities of what it must have been like for this mother and her infant. Why God came as a vulnerable infant to a vulnerable and possibly despised woman at the outskirts of a powerful and corrupt empire I don’t know. How this divine infant survived until birth and then beyond as his family fled as refugees to Egypt is amazing. Makes me believe in the power of divine intervention. How about you?

 

October 1, 2018 8 comments
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freerangefriday

Freerange Friday: Taking time for Tea

by Lilly Lewin
written by Lilly Lewin

by Lilly Lewin

Last Friday, I was in the midst of the Story Gathering in Nashville. It’s a conference of creativity where story tellers from all walks of life gather to be encouraged and inspired to keep on creating and bringing beauty and our gifts into the world. The theme for this year’s gathering was Wonder… the curators took us on a journey down the rabbit hole into Wonderland, following Alice and the White Rabbit into a place where anything can happen and often does!

Along with the great visuals and speakers, the amazing team at Uncommon Creative Studios curated spaces throughout the venue to help us engage the story and theme in more tangible ways.

One of these ways was the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.

They set up multiple tables for two in a beautiful lobby and invited us to have tea with a stranger. 

As an atmosphere architect myself, I loved the beauty of the table décor and the use of real tea cups and the centerpieces on the table. We had a choice of hot or cold tea in our tea cups and since it was in the upper 90’s I chose a decaf herbal tea rather than my usual choice of hot black tea and milk. I loved that we were given a playing card as our table number and escorted to our seats. The conference had us sign up for this experience in advance, and do a simple survey, so the person we had tea with was not entirely random. But in all honesty, I had forgotten that part and was excited to meet someone new and have a conversation. The Mad Hatter, in costume of course, invited us to put our cell phones away in a beautiful wooden box found on each of the tables. Being an extrovert, I had no trouble starting the conversation with my new friend Philippe from San Diego who is the creative director of a nonprofit called Plant with Purpose. But if we needed help, there were some great questions on cards in a teacup on the table.

This experience got me thinking about my need to do this more! To have tea with friends and maybe even with people who aren’t friends yet! This experience inspired me to consider hosting tea parties at home or going to my local café at Thistle Farms and having tea there. The motto at the café at Thistle Farms is “Every cup has a Story” and they collected tea cups from all over the world to help decorate the café and bring the stories to life.

What if we all started a Tea Practice in order to hear more stories?

What if we started having tea with others as an act of love and as an act of resistance to the US vs THEM culture that is so bitter in our world today?

Who could you invite over for a cup of tea? Who can you invite out for tea?

What would you talk about?

What questions would you ask?

Are you willing to take the time to listen?

Since Every cup has a story…what’s your story?

Brew a cup of tea and consider your story and where you are on your journey with Jesus today.

How can you tell your story to someone this week? How can you listen to a story that is different from your own? Are you willing to be willing?

What things stop you from connecting with people you don’t know or don’t think like you?

Whose story do you need to listen to? Here in America, the culture of conflict and US vs Them needs an alternative strategy and that might just start with something as simple as a cup of tea!

How can you plan to have tea with someone or a few people?

Could you plan a tea party for friends?

You could plan a tea party for people you don’t know well but would like to know better!

You could throw a tea party for your neighbors as an opportunity to hear their stories and get to know them better!

Start with yourself….

Healing with Tea:

Make yourself a cup of tea and reflect on your story.

Reflect on a relationship that is broken.

Make yourself a cup of tea and take the time to consider a person with whom you need to be reconciled.

Pray for this person to be surrounded by God’s love and grace today.

Maybe it’s a group of people that you need to learn to love.

Ask Jesus to help you love them. Ask Jesus to help you love yourself.

As you drink your tea, ask Jesus to fill you with

Hope

Peace

Love

And Forgiveness

Ask Jesus to help you practice Reconciliation.

Breathe in the aroma of the tea and allow Jesus to breathe love into you.

So take time for a cup of Tea today and consider having Tea with someone else. And if you are ever in Nashville, I’d love to take you to tea, (or coffee) and hear your story!

 

September 28, 2018 1 comment
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Christine Sine is the founder and facilitator for Godspace, which grew out of her passion for creative spirituality, gardening and sustainability. Together with her husband, Tom, she is also co-Founder of Mustard Seed Associates but recently retired to make time available for writing and speaking.
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