Question 5

How has your faith changed because of livingroom?

Question 4

How have you been discouraged by livingroom?

Question 3

What do you want out of livingroom?

Questions 2

What questions do you have about livingroom?

Question 1

Does anyone want to start another livingroom group?

Formation meeting 10/10/08

Next 8 weeks:

11/16/08

location: Weidners
food: reply to email if interested in bringing something
topic: Role of the pastor in today's society, by John Song
time: 4:15 arrive,
4:45 inward outward and topic/theme,
5:45 prayer, meal and continued conversation

11/23/08

location: Weidners
food: reply to email if interested in bringing something
topic: Creating a plan for growth
sub-topic: if everyone came there are more than 40 people.

Questions to think about that will be on the blog to discuss:

1. How do we facilitate intimacy in such a large group?
2. How do we define our values and reason for doing livingroom to new people who are looking for an answer?

Options put on the "table" for discussion.
1. Do we multiply/split?
2. Do we offer options during the night

time: 4:15 arrive,
4:45 inward outward,
5:45 prayer, meal and continued conversation

11/30/08

location: Resonate, Calvary Souderton, prayer and worship
time: 6:00pm
option 2: If someone would like to host an evening at their location or meet somewhere, or serve somewhere in the community please initiate through the blog or during a Sunday night.

12/7/08

location: Sefings
time: 4:15 arrive,
4:45 inward outward and topic/theme,
5:45 prayer, meal and continued conversation
topic/theme: worship with pictures and song, facilitated by Mike, Scott and Aaron
Children: We will contribute for a babysitter that night so that people can join this time if they want that normally are with children.

12/14/08

location: Sefings
time: 4:15 arrive,
4:45 inward outward and topic/theme,
5:45 prayer, meal and continued conversation
topic/theme: What does Christmas mean to you, facilitated by Merrill

12/21/08

location: Sefings
time: 4:15 arrive,
4:45 inward outward and topic/theme,
5:45 prayer, meal and continued conversation
topic/theme: Party, carol sing, led by Steve High and others

12/28/08

location: open is someone wants to host
time: 4:15 arrive,
4:45 inward outward and topic/theme,
5:45 prayer, meal and continued conversation

A new chapter for Livingroom community
1/4/08

We will start meeting in whatever way is decided after 11/23/08.

Spring Schedule for Living Room Conversations

March 30: John Song on Romans

APRIL GATHERINGS WILL BE HELD AT BEN & KRISTIE SEFING'S NEW PLACE:
April 6: Movie (For the Bible Tells Me So) & Discussion
April 13: Steve & Trish share their story
April 20: Eucharist
April 27: Brad shares his story

MAY GATHERINGS WILL BE HELD AT MIKE & RACHEL ALLEBACH'S
May 4: Jared Contextual Scripture Study
May 11: Merrill Leads Open Share
May 18: Formation Meeting
May 25: Memorial Day Party

The Deer Cry from St. Patrick's Breastplate

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven.
Light of sun
Radiance of moon
Splendour of fire
Speed of lightning
Swiftness of wind
Depth of the sea
Stability of earth
Firmness of rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me.
God's eye to look before me
God's wisdom to guide me
God's way to lie before me
God's shield to protect me

From all who shall wish me ill
Afar and anear
Alone and in a multitude.

Against every cruel
Merciless power
That may oppose my body and soul

Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ in me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left.

Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise, Christ to shield me
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me

I arise today.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The Deer Cry
St Patrick's: 372–466 Breastplate
Anonymous 8th Century
Translated from Old Irish

Blessings and peace this St. Patrick's Day

The heart has eyes that the brain knows nothing of

"The heart has eyes that the brain knows nothing of. "
~ Charles H. Parkhurst

My fortune from my Chinese cookie read, "You are busy, but you are happy." I wonder about this concept. Some activity, yes, but at present I have so much on my plate between work, home, three ministries, family and friends that everything seems to be melding into one continuous race. Race for what? Security? Meaning? Fulfillment? These are all pseudo-sources for these goals.
This is the Lenten season...Breathe...I am dust and to dust I shall return...Quiet your mind...silence...Be still and know that I am God...Be still and know that I AM...Be still and know...Be still...BE...
You are the reason I live, Lord; You chose me, created me, adopted me, redeemed me. Each breath is a gift...Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner...
My mind recalls the book I'm currently reading: Barbara Brown Taylor's Leaving Church. Her deepest desire is to immerse herself in God. I echo this heart prayer and long to be passionately engaged with God — to fall in love with Him and His Word. Fresh...vital...intuitive...kindred spirits...
In reality, I'm divided, not single-minded. I struggle as Paul did with knowing what is right to do and yet not doing it. Materialism, activity, career, living in this culture has a magnetic pull that is impossible to resist apart from Christ...
• Wisdom • Insight • Knowledge • Balance • Self-discipline.
I am weak, Lord. Please increase my strength so that I may begin to take steps, baby steps, to do what I know is right.
...Falling in love with You, having You as my First Love encompasses every area and aspect of my being. May I start now? Your grace, mercy and compassion NEVER END...

Bringing life into this blog...

I don't know if anyone looks at this blog any longer, but I thought I would make an attempt to bring it back to life.
I wanted to comment about something that stuck out to me this past Sunday at LR. When Kristie and Ben were speaking, something that Kristie said a few times struck home with me. She reconciled with the people from her past who had done some bizarre things "in the name of Christ". She said that she understood that they were just doing what they felt was right.
Something about this idea of accepting people's shortcomings as okay and letting go of hurts made me think. I can't count how many times I completely write off Christian brothers and sisters b/c I think they are stupid. It's really pathetic how I can choose to be friends with some Christians and ignore others b/c of my perceptions.
So thanks Kristie for reminding me about these principles of letting go and loving others without regard for minor things.

You Call Us Friends...

You have valued us so much that you call us friends;
You have shared your eternal inheritance with us!
What an undeserved privilege that is.

We fall at your feet in overwhelming gratitude.
You are our Hope, our Life, our Reason for Living.
May all that we do and say each day convey
this message of gratitude and love to those around us.

May You be glorified...may You be magnified.
May the pressures, stresses, and concerns of our lives
flow from us like rushing water to be mingled
with your Living Water that refreshes, nourishes, and strengthens...

Now and forever, Amen.

Morning Prayer

Hear, O my soul, child of the Living God:
The LORD my God, the LORD is One.
I shall have no other gods before Him.
I shall love the LORD my God with all of my heart,
with all of my soul, with all of my strength,
and with all of my mind.

I shall love my neighbor as myself...

Holy, holy, holy, LORD of Heaven and Earth,
I offer Your Word back to You this day,
asking that I would fulfill Your commands
for me to cherish You as my First Love.
May I shine Your light to those around me today
and may Your Light penetrate to all
of the hearts, souls, and minds of those
You touch through me.

Grace...Peace...Contentment...

Precious Savior, I thank You for choosing me
before the foundation of the world,
for surrounding me with the new covenant of grace,
for holding my hand and walking beside me,
for carrying me, for sacrificing Your life for me
that I might journey toward You in security forever.
May I continually engage in relationship with you;
may I follow Your lead, journeying where you want me to go,
learning what You want me to learn,
loving the way You want me to love,
serving the way you want me to serve,
all through Your grace, wisdom and strength
that Your power might active through me.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Stream of Consciousness Toward God

stream of consciousness toward God pray with your eyes open great value and worth deeply loved completely forgiven grace totally acceptable and complete in Christ am I going in the direction you want me to go in my life Lord am I on the right journey please lead me and guide me I don't want to run down a rabbit trail or turn in a wrong direction Jonah rebel against You or hinder the awesome power of the Holy Spirit in my life you see Christ's pure righteousness when You look at me and You are pleased You are gentle and yet all powerful I want You to win God I can never out think or out race you Lord even at the breakneck pace of life in this decade You still have the same values same teaching same love and compassion Alpha and Omega I AM King of Kings and Lord of Lords please let me listen let me see let me hear and perceive Your wisdom Your will for me in the midst of the whirlwind yet it's not really about me at all it's about You I must decrease and You must increase metamorphosis renewal gift blessing grace mercy peace praise amen alleluia

Frantic

The pace of our culture seems to have gone from accelerated to frantic lately.

Do you sense it?

So many of us in the Living Room Community are being pressed beyond reason by our life and work circumstances these days. I am deeply concerned about each of you, as well as myself, and what this pace is doing to us holistically. Do we even have time to think fast, let alone consider and think through issues and decisions before we make them or are we just living in the split second timing of NOW? Our health, our relationships, our emotional balance, our spirituality, our purpose is all suffering as a result of FRANTIC.

Out of my deep concern for all of us, I'd like to engage in a blogging conversation with you about how this race inside the hamster wheel is affecting you and me and what we can do to preserve the body, mind, and spirit that God treasures in each of us.

It is very late and I must leave you with this thought for tonight...

Christ, our Savior, Advocate and Lord never rushed through His life, yet He moved with purpose and was totally focused on what was most important (glorifying and obeying God)....

How can we follow His example given the realities of our lives?

Exploding the Box

Almighty God is the essence of all and central to all...
The universe exists because of Him and revolves around Him (not us)....
Therefore...
Bow to Him — don't try to mold Him or box Him into what you want Him to be for your own comfort and safety...
He will e x p l o d e out of the that box and rock your world with awesome delight and power!
Consider His honor and glory first; consider relationship with Him as supreme in your decision-making processes.
He is r e a l — let Him l i ve in your life!

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
"Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?"
"Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?"
For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.
~ Romans 11: 33–36 [NIV]

Sally Morgenthaler on Community

Continuing with snippets of Friday night's conversation with Sally Morgenthaler, (see blog entry for yesterday), the dialogue began to take shape from discussing the general trends of the American church culture to focusing down on the metamorphosis of community and considering how we can define "community" within the trends of this high-tech, global, blended world.

Here are a few bytes from the conversation:

• genuine community involves getting to know people where they are at and what their actual needs are, rather than anticipating ahead...
• people won't come into churches anymore — the people who are the "Church" need to leave their buildings and go out into the communities to engage with ministry and mission...
• trend: the need for ritualization (weddings, funerals, ceremony, tradition) is increasing
• there are sessions and worship experiences for some, at times, where there are no words: silence, contemplation, sensory engagement...

There is a complexity in what constitutes "community" now...

• local neighborhoods where we live...
• the office where we spend most of our time...
• the internet where we connect with the entire world, all strangers, yet sharing something in common...
• those who we engage with on cell phones constantly throughout the week...

What makes connection "real"?

• with the web, information is available to everyone — get in the game!
  some have established internet cafes
  some have established coffee houses in local communities
  there can be problems; it can be risky and even dangerous, but we are living with different demographics now...
• ministry in community may look like "Extreme Makeover" or Habitat for Humanity
• ministry involves time: time together in conversation and engagement: face-to-face, on the web and on the cell phone
• ministry involves relationship building and spending time together: be present and engage with people

Many of the points that Sally was making and that were being shared by others gathered were not only making real sense in the midst of our present wired culture, but were reinforcing that what we are engaging in here at Living Room is touching the pulse of our "community."

• we are commited to the core truths of Christ's teaching
• we love Jesus, even if we don't love what is happening in the American church culture
• we engage in community and conversations with each other as we gather on Sunday evenings and then...
• we extend that engagement through our network of cell phone conversations throughout the week...
• we connect with the global community through our charitable ministry and business efforts...
• we interlink with each other, with our extended Living Room family, and the world through this blog and those networked to our own...
• we share relationship with the expanded Body of Christ through sister communities like Resonate and The Well...
• we are committed to ministry to each other and to the needs of the world...
• we are open and visionary as to what our gifts, talents, time and resources can do to minister to the needs of the world through us...
• we are real with each other, knowing that we will be loved and accepted just as we are through the grace and forgiveness of Christ

May I encourage you to continue to engage in the passion of Christ's calling to share His truth, care for the needs of the world around us both near and far, as well as continue to be real people encouraging other real people on our life journeys.

This Living Room community has brought a sense of love, acceptance and validation to my life that I have never experienced in a "church" culture ever before. Christ is in us and among us...may we continue to grow in grace, wisdom and love for our community and the world as the weeks and months go by.

I love you all...you are my Family

A Conversation with Sally Morgenthaler

Last night was a very special evening at Biblical Seminary. Sally Morgenthaler, emergent leader, author and teacher was engaging in conversation with the gathered group at MacRae's Place (former chapel).

The conversation was eclectic and engaging, thought-provoking and challenging.

Here are some snippets of Sally's thoughts on the trends in today's American church culture:

• More Americans, all across the country, are leaving churches — many more that are joining them...


• Church capital campaigns are failing...


• Women are leaving churches in droves and taking the older women with them...


• Believers need to shift their presence from within the church building to out into the surrounding communities...


• Many large churches are deconstructing from the "big box" structure into smaller spaces where gatherings can be more intimate and conducive to conversation...


• There's been a radical shift in the full-time ministry scenario: pastors and ministry leaders should be bi-vocational, so that they can engage in "tent-making" for their basic income while ministering with their available time...


• Our seminaries need to prepare students for the realities and potentials of this radically changing shift in the Christian church culture...


• How do we help to accomplish this for our newly-trained ministry teams?
  Leverage partnerships with other faith-based groups and non-profit organizations.
  This may create challenges in some areas, but will network engagement within the community in others...


• One key factor in today's emergent church is "sustainability": stewardship of our resources...

From there, the conversation began to become more focused on the concept of what "community" looks like in the Body of Christ today.

More on that and the impact Living Room has within this realm tomorrow...

Friday Evening's Event: Coffee and Conversation with Sally Morgenthaler

Who is Sally Morgenthaler?

• Emergent Leader • Author • Teacher • Woman • Mother
She's been hurt — devastatingly hurt...yet she passionately loves God...
She's real, engaging, thought-provoking, innovative and reachable...
She's been teaching a special course at Biblical Seminary this week and engaged in conversation with a gathered group on Friday night in MacRae's Place (former Biblical chapel). Scott, Andrea and I were there, among others to experience an amazing dialogue with her.

More on that tomorrow....

Check out these links to get to know more about Sally Morgenthaler...

Leadership Blog Interview with Sally in 2005:
http://leadershipblog.blogspot.com/2005/09/leadership-blog-interview-sally.html

Christianity Today Leadership Journal Article: 1 January 2006
"Behind Closed Doors: Sally Morgenthaler's Story"
http://www.ctlibrary.com/36726

Christianity Today Leadership Journal Article: 1 January 2006
A Lesson Learned from Sally Morgenthaler's Story"
"Does Ministry Fuel Addictive Behavior?"
http://ctlibrary.com/36725

Sally, the author...

Worship Evangelism

Future Church: Ministry in a Post-seeker Age

Tomorrow I will share some of what went on during our conversation at MacRae's Place tonight...

Suffering and Faith

The following are some really helpful points from Tim Stafford's writings on suffering that Darryl will be discussing at a local church this morning:

• What is it about suffering that forces us to focus on central issues of life?

• Suffering is one of the loneliest experiences; it is also one of the most purifying.

• How is it that suffering is one of the loneliest experiences and yet unites us
with other people?

Here’s Stafford's quote:

"Suffering purifies this human material, cutting away layer after soft layer until only firmer stuff remains. All the dross goes: the ambitions, love of money, vanity about appearance, everything that sets us above others in our own mind. Suffering purges everything that is not central to life."

Also, suffering teaches us the absolute limit to our abilities and our total dependence upon Christ. It unites us with others going through similar circumstances. That might be the key — not an “answer” to suffering, but humility and grace in the midst of it.

Suffering in whatever form it takes, personal, communal, national, is a great mystery. The Bible does not provide a running commentary on why “this happened here” or “this occurred there.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Suffering ultimately becomes a test of faith. Do we believe that God is the essence of holiness, goodness and compassion even when we cannot see it clearly through our pain?

Lord, I believe...please help my unbelief!!!

Paul Talks About Suffering...

The Apostle Paul writes in II Corinthians 4: 6-18 about suffering and serving Christ:

For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.

Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.

But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.”We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory.

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

~ II Corinthians 4: 6-18 [New Living Translation]


More to come on suffering and faith...