I sent this out to a few trusted souls for comment and got from tears to you really need an editor for the grammar and presentation. Read on WaynO
As I talk about being missional and understand it is a lifestyle I often wonder what everyone else is thinking about it. If there is truly some change taking place in the lives of those who read what I write and those who hear what I preach and those who study the Bible with me? I wonder if I even get the whole thing at times but it is such a burden I carry that I have no choice but to try and share with others this strange life commitment and way of living.
At times I want to give up on this whole thing and just go back to living a comfortable and less stressed life. Then I get to be a chaplain to someone who is a hospice patient and to minister to their family. I get a chance to reach out to a young person and help with some struggle they are having. There is the life changing event of losing ones freedom by moving into an apartment or skilled nursing facility. Maybe it is a child moving out of the house or one seemingly going the wrong way down the highway of life. There is always a place in someones life I get to move in and be part of that life and hopefully be a positive and supportive presence.
Or maybe I get all that and then read something like this. It is this that most of us are searching for and don’t find for a plethora of reasons. Some reasons we understand and some we never quite get a handle on. Some of us find this and others will struggle through life trying to get here. The article here from the blog “Kingdom Grace” which I read regularly.
Communities of Transformation (October 16, 2008)
I wonder if this is possible.
Our communities are filled with people desperate to unburden themselves in the presence of another, to be known at a level where the only antidote to disdain is grace, to sink beneath death’s dark waters while in the grip of a set of strong hands that promise to raise them up into newness of life.
If we have no one we really trust, no one we can talk through our failures with then we are truly alone. It doesn’t matter what level of commitment we have to a group or organization.
One of the reasons why so many people find their way out of conventional churches is that they are lonely and disconnected in a sea of activity. For a long time they believed that sitting and listening was participating in community. They believed that being in a small group was being supported and loved. They come to sense a huge disconnect.
The heart of ministry is to be Jesus to one another. Too often we overload ourselves with activities that have value but have so captured our attention that they insulate us from each other. We avoid the heart of ministry because it is too hard.
We can’t flee from commitment to each other, we must give grace when we are harmed, and we must love when it is inconvenient. Becoming like Jesus is a sacrifice that most of us are unwilling to make and that is why we lack so much.
(The Heart of Ministry - Leighton Tebay)
Then I went to the blog Grace picked some of this from and found a deeper sense of what church is all about. It is from “Abductive Columns” another blog about why the church is falling apart. Following is an excerpt from it.
One Snapshot in Grace
We must ask why so few are willingly die to themselves in community. Why we so rarely journey from self-dependence through the valley of death to life in the Spirit in the presence of a connecting guide? Where are the spiritual leaders, the elders of God’s people? Where are the spiritual leaders, the shepherds of the flock? Where are the people who can listen well and guide us through our problems to the Father’s heart and regard it as their calling to do so? Whatever became of the idea that all believers are priest?
Our communities are filled with people desperate to unburden themselves in the presence of another, to be known at a level where the only antidote to disdain is grace, to sink beneath death’s dark waters while in the grip of a set of strong hands that promise to raise them up into newness of life.
In recent conversations, I’ve asked a number of Christ-followers if they had someone in their lives whose strength and wisdom encouraged them to make themselves fully known. Every last one of them answered the same way: “I’d give my right arm to have someone like that in my life. There’s so much going on inside me that I’d love to share, not to find answers necessarily but just so someone knew. But I have no one like that.” (FPeatross)
I apologize for the length of this letter but it is something we need to deeply consider and make some life change in regard to. There is a song I think was sung by the Gatlin Brothers that said something about “looking for companionship but it just gets in the way” and often it is this that keeps us from sharing in the lives of others or others sharing in our lives.
As it is in the blogs, a very costly thing this giving up our lives to gain them. Letting someone in so close to our hearts that we can feel their heart beating with ours. Dropping the curtain of protection and reaching out without judgment but in love and concern and holding that other being close enough that we feel the heart beating. It is a two way street and that is what being one in the body of Christ is all about. Being one means we feel each others pain and joy, we dance together as we move through life holding each other up. We don’t get to pick and choose who it is we walk with, it as if God puts together those who need each other even when we would not choose to be close to the other.
This is a move on a personal level that will ultimately take us to a place beyond any we ever imagined and will offer a chance for change in the entire “Body of Christ.” Consider this an invitation to participate, an invitation to take a chance on a new life. If you are a real believer in Jesus Christ you are called to become a “new person” filled with the Holy Spirit, and on a journey into the “Kingdom of God.” I will be here waiting and watching to walk this journey with all of you.
Grace and Peace, Pastor Wayne
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
newsletter for September
From the Pastor,
It is amazing when I think that summer is almost past and fall with all of its colors, fresh crisp air, harvest celebrations, school beginnings and the church resuming its full and vibrant self is right here in front of us. Amazing when I stop and consider all that has gone into the summer and all that is about to go into the programming of fall and winter. The amazement is how everyone begins to move together, regroup, and set on the journey of education and serious learning about God and his son Jesus.
Almost as amazing as the effort that everyone puts into the church is the vast amount of opportunities that present themselves for our enjoyment and our growing in Christ. I have been searching for these chances for all of us to participate in and you will find many of them listed in the rest of this newsletter. As I looked at them it would seem there is something that almost everyone would be interested in and would benefit from attending.
For the lasts several years I have attended “Beyond Survival” hosted by Sheridan Lutheran Church in Lincoln. It is amazing how relevant it is to working in ministry and the new thoughts and transformations that can come to those who attend just in the worship provided.
In the past I have attended “Wee Kirk Conferences” in various locations. You can read about it as well in on the places to go page. Dean Seger has been attending regularly and can describe it far better than words on paper. It is designed for churches just like this one, small and committed.
Other opportunities are out there and I hope as many as can, will go and get energized so you can come back filled up and get the rest of us going. If you would like to attend and there is not enough money for you let me know and I am sure it can be worked out.
Along with the opportunities to get out and learn new things is a chance to think about stewardship. The stewardship team at the Atkinson Presbyterian church has come up with some interesting ideas and challenges for all of you. It is along the lines of a life change or maybe it is recognizing that we have much of this in our life already. I want to encourage you to read what they have and consider how you might make your life more effective in your community.
Lastly I want to speak a bit about being missional. It is often that I find scripture to address something right in the lectionary I use each Sunday. If you would take a moment and read all of Romans chapter 12 it would be great. However if special attention is paid to verses 9 to the end you will find an apt description for missional living.
It is precisely that we enter each others lives to the point we know who weeps and laughs. That we know who in and out of the church needs attention and help. That we are careful about what we say to one another and about one another. It is the need we each have to live in community remembering that being a Christian is individual but that it is not done alone. Remember that God is the one dishing out the punishment and we are simply called to care for one another.
If we put it all together living a life focused on a stewardship lifestyle, participating with other believers for learning and support, caring for “the least of these” we will strengthen the kingdom for Christ. That is the work for this season, “Strengthening the Kingdom for Christ.” Keep in the game and lets make this a winter to remember for all that we do.
In Christ’s grace, WaynO
It is amazing when I think that summer is almost past and fall with all of its colors, fresh crisp air, harvest celebrations, school beginnings and the church resuming its full and vibrant self is right here in front of us. Amazing when I stop and consider all that has gone into the summer and all that is about to go into the programming of fall and winter. The amazement is how everyone begins to move together, regroup, and set on the journey of education and serious learning about God and his son Jesus.
Almost as amazing as the effort that everyone puts into the church is the vast amount of opportunities that present themselves for our enjoyment and our growing in Christ. I have been searching for these chances for all of us to participate in and you will find many of them listed in the rest of this newsletter. As I looked at them it would seem there is something that almost everyone would be interested in and would benefit from attending.
For the lasts several years I have attended “Beyond Survival” hosted by Sheridan Lutheran Church in Lincoln. It is amazing how relevant it is to working in ministry and the new thoughts and transformations that can come to those who attend just in the worship provided.
In the past I have attended “Wee Kirk Conferences” in various locations. You can read about it as well in on the places to go page. Dean Seger has been attending regularly and can describe it far better than words on paper. It is designed for churches just like this one, small and committed.
Other opportunities are out there and I hope as many as can, will go and get energized so you can come back filled up and get the rest of us going. If you would like to attend and there is not enough money for you let me know and I am sure it can be worked out.
Along with the opportunities to get out and learn new things is a chance to think about stewardship. The stewardship team at the Atkinson Presbyterian church has come up with some interesting ideas and challenges for all of you. It is along the lines of a life change or maybe it is recognizing that we have much of this in our life already. I want to encourage you to read what they have and consider how you might make your life more effective in your community.
Lastly I want to speak a bit about being missional. It is often that I find scripture to address something right in the lectionary I use each Sunday. If you would take a moment and read all of Romans chapter 12 it would be great. However if special attention is paid to verses 9 to the end you will find an apt description for missional living.
It is precisely that we enter each others lives to the point we know who weeps and laughs. That we know who in and out of the church needs attention and help. That we are careful about what we say to one another and about one another. It is the need we each have to live in community remembering that being a Christian is individual but that it is not done alone. Remember that God is the one dishing out the punishment and we are simply called to care for one another.
If we put it all together living a life focused on a stewardship lifestyle, participating with other believers for learning and support, caring for “the least of these” we will strengthen the kingdom for Christ. That is the work for this season, “Strengthening the Kingdom for Christ.” Keep in the game and lets make this a winter to remember for all that we do.
In Christ’s grace, WaynO
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Unbelievable
I can't believe that it has been so long since I lasted posted. I seem to get busy and just let this go which is likely a good thing to neglect.
At any rate I have made the decision to call the churches I serve to task on missional. I am not sure that is the best word but it is the one in use at the moment. I am not sure how this is to happen or what it will look like but it is the focus and discovery is the excitement. I pray this works or at least we end up someplace that is closer to a calling of the Body of Christ into action.
Not a lot to post but will have new letter up for newsletter next week.
Grace and Peace WaynO
At any rate I have made the decision to call the churches I serve to task on missional. I am not sure that is the best word but it is the one in use at the moment. I am not sure how this is to happen or what it will look like but it is the focus and discovery is the excitement. I pray this works or at least we end up someplace that is closer to a calling of the Body of Christ into action.
Not a lot to post but will have new letter up for newsletter next week.
Grace and Peace WaynO
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Just thinking
I have been contemplating what the world thinks of us rich americans. We were blessed with the SIFA choir which is a group of young people (ages 7-17) from Uganda who are traveling the US singing and spreading the word about the plight of children there and in all of Africa.
They sing and take up a collection to build a school so they can have a better life and then pass that on to future generations.
As I sat listening to them I bagan to wonder what they think of us. I mean not what they say of how lucky we are and how generous we are. How they want to be like us in many ways. What struck me was, as I sat there in my posh pew, with a full stomach, clothes to wear and a beautiful family in my own home was; it is almost humurous how we sat there watching, enamored with the cute little black kids dancing and singing. How we sat so smuggly thinking how we are such heroes helping them get things better. We were so blessed.
It at first made me chuckle at the arrogance, for lack of a better word, of helping them out. We sat there and gave from our blessings so these little ones might have a better life. I know I keep saying a better life for them and that is what is projected to open our pockets. But then I offered up a prayer for them and the reality of it all overwhelmed me.
These are so like many little people in our society and we who are so rich look down on them and offer help. We look down from our ivory towers, well mine is lap sided and needs paint but it is mine and it is warm iin the winter and cool in the summer. What stuck my heart and nearly caused it to bleed all over the place, what took me to tears was we want to make them like us. We condescendingly look down and offer a pitance of what we could have and pat ourselves on the back and feel real good and say how we are walking like Jesus and and and!!!
I am not sure what this is about but I have been preaching to the congregation that we need to take those people by the hand and walk with them. Not just give a hand out to them but really extend a hand out to them. Like Jesus with his disciples and Peter getting out of the boat and sinking, give them a hand up and help them into the boat and help to calm the storm of life that is battering them.
I don't live in a big city with lots of homeless people but where I live there are many in need of much. I really need to get out and be with them more and along with that need to encourage the people I serve in the church to do the same. They are a caring people and do lots for the community so I need to give them a pat on the back for all they do.
But is it enough???? Is there something we are missing???? How can we begin to tell the story of love and forgiveness that we all claim????
Oh well I suppose the song is right --- Hello little starving Asian child, I would love to help you but right now I must finish this thesis on the devine right of kings!!! (from the 70's and at the moment can't get who)
WaynO
They sing and take up a collection to build a school so they can have a better life and then pass that on to future generations.
As I sat listening to them I bagan to wonder what they think of us. I mean not what they say of how lucky we are and how generous we are. How they want to be like us in many ways. What struck me was, as I sat there in my posh pew, with a full stomach, clothes to wear and a beautiful family in my own home was; it is almost humurous how we sat there watching, enamored with the cute little black kids dancing and singing. How we sat so smuggly thinking how we are such heroes helping them get things better. We were so blessed.
It at first made me chuckle at the arrogance, for lack of a better word, of helping them out. We sat there and gave from our blessings so these little ones might have a better life. I know I keep saying a better life for them and that is what is projected to open our pockets. But then I offered up a prayer for them and the reality of it all overwhelmed me.
These are so like many little people in our society and we who are so rich look down on them and offer help. We look down from our ivory towers, well mine is lap sided and needs paint but it is mine and it is warm iin the winter and cool in the summer. What stuck my heart and nearly caused it to bleed all over the place, what took me to tears was we want to make them like us. We condescendingly look down and offer a pitance of what we could have and pat ourselves on the back and feel real good and say how we are walking like Jesus and and and!!!
I am not sure what this is about but I have been preaching to the congregation that we need to take those people by the hand and walk with them. Not just give a hand out to them but really extend a hand out to them. Like Jesus with his disciples and Peter getting out of the boat and sinking, give them a hand up and help them into the boat and help to calm the storm of life that is battering them.
I don't live in a big city with lots of homeless people but where I live there are many in need of much. I really need to get out and be with them more and along with that need to encourage the people I serve in the church to do the same. They are a caring people and do lots for the community so I need to give them a pat on the back for all they do.
But is it enough???? Is there something we are missing???? How can we begin to tell the story of love and forgiveness that we all claim????
Oh well I suppose the song is right --- Hello little starving Asian child, I would love to help you but right now I must finish this thesis on the devine right of kings!!! (from the 70's and at the moment can't get who)
WaynO
Monday, August 11, 2008
Still Wandering
So here I am, still lost and confused but seeming to find a direction. I remember someone saying that Sunday worship or any worship for that matter needs a bit of chaos to keep it from being boring. Well I am absolutely adept at chaos. I left the stuff off the stage (whatever you call the raised part of the church that seperates the people from the leaders) and got a bit of questioning. Put back the "Table" (I felt lost without it) and that only brought up, "Where is the pulpit?"
I wonder what we really need to have worship? The issue is that the people are only comfortable with what is traditional. This weeks Gospel (Matt. 15.10-28) is great for talking about tradition. Is the question about the womans heritage the real question or is there an underlying lesson or some other info about Jesus we miss?
Oh well that is only a small part of the mess I live in. Have daughter living at home sometimes but others not home and no info as to what is happening. Did have fair and the youngest did well but not as well as previous years. Problem with fair is the projects begin so late. I mean not only late in the year (begin week before due) but late at night. After work and until morning so everyone is on short fuse and projects not quite as good as ought to be. Funny thing is I grew up this way and this is the 3rd child in 4-H. You would think something would begin to sink in!!!
Oh, well on to a new week trying to get sidewalk put in this being the 3rd year of working at it. Have a great week all, remember we are all washed in His grace and filled with his Peace.
WaynO
I wonder what we really need to have worship? The issue is that the people are only comfortable with what is traditional. This weeks Gospel (Matt. 15.10-28) is great for talking about tradition. Is the question about the womans heritage the real question or is there an underlying lesson or some other info about Jesus we miss?
Oh well that is only a small part of the mess I live in. Have daughter living at home sometimes but others not home and no info as to what is happening. Did have fair and the youngest did well but not as well as previous years. Problem with fair is the projects begin so late. I mean not only late in the year (begin week before due) but late at night. After work and until morning so everyone is on short fuse and projects not quite as good as ought to be. Funny thing is I grew up this way and this is the 3rd child in 4-H. You would think something would begin to sink in!!!
Oh, well on to a new week trying to get sidewalk put in this being the 3rd year of working at it. Have a great week all, remember we are all washed in His grace and filled with his Peace.
WaynO
Friday, August 1, 2008
It is begun
I posted my newsletter last post and have since begun a journey with a couple of congregations to open them up to a new way of living life. Preaching and encouraging a change in not only what the people do in their own lives but what they do with the resources the world has entrusted to them as the church gathered.
I will not leave unless asked to, I believe the church is alive and well in many different ways and in many places. If I continue to preach without actively calling the people to a higher level of commitment and action I will only perpetuate the past.
There are those who leave and do nothing, there are those who stay and do nothing but even the ones who are doing nothing need to be ministered to.
Living out ones faith is very personal and happens in a variety of ways. I find many in the traditional church that are living very missional lives that are seemingly seperate from the rest of the body.
In thinking about all this I find myself staddling a great chasm -- on the one side is the missional life of person and church, on the other is the faith and worship of a great number of people that may not resemble missional but is still a life filled with faith and commitment.
Will continue to walk the journey and see where I get.
WaynO
I will not leave unless asked to, I believe the church is alive and well in many different ways and in many places. If I continue to preach without actively calling the people to a higher level of commitment and action I will only perpetuate the past.
There are those who leave and do nothing, there are those who stay and do nothing but even the ones who are doing nothing need to be ministered to.
Living out ones faith is very personal and happens in a variety of ways. I find many in the traditional church that are living very missional lives that are seemingly seperate from the rest of the body.
In thinking about all this I find myself staddling a great chasm -- on the one side is the missional life of person and church, on the other is the faith and worship of a great number of people that may not resemble missional but is still a life filled with faith and commitment.
Will continue to walk the journey and see where I get.
WaynO
Saturday, July 19, 2008
newsletter
So here it is in all its glory. I can not continue to simply preach the scriptures. There needs to be some response from the congregation that shows a real relationship with the Lord. Hope those I quoted are all okay with it and that I gave credit where due. Here is the newsletter for your comments.
So as I sat trying to think what to write to all of you this month it occurred to me that I have been trying for a couple of years to get a new thinking process going in the churches. This new thought would hopefully begin to engage us all in a different kind of life. A life that would be so different that people would wonder what was happening. This is a total change of lifestyle and would change the way we look at the world.
It is hopefully a move back to the church of the first century. A time close to Jesus when the believers lived in community and lived in such a way that they were caring for people around them as they worshipped God through Jesus Christ. This new way of thinking is best described as missional.
The first thing I noticed about missional was my spell checker says it is spelled incorrect. It is spelled correctly and is not a brand new way of being as many would lead you to believe. It is from the past, I have read books from the 60’s and also from the Bible and this is the way of Jesus. It is less about religion and more about faith and belief. It is about the way a person lives their life in relation to those around them. It is difficult to grasp at times so found this description on a web site called “Kingdom Grace” to help explain it.
What Is Missional? June 26, 2008
This article by Darryl Dash describes what Sanctuary, a missional community, looks like. It explains many of the ideas that I was trying to get across in my defining-missional post. I will share a few quotes, but I am sure you will be encouraged and inspired by the entire article.
In not Out
As we talked, we noticed that our language didn’t match up. We talked about Sanctuary as a mission; Greg talked about it as a community. We talked about targeting people; Greg talked about wanting to be with people where they are.
With not For
When we come to a community with a set of services, Greg explained, there’s a power dynamic at work. We serve; they receive. They remain disempowered. When we go into a neighborhood, spend time with them, listen to them, and allow them to serve us, we become servants, and the power imbalance disappears. The challenge is to find who the poorest people are in the neighborhood, and to discover how we can be with them.
Us not Them
Greg talked about lessons he’d learned: about becoming a church of the poor, rather than a church that only served the poor; of learning early on that he had to shut up and do more listening than talking; of getting past the idea that church is only a service on Sunday; of connecting with those who are broken by being vulnerable about our own brokenness.
That will not answer all the questions I am sure but it may spark a little interest in making some changes. Changes in church life and in personal lifestyle that will refresh us spiritually and take us to a new life in Christ. I will close with this reading:
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
Matthew 11:28-30(taken from The Message, by Eugene Peterson)
Pastor WaynO
------ Missional - sharing God’s love out among the people in our world ------
So as I sat trying to think what to write to all of you this month it occurred to me that I have been trying for a couple of years to get a new thinking process going in the churches. This new thought would hopefully begin to engage us all in a different kind of life. A life that would be so different that people would wonder what was happening. This is a total change of lifestyle and would change the way we look at the world.
It is hopefully a move back to the church of the first century. A time close to Jesus when the believers lived in community and lived in such a way that they were caring for people around them as they worshipped God through Jesus Christ. This new way of thinking is best described as missional.
The first thing I noticed about missional was my spell checker says it is spelled incorrect. It is spelled correctly and is not a brand new way of being as many would lead you to believe. It is from the past, I have read books from the 60’s and also from the Bible and this is the way of Jesus. It is less about religion and more about faith and belief. It is about the way a person lives their life in relation to those around them. It is difficult to grasp at times so found this description on a web site called “Kingdom Grace” to help explain it.
What Is Missional? June 26, 2008
This article by Darryl Dash describes what Sanctuary, a missional community, looks like. It explains many of the ideas that I was trying to get across in my defining-missional post. I will share a few quotes, but I am sure you will be encouraged and inspired by the entire article.
In not Out
As we talked, we noticed that our language didn’t match up. We talked about Sanctuary as a mission; Greg talked about it as a community. We talked about targeting people; Greg talked about wanting to be with people where they are.
With not For
When we come to a community with a set of services, Greg explained, there’s a power dynamic at work. We serve; they receive. They remain disempowered. When we go into a neighborhood, spend time with them, listen to them, and allow them to serve us, we become servants, and the power imbalance disappears. The challenge is to find who the poorest people are in the neighborhood, and to discover how we can be with them.
Us not Them
Greg talked about lessons he’d learned: about becoming a church of the poor, rather than a church that only served the poor; of learning early on that he had to shut up and do more listening than talking; of getting past the idea that church is only a service on Sunday; of connecting with those who are broken by being vulnerable about our own brokenness.
That will not answer all the questions I am sure but it may spark a little interest in making some changes. Changes in church life and in personal lifestyle that will refresh us spiritually and take us to a new life in Christ. I will close with this reading:
"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me--watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
Matthew 11:28-30(taken from The Message, by Eugene Peterson)
Pastor WaynO
------ Missional - sharing God’s love out among the people in our world ------
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