Duty Free
February 28, 2009
ConneXions Remix 2/28
Discussion Facilitator: Scott
Remix: Marc
Duty is a term that conveys a sense of moral commitment to someone or something. The moral commitment is the sort that results in action, and it is not a matter of passive feeling or mere recognition. When someone recognizes a duty, that person commits himself/herself to the cause involved without considering the self-interested courses of actions that may have been relevant previously. This is not to suggest that living a life of duty precludes one from the best sort of life, but duty does involve some sacrifice of immediate self-interest.
Cicero is an early philosopher who acknowledged this possibility. He discusses duty in his work “On Duty.” He suggests that duties can come from four different sources: Read more
Deliberate Simplicity
February 25, 2009
Dave Browning (Zondervan, Feb 2009)
Book Review by Author
Seven Ways Less Can Be More
Deliberate Simplicity is counterintuitive. It contends that “Less is more.” It is not immediately obvious how this can be true. More, after all, is more. How can less be more? Read more
Selfishness, Unselfishness, Margin
February 22, 2009
ConneXions Remix 2/21
You’ve heard it before. “In the unlikely event of a loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will drop. Please secure your own mask before assisting others.”
The practical wisdom of this is plain. A comatose mommy cannot help her comatose child with his mask–not even if all the oxygen in the world is dangling within arm’s reach.
And yet, rightly so, we have this self-sacrificing picture of love in our heads and the example of Christ. How does this fit into the real world anyway? Read more
Hope in Hopeless Times
February 16, 2009
Photo by Digital Plus Art &…
Testimony by Becky Colvin, February 14, 2009
A Dream Deferred
What happens to a dream deferred?
does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore–
And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over–
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
I was at Upper Columbia Academy. It was my senior year in high school. And we had a costume party. We were to come dressed as ourselves—ourselves ten years in the future. I hadn’t decided on a major for college. But I knew I liked reading, so I decided to come as a librarian. I pulled my hair up in a bun, stuck my glasses on the end of my nose, put on some of my more frumpy clothing, and did one last thing.
I may not have known what I wanted to do in my career, but I’d always known one thing. I knew I wanted kids. So I took one of my pillows, folded it in half, and stuck it underneath my sweater. I went to the party as a pregnant librarian. I joked that my other 8 children were at home with my husband. Read more
Living from Desire
February 15, 2009
ConneXions Remix: Living from Desire
Facilitator: Marc
Someone once gave John Eldredge a piece of advice:
“Don’t ask what the world needs, ask what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is men and women, who have come alive.”
It changed the course of his life. He went from sitting in a cubical in Washington, D.C. to entering into the healing ministry of Jesus Christ. He is now a best-selling author, speaker, teacher, and counselor. He sets captive hearts free for a living. He loves his life. And the Kingdom is better for it. Read more
Agape Feast of the Lamb
February 14, 2009
After a hard and even discouraging week, what a joy to come to the Friday night Agape Feast of the Lamb. Thanks to the efforts of Heather, Janine, Sharin, Lisa, Laura, Jeff, Scott, Marc…we had a taste of what it means to be the body of Christ…to open the Word, to break bread together and to fellowship. To extend and receive agape love. To look forward to the Feast of the Lamb.
What follows is the message I shared and which has been weight on my heart for our church community…. Read more
Waiting on God
February 8, 2009
Discussion Facilitators: Laura and Angie.
ConneXions Remix: Marc
How do you respond to waiting? Anxiety, Anger, Resignation, Rash Action, Busyness, Exhaustion, Escape. These were some of the words that came up in discussion… Read more
Listening to Stories
February 4, 2009
NPR ran a recent interview with Pulitzer Prize winning author and Child Psychiatrist, Robert Coles.
In it, Coles comments on the spiritual lives of children and their ability to respond to stories–something adults often lose. Except ye become as little children… Read more
Hope in the Age of Anxiety
February 1, 2009
Discussion Facilitator: Scott
ConneXions Remix: Marc
In case you missed ConneXions yesterday, Scott led us into the audacious language of hope. We began with a quote from the book, Hope in the Age of Anxiety:
“True Hope is based on connection, attachment and engagement rather than fantasies perpetuated in solitude.” www.gainhope.com
Scott emphasized the psychosocial and developmental aspects of hope… Read more
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