The Space to Engage
Today, I read a quote that said, "My blog is my pulpit. I rarely will preach in a church. It is on the blog where theological issues are discussed" (Rachelle Mee-Chapman, Thursday PM, Seattle).
It's an amazing world that we live in where we now have a forum for on-going dialog outside the walls of a church. My goal for this blog is not to have a place to preach about what I believe; rather my goal is to create a space where, together, we can have honest conversations as we each try to live life as an authentic Christ-follower. I hope this is a safe place for those in my faith community, Potter's Wheel, to raise challenging questions, share new learnings and push all of us outside our box. And I hope this is a place to meet new friends who are on the same journey.
Will you join the conversation?
posted by Tiffany @ 4/06/2006
12 Comments
12 Comments:
All I have to say is that I hope you wear a helmet! For years in Cambo I never did. Had a Honda 250 Dirt Bike. A crane that was wrecking a house hit a Mango tree an catapulted a mango way up in the air. The Mango came down and just missed my head, and almost ripped off my shoulder. If that Mango had been an inch to the left....Now I always wear a helmet!
I think we need to re-define some terms for the sake of other community members who are navigating their faith. Some definitions that need a better description are words like "Christian", "Salvation", and "Repentance"
How do you define them?
Tiff,
Woohooo! You've finally done it and joined the blogging world. Welcome. I will be checking back here frequently.
I was thinking in response to anonymous and redefinition. Granted those terms may have a few negative conotations, especially Christianity and repentance. But Salvation? Being saved? That is the most wonderful thing in the world. Maybe use something like freedom... i don't know. I think if we are willing to recognize the negative connotations and are deliberate in doing that, we still have the freedom to use those words.
Going around saying "Repent!!" is not going to work anyway. We don't have any authority in our postmodern world to do that. We have to establish trust before we can talk morality.
I look forward to dialoguing,
Nate
Tiffany
Love that you are blogging. Have you ever read the book 'Churchless faith'? I am going to order it..it would make a great book club book.
Can't wait to see you again.
In response to my anonymous friend,
I agree that we need to redefine some of those terms... however, I don't think I'm able to do that in one small post. I'm hoping that will be the result of many many dialogs here together. Rich Mouw, president of Fuller Seminary said, "We all need to do good theology, remembering though, that good theology doesn't always give us all the answers, but it does help us see the shape of things more clearly." I hope we can see more clearly together.
Having said that, let's tackle one of those terms... I must share with you the best definition I have heard for repentance, but to do that, we must first define "sin." The way I understand it, sin is basically taking charge of your self and letting God go. It’s basically saying, “I’ll do it my way.” Sin is taking things in my own hands.
To confess sins (or repent) is to give up. When I confess my sins, I own up to where I stand before God, and I ask Him to renew the relationship of trust and love between us. Confession is surrender. It's basically saying,
“Lord, I’m sorry I didn’t leave that to you... that I thought so little of You that I thought that I had to do that to manage my life.” Dallas Willard says, "Repentance means that you’ve thought about what you’ve been thinking or doing and you see a better way." That's my take on repentance, and to me it's a life-saving, grace-receiving way of life.
Let me ask you, anonymous friend, is that how you see repentance? I'd love to hear your definition.
Oh, and Nate, it's great to hear from you (Brittany, too)! I love your perspective and I look forward to learning from you...
welcome to a whole new world!
by the way - we are describing our new faith community on sunday nights as a Live Interactive Web Log in The Living Room.
Hope to see Potters Wheel and the Living Room engage as a network of cohorts along with some others in the area one day.
Thanks-for your responses to the definitions - I agree that there is not enough space to redefine words with such weight on a blog sight - however, I am certain that even the start of the questioning is where God longs to live with us!
Here's my personal take:
Salvation - a loaded word and at the heart of it - it is freedom, but for many salvation is misunderstood - so instead of asking if someone is saved or even if they want to be, hopefully we begin to ask "Who is Jesus to you" - everyone's answer will be different and he may be nothing to some, but at least it's the right question.
Repentence is the action from "confession" - which is, as we know, more than the apology - if we stop there, it is not truly repentence it is only confession (getting it off your chest) - a new perspective and now a new responsibility to live out the new perspective.
PEACE
I really like the definition of sin. It is not only the "sins" that are clearly defined, such as the ten commandments. But sin also includes, the things that are all about me leaving God out of my decisions. That affects our whole lives.
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On Children
Your children are not your children
They are the sons and daughters of
Life's longing for itself.
They come from you but not from you.
You may give them your love but
not your thoughts
For they have thoughts of their own
You may house their bodies but not
their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house
of tomorrow, which you cannot
visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like
you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
KAHLIL GIBRAN
bhb....how true these words are.
Is it possible to truly live this way with our kids at any and all ages?
That is beautiful...thanks for sharing it. I don't know if it's humanly possible, but it sure is inspiring!
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