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June 16, 2008 By: Patrick Category: ,
I have a pet peeve. Well, likely a good many but one which comes to mind right now because it’s related to my various fields of interest.
I’ve attended a fair number of churches in my time, either for a visit or, significantly more rarely, a longer stay. I’ve now made churches my profession of sorts, though not being paid by a church does mitigate that reality I suppose. I’ve also helped out in other creative projects and participated in arenas in which the mediocre thrived (my high school) and the amazing become more so (my college). I’ve seen a curious thing over the years which surprises me. The great things that happen are often because the people involved are doing something for themselves, that is they are making something, or building something, or leading something which they enjoy for its own sake. They would go to it even if they didn’t lead.
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June 09, 2008 By: Cathi-Lyn Dyck, Managing Editor Category: , , , , ,
I dunno. Every so often, a day–or series of days–comes along that just drags at a person. It’s been that way lately. My summer schedule is full to bursting. I’ve had to opt out of some paying work, and I feel like the family-and-community to-do lineup is a thousand miles long.
I suspect I’m turning into my mother. As I write this, my first inclination is to make a list. Take it all down to size, prioritize, tackle. I’m not the list person. She is. Problem is, listing it sometimes just clarifies the problems, not the solutions.
A long list of disappointments lately–a list that’s very clear in my mind–doesn’t help. I got a solid dose of the flaws in some of my family relationships. There’s the ongoing internal conflict in our church. We also just received a “no” from a potential pastor who had seemed to be all “yes” up till now. It was a financially costly “no” to the church, and we’re going to have to answer some angry questions. At times like this, the responsibilities of our young family, jobs, and even little things like home maintenance just get to be a weight, rather than the privilege they should be to the two of us.
So, what do you do with a “downer” day? Make a list? Stay in bed? Go into denial and eat chocolate? Tackle the future with both hands and feet?
I’m sure there’s an interesting range out there. Gimme your thoughts.
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May 26, 2008 By: Cathi-Lyn Dyck, Managing Editor Category: , , , , , , , ,
Marty wrote something profound last weekend. (Yeah, dude, you now have me on record saying that. :~)
He wrote, “If a person is forfeiting their humanity to appease someone else, then there is no way a person can actually enjoy that. It has to break down the body and mind at some point.â€
Forfeiting your humanity to appease someone. Those are exactly the right words to describe it. And I believe that in those situations, we are ultimately forfeiting our humanity to the devil. Much as that sounds like wacko-talk, I came to believe in the reality of evil forces years before I believed in a God.
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May 22, 2008 By: Trina Category: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
I spent one decade submerged into a subculture which I didn’t even realize existed at the time. As I found myself escaping the subculture, I realized I was living life only in the “Christian subculture“. Now, after spending a decade on the outside of the “Christian subculture“, I don’t consider myself bitter about the “Christian subculture” but alarmed about it!
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May 20, 2008 By: Patrick Category: , , ,
CHICAGO, May 15.—The Rev. W.W. Reynolds, pastor of the Brightwood Methodist Church of Indianapolis, recently wrote to Capt. Luke Colleran, Chief of the Chicago Detective Department, inquiring if the use of the bicycle among women had affected their morality in any perceptible manner. Although not offering statistics, Capt. Colleran’s reply deals with the subject in a positive manner.
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