Walking fitness

We are both using these walking DVDs to try and stay in shape during the cold wintry days. One of us goes 4 miles every day and the other is working up to that by doing about 1 mile each day so far. It is a very easy way to get the aerobic exercise that one needs. Surprisingly going through the same program every day is not hard. As a matter of fact, one can "zone out" pretty easily and think about other things as the body exercises. We have not seen much results yet as far as weight loss goes or energy increase. But we will be patient and keep on until we do.

The Good and The Bad

Note: this post was written originally back in March of this year. To date we still hold to what it is saying.

Our transitional transparency meetings are beginning to have two effects on us as members of our congregation. On the one hand, we are learning much about our fellow members, and this is good. But on the other hand, we are discovering great discrepancies between our beliefs, a very bad thing. Most of the issues we have been looking at are clearly spoken to in the Holy Scriptures, and yet many within our congregation have another view. They site the working of the Holy Spirit as the testimony that what they want is a ligament course of action. If we only strive to come to consensus on the issues we face, we will surely be less than what God had in mind. If all we strive to do is arrive at something we can all agree with, this in no guarantee that God's will is done. We must use another standard than consensus. Our understanding is that we must use the scriptures in testing whenever there is disagreement. Consensus is not what Christ had in mind when he prayed for unity within the brotherhood. Our unity must be under Christ the Lord as head of the church. Scripture is the source of arriving at understanding what that unity should be...not our own experiences. We must use a standard, and we feel that standard must and should be the Holy scriptures. Our understanding of the workings of the Holy Spirit are as a guide in understanding scriptures and as a source of strength in living out what Christ calls us to do. The working of the Holy Spirit was never meant to be a substitute for an understanding of that call. We are to serve Christ through the church body. God has a plan for how we are to go about doing that. The Holy scriptures clearly define that plan. Some within our congregation want to bypass certain scriptures and follow what they feel the Holy Spirit is calling them to do instead. We firmly disagree with this position. We both believe as our confession of faith decrees: "We acknowledge the Scripture as the authoritative source and standard for preaching and teaching about faith and life, for distinguishing truth from error, for discerning between good and evil, and for guiding prayer and worship. Other claims on our understanding of Christian faith and life, such as tradition, culture, experience, reason, and political powers, need to be tested and corrected by the light of Holy Scripture.

We know from Scripture that the Holy Spirit continues to reveal God's will to us (1 Cor. 14:26-33). The Spirit of God is not silent in the present. However, this new revelation will not contradict what we know of Christ's way in Scripture (John 14:26). So we can open ourselves to revelation and prophecy, provided we test them in the community of faith by the norm provided in Christ through the Scriptures."

What about Sunday school follow up

According to the list of Sunday school classes we have to offer there is no class for persons from 18-20 years old. We suppose since ages are approximate that they would be welcomed into the 20-35 group class, but we are wondering if they would feel comfortable there. Our high school class has only a handful attending, and they are uncommunicative most of the time. Perhaps all those 18-20 years are attending higher learning institutions? But no, we know of at least one that is not. And what is happening when those away at school do make it home on a weekend or during summer? We think we might be on to something here. This could very well be why we are a dying congregation. Could we be loosing our young people because we don't offer support during this time of their lives? We sometimes wonder if we are the only ones concerned about this.

We are now attending our age group Sunday school class. Again it is mostly just discussion, with little actual learning taken place. But it is a good time of fellowship anyway and a good way to keep up with what is going on in others lives.

Ode to old age

Pray for revival

Peony from public garden

One blessing from all our transitional work is the formation of a Spiritual Vitality group meeting. It meets every Wednesday evening. This is a time of meditation, prayer, singing and sharing. It follows very closely to what in times past was called "Prayer Meeting". One of us has been attending for the past two weeks. This has been a real blessing. Time is spent in sharing burdens and in prayer. Singing is also a time of inspiration. Often scripture is read and thoughts are expressed. For not being planned, it is amazing how this all fits together and hearts are blessed. We are of the opinion that what our church needs is a time of revival. Perhaps this meeting might lead to just that.

Our transitional pastor has been sharing sermons on "Spiritual Vitality" also.

We are also of the opinion that our congregation needs the power of the Holy Spirit to bring about revival. Please pray with us.

The Heart of Thornton Creek by Bonnie Leon

It is always a pleasure to discover another good Christian writer. We both truly liked the writing in this first installment of The Queensland Chronicles by Bonnie Leon. It is set in the 1800s and follows the life of Rebecca Williams from her beloved Boston home of wealth and previlege to the arid Australian backcountry. Rebecca is a fiercely independent woman dealing with the constraints of societal expectations. That independence causes many heartaches. But, in the end, Rebecca learns to have faith and love. These lead her to forgiveness for others.

Surprise Ending

Surprising end to Sunday's Transitional Meeting

Last Sunday evening the T-meeting was held for the month of October. As usual our T- pastor led in a devotion time and then launched into his presentation.

We reviewed the 5 steps of transition that were laid out 18 months ago when our T-pastor first came to our church. He suggested that we were stuck on "where to go from here" and "what will our identity be for the future. " Our T-pastor said that he was not going to force his agenda on us and would drop plans for additional meetings. Also he would now let the leadership of the church take over to find out what the church will decide on how it wants to die. The T-pastor said based on all of his numbers review and other factors the church will die either by attendance declining or by re birthing into something new.

Picking up the ball from the T-pastor must be somewhat of a load for the leadership to experience since his removing himself as a leader in this journey has happened very suddenly. The T-pastor is making himself available for consulting to the church leadership for the rest of this journey

We believe though, with many prayers, we the church can come through this process and find some type of a new identity while maintaining and keeping the gospel central in our services.