Some DVD's from the 2005 Dangerous Stories conference.

Interesting to see people trying to work out consumerism in the church etc.

Questions that are bouncing around for me at the moment:

In a society that is inherently designed to run on a capitalist model, is it possible to ever get away from consumerism?

Are we not nurtured, trained and rewarded to be a good consumer. Is it wrong to consume, we need to eat, be clothed, have shelter. Is it more the excess or the over and careless indulgence that we now take part in that is more the issue.

In a global economy that has over consumed itself to death we now see the impact of the attitude that has had billions of marketing dollars spent on it over the last 50 years.

In an asset based culture our insatiable desire for more has driven debt and our planet to new levels of depletion. Countries have debt and pollution mountains which look like something out of the movie "Walle".

I am not passing judgement as I am as good as the next guy at buying into this way of life. I have been a good student, a faithful disciple in the way of more!

Job cries out saying "If only I could find God, sit down and talk, it would all come together, but no!! I look to the east, the west, the south and the north, still I cannot find him. But he knows where I am going, I dont but he does. When I pass this test, like gold in the fire, he will defend me." [Greg paraphrase]

For me this is my reality at the moment. I look for him and it is hard to find him. I know he knows where I am going, but I have no clue.

Job finds himself in a situation where the blessing he new is gone. If something can go wrong it has. "Friends" around him are "helping" by trying to work out why he is in this position, they decide that he is wicked and evil and he has brought this on his head, he is ignored the poor, the widow, the needy and the foreigner.

As is so easy to do we look for the reasons why we would not be blessed, we must have been bad to be having these things happen in our lives.

This is interesting since I find myself on a witch hunt to find the thing that would be causing me to not be blessed like I was. Is it a curse, something I have done, an object in my home, a person I failed to help. However maybe like Job there are times in our lives where he cannot be found, not because we are bad people but because we are good people not only good but "gods" people.

At the end of this chapter Job says "For I have tried to walk Gods path. I have followed him not departing from his side but he has decided to do this and he cannot be persuaded otherwise. What he wants to do, he does. So he will carry out his plan, he is in control of my destiny. No wonder I am terrified in his presence, even the thought fills me with terror. My heart is faint and the darkness is thick around me, impenetrable darkness consumes me."

The God I love and follow is a God of Grace, I do not earn my relationship with him, I accept it and then wonder at the love he has for me. Does this love and grace also lead me to be terrified in his presence, he is still God. I remember a quote from Narnia in regards to Aslan, “not a tame lion”, despite his gentle and loving nature, he is powerful and can be dangerous.

In chapter 28 Job talks of wisdom and understanding, of its incredible richness, that it cannot be purchased. It is not easily found. God knows where it can be found. He knows wisdom, he established it. This is what God says to all Humanity: “The fear of the Lord is true wisdom; to forsake evil is real understanding.”

Could true wisdom be connected with the understanding of what Job said in chapter 23 about the terror of being in his presence? Even in considering the picture of Aslan the untamed lion gentle and loving yet powerful and possibly dangerous do we gain a better understanding of what Job was suggesting.

Maybe once we have this fear and respect for who he is then we walk away from evil because we truly understand the grace he shows us as our king. From Job’s experience do we embrace the times in our life that shake us to our core, from these times do we discover the treasure of wisdom and true understanding or do we join the witch hunt and try to flush out the reason why we are not living a blessed life?

Is our understanding of true blessing flawed? For wisdom and understanding cannot be purchased. Possibly the darkest of times bring us closer to true wisdom and times of blessing allow us to catch our breath as we get to know what it is to be in the loving yet terrifying presence of our King?

As Jesus often told the disciples If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.
So this week I will remember Job, his life, the way he surrendered to the loving yet dangerous King!

This article from open source gives an overview of Alan Hirsch's perspective of what is required to re:mission the church of today.

This is from a link on Alan Hirsch blog http://www.theforgottenways.org/blog/2008/03/17/church-follows-mission-2/.

Andrew Jones is http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com and involved in the Boaz Project.

Roger Thuman Simple Church Journal http://sojourner.typepad.com/

http://jasonclark.ws/

Alan Hirsch http://www.theforgottenways.org/blog/
Church follows mission entry http://www.theforgottenways.org/blog/2008/03/17/church-follows-mission-2/

Todd Hunter is also worth googling.

As I struggle with what my faith looks like, as I challenge and pull it apart. I look back to where it all started, the journey after Jesus went to the cross and opened the door for us to rediscover relationship with God.

We read about these days and weeks in Acts 2-4.

As I read I wonder if God’s number one aim is that there are no needs among humanity. From this point of no needs does God sit back and wait to see us creatively work out our dreams, wants and desires.

In Acts 2 do we see a blueprint of the door Jesus has opened to us, a creative life that can be spent doing good and discovering all we are able to do.

This blueprint shows us that the greatest fundamental need is a real working relationship with God and the only way of filling this need is to be in relationship with God. Acknowledging what Jesus has done for us. In doing so we receive his Holy Spirit which is with us like Jesus was with the disciples.
From this place we can partner with God again in seeing needs fulfilled in the people around us.

So I suspect our first and most important need he wants to see met is
- Our need for rich relationship with God.

From here the other needs he wants to see satisfied are:
- Our need for rich relationships with other people.
- Our basic needs for food to eat, clothes to wear, dignity, hope and a place to sleep.

Then he invites us to become part of his mission. This mission of seeing people around us with these needs satisfied. As we see these needs met in us and the people around us we show that we are about seeing Jesus's mission worked out around us.

So as I pull apart faith I know at the heart of who I am is a desire to be part of a group of people that can say "There were no needy people among them".

Over the upcoming months I hope to discuss what it means to live a life that is about Jesus, not so much about the institutions that have grown around what he did over 2000 years ago.

I am in my mid 30's have a great family 2 kids Connor and Libby and a great wife Tanya.

I have been involved in the Christian culture all my life. I have spent the last 4 years planting a church in Hamilton. This has now closed.

At this point in my journey I have more questions than answers, I hope to use this space to work through some of these questions. Which may mean more questions.

Cheers,

Monty