Just so you don’t forget me….

It is, supposedly, the bane of bloggers to let more than a few days go by without a post.  I have been very lax with my posting lately.  I’ve been sick (sick, sick, very sick) with this kick ass upper respiratory thing that will not let go.  I am still hacking away, although I see incremental improvement with each passing day. Thirteen days have passed thus far.  I am weary of coughing. I am fed up with being sick.  I even had a case of pink eye thrown into the mix for good measure.  I haven’t had one of those little teeny bottles of antibiotic eye drops since my kids were little.  I do now.  Two drops a day for 14 days.  

And we’ve been getting ready to go away….and we actually are away as I type this, sitting on the floor of a recently renovated “family owned motel” somewhere about two hours from Knoxville.  Between Kingston and Bristol TN.  I am on the floor trying to hide the light from my computer screen…since Keith is still sleeping….or trying to.  The Lark and the Owl go to Pigeon Forge.  Final destination is Lake City, TN for a conference at Justin Phillips Church.  Detour through Pigeon Forge.

We ran into some snow last night….yes….in Virginia.  It didn’t stay snow once it hit the roads but it was coming down at a pretty fast clip and visibility was not the best…and the roads were slick….so we decided to call it a night here at the Red Carpet Inn…at the recommendation of the janitor who was mopping up the Welcome Center.  Not bad…and for 39.99…what can you expect?  It has free wifi.

So while there are quite a few posts in the churning (around in my brain) phase…I have not done the necessary research to bring them to fruition.  I’ve read some interesting things about inerrancy and Biblical interpretation from Greg Boyd, Thom Stark, sharktacos, on the Sanctimonious Bob blog and also from a series I found on an eclectic vegetarian/Girardian/peace church kind of site called, “What the Bible Really Says” by J.R. Hyland.  True to my picking and choosing mindset, none of these writings expresses exactly what (I think) I believe….although some come very close.  There are also some things about sacrifice and mimetic rivalry/scapegoating I’ve been mulling over and want to write about. 

I will briefly mention that I made 8 CDs for Keith and I to listen to on the way here.  Four of Gary Sigler, four of Preston Eby.  We listened to an older Preston Eby message yesterday….from 1999.  We both heard the message before….long forgotten…..but our memories were jogged as we listened. 

The name of the message was “The Divine Perspective.”  It was a message that included an example I’ve used many times since I first heard Eby use it.  The gist of the message is that our perspective is limited…God’s is not.  The word picture Eby uses to illustrate this point is of a parade on “Main Street.” 

Our perspective is similar to the guy who sits down in a lawn chair in front of the hardware store…cooler of Pepsi beside him….to view the parade.  He can only see the small portion of the parade that is passing directly in front of him.  He can’t see the parts that have already passed by his chair and he can’t see the parts of the parade yet to come….and for sure he can’t see how all the parts fit together.   But God….Go'd’s perspective is akin to the view from the top of the three story building that houses the hardware store.  Not only can he see what has passed, he can see what is passing….and what is yet to come.  That is the divine perspective.  Eby urges us to get up out of our chairs and rise above our street level view and see things from God’s perspective….atop the three story building. 

He also talks a lot about the NOW….which is where God dwells.  It reminded me a lot of what Eckhart says about the NOW and coincidentally, while packing, I grabbed a copy of The Power of Now to bring along to read. 

We also listened to Gary Sigler’s message “Practical Spirituality.” One comment that stuck with me was the tendency even in the kingdom ranks, to put ourselves into doctrinal boxes and shun fellowship with those outside of our particular box.  Gary knows a lot about being shunned. Summing up Gary’s entire message in just a few words is mirrored in the signature line of a guy I who posted on Tentmaker a long time ago.  His name was PD…short for Pastor Dave.  His tag line? “It’s all about love.”  And isn’t it  REALLY all about love?  Doesn’t Paul declare that in 1 Corinthians 13?

1 Corinthians chapter 13 (TEV)

1 I may be able to speak the languages of human beings and even of angels, but if I have no love, my speech is no more than a noisy gong or a clanging bell.

2 I may have the gift of inspired preaching; I may have all knowledge and understand all secrets; I may have all the faith needed to move mountains-but if I have no love, I am nothing.

3 I may give away everything I have, and even give up my body to be burned-but if I have no love, this does me no good.

And then just in case we need a further explanation of what love is, he goes on to say:

4 Love is patient and kind;
it is not jealous or conceited or proud;
5 love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable;
love does not keep a record of wrongs;
6 love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth.
7 Love never gives up; and its faith, hope, and patience never fail.

8 Love is eternal.

We should not let doctrinal differences separate us.  Yet we do far too often. It is just the kingdom variation of the denominational “us four and no more” stance so many mainstream churches take about salvation.  And now, having said much more than I intended to talk about, I am going to close this post.  More….to come…..