So during the last term, we gt a visit from Roy Woods, a missionary who used to live in Papua New Guinea with the Akyom people there. We heard s much about their culture before and after Jesus was introduced to their tribe. It was amazing the differences Jesus brought in all of their lives.
The thin was before they got Jesus was that they were very fearful all the time. They did not even have a word in their language for happiness. They lived in very tall tree-houses and did not trust their own tribes people a few tree-houses away! There was always pay back to be made, but you never knew when that was going to occur, which can be the biggest fear around.
Now, I have come back to NZ and to the influence of the television media again (I don't watch TV in Australia). I can see the fear mongering influence in the ads. They are all about making you look good, so that you do not age, essentially because aging is not seen as something worthwhile in our western culture. What ever happened to aging gracefully? Can we not deal with looking at our face in the mirror so that we must put makeup on everyday and add colour to our eyes? We should not fear growing old. God made us to grow old. Proverbs 16:31 says "Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life." So why do we fear it? Why do we cover it up?
We think we are better than the tribes-people who fear each other. But do we not do the same thing, just in a more modern way?
Monday, May 24, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Monks, Cheerleaders, and Activists
You are now probably expecting a crazy joke about these three types of people right?? Well, I am sorry to disappoint you, but I do not know any jokes about these three? Do you? Leave them in comments, I'd love to hear them!
Anyways, the reason I am talking about these three things is because I went to the Vetamorphus retreat thingo in the weekend as a part of the BMW course, and getting my Certificate 3 in Christian Ministry (Don't ask me what a Cert 3 is, I honestly don't know, some kind of Australian High School something).
Anyway, the guest speaker was this guy called Steve, and he was very good. And he was the one who originally spoke about Monks, Cheerleaders, and Activists.
You see, we were talking about Church and stuff, and what the minimal things required to make a church was. And then he told a story about talking to a bunch of ladies wondering what it was that he did. He was in fact (a pastor?) over a collection of house churches.
He knew, though, that if he said he was a pastor, or any of that Christianese stuff, that it would turn them off entirely. So he used this illustration:
Church as a collection of Monks, Cheerleaders and Activists.
Monks: In any religion Monks set themselves a part to search for a higher being that they are sure exists. They try to seek out what that being wants from us.
Cheerleaders: In their original sense, cheerleaders exist to cheer on the team for what they are doing. They also encourage one another to keep doing so even when the team is losing.
Activists: Activists realise that all the world is in turmoil. It's a big problem. But they believe that they can be active in putting the world back together by doing a small part that the higher being asks us to do.
I thought that this was such an amazing concept that I had to share it with you. It rings so true with me and with what we do. And gives others an idea about what Church and being a Christian is all about.
Anyways, the reason I am talking about these three things is because I went to the Vetamorphus retreat thingo in the weekend as a part of the BMW course, and getting my Certificate 3 in Christian Ministry (Don't ask me what a Cert 3 is, I honestly don't know, some kind of Australian High School something).
Anyway, the guest speaker was this guy called Steve, and he was very good. And he was the one who originally spoke about Monks, Cheerleaders, and Activists.
You see, we were talking about Church and stuff, and what the minimal things required to make a church was. And then he told a story about talking to a bunch of ladies wondering what it was that he did. He was in fact (a pastor?) over a collection of house churches.
He knew, though, that if he said he was a pastor, or any of that Christianese stuff, that it would turn them off entirely. So he used this illustration:
Church as a collection of Monks, Cheerleaders and Activists.
Monks: In any religion Monks set themselves a part to search for a higher being that they are sure exists. They try to seek out what that being wants from us.
Cheerleaders: In their original sense, cheerleaders exist to cheer on the team for what they are doing. They also encourage one another to keep doing so even when the team is losing.
Activists: Activists realise that all the world is in turmoil. It's a big problem. But they believe that they can be active in putting the world back together by doing a small part that the higher being asks us to do.
I thought that this was such an amazing concept that I had to share it with you. It rings so true with me and with what we do. And gives others an idea about what Church and being a Christian is all about.
Poem Sunday! Harrah!
God, the
Only One,
Dangerous is He.
Going
Outside of His way
Disastrous it may be.
Get
Over yourself
Die to yourself.
Give
Over to Him,
Deliver yourself to the Father.
Guide you, He will
Over and above all else
Death, then, cannot separate you.
copyright, Joanna Wallace 2010
So, I have had a bit of fun with acrostic poems recently. Mainly because we have been looking at Hebrew poetry in Old Testament, and some of the Psalms were written in an acrostic way. For example Psalm 119, each of the sections starts with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Which is why the Psalm is the longest chapter in the Bible. Epic!
Anyway, that's all for now. Talk to you all later in the week!
Only One,
Dangerous is He.
Going
Outside of His way
Disastrous it may be.
Get
Over yourself
Die to yourself.
Give
Over to Him,
Deliver yourself to the Father.
Guide you, He will
Over and above all else
Death, then, cannot separate you.
copyright, Joanna Wallace 2010
So, I have had a bit of fun with acrostic poems recently. Mainly because we have been looking at Hebrew poetry in Old Testament, and some of the Psalms were written in an acrostic way. For example Psalm 119, each of the sections starts with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Which is why the Psalm is the longest chapter in the Bible. Epic!
Anyway, that's all for now. Talk to you all later in the week!
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