The first four chapters of Mark have some great passages in them:
the message is meant to be good news
the lived out authority of Love
Jesus heals the paralytic who is lowered thru the roof
Jesus hangs out with the ‘wrong people’
the letter of the law or the spirit of the law? or both?
unity as opposed to denominationalism
the sower and the seed – what kind of soil are you?
what to do with your light and the measures you use
i hate raiSINs. no really. no, not like you do, i mean really hate them. yes, i hear that you feel like you hate them, but in comparison to me you pretty much like them. in fact they may be your favourite poison food.
you don’t believe me? well, let’s do a little test, because there are three kinds of people who say they hate raiSINs [and only one kind is a true ‘believer’]
[1] you ‘hate raiSINs’ but you like them in stuff? REALLY? What are you on? You’re a fake. Have met so many of you who will make the absolute statement of ‘I hate raiSINs’ but then follow it up with the caveat [a word i am using incorrectly, just because i like the sound of it, the rest of the sentence tells you exactly what i mean, carry on] of ‘but i can eat them in bobotie’ [or some other food] No. You don’t get to call yourself a raiSIN hater!
[2] you ‘hate raiSINs’ but you like them by themselves? WHATAREYOUON? Because really i think that’s even worse. I’m allergic to flour so I can’t eat bread but I can eat spoonfuls of it from the bag. It makes no crazy sense at all. But yes, you are out there. “Can’t eat raiSINs cooked in stuff but you like them by themselves, or let’s be honest, mixes with peanuts.” Woergh! Not true!
[3] Group 3 is those of us who really do hate raiSINs as in gag reflex the moment we bite into a ‘choc chip cookie’ and know instantly that we have been tricked. As in can’t eat them in things OR by themselves. As in we have noticed that the word raiSIN contains the word ‘SIN’- coincidence? i think not. More like a co-sin-cidence! [that’s not a word] If you are a true raiSIN hater then welcome to the club.
You still are probably not as much of a raiSIN hater as me, but you are acceptable. I say ‘you’re probably not’ and stick to it unless you have three or more of the following:
# started the ‘I hate raiSINs group on Facebook [nope, that was me!]
# had a ritualistic raiSIN-burning ceremony in a park with two friends late at nite [it was for a friend’s 18th birthday video]
# developed a theology of why the tree in the middle of the garden of eden was actually a vine and the warning to Adam was about fruit gone bad [grapes to raiSINs] with actual verses to back it up that i chose to stop telling the one time i saw a group listening to me a little too intently [like they were actually believing me]
# written a song about raiSINs, got it recorded by a friend of yours in the Brothers Streep band and got it on an mp3 playlist where voting [by friends] took it above songs by groups like Just Jinger, GoawayPolisiekar and Goldfish… so charted above some top SA bands on a meaningless friend-affected chart
# wrote a sequel follow up song called ‘Sultanas’ [the evil cousin of the raiSIN] as a parody to the song ‘Informer’ by Snow and recorded that [by same Brother Streep friend]
# wrote a third anti-raiSIN song to the tune of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody [Bohemian RaiSIN-Die!] which i never found a band to be able to perform the music of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody for [yet] and so it still waits…
so yes. i think i win. but it’s not about winning. it’s about hating raiSINs. and listening to this song called the ‘Squishy Fruit Conspiracy’ which for a very short period of time had me ranked above some very important bands. and Steve Hofmeyr.
If you send me one of these you will be much loved.
i remember a time many years ago when eating disorders came into the light in a big way and things like Anorexia and Bulimia were spoken about quite a lot, they became popular youth group topics and were highlighted in the media with high profile models and Hollywood celebrities bringing light on to it but almost in one way glorifying it – in a sick way it became almost like an in thing to do to receive attention and media hype and care and concern from everyone until it could be beaten.
years later and i can’t remember the last time i heard much about it at all – oh sure it gets a mention on the odd People magazine cover when they are questioning the possibility of this or that actress suffering from it – but in churches and in youth groups and in the general media, i have not seen as much attention on it as there used to be… at least until i read my friend Roxanne’s blog and realised that just because we are not talking about it or noticing it as much does not mean it is not there.
eating disorders seem to be one of the most secretive of afflictions and affect the person as a whole as they spend so much time and energy trying to cover it up and make as if everything is normal – there is a lot of shame attached [both in the reasons why they get caught up in it and the fact that now they have] and so it is not easy to bring it out into the light and reduce its power and start on the long road to healing and wellness.
i imagine this is an area where community is essential. people who will not judge you but will commit to walking the long, difficult road ahead and be there for tears, slip-ups and just general love and understanding [or love when not understanding].
i am hoping that by having some friends of mine share parts of their journey in these areas that others might be encouraged to speak out [to people you trust] and start on their own journeys of healing and restoration. thank you to everyone who has risked big and been so brave to let us in to get a real glimpse of how an eating disorder affected your life:
yesterday at the Simple Way we had our very first session of Conversations at the Simple Way which three of us had largely been working on pulling together for a while – 15 people signed up to hang out with us as we did a couple of different sessions including one on intentional community, a practical serving the community aspect, a story over lunch from someone in the neighborhood who is involved in doing some really life-giving stuff within Kensington, where we live, and a sharing and question time around a specific theme – this one being ‘how to serve God with your Time, Treasures and Talents’ – it really was a great day and a few lines of thort or concept struck me as different people were sharing and i wanted to be able to pass those on:
Coz is a friend of ours from Australia [i know!] and he shared a little about being a good steward of your Treasures [so money and things] and one thing he said which really stood out was that “You can’t outgive God!”
now, maybe to some of you that will seem like an obvious thing. But i think to many of us, and even perhaps a lot of us that ‘know’ it as ‘an obvious thing’ we often don’t really believe it. i mean, not really. Rather our picture of God [whether stated or not, and usually not] is that of this long-bearded fellow sitting on a cloud with his lightning bolt waiting for the second we step out of line so that He can absolutely nail us and make sure that we behave better [which is possibly why we as the church have ended up so often focusing on what we are against and trying to avoid than what we are for?
but it is so true that we cannot outgive God – God is so completely generous and Loving and kind and compassionate and opportunity-giving and the list just goes on… we just maybe need to realign our minds [and our actions] to the fact…
it reminded me of this passage in Luke 11:
“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Coz spoke about it in terms of putting the focus on our giving. Trusting God and at times risking what might seem ridiculous in terms of being generous to others with the idea in mind that we cannot outgive God and so God will constantly supply our needs and how much more so if we have held loosely on to the things He has entrusted us with before. Those who are faithful with little will be entrusted with much.
How are you doing on the scale of generosity? [money yes, but also time and things and energy] And would it help you to be a little more generous if you truly believed that you had an uber generous God watching over you?
oh David… David, David, David…
after many Psalms of “Crush the wicked!” and “The evildoers are gonna get it” he seems to have changed his strategy or approach to the more nonchalant one of “ah, it doesn’t matter, God will take care of it in time”
‘Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.’ [vs. 1-2]
it could almost be like he is talking to his earlier self as at one point he utters, ‘I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.’ [vs. 25] it’s like he is saying, ‘I’ve seen how this ends and we win.’
but as you read the psalm it still seems like he has not yet had his moment of facing the mirror – Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, who is the sinfulest one of all? [sounds more powerful in my head when i imagine it with the Charlize Theron elocution and accent] It is YOU, David! Seems like that one is still coming as he is still pretty amped that the wicked [as in “not me”] are gonna get it.
and then vs. 3 hits which is a great little gem: ‘Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.’
it’s like a ‘Love God, love people’ type summary of life – almost like a casual throwaway…oh, by the way, just trust God, do good things, be in the land and stay safe…
what really jumped out at me even from that line in the psalm was the word ‘dwell’ – i think i had a status a while back that went “be where you are” and that is exactly it. the word ‘dwell’ for me carries a depth, a commitment, an involvement, some strong intentionality – don’t just exist or reside or habitate but really dwell – dig your feet in and immerse yourself in the place where you are at.
and i am not saying move into a place and stay there for 80 years – what i am saying is that whenever you are in a place, be it for a visit or a season or a decent period of time, really BE there. invest in the place and the people [even if it is the shortest of visits] – we see that at the Hospitality House here at the Simple Way – a lot of people visit and have the experience and the conversation and the tour… but every now and then someone will tell me about the conversation they had with [insert local resident/friend of ours name] and it is a lot more exciting because even though that person was just passing through, they took an hour or a couple of hours to invest in one of the people we know, even in just hearing their story or sharing some of theirs. and it is a powerful, powerful thing.
many people exist, but a small amount of people really live. be a liver. wait, that doesn’t sound right. be a live’er. that’s better [marginally]
do you know the names of your neighbors? have you ever heard their story? invited them round for a meal? shared a batch of chocolate chip cookies with them?
maybe if you are doing this kind of dwelling in the land, safe pasture is a natural consequence because you have built up good relations with all those around you and so you have other people watching your back and cheering you on?
how about you make a conscious decision today to plan something creative within the next month that will increase your dwellingness in the context in which you find yourself today [whether it’s in a house or apartment or student res or boarding house corridor] and then come and share here how it went.
to be continued… [dun dun duuuuuuuuuuunnnn] but only if you click here.
for some reason, my ‘the simple weigh’ blog [stories and experiences and reflections specifically linked to the time the beautiful val and i are spending at the simple way] receive an incredibly lesser number of hits than my irresistibly fish blog and i’m not quite sure why that is cos the same links to both get posted to facebook and twitter. the one thort i had was people who have subscribed to the irresistibly fish blog and so read those but don’t necessarily hear about what’s happening on the other blog cos they are not linked to me on facebook…
anyways, the reason i care about this at all is that there have been some rad posts happening on my simple weigh blog lately which i would dig those who didn’t know about them or get round to checking them out to have the opportunity to read:
then there was this one from a few weekends ago, during our schools for conversion weekend when Chris Haw made a statement that really challenged me and made a complete lot of sense and has the word ‘sexy’ in the title
thirdly, the question of what is wrong with the world and an unexpected answer in the midst of a lot of the chaos we find ourselves in which has the word ‘world’ in the title, so a lot less people will click on it than the one that had the word ‘sexy’ in it
“Are you doing what Jesus did and taught?”
that line came up in the bible devotions this morning at the CCDA conference and it’s not like it’s anything new or particularly revolutionary, but it is a line i think must keep on being said and cried out and shouted and written down and sung about until more and more people take a moment to really hear it and digest it and pour their present life through the filter of it and go, ‘Hm. Wait. Maybe not. I should do something about that.’
or something.
the line is NOT ‘Are you going to church?’
it is NOT ‘Are you involved in some form of ministry?’
it is also NOT ‘Do you read your Bible and can you quote verses from memory and know all the words to the latest hit worship song?’
and there are probably a bunch of other things it is NOT.
but what it IS is ARE YOU DOING WHAT JESUS DID AND TAUGHT?
a good place to start is to head back to the gospels [matthew, mark, luke, john] in the second part of the bible and read once more the story of Jesus and pay careful attention to WHAT JESUS TAUGHT as well as take time to focus on HOW JESUS LIVED and then to stop, have a quick hammer time, and think to yourself, ‘Am I Really Living out What He Said and What He Did?’
like for real?
well, are you?
Irresistibly Fish 