Back up
We lost our internet for a few days after the big storm of '06...we're back up and running now.
Lately, the only thing on my mind is finding a bass player within the next week. Stress is such a stupid thing because it really gets you no where but because we are such control freaks and want to control our circumstances. And for some stupid reason we think that stressing out about it will give us control when in reality it just spins us further out of control and we take everyone around us down as well because we get so emotionally unstable and angry. *Deep breath* Ahhhh.......
So at this point it's looking like an acoustic set by Dave which would totally work out great. I think we have our expectations set on one thing with not a whole lot of flexibility (we have to work on this if we are going to stay planting this church). Dave is phenomenal at what he does and I'd be fully confident that we could pull it off. We'd just need to find a Jambe (sp?) somewhere for Randy to pound away on.
Everyone who's in a house church is probably shaking their heads at me wondering why I put myself through all of this logistical crap and why I feel the need to mic everything and why we do everything that we do...it's just so produced... And I only have one answer...this is what we feel God telling us to do. For sure we have to learn to be flexible within that, but at this point this is where we are heading because it's where we're being told to go. Does it create stress? Yep...self inflicted for sure. But we have to go this way and for now it seems to be working. (As in, people seem to be responding well and getting in on the journey)
For instance, we meet in a theatre for the purpose of removing "The Cringe factor". I can't remember who coined this phrase but it's basically just about removing the barriers that keep disconnected people from ever wanting to connect to Jesus, let alone the church. One lady came to our last gathering that hadn't been to church in a while. I'm not even sure if she's a Christ follower. But at the end I talked with her and she told me that she felt like God was talking to her the whole morning as we communicated our theme in different ways. Then she said something that shocked me and made me smile. She said, "I'm going through some pretty S&%**y stuff right now and that was what I needed to hear". I've had youth swear out loud in conversations with me before, but never with an adult in a Sunday morning gathering before. But she did. And what that says to me is that by us meeting in a theatre, it's one step towards allowing people to be comfortable enough to be themselves. They feel like they don't have to pretend as soon as they pull into the parking lot. In essence, the fish doesn't have to get cleaned up before it jumps into the boat.
That's a huge part of what we are all about...giving the disconnected permission to follow Jesus with us by removing the Cringe factor. Meeting in houses will be the other venue that we use to accomplish this. The two will complement each other. So that was a huge rabbit trail...but welcome to my mind. The whole thing is one gigantic rabbit trail.
Lately, the only thing on my mind is finding a bass player within the next week. Stress is such a stupid thing because it really gets you no where but because we are such control freaks and want to control our circumstances. And for some stupid reason we think that stressing out about it will give us control when in reality it just spins us further out of control and we take everyone around us down as well because we get so emotionally unstable and angry. *Deep breath* Ahhhh.......
So at this point it's looking like an acoustic set by Dave which would totally work out great. I think we have our expectations set on one thing with not a whole lot of flexibility (we have to work on this if we are going to stay planting this church). Dave is phenomenal at what he does and I'd be fully confident that we could pull it off. We'd just need to find a Jambe (sp?) somewhere for Randy to pound away on.
Everyone who's in a house church is probably shaking their heads at me wondering why I put myself through all of this logistical crap and why I feel the need to mic everything and why we do everything that we do...it's just so produced... And I only have one answer...this is what we feel God telling us to do. For sure we have to learn to be flexible within that, but at this point this is where we are heading because it's where we're being told to go. Does it create stress? Yep...self inflicted for sure. But we have to go this way and for now it seems to be working. (As in, people seem to be responding well and getting in on the journey)
For instance, we meet in a theatre for the purpose of removing "The Cringe factor". I can't remember who coined this phrase but it's basically just about removing the barriers that keep disconnected people from ever wanting to connect to Jesus, let alone the church. One lady came to our last gathering that hadn't been to church in a while. I'm not even sure if she's a Christ follower. But at the end I talked with her and she told me that she felt like God was talking to her the whole morning as we communicated our theme in different ways. Then she said something that shocked me and made me smile. She said, "I'm going through some pretty S&%**y stuff right now and that was what I needed to hear". I've had youth swear out loud in conversations with me before, but never with an adult in a Sunday morning gathering before. But she did. And what that says to me is that by us meeting in a theatre, it's one step towards allowing people to be comfortable enough to be themselves. They feel like they don't have to pretend as soon as they pull into the parking lot. In essence, the fish doesn't have to get cleaned up before it jumps into the boat.
That's a huge part of what we are all about...giving the disconnected permission to follow Jesus with us by removing the Cringe factor. Meeting in houses will be the other venue that we use to accomplish this. The two will complement each other. So that was a huge rabbit trail...but welcome to my mind. The whole thing is one gigantic rabbit trail.
