being more barbarian

I spent the weekend across the line at Cedar Springs Resort. It was our church leadership retreat and I got to party it up with all the grown ups while my hubby hunkered over the books at home. I stayed up waaaayyy too late on Friday night talking with Colleen, one of the wisest women I know, we griped about the school system and the absurdity of hiring people based on seniority.
We had an awesome session where we watched a bit of Bill Hybels and shared our own passions. It was cool to see people share things that they were so on fire about that it made you want to get up and say "I'd like to be a part of that" even though I can't be a part of Boy's Brigade.
Saturday we watched this GREAT video of Erwin McManus speaking at Willow Creek. Let me just start off by saying - this guys is soooo great! He talked about moving from being civilized Christians to barbarians, moving to a faith that expects miracles and is actually beleiving that God could speak to us. It was brilliant! It was like watching someone put words to the discontent stirring in me for months. He said this one thing that has stuck in my head ever since... "Sometimes the church's biggest obstacle is coming from within". The comment was a little cynical (he even admitted that) and I really do think the church is pretty great, but his point was that sometimes the biggest thing getting in our way is our own self... our ego, our fear, our cynicism. I am starting to realize that I am what most often keeps me from being a 'barbarian'. It's shaping up to be an interesting journey...
We also spent a lot of time discussing this whole concept of a church that is centered around its vibrant, thriving, small groups. That we get people plugged in that way. That out of these small group communities flows an intimacy between us, that we throw off our inauthenticity and embrace something that is, yes, harder to do but more honest and more human. There was this quote there that said "Today's revolution of love is called the church" I think it was Earl Crepps - he seems like a pretty smart cookie to me!
However, above all, my favorite part of the weekend was the paddle boating with my good friends Darren, Wendy & Janice. Yes, I almost came to fatal blows with the swan (really, really BIG swan) but the laughs and smack talk flowed freely and I thanked Jesus for these wonderful additions to my life in the past year!

Check it out!!!

I'm so proud of my great friend Janice!!!
Check out her wonderful creation at www.lefc.ca... She put soooo much time and effort into this website and I think, not only has she done a awesome job, but it really reflects our church and the directions we're taking.... and it's just very pretty!!

Do you think he hits the nail on the head?

NEW YORK (CNN) -- When did it come to the point that being a Christian meant only caring about two issues,­ abortion and homosexuality?

Ask the nonreligious what being a Christian today means, and based on what we see and read, it's a good bet they will say that followers of Jesus Christ are preoccupied with those two points.

Poverty? Whatever. Homelessness? An afterthought. A widening gap between the have and have-nots? Immaterial. Divorce? The divorce rate of Christians mirrors the national average, so that's no big deal.

The point is that being a Christian should be about more than abortion and homosexuality, and it's high time that those not considered a part of the religious right expose the hypocrisy of our brothers and sisters in Christianity and take back the faith. And those on the left who believe they have a "get out of sin free" card must not be allowed to justify their actions.

Many people believe we are engaged in a holy war. And we are. But it's not with Muslims. The real war -- ­ the silent war ­-- is being engaged among Christians, and that's what we must set our sights on.

As we celebrate Holy Week, our focus is on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But aren't we also to recommit ourselves to live more like Jesus? Did Jesus spend his time focusing on all that he didn't like, or did Jesus raise the consciousness of the people to understand love, compassion and teach them about following the will of God?

As a layman studying to receive a master's in Christian communications, and the husband of an ordained minister, it's troubling to listen to "Christian radio" and hear the kind of hate spewing out of the mouths of my brothers and sisters in the faith.

In fact, I've grown tired of people who pimp God. That's right; we have a litany of individuals today who are holy, holy, holy, sing hallelujah, talk about how they love the Lord, but when it's time to walk the walk, somehow the spirit evaporates.

A couple of years ago I took exception to an e-mail blast from the Concerned Women for America. The group was angry that Democrats were blocking certain judges put up for the federal bench by President Bush. It called on Americans to fight Democrats who wanted to keep Christians off the bench.

So I called and sent an e-mail asking, "So, where were you when President Clinton appointed Christian judges to the bench? Were they truly behind Christian judges, or Republican Christian judges?

Surprise, surprise. There was never a response.

An African-American pastor I know in the Midwest was asked by a group of mostly white clergy to march in an anti-abortion rally. He was fine with that, but then asked the clergy if they would work with him to fight crack houses in predominantly black neighborhoods.

"That's really your problem," he was told.

They saw abortion as a moral imperative, but not a community ravaged by crack.

If abortion and gay marriage are part of the Christian agenda, I have no issue with that. Those are moral issues that should be of importance to people of the faith, but the agenda should be much, much broader.

I'm looking for the day when Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Joyce Meyer, James Dobson, Tony Perkins, James Kennedy, Rod Parsley, " Patriot Pastors" and Rick Warren will sit at the same table as Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Cynthia Hale, Eddie L. Long, James Meek, Fred Price, Emmanuel Cleaver and Floyd Flake to establish a call to arms on racism, AIDS, police brutality, a national health care policy, our sorry education system.

If they all say they love and worship one God, one Jesus, let's see them rally their members behind one agenda.

I stand here today not as a Republican or a liberal. And don't bother calling me a Democrat or a conservative. I am a man,­ an African-American man ­who has professed that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that's to whom I bow down.

If you concur, it's time to stop allowing a chosen few to speak for the masses. Quit letting them define the agenda.

So put on the full armor of God because we have work to do.

Roland Martin.