Finance One & Freedom

Last night I had to attend a finance roadshow that was happening for work. I must confess I was not too excited by the thought...I mean I could be watching Home & Away or working on the garden, or washing my hair. I could come up with dozens of things I would rather be doing. However I went and I can't believe I'm going to say this but "I'm so glad I did".

I learnt heaps from the presentation. I was able to ask lots of questions (which I did). I actually got a little self conscious at one point because I was asking so many questions and no one else seemed to have any. But then I decided that perhaps some were too shy to ask the questions and maybe my questions were the same as theirs. I also figured now is the time to ask them since they said they were there to help.

I came away from the night feeling empowered. I finally had knowledge about things that previously I felt a little in the dark about. I now have the understanding to be able to manage the financial side of things better and more effectively.

Someone once said "knowledge is power". After the finance roadshow I would say "yep". When people are kept in the dark about something, or made to be reliant on someone else for something that they should and could be doing for themselves there can be a real sense of demoralising or invalidation that takes place. But once people have the knowledge to be able to do things for themselves, what freedom and sense of ownership is theirs!

Some other dude once said "give a man a fish, feed him for a day, teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime."

I think this whole idea is something that we always have to keep in mind when in ministry. I think sometimes the easier option or the quicker option is to simply "do things for others" rather than take the time to teach them how to do it for themselves.

If we really want to go after people experiencing freedom, then we must be willing to let go of some of the "control" or "power" and empower others to be able to "fish for themselves".

Just a thought.

Today

Every Thursday morning I have the privilege of doing "spirit-lifter" at our bridge detox centre. This morning I decided to introduce them to the Nooma DVD series ( www.nooma.com ) and used No 17 entitled Today. At first there were smart comments being dished out around the room as the DVD started. But as Rob Bell appeared and began to talk the room became rather silent. At the end there was a "mmmmm" around the room as they reflected on what they had just seen and heard.

I reflected too. I too went "mmmmm" as I sought to gather all the thoughts running around my head.

Here are some snippets of the DVDs content.

"Life isn't static, is it?
It ebbs and flows and people grow up and move away and graduate and lose their jobs.
And people that you love die, and some get married
and others don't and some get divorced and some get cancer
and things aren't how they were"

"He [Jesus] tells them it's a whole new day, everything's changed, and God's going to give them everything they need. He essentially tells them they are going to receive a new spirit, one for today and he promises them that they're going to have everything that they need for their new life."

"If you need to celebrate how good it was, then celebrate.
If you need to remember how great it was when they were alive, then remember that.
If you need to grieve, grieve.
If you need to apologise or make amends or you need to do something to make peace with how it was, then do it, but then, move on.

"If you live in the fantasy that you'll get around to it tomorrow, that you'll get around to them tomorrow, you will wake up and it will not be tomorrow, it will be yesterday and you will have missed it-you will have missed them."

"May you accept the past for what it is

May you celebrate what needs to be celebrated

and grieve what needs to be grieved and then,

may you receive from God a new spirit, one for here, now, today."

I can choose to wallow in the past, to try and relive the past, perhaps even to deny the past - or I can embrace today, choose to really live and in so doing make today count...for myself, for others and for the Kingdom of God.

I choose today.

backlog

I always find it harder to write that first blog after a few days, weeks or months absence. I think its because there is so much that has taken place & its hard to decide what to say.

There have been some great moments, some challenging days and some events that have pressed against my faith and have stretched me.

So here's where I'm at right now on Tuesday afternoon 28th October 2008- I'm still believing and praying that my cousin will be found - I'm still believing for healing for friends who are dealing with diagnosis of cancer - I am grateful for the good friends I have who continue to encourage me and support me - I'm stoked for my friends who are having babies - I am finally able to say "I made a raised garden....at long last" - I am incredibly grateful for God's faithfulness and his care of me - I think the Canterbury rugby team rock after their win - My hair is still growing and can finally put it in 2 tiny ponytails - I miss my friends and family - I love my church - I know I have so much more growing to do - I have really bad bed hair in the mornings and end up looking like something from a DR Seuss book - I am continuing to pursue the Kingdom of God and heaven invading earth and will give my all for that.

whew! I think the backlog is cleared and will attempt to blog again tomorrow so it doesnt build up again :)

entering the male domain - promise keepers night

Last night I took two of the guys from church to a promise keepers training night - what an experience! David Murrow the author of the book "why men hate church" was here in NZ and the training event was advertised as everyone welcome and pastors welcome.....so I thought well I fit in the category of "everyone" & I'm a pastor & I'm definately interested in why men hate church - so I went.

Ladies.....you know how your husbands/partners/boyfriends/brothers start to look really uncomfortable when you head towards the lingere department....I understand how they feel. As I walked in there was a moment when I thought.....where do I look? Where can I hide? Surely there is some other female in this building? I think it was a case of being unable to just 'blend in' with the crowd! That feeling soon passed and I really enjoyed the evening.

There were some stereotypes in play throughout the evening. It could have appeared that all men love rugby, hunting and powertools while all women love needlecraft, cooking and handbags....which is definately not the case. We have to be so careful that we dont make sweeping assumptions on either side of the gender issue.

4 Reasons why Men hate church

1. They think its for women, weirdos & wimps

2. They think it is a waste of their time

3. The christian culture leans towards the feminine

4. It's hard for men to win at church.

He went on to talk about how to "MAN UP" your church

He started by asking all the pastors to raise their hands (which I did)

He then said the first thing Pastors is that you have to "be a man"! I laughed along with the guys around me, and so he told me that I didnt have to (whew). The funny thing was that the description he then went on to give of how to be a man, I would do all of those things anyway - 1. bring vision to the pulpit, 2. take firm stands on issues, 3. be a regular 'guy' not a religious 'guy' and if you do man stuff like go to the rugby, talk about it at church. Well I never realised that I was doing "man stuff" by watching the rugby :)

As I listened to everything he was sharing I've decided that I am not a 'typical' girl according to his theories etc. You see I love war stories, action movies, sports, Cooking on the BBQ and I hate flowers in church, needlecraft and holding hands with the person next to you at church.

An old dude came up to me after the sessions ended and quizzed me on whether I was a pastor. I said yeah and explained my situation. He then asked me if I learnt heaps and was now going to go away and make all the needed changes etc. I had to explain to him that I'm not the 'typical' woman and that our church is already naturally doing a lot of what was described so it wasnt really earth shattering revelation, but more highlighting little things. He seemed quite surprised.

I decided that God has wired me as I am for a reason, and I think my wiring has helped me as a sole corps officer to run a reasonably male friendly church. I learnt heaps and will certainly investigate the topic more.

David has now written a new book written for women and the part they play in getting men to church. I would certianly encourage pple to read both books and look into the whole area of why men hate church and what can be done to turn around the situation.....

and lets unite to get rid of plastic flowers!!!!!