(3828,35,'2011-12-28 11:23:49','2011-12-28 19:23:49','<em>This is the first of a four part series on How To Know We’re Hearing From God.</em>\r\n\r\nThe idea of having conversations with God wasn’t a part of my religious upbringing.  Prayer was talking “at” God in appropriately reverent language about a limited set of topics.  God talked “at” me through the Bible and the pastor.  Pious Sunday School teachers could also be divine messengers, since angels don’t make house calls anymore.\r\n\r\nBut <em>personal conversations</em> with The Almighty?  What would we talk about, and how would I know I was hearing from God and not just making it up in my head?  Sure, God talked with some people in the Bible, like Moses (a very spiritual guy).  But <em>me</em>?\r\n\r\nThe way I learned to have conversations with God was by trying it.  On the possibility that He or She actually wanted to say something to me one-on-one, I decided to listen and see if I could hear anything.\r\n\r\nThe first thing I did was <strong>ask God to let me for certain I was hearing from Him/Her</strong>.  I truly didn’t know what to expect, but was curious to see if God would answer a direct question from me.  It took some time for me to become sensitive to God’s voice, but the first time I was certain God had spoken to me, I was both stunned and excited, and wanted it to happen again.  I’ve been having discussions with God ever since, though I don’t always hear Him speak to me.  But God doesn’t always hear from me either.\r\n\r\nThe good news is <strong>God wants to talk <em>with</em> us, and will make sure we know when we’re hearing from Him/Her, if we are willing to listen</strong>.  The messages can come in an infinite variety of ways, sometimes when we least expect it.  Here’s how my son, Gideon, heard from God for the first time, from my book <a href=\"http://store.civitaspress.com/books/193\" target=\"_blank\">Uncensored Prayer: The Spiritual Practice of Wrestling with God</a>:\r\n<blockquote>My oldest son, Gideon, loves playing basketball and is good at it.  Throughout his youth he played for a competitive club team.  His first year of high school, Gideon tried out for the freshman basketball team and made it.  This was the last year he was eligible for his competitive team, where he was a successful, respected player.  Who knew how he would do on the school team, facing new challenges, but his future was in his high school basketball team.\r\n\r\nThe problem was Gideon couldn’t play on both teams at once.  He had to choose between them. With a deadline staring him in the face, I told him to ask God to make the right choice clear.\r\n\r\nMy son had never sought God’s will before, and was skeptical, but gave it a try anyway.  Knowing him, I imagine he prayed something like, “God, help me know what to do,” like this would do any good.  I promised not to tell any of his friends.\r\n\r\nFor a week he said, “One day I want to play school ball, and the next day I want competitive ball.  I can’t make up my mind.”\r\n\r\nI don’t think I had ever discussed seeking God’s direction through prayer with my son.  Gideon went to church because of his family and friends. Following Jesus didn’t cross his mind.  He would take his turn sometimes praying before meals, always starting with, “Thank you, dear God, for this wonderful day you have given us,” followed by ”Thanks for the food, Amen.”  It might have been the only prayer he ever prayed.\r\n\r\nIt was unusual for him to confide in me with a problem and ask for advice.  So I told him what I would do in his situation, and he was willing to try it, being out of other ideas.  I was careful not to give him a specific line to say, so he would pray in his own words.\r\n\r\nTwo things were bothering Gideon that made him try prayer.  First, he wanted two things very important to him, and he couldn’t have both at the same time.  Second, there was an internal daily tug-of-war inside him – a pendulum that swung one way, then the other, back and forth.  He couldn’t put the decision off, due to a deadline.  He asked God what to do as a desperate last-choice solution.\r\n\r\nHow did God make the right choice clear to my son?\r\n\r\nHe asked God to give him guidance, and he was willing to listen, even though the only way he could imagine God talking to someone was through an audible voice, like how Charlton Heston heard God say, “Moses!” in <em>The Ten Commandments</em>.  We want God to let us know in a real and tangible way.  We want God to shout, when often God whispers.\r\n\r\nThe day before the deadline, Gideon came to me with light in his eyes.  He said, “I know what to do!  I’m going with school ball.  I woke up this morning and the conflict was gone!”  To his utter shock, asking God for direction worked. Gideon asked because time was short, and this was a really important decision. He chose to engage God because it was deeply important in his life.\r\n\r\nHow did God answer his prayer?  Did he hear God speak aloud from heaven?  No, the internal conflict disappeared, leaving one desire instead of two.\r\n\r\nHow did he know the answer came from God?  The conflict hadn’t gone away through any other means.  Could he explain it?  No.  Gideon knew what to do now, because choice was no longer an issue.  He didn’t have to choose, because there was only one answer – kind of like voting when there’s only one candidate.\r\n\r\nGod had replaced conflict with peace.</blockquote>\r\n&nbsp;','How To Know We\'re Hearing From God: Part 1','','inherit','open','open','','3399-revision-8','','','2011-12-28 11:23:49','2011-12-28 19:23:49','',3399,'http://provoketive.com/2011/12/28/3399-revision-8/',0,'revision','',0),(3831,35,'2012-01-09 11:05:38','2012-01-09 19:05:38','','How To Hear From God','','inherit','open','open','','how-to-hear-from-god-2','','','2012-01-09 11:05:38','2012-01-09 19:05:38','',3830,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/How-To-Hear-From-God.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(3832,35,'2012-01-09 11:04:03','2012-01-09 19:04:03','<em>This is the second of a four part series on How To Know We’re Hearing From God.</em>\n\nGod wants us to know that we know that we know when He or She is speaking to us.  We’re the ones that think we can’t hear – that is, until it happens to us.  God’s messages to us are always very personal, and <strong>God will confirm it making us aware of things that we didn’t and <em>couldn’t</em> already know.</strong>\n<blockquote>Call to Me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.  Jeremiah 33:3 (NASB)\n\nFrom now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you.  Isaiah 48:6 (NIV)</blockquote>\nI have written poetry all my life as a kind of therapy, never meant for anyone else to read.  Many poems are prayers, some talking to God and others are conversations. I dreamed of being a full-time author with my books for sale at Barnes &amp; Noble, but knew that could never happen.  First of all, I wouldn’t let anyone read my work – it was too personal.  Also, I couldn’t imagine a publisher accepting a book of poetry from an unknown author.  Yet, God knew my heart’s desire, because He had placed it there.\n\nMy husband, Bud, and I have a good friend named Connie.  Shortly after Thanksgiving, 2010, Bud encouraged me to share some of my writing with her.  I felt nervous and shy, but agreed to do it.  We went to see her, and I took three or four poems. I wanted to see her reaction.\n\nShe was sitting across from me, and when I finished reading a particularly raw, painful poem, Connie fell out of her chair on her knees, laid her head in my lap, and sobbed.  Bud and I were shocked.  Finally she looked up and said, “I’m in charge of the logistics for a conference two weeks from now.  The attendees are non-traditional Christians, many of whom have been marginalized by the Church.  I want you to read several of your poems, starting with this one.”  I froze in terror, screaming “NO!” without words.  But another voice in me whispered, “Do it.  This is a group of Christian misfits.  If anyone will accept my work, it might be this bunch.”\n\nWhen the time came, Bud said he was sure I was going to back out, but I went to the podium, holding my radical writing in trembling hands.  “Let’s get this over with,” I thought.  I knew they would be horrified, politely applaud, then crucify me later.  Instead, I received a standing ovation.  Many in the crowd had tears streaming down their faces, and hugged me afterwards.\n\nThat was shock number one.\n\nThen something happened that changed my life forever.  A stranger walked up to me and asked, “Are you published?”  No.  “How many of these do you have?” About 500.  “Where are they?”  In a drawer.  Without hesitation, he said, “I’m a publisher, and I’m going to publish your work.  It’s redemptive, and people need to know it’s OK to be that honest with God.”  Seven months later, my book was for sale at Barnes &amp; Noble.com and Amazon.com –   Uncensored Prayer: The Spiritual Practice of Wrestling With God.\n\nThe impossible happened, and God arranged it all, beginning with giving me the courage to read some of my poetry to Connie.\n\nAs I began working on the manuscript with my editor, my dream of being a full-time author resurfaced.  I’ve had a variety of jobs over the last forty years, but never a career.  Nothing fit. Our daughter is a surgery nurse, one son is an electrician, while our youngest son is a Marine.  And I’ve been…an author doing other jobs for a living.\n\nLast spring I contracted a debilitating form of colitis.  After three months on short-term disability, I was still too sick to come back to work.  The prognosis was my disease might prevent me from working anywhere for an indeterminate period of time, perhaps years.  Only one option was left:  quit my job and work at home as a you-know-what.  God fulfilled my heart’s desire.\n\nNow, why did it take forty years?  God hasn’t told me that.  I figure it was finally time.  Was it because I became willing to listen?  Yes, in a seemingly small way that resulted in monumental consequences.  My husband nudged me to read my poems to one person who nudged me to share my writing with a group.  God did the nudging through other people, but I had to act on the advice, step out of my comfort zone, and follow God, even though I had no clue what would happen.\n\nGod confirmed what I didn’t and <em>couldn’t</em> know until it happened, and I got the message loud and clear.  My heart spoke, then God answered, and we are walking together in this adventure of a lifetime.\n\nHow will <em>you</em> hear from God?  I don’t know, but I promise you will when it’s time.  Look for it.\n\n<span style=\"font-family: Calibri\"> </span>','How To Know We\'re Hearing From God: Part 2','','inherit','open','open','','3830-revision','','','2012-01-09 11:04:03','2012-01-09 19:04:03','',3830,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/09/3830-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(3830,35,'2012-01-12 11:04:32','2012-01-12 19:04:32','<em>This is the second of a four part series on How To Know We’re Hearing From God.</em>\r\n\r\nGod wants us to know that we know that we know when He or She is speaking to us.  We’re the ones that think we can’t hear – that is, until it happens to us.  God’s messages to us are always very personal, and <strong>God will confirm it making us aware of things that we didn’t and <em>couldn’t</em> already know.</strong>\r\n<blockquote>Call to Me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.  Jeremiah 33:3 (NASB)\r\n\r\nFrom now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you.  Isaiah 48:6 (NIV)</blockquote>\r\nI have written poetry all my life as a kind of therapy, never meant for anyone else to read.  Many poems are prayers, some talking to God and others are conversations. I dreamed of being a full-time author with my books for sale at Barnes &amp; Noble, but knew that could never happen.  First of all, I wouldn’t let anyone read my work – it was too personal.  Also, I couldn’t imagine a publisher accepting a book of poetry from an unknown author.  Yet, God knew my heart’s desire, because He had placed it there.\r\n\r\nMy husband, Bud, and I have a good friend named Connie.  Shortly after Thanksgiving, 2010, Bud encouraged me to share some of my writing with her.  I felt nervous and shy, but agreed to do it.  We went to see her, and I took three or four poems. I wanted to see her reaction.\r\n\r\nShe was sitting across from me, and when I finished reading a particularly raw, painful poem, Connie fell out of her chair on her knees, laid her head in my lap, and sobbed.  Bud and I were shocked.  Finally she looked up and said, “I’m in charge of the logistics for a conference two weeks from now.  The attendees are non-traditional Christians, many of whom have been marginalized by the Church.  I want you to read several of your poems, starting with this one.”  I froze in terror, screaming “NO!” without words.  But another voice in me whispered, “Do it.  This is a group of Christian misfits.  If anyone will accept my work, it might be this bunch.”\r\n\r\nWhen the time came, Bud said he was sure I was going to back out, but I went to the podium, holding my radical writing in trembling hands.  “Let’s get this over with,” I thought.  I knew they would be horrified, politely applaud, then crucify me later.  Instead, I received a standing ovation.  Many in the crowd had tears streaming down their faces, and hugged me afterwards.\r\n\r\nThat was shock number one.\r\n\r\nThen something happened that changed my life forever.  A stranger walked up to me and asked, “Are you published?”  No.  “How many of these do you have?” About 500.  “Where are they?”  In a drawer.  Without hesitation, he said, “I’m a publisher, and I’m going to publish your work.  It’s redemptive, and people need to know it’s OK to be that honest with God.”  Seven months later, my book was for sale at Barnes &amp; Noble.com and Amazon.com –   Uncensored Prayer: The Spiritual Practice of Wrestling With God.\r\n\r\nThe impossible happened, and God arranged it all, beginning with giving me the courage to read some of my poetry to Connie.\r\n\r\nAs I began working on the manuscript with my editor, my dream of being a full-time author resurfaced.  I’ve had a variety of jobs over the last forty years, but never a career.  Nothing fit. Our daughter is a surgery nurse, one son is an electrician, while our youngest son is a Marine.  And I’ve been…an author doing other jobs for a living.\r\n\r\nLast spring I contracted a debilitating form of colitis.  After three months on short-term disability, I was still too sick to come back to work.  The prognosis was my disease might prevent me from working anywhere for an indeterminate period of time, perhaps years.  Only one option was left:  quit my job and work at home as a you-know-what.  God fulfilled my heart’s desire.\r\n\r\nNow, why did it take forty years?  God hasn’t told me that.  I figure it was finally time.  Was it because I became willing to listen?  Yes, in a seemingly small way that resulted in monumental consequences.  My husband nudged me to read my poems to one person who nudged me to share my writing with a group.  God did the nudging through other people, but I had to act on the advice, step out of my comfort zone, and follow God, even though I had no clue what would happen.\r\n\r\nGod confirmed what I didn’t and <em>couldn’t</em> know until it happened, and I got the message loud and clear.  My heart spoke, then God answered, and we are walking together in this adventure of a lifetime.\r\n\r\nHow will <em>you</em> hear from God?  I don’t know, but I promise you will when it’s time.  Look for it.\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"> </span>','How To Know We\'re Hearing From God: Part 2','','publish','open','open','','how-to-know-were-hearing-from-god-part-2-2','','','2012-01-10 11:11:11','2012-01-10 19:11:11','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=3830',0,'post','',0),(3835,35,'2012-01-13 11:06:00','2012-01-13 19:06:00','<em>This is the third of a four part series on How To Know We’re Hearing From God.</em>\r\n\r\n<strong>God often reveals and/or confirms personal messages to us through Scripture. </strong> This is no accident or an incident of good luck.  Remember that God will make certain that we know when we are hearing from Him/Her if we are willing to listen.\r\n\r\nI’m still leery at times that I might locate a portion of Scripture telling me what I want to hear, and I’ll convince myself this is God’s answer to my problem or question.  So how can we be certain that what we read is God speaking to us?\r\n\r\nHere are several ways God responds to us through the Bible:\r\n\r\nA benefit of memorizing Bible verses is sometimes one will come to mind just when we need it.  I’m dreadful at remembering where verses are, but am grateful my evangelical upbringing emphasized Scripture memorization, because when I suddenly remember a verse that really helps at the moment, I know God made that happen.\r\n\r\nA shocking way God can get our attention is through a <em>rhema</em>.  Have you ever been reading a passage in the Bible, and suddenly it jumps off the page like it was written in neon?  It might be something you’ve read many times before, but now it’s relevant to your situation, and you know God’s trying to get your attention.  That’s a <em>rhema</em> – a Greek word that means “a specific word about a specific thing”.\r\n\r\nThen there are times when God’s voice to us through Scripture can change our lives forever.  One of the most meaningful conversations I’ve ever had with God was several years ago when I was deeply depressed, filled with low self-esteem, wondering if the darkness I was in would ever end.  I kept crying out to God for help, but heard nothing in reply, and felt abandoned by the One I needed the most.\r\n\r\nSo I picked up my Bible and started turning pages in Isaiah.  All at once, God spoke with clarity and compassion into my heart.  I crumpled, sobbing, knowing He had heard my silent cries, and answered me with words I desperately needed to hear.\r\n<blockquote>I have chosen you and not rejected you.\r\n\r\nDo not fear, for I am with you;\r\n\r\nDo not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.\r\n\r\nI will strengthen you, surely I will help you,\r\n\r\nSurely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.   Isaiah 41:9-10 (NAS)\r\n\r\nDo not fear, for I have redeemed you;\r\n\r\nI have called you by name; you are Mine!\r\n\r\nWhen you pass through the waters, I will be with you;\r\n\r\nAnd through the rivers, they will not overflow you.\r\n\r\nWhen you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,\r\n\r\nNor will the flame burn you.\r\n\r\nFor I am the Lord your God,\r\n\r\nThe Holy One of Israel, your Savior.\r\n\r\nYou are precious in My sight;\r\n\r\nYou are honored and I love you.   Isaiah 43:1-4 (NAS)</blockquote>\r\nGod loves and wants me just like I am.  I’m not alone in the dark, and God will help me get through it.  In the midst of my despair, my Mama/Daddy God reassured me that I matter very much.  My true identity is Chosen, Strong, Precious, Honored, and Loved by God.\r\n\r\nI have no clue how I found these verses; it was like the verses found me.  Ever since that day, I have read them many times, because I struggle with depression, and I’m drawn to them whenever I need help hanging on.\r\n\r\nI know for a fact that God sometimes brings certain Scriptures to mind exactly when we need them.  Other times, God leads us to what He or She wants us to hear.  The Bible is a resource through which God can engage in conversations with us.','How To Know We\'re Hearing From God: Part 3','','publish','open','open','','how-to-know-were-hearing-from-god-part-3','','','2012-01-10 11:11:14','2012-01-10 19:11:14','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=3835',0,'post','',0),(3837,35,'2012-01-09 11:12:34','2012-01-09 19:12:34','<em>This is the third of a four part series on How To Know We’re Hearing From God.</em>\n\n<strong>God often reveals and/or confirms personal messages to us through Scripture. </strong> This is no accident or an incident of good luck.  Remember that God will make certain that we know when we are hearing from Him/Her if we are willing to listen.\n\nI’m still leery at times that I might locate a portion of Scripture telling me what I want to hear, and I’ll convince myself this is God’s answer to my problem or question.  So how can we be certain that what we read is God speaking to us?\n\nHere are several ways God responds to us through the Bible:\n\nA benefit of memorizing Bible verses is sometimes one will come to mind just when we need it.  I’m dreadful at remembering where verses are, but am grateful my evangelical upbringing emphasized Scripture memorization, because when I suddenly remember a verse that really helps at the moment, I know God made that happen.\n\nA shocking way God can get our attention is through a <em>rhema</em>.  Have you ever been reading a passage in the Bible, and suddenly it jumps off the page like it was written in neon?  It might be something you’ve read many times before, but now it’s relevant to your situation, and you know God’s trying to get your attention.  That’s a <em>rhema</em> – a Greek word that means “a specific word about a specific thing”.\n\nThen there are times when God’s voice to us through Scripture can change our lives forever.  One of the most meaningful conversations I’ve ever had with God was several years ago when I was deeply depressed, filled with low self-esteem, wondering if the darkness I was in would ever end.  I kept crying out to God for help, but heard nothing in reply, and felt abandoned by the One I needed the most.\n\nSo I picked up my Bible and started turning pages in Isaiah.  All at once, God spoke with clarity and compassion into my heart.  I crumpled, sobbing, knowing He had heard my silent cries, and answered me with words I desperately needed to hear.\n<blockquote>I have chosen you and not rejected you.\n\nDo not fear, for I am with you;\n\nDo not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.\n\nI will strengthen you, surely I will help you,\n\nSurely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.   Isaiah 41:9-10 (NAS)\n\nDo not fear, for I have redeemed you;\n\nI have called you by name; you are Mine!\n\nWhen you pass through the waters, I will be with you;\n\nAnd through the rivers, they will not overflow you.\n\nWhen you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,\n\nNor will the flame burn you.\n\nFor I am the Lord your God,\n\nThe Holy One of Israel, your Savior.\n\nYou are precious in My sight;\n\nYou are honored and I love you.   Isaiah 43:1-4 (NAS)</blockquote>\nGod loves and wants me just like I am.  I’m not alone in the dark, and God will help me get through it.  In the midst of my despair, my Mama/Daddy God reassured me that I matter very much.  My true identity is Chosen, Strong, Precious, Honored, and Loved by God.\n\nI have no clue how I found these verses; it was like the verses found me.  Ever since that day, I have read them many times, because I struggle with depression, and I’m drawn to them whenever I need help hanging on.\n\nI know for a fact that God sometimes brings certain Scriptures to mind exactly when we need them.  Other times, God leads us to what He or She wants us to hear.  The Bible is a resource through which God can engage in conversations with us.','How To Know We\'re Hearing From God: Part 3','','inherit','open','open','','3835-revision','','','2012-01-09 11:12:34','2012-01-09 19:12:34','',3835,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/09/3835-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(3836,35,'2012-01-09 11:14:17','2012-01-09 19:14:17','','How To Hear From God','','inherit','open','open','','how-to-hear-from-god-3','','','2012-01-09 11:14:17','2012-01-09 19:14:17','',3835,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/How-To-Hear-From-God1.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(3838,35,'2012-01-09 11:14:46','2012-01-09 19:14:46','<em>This is the third of a four part series on How To Know We’re Hearing From God.</em>\r\n\r\n<strong>God often reveals and/or confirms personal messages to us through Scripture. </strong> This is no accident or an incident of good luck.  Remember that God will make certain that we know when we are hearing from Him/Her if we are willing to listen.\r\n\r\nI’m still leery at times that I might locate a portion of Scripture telling me what I want to hear, and I’ll convince myself this is God’s answer to my problem or question.  So how can we be certain that what we read is God speaking to us?\r\n\r\nHere are several ways God responds to us through the Bible:\r\n\r\nA benefit of memorizing Bible verses is sometimes one will come to mind just when we need it.  I’m dreadful at remembering where verses are, but am grateful my evangelical upbringing emphasized Scripture memorization, because when I suddenly remember a verse that really helps at the moment, I know God made that happen.\r\n\r\nA shocking way God can get our attention is through a <em>rhema</em>.  Have you ever been reading a passage in the Bible, and suddenly it jumps off the page like it was written in neon?  It might be something you’ve read many times before, but now it’s relevant to your situation, and you know God’s trying to get your attention.  That’s a <em>rhema</em> – a Greek word that means “a specific word about a specific thing”.\r\n\r\nThen there are times when God’s voice to us through Scripture can change our lives forever.  One of the most meaningful conversations I’ve ever had with God was several years ago when I was deeply depressed, filled with low self-esteem, wondering if the darkness I was in would ever end.  I kept crying out to God for help, but heard nothing in reply, and felt abandoned by the One I needed the most.\r\n\r\nSo I picked up my Bible and started turning pages in Isaiah.  All at once, God spoke with clarity and compassion into my heart.  I crumpled, sobbing, knowing He had heard my silent cries, and answered me with words I desperately needed to hear.\r\n<blockquote>I have chosen you and not rejected you.\r\n\r\nDo not fear, for I am with you;\r\n\r\nDo not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.\r\n\r\nI will strengthen you, surely I will help you,\r\n\r\nSurely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.   Isaiah 41:9-10 (NAS)\r\n\r\nDo not fear, for I have redeemed you;\r\n\r\nI have called you by name; you are Mine!\r\n\r\nWhen you pass through the waters, I will be with you;\r\n\r\nAnd through the rivers, they will not overflow you.\r\n\r\nWhen you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,\r\n\r\nNor will the flame burn you.\r\n\r\nFor I am the Lord your God,\r\n\r\nThe Holy One of Israel, your Savior.\r\n\r\nYou are precious in My sight;\r\n\r\nYou are honored and I love you.   Isaiah 43:1-4 (NAS)</blockquote>\r\nGod loves and wants me just like I am.  I’m not alone in the dark, and God will help me get through it.  In the midst of my despair, my Mama/Daddy God reassured me that I matter very much.  My true identity is Chosen, Strong, Precious, Honored, and Loved by God.\r\n\r\nI have no clue how I found these verses; it was like the verses found me.  Ever since that day, I have read them many times, because I struggle with depression, and I’m drawn to them whenever I need help hanging on.\r\n\r\nI know for a fact that God sometimes brings certain Scriptures to mind exactly when we need them.  Other times, God leads us to what He or She wants us to hear.  The Bible is a resource through which God can engage in conversations with us.','How To Know We\'re Hearing From God: Part 3','','inherit','open','open','','3835-revision-2','','','2012-01-09 11:14:46','2012-01-09 19:14:46','',3835,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/09/3835-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(3840,35,'2012-01-09 10:57:13','2012-01-09 18:57:13','<em>This is the first of a four part series on How To Know We’re Hearing From God.</em>\r\n\r\nThe idea of having conversations with God wasn’t a part of my religious upbringing.  Prayer was talking “at” God in appropriately reverent language about a limited set of topics.  God talked “at” me through the Bible and the pastor.  Pious Sunday School teachers could also be divine messengers, since angels don’t make house calls anymore.\r\n\r\nBut <em>personal conversations</em> with The Almighty?  What would we talk about, and how would I know I was hearing from God and not just making it up in my head?  Sure, God talked with some people in the Bible, like Moses (a very spiritual guy).  But <em>me</em>?\r\n\r\nThe way I learned to have conversations with God was by trying it.  On the possibility that He or She actually wanted to say something to me one-on-one, I decided to listen and see if I could hear anything.\r\n\r\nThe first thing I did was <strong>ask God to let me know for certain I was hearing from Him/Her</strong>.  I truly didn’t know what to expect, but was curious to see if God would answer a direct question from me.  It took some time for me to become sensitive to God’s voice, but the first time I was certain God had spoken to me, I was both stunned and excited, and wanted it to happen again.  I’ve been having discussions with God ever since, though I don’t always hear Him speak to me.  But God doesn’t always hear from me either.\r\n\r\nThe good news is <strong>God wants to talk <em>with</em> us, and will make sure we know when we’re hearing from Him/Her, if we are willing to listen</strong>.  The messages can come in an infinite variety of ways, sometimes when we least expect it.  Here’s how my son, Gideon, heard from God for the first time, from my book <a href=\"http://store.civitaspress.com/books/193\" target=\"_blank\">Uncensored Prayer: The Spiritual Practice of Wrestling with God</a>:\r\n<blockquote>My oldest son, Gideon, loves playing basketball and is good at it.  Throughout his youth he played for a competitive club team.  His first year of high school, Gideon tried out for the freshman basketball team and made it.  This was the last year he was eligible for his competitive team, where he was a successful, respected player.  Who knew how he would do on the school team, facing new challenges, but his future was in his high school basketball team.\r\n\r\nThe problem was Gideon couldn’t play on both teams at once.  He had to choose between them. With a deadline staring him in the face, I told him to ask God to make the right choice clear.\r\n\r\nMy son had never sought God’s will before, and was skeptical, but gave it a try anyway.  Knowing him, I imagine he prayed something like, “God, help me know what to do,” like this would do any good.  I promised not to tell any of his friends.\r\n\r\nFor a week he said, “One day I want to play school ball, and the next day I want competitive ball.  I can’t make up my mind.”\r\n\r\nI don’t think I had ever discussed seeking God’s direction through prayer with my son.  Gideon went to church because of his family and friends. Following Jesus didn’t cross his mind.  He would take his turn sometimes praying before meals, always starting with, “Thank you, dear God, for this wonderful day you have given us,” followed by ”Thanks for the food, Amen.”  It might have been the only prayer he ever prayed.\r\n\r\nIt was unusual for him to confide in me with a problem and ask for advice.  So I told him what I would do in his situation, and he was willing to try it, being out of other ideas.  I was careful not to give him a specific line to say, so he would pray in his own words.\r\n\r\nTwo things were bothering Gideon that made him try prayer.  First, he wanted two things very important to him, and he couldn’t have both at the same time.  Second, there was an internal daily tug-of-war inside him – a pendulum that swung one way, then the other, back and forth.  He couldn’t put the decision off, due to a deadline.  He asked God what to do as a desperate last-choice solution.\r\n\r\nHow did God make the right choice clear to my son?\r\n\r\nHe asked God to give him guidance, and he was willing to listen, even though the only way he could imagine God talking to someone was through an audible voice, like how Charlton Heston heard God say, “Moses!” in <em>The Ten Commandments</em>.  We want God to let us know in a real and tangible way.  We want God to shout, when often God whispers.\r\n\r\nThe day before the deadline, Gideon came to me with light in his eyes.  He said, “I know what to do!  I’m going with school ball.  I woke up this morning and the conflict was gone!”  To his utter shock, asking God for direction worked. Gideon asked because time was short, and this was a really important decision. He chose to engage God because it was deeply important in his life.\r\n\r\nHow did God answer his prayer?  Did he hear God speak aloud from heaven?  No, the internal conflict disappeared, leaving one desire instead of two.\r\n\r\nHow did he know the answer came from God?  The conflict hadn’t gone away through any other means.  Could he explain it?  No.  Gideon knew what to do now, because choice was no longer an issue.  He didn’t have to choose, because there was only one answer – kind of like voting when there’s only one candidate.\r\n\r\nGod had replaced conflict with peace.</blockquote>\r\n&nbsp;','How To Know We\'re Hearing From God: Part 1','','inherit','open','open','','3399-revision-9','','','2012-01-09 10:57:13','2012-01-09 18:57:13','',3399,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/09/3399-revision-9/',0,'revision','',0),(3841,35,'2012-01-09 11:07:10','2012-01-09 19:07:10','<em>This is the second of a four part series on How To Know We’re Hearing From God.</em>\r\n\r\nGod wants us to know that we know that we know when He or She is speaking to us.  We’re the ones that think we can’t hear – that is, until it happens to us.  God’s messages to us are always very personal, and <strong>God will confirm it making us aware of things that we didn’t and <em>couldn’t</em> already know.</strong>\r\n<blockquote>Call to Me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.  Jeremiah 33:3 (NASB)\r\n\r\nFrom now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you.  Isaiah 48:6 (NIV)</blockquote>\r\nI have written poetry all my life as a kind of therapy, never meant for anyone else to read.  Many poems are prayers, some talking to God and others are conversations. I dreamed of being a full-time author with my books for sale at Barnes &amp; Noble, but knew that could never happen.  First of all, I wouldn’t let anyone read my work – it was too personal.  Also, I couldn’t imagine a publisher accepting a book of poetry from an unknown author.  Yet, God knew my heart’s desire, because He had placed it there.\r\n\r\nMy husband, Bud, and I have a good friend named Connie.  Shortly after Thanksgiving, 2010, Bud encouraged me to share some of my writing with her.  I felt nervous and shy, but agreed to do it.  We went to see her, and I took three or four poems. I wanted to see her reaction.\r\n\r\nShe was sitting across from me, and when I finished reading a particularly raw, painful poem, Connie fell out of her chair on her knees, laid her head in my lap, and sobbed.  Bud and I were shocked.  Finally she looked up and said, “I’m in charge of the logistics for a conference two weeks from now.  The attendees are non-traditional Christians, many of whom have been marginalized by the Church.  I want you to read several of your poems, starting with this one.”  I froze in terror, screaming “NO!” without words.  But another voice in me whispered, “Do it.  This is a group of Christian misfits.  If anyone will accept my work, it might be this bunch.”\r\n\r\nWhen the time came, Bud said he was sure I was going to back out, but I went to the podium, holding my radical writing in trembling hands.  “Let’s get this over with,” I thought.  I knew they would be horrified, politely applaud, then crucify me later.  Instead, I received a standing ovation.  Many in the crowd had tears streaming down their faces, and hugged me afterwards.\r\n\r\nThat was shock number one.\r\n\r\nThen something happened that changed my life forever.  A stranger walked up to me and asked, “Are you published?”  No.  “How many of these do you have?” About 500.  “Where are they?”  In a drawer.  Without hesitation, he said, “I’m a publisher, and I’m going to publish your work.  It’s redemptive, and people need to know it’s OK to be that honest with God.”  Seven months later, my book was for sale at Barnes &amp; Noble.com and Amazon.com –   Uncensored Prayer: The Spiritual Practice of Wrestling With God.\r\n\r\nThe impossible happened, and God arranged it all, beginning with giving me the courage to read some of my poetry to Connie.\r\n\r\nAs I began working on the manuscript with my editor, my dream of being a full-time author resurfaced.  I’ve had a variety of jobs over the last forty years, but never a career.  Nothing fit. Our daughter is a surgery nurse, one son is an electrician, while our youngest son is a Marine.  And I’ve been…an author doing other jobs for a living.\r\n\r\nLast spring I contracted a debilitating form of colitis.  After three months on short-term disability, I was still too sick to come back to work.  The prognosis was my disease might prevent me from working anywhere for an indeterminate period of time, perhaps years.  Only one option was left:  quit my job and work at home as a you-know-what.  God fulfilled my heart’s desire.\r\n\r\nNow, why did it take forty years?  God hasn’t told me that.  I figure it was finally time.  Was it because I became willing to listen?  Yes, in a seemingly small way that resulted in monumental consequences.  My husband nudged me to read my poems to one person who nudged me to share my writing with a group.  God did the nudging through other people, but I had to act on the advice, step out of my comfort zone, and follow God, even though I had no clue what would happen.\r\n\r\nGod confirmed what I didn’t and <em>couldn’t</em> know until it happened, and I got the message loud and clear.  My heart spoke, then God answered, and we are walking together in this adventure of a lifetime.\r\n\r\nHow will <em>you</em> hear from God?  I don’t know, but I promise you will when it’s time.  Look for it.\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Calibri\"> </span>','How To Know We\'re Hearing From God: Part 2','','inherit','open','open','','3830-revision-3','','','2012-01-09 11:07:10','2012-01-09 19:07:10','',3830,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/09/3830-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(3842,35,'2012-01-14 11:09:34','2012-01-14 19:09:34','<em>This is the fourth of a four part series on How To Know We’re Hearing From God.</em>\r\n\r\nAs a child I was taught that pastors are divine messengers from God.  My church said when God calls a man to preach he suddenly has a direct line to the Almighty, Who explains the Bible to him, then he tells the flock what God said.  What I wasn’t taught is we all have a direct line to God.  <strong>God wants to talk with us, and will make sure we know when we’re hearing from Him or Her, if we are willing to listen. </strong>\r\n\r\nA very personal way God communicates to us is <strong>through other people.</strong>  Have you ever heard a song on the radio that encouraged you?  Simon and Garfunkel’s song <em>Bridge Over Troubled Waters</em> has that effect on me each time I hear it.  Did you know that’s a way God can speak His or Her love into our hearts?  Many times God nudges someone to help someone else.  We are made in His/Her image to fulfill a special part for the redemption of us all.  God loved us into being, and when we pass that love along to someone else, we are literally the hands, feet and voice of God and have the transformational power to change someone’s life for the better.\r\n\r\nMy favorite example from my life of how I heard from God through someone else is printed in my book <em>Uncensored Prayer: The Spiritual Practice of Wrestling with God</em>.  Here it is in its entirety:\r\n<blockquote>When I first got sober, my sponsor told me to call her every day.  One morning I got up shaking so badly, I knew I couldn’t go to work, so I called her.  She said, “So, can you take a shower?”  “Of course I can take a shower!” I quavered.  “Go take a shower and call me back.”  Then she hung up.\r\n\r\nAfter my shower, I called her back, and told her I couldn’t face work that day.  “Well, can you get dressed?” she said.  Now she was starting to piss me off.  “Of course I can get dressed!” I said angrily.  “Get dressed, then call me.”  And she slammed the phone down.\r\n\r\nCursing under my breath, I got dressed and called her.  “Are you dressed?” she asked.  I replied, “Yes.  Stop the stupid questions, because I need to talk to you.”  “Call me when you get to work, then we’ll talk.”  I slammed down the phone, and headed to my car.  “I’ll show you I can get to work, you old blank-blank-blank.”\r\n\r\nWhen I sat down at my desk, I called her with shaking hands, saying, “I’m here, but I can’t function.  Are you happy now?”  She said, “What’s the first thing you see in front of you?”  I looked down at my desk and replied, “The mail.”  “Well, open your mail and call me back.”\r\n\r\nThat’s how she got me through that day.  I couldn’t pray right then, but she was praying for me by what she did.  Later she told me she called this process “The Next Indicated Thing.”  Whenever I felt overwhelmed or panicky, I needed to pause and ask God, “What’s the next indicated thing to do?”\r\n\r\nMy sponsor said this was a prayer God would answer every time, immediately.  I would see a simple task right in front of me, like opening the mail or taking a shower.  Then my job was to do it.  God would show me an easy task I could do – not busy work, but something that needed doing.  Focusing on one uncomplicated chore took my mind off of feeling overwhelmed, and calmed me down.  It works.  I highly recommend trying it.\r\n\r\nAsking “What’s the next indicated thing to do?” was one of the first ways I heard God answer me directly.  I knew it was an answer to my prayer, because one minute I was so overwhelmed I had ceased functioning effectively.  There was too much to do in too little time, and I had too little brain left to deal with it.  Then I prayed and saw, right in front of me, something I was capable of doing that needed to be done that day.  I felt like God was saying, “Do this task for the moment and calm down, then I’ll help you sort out what’s on fire and must be done today, and what can wait until later.”\r\n\r\nDoing something was much more effective than doing nothing and stewing over it.  I needed constructive action, not scattered, hurricane action that only left a splintered day and mind in its wake.  God knew exactly what I needed, and gave it when I cried out for help.\r\n\r\nAsking for the next indicated thing to do is one of the most practical and effective prayers I’ve ever learned to say when I feel stressed.  And a friend taught me how to do it by pissing me off.</blockquote>\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;\"> </span>','How To Know We\'re Hearing From God: Part 4','','publish','open','open','','how-to-know-were-hearing-from-god-part-4','','','2012-01-10 11:11:18','2012-01-10 19:11:18','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=3842',0,'post','',2),(3844,35,'2012-01-09 11:24:34','2012-01-09 19:24:34','','How To Hear From God','','inherit','open','open','','how-to-hear-from-god-4','','','2012-01-09 11:24:34','2012-01-09 19:24:34','',3842,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/How-To-Hear-From-God2.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(3845,35,'2012-01-09 11:23:51','2012-01-09 19:23:51','<em>This is the fourth of a four part series on How To Know We’re Hearing From God.</em>\n\nAs a child I was taught that pastors are divine messengers from God.  My church said when God calls a man to preach he suddenly has a direct line to the Almighty, Who explains the Bible to him, then he tells the flock what God said.  What I wasn’t taught is we all have a direct line to God.  <strong>God wants to talk with us, and will make sure we know when we’re hearing from Him or Her, if we are willing to listen. </strong>\n\nA very personal way God communicates to us is <strong>through other people.</strong>  Have you ever heard a song on the radio that encouraged you?  Simon and Garfunkel’s song <em>Bridge Over Troubled Waters</em> has that effect on me each time I hear it.  Did you know that’s a way God can speak His or Her love into our hearts?  Many times God nudges someone to help someone else.  We are made in His/Her image to fulfill a special part for the redemption of us all.  God loved us into being, and when we pass that love along to someone else, we are literally the hands, feet and voice of God and have the transformational power to change someone’s life for the better.\n\nMy favorite example from my life of how I heard from God through someone else is printed in my book <em>Uncensored Prayer: The Spiritual Practice of Wrestling with God</em>.  Here it is in its entirety:\n<blockquote>When I first got sober, my sponsor told me to call her every day.  One morning I got up shaking so badly, I knew I couldn’t go to work, so I called her.  She said, “So, can you take a shower?”  “Of course I can take a shower!” I quavered.  “Go take a shower and call me back.”  Then she hung up.\n\nAfter my shower, I called her back, and told her I couldn’t face work that day.  “Well, can you get dressed?” she said.  Now she was starting to piss me off.  “Of course I can get dressed!” I said angrily.  “Get dressed, then call me.”  And she slammed the phone down.\n\nCursing under my breath, I got dressed and called her.  “Are you dressed?” she asked.  I replied, “Yes.  Stop the stupid questions, because I need to talk to you.”  “Call me when you get to work, then we’ll talk.”  I slammed down the phone, and headed to my car.  “I’ll show you I can get to work, you old blank-blank-blank.”\n\nWhen I sat down at my desk, I called her with shaking hands, saying, “I’m here, but I can’t function.  Are you happy now?”  She said, “What’s the first thing you see in front of you?”  I looked down at my desk and replied, “The mail.”  “Well, open your mail and call me back.”\n\nThat’s how she got me through that day.  I couldn’t pray right then, but she was praying for me by what she did.  Later she told me she called this process “The Next Indicated Thing.”  Whenever I felt overwhelmed or panicky, I needed to pause and ask God, “What’s the next indicated thing to do?”\n\nMy sponsor said this was a prayer God would answer every time, immediately.  I would see a simple task right in front of me, like opening the mail or taking a shower.  Then my job was to do it.  God would show me an easy task I could do – not busy work, but something that needed doing.  Focusing on one uncomplicated chore took my mind off of feeling overwhelmed, and calmed me down.  It works.  I highly recommend trying it.\n\nAsking “What’s the next indicated thing to do?” was one of the first ways I heard God answer me directly.  I knew it was an answer to my prayer, because one minute I was so overwhelmed I had ceased functioning effectively.  There was too much to do in too little time, and I had too little brain left to deal with it.  Then I prayed and saw, right in front of me, something I was capable of doing that needed to be done that day.  I felt like God was saying, “Do this task for the moment and calm down, then I’ll help you sort out what’s on fire and must be done today, and what can wait until later.”\n\nDoing something was much more effective than doing nothing and stewing over it.  I needed constructive action, not scattered, hurricane action that only left a splintered day and mind in its wake.  God knew exactly what I needed, and gave it when I cried out for help.\n\nAsking for the next indicated thing to do is one of the most practical and effective prayers I’ve ever learned to say when I feel stressed.  And a friend taught me how to do it by pissing me off.</blockquote>\n<span style=\"font-family: Calibri;font-size: small\"> </span>','How To Know We\'re Hearing From God: Part 4','','inherit','open','open','','3842-revision','','','2012-01-09 11:23:51','2012-01-09 19:23:51','',3842,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/09/3842-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(3846,35,'2012-01-09 11:25:03','2012-01-09 19:25:03','<em>This is the fourth of a four part series on How To Know We’re Hearing From God.</em>\r\n\r\nAs a child I was taught that pastors are divine messengers from God.  My church said when God calls a man to preach he suddenly has a direct line to the Almighty, Who explains the Bible to him, then he tells the flock what God said.  What I wasn’t taught is we all have a direct line to God.  <strong>God wants to talk with us, and will make sure we know when we’re hearing from Him or Her, if we are willing to listen. </strong>\r\n\r\nA very personal way God communicates to us is <strong>through other people.</strong>  Have you ever heard a song on the radio that encouraged you?  Simon and Garfunkel’s song <em>Bridge Over Troubled Waters</em> has that effect on me each time I hear it.  Did you know that’s a way God can speak His or Her love into our hearts?  Many times God nudges someone to help someone else.  We are made in His/Her image to fulfill a special part for the redemption of us all.  God loved us into being, and when we pass that love along to someone else, we are literally the hands, feet and voice of God and have the transformational power to change someone’s life for the better.\r\n\r\nMy favorite example from my life of how I heard from God through someone else is printed in my book <em>Uncensored Prayer: The Spiritual Practice of Wrestling with God</em>.  Here it is in its entirety:\r\n<blockquote>When I first got sober, my sponsor told me to call her every day.  One morning I got up shaking so badly, I knew I couldn’t go to work, so I called her.  She said, “So, can you take a shower?”  “Of course I can take a shower!” I quavered.  “Go take a shower and call me back.”  Then she hung up.\r\n\r\nAfter my shower, I called her back, and told her I couldn’t face work that day.  “Well, can you get dressed?” she said.  Now she was starting to piss me off.  “Of course I can get dressed!” I said angrily.  “Get dressed, then call me.”  And she slammed the phone down.\r\n\r\nCursing under my breath, I got dressed and called her.  “Are you dressed?” she asked.  I replied, “Yes.  Stop the stupid questions, because I need to talk to you.”  “Call me when you get to work, then we’ll talk.”  I slammed down the phone, and headed to my car.  “I’ll show you I can get to work, you old blank-blank-blank.”\r\n\r\nWhen I sat down at my desk, I called her with shaking hands, saying, “I’m here, but I can’t function.  Are you happy now?”  She said, “What’s the first thing you see in front of you?”  I looked down at my desk and replied, “The mail.”  “Well, open your mail and call me back.”\r\n\r\nThat’s how she got me through that day.  I couldn’t pray right then, but she was praying for me by what she did.  Later she told me she called this process “The Next Indicated Thing.”  Whenever I felt overwhelmed or panicky, I needed to pause and ask God, “What’s the next indicated thing to do?”\r\n\r\nMy sponsor said this was a prayer God would answer every time, immediately.  I would see a simple task right in front of me, like opening the mail or taking a shower.  Then my job was to do it.  God would show me an easy task I could do – not busy work, but something that needed doing.  Focusing on one uncomplicated chore took my mind off of feeling overwhelmed, and calmed me down.  It works.  I highly recommend trying it.\r\n\r\nAsking “What’s the next indicated thing to do?” was one of the first ways I heard God answer me directly.  I knew it was an answer to my prayer, because one minute I was so overwhelmed I had ceased functioning effectively.  There was too much to do in too little time, and I had too little brain left to deal with it.  Then I prayed and saw, right in front of me, something I was capable of doing that needed to be done that day.  I felt like God was saying, “Do this task for the moment and calm down, then I’ll help you sort out what’s on fire and must be done today, and what can wait until later.”\r\n\r\nDoing something was much more effective than doing nothing and stewing over it.  I needed constructive action, not scattered, hurricane action that only left a splintered day and mind in its wake.  God knew exactly what I needed, and gave it when I cried out for help.\r\n\r\nAsking for the next indicated thing to do is one of the most practical and effective prayers I’ve ever learned to say when I feel stressed.  And a friend taught me how to do it by pissing me off.</blockquote>\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Calibri;font-size: small\"> </span>','How To Know We\'re Hearing From God: Part 4','','inherit','open','open','','3842-revision-2','','','2012-01-09 11:25:03','2012-01-09 19:25:03','',3842,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/09/3842-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(3847,0,'2012-01-09 12:17:23','2012-01-09 20:17:23','Faith\r\n\r\nA couple of articles that could be included\r\nhttp://nathancreitz.net/2011/11/18/7-reasons-why-youve-never-made-a-disciple/\r\nhttp://nathancreitz.net/2011/11/07/the-pastor-driven-church/\n<!--more-->\nAUTHOR: Nathan Creitz\nAUTHOR EMAIL: nathan.creitz@gmail.com\nAUTHOR URL: http://nathancreitz.net\nSUBJECT: Provoketive Magazine Writing For Provoketive\nIP: 209.144.63.76\nArray\n(\n    [Name] =&gt; Nathan Creitz\n    [Email] =&gt; nathan.creitz@gmail.com\n    [Existing Blog or Website] =&gt; http://nathancreitz.net\n    [List the topic you are interested writing about] =&gt; Faith\r\n\r\nA couple of articles that could be included\r\nhttp://nathancreitz.net/2011/11/18/7-reasons-why-youve-never-made-a-disciple/\r\nhttp://nathancreitz.net/2011/11/07/the-pastor-driven-church/\n    [Current or New WordPress Login Name (We\'ll send you a password.)] =&gt; nathancreitz\n)\n','Nathan Creitz - 2012-01-09 12:17:23','','publish','open','open','','6c97ab9eb00c755fe6e446991cdd2237','','','2012-01-09 12:17:23','2012-01-09 20:17:23','',358,'http://provoketive.com/?post_type=feedback&p=3847',0,'feedback','',0),(3848,124,'2012-01-09 11:23:51','2012-01-09 19:23:51','Most Christian churches are registered as 501(c)3 non-profit organizations and receive a tax exempt status by the government. They do not pay taxes but must abstain from devoting a substantial part of their activity to influencing legislation and intervening in or contributing to political campaigns. In addition to this, church leaders may only make partisan comments if they do so as a reflection of their personal opinions and cannot make such comments through church publications or at official church functions.\n\nFrom time to time Christian churches endanger their tax exempt status by speaking strongly for or against some particular issue that has a partisan bent. Occasionally these allegations are actually investigated though though this usually only happen when Christian churches speak out <em>against</em> the prevailing political or cultural winds. Quite honestly, investigations should probably happen a lot more than they do as I have seen many Christian churches blatantly violate these requirements with no repercussions.\n\nWhile these issues probably deserve more discussion, these are ultimately moot points to me because I believe all Christian churches should lose their tax exempt status. It is not that believe the IRS should revoke the status 501(c)3 status of Christian churches, it is that I believe it is categorically impossible to take the teachings of Jesus seriously and obey the requirements laid out by the IRS at the same time. While much could be said around this issue there are two primary reasons I believe this.\n\nFirst, Jesus Christ made absolute claims to Lordship. Numerous statements made by Jesus and other New Testament authors proclaim that Jesus is Lord over <em>everything</em>.  Jesus did not claim some selective or private authority, whereby He was only concerned with or Lord over the personal, spiritual or moral dimensions of His follower\'s lives.  Jesus claimed to be Lord over everything. If Jesus is taken in any way seriously, no Church can suggest their members <em>only</em> owe Jesus their spiritual affections and their intellectual assent to specific doctrines and that Jesus and His teachings can be safely ignored on all other matters. Either Jesus is seen as the absolute Lord over the entire world and Lord over all aspects of the of the lives of His followers or the followers of Jesus must admit that they are ignoring some of Jesus’ own words and claims made about Him in the Bible.\n\nSecond, the claims of Jesus and His teachings had and have social and political implications. Jesus did not just encourage His followers to pursue personal piety but to pursue justice. Jesus did not just teach on morality but also on ethics. Jesus taught that we are to love our enemies, that we are to take care of the poor and the marginalized, and that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves.  While it is true that many of these teachings can be taken seriously at a personal level, with no involvement in politics whatsoever, there are some issues that are primarily or exclusively handled in our contemporary society through politics and legislation.  How could a Church take Jesus\' teachings seriously and and not have a strong opinion on things such as  homelessness, economic exploitation in capitalism, environmental injustice, Welfare, Medicaid, universal health care and immigration reform?  In addition to this, some of these issues may require political or legislative reform to address.  For example, volunteering to feed the homeless at a soup kitchen is certainly taking care of the poor, but if you want to end poverty you will need to get involved in local, national and global politics.\n\nIn this situation, how could a Christian church ever hope to abide by the requirements laid out by the IRS? How could one expect Christian churches to follow Jesus and not devote time pursuing legislation?  How could one expect Christian leaders , whose job in part entails espousing the teaching and ideals of Jesus, to not speak about partisan issues in an official capacity or at an official function? At the end of the day I do not think a Christian church could obey Jesus and the IRS at the same time without seriously compromising and ignoring much of what Jesus taught and claimed.  I am of the opinion that if a Christian church claims Jesus to be God and the Bible to be authoritative, it should Jesus claims absolute Lordship over everything, not just over the private or spiritual aspects of His follower’s lives.  Jesus claims and teachings have political implications and therefore following Jesus will always be an inherently political endeavor.\n\n&nbsp;','Why Christian churches should lose their tax exempt status.','','inherit','open','open','','3677-revision-2','','','2012-01-09 11:23:51','2012-01-09 19:23:51','',3677,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/09/3677-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(3849,124,'2012-01-09 12:28:00','2012-01-09 20:28:00','Most Christian churches are registered as 501(c)3 non-profit organizations and receive a tax exempt status by the government. They do not pay taxes but must abstain from devoting a substantial part of their activity to influencing legislation and intervening in or contributing to political campaigns. In addition to this, church leaders may only make partisan comments if they do so as a reflection of their personal opinions and cannot make such comments through church publications or at official church functions.\r\n\r\nFrom time to time Christian churches endanger their tax exempt status by speaking strongly for or against some particular issue that has a partisan bent. Usually only when Christian churches speak out <em>against</em> the prevailing political or cultural winds do they find themselves under investigation by the IRS. The State appears far less concerned about separation of Church and State when the Church agrees with the State. The tax exempt status appears to operate as a kind of reward for Churches that lean the right way in their politics or stay away from politics and quite honestly, if these requirements were evenly enforced, I believe investigations would be far more routine as I have see many blatant violations of these requirements.\r\n\r\nWhile these issues probably deserve more discussion, these are ultimately moot points to me because I believe all Christian churches should lose their tax exempt status. It is not that believe the IRS should revoke the status 501(c)3 status of Christian churches, it is that I believe it is categorically impossible to take the teachings of Jesus seriously and obey the requirements laid out by the IRS at the same time. While much could be said around this issue there are two primary reasons I believe this.\r\n\r\nFirst, Jesus Christ made absolute claims to Lordship. Numerous statements made by Jesus and other New Testament authors proclaim that Jesus is Lord over <em>everything</em>.  Jesus did not just claim authority Lord over the personal, private, moral or spiritual dimensions of His follower\'s lives.  Jesus claimed to be Lord over everything, which certainly would include all aspects of His follower\'s lives.  This would include their finances, their politics, their public lives, etc. If Jesus is taken to be taken seriously, which I think the Christian church should, no Christian church can suggest their members <em>only</em> owe Jesus their spiritual affections and their intellectual assent to specific doctrines and that Jesus and His teachings can be safely ignored on all other matters. Either Jesus is seen as the absolute Lord over the entire world and Lord over all aspects of the of the lives of His followers or the followers of Jesus must admit that they are ignoring some of Jesus’ own words and claims made about Him in the Bible.\r\n\r\nSecond, the claims of Jesus and His teachings had and have social and political implications. Jesus did not just encourage His followers to pursue personal piety but to pursue justice. Jesus did not just teach on morality but also on ethics. Jesus taught that we are to love our enemies, that we are to take care of the poor and the marginalized, and that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. All of these teachings involve many issues that are today governed by politics and legislation. How then could a Christian church obey Jesus and not have very pointed political and partisan concerns? While it is true that many of these teachings can obeyed at a personal level, with no involvement in politics whatsoever, there are some issues that are primarily or exclusively handled in our contemporary society through politics and legislation. For example, a stance on war, will naturally involve politics. In addition to this, certain issues may require political or legislative reform to fully address.  For example, volunteering to feed the homeless at a soup kitchen is certainly taking care of the poor, but if you want work towards ending poverty you will need to get involved in local, national and global politics.\r\n\r\nIn this situation, how could a Christian church ever hope to abide by the requirements laid out by the IRS?  How could a Church take Jesus\' teachings regarding the poor and the marginalized seriously and and not have a strong opinion on political legislation regarding  homelessness, economic exploitation in capitalism, environmental injustice, Welfare, Medicaid, universal health care and immigration reform?  How could one expect Christian leaders , whose job in part entails espousing the teaching and ideals of Jesus, to not speak about partisan issues in an official capacity or at an official function? How could a Christian leader take Jesus\' insistence that we love our enemies seriously and not speak out against all wars in an official capacity?\r\n\r\nAt the end of the day the the political implications of Jesus\' teachings will always guarantee that at some level following Jesus will be a political endeavor. Following Jesus will mean breaking away from prevailing cultural and political winds and in the contemporary context this will mean involvement in legislation and the democratic process which is highly partisan.  In light of all of this I believe it is impossible for Christian churches to obey Jesus and the IRS at the same time without seriously compromising the teachings of the former to receive the tax-exempt status of the latter. I would hope that Christians would follow the teachings of Jesus and live a political life and pursue a political agenda that reflects the person they believe to be God, even though doing so will mean loosing benefits they may have grown accustomed to.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Why Christian churches should lose their tax exempt status.','','inherit','open','open','','3677-revision-3','','','2012-01-09 12:28:00','2012-01-09 20:28:00','',3677,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/09/3677-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(3850,124,'2012-01-09 12:29:17','2012-01-09 20:29:17','Most Christian churches are registered as 501(c)3 non-profit organizations and receive a tax exempt status by the government. They do not pay taxes but must abstain from devoting a substantial part of their activity to influencing legislation and intervening in or contributing to political campaigns. In addition to this, church leaders may only make partisan comments if they do so as a reflection of their personal opinions and cannot make such comments through church publications or at official church functions.\n\nFrom time to time Christian churches endanger their tax exempt status by speaking strongly for or against some particular issue that has a partisan bent. Usually only when Christian churches speak out <em>against</em> the prevailing political or cultural winds do they find themselves under investigation by the IRS. The State appears far less concerned about separation of Church and State when the Church agrees with the State. The tax exempt status appears to operate as a kind of reward for Churches that lean the right way in their politics or stay away from politics and quite honestly, if these requirements were evenly enforced, I believe investigations would be far more routine as I have see many blatant violations of these requirements.\n\nWhile these issues probably deserve more discussion, these are ultimately moot points to me because I believe all Christian churches should lose their tax exempt status. It is not that believe the IRS should revoke the status 501(c)3 status of Christian churches, it is that I believe it is categorically impossible to take the teachings of Jesus seriously and obey the requirements laid out by the IRS at the same time. While much could be said around this issue there are two primary reasons I believe this.\n\nFirst, Jesus Christ made absolute claims to Lordship. Numerous statements made by Jesus and other New Testament authors proclaim that Jesus is Lord over <em>everything</em>.  Jesus did not just claim authority Lord over the personal, private, moral or spiritual dimensions of His follower\'s lives.  Jesus claimed to be Lord over everything, which certainly would include all aspects of His follower\'s lives.  This would include their finances, their politics, their public lives, etc. If Jesus is taken to be taken seriously, which I think the Christian church should, no Christian church can suggest their members <em>only</em> owe Jesus their spiritual affections and their intellectual assent to specific doctrines and that Jesus and His teachings can be safely ignored on all other matters. Either Jesus is seen as the absolute Lord over the entire world and Lord over all aspects of the of the lives of His followers or the followers of Jesus must admit that they are ignoring some of Jesus’ own words and claims made about Him in the Bible.\n\nSecond, the claims of Jesus and His teachings had and have social and political implications. Jesus did not just encourage His followers to pursue personal piety but to pursue justice. Jesus did not just teach on morality but also on ethics. Jesus taught that we are to love our enemies, that we are to take care of the poor and the marginalized, and that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. All of these teachings involve many issues that are today governed by politics and legislation. How then could a Christian church obey Jesus and not have very pointed political and partisan concerns? While it is true that many of these teachings can obeyed at a personal level, with no involvement in politics whatsoever, there are some issues that are primarily or exclusively handled in our contemporary society through politics and legislation. For example, a stance on war, will naturally involve politics. In addition to this, certain issues may require political or legislative reform to fully address.  For example, volunteering to feed the homeless at a soup kitchen is certainly taking care of the poor, but if you want work towards ending poverty you will need to get involved in local, national and global politics.\n\nIn this situation, how could a Christian church ever hope to abide by the requirements laid out by the IRS?  How could a Church take Jesus\' teachings regarding the poor and the marginalized seriously and and not have a strong opinion on political legislation regarding  homelessness, economic exploitation in capitalism, environmental injustice, Welfare, Medicaid, universal health care and immigration reform?  How could one expect Christian leaders , whose job in part entails espousing the teaching and ideals of Jesus, to not speak about partisan issues in an official capacity or at an official function? How could a Christian leader take Jesus\' insistence that we love our enemies seriously and not speak out against all wars in an official capacity?\n\nAt the end of the day the the political implications of Jesus\' teachings will always guarantee that at some level following Jesus will be a political endeavor. Following Jesus will mean breaking away from prevailing cultural and political winds and in the contemporary context this will mean involvement in legislation and the democratic process which is highly partisan.  In light of all of this I believe it is impossible for Christian churches to obey Jesus and the IRS at the same time without seriously compromising the teachings of the former to receive the tax-exempt status of the latter. I would hope that Christians would follow the teachings of Jesus and live a political life and pursue a political agenda that reflects the person they believe to be God, even though doing so will mean loosing benefits they may have grown accustomed to.\n\n&nbsp;','Why Christian churches should lose their tax exempt status.','','inherit','open','open','','3677-revision-4','','','2012-01-09 12:29:17','2012-01-09 20:29:17','',3677,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/09/3677-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(3851,1,'2012-01-09 13:44:58','2012-01-09 21:44:58','','Provoketive_Logo','','inherit','open','open','','provoketive_logo','','','2012-01-09 13:44:58','2012-01-09 21:44:58','',0,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Provoketive_Logo.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(3855,1,'2012-01-09 14:03:19','2012-01-09 22:03:19','','guide','','inherit','open','open','','guide','','','2012-01-09 14:03:19','2012-01-09 22:03:19','',0,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/guide.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(3857,1,'2012-01-09 10:42:30','2012-01-09 18:42:30','Tim Tebow brought the pain to my boys in Black and Gold on Sunday night, beating them in overtime with a huge 80 yard bomb that made it the quickest ending to an NFL overtime in history. When it was over, he knelt down and prayed a prayer of thanks.\r\n\r\nAnd that act probably caused more arguments on Facebook last night than the actual outcome of the game.\r\n\r\nOn one side, you have the folks who point to Tim Tebow\'s success as proof of the sovereignty of God. Who see any criticism of his playing form as a criticism of his faith. Who trot out the \"if he was a Muslim\" argument, while generally being the same people who pair \"radical\" with Muslim far more liberally than necessary.\r\n\r\nOn the other side, you have the critics. The folks who hate that Tebow uses his platform to proselytize. The ones who toss around <a href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6%3A6&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color: #990000\">Matthew 6:6</span></a> ad nauseum. The ones who seem just a little too eager to see him screw up.\r\n\r\nEither way, we end up creating an idol. And idols are good for one thing - to serve as a replacement for the the god they represent.\r\n\r\nIt\'s easy to see how the fans do that. His faith has become the stuff of legend. A Saturday Night Live skit becomes an example of religious persecution. Tim Tebow is the picture of all that is good and right and just. All praise Tebow.\r\n\r\nIt\'s the same from the critics. Tebow is every Christian that has ever been kind of an ass. Any praise that he receives is strictly because of his over-the-top Christianity, not because he might actually be pretty good at his job. He represents all that is phony and shallow and annoying. All hate Tebow.\r\n\r\nThe thing is, Tebow is <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1Pjlr23CMU\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color: #990000\">just this guy</span></a>, you know? He plays a sport well. He wins some games, he loses some games. He goes to church. He uses his money to <a href=\"http://www.timtebowfoundation.org/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color: #990000\">support various causes</span></a>. He probably likes pizza. Some day he\'ll probably do pretty well on Dancing with the Stars. He likely sassed his mom at some point growing up.\r\n\r\nHe\'s not the embodiment of anything, he\'s a dude who plays football. Most of us don\'t know much more about him than that (I tried to find information about the pizza thing, but came up empty. I\'m just guessing, based on pizza\'s extreme popularity, that he likes it.).\r\n\r\nTurning people into idols or caricatures is really easy for us. We do it all the time. We do it with politicians. We do it with writers. We do it with <a href=\"http://rachelheldevans.com/mark-driscoll-real-marriage\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color: #990000\">pastors</span></a>. We do it with any group or person that we don\'t know. We elevate them to a position that they never asked for and then we either worship them or knock them down.\r\n\r\nIn the meantime, we don\'t even know if they like pizza. Or <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_(TV_series)\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color: #990000\">Community</span></a>. Or cats. Or flannel. Or Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain.\r\n\r\nIf we don\'t know that, we certainly can\'t know every nuance of their character. Which makes them a poor representation of God, no matter how virtuous they are or are not.\r\n\r\nGod has provided us with <a href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians%202:6-11&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color: #990000\">one accurate representation of himself</span></a>. If we want to start kneeling, let\'s bow down to that. I\'ll take a spot right next to Tim on that.\r\n\r\nAs long as he likes pizza.','I Won\'t Tebow to Your Idol','','inherit','open','open','','3825-revision-2','','','2012-01-09 10:42:30','2012-01-09 18:42:30','',3825,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/09/3825-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(3858,1,'2012-01-09 14:33:55','2012-01-09 22:33:55','Tim Tebow brought the pain to my boys in Black and Gold on Sunday night, beating them in overtime with a huge 80 yard bomb that made it the quickest ending to an NFL overtime in history. When it was over, he knelt down and prayed a prayer of thanks.\n\nAnd that act probably caused more arguments on Facebook last night than the actual outcome of the game.\n\nOn one side, you have the folks who point to Tim Tebow\'s success as proof of the sovereignty of God. Who see any criticism of his playing form as a criticism of his faith. Who trot out the \"if he was a Muslim\" argument, while generally being the same people who pair \"radical\" with Muslim far more liberally than necessary.\n\nOn the other side, you have the critics. The folks who hate that Tebow uses his platform to proselytize. The ones who toss around <a href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+6%3A6&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color: #990000;\">Matthew 6:6</span></a> ad nauseum. The ones who seem just a little too eager to see him screw up.\n\nEither way, we end up creating an idol. And idols are good for one thing - to serve as a replacement for the the god they represent.\n\nIt\'s easy to see how the fans do that. His faith has become the stuff of legend. A Saturday Night Live skit becomes an example of religious persecution. Tim Tebow is the picture of all that is good and right and just. All praise Tebow.\n\nIt\'s the same from the critics. Tebow is every Christian that has ever been kind of an ass. Any praise that he receives is strictly because of his over-the-top Christianity, not because he might actually be pretty good at his job. He represents all that is phony and shallow and annoying. All hate Tebow.\n\nThe thing is, Tebow is <a href=\"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1Pjlr23CMU\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color: #990000;\">just this guy</span></a>, you know? He plays a sport well. He wins some games, he loses some games. He goes to church. He uses his money to <a href=\"http://www.timtebowfoundation.org/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color: #990000;\">support various causes</span></a>. He probably likes pizza. Some day he\'ll probably do pretty well on Dancing with the Stars. He likely sassed his mom at some point growing up.\n\nHe\'s not the embodiment of anything, he\'s a dude who plays football. Most of us don\'t know much more about him than that (I tried to find information about the pizza thing, but came up empty. I\'m just guessing, based on pizza\'s extreme popularity, that he likes it.).\n\nTurning people into idols or caricatures is really easy for us. We do it all the time. We do it with politicians. We do it with writers. We do it with <a href=\"http://rachelheldevans.com/mark-driscoll-real-marriage\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color: #990000;\">pastors</span></a>. We do it with any group or person that we don\'t know. We elevate them to a position that they never asked for and then we either worship them or knock them down.\n\nIn the meantime, we don\'t even know if they like pizza. Or <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_(TV_series)\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color: #990000;\">Community</span></a>. Or cats. Or flannel. Or Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain.\n\nIf we don\'t know that, we certainly can\'t know every nuance of their character. Which makes them a poor representation of God, no matter how virtuous they are or are not.\n\nGod has provided us with <a href=\"http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians%202:6-11&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"color: #990000;\">one accurate representation of himself</span></a>. If we want to start kneeling, let\'s bow down to that. I\'ll take a spot right next to Tim on that.\n\nAs long as he likes pizza.','I Won\'t Tebow to Your Idol','','inherit','open','open','','3825-autosave','','','2012-01-09 14:33:55','2012-01-09 22:33:55','',3825,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/09/3825-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(4184,140,'2012-01-16 15:54:01','2012-01-16 23:54:01','Sometimes, ok, perhaps it’s <em>often</em>, I weary of the discipline it takes to stay faithful to the routines of tending life. I begin to skimp on the practices that nurture body, mind, soul and community. Fortunately, sometimes something unexpected breaks into it all to enliven my steps.\n\nMy husband and I met with friends for dinner a couple of nights ago. Our dinner companions are the type of friends with whom you always wish you could spend much more time. Along with the delicious food and wine and conversation, we were each served heaping platefuls of hope. Before getting together we decided that we would discuss the end of the world. We were only half joking. This idea was instigated by the distress of another mutual friend, a very wealthy man, over his fear of an impending world wide economic collapse. He was ready to liquidate all his assets, pack up and move to South America. (I am not sure why South America would be better if the whole world was in trouble but there you have it.) One of our dinner mates is also in the financial world and well acquainted with the inner workings of the struggling economy. We looked forward to hearing what she might have to say.\n\nWe agreed that the mutual-friend-turned-conversation-starter is very bright and very rational man. This reaction seemed very out of character for him. But this sort of thinking is entrenched in our collective psyches and probably has been since the beginning of time. We are all afraid of what we cannot control. We are afraid of loss. This fear is amplified through the lens of round the clock disaster movies and documentaries, and the Mayan, Nostradamus and Left Behind theories that all seek to interpret the circumstances around us in catastrophic terms. In response, there are survivalist websites selling packaged food and gear. Self-protective instincts run deep.\n\nOur conversation moved to <em>what if</em>? Specifically, if major calamity does strike, how does the church respond? How do we create safe space for ourselves and how do we care for our neighbors? How do we share meager supplies with those who have run out? How do we offer the hospitality of God?\n\nAnd, what would it be like? Would desperation finally push us to the faith that we have not grown into yet? You know, the kind of faith that feeds 5,000 from a few loaves and fishes, the faith that heals sickness and that finds the coins we need in the mouths of fish? We had no answers. These probably weren’t our real questions. We have not been asked to live this way, not yet. And perhaps not for a long while.\n\nIt was in this context that one friend brought up the idea of spiritual eldering. Spiritual elders are the folks who have been around a while. They have seen suffering and they have seen great beauty, often in the same places. They have seen heart breaking betrayals, and they have seen love and sacrifice not unlike that of Christ himself. They have seen faith fail and they have seen grace overflow. These are the ones who have learned what is truly important. These are the ones who have “set their faces towards Jerusalem”, that is, they have set out <em>finally</em> on the journey that is Christ’s. They have seen Kingdom and can do nothing else but live in a way that brings it forth. They have let go of what brings only fleeting hope here on earth.\n\nSo there we were, the four of us, each moving into our sixth decade on earth. We recognized that we are entering the elder stage. And of course, none of us are ready or adequate. My friend then asked, “When will we be old enough to give it all away?” We recognized that while we are not old enough yet, our shared conviction was to move in that direction together as community. This is never a journey that we need walk alone. In that realization, we felt the growing potential, desire, and <em>joy</em> of the possibilities held between us.\n\nTherein lies the hope. We were sitting in communion with friends who think Kingdom. Their hearts are for the left behind, the people in need. They are not thinking about preparing for disasters as much as much as learning to be good shepherds. They are concerned about growing into the people we would each need to become in order to bring forth the equities and the sweet, inclusive s<em>halom</em> of Kingdom life, no matter what happens. We all felt a quiet thrill at the thought of this communal dream. And just for once, the cost didn’t seem to obscure the prize.\n\nNone of this stuff would be surprising to my dear mentor nun, Sr. Marilyn. She is a spiritual elder in the truest sense of those words and she is helping to grow us up. She once told me a story of a priest whose South American monastery faced apocalypse when it was invaded by gunmen. The humble priest greeted them with open arms. They shot him. “It was the practices,” said Sister, “that prepared his heart to meet them that way.” Indeed, it was the practices that prepared him for anything.\n\nRichard Rohr notes that in our younger days, we typically use the type of prayer posture that we feel will help to build our careers, fill our coffers, and create a life. As we move towards eldering, we need the kind of prayer practices that help us to let it all go. We need what will bring us to the place where being emptied enough to truly open ourselves to the need of the other starts to become as compelling a desire as any other we have known here. Then, instead of grasping and protecting what is ours, we begin to walk this earth with arms held open wide. That\'s more than I can ever accomplish on my own.\n\nHow do we get there? “Do the practices,” says Sr. Marilyn. “The practices will get you ready.”\n\n[The practices she refers to include regular engagement with faith community, Centering Prayer, Lectio Divinia, the daily Examen and others.]','Hope is Held Between Us','','inherit','open','open','','4179-revision-2','','','2012-01-16 15:54:01','2012-01-16 23:54:01','',4179,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/16/4179-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(3862,130,'2012-01-10 06:33:19','0000-00-00 00:00:00','It was the window seat I snagged that day, to the left of a sixty-something year old man who smelled vaguely of urine and cigarettes.\r\n\r\n“If you stay on this road long enough”, my odiferous neighbor tells me, “you hit the Atlantic Ocean.” He then laughs, as if he has revealed previously hidden wisdom. As his laughter descends into his chest, creating a raspy cough, we pass to the right of the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PyramidArena.jpg\">Pyramid</a>, its shiny metal siding reflecting light into my eyes as the driver heads toward the ocean.\r\n\r\nI won’t be going quite that far.\r\n\r\n# # #\r\n\r\nFor 13 years, I lived in Memphis. Growing up, a dirt-poor kid in Marshall County Mississippi, I dreamed of moving to Memphis – of living in a gated community, of owning a red sports car, of the hot wife, the career spent in books and letters. Check, check, check and check.\r\n\r\nBut, as John the prophet said, life is what happened while we were making other plans. I spent the first decade of my adulthood climbing the ladder of success. I climbed, and I climbed and I climbed. One day, I stopped, and looked around. It was then I noticed that while I had done a good job of climbing – I am, in fact, a hell of a climber – my ladder was leaning against the wrong wall.\r\n\r\nWhat if you plan a life and nobody comes?\r\n\r\nWhen I was 30, I had been married to a beautiful woman for six years, I was a successful (in a middling sort of way) financial advisor, I had a great apartment on a good street and a closet full of Ralph Lauren suits.\r\n\r\nAnd I was throwing up blood about once a week from the stress. And I was drinking way too much. I hated my life.\r\n\r\nSo, I quit. Not just the job – I quit the whole life.\r\n\r\nIf at first you don’t succeed, to hell with it.\r\n\r\n# # #\r\n\r\nThat was five years before the day I sat next to khaki-clad smelly man on an east bound bus, with what was left of my possessions in a duffle bag stuffed under the seat. Here I sat, two years older than Jesus ever got to be, with a head full of Transcendentalist poetry, a gut full of bad coffee from the bus station and tears running down my face, washing away the memory of the dreams of all my yesterdays.\r\n\r\nI was headed to Raleigh, NC. I needed a fresh start – a new place where I had never sold books or insurance, where I had never broken anyone’s heart, lost anyone’s fortune, where I had never fallen in love with someone who wanted the me I used to be, where I had never broken a promise or a wedding vow.\r\n\r\nIt was time to be born again.\r\n\r\n# # #\r\n\r\nSo, that day, I sat on that bus, my entire net worth boiled down to $800 cash, a few books and two pair of jeans. And I was starting a new life – I had spent the first 35 years or so of my life focusing on me. On that long bus trip, I made a list of all the things I did not like about me.\r\n\r\nIt was a long list.\r\n\r\nBut chief on it, right at the top, was that I was a people user. I was all about me, and what people could do for me.\r\n\r\nI hated that.\r\n\r\nIt was not the “me” I liked to think I was. I thought of myself as loving. Generous. Caring. Jesus-like, even.\r\n\r\nBut, I wasn’t. Truth is, I was just a user.\r\n\r\nSo, I decided it was time to change. Time to be the person I wished I was, the person I dreamed of being, the person I would be proud to be. The person my wife, or my girlfriend or my grandkids would be proud I was.\r\n\r\nI decided to change.\r\n\r\nChange is hard. I have heard it said that we only change when it becomes harder to remain the same than it does to change. Maybe that’s true. All I know is, on that bus, with broken dreams and shattered relationships behind me, I decided to change.\r\n\r\nSo I did.\r\n\r\nI started<a title=\"Love Wins Ministries\" href=\"http://lovewins.info\"> a ministry based entirely on relationships</a> – relationships with people who often cannot return the favor, and who can’t advance my career or puff my ego. I learned from them, and then I began to speak to churches about what I learned. Then I took resources from those churches and used them to help my new friends.\r\n\r\nIt was not easy. It was not the simple path, or the easy path – but it was the right path. It was my authentic path – the path I was born to follow. It was the path I was fighting all those years I was climbing furiously a ladder leaning against the wrong wall.\r\n\r\nFor the last four and a half years, I have lived the life I wanted to live – an authentic life: A life where I am not a user, but a contributor. I am married to my best friend. I have a wide variety of friends around my dinner table all the time. My work makes a difference. People’s lives are changed because I live mine. I get to do stimulating work and exercise my creativity.\r\n\r\nLife is good.\r\n\r\n# # #\r\n\r\nSo, why am I telling you all of this?\r\n\r\nBecause it is January. This means a lot of you are thinking about change. You are looking around and you see your life staring back at you and you do not like what you see. You see the broken promises and scattered dreams in your history and you find you do not like the story of your life. You are not living out your authentic story.\r\n\r\nAnd you want to change.\r\n\r\nBut you are scared.\r\n\r\nScared you will fail. Scared you will be laughed at. Scared you will lose friends. Scared you will struggle.\r\n\r\nYou should be scared. Deciding to live your authentic life is scary. Deciding to be the person you want to believe you are is scary.\r\n\r\nBut you know what is scarier?\r\n\r\nWaking up one day and finding out you spent your life living someone else’s dreams, building someone else’s vision, creating someone else’s legacy – and being too scared to change.\r\n\r\nYou can change. You can wake up and live the life you were born to live. You can build great things, dream big dreams, watch them unfurl and drink in the victory of living a life well played.\r\n\r\nYou can be born again.\r\n\r\nBut first, you have to decide to change.\r\n\r\n<em><span style=\"color: #999999\">(image courtesy of  <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/telstar/2083679415/\"><span style=\"color: #999999\">Telstar Logistics</span></a>)</span></em>','Deciding to Change','','draft','open','open','','','','','2012-01-10 06:33:19','2012-01-10 14:33:19','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=3862',0,'post','',0),(3863,130,'2012-01-10 06:10:09','2012-01-10 14:10:09','It was the window seat I snagged that day, to the left of a sixty-something year old man who smelled vaguely of urine and cigarettes.\n\n“If you stay on this road long enough”, my odiferous neighbor tells me, “you hit the Atlantic Ocean.” He then laughs, as if he has revealed previously hidden wisdom. As his laughter descends into his chest, creating a raspy cough, we pass to the right of the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PyramidArena.jpg\">Pyramid</a>, its shiny metal siding reflecting light into my eyes as the driver heads toward the ocean.\n\nI won’t be going quite that far.\n\n# # #\n\nFor 13 years, I lived in Memphis. Growing up, a dirt-poor kid in Marshall County Mississippi, I dreamed of moving to Memphis – of living in a gated community, of owning a red sports car, of the hot wife, the career spent in books and letters. Check, check, check and check.\n\nBut, as John the prophet said, life is what happened while we were making other plans. I spent the first decade of my adulthood climbing the ladder of success. I climbed, and I climbed and I climbed. One day, I stopped, and looked around. It was then I noticed that while I had done a good job of climbing – I am, in fact, a hell of a climber – my ladder was leaning against the wrong wall.\n\nWhat if you plan a life and nobody comes?\n\nWhen I was 30, I had been married to a beautiful woman for six years, I was a successful (in a middling sort of way) financial advisor, I had a great apartment on a good street and a closet full of Ralph Lauren suits.\n\nAnd I was throwing up blood about once a week from the stress. And I was drinking way too much. I hated my life.\n\nSo, I quit. Not just the job – I quit the whole life.\n\nIf at first you don’t succeed, to hell with it.\n\n# # #\n\nThat was five years before the day I sat next to khaki-clad smelly man on an east bound bus, with what was left of my possessions in a duffle bag stuffed under the seat. Here I sat, two years older than Jesus ever got to be, with a head full of Transcendentalist poetry, a gut full of bad coffee from the bus station and tears running down my face, washing away the memory of the dreams of all my yesterdays.\n\nI was headed to Raleigh, NC. I needed a fresh start – a new place where I had never sold books or insurance, where I had never broken anyone’s heart, lost anyone’s fortune, where I had never fallen in love with someone who wanted the me I used to be, where I had never broken a promise or a wedding vow.\n\nIt was time to be born again.\n\n# # #\n\nSo, that day, I sat on that bus, my entire net worth boiled down to $800 cash, a few books and two pair of jeans. And I was starting a new life – I had spent the first 35 years or so of my life focusing on me. On that long bus trip, I made a list of all the things I did not like about me.\n\nIt was a long list.\n\nBut chief on it, right at the top, was that I was a people user. I was all about me, and what people could do for me.\n\nI hated that.\n\nIt was not the “me” I liked to think I was. I thought of myself as loving. Generous. Caring. Jesus-like, even.\n\nBut, I wasn’t. Truth is, I was just a user.\n\nSo, I decided it was time to change. Time to be the person I wished I was, the person I dreamed of being, the person I would be proud to be. The person my wife, or my girlfriend or my grandkids would be proud I was.\n\nI decided to change.\n\nChange is hard. I have heard it said that we only change when it becomes harder to remain the same than it does to change. Maybe that’s true. All I know is, on that bus, with broken dreams and shattered relationships behind me, I decided to change.\n\nSo I did.\n\nI started a ministry based entirely on relationships – relationships with people who often cannot return the favor, and who can’t advance my career or puff my ego. I learned from them, and then I began to speak to churches about what I learned. Then I took resources from those churches and used them to help my new friends.\n\nIt was not easy. It was not the simple path, or the easy path – but it was the right path. It was my authentic path – the path I was born to follow. It was the path I was fighting all those years I was climbing furiously a ladder leaning against the wrong wall.\n\nFor the last four and a half years, I have lived the life I wanted to live – an authentic life: A life where I am not a user, but a contributor. I am married to my best friend. I have a wide variety of friends around my dinner table all the time. My work makes a difference. People’s lives are changed because I live mine. I get to do stimulating work and exercise my creativity.\n\nLife is good.\n\n# # #\n\nSo, why am I telling you all of this?\n\nBecause it is January. This means a lot of you are thinking about change. You are looking around and you see your life staring back at you and you do not like what you see. You see the broken promises and scattered dreams in your history and you find you do not like the story of your life. You are not living out your authentic story.\n\nAnd you want to change.\n\nBut you are scared.\n\nScared you will fail. Scared you will be laughed at. Scared you will lose friends. Scared you will struggle.\n\nYou should be scared. Deciding to live your authentic life is scary. Deciding to be the person you want to believe you are is scary.\n\nBut you know what is scarier?\n\nWaking up one day and finding out you spent your life living someone else’s dreams, building someone else’s vision, creating someone else’s legacy – and being too scared to change.\n\nYou can change. You can wake up and live the life you were born to live. You can build great things, dream big dreams, watch them unfurl and drink in the victory of living a life well played.\n\nYou can be born again.\n\nBut first, you have to decide to change.','Deciding to Change','','inherit','open','open','','3862-revision','','','2012-01-10 06:10:09','2012-01-10 14:10:09','',3862,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3862-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(3864,130,'2012-01-10 06:21:29','2012-01-10 14:21:29','','Bus','','inherit','open','open','','bus','','','2012-01-10 06:21:29','2012-01-10 14:21:29','',3862,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Bus.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(3865,130,'2012-01-10 06:10:09','2012-01-10 14:10:09','It was the window seat I snagged that day, to the left of a sixty-something year old man who smelled vaguely of urine and cigarettes.\r\n\r\n“If you stay on this road long enough”, my odiferous neighbor tells me, “you hit the Atlantic Ocean.” He then laughs, as if he has revealed previously hidden wisdom. As his laughter descends into his chest, creating a raspy cough, we pass to the right of the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PyramidArena.jpg\">Pyramid</a>, its shiny metal siding reflecting light into my eyes as the driver heads toward the ocean.\r\n\r\nI won’t be going quite that far.\r\n\r\n# # #\r\n\r\nFor 13 years, I lived in Memphis. Growing up, a dirt-poor kid in Marshall County Mississippi, I dreamed of moving to Memphis – of living in a gated community, of owning a red sports car, of the hot wife, the career spent in books and letters. Check, check, check and check.\r\n\r\nBut, as John the prophet said, life is what happened while we were making other plans. I spent the first decade of my adulthood climbing the ladder of success. I climbed, and I climbed and I climbed. One day, I stopped, and looked around. It was then I noticed that while I had done a good job of climbing – I am, in fact, a hell of a climber – my ladder was leaning against the wrong wall.\r\n\r\nWhat if you plan a life and nobody comes?\r\n\r\nWhen I was 30, I had been married to a beautiful woman for six years, I was a successful (in a middling sort of way) financial advisor, I had a great apartment on a good street and a closet full of Ralph Lauren suits.\r\n\r\nAnd I was throwing up blood about once a week from the stress. And I was drinking way too much. I hated my life.\r\n\r\nSo, I quit. Not just the job – I quit the whole life.\r\n\r\nIf at first you don’t succeed, to hell with it.\r\n\r\n# # #\r\n\r\nThat was five years before the day I sat next to khaki-clad smelly man on an east bound bus, with what was left of my possessions in a duffle bag stuffed under the seat. Here I sat, two years older than Jesus ever got to be, with a head full of Transcendentalist poetry, a gut full of bad coffee from the bus station and tears running down my face, washing away the memory of the dreams of all my yesterdays.\r\n\r\nI was headed to Raleigh, NC. I needed a fresh start – a new place where I had never sold books or insurance, where I had never broken anyone’s heart, lost anyone’s fortune, where I had never fallen in love with someone who wanted the me I used to be, where I had never broken a promise or a wedding vow.\r\n\r\nIt was time to be born again.\r\n\r\n# # #\r\n\r\nSo, that day, I sat on that bus, my entire net worth boiled down to $800 cash, a few books and two pair of jeans. And I was starting a new life – I had spent the first 35 years or so of my life focusing on me. On that long bus trip, I made a list of all the things I did not like about me.\r\n\r\nIt was a long list.\r\n\r\nBut chief on it, right at the top, was that I was a people user. I was all about me, and what people could do for me.\r\n\r\nI hated that.\r\n\r\nIt was not the “me” I liked to think I was. I thought of myself as loving. Generous. Caring. Jesus-like, even.\r\n\r\nBut, I wasn’t. Truth is, I was just a user.\r\n\r\nSo, I decided it was time to change. Time to be the person I wished I was, the person I dreamed of being, the person I would be proud to be. The person my wife, or my girlfriend or my grandkids would be proud I was.\r\n\r\nI decided to change.\r\n\r\nChange is hard. I have heard it said that we only change when it becomes harder to remain the same than it does to change. Maybe that’s true. All I know is, on that bus, with broken dreams and shattered relationships behind me, I decided to change.\r\n\r\nSo I did.\r\n\r\nI started a ministry based entirely on relationships – relationships with people who often cannot return the favor, and who can’t advance my career or puff my ego. I learned from them, and then I began to speak to churches about what I learned. Then I took resources from those churches and used them to help my new friends.\r\n\r\nIt was not easy. It was not the simple path, or the easy path – but it was the right path. It was my authentic path – the path I was born to follow. It was the path I was fighting all those years I was climbing furiously a ladder leaning against the wrong wall.\r\n\r\nFor the last four and a half years, I have lived the life I wanted to live – an authentic life: A life where I am not a user, but a contributor. I am married to my best friend. I have a wide variety of friends around my dinner table all the time. My work makes a difference. People’s lives are changed because I live mine. I get to do stimulating work and exercise my creativity.\r\n\r\nLife is good.\r\n\r\n# # #\r\n\r\nSo, why am I telling you all of this?\r\n\r\nBecause it is January. This means a lot of you are thinking about change. You are looking around and you see your life staring back at you and you do not like what you see. You see the broken promises and scattered dreams in your history and you find you do not like the story of your life. You are not living out your authentic story.\r\n\r\nAnd you want to change.\r\n\r\nBut you are scared.\r\n\r\nScared you will fail. Scared you will be laughed at. Scared you will lose friends. Scared you will struggle.\r\n\r\nYou should be scared. Deciding to live your authentic life is scary. Deciding to be the person you want to believe you are is scary.\r\n\r\nBut you know what is scarier?\r\n\r\nWaking up one day and finding out you spent your life living someone else’s dreams, building someone else’s vision, creating someone else’s legacy – and being too scared to change.\r\n\r\nYou can change. You can wake up and live the life you were born to live. You can build great things, dream big dreams, watch them unfurl and drink in the victory of living a life well played.\r\n\r\nYou can be born again.\r\n\r\nBut first, you have to decide to change.','Deciding to Change','','inherit','open','open','','3862-revision-2','','','2012-01-10 06:10:09','2012-01-10 14:10:09','',3862,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3862-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(3866,130,'2012-01-10 06:31:09','2012-01-10 14:31:09','It was the window seat I snagged that day, to the left of a sixty-something year old man who smelled vaguely of urine and cigarettes.\n\n“If you stay on this road long enough”, my odiferous neighbor tells me, “you hit the Atlantic Ocean.” He then laughs, as if he has revealed previously hidden wisdom. As his laughter descends into his chest, creating a raspy cough, we pass to the right of the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PyramidArena.jpg\">Pyramid</a>, its shiny metal siding reflecting light into my eyes as the driver heads toward the ocean.\n\nI won’t be going quite that far.\n\n# # #\n\nFor 13 years, I lived in Memphis. Growing up, a dirt-poor kid in Marshall County Mississippi, I dreamed of moving to Memphis – of living in a gated community, of owning a red sports car, of the hot wife, the career spent in books and letters. Check, check, check and check.\n\nBut, as John the prophet said, life is what happened while we were making other plans. I spent the first decade of my adulthood climbing the ladder of success. I climbed, and I climbed and I climbed. One day, I stopped, and looked around. It was then I noticed that while I had done a good job of climbing – I am, in fact, a hell of a climber – my ladder was leaning against the wrong wall.\n\nWhat if you plan a life and nobody comes?\n\nWhen I was 30, I had been married to a beautiful woman for six years, I was a successful (in a middling sort of way) financial advisor, I had a great apartment on a good street and a closet full of Ralph Lauren suits.\n\nAnd I was throwing up blood about once a week from the stress. And I was drinking way too much. I hated my life.\n\nSo, I quit. Not just the job – I quit the whole life.\n\nIf at first you don’t succeed, to hell with it.\n\n# # #\n\nThat was five years before the day I sat next to khaki-clad smelly man on an east bound bus, with what was left of my possessions in a duffle bag stuffed under the seat. Here I sat, two years older than Jesus ever got to be, with a head full of Transcendentalist poetry, a gut full of bad coffee from the bus station and tears running down my face, washing away the memory of the dreams of all my yesterdays.\n\nI was headed to Raleigh, NC. I needed a fresh start – a new place where I had never sold books or insurance, where I had never broken anyone’s heart, lost anyone’s fortune, where I had never fallen in love with someone who wanted the me I used to be, where I had never broken a promise or a wedding vow.\n\nIt was time to be born again.\n\n# # #\n\nSo, that day, I sat on that bus, my entire net worth boiled down to $800 cash, a few books and two pair of jeans. And I was starting a new life – I had spent the first 35 years or so of my life focusing on me. On that long bus trip, I made a list of all the things I did not like about me.\n\nIt was a long list.\n\nBut chief on it, right at the top, was that I was a people user. I was all about me, and what people could do for me.\n\nI hated that.\n\nIt was not the “me” I liked to think I was. I thought of myself as loving. Generous. Caring. Jesus-like, even.\n\nBut, I wasn’t. Truth is, I was just a user.\n\nSo, I decided it was time to change. Time to be the person I wished I was, the person I dreamed of being, the person I would be proud to be. The person my wife, or my girlfriend or my grandkids would be proud I was.\n\nI decided to change.\n\nChange is hard. I have heard it said that we only change when it becomes harder to remain the same than it does to change. Maybe that’s true. All I know is, on that bus, with broken dreams and shattered relationships behind me, I decided to change.\n\nSo I did.\n\nI started a ministry based entirely on relationships – relationships with people who often cannot return the favor, and who can’t advance my career or puff my ego. I learned from them, and then I began to speak to churches about what I learned. Then I took resources from those churches and used them to help my new friends.\n\nIt was not easy. It was not the simple path, or the easy path – but it was the right path. It was my authentic path – the path I was born to follow. It was the path I was fighting all those years I was climbing furiously a ladder leaning against the wrong wall.\n\nFor the last four and a half years, I have lived the life I wanted to live – an authentic life: A life where I am not a user, but a contributor. I am married to my best friend. I have a wide variety of friends around my dinner table all the time. My work makes a difference. People’s lives are changed because I live mine. I get to do stimulating work and exercise my creativity.\n\nLife is good.\n\n# # #\n\nSo, why am I telling you all of this?\n\nBecause it is January. This means a lot of you are thinking about change. You are looking around and you see your life staring back at you and you do not like what you see. You see the broken promises and scattered dreams in your history and you find you do not like the story of your life. You are not living out your authentic story.\n\nAnd you want to change.\n\nBut you are scared.\n\nScared you will fail. Scared you will be laughed at. Scared you will lose friends. Scared you will struggle.\n\nYou should be scared. Deciding to live your authentic life is scary. Deciding to be the person you want to believe you are is scary.\n\nBut you know what is scarier?\n\nWaking up one day and finding out you spent your life living someone else’s dreams, building someone else’s vision, creating someone else’s legacy – and being too scared to change.\n\nYou can change. You can wake up and live the life you were born to live. You can build great things, dream big dreams, watch them unfurl and drink in the victory of living a life well played.\n\nYou can be born again.\n\nBut first, you have to decide to change.\n\n<span style=\"color: #999999\">(image courtesy of  <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/telstar/2083679415/\"><span style=\"color: #999999\">Telstar Logistics</span></a>)</span>','Deciding to Change','','inherit','open','open','','3862-revision-3','','','2012-01-10 06:31:09','2012-01-10 14:31:09','',3862,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3862-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(3867,130,'2012-01-10 06:32:09','2012-01-10 14:32:09','It was the window seat I snagged that day, to the left of a sixty-something year old man who smelled vaguely of urine and cigarettes.\n\n“If you stay on this road long enough”, my odiferous neighbor tells me, “you hit the Atlantic Ocean.” He then laughs, as if he has revealed previously hidden wisdom. As his laughter descends into his chest, creating a raspy cough, we pass to the right of the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PyramidArena.jpg\">Pyramid</a>, its shiny metal siding reflecting light into my eyes as the driver heads toward the ocean.\n\nI won’t be going quite that far.\n\n# # #\n\nFor 13 years, I lived in Memphis. Growing up, a dirt-poor kid in Marshall County Mississippi, I dreamed of moving to Memphis – of living in a gated community, of owning a red sports car, of the hot wife, the career spent in books and letters. Check, check, check and check.\n\nBut, as John the prophet said, life is what happened while we were making other plans. I spent the first decade of my adulthood climbing the ladder of success. I climbed, and I climbed and I climbed. One day, I stopped, and looked around. It was then I noticed that while I had done a good job of climbing – I am, in fact, a hell of a climber – my ladder was leaning against the wrong wall.\n\nWhat if you plan a life and nobody comes?\n\nWhen I was 30, I had been married to a beautiful woman for six years, I was a successful (in a middling sort of way) financial advisor, I had a great apartment on a good street and a closet full of Ralph Lauren suits.\n\nAnd I was throwing up blood about once a week from the stress. And I was drinking way too much. I hated my life.\n\nSo, I quit. Not just the job – I quit the whole life.\n\nIf at first you don’t succeed, to hell with it.\n\n# # #\n\nThat was five years before the day I sat next to khaki-clad smelly man on an east bound bus, with what was left of my possessions in a duffle bag stuffed under the seat. Here I sat, two years older than Jesus ever got to be, with a head full of Transcendentalist poetry, a gut full of bad coffee from the bus station and tears running down my face, washing away the memory of the dreams of all my yesterdays.\n\nI was headed to Raleigh, NC. I needed a fresh start – a new place where I had never sold books or insurance, where I had never broken anyone’s heart, lost anyone’s fortune, where I had never fallen in love with someone who wanted the me I used to be, where I had never broken a promise or a wedding vow.\n\nIt was time to be born again.\n\n# # #\n\nSo, that day, I sat on that bus, my entire net worth boiled down to $800 cash, a few books and two pair of jeans. And I was starting a new life – I had spent the first 35 years or so of my life focusing on me. On that long bus trip, I made a list of all the things I did not like about me.\n\nIt was a long list.\n\nBut chief on it, right at the top, was that I was a people user. I was all about me, and what people could do for me.\n\nI hated that.\n\nIt was not the “me” I liked to think I was. I thought of myself as loving. Generous. Caring. Jesus-like, even.\n\nBut, I wasn’t. Truth is, I was just a user.\n\nSo, I decided it was time to change. Time to be the person I wished I was, the person I dreamed of being, the person I would be proud to be. The person my wife, or my girlfriend or my grandkids would be proud I was.\n\nI decided to change.\n\nChange is hard. I have heard it said that we only change when it becomes harder to remain the same than it does to change. Maybe that’s true. All I know is, on that bus, with broken dreams and shattered relationships behind me, I decided to change.\n\nSo I did.\n\nI started a ministry based entirely on relationships – relationships with people who often cannot return the favor, and who can’t advance my career or puff my ego. I learned from them, and then I began to speak to churches about what I learned. Then I took resources from those churches and used them to help my new friends.\n\nIt was not easy. It was not the simple path, or the easy path – but it was the right path. It was my authentic path – the path I was born to follow. It was the path I was fighting all those years I was climbing furiously a ladder leaning against the wrong wall.\n\nFor the last four and a half years, I have lived the life I wanted to live – an authentic life: A life where I am not a user, but a contributor. I am married to my best friend. I have a wide variety of friends around my dinner table all the time. My work makes a difference. People’s lives are changed because I live mine. I get to do stimulating work and exercise my creativity.\n\nLife is good.\n\n# # #\n\nSo, why am I telling you all of this?\n\nBecause it is January. This means a lot of you are thinking about change. You are looking around and you see your life staring back at you and you do not like what you see. You see the broken promises and scattered dreams in your history and you find you do not like the story of your life. You are not living out your authentic story.\n\nAnd you want to change.\n\nBut you are scared.\n\nScared you will fail. Scared you will be laughed at. Scared you will lose friends. Scared you will struggle.\n\nYou should be scared. Deciding to live your authentic life is scary. Deciding to be the person you want to believe you are is scary.\n\nBut you know what is scarier?\n\nWaking up one day and finding out you spent your life living someone else’s dreams, building someone else’s vision, creating someone else’s legacy – and being too scared to change.\n\nYou can change. You can wake up and live the life you were born to live. You can build great things, dream big dreams, watch them unfurl and drink in the victory of living a life well played.\n\nYou can be born again.\n\nBut first, you have to decide to change.\n\n<em><span style=\"color: #999999\">(image courtesy of  <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/telstar/2083679415/\"><span style=\"color: #999999\">Telstar Logistics</span></a>)</span></em>','Deciding to Change','','inherit','open','open','','3862-revision-4','','','2012-01-10 06:32:09','2012-01-10 14:32:09','',3862,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3862-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(3868,130,'2012-01-10 06:32:55','2012-01-10 14:32:55','It was the window seat I snagged that day, to the left of a sixty-something year old man who smelled vaguely of urine and cigarettes.\r\n\r\n“If you stay on this road long enough”, my odiferous neighbor tells me, “you hit the Atlantic Ocean.” He then laughs, as if he has revealed previously hidden wisdom. As his laughter descends into his chest, creating a raspy cough, we pass to the right of the <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PyramidArena.jpg\">Pyramid</a>, its shiny metal siding reflecting light into my eyes as the driver heads toward the ocean.\r\n\r\nI won’t be going quite that far.\r\n\r\n# # #\r\n\r\nFor 13 years, I lived in Memphis. Growing up, a dirt-poor kid in Marshall County Mississippi, I dreamed of moving to Memphis – of living in a gated community, of owning a red sports car, of the hot wife, the career spent in books and letters. Check, check, check and check.\r\n\r\nBut, as John the prophet said, life is what happened while we were making other plans. I spent the first decade of my adulthood climbing the ladder of success. I climbed, and I climbed and I climbed. One day, I stopped, and looked around. It was then I noticed that while I had done a good job of climbing – I am, in fact, a hell of a climber – my ladder was leaning against the wrong wall.\r\n\r\nWhat if you plan a life and nobody comes?\r\n\r\nWhen I was 30, I had been married to a beautiful woman for six years, I was a successful (in a middling sort of way) financial advisor, I had a great apartment on a good street and a closet full of Ralph Lauren suits.\r\n\r\nAnd I was throwing up blood about once a week from the stress. And I was drinking way too much. I hated my life.\r\n\r\nSo, I quit. Not just the job – I quit the whole life.\r\n\r\nIf at first you don’t succeed, to hell with it.\r\n\r\n# # #\r\n\r\nThat was five years before the day I sat next to khaki-clad smelly man on an east bound bus, with what was left of my possessions in a duffle bag stuffed under the seat. Here I sat, two years older than Jesus ever got to be, with a head full of Transcendentalist poetry, a gut full of bad coffee from the bus station and tears running down my face, washing away the memory of the dreams of all my yesterdays.\r\n\r\nI was headed to Raleigh, NC. I needed a fresh start – a new place where I had never sold books or insurance, where I had never broken anyone’s heart, lost anyone’s fortune, where I had never fallen in love with someone who wanted the me I used to be, where I had never broken a promise or a wedding vow.\r\n\r\nIt was time to be born again.\r\n\r\n# # #\r\n\r\nSo, that day, I sat on that bus, my entire net worth boiled down to $800 cash, a few books and two pair of jeans. And I was starting a new life – I had spent the first 35 years or so of my life focusing on me. On that long bus trip, I made a list of all the things I did not like about me.\r\n\r\nIt was a long list.\r\n\r\nBut chief on it, right at the top, was that I was a people user. I was all about me, and what people could do for me.\r\n\r\nI hated that.\r\n\r\nIt was not the “me” I liked to think I was. I thought of myself as loving. Generous. Caring. Jesus-like, even.\r\n\r\nBut, I wasn’t. Truth is, I was just a user.\r\n\r\nSo, I decided it was time to change. Time to be the person I wished I was, the person I dreamed of being, the person I would be proud to be. The person my wife, or my girlfriend or my grandkids would be proud I was.\r\n\r\nI decided to change.\r\n\r\nChange is hard. I have heard it said that we only change when it becomes harder to remain the same than it does to change. Maybe that’s true. All I know is, on that bus, with broken dreams and shattered relationships behind me, I decided to change.\r\n\r\nSo I did.\r\n\r\nI started<a title=\"Love Wins Ministries\" href=\"http://lovewins.info\"> a ministry based entirely on relationships</a> – relationships with people who often cannot return the favor, and who can’t advance my career or puff my ego. I learned from them, and then I began to speak to churches about what I learned. Then I took resources from those churches and used them to help my new friends.\r\n\r\nIt was not easy. It was not the simple path, or the easy path – but it was the right path. It was my authentic path – the path I was born to follow. It was the path I was fighting all those years I was climbing furiously a ladder leaning against the wrong wall.\r\n\r\nFor the last four and a half years, I have lived the life I wanted to live – an authentic life: A life where I am not a user, but a contributor. I am married to my best friend. I have a wide variety of friends around my dinner table all the time. My work makes a difference. People’s lives are changed because I live mine. I get to do stimulating work and exercise my creativity.\r\n\r\nLife is good.\r\n\r\n# # #\r\n\r\nSo, why am I telling you all of this?\r\n\r\nBecause it is January. This means a lot of you are thinking about change. You are looking around and you see your life staring back at you and you do not like what you see. You see the broken promises and scattered dreams in your history and you find you do not like the story of your life. You are not living out your authentic story.\r\n\r\nAnd you want to change.\r\n\r\nBut you are scared.\r\n\r\nScared you will fail. Scared you will be laughed at. Scared you will lose friends. Scared you will struggle.\r\n\r\nYou should be scared. Deciding to live your authentic life is scary. Deciding to be the person you want to believe you are is scary.\r\n\r\nBut you know what is scarier?\r\n\r\nWaking up one day and finding out you spent your life living someone else’s dreams, building someone else’s vision, creating someone else’s legacy – and being too scared to change.\r\n\r\nYou can change. You can wake up and live the life you were born to live. You can build great things, dream big dreams, watch them unfurl and drink in the victory of living a life well played.\r\n\r\nYou can be born again.\r\n\r\nBut first, you have to decide to change.\r\n\r\n<em><span style=\"color: #999999\">(image courtesy of  <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/telstar/2083679415/\"><span style=\"color: #999999\">Telstar Logistics</span></a>)</span></em>','Deciding to Change','','inherit','open','open','','3862-revision-5','','','2012-01-10 06:32:55','2012-01-10 14:32:55','',3862,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3862-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(3871,1,'2012-01-07 21:04:31','2012-01-08 05:04:31','There\'s a  four-letter word getting thrown around a lot lately. It\'s a word I\'ve heard used flippantly, jokingly, and disparagingly. Admittedly, sometimes it seems like the most accurate, albeit inflammatory, word to use. Often this word is spoken, perhaps rightly so, by broken and hurting people out of pain and frustration. It\'s a word that was used by a commenter on my previous post in Provoketive Magazine, <a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2011/12/08/slap-on-a-little-lipstick-youll-be-fine/\">Slap On a Little Lipstick, You\'ll Be Fine</a>. If I am being completely honest, it\'s a word I\'ve used, sometimes quickly out of anger, and a lot more cautiously after great deliberation.\r\n\r\nThat\'s right, I am talking about the \'C\' word: Cult.\r\n\r\nCult is a term used by many Christians to describe Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Christian Scientists, and many other fringe religious groups and doomsday groups like Peoples Temple and Heaven\'s Gate.  It\'s also been used to discredit Christian churches and ministries with an authoritarian structure, rigid rules, and/or apparent spiritual abuse. The commenter from my last article used it in reference to what he thought was a minister requiring me to wear lipstick (as a note, I never stated in that article whether that incident occurred at a secular or religious organization). And I\'ll admit it, I\'d be pretty tempted to slap that label on a minister requiring women to wear lipstick.\r\n\r\nGiven that it carries such negative overtones, it is probably not a word one should use unless it is known for certain that a group is a cult. But what <em>is</em> a true cult?\r\n\r\nMerriam-Webster\'s Online Dictionary gives the following definition:\r\n\r\n<span class=\"ssens\">1    : formal religious veneration : worship</span>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">2</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">3</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents</span></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">4</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\">: a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <span class=\"vi\">&lt;health cults&gt;</span></span></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div class=\"sblk\">\r\n<div class=\"snum\" style=\"float: left\">5</div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">a</span> : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad</span></div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">b</span> : the object of such devotion</span></div>\r\n<div class=\"scnt\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;margin-left: 20px\"><span class=\"ssens\"><span class=\"sn\">c</span> : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion</span></div>\r\n</div>\r\nGoing by this definition, any religious group or faith is a cult. That\'s right, that means any Christian church or group, mainstream or otherwise, by definition is a cult. And it doesn\'t stop at religion: any fad or craze with a following is a cult, like the cult of Mac or my personal cult following of choice, that of the canceled Sci-Fi show, Firefly. Really, with the exception of the third listed definition of cult (i.e. a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious), the word shouldn\'t necessarily carry a negative connotation.\r\n\r\nIf, for the sake of this article, we decided to simply run with Webster\'s third definition of cult, it would be difficult to find a fully objective person or governing body to determine what is unorthodox regarding religious beliefs and doctrine. So who gets to decide? If you asked a Lutheran, Catholic, Pentecostal, Charismatic, Mennonite, and Episcopalian each about what constituted orthodox versus unorthodox beliefs in other denominations, you would undoubtedly find each denomination labeled unorthodox (and thus a cult) by at least one other denomination.\r\n\r\nEven sociologists and psychologist tend to disagree over whether or not to continue the use of the word cult, since what started as a mostly neutral term now tends to bring to mind the poisoned Kool-Aid victims of the Jonestown Massacre. Furthermore, there is more of a continuum or spectrum between what constitutes \"cult\" and \"non-cult,\" rather than simple black and white definitions. As such, many have given to using further descriptors for cults, such as \"dangerous\" or \"benign.\"\r\n\r\nThis is why I appreciate the resources that the <a href=\"http://www.icsahome.com/\">International Cultic Studies Association</a> has online regarding cults.  The ICSA acknowledges upfront the difficulty in cult terminology, and then focuses on the damaging aspects and practices that can occur in cults, without giving a subjective list of cults or bad organizations on their website.  Instead, it is up to the reader to use the information to decide on their own. That being said, here is the list of characteristics often found with cultic groups, according to Michael D. Langone, Ph.D, Executive Director of the ICSA:\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li>The group displays excessively zealous and unquestioning commitment to its leader and (whether he is alive or dead) regards his belief system, ideology, and practices as the Truth, as law.</li>\r\n	<li>Questioning, doubt, and dissent are discouraged or even punished.</li>\r\n	<li>Mind-altering practices (such as meditation, chanting, speaking in tongues, denunciation sessions, and debilitating work routines) are used in excess and serve to suppress doubts about the group and its leader(s).</li>\r\n	<li>The leadership dictates, sometimes in great detail, how members should think, act, and feel (for example, members must get permission to date, change jobs, marry—or leaders prescribe what types of clothes to wear, where to live, whether or not to have children, how to discipline children, and so forth).</li>\r\n	<li>The group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s) and members (for example, the leader is considered the Messiah, a special being, an avatar—or the group and/or the leader is on a special mission to save humanity).</li>\r\n	<li>The group has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, which may cause conflict with the wider society</li>\r\n	<li>The leader is not accountable to any authorities (unlike, for example, teachers, military commanders or ministers, priests, monks, and rabbis of mainstream religious denominations).</li>\r\n	<li>The group teaches or implies that its supposedly exalted ends justify whatever means it deems necessary. This may result in members\' participating in behaviors or activities they would have considered reprehensible or unethical before joining the group (for example, lying to family or friends, or collecting money for bogus charities).</li>\r\n	<li>The leadership induces feelings of shame and/or guilt<span class=\"SpellE\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-top: 1px;padding-right: 3px;padding-left: 3px;padding-bottom: 6px;margin-top: 1px;margin-bottom: 1px;margin-left: 1px\">in</span>order to influence and/or control members. Often, this is done through peer pressure and subtle forms of persuasion.</li>\r\n	<li>Subservience to the leader or group requires members to cut ties with family and friends, and radically alter the personal goals and activities they had before joining the group.</li>\r\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with bringing in new members.</li>\r\n	<li>The group is preoccupied with making money.</li>\r\n	<li>Members are expected to devote inordinate amounts of time to the group and group-related activities.</li>\r\n	<li>Members are encouraged or required to live and/or socialize only with other group members.</li>\r\n	<li>The most loyal members (the “true believers”) feel there can be no life outside the context of the group. They believe there is no other way to be, and often fear reprisals to themselves or others if they leave (or even consider leaving) the group.</li>\r\n</ol>\r\nPlease note that this list is not meant to be a definitive or all-encompassing checklist to diagnose groups, but merely a guideline of characteristics that cults often display. Even if an organization were to have many of these characteristics, I think we should be careful before immediately labeling a group as a cult, given how loaded a word it is. Also, I propose that it is entirely possible that a group everyone would agree is not truly a cult could be shown to display many of these traits, depending on how you describe them.\r\n\r\nFor example, a sports team could easily be described in such a way as to seem cultic. For one thing, all the members are committed wholly to the coach; questioning the coach can lead to losing the game, being benched, or even being completely removed from the team. Also, team members often engage in weirdly scripted pre-game chants with indiscernible grunts, meant to increase team unity and create a team mind-set. Furthermore, the team must all dress in complete uniformity, down to the color of their clothing, or they are not allowed to participate. The team also has a polarized us-versus-them mentality, viewing all other teams as opponents they must defeat. Being apart of the team will also likely affect their relationships and other personal goals; due to long practice sessions and traveling for games, they will have little to no time to pursue other activities, and they may not see their family very often during the on-season. Now granted, this example doesn\'t fit every characteristic listed, but as you can see, it could be easy to make a group fit these characteristics if you were already prejudiced against it.\r\n\r\nBecause \"cult\" is an indistinctly defined term that can be misused and misapplied to great detriment, it is important to be careful before immediately slapping the cult label on any religious group that we disagree with or even one that has truly injured us. That being said, damaging groups and cults flying under the Christian flag do exist, and it is wise to be aware of these cult characteristics. Many have the \"I\'m too smart or balanced to get pulled into a cult\" mentality, but people of all walks of life are susceptible to cults, especially as cults often give misleading information about their true nature, organizational structure, rules, etc., when you first become involved. I certainly thought I was too intelligent or psychologically sound to get involved with a sketchy ministry or (gasp!) a cult.\r\n\r\nFor approximately eight years, I was a part of a 5-fold para-church Christian ministry. If you are unfamiliar with that wordy terminology, essentially it was a Christian organization focused on the 5-fold ministry gifts listed in Ephesians 4:11 (apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher) that was not a church, but rather a ministry that worked alongside Christian churches. I knew of the ministry through respected friends and acquaintances from the church I attend in high school, and my first involvement was merely as a member of the worship team while I was in college.\r\n\r\nShortly after college, my husband and I \"joined the team,\" becoming more deeply involved and committed to the ministry.  As time progressed, the ministry\'s meetings (both public meetings and private \"team only\" meetings) became more frequent and went into the early morning hours (I often arrived back home after 3 am). In addition, more rigid rules were created and enforced regarding everything from not drinking alcohol, meeting attendance, how to act around the leader of our ministry, dress code, taboo discussion topics with non-team members, and much more. Public questioning of the leader was not allowed, and if you questioned him in private, somehow it was always turned around that you had a  \"heart issue\" and \"issues with authority.\" Really though, with the high demands on the team, long hours volunteering, etc., everyone was usually too tired to think, let alone have the faculties necessary to find fault with the ministry or leadership.\r\n\r\nThe \"heart issue\" was a commonly employed method to get the team to stay in line. When other members left the team (by choice or otherwise), or if the leadership found out we were associating with people who did not agree 100% with the ministry, we were discouraged to continue anything more than a superficial relationship with them. The head of the ministry was always careful to point out that he wasn\'t saying we couldn\'t associate with them, but that the fact that we would want to, knowing what they thought of the ministry, revealed our true heart. Even missing <em>optional</em> extra-curricular team events was taken as evidence of  having heart issues.\r\n\r\nEventually I became even more involved with the ministry, to the point of being privy to much of the leadership\'s confidential information regarding the inner workings of the ministry, other ministers, and even other team members. At first, it was an honor to have such a position. However, eventually I began to see the cracks in the leadership and the ministry-- cracks I could not point out unless I wanted to have a \"come to Jesus meeting\" where my supposed heart issues, authority issues, and God knows what other issues might be raised, to deflect from the flaws in leadership. Many things were done at the bidding of the leadership that I did not really agree with. Team members were booted from the ministry when they wouldn\'t toe the line, and the rest of the team was given false or highly misleading information about why they left. Long weeks of meetings were called because \'God was moving\', when behind closed doors in staff meetings, we discussed having extra meetings to get more money to keep the ministry afloat. These are just a couple of examples of the many issues I could mention.\r\n\r\nDespite my dislike of who I was becoming at this ministry and my disagreements with what the leadership were doing, I deeply struggled with leaving. Anyone who left the ministry was declared to be \"out of God\'s will,\" and I certainly did not want to be that! Furthermore, we had put eight years of our livelihood into that ministry, and leaving would lead me to question whether we had wasted the entirety of those years. At the same time, I could no longer believe that the ministry was truly acting in a way that glorified or modeled Christ.\r\n\r\nWhile I struggled and prayed for God to either release me or give me the fortitude to leave on my own, my husband was absolutely certain we needed to leave. He met with the head of the ministry about this, who disagreed that it was time for us to leave. At his request, my husband agreed to take 30 days to pray about this, after which they would meet again. At the same time, I decided it was time to move out of my current job within the ministry, even if we still remained on the team. After the 30 days, my husband\'s decision remained the same. The day before his scheduled follow-up meeting, the leader called us up and kicked us off the team by phone before we had the chance to meet with him in person and possibly leave on good terms.\r\n\r\nDespite my relief at being released from the team, I still had an incredible amount of anger and pain stemming from how things were handled, both during our time at the ministry and in the way in which we were released from the team. In the first few months after we left, I easily denounced this ministry as a cult. And I suspect that many others may jump to that same conclusion after reading my account from my time there. Looking through the list from the ICSA, this ministry does fit at least 13 out of 15 of the characteristics of cultic groups. Does that mean my original declaration was correct, even if it was spoken out of pain and anger? Perhaps there is more to the story.\r\n\r\nDespite the many issues I have with that ministry, I do believe that everyone there, including the leadership, truly believes that they are helping people and doing God\'s will. Granted, having good intentions doesn\'t keep people from hurting others or doing incredible wrong. Many horrific acts have been done and continue to be done in the name of God and God\'s will.  And, the belief that you are helping people is certainly not a litmus test to prove non-cult status. But does it count for something along the spectrum of dangerous cult/benign cult/non-cult?\r\n\r\nAt this ministry, it is my opinion that they end up doing significantly more damage to people than they do good; but, it certainly isn\'t at the same level as drinking poisoned Kool-Aid and committing mass suicide. Is there a certain level of damage by which we can measure what is a cult?  And, cult or not, what is the correct and appropriate response for Christians when faced with a Christian ministry, church, or organization that is clearly damaging to people? Do we publicly denounce them or silently pray for them?\r\n\r\nWith this particular group, and perhaps with many other cult-like Christian groups, I think the root of the issue may be with a dictatorial authority structure that does not brook any questioning of leadership, leading to abuse of power. However, this is an authority structure that many groups of Christians believe is biblical and ideal. So what then? Are they right <em>technically</em> but abusing a God-given structure, are they wrong and simply misunderstanding scripture, or worse, are they twisting and manipulating scripture? At what point are doctrinal disagreements and differences in interpretation of scripture so far off that they are grounds for pulling out the cult label? Who really gets to decide who is a heretic nowadays, anyway?\r\n\r\nAfter my particular experience, I certainly wouldn\'t recommend that ministry to anyone, friend or foe. If anything, I would tell them to run in the opposite direction. But at this point I also wouldn\'t publicly denounce them as a definitive cult. No, it\'s not because I \"drank the Kool-Aid.\" They certainly straddle that fence between spiritual abuse and cult with more aplomb than a sure-footed tight-rope walker. And that line between a legitimate ministry that has fallen due to an abusive authority and a full-blown, destructive cult already blurs so much to me that I just won\'t make that final judgment. Instead I choose to pray for them, holding out hope that, in their desire to do God\'s will and minister to the body, they will see the damage they are doing and change. And, I pray for myself, that if I have somehow misjudged them, God will open my eyes.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','The \'C\' Word','','inherit','open','open','','3704-revision-83','','','2012-01-07 21:04:31','2012-01-08 05:04:31','',3704,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/07/3704-revision-83/',0,'revision','',0),(3873,1,'2012-01-10 08:51:18','2012-01-10 16:51:18','This month Provoketive Magazine is pleased to announce we\'re trying something new.  In partnership with some great authors, we\'re hosting a <a href=\"http://www.facebook.com/groups/114506961937378/\" target=\"_blank\">Synchroblog</a> on the subject of Hope.  January is often a space to create new dreams and so we\'re leaving the topic open and to your imagination. We believe the power of voice has tremendous capacity to inspire and give hope to people. A Synchroblog is a collective response to a particular topic.  Everyone writes about the same issue and then links to each other\'s post.  The deadline for participating is January 18th, 2012.\r\n\r\nInstructions For Participating:\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li>Sign up to be a writer on Provoketive.  Click <a title=\"Writing For Provoketive\" href=\"http://provoketive.com/writing-for-provoketive/\" target=\"_blank\">here</a> and fill out the form.  We\'ll send you all the instructions to add your post.</li>\r\n	<li>Write and submit a 500-1,000 word post on the subject of hope.  Some things to consider writing about include: what gives you hope, what is your hope, how did you gain your hope, or a story of hope in your life.  You may post the article on your own blog if you wish, but schedule it for January 18th.</li>\r\n	<li>All posts must be submitted to Provoketive by January 17th.</li>\r\n	<li>Check back on the day of publication and grab the link list to everyone\'s post.  Publish the link list on your blog.</li>\r\n</ol>\r\nFeel free to ask questions if you need clarification.  We\'re really excited about this and look forward to seeing what inspires you.\r\n\r\nJonathan Brink\r\n\r\nSenior Editor, Provoketive','A Synchroblog on Hope','','publish','open','open','','a-synchroblog-on-hope','','','2012-01-10 08:51:18','2012-01-10 16:51:18','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=3873',0,'post','',1),(3874,1,'2012-01-10 08:49:18','2012-01-10 16:49:18','','hope_synchroblog','','inherit','open','open','','hope_synchroblog','','','2012-01-10 08:49:18','2012-01-10 16:49:18','',3873,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/hope_synchroblog.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(3875,1,'2012-01-10 08:50:23','2012-01-10 16:50:23','This month Provoketive Magazine is pleased to announce we\'re trying something new.  In partnership with some great authors, we\'re hosting a <a href=\"http://www.facebook.com/groups/114506961937378/\" target=\"_blank\">Synchroblog</a> on the subject of Hope.  January is often a space to create new dreams and so we\'re leaving the topic open and to your imagination. We believe the power of voice has tremendous capacity to inspire and give hope to people. A Synchroblog is a collective response to a particular topic.  Everyone writes about the same issue and then links to each other\'s post.  The deadline for participating is January 18th, 2012.\n\nInstructions For Participating:\n<ol>\n	<li>Sign up to be a writer on Provoketive.  Click <a title=\"Writing For Provoketive\" href=\"http://provoketive.com/writing-for-provoketive/\" target=\"_blank\">here</a> and fill out the form.  We\'ll send you all the instructions to add your post.</li>\n	<li>Write and submit a 500-1,000 word post on the subject of hope.  Some things to consider writing about include: what gives you hope, what is your hope, how did you gain your hope, or a story of hope in your life.  You may post the article on your own blog if you wish, but schedule it for January 18th.</li>\n	<li>All posts must be subm</li>\n	<li>Check back on the day of publication and grab the link list to everyone\'s post.  Publish the link list on your blog.</li>\n</ol>\nFeel free to ask questions if you need clarification.\n\nJonathan Brink\n\nSenior Editor, Provoketive','A Synchroblog on Hope','','inherit','open','open','','3873-revision','','','2012-01-10 08:50:23','2012-01-10 16:50:23','',3873,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3873-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(3876,1,'2012-01-10 08:52:38','2012-01-10 16:52:38','This month Provoketive Magazine is pleased to announce we\'re trying something new.  In partnership with some great authors, we\'re hosting a <a href=\"http://www.facebook.com/groups/114506961937378/\" target=\"_blank\">Synchroblog</a> on the subject of Hope.  January is often a space to create new dreams and so we\'re leaving the topic open and to your imagination. We believe the power of voice has tremendous capacity to inspire and give hope to people. A Synchroblog is a collective response to a particular topic.  Everyone writes about the same issue and then links to each other\'s post.  The deadline for participating is January 18th, 2012.\n\nInstructions For Participating:\n<ol>\n	<li>Sign up to be a writer on Provoketive.  Click <a title=\"Writing For Provoketive\" href=\"http://provoketive.com/writing-for-provoketive/\" target=\"_blank\">here</a> and fill out the form.  We\'ll send you all the instructions to add your post.</li>\n	<li>Write and submit a 500-1,000 word post on the subject of hope.  Some things to consider writing about include: what gives you hope, what is your hope, how did you gain your hope, or a story of hope in your life.  You may post the article on your own blog if you wish, but schedule it for January 18th.</li>\n	<li>All posts must be submitted to Provoketive by January 17th.</li>\n	<li>Check back on the day of publication and grab the link list to everyone\'s post.  Publish the link list on your blog.</li>\n</ol>\nFeel free to ask questions if you need clarification.  We\'re really excited about this and look forward to seeing what inspires you.\n\nJonathan Brink\n\nSenior Editor, Provoketive','A Synchroblog on Hope','','inherit','open','open','','3873-autosave','','','2012-01-10 08:52:38','2012-01-10 16:52:38','',3873,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3873-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(3877,0,'2012-01-10 09:11:10','2012-01-10 17:11:10','faith, politics, family, movies, music, books\n<!--more-->\nAUTHOR: Liz Dyer\nAUTHOR EMAIL: lizdyer55@gmail.com\nAUTHOR URL: http://gracerules.wordpress.com/\nSUBJECT: Provoketive Magazine Writing For Provoketive\nIP: 63.240.122.129\nArray\n(\n    [Name] =&gt; Liz Dyer\n    [Email] =&gt; lizdyer55@gmail.com\n    [Existing Blog or Website] =&gt; http://gracerules.wordpress.com/\n    [List the topic you are interested writing about] =&gt; faith, politics, family, movies, music, books\n    [Current or New WordPress Login Name (We\'ll send you a password.)] =&gt; gracerules\n)\n','Liz Dyer - 2012-01-10 09:11:10','','publish','open','open','','eaf089602469d5392ace35026975b857','','','2012-01-10 09:11:10','2012-01-10 17:11:10','',358,'http://provoketive.com/?post_type=feedback&p=3877',0,'feedback','',0),(3878,0,'2012-01-10 09:26:38','2012-01-10 17:26:38','Faith, in particular living that faith out.\n<!--more-->\nAUTHOR: Johnny Brooks\nAUTHOR EMAIL: Afutureandahope@gmail.com\nAUTHOR URL: http://Www.purechristianity.blogs.com\nSUBJECT: Provoketive Magazine Writing For Provoketive\nIP: 197.177.40.102\nArray\n(\n    [Name] =&gt; Johnny Brooks\n    [Email] =&gt; Afutureandahope@gmail.com\n    [Existing Blog or Website] =&gt; Www.purechristianity.blogs.com\n    [List the topic you are interested writing about] =&gt; Faith, in particular living that faith out.\n    [Current or New WordPress Login Name (We\'ll send you a password.)] =&gt; JohnnyBrooks\n)\n','Johnny Brooks - 2012-01-10 09:26:38','','publish','open','open','','d01d662ced226a88e9e095218ef7262a','','','2012-01-10 09:26:38','2012-01-10 17:26:38','',358,'http://provoketive.com/?post_type=feedback&p=3878',0,'feedback','',0),(3879,124,'2012-01-10 09:31:57','2012-01-10 17:31:57','Most Christian churches are registered as 501(c)3 non-profit organizations and receive a tax exempt status by the government. <a href=\"http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">According to the IRS</a>, churches do not pay taxes but must abstain from devoting a substantial part of their activity to influencing legislation and intervening in or contributing to political campaigns. In addition to this, church leaders may only make partisan comments if they do so as a reflection of their personal opinions and cannot make such comments through church publications or at official church functions.\n\nFrom time to time Christian churches endanger their tax exempt status by speaking strongly for or against some particular issue that has a partisan bent. Usually only when Christian churches speak out <em>against</em> the prevailing political or cultural winds do they find themselves under investigation by the IRS. The State appears far less concerned about separation of Church and State when the Church agrees with the State. Quite honestly, if these requirements were fairly and consistently enforced, I believe investigations would be far more routine as I have seen many blatant violations of these requirements.\n\nWhile these issues probably deserve more discussion, these are ultimately moot points to me because I believe all Christian churches should lose their tax exempt status. I believe this because it is categorically impossible for Christian churches to take the teachings of Jesus seriously and obey the requirements laid out by the IRS at the same time. Christian churches claim that Jesus is God, so they should probably obey Jesus despite the fact that this will mean breaking the requirements laid out by the IRS and losing their tax exempt status. There are two primary reasons I believe this is the situation Christian churches are faced with.\n\nFirst, Jesus Christ made absolute claims to Lordship. Numerous statements made by Jesus and other New Testament authors proclaim that Jesus is Lord over <em>everything</em>.  Jesus did not just claim authority over the personal, private, moral or spiritual dimensions of His follower\'s lives.  Jesus claimed to be Lord over everything, which certainly would include all aspects of His follower\'s lives.  This would include their finances, their politics, their public lives, how they treat the poor, how they treat their enemies, etc. If the claims about Jesus\' lordship and authority are to be taken seriously, no Christian church can suggest their members <em>only</em> owe Jesus their spiritual affections or their intellectual assent to specific doctrines while Jesus can be safely ignored on all other matters. Either Jesus is seen as the absolute Lord over the entire world and Lord over all aspects of the of the lives of His followers or the followers of Jesus must admit that they are ignoring some of Jesus’ own words and claims made about Him in the Bible.\n\nSecond, the claims of Jesus and His teachings had and have social and political implications. Jesus did not just encourage His followers to pursue personal piety but to pursue justice. Jesus did not just teach on morality but also on ethics. Jesus taught that we are to love our enemies, that we are to take care of the poor and the marginalized, and that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. All of these teachings involve many issues that are today governed by politics and legislation. How then could a Christian church obey Jesus and not have very pointed political and partisan concerns? While it is true that many of these teachings can obeyed at a personal level, with no involvement in politics whatsoever, there are some issues that are primarily or exclusively handled in our contemporary society through politics and legislation. For example, a stance on war, will naturally involve politics. In addition to this, certain issues may require political or legislative reform to fully address.  For example, volunteering to feed the homeless at a soup kitchen is certainly taking care of the poor, but if you want work towards ending poverty you will need to get involved in local, national and global politics.\n\nIn this situation, how could a Christian church ever hope to abide by the requirements laid out by the IRS?  Because of Jesus\' claims to absolute and complete authority, Christians cannot offer their personal and private lives to Jesus while keeping who they vote for, what legislation they pursue, and how they treat others separate from their faith. A Christian cannot say, \"I pray and believe according to the teachings of Jesus, but I do not let it impact how I vote. That is a private and personal matter.\"  How could a Church take Jesus\' teachings regarding the poor and the marginalized seriously and not have a strong opinion on political legislation regarding  homelessness, economic exploitation in capitalism, environmental injustice, Welfare, Medicaid, universal health care and immigration reform?  How could one expect Christian leaders , whose job in part entails espousing the teaching and ideals of Jesus, to not speak about partisan issues in an official capacity or at an official function? How could a Christian leader take Jesus\' insistence that we love our enemies seriously and not speak out against all wars in an official capacity?\n\nAt the end of the day, Jesus\'s claims and teachings had and have political implications and this will always guarantee that at some level following Jesus will be a political endeavor. Following Jesus has always meant being willing to break from the prevailing cultural and political winds and in the contemporary context this will mean involvement in legislation and the democratic process which is highly partisan.  In light of all of this I believe it is impossible for Christian churches to obey Jesus and the IRS at the same time without seriously compromising the teachings of the former to receive the tax-exempt status of the latter. I would hope that Christians would follow the teachings of Jesus and live a political life and pursue a political agenda that reflects the person they believe to be God, even though doing so will mean loosing benefits they may have grown accustomed to.\n\n&nbsp;','Why Christian churches should lose their tax exempt status.','','inherit','open','open','','3677-revision-5','','','2012-01-10 09:31:57','2012-01-10 17:31:57','',3677,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3677-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(3881,124,'2012-01-10 09:33:46','2012-01-10 17:33:46','Most Christian churches are registered as 501(c)3 non-profit organizations and receive a tax exempt status by the government. <a href=\"http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">According to the IRS</a>, churches do not pay taxes but must abstain from devoting a substantial part of their activity to influencing legislation and intervening in or contributing to political campaigns. In addition to this, church leaders may only make partisan comments if they do so as a reflection of their personal opinions and cannot make such comments through church publications or at official church functions.\n\nFrom time to time Christian churches endanger their tax exempt status by speaking strongly for or against some particular issue that has a partisan bent. Usually only when Christian churches speak out <em>against</em> the prevailing political or cultural winds do they find themselves under investigation by the IRS. The State appears far less concerned about separation of Church and State when the Church agrees with the State. Quite honestly, if these requirements were fairly and consistently enforced, I believe investigations would be far more routine as I have seen many blatant violations of these requirements.\n\nWhile these issues probably deserve more discussion, these are ultimately moot points to me because I believe all Christian churches should lose their tax exempt status. I believe this because it is categorically impossible for Christian churches to take the teachings of Jesus seriously and obey the requirements laid out by the IRS at the same time. Christian churches claim that Jesus is God, so they should probably obey Jesus despite the fact that this will mean breaking the requirements laid out by the IRS and losing their tax exempt status. There are two primary reasons I believe this is the situation Christian churches are faced with.\n\nFirst, Jesus Christ made absolute claims to Lordship. Numerous statements made by Jesus and other New Testament authors proclaim that Jesus is Lord over <em>everything</em>.  Jesus did not just claim authority over the personal, private, moral or spiritual dimensions of His follower\'s lives.  Jesus claimed to be Lord over everything, which certainly would include all aspects of His follower\'s lives.  This would include their finances, their politics, their public lives, how they treat the poor, how they treat their enemies, etc. If the claims about Jesus\' lordship and authority are to be taken seriously, no Christian church can suggest their members <em>only</em> owe Jesus their spiritual affections or their intellectual assent to specific doctrines while Jesus can be safely ignored on all other matters. Either Jesus is seen as the absolute Lord over the entire world and Lord over all aspects of the of the lives of His followers or the followers of Jesus must admit that they are ignoring some of Jesus’ own words and claims made about Him in the Bible.\n\nSecond, the claims of Jesus and His teachings had and have social and political implications. Jesus did not just encourage His followers to pursue personal piety but to pursue justice. Jesus did not just teach on morality but also on ethics. Jesus taught that we are to love our enemies, that we are to take care of the poor and the marginalized, and that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. All of these teachings involve many issues that are today governed by politics and legislation. How then could a Christian church obey Jesus and not have very pointed political and partisan concerns? While it is true that many of these teachings can obeyed at a personal level, with no involvement in politics whatsoever, there are some issues that are primarily or exclusively handled in our contemporary society through politics and legislation. For example, a stance on war, will naturally involve politics. In addition to this, certain issues may require political or legislative reform to fully address.  For example, volunteering to feed the homeless at a soup kitchen is certainly taking care of the poor, but if you want work towards ending poverty you will need to get involved in local, national and global politics.\n\nIn this situation, how could a Christian church ever hope to abide by the requirements laid out by the IRS?  Because of Jesus\' claims to absolute and complete authority, Christians cannot offer their personal and private lives to Jesus while keeping who they vote for, what legislation they pursue, and how they treat others separate from their faith. A Christian cannot say, \"I pray and believe according to the teachings of Jesus, but I do not let it impact how I vote. That is a private and personal matter.\"  How could a Church take Jesus\' teachings regarding the poor and the marginalized seriously and not have a strong opinion on political legislation regarding  homelessness, economic exploitation in capitalism, environmental injustice, Welfare, Medicaid, universal health care and immigration reform?  How could one expect Christian leaders , whose job in part entails espousing the teaching and ideals of Jesus, to not speak about partisan issues in an official capacity or at an official function? How could a Christian leader take Jesus\' insistence that we love our enemies seriously and not speak out against all wars in an official capacity?\n\nAt the end of the day, Jesus\'s claims and teachings had and have political implications and this will always guarantee that at some level following Jesus will be a political endeavor. Following Jesus has always meant being willing to break from the prevailing cultural and political winds and in the contemporary context this will mean involvement in legislation and the democratic process which is highly partisan.  In light of all of this I believe it is impossible for Christian churches to obey Jesus and the IRS at the same time without seriously compromising the teachings of the former to receive the tax-exempt status of the latter. I would hope that Christians would follow the teachings of Jesus and live a political life and pursue a political agenda that reflects the person they believe to be God, even though doing so will mean loosing benefits they may have grown accustomed to.\n\n&nbsp;','Why Christian churches should lose their tax exempt status.','','inherit','open','open','','3677-revision-6','','','2012-01-10 09:33:46','2012-01-10 17:33:46','',3677,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3677-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(3880,124,'2012-01-10 09:33:14','2012-01-10 17:33:14','','Tax Exempt','','inherit','open','open','','tax-exempt','','','2012-01-10 09:33:14','2012-01-10 17:33:14','',3677,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Tax-Exempt.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(3882,124,'2012-01-10 09:36:47','2012-01-10 17:36:47','Most Christian churches are registered as 501(c)3 non-profit organizations and receive a tax exempt status by the government. <a href=\"http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">According to the IRS</a>, to maintain this status churches must abstain from devoting a substantial part of their activity to influencing legislation and intervening in or contributing to political campaigns. In addition to this, church leaders may only make partisan comments if they do so as a reflection of their personal opinions and cannot make such comments through church publications or at official church functions.\n\nFrom time to time Christian churches endanger their tax exempt status by speaking strongly for or against some particular issue that has a partisan bent. Usually only when Christian churches speak out <em>against</em> the prevailing political or cultural winds do they find themselves under investigation by the IRS. The State appears far less concerned about separation of Church and State when the Church agrees with the State. Quite honestly, if these requirements were fairly and consistently enforced, I believe investigations would be far more routine as I have seen many blatant violations of these requirements.\n\nWhile these issues probably deserve more discussion, these are ultimately moot points to me because I believe all Christian churches should lose their tax exempt status. I believe this because it is categorically impossible for Christian churches to take the teachings of Jesus seriously and obey the requirements laid out by the IRS at the same time. Christian churches claim that Jesus is God, so they should probably obey Jesus despite the fact that this will mean breaking the requirements laid out by the IRS and losing their tax exempt status. There are two primary reasons I believe this is the situation Christian churches are faced with.\n\nFirst, Jesus Christ made absolute claims to Lordship. Numerous statements made by Jesus and other New Testament authors proclaim that Jesus is Lord over <em>everything</em>.  Jesus did not just claim authority over the personal, private, moral or spiritual dimensions of His follower\'s lives.  Jesus claimed to be Lord over everything, which certainly would include all aspects of His follower\'s lives.  This would include their finances, their politics, their public lives, how they treat the poor, how they treat their enemies, etc. If the claims about Jesus\' lordship and authority are to be taken seriously, no Christian church can suggest their members <em>only</em> owe Jesus their spiritual affections or their intellectual assent to specific doctrines while Jesus can be safely ignored on all other matters. Either Jesus is seen as the absolute Lord over the entire world and Lord over all aspects of the of the lives of His followers or the followers of Jesus must admit that they are ignoring some of Jesus’ own words and claims made about Him in the Bible.\n\nSecond, the claims of Jesus and His teachings had and have social and political implications. Jesus did not just encourage His followers to pursue personal piety but to pursue justice. Jesus did not just teach on morality but also on ethics. Jesus taught that we are to love our enemies, that we are to take care of the poor and the marginalized, and that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. All of these teachings involve many issues that are today governed by politics and legislation. How then could a Christian church obey Jesus and not have very pointed political and partisan concerns? While it is true that many of these teachings can obeyed at a personal level, with no involvement in politics whatsoever, there are some issues that are primarily or exclusively handled in our contemporary society through politics and legislation. For example, a stance on war, will naturally involve politics. In addition to this, certain issues may require political or legislative reform to fully address.  For example, volunteering to feed the homeless at a soup kitchen is certainly taking care of the poor, but if you want work towards ending poverty you will need to get involved in local, national and global politics.\n\nIn this situation, how could a Christian church ever hope to abide by the requirements laid out by the IRS?  Because of Jesus\' claims to absolute and complete authority, Christians cannot offer their personal and private lives to Jesus while keeping who they vote for, what legislation they pursue, and how they treat others separate from their faith. A Christian cannot say, \"I pray and believe according to the teachings of Jesus, but I do not let it impact how I vote. That is a private and personal matter.\"  How could a Church take Jesus\' teachings regarding the poor and the marginalized seriously and not have a strong opinion on political legislation regarding  homelessness, economic exploitation in capitalism, environmental injustice, Welfare, Medicaid, universal health care and immigration reform?  How could one expect Christian leaders , whose job in part entails espousing the teaching and ideals of Jesus, to not speak about partisan issues in an official capacity or at an official function? How could a Christian leader take Jesus\' insistence that we love our enemies seriously and not speak out against all wars in an official capacity?\n\nAt the end of the day, Jesus\'s claims and teachings had and have political implications and this will always guarantee that at some level following Jesus will be a political endeavor. Following Jesus has always meant being willing to break from the prevailing cultural and political winds and in the contemporary context this will mean involvement in legislation and the democratic process which is highly partisan.  In light of all of this I believe it is impossible for Christian churches to obey Jesus and the IRS at the same time without seriously compromising the teachings of the former to receive the tax-exempt status of the latter. I would hope that Christians would follow the teachings of Jesus and live a political life and pursue a political agenda that reflects the person they believe to be God, even though doing so will mean loosing benefits they may have grown accustomed to.\n\n&nbsp;','Why Christian churches should lose their tax exempt status.','','inherit','open','open','','3677-revision-7','','','2012-01-10 09:36:47','2012-01-10 17:36:47','',3677,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3677-revision-7/',0,'revision','',0),(3883,124,'2012-01-10 09:39:53','2012-01-10 17:39:53','Most Christian churches are registered as 501(c)3 non-profit organizations and receive a tax exempt status by the government. <a href=\"http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">According to the IRS</a>, to maintain this status churches must abstain from devoting a substantial part of their activity to influencing legislation and intervening in or contributing to political campaigns. In addition to this, church leaders may only make partisan comments if they do so as a reflection of their personal opinions and cannot make such comments through church publications or at official church functions.\r\n\r\nFrom time to time Christian churches endanger their tax exempt status by speaking strongly for or against some particular issue that has a partisan bent. Usually only when Christian churches speak out <em>against</em> the prevailing political or cultural winds do they find themselves under investigation by the IRS. The State appears far less concerned about separation of Church and State when the Church agrees with the State. In all honesty, if these requirements were fairly and consistently enforced, I believe these investigations would be far more routine as I have seen Christian churches blatantly violations these requirements many times.\r\n\r\nWhile these issues probably deserve more discussion, these are ultimately moot points to me because I believe all Christian churches should lose their tax exempt status. I believe this because it is categorically impossible for Christian churches to take the teachings of Jesus seriously and obey the requirements laid out by the IRS at the same time. Christian churches claim that Jesus is God, so they should probably obey Jesus despite the fact that this will mean breaking the requirements laid out by the IRS and losing their tax exempt status. There are two primary reasons I believe this is the situation Christian churches are faced with.\r\n\r\nFirst, Jesus Christ made absolute claims to Lordship. Numerous statements made by Jesus and other New Testament authors proclaim that Jesus is Lord over <em>everything</em>.  Jesus did not just claim authority over the personal, private, moral or spiritual dimensions of His follower\'s lives.  Jesus claimed to be Lord over everything, which certainly would include all aspects of His follower\'s lives.  This would include their finances, their politics, their public lives, how they treat the poor, how they treat their enemies, etc. If the claims about Jesus\' lordship and authority are to be taken seriously, no Christian church can suggest their members <em>only</em> owe Jesus their spiritual affections or their intellectual assent to specific doctrines while Jesus can be safely ignored on all other matters. Either Jesus is seen as the absolute Lord over the entire world and Lord over all aspects of the of the lives of His followers or the followers of Jesus must admit that they are ignoring some of Jesus’ own words and claims made about Him in the Bible.\r\n\r\nSecond, the claims of Jesus and His teachings had and have social and political implications. Jesus did not just encourage His followers to pursue personal piety but to pursue justice. Jesus did not just teach on morality but also on ethics. Jesus taught that we are to love our enemies, that we are to take care of the poor and the marginalized, and that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. All of these teachings involve many issues that are today governed by politics and legislation. How then could a Christian church obey Jesus and not have very pointed political and partisan concerns? While it is true that many of these teachings can obeyed at a personal level, with no involvement in politics whatsoever, there are some issues that are primarily or exclusively handled in our contemporary society through politics and legislation. For example, a stance on war, will naturally involve politics. In addition to this, certain issues may require political or legislative reform to fully address.  For example, volunteering to feed the homeless at a soup kitchen is certainly taking care of the poor, but if you want work towards ending poverty you will need to get involved in local, national and global politics.\r\n\r\nIn this situation, how could a Christian church ever hope to abide by the requirements laid out by the IRS?  Because of Jesus\' claims to absolute and complete authority, Christians cannot offer their personal and private lives to Jesus while keeping who they vote for, what legislation they pursue, and how they treat others separate from their faith. A Christian cannot say, \"I pray and believe according to the teachings of Jesus, but I do not let it impact how I vote. That is a private and personal matter.\"  How could a Church take Jesus\' teachings regarding the poor and the marginalized seriously and not have a strong opinion on political legislation regarding  homelessness, economic exploitation in capitalism, environmental injustice, Welfare, Medicaid, universal health care and immigration reform?  How could one expect Christian leaders , whose job in part entails espousing the teaching and ideals of Jesus, to not speak about partisan issues in an official capacity or at an official function? How could a Christian leader take Jesus\' insistence that we love our enemies seriously and not speak out against all wars in an official capacity?\r\n\r\nAt the end of the day, Jesus\'s claims and teachings had and have political implications and this will always guarantee that at some level following Jesus will be a political endeavor. Following Jesus has always meant being willing to break from the prevailing cultural and political winds and in the contemporary context this will mean involvement in legislation and the democratic process which is highly partisan.  In light of all of this I believe it is impossible for Christian churches to obey Jesus and the IRS at the same time without seriously compromising the teachings of the former to receive the tax-exempt status of the latter. I would hope that Christians would follow the teachings of Jesus and live a political life and pursue a political agenda that reflects the person they believe to be God, even though doing so will mean loosing benefits they may have grown accustomed to.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Why Christian churches should lose their tax exempt status.','','inherit','open','open','','3677-revision-8','','','2012-01-10 09:39:53','2012-01-10 17:39:53','',3677,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3677-revision-8/',0,'revision','',0),(3884,124,'2012-01-10 09:42:03','2012-01-10 17:42:03','Most Christian churches are registered as 501(c)3 non-profit organizations and receive a tax exempt status by the government. <a href=\"http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">According to the IRS</a>, to maintain this status churches must abstain from devoting a substantial part of their activity to influencing legislation and intervening in or contributing to political campaigns. In addition to this, church leaders may only make partisan comments if they do so as a reflection of their personal opinions and cannot make such comments through church publications or at official church functions.\r\n\r\nFrom time to time Christian churches endanger their tax exempt status by speaking strongly for or against some particular issue that has a partisan bent. Usually only when Christian churches speak out <em>against</em> the prevailing political or cultural winds do they find themselves under investigation by the IRS. The State appears far less concerned about separation of Church and State when the Church agrees with the State. In all honesty, if these requirements were fairly and consistently enforced, I believe these investigations would be far more routine as I have seen Christian churches blatantly violations these requirements many times.\r\n\r\nWhile these issues probably deserve more discussion, these are ultimately moot points to me because I believe all Christian churches should lose their tax exempt status. I believe this because it is categorically impossible for Christian churches to take the teachings of Jesus seriously and obey the requirements laid out by the IRS at the same time. Given the choice to follow Jesus or obey the IRS, I would hope Christian churches would follow Jesus even though this would mean losing their tax exempt status. There are two primary reasons I believe Christian churches cannot obey Jesus and the IRS at the same time.\r\n\r\nFirst, Jesus Christ made absolute claims to Lordship. Numerous statements made by Jesus and other New Testament authors proclaim that Jesus is Lord over <em>everything</em>.  Jesus did not just claim authority over the personal, private, moral or spiritual dimensions of His follower\'s lives.  Jesus claimed to be Lord over everything, which certainly would include all aspects of His follower\'s lives.  This would include their finances, their politics, their public lives, how they treat the poor, how they treat their enemies, etc. If the claims about Jesus\' lordship and authority are to be taken seriously, no Christian church can suggest their members <em>only</em> owe Jesus their spiritual affections or their intellectual assent to specific doctrines while Jesus can be safely ignored on all other matters. Either Jesus is seen as the absolute Lord over the entire world and Lord over all aspects of the of the lives of His followers or the followers of Jesus must admit that they are ignoring some of Jesus’ own words and claims made about Him in the Bible.\r\n\r\nSecond, the claims of Jesus and His teachings had and have social and political implications. Jesus did not just encourage His followers to pursue personal piety but to pursue justice. Jesus did not just teach on morality but also on ethics. Jesus taught that we are to love our enemies, that we are to take care of the poor and the marginalized, and that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. All of these teachings involve many issues that are today governed by politics and legislation. How then could a Christian church obey Jesus and not have very pointed political and partisan concerns? While it is true that many of these teachings can obeyed at a personal level, with no involvement in politics whatsoever, there are some issues that are primarily or exclusively handled in our contemporary society through politics and legislation. For example, a stance on war, will naturally involve politics. In addition to this, certain issues may require political or legislative reform to fully address.  For example, volunteering to feed the homeless at a soup kitchen is certainly taking care of the poor, but if you want work towards ending poverty you will need to get involved in local, national and global politics.\r\n\r\nIn this situation, how could a Christian church ever hope to abide by the requirements laid out by the IRS?  Because of Jesus\' claims to absolute and complete authority, Christians cannot offer their personal and private lives to Jesus while keeping who they vote for, what legislation they pursue, and how they treat others separate from their faith. A Christian cannot say, \"I pray and believe according to the teachings of Jesus, but I do not let it impact how I vote. That is a private and personal matter.\"  How could a Church take Jesus\' teachings regarding the poor and the marginalized seriously and not have a strong opinion on political legislation regarding  homelessness, economic exploitation in capitalism, environmental injustice, Welfare, Medicaid, universal health care and immigration reform?  How could one expect Christian leaders , whose job in part entails espousing the teaching and ideals of Jesus, to not speak about partisan issues in an official capacity or at an official function? How could a Christian leader take Jesus\' insistence that we love our enemies seriously and not speak out against all wars in an official capacity?\r\n\r\nAt the end of the day, Jesus\'s claims and teachings had and have political implications and this will always guarantee that at some level following Jesus will be a political endeavor. Following Jesus has always meant being willing to break from the prevailing cultural and political winds and in the contemporary context this will mean involvement in legislation and the democratic process which is highly partisan.  In light of all of this I believe it is impossible for Christian churches to obey Jesus and the IRS at the same time without seriously compromising the teachings of the former to receive the tax-exempt status of the latter. I would hope that Christians would follow the teachings of Jesus and live a political life and pursue a political agenda that reflects the person they believe to be God, even though doing so will mean loosing benefits they may have grown accustomed to.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Why Christian churches should lose their tax exempt status.','','inherit','open','open','','3677-revision-9','','','2012-01-10 09:42:03','2012-01-10 17:42:03','',3677,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3677-revision-9/',0,'revision','',0),(3885,0,'2012-01-10 09:49:10','2012-01-10 17:49:10','faith - philosophy (religion, religious differences, faith systems, technologies, how technologies can be used in religion, open source, science fiction, mental disorders, relation between people with mental disorders and religion, science, relation/conflict between science and religion, society, etc)\n<!--more-->\nAUTHOR: Frank Olvera\nAUTHOR EMAIL: franko@juno.com\nAUTHOR URL: http://christiannoob.wordpress.com/\nSUBJECT: Provoketive Magazine Writing For Provoketive\nIP: 198.83.125.200\nArray\n(\n    [Name] =&gt; Frank Olvera\n    [Email] =&gt; franko@juno.com\n    [Existing Blog or Website] =&gt; http://christiannoob.wordpress.com/\n    [List the topic you are interested writing about] =&gt; faith - philosophy (religion, religious differences, faith systems, technologies, how technologies can be used in religion, open source, science fiction, mental disorders, relation between people with mental disorders and religion, science, relation/conflict between science and religion, society, etc)\n    [Current or New WordPress Login Name (We\'ll send you a password.)] =&gt; ChristianNoob\n)\n','Frank Olvera - 2012-01-10 09:49:10','','publish','open','open','','90c8ab4fc40cdecbfa4d6713fb2d1831','','','2012-01-10 09:49:10','2012-01-10 17:49:10','',358,'http://provoketive.com/?post_type=feedback&p=3885',0,'feedback','',0),(3886,1,'2012-01-14 09:18:27','2012-01-14 17:18:27','Most Christian churches are registered as 501(c)3 non-profit organizations and receive a tax exempt status by the government. <a href=\"http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">According to the IRS</a>, to maintain this status churches must abstain from devoting a substantial part of their activity to influencing legislation and intervening in or contributing to political campaigns. In addition to this, church leaders may only make partisan comments if they do so as a reflection of their personal opinions and cannot make such comments through church publications or at official church functions.\n\nFrom time to time Christian churches endanger their tax exempt status by speaking strongly for or against some particular issue that has a partisan bent. Usually only when Christian churches speak out <em>against</em> the prevailing political or cultural winds do they find themselves under investigation by the IRS. The State appears far less concerned about separation of Church and State when the Church agrees with the State. In all honesty, if these requirements were fairly and consistently enforced, I believe these investigations would be far more routine as I have seen Christian churches blatantly violations these requirements many times.\n\nWhile these issues probably deserve more discussion, these are ultimately moot points to me because I believe all Christian churches should lose their tax exempt status. I believe this because it is categorically impossible for Christian churches to take the teachings of Jesus seriously and obey the requirements laid out by the IRS at the same time. Given the choice to follow Jesus or obey the IRS, I would hope Christian churches would follow Jesus even though this would mean losing their tax exempt status. There are two primary reasons I believe Christian churches cannot obey Jesus and the IRS at the same time.\n\nFirst, numerous statements made by Jesus and other New Testament authors proclaim that Jesus is Lord over <em>everything</em>.  Jesus did not just claim authority over the personal, private, moral or spiritual dimensions of His follower\'s lives.  Jesus claimed to be Lord over <em>everything</em>, which certainly would include all aspects of His follower\'s lives.  This would include their finances, their politics, their public lives, how they treat the poor, how they treat their enemies, etc. If the claims about Jesus\' lordship and authority are to be taken seriously, no Christian church can suggest their members <em>only</em> owe Jesus their spiritual affections or their intellectual assent to specific doctrines while Jesus can be safely ignored on all other matters. Either Jesus is seen as the absolute Lord over the entire world and Lord over all aspects of the of the lives of His followers or the followers of Jesus must admit that they are ignoring some of Jesus’ own words and claims made about Him in the Bible.\n\nSecond, the claims of Jesus and His teachings had and have social and political implications. Jesus did not just encourage His followers to pursue personal piety but to pursue justice. Jesus did not just teach on morality but also on ethics. Jesus taught that we are to love our enemies, that we are to take care of the poor and the marginalized, and that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. All of these teachings involve many issues that are today governed by politics and legislation. How then could a Christian church today obey Jesus and remain unconcerned with politics and legislation? While it is true that many of these teachings can obeyed or pursued at a personal level, with no involvement in politics whatsoever, there are some issues that are primarily or exclusively handled in our contemporary society through politics and legislation. For example, any stance on war will naturally involve politics. In addition to this, certain issues may require political or legislative reform to address in a more comprehensive manner.  For example, volunteering to feed the homeless at a soup kitchen is certainly taking care of the poor, but if you want work towards ending poverty you will need to get involved in local, national and global politics.\n\nIn this situation, how could a Christian church ever hope to abide by the requirements laid out by the IRS?  Because of Jesus\' claims to absolute and complete authority, Christians cannot offer their personal and private lives to Jesus while keeping who they vote for, what legislation they pursue, and how they treat others as a matter of personal preference. If Christians believe Jesus is Lord, they cannot, \"I pray and believe according to the teachings of Jesus, but I do not let my faith impact how I vote. That is a private and personal matter.\"  How could a Church take Jesus\' teachings regarding the poor and the marginalized seriously and not pursue specific legislation regarding  homelessness, economic exploitation in capitalism, environmental injustice, Welfare, Medicaid, universal health care and immigration reform?  How could one expect Christian leaders , whose job in part entails espousing the teaching and ideals of Jesus, to not speak about partisan issues in an official capacity or at an official function? How could a Christian leader take Jesus\' insistence that we love our enemies seriously and not speak out against wars in an official capacity?\n\nAt the end of the day, Jesus\'s claims and teachings had and have political implications and this will always guarantee that at some level following Jesus will be a political endeavor. Following Jesus has always meant being willing to break from the prevailing cultural and political winds and in the contemporary context this will mean involvement in legislation and the democratic process which is highly partisan.  In light of all of this, it is impossible for Christian churches to obey Jesus and the IRS at the same time without seriously compromising the teachings of the former to receive the tax-exempt status of the latter. I would hope that Christians would follow the teachings of Jesus and live a political life and pursue a political agenda that reflects the person they believe to be God, even though doing so will mean losing benefits they may have grown accustomed to.','Why Christian Churches Should Lose Tax Exempt Status.','','inherit','open','open','','3677-autosave','','','2012-01-14 09:18:27','2012-01-14 17:18:27','',3677,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3677-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(3889,1,'2012-01-08 08:11:43','2012-01-08 16:11:43','I have been thinking a lot about community lately. And by “lately”, I mean “the past two years”. And by “thinking”, I mean “encountering the idea of it in every single aspect of my life”.\r\n\r\nGrowing up, you have friends. There are people you like to hang out with oftentimes for no other reason than a shared interest in a certain movie or video game. There are other people that you are more intimate with, giving personal, private details about your life that you don’t regularly reveal to everyone.\r\n\r\nThen, there is family. There is family in the sense of blood relation, but many times those people share little of your life and a lot of them seem more distant of a relationship than even the faintest of friends. The other type of family is those people that know your ins-and-outs. They hold you accountable when you mess up, they pray with you when you struggle, they open up their lives to the finest of scrutiny out of a more passionate love for you than some people share even with parents.\r\n\r\nCommunity has always been God’s tangible representation of many of His mysteries on earth. Though certainly not perfected, our relationships on earth are intended to point towards the Trinity, the future Kingdom, and Christ’s marriage to the Church. Throughout their history, God has used His people and their walk with Him to show the rest of the world how beautiful He is.\r\n\r\nThis sounds awesome as an idea, but are we really pursuing it in life?\r\n\r\nDo we care about the people around us at such a deep, deep level that, were a stranger to look at how we interact with and care for them, they would see a glimpse of the King?\r\n\r\nDo we set out with intention to push the ones we love towards the person God wants them to be, or do we shy away from talk of struggle and sin to avoid the possibility of an uncomfortable conversation?\r\n\r\nDo we view every relationship in our lives, from the acquaintance to the spouse, as a reflection of the love God has for both people involved, or do we invalidate that love and arrogantly assume that the more superficial relationships aren’t as important?\r\n\r\nIf Jesus stood right beside you while you spoke with your spouse, would you be able to look him in the eye and say that you love that person like He loves you?\r\n\r\nWhat about if He stood beside you while you ordered your morning coffee, interacting with the beautiful child of His that was preparing it?\r\n\r\nWhere in your life are you really loving like He loves you? Is it only in the situations where your love is given <em>reactively</em>, because the other person loves you? Or is it even in those situations where it is needed<em> proactively</em>, with no hope or expectation of love in return?\r\n\r\nCommunity is life lived without boundaries. No fences around your love, no walls around your care, no gates around your fellowship.\r\n\r\nWould you define the community of your life as a country club, open to some but not others, exclusive, selective? Or would you define it as a park, open and welcome to all, free from judgment, common and diverse?\r\n\r\nI give you a new commandment:\r\nLove one another;\r\njust as I have loved you,\r\nyou also must love one another. (John 13:34)','Country Club Community','','inherit','open','open','','3798-revision-2','','','2012-01-08 08:11:43','2012-01-08 16:11:43','',3798,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/08/3798-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(3890,1,'2012-01-10 10:25:36','2012-01-10 18:25:36','<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Illusion...</strong> the action of deceiving. The state or fact of being intellectually deceived or misled... an instance of such deception. <strong>Illusion</strong> is the perception of something objectively existing in such a way as to cause misinterpretation of its actual truth.<strong> Illusions</strong> are patterns capable of reversible perspective.</p>\n<a href=\"http://www.truthdig.com/chris_hedges\" target=\"_self\">Chris Hedges</a> in his book <a href=\"http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/20090730_book_excerpt_empire_of_illusion/\" target=\"_self\">Empire of Illusion</a> says this. \"<em> The flight to Illusion sweeps away the core values of an open society. It erodes the ability to think for oneself, to draw independent conclusions, to express dissent when judgement and common sense tell you something is wrong, to be self-critical, to challenge authority, to grasp historical facts, to advocate for change, to acknowledge there are other views, different ways, and structures of being that are morally and socially acceptable. A populace deprived of the ability to separate lies from the truth, that has become hostage to the fictional semblance of reality put forth by pseudo-events, is no longer capable of sustaining a free society.</em>\" (pg 52)\n\nAnd a bit further he talks about institutional hierarchies developing a highly specialized vocabulary. Chris Hedges remarks, \" <em>They organize learning around minutely specialized disciplines, narrow answers, and rigid structures designed to produce such answers.This vocabulary is the sign of the \" specialist \" and, of course, the elitist, thwarts universal understanding, It keeps the uninitiated from asking unpleasant questions. It destroys the search for common good. It dices disciplines, faculty, students and finally experts into tiny, specialized fragments. It allows students and faculty to retreat into these self-imposed fiefdoms and neglect the most pressing moral, political and cultural questions. Those who critique the system itself...are marginalized and shut out of the mainstream debate. </em>They refuses to question a self-justifying system.\" ( pg 90 ) ( <em>emphasis mine</em> )\n\nChris Hedges in his book is critiquing secular institutions and the illusions they create which like osmosis slowly cross the barrier in the collective mind of humanity where it becomes the perceived reality...the truth. I don\'t think Chris Hedges would find issue if I steered his musings into the religion of \" Christianity \" which in my mind if we follow Hedges line of thinking...is an Illusion.\n\nTo quote Chris Hedges again, \" <em>A populace deprived of the ability to separate lies from the truth, that has become hostage to the fictional semblance of reality put forth by pseudo-events, is no longer capable of sustaining a free society.\"</em>\n<em>\n</em>Christianity has become hostage to the illusion it created. It has lost the ability to separate lies from the truth...or where there was mystery it made illusion. It created a <em>pseudo-event</em>, an illusion in which to formulate rigid structures to produce narrow answers. A hierarchy that lives in self-imposed \" retreat \" neglecting the most pressing and urgent questions of our day...socially, economically, environmentally, culturally, militarily, globally, politically...and morally.\n\nMuch like in Jesus day, people were being held hostage to a religion of rigid structure that produced narrow answers. It was the religious elite, the moral authority policing the uninitiated creating barriers on every corner of life between everyday folk and God. I mean at this point God hadn\'t talked to anyone for some 400 years, and yet the religious elite still promote the illusion around the<em>pseudo-event</em> that keeps the structure standing and making them a living. It took Jesus to tear a hole in temple curtain saying, \" yoo hoo! nothing behind the curtain...God\'s not here.\"\n\nI just want to say...I am passionate about Jesus. I believe he was the God-man. I believe on the cross something so profound, so absolutely mind blowing, earth shattering, life changing...with the redemptive power and imagination that brought creation into being was there. It was an atomic explosion of cosmic proportion and we are still feeling the effects of its fall out today. But...do I have to believe the way you do, or to the <em>pseudo-event</em> that the religious elite enforce and protect?\n\nI just think the Illusion of Jesus christianity has created is perhaps more about the structure, it\'s narrow answers, it\'s moral authority as religious police than it is about Jesus and what he passionately lived and died for.\n\nIn the gospels, Jesus says, \" if you\'ve seen me...you\'ve seen the Father.\" Again, \" I only do and say what the Father does.\" Moses tucked into the cleft of a rock might have caught a passing glimpse of God as he passed. But, we, humanity has seen God in the flesh...he actually moved into the neighborhood for a while.\n<div>\n\nSo I mean what\'s going on, is there the crazy, bi-polar, Dr Jeckle and Mr Hyde, bad cop good cop...God as the crazy old man that one day decided to have a child and become a loving parent. I mean if the \" God \" is unchanging as we project him to be...he\'s all loving, or hell-bent on revenge. He can\'t be both.\n\nIs the God of the Old Testament consumed with fueling a human BBQ pit called \" Hell?\" And heavily invested in retirement real estate, like in my mother in-laws home town, called \" Paradise Lodge.\"\n\nIf you look close enough in the old book you\'ll see a strand and you\'ll pinch it between your fingers and pull. Keep pulling, it\'s long really long, and you\'ll find it entwines itself in the whole story. It is also wraps itself in Jesus, it makes up the very robe that Jesus clothes himself in. Take a close look at these words...\n<blockquote>\"The Lord is exalted\", proclaims Isaiah. \" He dwells on high; <strong>he filled Zion with <em>justice and righteousness</em></strong>.\" (33:5)\n\n\" I am the Lord \" announces Jeremiah in the name of God. \" I act with steadfast love, <strong><em>justice and righteousness </em>in the earth, for in these things I delight</strong>.\" (9:24)\n\nAgain Isaiah, \" Is such the fast I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and lie is a sack cloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? <strong>Is not this fast that I choose; to <em>break the bonds of injustice</em>, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?</strong> (58:5-7)\n\nFrom Micah, \" <strong>He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you <em>but to do justice, and to love kindness</em>, and to walk humbly with your God</strong>. (6:6-8)\n\nLastly from Amos, \" I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. <strong>But <em>let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream</em></strong>. ( 5:21-24 )</blockquote>\nAm I missing something? It appears God is very passionate about justice and righteousness.\n\nThe<strong>illusion</strong> christianity has created is that about God as a Judge, laws must be enforced, and sentences against the guilty must be carried out...life sentences, solitary confinement and torture. It makes God so angry that you have to kill something, burn it to create a smoke screen to hide yourself from him...you had to keep feeding his wrath just to keep him happy. The idea of righteousness was the constant battle of keeping your clothes stainless, perfectly white...cleanliness is next to Godliness.\n\nBut if we look at that strand again we see the truth, God\'s justice is about the restoration of justice. It\'s as Isaiah sees it...It\'s about breaking the bonds of injustice in the world around us, its about the oppressed, the hungry, the homeless, the poor...its about all humanity. And righteousness is about like living, or lets go with what Micah says...and what does the Lord require of you <em>but to do justice, and to love kindness</em>, and to walk humbly with your God.\n\nYou could almost say this is what the fullness of humanity was meant to be.\n\nAnd then Jesus the God-man moves into our neighborhood, into the midst of humanity. The<strong>illusion</strong> christianity paints is, again it\'s all about morality, he\'s here to clean house...it\'s about believing, narrowed down to 2 choices...heaven, and hell.\n\nBut the reality, the truth is, Jesus starts telling these wild scandalous redemptive parables, mysteries to capture the imagination of humanity...to <strong>God\'s justice</strong>. It was not just loving your friends, it was about loving people you can\'t stand, people you hate...your enemies. It was not just making sure your rights were protected...it was about becoming a voice for the widow, the orphan, the most marginalized people around you. It was about forgiveness, seventy times seventy...it was scandalous. It was about setting the captives free. It was universal health insurance where as humanity we tried to heal everyone...not the ones who could afford to pay. It was the miracle of feeding the masses...to the point of sharing your last scrap of food knowing you\'d go hungry.  There was no in crowd; Jesus knocked down all fences, barriers and borders...as humanity we were one, and we were in this all together. And no one had ownership of God...it didn\'t matter where you worshipped...it was about doing it in a profound sense of truth. And well, <strong>right living, righteousness </strong>came down to...loving, God with all your heart, mind and soul...and loving your neighbor as yourself, almost echoing Micah\'s words.\n\nGod\'s <strong>Justice and Righteousness</strong> are about one thing, the very thing that cries of Jesus passion through out the gospels...that is the <strong>Kingdom</strong>.\n\nThe<strong> illusion</strong> of Christianity is to make Jesus\' life about <strong>heaven and hell</strong>. The <strong>reality</strong> is Jesus was consumed with the <strong>Kingdom</strong>...he lived in the profound mystery of it\'s redemptive reality constantly. If Jesus came to show us abundant life...living in the profound mystery of his parables, and acting them out as part of everyday life...this was what being human was about.\n\nThe pseudo-event is what christianity has created in the midst of the murder of Jesus...rather than sacrifice it as a cold calculated killing that is reflected in a parable Jesus told in Matthew 29...\n\nCould it be  much like the parable where after the vineyard owners have killed all the messengers…the master finally sends his own son.\n\nWe hear the story of a ( creator ) owner of a vineyard ( all creation ) who handed it over to tenants ( humanity ) and departed for a far country. When the time arrived for it to bear fruits ( the fullness of the Kingdom ), he sent his servants ( prophets ) to check on them, but the tenants ( humanity, the empire, religion ) beat some and killed others. Finally, the owner ( God ) sent his son ( Jesus ), saying, “Surely they will reverence my son.” But this was not the case. They laid hold of him, cast him out, and killed him.\n\nCould it be God, sends his son as humanity\'s last chance. At the game of life, God throws in all his chips to send his Son to finally reveal, and show humanity to live out the fullness of humanity in the Kingdom of God <strong>?</strong> We see this all through the parables in the gospels. Jesus passion is his Fathers passion...the voice of the prophets passion...the Kingdom of God.\n\nCould it be the same principalities and powers of darkness that have always roamed the earth, corrupted the empire of the day to inflict injustice, oppression...a life void of the abundant and just life that comes from being plugged into God <strong>?</strong> Could it be the empire deceived by the principalities and powers of darkness accused Jesus...and murdered Jesus <strong>?</strong>\n\nCould it be not so much a sacrifice for sin...but a horrid murder by the principalities and powers of darkness <strong>?</strong>\n\nCould it be on the cross, the principalities and powers of darkness were high-fiving each other that they had finally defeated the Kingdom of God. That now they would control the mind and imagination of humanity...this would be the new world order <strong>?</strong>\n\nCould it be Miraculously, God smashed his fist on the \" reset \" button of evolving creation and said \" Hell No!\" and in the pursuing after shocks the stone rolled away...and God resurrected Jesus and the Kingdom. The principalities and powers of darkness were finally conquered <strong>?</strong>\n\nSo, I think belief for me, moves me into the profound mystery of the cross, that Jesus did conquer death and evil ( the principalities and powers of darkness ) , and by faith, I move into the resurrection, I move into the radical scandalous life and teaching of Jesus found in the gospels. Through the spirit of God, that profound mystery is embedded in my DNA. It is no longer I that lives, but Jesus with in me.\n\nHere plugged into this new life, the new creation, the kingdom of God...he calls me, and humanity to be collaborators with him building his Kingdom now...and at the same time pointing to when the fullness of his Kingdom will come into being.\n\nIt\'s almost as if it is that answering of those profound words in Jesus prayer, \" Father, may your Kingdom come, on earth as in heaven.\" It is the profound redemptive mystery of God and humanity emerging into one.\n\n<strong>The Illusion of christianity\'s Jesus is sacrificing belief for heaven or Hell...the real Jesus is about living into the reality of the Kingdom.</strong>\n\n</div>','Selling The Illusionary Jesus...','','inherit','open','open','','3807-autosave','','','2012-01-10 10:25:36','2012-01-10 18:25:36','',3807,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3807-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(4265,96,'2012-01-18 17:44:07','0000-00-00 00:00:00','\"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.\" 1 Corinthians 13:13a\n\nI\'ve often wondered why \'hope\' is in the middle. There\'s faith on the one side - faith with it\'s strength, setting a foundation. There\'s love at the end - love as a benediction, a blessing, put at the end and recognized as the greatest of the three. Then there\'s hope. And hope is in the middle. It is neither foundation nor benediction. So what is it?\n\nIt\'s location in the sentence is symbolic of what hope is, for hope is most needed in the middle. I need hope most when I am in the middle of a crisis. At the beginning my adrenaline kicks in and I go on autopilot, doing what I need to do to survive.  Towards the end of a crisis, I know I have gone through the worst and I have survived. But in the middle? In the middle I am at the end of myself. There seems to be no future and no help. This is where I need hope.\n\n&nbsp;\n<div class=\"zemanta-pixie\" style=\"margin-top: 10px;height: 15px\"><a class=\"zemanta-pixie-a\" title=\"Enhanced by Zemanta\" href=\"http://www.zemanta.com/\"><img class=\"zemanta-pixie-img\" style=\"border: none;float: right\" src=\"http://img.zemanta.com/zemified_e.png?x-id=c0868e60-a477-469f-ab06-20c28bd7623c\" alt=\"Enhanced by Zemanta\" /></a></div>','These Three Remain - Hope in the Middle','','draft','open','open','','','','','2012-01-18 17:44:07','2012-01-19 01:44:07','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=4265',0,'post','',0),(3894,1,'2012-01-10 11:03:07','2012-01-10 19:03:07','','hearing_from_god','','inherit','open','open','','hearing_from_god','','','2012-01-10 11:03:07','2012-01-10 19:03:07','',3399,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/hearing_from_god.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(3895,1,'2012-01-09 11:18:57','2012-01-09 19:18:57','<em>This is the first of a four part series on How To Know We’re Hearing From God.</em>\n\nThe idea of having conversations with God wasn’t a part of my religious upbringing.  Prayer was talking “at” God in appropriately reverent language about a limited set of topics.  God talked “at” me through the Bible and the pastor.  Pious Sunday School teachers could also be divine messengers, since angels don’t make house calls anymore.\n\nBut <em>personal conversations</em> with The Almighty?  What would we talk about, and how would I know I was hearing from God and not just making it up in my head?  Sure, God talked with some people in the Bible, like Moses (a very spiritual guy).  But <em>me</em>?\n\nThe way I learned to have conversations with God was by trying it.  On the possibility that He or She actually wanted to say something to me one-on-one, I decided to listen and see if I could hear anything.\n\nThe first thing I did was <strong>ask God to let me know for certain I was hearing from Him/Her</strong>.  I truly didn’t know what to expect, but was curious to see if God would answer a direct question from me.  It took some time for me to become sensitive to God’s voice, but the first time I was certain God had spoken to me, I was both stunned and excited, and wanted it to happen again.  I’ve been having discussions with God ever since, though I don’t always hear Him speak to me.  But God doesn’t always hear from me either.\n\nThe good news is <strong>God wants to talk <em>with</em> us, and will make sure we know when we’re hearing from Him/Her, if we are willing to listen</strong>.  The messages can come in an infinite variety of ways, sometimes when we least expect it.  Here’s how my son, Gideon, heard from God for the first time, from my book <a href=\"http://store.civitaspress.com/books/193\" target=\"_blank\">Uncensored Prayer: The Spiritual Practice of Wrestling with God</a>:\n<blockquote>My oldest son, Gideon, loves playing basketball and is good at it.  Throughout his youth he played for a competitive club team.  His first year of high school, Gideon tried out for the freshman basketball team and made it.  This was the last year he was eligible for his competitive team, where he was a successful, respected player.  Who knew how he would do on the school team, facing new challenges, but his future was in his high school basketball team.\n\nThe problem was Gideon couldn’t play on both teams at once.  He had to choose between them. With a deadline staring him in the face, I told him to ask God to make the right choice clear.\n\nMy son had never sought God’s will before, and was skeptical, but gave it a try anyway.  Knowing him, I imagine he prayed something like, “God, help me know what to do,” like this would do any good.  I promised not to tell any of his friends.\n\nFor a week he said, “One day I want to play school ball, and the next day I want competitive ball.  I can’t make up my mind.”\n\nI don’t think I had ever discussed seeking God’s direction through prayer with my son.  Gideon went to church because of his family and friends. Following Jesus didn’t cross his mind.  He would take his turn sometimes praying before meals, always starting with, “Thank you, dear God, for this wonderful day you have given us,” followed by ”Thanks for the food, Amen.”  It might have been the only prayer he ever prayed.\n\nIt was unusual for him to confide in me with a problem and ask for advice.  So I told him what I would do in his situation, and he was willing to try it, being out of other ideas.  I was careful not to give him a specific line to say, so he would pray in his own words.\n\nTwo things were bothering Gideon that made him try prayer.  First, he wanted two things very important to him, and he couldn’t have both at the same time.  Second, there was an internal daily tug-of-war inside him – a pendulum that swung one way, then the other, back and forth.  He couldn’t put the decision off, due to a deadline.  He asked God what to do as a desperate last-choice solution.\n\nHow did God make the right choice clear to my son?\n\nHe asked God to give him guidance, and he was willing to listen, even though the only way he could imagine God talking to someone was through an audible voice, like how Charlton Heston heard God say, “Moses!” in <em>The Ten Commandments</em>.  We want God to let us know in a real and tangible way.  We want God to shout, when often God whispers.\n\nThe day before the deadline, Gideon came to me with light in his eyes.  He said, “I know what to do!  I’m going with school ball.  I woke up this morning and the conflict was gone!”  To his utter shock, asking God for direction worked. Gideon asked because time was short, and this was a really important decision. He chose to engage God because it was deeply important in his life.\n\nHow did God answer his prayer?  Did he hear God speak aloud from heaven?  No, the internal conflict disappeared, leaving one desire instead of two.\n\nHow did he know the answer came from God?  The conflict hadn’t gone away through any other means.  Could he explain it?  No.  Gideon knew what to do now, because choice was no longer an issue.  He didn’t have to choose, because there was only one answer – kind of like voting when there’s only one candidate.\n\nGod had replaced conflict with peace.</blockquote>\n&nbsp;','How To Know We\'re Hearing From God: Part 1','','inherit','open','open','','3399-revision-10','','','2012-01-09 11:18:57','2012-01-09 19:18:57','',3399,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/09/3399-revision-10/',0,'revision','',0),(3891,1,'2012-01-08 23:47:40','2012-01-09 07:47:40','<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/315843_10150868947365156_817070155_21266051_964003517_n.jpeg\"><img class=\"aligncenter  wp-image-3808\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/315843_10150868947365156_817070155_21266051_964003517_n.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"576\" height=\"432\" /></a></p>\r\n\r\n<div>\r\n<div>\r\n<div><strong>Illusion...</strong> the action of deceiving. The state or fact of being intellectually deceived or misled... an instance of such deception. <strong>Illusion</strong> is the perception of something objectively existing in such a way as to cause misinterpretation of its actual truth.<strong> Illusions</strong> are patterns capable of reversible perspective.</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n</div>\r\n<div><a href=\"http://www.truthdig.com/chris_hedges\" target=\"_self\">Chris Hedges</a> in his book <a href=\"http://www.truthdig.com/arts_culture/item/20090730_book_excerpt_empire_of_illusion/\" target=\"_self\">Empire of Illusion</a> says this. \"<em> The flight to Illusion sweeps away the core values of an open society. It erodes the ability to think for oneself, to draw independent conclusions, to express dissent when judgement and common sense tell you something is wrong, to be self-critical, to challenge authority, to grasp historical facts, to advocate for change, to acknowledge there are other views, different ways, and structures of being that are morally and socially acceptable. A populace deprived of the ability to separate lies from the truth, that has become hostage to the fictional semblance of reality put forth by pseudo-events, is no longer capable of sustaining a free society.</em>\" ( pg 52 )</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div>And a bit further he talks about institutional hierarchies developing a highly specialized vocabulary. Chris Hedges remarks, \" <em>They organize learning around minutely specialized disciplines, narrow answers, and rigid structures designed to produce such answers.This vocabulary is the sign of the \" specialist \" and, of course, the elitist, thwarts universal understanding, It keeps the uninitiated from asking unpleasant questions. It destroys the search for common good. It dices disciplines, faculty, students and finally experts into tiny, specialized fragments. It allows students and faculty to retreat into these self-imposed fiefdoms and neglect the most pressing moral, political and cultural questions. Those who critique the system itself...are marginalized and shut out of the mainstream debate. </em>They refuses to question a self-justifying system.\" ( pg 90 ) ( <em>emphasis mine</em> )</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div>Chris Hedges in his book is critiquing secular institutions and the illusions they create which like osmosis slowly cross the barrier in the collective mind of humanity where it becomes the perceived reality...the truth. I don\'t think Chris Hedges would find issue if I steered his musings into the religion of \" Christianity \" which in my mind if we follow Hedges line of thinking...is an Illusion.</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div>To quote Chris Hedges again, \" <em>A populace deprived of the ability to separate lies from the truth, that has become hostage to the fictional semblance of reality put forth by pseudo-events, is no longer capable of sustaining a free society.\"</em></div>\r\n<div><em>\r\n</em></div>\r\n<div><em>\r\n</em></div>\r\n<div>Christianity has become hostage to the illusion it created. It has lost the ability to separate lies from the truth...or where there was mystery it made illusion. It created a <em>pseudo-event</em>, an illusion in which to formulate rigid structures to produce narrow answers. A hierarchy that lives in self-imposed \" retreat \" neglecting the most pressing and urgent questions of our day...socially, economically, environmentally, culturally, militarily, globally, politically...and morally.</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div>Much like in Jesus day, people were being held hostage to a religion of rigid structure that produced narrow answers. It was the religious elite, the moral authority policing the uninitiated creating barriers on every corner of life between everyday folk and God. I mean at this point God hadn\'t talked to anyone for some 400 years, and yet the religious elite still promote the illusion around the<em>pseudo-event</em> that keeps the structure standing and making them a living. It took Jesus to tear a hole in temple curtain saying, \" yoo hoo! nothing behind the curtain...God\'s not here.\"</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div>I just want to say...I am passionate about Jesus. I believe he was the God-man. I believe on the cross something so profound, so absolutely mind blowing, earth shattering, life changing...with the redemptive power and imagination that brought creation into being was there. It was an atomic explosion of cosmic proportion and we are still feeling the effects of its fall out today. But...do I have to believe the way you do, or to the <em>pseudo-event</em> that the religious elite enforce and protect?</div>\r\n<div>I just think the Illusion of Jesus christianity has created is perhaps more about the structure, it\'s narrow answers, it\'s moral authority as religious police than it is about Jesus and what he passionately lived and died for.</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div>In the gospels, Jesus says, \" if you\'ve seen me...you\'ve seen the Father.\" Again, \" I only do and say what the Father does.\" Moses tucked into the cleft of a rock might have caught a passing glimpse of God as he passed. But, we, humanity has seen God in the flesh...he actually moved into the neighborhood for a while.</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div>So I mean what\'s going on, is there the crazy, bi-polar, Dr Jeckle and Mr Hyde, bad cop good cop...God as the crazy old man that one day decided to have a child and become a loving parent. I mean if the \" God \" is unchanging as we project him to be...he\'s all loving, or hell-bent on revenge. He can\'t be both.</div>\r\n<div>Is the God of the Old Testament consumed with fueling a human BBQ pit called \" Hell?\" And heavily invested in retirement real estate, like in my mother in-laws home town, called \" Paradise Lodge.\"</div>\r\n<div>If you look close enough in the old book you\'ll see a strand and you\'ll pinch it between your fingers and pull. Keep pulling, it\'s long really long, and you\'ll find it entwines itself in the whole story. It is also wraps itself in Jesus, it makes up the very robe that Jesus clothes himself in. Take a close look at these words...</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div>\r\n<blockquote>\"The Lord is exalted\", proclaims Isaiah. \" He dwells on high; <strong>he filled Zion with <em>justice and righteousness</em></strong>.\" ( 33:5 )\r\n\r\n\" I am the Lord \" announces Jeremiah in the name of God. \" I act with steadfast love, <strong><em>justice and righteousness </em>in the earth, for in these things I delight</strong>.\" ( 9:24 )\r\n\r\nAgain Isaiah, \" Is such the fast I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and lie is a sack cloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord? <strong>Is not this fast that I choose; to <em>break the bonds of injustice</em>, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?</strong> ( 58:5-7 )\r\n\r\nFrom Micah, \" <strong>He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you <em>but to do justice, and to love kindness</em>, and to walk humbly with your God</strong>. ( 6:6-8 )\r\n\r\nLastly from Amos, \" I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. <strong>But <em>let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream</em></strong>. ( 5:21-24 )\r\n\r\n&nbsp;</blockquote>\r\n</div>\r\n<div> Am I missing something? It appears God is very passionate about justice and righteousness. The<strong>illusion</strong> christianity has created is that about God as a Judge, laws must be enforced, and sentences against the guilty must be carried out...life sentences, solitary confinement and torture. It makes God so angry that you have to kill something, burn it to create a smoke screen to hide yourself from him...you had to keep feeding his wrath just to keep him happy. The idea of righteousness was the constant battle of keeping your clothes stainless, perfectly white...cleanliness is next to Godliness.</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div>But if we look at that strand again we see the truth, God\'s justice is about the restoration of justice. It\'s as Isaiah sees it...It\'s about breaking the bonds of injustice in the world around us, its about the oppressed, the hungry, the homeless, the poor...its about all humanity. And righteousness is about like living, or lets go with what Micah says...and what does the Lord require of you <em>but to do justice, and to love kindness</em>, and to walk humbly with your God.</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div>You could almost say this is what the fullness of humanity was meant to be.</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div>And then Jesus the God-man moves into our neighborhood, into the midst of humanity. The<strong>illusion</strong> christianity paints is, again it\'s all about morality, he\'s here to clean house...it\'s about believing, narrowed down to 2 choices...heaven, and hell.</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div>But the reality, the truth is, Jesus starts telling these wild scandalous redemptive parables, mysteries to capture the imagination of humanity...to <strong>God\'s justice</strong>. It was not just loving your friends, it was about loving people you can\'t stand, people you hate...your enemies. It was not just making sure your rights were protected...it was about becoming a voice for the widow, the orphan, the most marginalized people around you. It was about forgiveness, seventy times seventy...it was scandalous. It was about setting the captives free. It was universal health insurance where as humanity we tried to heal everyone...not the ones who could afford to pay. It was the miracle of feeding the masses...to the point of sharing your last scrap of food knowing you\'d go hungry.  There was no in crowd; Jesus knocked down all fences, barriers and borders...as humanity we were one, and we were in this all together. And no one had ownership of God...it didn\'t matter where you worshipped...it was about doing it in a profound sense of truth. And well, <strong>right living, righteousness </strong>came down to...loving, God with all your heart, mind and soul...and loving your neighbor as yourself, almost echoing Micah\'s words.</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div>God\'s <strong>Justice and Righteousness</strong> are about one thing, the very thing that cries of Jesus passion through out the gospels...that is the <strong>Kingdom</strong>.</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div>The<strong> illusion</strong> of Christianity is to make Jesus\' life about <strong>heaven and hell</strong>. The <strong>reality</strong> is Jesus was consumed with the <strong>Kingdom</strong>...he lived in the profound mystery of it\'s redemptive reality constantly. If Jesus came to show us abundant life...living in the profound mystery of his parables, and acting them out as part of everyday life...this was what being human was about.</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div>The pseudo-event is what christianity has created in the midst of the murder of Jesus...rather than sacrifice it as a cold calculated killing that is reflected in a parable Jesus told in Matthew 29...</div>\r\n<div>Could it be  much like the parable where after the vineyard owners have killed all the messengers…the master finally sends his own son.</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div>We hear the story of a ( creator ) owner of a vineyard ( all creation ) who handed it over to tenants ( humanity ) and departed for a far country. When the time arrived for it to bear fruits ( the fullness of the Kingdom ), he sent his servants ( prophets ) to check on them, but the tenants ( humanity, the empire, religion ) beat some and killed others. Finally, the owner ( God ) sent his son ( Jesus ), saying, “Surely they will reverence my son.” But this was not the case. They laid hold of him, cast him out, and killed him.</div>\r\n<div>Could it be God, sends his son as humanity\'s last chance. At the game of life, God throws in all his chips to send his Son to finally reveal, and show humanity to live out the fullness of humanity in the Kingdom of God <strong>?</strong> We see this all through the parables in the gospels. Jesus passion is his Fathers passion...the voice of the prophets passion...the Kingdom of God.</div>\r\n<div>Could it be the same principalities and powers of darkness that have always roamed the earth, corrupted the empire of the day to inflict injustice, oppression...a life void of the abundant and just life that comes from being plugged into God <strong>?</strong> Could it be the empire deceived by the principalities and powers of darkness accused Jesus...and murdered Jesus <strong>?</strong></div>\r\n</div>\r\nCould it be not so much a sacrifice for sin...but a horrid murder by the principalities and powers of darkness <strong>?</strong>\r\n\r\nCould it be on the cross, the principalities and powers of darkness were high-fiving each other that they had finally defeated the Kingdom of God. That now they would control the mind and imagination of humanity...this would be the new world order <strong>?</strong>\r\n\r\nCould it be Miraculously, God smashed his fist on the \" reset \" button of evolving creation and said \" Hell No!\" and in the pursuing after shocks the stone rolled away...and God resurrected Jesus and the Kingdom. The principalities and powers of darkness were finally conquered <strong>?</strong>\r\n\r\nSo, I think belief for me, moves me into the profound mystery of the cross, that Jesus did conquer death and evil ( the principalities and powers of darkness ) , and by faith, I move into the resurrection, I move into the radical scandalous life and teaching of Jesus found in the gospels. Through the spirit of God, that profound mystery is embedded in my DNA. It is no longer I that lives, but Jesus with in me.\r\n\r\nHere plugged into this new life, the new creation, the kingdom of God...he calls me, and humanity to be collaborators with him building his Kingdom now...and at the same time pointing to when the fullness of his Kingdom will come into being.\r\n\r\nIt\'s almost as if it is that answering of those profound words in Jesus prayer, \" Father, may your Kingdom come, on earth as in heaven.\" It is the profound redemptive mystery of God and humanity emerging into one.\r\n\r\n<strong>The Illusion of christianity\'s Jesus is sacrificing belief for heaven or Hell...the real Jesus is about living into the reality of the Kingdom.</strong>\r\n<div></div>','Selling the illusionary Jesus...','','inherit','open','open','','3807-revision-5','','','2012-01-08 23:47:40','2012-01-09 07:47:40','',3807,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/08/3807-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(3896,1,'2012-01-10 11:03:41','2012-01-10 19:03:41','<em>This is the first of a four part series on How To Know We’re Hearing From God.</em>\r\n\r\nThe idea of having conversations with God wasn’t a part of my religious upbringing.  Prayer was talking “at” God in appropriately reverent language about a limited set of topics.  God talked “at” me through the Bible and the pastor.  Pious Sunday School teachers could also be divine messengers, since angels don’t make house calls anymore.\r\n\r\nBut <em>personal conversations</em> with The Almighty?  What would we talk about, and how would I know I was hearing from God and not just making it up in my head?  Sure, God talked with some people in the Bible, like Moses (a very spiritual guy).  But <em>me</em>?\r\n\r\nThe way I learned to have conversations with God was by trying it.  On the possibility that He or She actually wanted to say something to me one-on-one, I decided to listen and see if I could hear anything.\r\n\r\nThe first thing I did was <strong>ask God to let me know for certain I was hearing from Him/Her</strong>.  I truly didn’t know what to expect, but was curious to see if God would answer a direct question from me.  It took some time for me to become sensitive to God’s voice, but the first time I was certain God had spoken to me, I was both stunned and excited, and wanted it to happen again.  I’ve been having discussions with God ever since, though I don’t always hear Him speak to me.  But God doesn’t always hear from me either.\r\n\r\nThe good news is <strong>God wants to talk <em>with</em> us, and will make sure we know when we’re hearing from Him/Her, if we are willing to listen</strong>.  The messages can come in an infinite variety of ways, sometimes when we least expect it.  Here’s how my son, Gideon, heard from God for the first time, from my book <a href=\"http://store.civitaspress.com/books/193\" target=\"_blank\">Uncensored Prayer: The Spiritual Practice of Wrestling with God</a>:\r\n<blockquote>My oldest son, Gideon, loves playing basketball and is good at it.  Throughout his youth he played for a competitive club team.  His first year of high school, Gideon tried out for the freshman basketball team and made it.  This was the last year he was eligible for his competitive team, where he was a successful, respected player.  Who knew how he would do on the school team, facing new challenges, but his future was in his high school basketball team.\r\n\r\nThe problem was Gideon couldn’t play on both teams at once.  He had to choose between them. With a deadline staring him in the face, I told him to ask God to make the right choice clear.\r\n\r\nMy son had never sought God’s will before, and was skeptical, but gave it a try anyway.  Knowing him, I imagine he prayed something like, “God, help me know what to do,” like this would do any good.  I promised not to tell any of his friends.\r\n\r\nFor a week he said, “One day I want to play school ball, and the next day I want competitive ball.  I can’t make up my mind.”\r\n\r\nI don’t think I had ever discussed seeking God’s direction through prayer with my son.  Gideon went to church because of his family and friends. Following Jesus didn’t cross his mind.  He would take his turn sometimes praying before meals, always starting with, “Thank you, dear God, for this wonderful day you have given us,” followed by ”Thanks for the food, Amen.”  It might have been the only prayer he ever prayed.\r\n\r\nIt was unusual for him to confide in me with a problem and ask for advice.  So I told him what I would do in his situation, and he was willing to try it, being out of other ideas.  I was careful not to give him a specific line to say, so he would pray in his own words.\r\n\r\nTwo things were bothering Gideon that made him try prayer.  First, he wanted two things very important to him, and he couldn’t have both at the same time.  Second, there was an internal daily tug-of-war inside him – a pendulum that swung one way, then the other, back and forth.  He couldn’t put the decision off, due to a deadline.  He asked God what to do as a desperate last-choice solution.\r\n\r\nHow did God make the right choice clear to my son?\r\n\r\nHe asked God to give him guidance, and he was willing to listen, even though the only way he could imagine God talking to someone was through an audible voice, like how Charlton Heston heard God say, “Moses!” in <em>The Ten Commandments</em>.  We want God to let us know in a real and tangible way.  We want God to shout, when often God whispers.\r\n\r\nThe day before the deadline, Gideon came to me with light in his eyes.  He said, “I know what to do!  I’m going with school ball.  I woke up this morning and the conflict was gone!”  To his utter shock, asking God for direction worked. Gideon asked because time was short, and this was a really important decision. He chose to engage God because it was deeply important in his life.\r\n\r\nHow did God answer his prayer?  Did he hear God speak aloud from heaven?  No, the internal conflict disappeared, leaving one desire instead of two.\r\n\r\nHow did he know the answer came from God?  The conflict hadn’t gone away through any other means.  Could he explain it?  No.  Gideon knew what to do now, because choice was no longer an issue.  He didn’t have to choose, because there was only one answer – kind of like voting when there’s only one candidate.\r\n\r\nGod had replaced conflict with peace.</blockquote>\r\n&nbsp;','How To Know We\'re Hearing From God: Part 1','','inherit','open','open','','3399-revision-11','','','2012-01-10 11:03:41','2012-01-10 19:03:41','',3399,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3399-revision-11/',0,'revision','',0),(3897,1,'2012-01-09 11:20:05','2012-01-09 19:20:05','<em>This is the second of a four part series on How To Know We’re Hearing From God.</em>\r\n\r\nGod wants us to know that we know that we know when He or She is speaking to us.  We’re the ones that think we can’t hear – that is, until it happens to us.  God’s messages to us are always very personal, and <strong>God will confirm it making us aware of things that we didn’t and <em>couldn’t</em> already know.</strong>\r\n<blockquote>Call to Me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.  Jeremiah 33:3 (NASB)\r\n\r\nFrom now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you.  Isaiah 48:6 (NIV)</blockquote>\r\nI have written poetry all my life as a kind of therapy, never meant for anyone else to read.  Many poems are prayers, some talking to God and others are conversations. I dreamed of being a full-time author with my books for sale at Barnes &amp; Noble, but knew that could never happen.  First of all, I wouldn’t let anyone read my work – it was too personal.  Also, I couldn’t imagine a publisher accepting a book of poetry from an unknown author.  Yet, God knew my heart’s desire, because He had placed it there.\r\n\r\nMy husband, Bud, and I have a good friend named Connie.  Shortly after Thanksgiving, 2010, Bud encouraged me to share some of my writing with her.  I felt nervous and shy, but agreed to do it.  We went to see her, and I took three or four poems. I wanted to see her reaction.\r\n\r\nShe was sitting across from me, and when I finished reading a particularly raw, painful poem, Connie fell out of her chair on her knees, laid her head in my lap, and sobbed.  Bud and I were shocked.  Finally she looked up and said, “I’m in charge of the logistics for a conference two weeks from now.  The attendees are non-traditional Christians, many of whom have been marginalized by the Church.  I want you to read several of your poems, starting with this one.”  I froze in terror, screaming “NO!” without words.  But another voice in me whispered, “Do it.  This is a group of Christian misfits.  If anyone will accept my work, it might be this bunch.”\r\n\r\nWhen the time came, Bud said he was sure I was going to back out, but I went to the podium, holding my radical writing in trembling hands.  “Let’s get this over with,” I thought.  I knew they would be horrified, politely applaud, then crucify me later.  Instead, I received a standing ovation.  Many in the crowd had tears streaming down their faces, and hugged me afterwards.\r\n\r\nThat was shock number one.\r\n\r\nThen something happened that changed my life forever.  A stranger walked up to me and asked, “Are you published?”  No.  “How many of these do you have?” About 500.  “Where are they?”  In a drawer.  Without hesitation, he said, “I’m a publisher, and I’m going to publish your work.  It’s redemptive, and people need to know it’s OK to be that honest with God.”  Seven months later, my book was for sale at Barnes &amp; Noble.com and Amazon.com –   Uncensored Prayer: The Spiritual Practice of Wrestling With God.\r\n\r\nThe impossible happened, and God arranged it all, beginning with giving me the courage to read some of my poetry to Connie.\r\n\r\nAs I began working on the manuscript with my editor, my dream of being a full-time author resurfaced.  I’ve had a variety of jobs over the last forty years, but never a career.  Nothing fit. Our daughter is a surgery nurse, one son is an electrician, while our youngest son is a Marine.  And I’ve been…an author doing other jobs for a living.\r\n\r\nLast spring I contracted a debilitating form of colitis.  After three months on short-term disability, I was still too sick to come back to work.  The prognosis was my disease might prevent me from working anywhere for an indeterminate period of time, perhaps years.  Only one option was left:  quit my job and work at home as a you-know-what.  God fulfilled my heart’s desire.\r\n\r\nNow, why did it take forty years?  God hasn’t told me that.  I figure it was finally time.  Was it because I became willing to listen?  Yes, in a seemingly small way that resulted in monumental consequences.  My husband nudged me to read my poems to one person who nudged me to share my writing with a group.  God did the nudging through other people, but I had to act on the advice, step out of my comfort zone, and follow God, even though I had no clue what would happen.\r\n\r\nGod confirmed what I didn’t and <em>couldn’t</em> know until it happened, and I got the message loud and clear.  My heart spoke, then God answered, and we are walking together in this adventure of a lifetime.\r\n\r\nHow will <em>you</em> hear from God?  I don’t know, but I promise you will when it’s time.  Look for it.\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Calibri\"> </span>','How To Know We\'re Hearing From God: Part 2','','inherit','open','open','','3830-revision-4','','','2012-01-09 11:20:05','2012-01-09 19:20:05','',3830,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/09/3830-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(3898,1,'2012-01-09 11:15:55','2012-01-09 19:15:55','<em>This is the third of a four part series on How To Know We’re Hearing From God.</em>\r\n\r\n<strong>God often reveals and/or confirms personal messages to us through Scripture. </strong> This is no accident or an incident of good luck.  Remember that God will make certain that we know when we are hearing from Him/Her if we are willing to listen.\r\n\r\nI’m still leery at times that I might locate a portion of Scripture telling me what I want to hear, and I’ll convince myself this is God’s answer to my problem or question.  So how can we be certain that what we read is God speaking to us?\r\n\r\nHere are several ways God responds to us through the Bible:\r\n\r\nA benefit of memorizing Bible verses is sometimes one will come to mind just when we need it.  I’m dreadful at remembering where verses are, but am grateful my evangelical upbringing emphasized Scripture memorization, because when I suddenly remember a verse that really helps at the moment, I know God made that happen.\r\n\r\nA shocking way God can get our attention is through a <em>rhema</em>.  Have you ever been reading a passage in the Bible, and suddenly it jumps off the page like it was written in neon?  It might be something you’ve read many times before, but now it’s relevant to your situation, and you know God’s trying to get your attention.  That’s a <em>rhema</em> – a Greek word that means “a specific word about a specific thing”.\r\n\r\nThen there are times when God’s voice to us through Scripture can change our lives forever.  One of the most meaningful conversations I’ve ever had with God was several years ago when I was deeply depressed, filled with low self-esteem, wondering if the darkness I was in would ever end.  I kept crying out to God for help, but heard nothing in reply, and felt abandoned by the One I needed the most.\r\n\r\nSo I picked up my Bible and started turning pages in Isaiah.  All at once, God spoke with clarity and compassion into my heart.  I crumpled, sobbing, knowing He had heard my silent cries, and answered me with words I desperately needed to hear.\r\n<blockquote>I have chosen you and not rejected you.\r\n\r\nDo not fear, for I am with you;\r\n\r\nDo not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.\r\n\r\nI will strengthen you, surely I will help you,\r\n\r\nSurely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.   Isaiah 41:9-10 (NAS)\r\n\r\nDo not fear, for I have redeemed you;\r\n\r\nI have called you by name; you are Mine!\r\n\r\nWhen you pass through the waters, I will be with you;\r\n\r\nAnd through the rivers, they will not overflow you.\r\n\r\nWhen you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,\r\n\r\nNor will the flame burn you.\r\n\r\nFor I am the Lord your God,\r\n\r\nThe Holy One of Israel, your Savior.\r\n\r\nYou are precious in My sight;\r\n\r\nYou are honored and I love you.   Isaiah 43:1-4 (NAS)</blockquote>\r\nGod loves and wants me just like I am.  I’m not alone in the dark, and God will help me get through it.  In the midst of my despair, my Mama/Daddy God reassured me that I matter very much.  My true identity is Chosen, Strong, Precious, Honored, and Loved by God.\r\n\r\nI have no clue how I found these verses; it was like the verses found me.  Ever since that day, I have read them many times, because I struggle with depression, and I’m drawn to them whenever I need help hanging on.\r\n\r\nI know for a fact that God sometimes brings certain Scriptures to mind exactly when we need them.  Other times, God leads us to what He or She wants us to hear.  The Bible is a resource through which God can engage in conversations with us.','How To Know We\'re Hearing From God: Part 3','','inherit','open','open','','3835-revision-3','','','2012-01-09 11:15:55','2012-01-09 19:15:55','',3835,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/09/3835-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(3899,1,'2012-01-10 11:08:14','2012-01-10 19:08:14','<em>This is the third of a four part series on How To Know We’re Hearing From God.</em>\n\n<strong>God often reveals and/or confirms personal messages to us through Scripture. </strong> This is no accident or an incident of good luck.  Remember that God will make certain that we know when we are hearing from Him/Her if we are willing to listen.\n\nI’m still leery at times that I might locate a portion of Scripture telling me what I want to hear, and I’ll convince myself this is God’s answer to my problem or question.  So how can we be certain that what we read is God speaking to us?\n\nHere are several ways God responds to us through the Bible:\n\nA benefit of memorizing Bible verses is sometimes one will come to mind just when we need it.  I’m dreadful at remembering where verses are, but am grateful my evangelical upbringing emphasized Scripture memorization, because when I suddenly remember a verse that really helps at the moment, I know God made that happen.\n\nA shocking way God can get our attention is through a <em>rhema</em>.  Have you ever been reading a passage in the Bible, and suddenly it jumps off the page like it was written in neon?  It might be something you’ve read many times before, but now it’s relevant to your situation, and you know God’s trying to get your attention.  That’s a <em>rhema</em> – a Greek word that means “a specific word about a specific thing”.\n\nThen there are times when God’s voice to us through Scripture can change our lives forever.  One of the most meaningful conversations I’ve ever had with God was several years ago when I was deeply depressed, filled with low self-esteem, wondering if the darkness I was in would ever end.  I kept crying out to God for help, but heard nothing in reply, and felt abandoned by the One I needed the most.\n\nSo I picked up my Bible and started turning pages in Isaiah.  All at once, God spoke with clarity and compassion into my heart.  I crumpled, sobbing, knowing He had heard my silent cries, and answered me with words I desperately needed to hear.\n<blockquote>I have chosen you and not rejected you.\n\nDo not fear, for I am with you;\n\nDo not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.\n\nI will strengthen you, surely I will help you,\n\nSurely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.   Isaiah 41:9-10 (NAS)\n\nDo not fear, for I have redeemed you;\n\nI have called you by name; you are Mine!\n\nWhen you pass through the waters, I will be with you;\n\nAnd through the rivers, they will not overflow you.\n\nWhen you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,\n\nNor will the flame burn you.\n\nFor I am the Lord your God,\n\nThe Holy One of Israel, your Savior.\n\nYou are precious in My sight;\n\nYou are honored and I love you.   Isaiah 43:1-4 (NAS)</blockquote>\nGod loves and wants me just like I am.  I’m not alone in the dark, and God will help me get through it.  In the midst of my despair, my Mama/Daddy God reassured me that I matter very much.  My true identity is Chosen, Strong, Precious, Honored, and Loved by God.\n\nI have no clue how I found these verses; it was like the verses found me.  Ever since that day, I have read them many times, because I struggle with depression, and I’m drawn to them whenever I need help hanging on.\n\nI know for a fact that God sometimes brings certain Scriptures to mind exactly when we need them.  Other times, God leads us to what He or She wants us to hear.  The Bible is a resource through which God can engage in conversations with us.','How To Know We\'re Hearing From God: Part 3','','inherit','open','open','','3835-autosave','','','2012-01-10 11:08:14','2012-01-10 19:08:14','',3835,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3835-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(3900,1,'2012-01-09 11:26:53','2012-01-09 19:26:53','<em>This is the fourth of a four part series on How To Know We’re Hearing From God.</em>\r\n\r\nAs a child I was taught that pastors are divine messengers from God.  My church said when God calls a man to preach he suddenly has a direct line to the Almighty, Who explains the Bible to him, then he tells the flock what God said.  What I wasn’t taught is we all have a direct line to God.  <strong>God wants to talk with us, and will make sure we know when we’re hearing from Him or Her, if we are willing to listen. </strong>\r\n\r\nA very personal way God communicates to us is <strong>through other people.</strong>  Have you ever heard a song on the radio that encouraged you?  Simon and Garfunkel’s song <em>Bridge Over Troubled Waters</em> has that effect on me each time I hear it.  Did you know that’s a way God can speak His or Her love into our hearts?  Many times God nudges someone to help someone else.  We are made in His/Her image to fulfill a special part for the redemption of us all.  God loved us into being, and when we pass that love along to someone else, we are literally the hands, feet and voice of God and have the transformational power to change someone’s life for the better.\r\n\r\nMy favorite example from my life of how I heard from God through someone else is printed in my book <em>Uncensored Prayer: The Spiritual Practice of Wrestling with God</em>.  Here it is in its entirety:\r\n<blockquote>When I first got sober, my sponsor told me to call her every day.  One morning I got up shaking so badly, I knew I couldn’t go to work, so I called her.  She said, “So, can you take a shower?”  “Of course I can take a shower!” I quavered.  “Go take a shower and call me back.”  Then she hung up.\r\n\r\nAfter my shower, I called her back, and told her I couldn’t face work that day.  “Well, can you get dressed?” she said.  Now she was starting to piss me off.  “Of course I can get dressed!” I said angrily.  “Get dressed, then call me.”  And she slammed the phone down.\r\n\r\nCursing under my breath, I got dressed and called her.  “Are you dressed?” she asked.  I replied, “Yes.  Stop the stupid questions, because I need to talk to you.”  “Call me when you get to work, then we’ll talk.”  I slammed down the phone, and headed to my car.  “I’ll show you I can get to work, you old blank-blank-blank.”\r\n\r\nWhen I sat down at my desk, I called her with shaking hands, saying, “I’m here, but I can’t function.  Are you happy now?”  She said, “What’s the first thing you see in front of you?”  I looked down at my desk and replied, “The mail.”  “Well, open your mail and call me back.”\r\n\r\nThat’s how she got me through that day.  I couldn’t pray right then, but she was praying for me by what she did.  Later she told me she called this process “The Next Indicated Thing.”  Whenever I felt overwhelmed or panicky, I needed to pause and ask God, “What’s the next indicated thing to do?”\r\n\r\nMy sponsor said this was a prayer God would answer every time, immediately.  I would see a simple task right in front of me, like opening the mail or taking a shower.  Then my job was to do it.  God would show me an easy task I could do – not busy work, but something that needed doing.  Focusing on one uncomplicated chore took my mind off of feeling overwhelmed, and calmed me down.  It works.  I highly recommend trying it.\r\n\r\nAsking “What’s the next indicated thing to do?” was one of the first ways I heard God answer me directly.  I knew it was an answer to my prayer, because one minute I was so overwhelmed I had ceased functioning effectively.  There was too much to do in too little time, and I had too little brain left to deal with it.  Then I prayed and saw, right in front of me, something I was capable of doing that needed to be done that day.  I felt like God was saying, “Do this task for the moment and calm down, then I’ll help you sort out what’s on fire and must be done today, and what can wait until later.”\r\n\r\nDoing something was much more effective than doing nothing and stewing over it.  I needed constructive action, not scattered, hurricane action that only left a splintered day and mind in its wake.  God knew exactly what I needed, and gave it when I cried out for help.\r\n\r\nAsking for the next indicated thing to do is one of the most practical and effective prayers I’ve ever learned to say when I feel stressed.  And a friend taught me how to do it by pissing me off.</blockquote>\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Calibri;font-size: small\"> </span>','How To Know We\'re Hearing From God: Part 4','','inherit','open','open','','3842-revision-3','','','2012-01-09 11:26:53','2012-01-09 19:26:53','',3842,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/09/3842-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(3901,1,'2012-01-10 11:04:06','2012-01-10 19:04:06','<em>This is the first of a four part series on How To Know We’re Hearing From God.</em>\r\n\r\nThe idea of having conversations with God wasn’t a part of my religious upbringing.  Prayer was talking “at” God in appropriately reverent language about a limited set of topics.  God talked “at” me through the Bible and the pastor.  Pious Sunday School teachers could also be divine messengers, since angels don’t make house calls anymore.\r\n\r\nBut <em>personal conversations</em> with The Almighty?  What would we talk about, and how would I know I was hearing from God and not just making it up in my head?  Sure, God talked with some people in the Bible, like Moses (a very spiritual guy).  But <em>me</em>?\r\n\r\nThe way I learned to have conversations with God was by trying it.  On the possibility that He or She actually wanted to say something to me one-on-one, I decided to listen and see if I could hear anything.\r\n\r\nThe first thing I did was <strong>ask God to let me know for certain I was hearing from Him/Her</strong>.  I truly didn’t know what to expect, but was curious to see if God would answer a direct question from me.  It took some time for me to become sensitive to God’s voice, but the first time I was certain God had spoken to me, I was both stunned and excited, and wanted it to happen again.  I’ve been having discussions with God ever since, though I don’t always hear Him speak to me.  But God doesn’t always hear from me either.\r\n\r\nThe good news is <strong>God wants to talk <em>with</em> us, and will make sure we know when we’re hearing from Him/Her, if we are willing to listen</strong>.  The messages can come in an infinite variety of ways, sometimes when we least expect it.  Here’s how my son, Gideon, heard from God for the first time, from my book <a href=\"http://store.civitaspress.com/books/193\" target=\"_blank\">Uncensored Prayer: The Spiritual Practice of Wrestling with God</a>:\r\n<blockquote>My oldest son, Gideon, loves playing basketball and is good at it.  Throughout his youth he played for a competitive club team.  His first year of high school, Gideon tried out for the freshman basketball team and made it.  This was the last year he was eligible for his competitive team, where he was a successful, respected player.  Who knew how he would do on the school team, facing new challenges, but his future was in his high school basketball team.\r\n\r\nThe problem was Gideon couldn’t play on both teams at once.  He had to choose between them. With a deadline staring him in the face, I told him to ask God to make the right choice clear.\r\n\r\nMy son had never sought God’s will before, and was skeptical, but gave it a try anyway.  Knowing him, I imagine he prayed something like, “God, help me know what to do,” like this would do any good.  I promised not to tell any of his friends.\r\n\r\nFor a week he said, “One day I want to play school ball, and the next day I want competitive ball.  I can’t make up my mind.”\r\n\r\nI don’t think I had ever discussed seeking God’s direction through prayer with my son.  Gideon went to church because of his family and friends. Following Jesus didn’t cross his mind.  He would take his turn sometimes praying before meals, always starting with, “Thank you, dear God, for this wonderful day you have given us,” followed by ”Thanks for the food, Amen.”  It might have been the only prayer he ever prayed.\r\n\r\nIt was unusual for him to confide in me with a problem and ask for advice.  So I told him what I would do in his situation, and he was willing to try it, being out of other ideas.  I was careful not to give him a specific line to say, so he would pray in his own words.\r\n\r\nTwo things were bothering Gideon that made him try prayer.  First, he wanted two things very important to him, and he couldn’t have both at the same time.  Second, there was an internal daily tug-of-war inside him – a pendulum that swung one way, then the other, back and forth.  He couldn’t put the decision off, due to a deadline.  He asked God what to do as a desperate last-choice solution.\r\n\r\nHow did God make the right choice clear to my son?\r\n\r\nHe asked God to give him guidance, and he was willing to listen, even though the only way he could imagine God talking to someone was through an audible voice, like how Charlton Heston heard God say, “Moses!” in <em>The Ten Commandments</em>.  We want God to let us know in a real and tangible way.  We want God to shout, when often God whispers.\r\n\r\nThe day before the deadline, Gideon came to me with light in his eyes.  He said, “I know what to do!  I’m going with school ball.  I woke up this morning and the conflict was gone!”  To his utter shock, asking God for direction worked. Gideon asked because time was short, and this was a really important decision. He chose to engage God because it was deeply important in his life.\r\n\r\nHow did God answer his prayer?  Did he hear God speak aloud from heaven?  No, the internal conflict disappeared, leaving one desire instead of two.\r\n\r\nHow did he know the answer came from God?  The conflict hadn’t gone away through any other means.  Could he explain it?  No.  Gideon knew what to do now, because choice was no longer an issue.  He didn’t have to choose, because there was only one answer – kind of like voting when there’s only one candidate.\r\n\r\nGod had replaced conflict with peace.</blockquote>\r\n&nbsp;','How To Know We\'re Hearing From God: Part 1','','inherit','open','open','','3399-revision-12','','','2012-01-10 11:04:06','2012-01-10 19:04:06','',3399,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3399-revision-12/',0,'revision','',0),(3902,1,'2012-01-10 11:05:31','2012-01-10 19:05:31','<em>This is the second of a four part series on How To Know We’re Hearing From God.</em>\r\n\r\nGod wants us to know that we know that we know when He or She is speaking to us.  We’re the ones that think we can’t hear – that is, until it happens to us.  God’s messages to us are always very personal, and <strong>God will confirm it making us aware of things that we didn’t and <em>couldn’t</em> already know.</strong>\r\n<blockquote>Call to Me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.  Jeremiah 33:3 (NASB)\r\n\r\nFrom now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you.  Isaiah 48:6 (NIV)</blockquote>\r\nI have written poetry all my life as a kind of therapy, never meant for anyone else to read.  Many poems are prayers, some talking to God and others are conversations. I dreamed of being a full-time author with my books for sale at Barnes &amp; Noble, but knew that could never happen.  First of all, I wouldn’t let anyone read my work – it was too personal.  Also, I couldn’t imagine a publisher accepting a book of poetry from an unknown author.  Yet, God knew my heart’s desire, because He had placed it there.\r\n\r\nMy husband, Bud, and I have a good friend named Connie.  Shortly after Thanksgiving, 2010, Bud encouraged me to share some of my writing with her.  I felt nervous and shy, but agreed to do it.  We went to see her, and I took three or four poems. I wanted to see her reaction.\r\n\r\nShe was sitting across from me, and when I finished reading a particularly raw, painful poem, Connie fell out of her chair on her knees, laid her head in my lap, and sobbed.  Bud and I were shocked.  Finally she looked up and said, “I’m in charge of the logistics for a conference two weeks from now.  The attendees are non-traditional Christians, many of whom have been marginalized by the Church.  I want you to read several of your poems, starting with this one.”  I froze in terror, screaming “NO!” without words.  But another voice in me whispered, “Do it.  This is a group of Christian misfits.  If anyone will accept my work, it might be this bunch.”\r\n\r\nWhen the time came, Bud said he was sure I was going to back out, but I went to the podium, holding my radical writing in trembling hands.  “Let’s get this over with,” I thought.  I knew they would be horrified, politely applaud, then crucify me later.  Instead, I received a standing ovation.  Many in the crowd had tears streaming down their faces, and hugged me afterwards.\r\n\r\nThat was shock number one.\r\n\r\nThen something happened that changed my life forever.  A stranger walked up to me and asked, “Are you published?”  No.  “How many of these do you have?” About 500.  “Where are they?”  In a drawer.  Without hesitation, he said, “I’m a publisher, and I’m going to publish your work.  It’s redemptive, and people need to know it’s OK to be that honest with God.”  Seven months later, my book was for sale at Barnes &amp; Noble.com and Amazon.com –   Uncensored Prayer: The Spiritual Practice of Wrestling With God.\r\n\r\nThe impossible happened, and God arranged it all, beginning with giving me the courage to read some of my poetry to Connie.\r\n\r\nAs I began working on the manuscript with my editor, my dream of being a full-time author resurfaced.  I’ve had a variety of jobs over the last forty years, but never a career.  Nothing fit. Our daughter is a surgery nurse, one son is an electrician, while our youngest son is a Marine.  And I’ve been…an author doing other jobs for a living.\r\n\r\nLast spring I contracted a debilitating form of colitis.  After three months on short-term disability, I was still too sick to come back to work.  The prognosis was my disease might prevent me from working anywhere for an indeterminate period of time, perhaps years.  Only one option was left:  quit my job and work at home as a you-know-what.  God fulfilled my heart’s desire.\r\n\r\nNow, why did it take forty years?  God hasn’t told me that.  I figure it was finally time.  Was it because I became willing to listen?  Yes, in a seemingly small way that resulted in monumental consequences.  My husband nudged me to read my poems to one person who nudged me to share my writing with a group.  God did the nudging through other people, but I had to act on the advice, step out of my comfort zone, and follow God, even though I had no clue what would happen.\r\n\r\nGod confirmed what I didn’t and <em>couldn’t</em> know until it happened, and I got the message loud and clear.  My heart spoke, then God answered, and we are walking together in this adventure of a lifetime.\r\n\r\nHow will <em>you</em> hear from God?  I don’t know, but I promise you will when it’s time.  Look for it.\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"> </span>','How To Know We\'re Hearing From God: Part 2','','inherit','open','open','','3830-revision-5','','','2012-01-10 11:05:31','2012-01-10 19:05:31','',3830,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3830-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(3903,1,'2012-01-10 11:07:04','2012-01-10 19:07:04','<em>This is the third of a four part series on How To Know We’re Hearing From God.</em>\r\n\r\n<strong>God often reveals and/or confirms personal messages to us through Scripture. </strong> This is no accident or an incident of good luck.  Remember that God will make certain that we know when we are hearing from Him/Her if we are willing to listen.\r\n\r\nI’m still leery at times that I might locate a portion of Scripture telling me what I want to hear, and I’ll convince myself this is God’s answer to my problem or question.  So how can we be certain that what we read is God speaking to us?\r\n\r\nHere are several ways God responds to us through the Bible:\r\n\r\nA benefit of memorizing Bible verses is sometimes one will come to mind just when we need it.  I’m dreadful at remembering where verses are, but am grateful my evangelical upbringing emphasized Scripture memorization, because when I suddenly remember a verse that really helps at the moment, I know God made that happen.\r\n\r\nA shocking way God can get our attention is through a <em>rhema</em>.  Have you ever been reading a passage in the Bible, and suddenly it jumps off the page like it was written in neon?  It might be something you’ve read many times before, but now it’s relevant to your situation, and you know God’s trying to get your attention.  That’s a <em>rhema</em> – a Greek word that means “a specific word about a specific thing”.\r\n\r\nThen there are times when God’s voice to us through Scripture can change our lives forever.  One of the most meaningful conversations I’ve ever had with God was several years ago when I was deeply depressed, filled with low self-esteem, wondering if the darkness I was in would ever end.  I kept crying out to God for help, but heard nothing in reply, and felt abandoned by the One I needed the most.\r\n\r\nSo I picked up my Bible and started turning pages in Isaiah.  All at once, God spoke with clarity and compassion into my heart.  I crumpled, sobbing, knowing He had heard my silent cries, and answered me with words I desperately needed to hear.\r\n<blockquote>I have chosen you and not rejected you.\r\n\r\nDo not fear, for I am with you;\r\n\r\nDo not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.\r\n\r\nI will strengthen you, surely I will help you,\r\n\r\nSurely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.   Isaiah 41:9-10 (NAS)\r\n\r\nDo not fear, for I have redeemed you;\r\n\r\nI have called you by name; you are Mine!\r\n\r\nWhen you pass through the waters, I will be with you;\r\n\r\nAnd through the rivers, they will not overflow you.\r\n\r\nWhen you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,\r\n\r\nNor will the flame burn you.\r\n\r\nFor I am the Lord your God,\r\n\r\nThe Holy One of Israel, your Savior.\r\n\r\nYou are precious in My sight;\r\n\r\nYou are honored and I love you.   Isaiah 43:1-4 (NAS)</blockquote>\r\nGod loves and wants me just like I am.  I’m not alone in the dark, and God will help me get through it.  In the midst of my despair, my Mama/Daddy God reassured me that I matter very much.  My true identity is Chosen, Strong, Precious, Honored, and Loved by God.\r\n\r\nI have no clue how I found these verses; it was like the verses found me.  Ever since that day, I have read them many times, because I struggle with depression, and I’m drawn to them whenever I need help hanging on.\r\n\r\nI know for a fact that God sometimes brings certain Scriptures to mind exactly when we need them.  Other times, God leads us to what He or She wants us to hear.  The Bible is a resource through which God can engage in conversations with us.','How To Know We\'re Hearing From God: Part 3','','inherit','open','open','','3835-revision-4','','','2012-01-10 11:07:04','2012-01-10 19:07:04','',3835,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3835-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(3904,1,'2012-01-10 11:10:28','2012-01-10 19:10:28','<em>This is the fourth of a four part series on How To Know We’re Hearing From God.</em>\r\n\r\nAs a child I was taught that pastors are divine messengers from God.  My church said when God calls a man to preach he suddenly has a direct line to the Almighty, Who explains the Bible to him, then he tells the flock what God said.  What I wasn’t taught is we all have a direct line to God.  <strong>God wants to talk with us, and will make sure we know when we’re hearing from Him or Her, if we are willing to listen. </strong>\r\n\r\nA very personal way God communicates to us is <strong>through other people.</strong>  Have you ever heard a song on the radio that encouraged you?  Simon and Garfunkel’s song <em>Bridge Over Troubled Waters</em> has that effect on me each time I hear it.  Did you know that’s a way God can speak His or Her love into our hearts?  Many times God nudges someone to help someone else.  We are made in His/Her image to fulfill a special part for the redemption of us all.  God loved us into being, and when we pass that love along to someone else, we are literally the hands, feet and voice of God and have the transformational power to change someone’s life for the better.\r\n\r\nMy favorite example from my life of how I heard from God through someone else is printed in my book <em>Uncensored Prayer: The Spiritual Practice of Wrestling with God</em>.  Here it is in its entirety:\r\n<blockquote>When I first got sober, my sponsor told me to call her every day.  One morning I got up shaking so badly, I knew I couldn’t go to work, so I called her.  She said, “So, can you take a shower?”  “Of course I can take a shower!” I quavered.  “Go take a shower and call me back.”  Then she hung up.\r\n\r\nAfter my shower, I called her back, and told her I couldn’t face work that day.  “Well, can you get dressed?” she said.  Now she was starting to piss me off.  “Of course I can get dressed!” I said angrily.  “Get dressed, then call me.”  And she slammed the phone down.\r\n\r\nCursing under my breath, I got dressed and called her.  “Are you dressed?” she asked.  I replied, “Yes.  Stop the stupid questions, because I need to talk to you.”  “Call me when you get to work, then we’ll talk.”  I slammed down the phone, and headed to my car.  “I’ll show you I can get to work, you old blank-blank-blank.”\r\n\r\nWhen I sat down at my desk, I called her with shaking hands, saying, “I’m here, but I can’t function.  Are you happy now?”  She said, “What’s the first thing you see in front of you?”  I looked down at my desk and replied, “The mail.”  “Well, open your mail and call me back.”\r\n\r\nThat’s how she got me through that day.  I couldn’t pray right then, but she was praying for me by what she did.  Later she told me she called this process “The Next Indicated Thing.”  Whenever I felt overwhelmed or panicky, I needed to pause and ask God, “What’s the next indicated thing to do?”\r\n\r\nMy sponsor said this was a prayer God would answer every time, immediately.  I would see a simple task right in front of me, like opening the mail or taking a shower.  Then my job was to do it.  God would show me an easy task I could do – not busy work, but something that needed doing.  Focusing on one uncomplicated chore took my mind off of feeling overwhelmed, and calmed me down.  It works.  I highly recommend trying it.\r\n\r\nAsking “What’s the next indicated thing to do?” was one of the first ways I heard God answer me directly.  I knew it was an answer to my prayer, because one minute I was so overwhelmed I had ceased functioning effectively.  There was too much to do in too little time, and I had too little brain left to deal with it.  Then I prayed and saw, right in front of me, something I was capable of doing that needed to be done that day.  I felt like God was saying, “Do this task for the moment and calm down, then I’ll help you sort out what’s on fire and must be done today, and what can wait until later.”\r\n\r\nDoing something was much more effective than doing nothing and stewing over it.  I needed constructive action, not scattered, hurricane action that only left a splintered day and mind in its wake.  God knew exactly what I needed, and gave it when I cried out for help.\r\n\r\nAsking for the next indicated thing to do is one of the most practical and effective prayers I’ve ever learned to say when I feel stressed.  And a friend taught me how to do it by pissing me off.</blockquote>\r\n<span style=\"font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;\"> </span>','How To Know We\'re Hearing From God: Part 4','','inherit','open','open','','3842-revision-4','','','2012-01-10 11:10:28','2012-01-10 19:10:28','',3842,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3842-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(3905,1,'2012-01-10 09:49:04','2012-01-10 17:49:04','Most Christian churches are registered as 501(c)3 non-profit organizations and receive a tax exempt status by the government. <a href=\"http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">According to the IRS</a>, to maintain this status churches must abstain from devoting a substantial part of their activity to influencing legislation and intervening in or contributing to political campaigns. In addition to this, church leaders may only make partisan comments if they do so as a reflection of their personal opinions and cannot make such comments through church publications or at official church functions.\r\n\r\nFrom time to time Christian churches endanger their tax exempt status by speaking strongly for or against some particular issue that has a partisan bent. Usually only when Christian churches speak out <em>against</em> the prevailing political or cultural winds do they find themselves under investigation by the IRS. The State appears far less concerned about separation of Church and State when the Church agrees with the State. In all honesty, if these requirements were fairly and consistently enforced, I believe these investigations would be far more routine as I have seen Christian churches blatantly violations these requirements many times.\r\n\r\nWhile these issues probably deserve more discussion, these are ultimately moot points to me because I believe all Christian churches should lose their tax exempt status. I believe this because it is categorically impossible for Christian churches to take the teachings of Jesus seriously and obey the requirements laid out by the IRS at the same time. Given the choice to follow Jesus or obey the IRS, I would hope Christian churches would follow Jesus even though this would mean losing their tax exempt status. There are two primary reasons I believe Christian churches cannot obey Jesus and the IRS at the same time.\r\n\r\nFirst, numerous statements made by Jesus and other New Testament authors proclaim that Jesus is Lord over <em>everything</em>.  Jesus did not just claim authority over the personal, private, moral or spiritual dimensions of His follower\'s lives.  Jesus claimed to be Lord over <em>everything</em>, which certainly would include all aspects of His follower\'s lives.  This would include their finances, their politics, their public lives, how they treat the poor, how they treat their enemies, etc. If the claims about Jesus\' lordship and authority are to be taken seriously, no Christian church can suggest their members <em>only</em> owe Jesus their spiritual affections or their intellectual assent to specific doctrines while Jesus can be safely ignored on all other matters. Either Jesus is seen as the absolute Lord over the entire world and Lord over all aspects of the of the lives of His followers or the followers of Jesus must admit that they are ignoring some of Jesus’ own words and claims made about Him in the Bible.\r\n\r\nSecond, the claims of Jesus and His teachings had and have social and political implications. Jesus did not just encourage His followers to pursue personal piety but to pursue justice. Jesus did not just teach on morality but also on ethics. Jesus taught that we are to love our enemies, that we are to take care of the poor and the marginalized, and that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. All of these teachings involve many issues that are today governed by politics and legislation. How then could a Christian church today obey Jesus and remain unconcerned with politics and legislation? While it is true that many of these teachings can obeyed or pursued at a personal level, with no involvement in politics whatsoever, there are some issues that are primarily or exclusively handled in our contemporary society through politics and legislation. For example, any stance on war will naturally involve politics. In addition to this, certain issues may require political or legislative reform to address in a more comprehensive manner.  For example, volunteering to feed the homeless at a soup kitchen is certainly taking care of the poor, but if you want work towards ending poverty you will need to get involved in local, national and global politics.\r\n\r\nIn this situation, how could a Christian church ever hope to abide by the requirements laid out by the IRS?  Because of Jesus\' claims to absolute and complete authority, Christians cannot offer their personal and private lives to Jesus while keeping who they vote for, what legislation they pursue, and how they treat others as a matter of personal preference. If Christians believe Jesus is Lord, they cannot, \"I pray and believe according to the teachings of Jesus, but I do not let my faith impact how I vote. That is a private and personal matter.\"  How could a Church take Jesus\' teachings regarding the poor and the marginalized seriously and not pursue specific legislation regarding  homelessness, economic exploitation in capitalism, environmental injustice, Welfare, Medicaid, universal health care and immigration reform?  How could one expect Christian leaders , whose job in part entails espousing the teaching and ideals of Jesus, to not speak about partisan issues in an official capacity or at an official function? How could a Christian leader take Jesus\' insistence that we love our enemies seriously and not speak out against wars in an official capacity?\r\n\r\nAt the end of the day, Jesus\'s claims and teachings had and have political implications and this will always guarantee that at some level following Jesus will be a political endeavor. Following Jesus has always meant being willing to break from the prevailing cultural and political winds and in the contemporary context this will mean involvement in legislation and the democratic process which is highly partisan.  In light of all of this, it is impossible for Christian churches to obey Jesus and the IRS at the same time without seriously compromising the teachings of the former to receive the tax-exempt status of the latter. I would hope that Christians would follow the teachings of Jesus and live a political life and pursue a political agenda that reflects the person they believe to be God, even though doing so will mean losing benefits they may have grown accustomed to.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Why Christian churches should lose their tax exempt status.','','inherit','open','open','','3677-revision-10','','','2012-01-10 09:49:04','2012-01-10 17:49:04','',3677,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3677-revision-10/',0,'revision','',0),(3908,134,'2012-01-19 08:57:42','2012-01-19 16:57:42','As a Christian (what I learned as a child), one is to marry and procreate -- in that order.\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li>This means finding someone to live with for the rest of that person\'s life through whatever protocol (dating, arrangement, etc).</li>\r\n	<li>Within the sanction of marriage, one is supposed to have children.</li>\r\n</ol>\r\nNow it seems that Christians don\'t want to follow the rules. Statistics show that <em>\"unmarried Americans will soon outnumber those who are married\"</em> meaning that many men and women prefer to live in sin.\r\n\r\nI\'ve always found it interesting when secular group (the <a title=\"British Broadcasting Corporation\" href=\"http://www.bbc.co.uk/\" target=\"_blank\">British Broadcasting Corporation</a> in this case) writes an article related to religion in some level or other. In this article the <a title=\"British Broadcasting Corporation\" href=\"http://www.bbc.co.uk/\" target=\"_blank\">BBC</a> used <a title=\"Barely Half of U.S. Adults Are Married -- A Record Low\" href=\"http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2011/12/14/barely-half-of-u-s-adults-are-married-a-record-low/?src=prc-headline\" target=\"_blank\">Pew Research Center</a> (<em>a Christian organization</em>, no less) as its source for statistics.\r\n<blockquote><strong>Why is the US marriage rate falling sharply?\r\n</strong><a title=\"Why is the US marriage rate falling sharply?\" href=\"http://wow.ebb.co.up/news/magazine-16274740\" target=\"_blank\">http://wow.ebb.co.up/news/magazine-16274740</a>\r\n\r\nChicago Tribune syndicated advice columnist Amy Dickinson believes the increase in no-fault divorces and tougher child support laws are two reasons behind the falling popularity of married life in America.\r\n\r\n\"It is no longer necessary to be married to someone in order to pursue financial support and I believe this has had a huge impact on couples who have children together and, let\'s say, 20 years ago would get married in order to establish legitimacy and then, hence, get financial support.\"</blockquote>\r\nIn some cases, the idea of not getting married makes sense. For example, my friend Ian just moved in with his girlfriend. He goes to church every Sunday and is very active in church, but she goes to a Jewish community center. Religion might cause friction, but then again living in NYC might be much more difficult than <em>living in sin</em>.\r\n\r\nMany more argue that getting married in a gamble -- an expectation of failure and divorce. The best example that I can think of is the relationship between <a title=\"Gene Simmons\" href=\"en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Simmons\" target=\"_blank\">Gene Simmons</a> (bassist of <a title=\"Kiss (Band)\" href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss_%28band%29\" target=\"_blank\">KISS</a>) and <a title=\"Shannon Tweed\" href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannon_Tweed\" target=\"_blank\">Shannon Tweed</a> (former Playboy model) who lived together <em>happily unmarried</em> for almost twenty-eight years. Now they\'re a happily married couple.','Over 50% Living In Sin','','publish','open','open','','over-50-living-in-sin','','','2012-01-13 17:13:05','2012-01-14 01:13:05','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=3908',0,'post','',1),(3906,1,'2012-01-10 11:38:25','2012-01-10 19:38:25','Most Christian churches are registered as 501(c)3 non-profit organizations and receive a tax exempt status by the government. <a href=\"http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">According to the IRS</a>, to maintain this status churches must abstain from devoting a substantial part of their activity to influencing legislation and intervening in or contributing to political campaigns. In addition to this, church leaders may only make partisan comments if they do so as a reflection of their personal opinions and cannot make such comments through church publications or at official church functions.\r\n\r\nFrom time to time Christian churches endanger their tax exempt status by speaking strongly for or against some particular issue that has a partisan bent. Usually only when Christian churches speak out <em>against</em> the prevailing political or cultural winds do they find themselves under investigation by the IRS. The State appears far less concerned about separation of Church and State when the Church agrees with the State. In all honesty, if these requirements were fairly and consistently enforced, I believe these investigations would be far more routine as I have seen Christian churches blatantly violations these requirements many times.\r\n\r\nWhile these issues probably deserve more discussion, these are ultimately moot points to me because I believe all Christian churches should lose their tax exempt status. I believe this because it is categorically impossible for Christian churches to take the teachings of Jesus seriously and obey the requirements laid out by the IRS at the same time. Given the choice to follow Jesus or obey the IRS, I would hope Christian churches would follow Jesus even though this would mean losing their tax exempt status. There are two primary reasons I believe Christian churches cannot obey Jesus and the IRS at the same time.\r\n\r\nFirst, numerous statements made by Jesus and other New Testament authors proclaim that Jesus is Lord over <em>everything</em>.  Jesus did not just claim authority over the personal, private, moral or spiritual dimensions of His follower\'s lives.  Jesus claimed to be Lord over <em>everything</em>, which certainly would include all aspects of His follower\'s lives.  This would include their finances, their politics, their public lives, how they treat the poor, how they treat their enemies, etc. If the claims about Jesus\' lordship and authority are to be taken seriously, no Christian church can suggest their members <em>only</em> owe Jesus their spiritual affections or their intellectual assent to specific doctrines while Jesus can be safely ignored on all other matters. Either Jesus is seen as the absolute Lord over the entire world and Lord over all aspects of the of the lives of His followers or the followers of Jesus must admit that they are ignoring some of Jesus’ own words and claims made about Him in the Bible.\r\n\r\nSecond, the claims of Jesus and His teachings had and have social and political implications. Jesus did not just encourage His followers to pursue personal piety but to pursue justice. Jesus did not just teach on morality but also on ethics. Jesus taught that we are to love our enemies, that we are to take care of the poor and the marginalized, and that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. All of these teachings involve many issues that are today governed by politics and legislation. How then could a Christian church today obey Jesus and remain unconcerned with politics and legislation? While it is true that many of these teachings can obeyed or pursued at a personal level, with no involvement in politics whatsoever, there are some issues that are primarily or exclusively handled in our contemporary society through politics and legislation. For example, any stance on war will naturally involve politics. In addition to this, certain issues may require political or legislative reform to address in a more comprehensive manner.  For example, volunteering to feed the homeless at a soup kitchen is certainly taking care of the poor, but if you want work towards ending poverty you will need to get involved in local, national and global politics.\r\n\r\nIn this situation, how could a Christian church ever hope to abide by the requirements laid out by the IRS?  Because of Jesus\' claims to absolute and complete authority, Christians cannot offer their personal and private lives to Jesus while keeping who they vote for, what legislation they pursue, and how they treat others as a matter of personal preference. If Christians believe Jesus is Lord, they cannot, \"I pray and believe according to the teachings of Jesus, but I do not let my faith impact how I vote. That is a private and personal matter.\"  How could a Church take Jesus\' teachings regarding the poor and the marginalized seriously and not pursue specific legislation regarding  homelessness, economic exploitation in capitalism, environmental injustice, Welfare, Medicaid, universal health care and immigration reform?  How could one expect Christian leaders , whose job in part entails espousing the teaching and ideals of Jesus, to not speak about partisan issues in an official capacity or at an official function? How could a Christian leader take Jesus\' insistence that we love our enemies seriously and not speak out against wars in an official capacity?\r\n\r\nAt the end of the day, Jesus\'s claims and teachings had and have political implications and this will always guarantee that at some level following Jesus will be a political endeavor. Following Jesus has always meant being willing to break from the prevailing cultural and political winds and in the contemporary context this will mean involvement in legislation and the democratic process which is highly partisan.  In light of all of this, it is impossible for Christian churches to obey Jesus and the IRS at the same time without seriously compromising the teachings of the former to receive the tax-exempt status of the latter. I would hope that Christians would follow the teachings of Jesus and live a political life and pursue a political agenda that reflects the person they believe to be God, even though doing so will mean losing benefits they may have grown accustomed to.','Why Christian churches should lose their tax exempt status.','','inherit','open','open','','3677-revision-11','','','2012-01-10 11:38:25','2012-01-10 19:38:25','',3677,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3677-revision-11/',0,'revision','',0),(3907,1,'2012-01-10 11:41:07','2012-01-10 19:41:07','Most Christian churches are registered as 501(c)3 non-profit organizations and receive a tax exempt status by the government. <a href=\"http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p1828.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">According to the IRS</a>, to maintain this status churches must abstain from devoting a substantial part of their activity to influencing legislation and intervening in or contributing to political campaigns. In addition to this, church leaders may only make partisan comments if they do so as a reflection of their personal opinions and cannot make such comments through church publications or at official church functions.\r\n\r\nFrom time to time Christian churches endanger their tax exempt status by speaking strongly for or against some particular issue that has a partisan bent. Usually only when Christian churches speak out <em>against</em> the prevailing political or cultural winds do they find themselves under investigation by the IRS. The State appears far less concerned about separation of Church and State when the Church agrees with the State. In all honesty, if these requirements were fairly and consistently enforced, I believe these investigations would be far more routine as I have seen Christian churches blatantly violations these requirements many times.\r\n\r\nWhile these issues probably deserve more discussion, these are ultimately moot points to me because I believe all Christian churches should lose their tax exempt status. I believe this because it is categorically impossible for Christian churches to take the teachings of Jesus seriously and obey the requirements laid out by the IRS at the same time. Given the choice to follow Jesus or obey the IRS, I would hope Christian churches would follow Jesus even though this would mean losing their tax exempt status. There are two primary reasons I believe Christian churches cannot obey Jesus and the IRS at the same time.\r\n\r\nFirst, numerous statements made by Jesus and other New Testament authors proclaim that Jesus is Lord over <em>everything</em>.  Jesus did not just claim authority over the personal, private, moral or spiritual dimensions of His follower\'s lives.  Jesus claimed to be Lord over <em>everything</em>, which certainly would include all aspects of His follower\'s lives.  This would include their finances, their politics, their public lives, how they treat the poor, how they treat their enemies, etc. If the claims about Jesus\' lordship and authority are to be taken seriously, no Christian church can suggest their members <em>only</em> owe Jesus their spiritual affections or their intellectual assent to specific doctrines while Jesus can be safely ignored on all other matters. Either Jesus is seen as the absolute Lord over the entire world and Lord over all aspects of the of the lives of His followers or the followers of Jesus must admit that they are ignoring some of Jesus’ own words and claims made about Him in the Bible.\r\n\r\nSecond, the claims of Jesus and His teachings had and have social and political implications. Jesus did not just encourage His followers to pursue personal piety but to pursue justice. Jesus did not just teach on morality but also on ethics. Jesus taught that we are to love our enemies, that we are to take care of the poor and the marginalized, and that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. All of these teachings involve many issues that are today governed by politics and legislation. How then could a Christian church today obey Jesus and remain unconcerned with politics and legislation? While it is true that many of these teachings can obeyed or pursued at a personal level, with no involvement in politics whatsoever, there are some issues that are primarily or exclusively handled in our contemporary society through politics and legislation. For example, any stance on war will naturally involve politics. In addition to this, certain issues may require political or legislative reform to address in a more comprehensive manner.  For example, volunteering to feed the homeless at a soup kitchen is certainly taking care of the poor, but if you want work towards ending poverty you will need to get involved in local, national and global politics.\r\n\r\nIn this situation, how could a Christian church ever hope to abide by the requirements laid out by the IRS?  Because of Jesus\' claims to absolute and complete authority, Christians cannot offer their personal and private lives to Jesus while keeping who they vote for, what legislation they pursue, and how they treat others as a matter of personal preference. If Christians believe Jesus is Lord, they cannot, \"I pray and believe according to the teachings of Jesus, but I do not let my faith impact how I vote. That is a private and personal matter.\"  How could a Church take Jesus\' teachings regarding the poor and the marginalized seriously and not pursue specific legislation regarding  homelessness, economic exploitation in capitalism, environmental injustice, Welfare, Medicaid, universal health care and immigration reform?  How could one expect Christian leaders , whose job in part entails espousing the teaching and ideals of Jesus, to not speak about partisan issues in an official capacity or at an official function? How could a Christian leader take Jesus\' insistence that we love our enemies seriously and not speak out against wars in an official capacity?\r\n\r\nAt the end of the day, Jesus\'s claims and teachings had and have political implications and this will always guarantee that at some level following Jesus will be a political endeavor. Following Jesus has always meant being willing to break from the prevailing cultural and political winds and in the contemporary context this will mean involvement in legislation and the democratic process which is highly partisan.  In light of all of this, it is impossible for Christian churches to obey Jesus and the IRS at the same time without seriously compromising the teachings of the former to receive the tax-exempt status of the latter. I would hope that Christians would follow the teachings of Jesus and live a political life and pursue a political agenda that reflects the person they believe to be God, even though doing so will mean losing benefits they may have grown accustomed to.','Why Christian Churches Should Lose Tax Exempt Status.','','inherit','open','open','','3677-revision-12','','','2012-01-10 11:41:07','2012-01-10 19:41:07','',3677,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3677-revision-12/',0,'revision','',0),(3910,134,'2012-01-10 11:57:47','2012-01-10 19:57:47','As a Christian (what I learned as a child), one is to marry and procreate -- in that order.\n<ol>\n	<li>This means finding someone to live with for the rest of that person\'s life through whatever protocol (dating, arrangement, etc).</li>\n	<li>Within the sanction of marriage, one is supposed to have children.</li>\n</ol>\nNow it seems that Christians don\'t want to follow the rules. Statistics show that <em>\"unmarried Americans will soon outnumber those who are married\"</em> meaning that many men and women prefer to live in sin.\n\nI\'ve always found it interesting when secular group (the <a title=\"British Broadcasting Corporation\" href=\"http://www.bbc.co.uk/\" target=\"_blank\">British Broadcasting Corporation</a> in this case) writes an article related to religion in some level or other. In this article the <a title=\"British Broadcasting Corporation\" href=\"http://www.bbc.co.uk/\" target=\"_blank\">BBC</a> used <a title=\"Barely Half of U.S. Adults Are Married -- A Record Low\" href=\"http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2011/12/14/barely-half-of-u-s-adults-are-married-a-record-low/?src=prc-headline\" target=\"_blank\">Pew Research Center</a> (<em>a Christian organization</em>, no less) as its source for statistics.\n<blockquote><strong>Why is the US marriage rate falling sharply?\n</strong><a title=\"Why is the US marriage rate falling sharply?\" href=\"http://wow.ebb.co.up/news/magazine-16274740\" target=\"_blank\">http://wow.ebb.co.up/news/magazine-16274740</a>\n\nChicago Tribune syndicated advice columnist Amy Dickinson believes the increase in no-fault divorces and tougher child support laws are two reasons behind the falling popularity of married life in America.\n\n\"It is no longer necessary to be married to someone in order to pursue financial support and I believe this has had a huge impact on couples who have children together and, let\'s say, 20 years ago would get married in order to establish legitimacy and then, hence, get financial support.\"</blockquote>\nIn some cases, the idea of not getting married makes sense. For example, my friend Ian just moved in with his girlfriend. He goes to church every Sunday and is very active in church, but she goes to a Jewish community center. Religion might cause friction, but then again living in NYC might be much more difficult than <em>living in sin</em>.\n\nMany more argue that getting married in a gamble -- an expectation of failure and divorce. The best example that I can think of is the relationship between <a title=\"Gene Simmons\" href=\"en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Simmons\" target=\"_blank\">Gene Simmons</a> (bassist of <a title=\"Kiss (Band)\" href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss_%28band%29\" target=\"_blank\">KISS</a>) and <a title=\"Shannon Tweed\" href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannon_Tweed\" target=\"_blank\">Shannon Tweed</a> (former Playboy model) who lived together <em>happily unmarried</em> for almost twenty-eight years. Now they\'re a happily married couple.','over 50% living in sin','','inherit','open','open','','3908-revision','','','2012-01-10 11:57:47','2012-01-10 19:57:47','',3908,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3908-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(3911,1,'2012-01-13 09:04:17','2012-01-13 17:04:17','As a Christian (what I learned as a child), one is to marry and procreate -- in that order.\n<ol>\n	<li>This means finding someone to live with for the rest of that person\'s life through whatever protocol (dating, arrangement, etc).</li>\n	<li>Within the sanction of marriage, one is supposed to have children.</li>\n</ol>\nNow it seems that Christians don\'t want to follow the rules. Statistics show that <em>\"unmarried Americans will soon outnumber those who are married\"</em> meaning that many men and women prefer to live in sin.\n\nI\'ve always found it interesting when secular group (the <a title=\"British Broadcasting Corporation\" href=\"http://www.bbc.co.uk/\" target=\"_blank\">British Broadcasting Corporation</a> in this case) writes an article related to religion in some level or other. In this article the <a title=\"British Broadcasting Corporation\" href=\"http://www.bbc.co.uk/\" target=\"_blank\">BBC</a> used <a title=\"Barely Half of U.S. Adults Are Married -- A Record Low\" href=\"http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2011/12/14/barely-half-of-u-s-adults-are-married-a-record-low/?src=prc-headline\" target=\"_blank\">Pew Research Center</a> (<em>a Christian organization</em>, no less) as its source for statistics.\n<blockquote><strong>Why is the US marriage rate falling sharply?\n</strong><a title=\"Why is the US marriage rate falling sharply?\" href=\"http://wow.ebb.co.up/news/magazine-16274740\" target=\"_blank\">http://wow.ebb.co.up/news/magazine-16274740</a>\n\nChicago Tribune syndicated advice columnist Amy Dickinson believes the increase in no-fault divorces and tougher child support laws are two reasons behind the falling popularity of married life in America.\n\n\"It is no longer necessary to be married to someone in order to pursue financial support and I believe this has had a huge impact on couples who have children together and, let\'s say, 20 years ago would get married in order to establish legitimacy and then, hence, get financial support.\"</blockquote>\nIn some cases, the idea of not getting married makes sense. For example, my friend Ian just moved in with his girlfriend. He goes to church every Sunday and is very active in church, but she goes to a Jewish community center. Religion might cause friction, but then again living in NYC might be much more difficult than <em>living in sin</em>.\n\nMany more argue that getting married in a gamble -- an expectation of failure and divorce. The best example that I can think of is the relationship between <a title=\"Gene Simmons\" href=\"en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Simmons\" target=\"_blank\">Gene Simmons</a> (bassist of <a title=\"Kiss (Band)\" href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss_%28band%29\" target=\"_blank\">KISS</a>) and <a title=\"Shannon Tweed\" href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannon_Tweed\" target=\"_blank\">Shannon Tweed</a> (former Playboy model) who lived together <em>happily unmarried</em> for almost twenty-eight years. Now they\'re a happily married couple.','Over 50% Living In Sin','','inherit','open','open','','3908-autosave','','','2012-01-13 09:04:17','2012-01-13 17:04:17','',3908,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3908-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(3912,134,'2012-01-10 12:29:31','2012-01-10 20:29:31','','over 50% living in sin','','inherit','open','open','','800px-old_married_couple_in_kyrgyzstan_cropped500x250','','','2012-01-10 12:29:31','2012-01-10 20:29:31','',3908,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/800px-Old_married_couple_in_Kyrgyzstan_cropped500x250.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(3913,134,'2012-01-10 11:59:00','2012-01-10 19:59:00','As a Christian (what I learned as a child), one is to marry and procreate -- in that order.\r\n<ol>\r\n	<li>This means finding someone to live with for the rest of that person\'s life through whatever protocol (dating, arrangement, etc).</li>\r\n	<li>Within the sanction of marriage, one is supposed to have children.</li>\r\n</ol>\r\nNow it seems that Christians don\'t want to follow the rules. Statistics show that <em>\"unmarried Americans will soon outnumber those who are married\"</em> meaning that many men and women prefer to live in sin.\r\n\r\nI\'ve always found it interesting when secular group (the <a title=\"British Broadcasting Corporation\" href=\"http://www.bbc.co.uk/\" target=\"_blank\">British Broadcasting Corporation</a> in this case) writes an article related to religion in some level or other. In this article the <a title=\"British Broadcasting Corporation\" href=\"http://www.bbc.co.uk/\" target=\"_blank\">BBC</a> used <a title=\"Barely Half of U.S. Adults Are Married -- A Record Low\" href=\"http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2011/12/14/barely-half-of-u-s-adults-are-married-a-record-low/?src=prc-headline\" target=\"_blank\">Pew Research Center</a> (<em>a Christian organization</em>, no less) as its source for statistics.\r\n<blockquote><strong>Why is the US marriage rate falling sharply?\r\n</strong><a title=\"Why is the US marriage rate falling sharply?\" href=\"http://wow.ebb.co.up/news/magazine-16274740\" target=\"_blank\">http://wow.ebb.co.up/news/magazine-16274740</a>\r\n\r\nChicago Tribune syndicated advice columnist Amy Dickinson believes the increase in no-fault divorces and tougher child support laws are two reasons behind the falling popularity of married life in America.\r\n\r\n\"It is no longer necessary to be married to someone in order to pursue financial support and I believe this has had a huge impact on couples who have children together and, let\'s say, 20 years ago would get married in order to establish legitimacy and then, hence, get financial support.\"</blockquote>\r\nIn some cases, the idea of not getting married makes sense. For example, my friend Ian just moved in with his girlfriend. He goes to church every Sunday and is very active in church, but she goes to a Jewish community center. Religion might cause friction, but then again living in NYC might be much more difficult than <em>living in sin</em>.\r\n\r\nMany more argue that getting married in a gamble -- an expectation of failure and divorce. The best example that I can think of is the relationship between <a title=\"Gene Simmons\" href=\"en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Simmons\" target=\"_blank\">Gene Simmons</a> (bassist of <a title=\"Kiss (Band)\" href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiss_%28band%29\" target=\"_blank\">KISS</a>) and <a title=\"Shannon Tweed\" href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannon_Tweed\" target=\"_blank\">Shannon Tweed</a> (former Playboy model) who lived together <em>happily unmarried</em> for almost twenty-eight years. Now they\'re a happily married couple.','over 50% living in sin','','inherit','open','open','','3908-revision-2','','','2012-01-10 11:59:00','2012-01-10 19:59:00','',3908,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3908-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(3915,0,'2012-01-10 14:44:07','2012-01-10 22:44:07','faith, justice\n<!--more-->\nAUTHOR: Patricia DeWit\nAUTHOR EMAIL: maradok@hotmail.com\nAUTHOR URL: http://patridew.wordpress.com\nSUBJECT: Provoketive Magazine Writing For Provoketive\nIP: 110.171.62.134\nArray\n(\n    [Name] =&gt; Patricia DeWit\n    [Email] =&gt; maradok@hotmail.com\n    [Existing Blog or Website] =&gt; patridew.wordpress.com\n    [List the topic you are interested writing about] =&gt; faith, justice\n    [Current or New WordPress Login Name (We\'ll send you a password.)] =&gt; patridew\n)\n','Patricia DeWit - 2012-01-10 14:44:07','','publish','open','open','','6d7e1958510977c1b1bbfc5b380296a7','','','2012-01-10 14:44:07','2012-01-10 22:44:07','',358,'http://provoketive.com/?post_type=feedback&p=3915',0,'feedback','',0),(3918,86,'2012-01-17 09:00:22','2012-01-17 17:00:22','We live in a cynical age.\r\n\r\nYou’ve probably noticed it.  I don’t know how you could avoid it.  It’s everywhere.\r\n\r\nIt’s in every person who feels jaded by life, by the church or by their jobs.\r\n\r\nIt\'s in every person who\'s lost faith in people, in \"the system\" or in God.\r\n\r\nIt’s in every one of the myriad of spoof movies that are spewn upon audiences each year.\r\n\r\nIt’s in every hipster whose wardrobe is made up of the most outdated, mismatched items in the thrift store.\r\n\r\nI’ve got plenty of cynicism in me.  But I’m working on it.  Because I think it might be killing my generation<em>.</em>\r\n\r\n<img src=\"http://www.thechurchofnopeople.com/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif\" alt=\"\" />\r\n<h2><strong>The _____ Generation</strong></h2>\r\nWhat word defines my generation?\r\n\r\nMy grandparents were called the “Great Generation.”\r\n\r\nMy parents were the Baby Boomer Generation.\r\n\r\nBut they don\'t have a name for us.  So they called us \"X,\" one of the dumbest terms ever coined by sociologists.\r\n\r\nI think they should call us the Ironic Generation.\r\n\r\nIrony, probably the most important word today in today’s new generation.  I love irony, as the dictionary defines it:\r\n\r\n<strong><em>irony: to express something other than and especially the opposite of a literal meaning.</em></strong>\r\n\r\nBut the truly ironic thing is that the word is losing its real meaning.  It’s just a word that’s taken the place of “cynicism.”\r\n<h2><strong>If Something Is Worth Doing, It\'s Worth Doing Ironically</strong></h2>\r\nI know I pick on hipsters a lot.  But it\'s not without cause.  I think many of them embody the worst cynicism that pervades my generation.  Take hipster fashion for instance.  All of the outdated, mismatched clothes, the mutton chops, non-prescription eyeglasses, and Pabst Blue Ribbon are meticulously crafted for to maximize one desired effect:\r\n\r\nIrony.\r\n\r\nDo you laugh at how your parents were dressed in old photos?  Then just get some of those clothes from the thrift store and wear them “ironically.”  Drink crappy beer \"ironically.\"  Do everything \"ironically\" while laughing at people who did all those things<em>sincerely.</em>\r\n\r\n<strong>Hipster 1: </strong><em>\"Dude, Pabst Blue Ribbon sucks so bad.\"</em>\r\n\r\n<strong>Hipster 2: </strong><em>\"I know, I just like drinking it because it\'s so hilariously awful.\"</em>\r\n\r\n<strong>Hipster 1:  </strong><em>\"Well done, sir.  Who in their right mind would actually drink this and think it\'s good?  Pass me another.\"</em>\r\n\r\n<strong>Hipster 2:  </strong><em>\"Nice tube top, by the way.  It goes great with those tiny basketball shorts.\"</em>\r\n\r\nThat’s not irony.  That’s just snark.  That\'s just trying to draw attention to your cynical assumption that your distinguished and refined tastes are too cool for this planet.  The only thing ironic about hipsters is how much sheer, <em>sincere </em>effort they put into being \"ironic\" and pretending to not give a crap.  If hipsters <em>really </em>didn\'t give a crap, they\'d just go to Kohl\'s and buy some Levis and polo shirts like those of us who <em>sincerely don\'t care</em>.\r\n\r\nI’m tired of your irony, hipsters.  You’ve become a parody of yourselves.  Now <em>that’s </em>ironic.\r\n<h2><strong>A Sincere Generation</strong></h2>\r\nHere’s the thing.  I think my generation is so caught up in the supposed <em>irony </em>of our whole existence, that we aren’t spending a whole lot of time or effort doing anything <em>sincerely.  </em>Everything that a person can sincerely value, someone in my generation is treating like kitsch.  Patriotism?  Ironic.  Religion?  Ironic.  Gender?  Ironic.  Love?  Ironic...probably.\r\n\r\nGuess what?\r\n\r\nMaking fun of things isn\'t productive.\r\n\r\nBeing ironic doesn\'t make the world more beautiful or creative.\r\n\r\nBeing cynical doesn’t solve problems.\r\n\r\nThe irony of my generation will be looked at by our grandkids as another stupid, meaningless fad.  We need to drop the act and stop calling our cynicism “irony” or “creativity.”  If all we leave behind is a pile of irony, parodies, riffs, spoofs and snark then our generation will not be remembered.\r\n\r\nIf we are so caught up with the absurdity of things, then maybe we should spend half of our “ironic” efforts actually creating things that are <em>sincere...</em>\r\n\r\n...Unless we\'re just afraid that our sincere efforts will be imitated \"ironically\" by the next generation.\r\n\r\nWhat do you think?  Are you sick of irony, or is it the greatest invention of our time?','An Ironic Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum','','publish','open','open','','an-ironic-thing-happened-on-the-way-to-the-forum','','','2012-01-13 17:11:30','2012-01-14 01:11:30','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=3918',0,'post','',1),(3919,86,'2012-01-10 18:20:26','2012-01-11 02:20:26','We live in a cynical age.\n\nYou’ve probably noticed it.  I don’t know how you could avoid it.  It’s everywhere.\n\nIt’s in every person who feels jaded by life, by the church or by their jobs.\n\nIt\'s in every person who\'s lost faith in people, in \"the system\" or in God.\n\nIt’s in every one of the myriad of spoof movies that are spewn upon audiences each year.\n\nIt’s in every hipster whose wardrobe is made up of the most outdated, mismatched items in the thrift store.\n\nI’ve got plenty of cynicism in me.  But I’m working on it.  Because I think it might be killing my generation<em>.</em>\n\n<!--more--><img src=\"http://www.thechurchofnopeople.com/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif\" alt=\"\" />\n<h2><strong>The _____ Generation</strong></h2>\nWhat word defines my generation?\n\nMy grandparents were called the “Great Generation.”\n\nMy parents were the Baby Boomer Generation.\n\nBut they don\'t have a name for us.  So they called us \"X,\" one of the dumbest terms ever coined by sociologists.\n\nI think they should call us the Ironic Generation.\n\nIrony, probably the most important word today in today’s new generation.  I love irony, as the dictionary defines it:\n\n<strong><em>irony: to express something other than and especially the opposite of a literal meaning.</em></strong>\n\nBut the truly ironic thing is that the word is losing its real meaning.  It’s just a word that’s taken the place of “cynicism.”\n<h2><strong>If Something Is Worth Doing, It\'s Worth Doing Ironically</strong></h2>\nI know I pick on hipsters a lot.  But it\'s not without cause.  I think many of them embody the worst cynicism that pervades my generation.  Take hipster fashion for instance.  All of the outdated, mismatched clothes, the mutton chops, non-prescription eyeglasses, and Pabst Blue Ribbon are meticulously crafted for to maximize one desired effect:\n\nIrony.\n\nDo you laugh at how your parents were dressed in old photos?  Then just get some of those clothes from the thrift store and wear them “ironically.”  Drink crappy beer \"ironically.\"  Do everything \"ironically\" while laughing at people who did all those things<em>sincerely.</em>\n\n<strong>Hipster 1: </strong><em>\"Dude, Pabst Blue Ribbon sucks so bad.\"</em>\n\n<strong>Hipster 2: </strong><em>\"I know, I just like drinking it because it\'s so hilariously awful.\"</em>\n\n<strong>Hipster 1:  </strong><em>\"Well done, sir.  Who in their right mind would actually drink this and think it\'s good?  Pass me another.\"</em>\n\n<strong>Hipster 2:  </strong><em>\"Nice tube top, by the way.  It goes great with those tiny basketball shorts.\"</em>\n\nThat’s not irony.  That’s just snark.  That\'s just trying to draw attention to your cynical assumption that your distinguished and refined tastes are too cool for this planet.  The only thing ironic about hipsters is how much sheer, <em>sincere </em>effort they put into being \"ironic\" and pretending to not give a crap.  If hipsters <em>really </em>didn\'t give a crap, they\'d just go to Kohl\'s and buy some Levis and polo shirts like those of us who <em>sincerely don\'t care</em>.\n\nI’m tired of your irony, hipsters.  You’ve become a parody of yourselves.  Now <em>that’s </em>ironic.\n<h2><strong>A Sincere Generation</strong></h2>\nHere’s the thing.  I think my generation is so caught up in the supposed <em>irony </em>of our whole existence, that we aren’t spending a whole lot of time or effort doing anything <em>sincerely.  </em>Everything that a person can sincerely value, someone in my generation is treating like kitsch.  Patriotism?  Ironic.  Religion?  Ironic.  Gender?  Ironic.  Love?  Ironic...probably.\n\nGuess what?\n\nMaking fun of things isn\'t productive.\n\nBeing ironic doesn\'t make the world more beautiful or creative.\n\nBeing cynical doesn’t solve problems.\n\nThe irony of my generation will be looked at by our grandkids as another stupid, meaningless fad.  We need to drop the act and stop calling our cynicism “irony” or “creativity.”  If all we leave behind is a pile of irony, parodies, riffs, spoofs and snark then our generation will not be remembered.\n\nIf we are so caught up with the absurdity of things, then maybe we should spend half of our “ironic” efforts actually creating things that are <em>sincere...</em>\n\n...Unless we\'re just afraid that our sincere efforts will be imitated \"ironically\" by the next generation.\n\nWhat do you think?  Are you sick of irony, or is it the greatest invention of our time?','An Ironic Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum','','inherit','open','open','','3918-revision','','','2012-01-10 18:20:26','2012-01-11 02:20:26','',3918,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3918-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(3920,86,'2012-01-10 18:42:06','2012-01-11 02:42:06','','iStock_000017364196XSmall','','inherit','open','open','','istock_000017364196xsmall','','','2012-01-10 18:42:06','2012-01-11 02:42:06','',3918,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/iStock_000017364196XSmall.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(3921,86,'2012-01-10 18:43:50','2012-01-11 02:43:50','We live in a cynical age.\n\nYou’ve probably noticed it.  I don’t know how you could avoid it.  It’s everywhere.\n\nIt’s in every person who feels jaded by life, by the church or by their jobs.\n\nIt\'s in every person who\'s lost faith in people, in \"the system\" or in God.\n\nIt’s in every one of the myriad of spoof movies that are spewn upon audiences each year.\n\nIt’s in every hipster whose wardrobe is made up of the most outdated, mismatched items in the thrift store.\n\nI’ve got plenty of cynicism in me.  But I’m working on it.  Because I think it might be killing my generation<em>.</em>\n\n<!--more--><img src=\"http://www.thechurchofnopeople.com/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif\" alt=\"\" />\n<h2><strong>The _____ Generation</strong></h2>\nWhat word defines my generation?\n\nMy grandparents were called the “Great Generation.”\n\nMy parents were the Baby Boomer Generation.\n\nBut they don\'t have a name for us.  So they called us \"X,\" one of the dumbest terms ever coined by sociologists.\n\nI think they should call us the Ironic Generation.\n\nIrony, probably the most important word today in today’s new generation.  I love irony, as the dictionary defines it:\n\n<strong><em>irony: to express something other than and especially the opposite of a literal meaning.</em></strong>\n\nBut the truly ironic thing is that the word is losing its real meaning.  It’s just a word that’s taken the place of “cynicism.”\n<h2><strong>If Something Is Worth Doing, It\'s Worth Doing Ironically</strong></h2>\nI know I pick on hipsters a lot.  But it\'s not without cause.  I think many of them embody the worst cynicism that pervades my generation.  Take hipster fashion for instance.  All of the outdated, mismatched clothes, the mutton chops, non-prescription eyeglasses, and Pabst Blue Ribbon are meticulously crafted for to maximize one desired effect:\n\nIrony.\n\nDo you laugh at how your parents were dressed in old photos?  Then just get some of those clothes from the thrift store and wear them “ironically.”  Drink crappy beer \"ironically.\"  Do everything \"ironically\" while laughing at people who did all those things<em>sincerely.</em>\n\n<strong>Hipster 1: </strong><em>\"Dude, Pabst Blue Ribbon sucks so bad.\"</em>\n\n<strong>Hipster 2: </strong><em>\"I know, I just like drinking it because it\'s so hilariously awful.\"</em>\n\n<strong>Hipster 1:  </strong><em>\"Well done, sir.  Who in their right mind would actually drink this and think it\'s good?  Pass me another.\"</em>\n\n<strong>Hipster 2:  </strong><em>\"Nice tube top, by the way.  It goes great with those tiny basketball shorts.\"</em>\n\nThat’s not irony.  That’s just snark.  That\'s just trying to draw attention to your cynical assumption that your distinguished and refined tastes are too cool for this planet.  The only thing ironic about hipsters is how much sheer, <em>sincere </em>effort they put into being \"ironic\" and pretending to not give a crap.  If hipsters <em>really </em>didn\'t give a crap, they\'d just go to Kohl\'s and buy some Levis and polo shirts like those of us who <em>sincerely don\'t care</em>.\n\nI’m tired of your irony, hipsters.  You’ve become a parody of yourselves.  Now <em>that’s </em>ironic.\n<h2><strong>A Sincere Generation</strong></h2>\nHere’s the thing.  I think my generation is so caught up in the supposed <em>irony </em>of our whole existence, that we aren’t spending a whole lot of time or effort doing anything <em>sincerely.  </em>Everything that a person can sincerely value, someone in my generation is treating like kitsch.  Patriotism?  Ironic.  Religion?  Ironic.  Gender?  Ironic.  Love?  Ironic...probably.\n\nGuess what?\n\nMaking fun of things isn\'t productive.\n\nBeing ironic doesn\'t make the world more beautiful or creative.\n\nBeing cynical doesn’t solve problems.\n\nThe irony of my generation will be looked at by our grandkids as another stupid, meaningless fad.  We need to drop the act and stop calling our cynicism “irony” or “creativity.”  If all we leave behind is a pile of irony, parodies, riffs, spoofs and snark then our generation will not be remembered.\n\nIf we are so caught up with the absurdity of things, then maybe we should spend half of our “ironic” efforts actually creating things that are <em>sincere...</em>\n\n...Unless we\'re just afraid that our sincere efforts will be imitated \"ironically\" by the next generation.\n\nWhat do you think?  Are you sick of irony, or is it the greatest invention of our time?','An Ironic Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum','','inherit','open','open','','3918-revision-2','','','2012-01-10 18:43:50','2012-01-11 02:43:50','',3918,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3918-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(3922,86,'2012-01-10 18:47:16','2012-01-11 02:47:16','We live in a cynical age.\r\n\r\nYou’ve probably noticed it.  I don’t know how you could avoid it.  It’s everywhere.\r\n\r\nIt’s in every person who feels jaded by life, by the church or by their jobs.\r\n\r\nIt\'s in every person who\'s lost faith in people, in \"the system\" or in God.\r\n\r\nIt’s in every one of the myriad of spoof movies that are spewn upon audiences each year.\r\n\r\nIt’s in every hipster whose wardrobe is made up of the most outdated, mismatched items in the thrift store.\r\n\r\nI’ve got plenty of cynicism in me.  But I’m working on it.  Because I think it might be killing my generation<em>.</em>\r\n\r\n<!--more--><img src=\"http://www.thechurchofnopeople.com/wp-includes/js/tinymce/plugins/wordpress/img/trans.gif\" alt=\"\" />\r\n<h2><strong>The _____ Generation</strong></h2>\r\nWhat word defines my generation?\r\n\r\nMy grandparents were called the “Great Generation.”\r\n\r\nMy parents were the Baby Boomer Generation.\r\n\r\nBut they don\'t have a name for us.  So they called us \"X,\" one of the dumbest terms ever coined by sociologists.\r\n\r\nI think they should call us the Ironic Generation.\r\n\r\nIrony, probably the most important word today in today’s new generation.  I love irony, as the dictionary defines it:\r\n\r\n<strong><em>irony: to express something other than and especially the opposite of a literal meaning.</em></strong>\r\n\r\nBut the truly ironic thing is that the word is losing its real meaning.  It’s just a word that’s taken the place of “cynicism.”\r\n<h2><strong>If Something Is Worth Doing, It\'s Worth Doing Ironically</strong></h2>\r\nI know I pick on hipsters a lot.  But it\'s not without cause.  I think many of them embody the worst cynicism that pervades my generation.  Take hipster fashion for instance.  All of the outdated, mismatched clothes, the mutton chops, non-prescription eyeglasses, and Pabst Blue Ribbon are meticulously crafted for to maximize one desired effect:\r\n\r\nIrony.\r\n\r\nDo you laugh at how your parents were dressed in old photos?  Then just get some of those clothes from the thrift store and wear them “ironically.”  Drink crappy beer \"ironically.\"  Do everything \"ironically\" while laughing at people who did all those things<em>sincerely.</em>\r\n\r\n<strong>Hipster 1: </strong><em>\"Dude, Pabst Blue Ribbon sucks so bad.\"</em>\r\n\r\n<strong>Hipster 2: </strong><em>\"I know, I just like drinking it because it\'s so hilariously awful.\"</em>\r\n\r\n<strong>Hipster 1:  </strong><em>\"Well done, sir.  Who in their right mind would actually drink this and think it\'s good?  Pass me another.\"</em>\r\n\r\n<strong>Hipster 2:  </strong><em>\"Nice tube top, by the way.  It goes great with those tiny basketball shorts.\"</em>\r\n\r\nThat’s not irony.  That’s just snark.  That\'s just trying to draw attention to your cynical assumption that your distinguished and refined tastes are too cool for this planet.  The only thing ironic about hipsters is how much sheer, <em>sincere </em>effort they put into being \"ironic\" and pretending to not give a crap.  If hipsters <em>really </em>didn\'t give a crap, they\'d just go to Kohl\'s and buy some Levis and polo shirts like those of us who <em>sincerely don\'t care</em>.\r\n\r\nI’m tired of your irony, hipsters.  You’ve become a parody of yourselves.  Now <em>that’s </em>ironic.\r\n<h2><strong>A Sincere Generation</strong></h2>\r\nHere’s the thing.  I think my generation is so caught up in the supposed <em>irony </em>of our whole existence, that we aren’t spending a whole lot of time or effort doing anything <em>sincerely.  </em>Everything that a person can sincerely value, someone in my generation is treating like kitsch.  Patriotism?  Ironic.  Religion?  Ironic.  Gender?  Ironic.  Love?  Ironic...probably.\r\n\r\nGuess what?\r\n\r\nMaking fun of things isn\'t productive.\r\n\r\nBeing ironic doesn\'t make the world more beautiful or creative.\r\n\r\nBeing cynical doesn’t solve problems.\r\n\r\nThe irony of my generation will be looked at by our grandkids as another stupid, meaningless fad.  We need to drop the act and stop calling our cynicism “irony” or “creativity.”  If all we leave behind is a pile of irony, parodies, riffs, spoofs and snark then our generation will not be remembered.\r\n\r\nIf we are so caught up with the absurdity of things, then maybe we should spend half of our “ironic” efforts actually creating things that are <em>sincere...</em>\r\n\r\n...Unless we\'re just afraid that our sincere efforts will be imitated \"ironically\" by the next generation.\r\n\r\nWhat do you think?  Are you sick of irony, or is it the greatest invention of our time?','An Ironic Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum','','inherit','open','open','','3918-revision-3','','','2012-01-10 18:47:16','2012-01-11 02:47:16','',3918,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3918-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(3923,0,'2012-01-10 19:26:50','2012-01-11 03:26:50','theology, ecology, ecological theology, creation, liturgy, sacraments...\n<!--more-->\nAUTHOR: leah chang\nAUTHOR EMAIL: sundayriversong@gmail.com\nAUTHOR URL: http://desertspiritsfire.blogspot.com\nSUBJECT: Provoketive Magazine Writing For Provoketive\nIP: 76.212.153.38\nArray\n(\n    [Name] =&gt; leah chang\n    [Email] =&gt; sundayriversong@gmail.com\n    [Existing Blog or Website] =&gt; http://desertspiritsfire.blogspot.com\n    [List the topic you are interested writing about] =&gt; theology, ecology, ecological theology, creation, liturgy, sacraments...\n    [Current or New WordPress Login Name (We\'ll send you a password.)] =&gt; citysafari\n)\n','leah chang - 2012-01-10 19:26:50','','publish','open','open','','9d9ead5e2fc9cf03a3d5e7a4e64cf5d8','','','2012-01-10 19:26:50','2012-01-11 03:26:50','',358,'http://provoketive.com/?post_type=feedback&p=3923',0,'feedback','',0),(3925,118,'2012-01-10 19:50:24','2012-01-11 03:50:24','','Auto Draft','','inherit','open','open','','3924-revision','','','2012-01-10 19:50:24','2012-01-11 03:50:24','',3924,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3924-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(4639,149,'2012-01-28 08:00:53','2012-01-28 16:00:53','Growing up in the church and in a Christian family, I remember hearing about a lot of different people in our community who weren’t <em>acting </em>very Christian.\r\n\r\nHow does one <em>act</em> Christian? It seems simple, but can be very complicated. Don’t Christians just follow the way of Jesus, choosing to live as he lived, engaging as he did?\r\n\r\n<strong><em>Christian</em></strong> \\ˈkris-chən, ˈkrish-\\\r\n<strong>noun</strong> <strong>:</strong> one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ\r\n<strong>adjective : </strong>of to, or relating to, Christianity or being a Christian; based on or conforming with religion of Christianity\r\n\r\nWhen people ask if I am a Christian, I usually say that I am “christian-<em>ish</em>.” This has nothing to do with being lukewarm, but is because of my desire to be viewed separately from the general Christian contingent. Though it boasts many good and desirable qualities, Christianity as a religion has been known to judge, to condemn and to look down upon, at times. There may be those who will judge me and even presume to know me, and in their condescending eyes I’ll seem to <em>act</em> much less Christian then they do.\r\n\r\nAnd they’ll be right...because I’m not <em>acting Christian</em> at all.\r\n\r\nIt feels more honest to follow Jesus organically then to label myself Christian and become part of the club. I’d rather be found trying to follow in the footsteps of Jesus then be found <em>acting</em> like a Christian. I’d rather risk it all, trip and fall while conquering mountains with Jesus than play it safe and just go through the motions, doing chair aerobics in the comfort of the church.\r\n\r\nWhether I go to church or label myself “Christian,” does it really matter? It’s written in 1st Corinthians 13:1-3 that even if I were the most amazing “Christian,” doing all the church stuff, I am nothing without love!\r\n\r\nI\'d rather spend time with \"non-Christians,” allowing them to notice something different about me that they can’t see and be attracted to the love of Jesus in me, than to be repelled by a “brother” or “sister” in the Lord because I am different than he or she.\r\n\r\nI’d rather be good to the bad than blend in with the bland. I\'d rather <em>be</em> loved by someone than be <em>told</em> that someone loves me. I’d rather feel and share the love of Jesus than just talk about it.\r\n\r\nIt’s important to me to be a part of my community and not pretend that it’s my “holy” segregation makes me a Jesus freak. The principle of “in the world, but not of it” doesn’t work unless it’s informed by Love.\r\n\r\nWhere I once bought into to the fear-based mentality of avoiding this world’s reality, I’m learning to embrace the beauty of a world created for me. I’m learning what it feels like to be free, I’m learning to taste, touch, hear, smell and see. I desire faith that lives, moves and breathes because I’m disgusted with a convenient, oppressive theology. A little less conversation and little more action please!\r\n\r\nKeep it real. Follow Jesus.','Acting Christian','','publish','open','open','','acting-christian','','','2012-01-25 09:15:07','2012-01-25 17:15:07','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=4639',0,'post','',7),(3927,118,'2012-01-10 19:52:15','2012-01-11 03:52:15','Hope is defined by Webster\'s:  \"to cherish a desire with anticipation\"\r\n\r\nToo often, our use of hope is more like wish.  \"I hope it doesn\'t rain tomorrow\", or \"I hope I get that promotion.\"\r\n\r\nThe Bible, depending on what translation you use, has over 120 mentions of the word hope.  The Bible\'s usage of hope is more of a strong anticipation of what will occur, and not the wishy-washy hope that we use today.\r\n\r\nWhen I hear or read of hope, I have vivid memories of President Bill Clinton\'s 1992 Presidential campaign, where he often closed his speeches with \"I still believe in a place called Hope.\"  Too many of us have lost hope, due to the economic struggles, job losses, foreclosures, visits from the repo man, illnesses, and the like.  We wish things were better, but we need to start hoping that things will get better.\r\n\r\nI purposely have avoided the current U.S. Presidential campaign, because if I wanted to watch mud flying, I would visit a farm.  The rhetoric is not going to solve anything.  We the People have to stop wishing, and start hoping for the best.\r\n\r\nI feel we have become prisoners of our lack of hope.  We\'re paralyzed by the evening newscasts, the doom and gloom of the markets (financial and jobs), and two income households still cannot meet the needs. Some say we are rapidly approaching a crisis situation.  I say we\'re already there.  People are mortgaged to the hills, and a layoff away from losing all their worldly possessions.  Healthcare costs continue (and will continue) to rise, so don\'t even think about getting sick.\r\n\r\nDivorce rates continue to climb, and what used to be taboo is now accepted publicly, and highlighted on your nightly entertainment shows.  Bombastic presentation of court room dramas have taken over cable news channels, and the only word that comes to mind is nauseating.  \r\n\r\nIf you watch this crap, I highly recommend you stop.  You\'re not doing anything but killing all of the hope genes in your head.  Quit worshiping these fake Hollywoodesque people. Read a book.  Go for a walk.  Talk to your spouse / mate.  Hang out with your children, your friends, your family. You\'ll be a better person if you do. \r\n\r\nNote:  I\'m not saying you should not enjoy well-made shows or movies.  I am saying don\'t make actor x your be all and end all.\r\n\r\nGetting back to hope:  do I have hope?  \r\n\r\nYes, through the One that was sent, to provide salvation and hope for our souls.\r\n\r\nWhile there are things, opportunities, toys, and other things that I would like to have, I don\'t hope to have them.  I wish to have them, but my hope is that I will one day be face to face with my Lord and savior, and He will say \"Well done.\"  My hope and understanding is not that the \"well done\" will be based on my efforts, works, holding doors open for others, tithes and offerings, donations to the red kettle, but for trusting Him for all the provisions I need, and for those acts of kindness and generosity that I have never shared with anyone.\r\n\r\nIn 2012 and beyond, our hope must be with the one who was sent.\r\n\r\nMy hope and prayers are for you to know your savior, and to let the guidance of the Holy Spirit be in you and with you all of your days.\r\n\r\nBlessings!\r\n','Hope for 2012, and beyond','','inherit','open','open','','3924-revision-2','','','2012-01-10 19:52:15','2012-01-11 03:52:15','',3924,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3924-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(3928,118,'2012-01-10 19:59:01','2012-01-11 03:59:01','Hope is defined by Webster\'s: \"to cherish a desire with anticipation\"\r\n\r\nToo often, our use of hope is more like wish. \"I hope it doesn\'t rain tomorrow\", or \"I hope I get that promotion.\"\r\n\r\nThe Bible, depending on what translation you use, has over 120 mentions of the word hope. The Bible\'s usage of hope is more of a strong anticipation of what will occur, and not the wishy-washy hope that we use today.\r\n\r\nWhen I hear or read of hope, I have vivid memories of President Bill Clinton\'s 1992 Presidential campaign, where he often closed his speeches with \"I still believe in a place called Hope.\" Too many of us have lost hope, due to the economic struggles, job losses, foreclosures, visits from the repo man, illnesses, and the like. We wish things were better, but we need to start hoping that things will get better.\r\n\r\nI purposely have avoided the current U.S. Presidential campaign, because if I wanted to watch mud flying, I would visit a farm. The rhetoric is not going to solve anything. We the People have to stop wishing, and start hoping for the best.\r\n\r\nI feel we have become prisoners of our lack of hope. We\'re paralyzed by the evening newscasts, the doom and gloom of the markets (financial and jobs), and two income households still cannot meet the needs. Some say we are rapidly approaching a crisis situation. I say we\'re already there. People are mortgaged to the hills, and a layoff away from losing all their worldly possessions. Healthcare costs continue (and will continue) to rise, so don\'t even think about getting sick.\r\n\r\nDivorce rates continue to climb, and what used to be taboo is now accepted publicly, and highlighted on your nightly entertainment shows. Bombastic presentation of court room dramas have taken over cable news channels, and the only word that comes to mind is nauseating.\r\n\r\nIf you watch this crap, I highly recommend you stop. You\'re not doing anything but killing all of the hope genes in your head. Quit worshiping these fake Hollywoodesque people. Read a book. Go for a walk. Talk to your spouse / mate. Hang out with your children, your friends, your family. You\'ll be a better person if you do.\r\n\r\nNote: I\'m not saying you should not enjoy well-made shows or movies. I am saying don\'t make actor x your be all and end all.\r\n\r\nGetting back to hope: do I have hope?\r\n\r\nYes, through the One that was sent, to provide salvation and hope for our souls.\r\n\r\nWhile there are things, opportunities, toys, and other things that I would like to have, I don\'t hope to have them. I wish to have them, but my hope is that I will one day be face to face with my Lord and savior, and He will say \"Well done.\" My hope and understanding is not that the \"well done\" will be based on my efforts, works, holding doors open for others, tithes and offerings, donations to the red kettle, but for trusting Him for all the provisions I need, and for those acts of kindness and generosity that I have never shared with anyone.\r\n\r\nIn 2012 and beyond, our hope must be with the one who was sent.\r\n\r\nMy hope and prayers are for you to know your savior, and to let the guidance of the Holy Spirit be in you and with you all of your days.\r\n\r\nBlessings!','Hope for 2012, and beyond','','inherit','open','open','','3924-revision-3','','','2012-01-10 19:59:01','2012-01-11 03:59:01','',3924,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/10/3924-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(3929,0,'2012-01-10 21:17:57','2012-01-11 05:17:57','Hope. My son is dying, I know about hope. Hope is the product of imagination times possibility.\n<!--more-->\nAUTHOR: Wayne Rumsby\nAUTHOR EMAIL: wayne@rumsby.ca\nAUTHOR URL: http://markysroom.blogspot.com\nSUBJECT: Provoketive Magazine Writing For Provoketive\nIP: 99.231.82.159\nArray\n(\n    [Name] =&gt; Wayne Rumsby\n    [Email] =&gt; wayne@rumsby.ca\n    [Existing Blog or Website] =&gt; markysroom.blogspot.com\n    [List the topic you are interested writing about] =&gt; Hope. My son is dying, I know about hope. Hope is the product of imagination times possibility.\n    [Current or New WordPress Login Name (We\'ll send you a password.)] =&gt; Wayne Rumsby\n)\n','Wayne Rumsby - 2012-01-10 21:17:57','','publish','open','open','','f93458a74bdfb7f2c6b6898ed6a51f15','','','2012-01-10 21:17:57','2012-01-11 05:17:57','',358,'http://provoketive.com/?post_type=feedback&p=3929',0,'feedback','',0),(3930,0,'2012-01-10 22:54:10','2012-01-11 06:54:10','I would like to participate in the Synchroblog on Hope this month.  In particular, I\'d like to write about Mary and Martha and Lazarus, and how Mary\'s anger is Jesus\' preferred response to her brother\'s death. This is like Kierkegaard\'s Fear and Trembling too!\n<!--more-->\nAUTHOR: Elizabeth Valentine\nAUTHOR EMAIL: sansiena@aol.com\nAUTHOR URL: http://cenchreae.wordpress.com\nSUBJECT: Provoketive Magazine Writing For Provoketive\nIP: 76.126.34.237\nArray\n(\n    [Name] =&gt; Elizabeth Valentine\n    [Email] =&gt; sansiena@aol.com\n    [Existing Blog or Website] =&gt; cenchreae.wordpress.com\n    [List the topic you are interested writing about] =&gt; I would like to participate in the Synchroblog on Hope this month.  In particular, I\'d like to write about Mary and Martha and Lazarus, and how Mary\'s anger is Jesus\' preferred response to her brother\'s death. This is like Kierkegaard\'s Fear and Trembling too!\n    [Current or New WordPress Login Name (We\'ll send you a password.)] =&gt; servantphoebe\n)\n','Elizabeth Valentine - 2012-01-10 22:54:10','','publish','open','open','','c4a171d895de346b241710c936461be3','','','2012-01-10 22:54:10','2012-01-11 06:54:10','',358,'http://provoketive.com/?post_type=feedback&p=3930',0,'feedback','',0),(3931,123,'2012-01-04 10:36:05','2012-01-04 18:36:05','','Auto Draft','','inherit','open','open','','3587-revision','','','2012-01-04 10:36:05','2012-01-04 18:36:05','',3587,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/04/3587-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(4482,1,'2012-01-20 13:17:34','2012-01-20 21:17:34','[caption id=\"attachment_4474\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"300\" caption=\"Luke Harms\"]<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/lukeharms.jpg\"><img src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/lukeharms-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-4474\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThis week we talk with US Army veteran Luke Harms.\r\n\r\nHarms served in both Iraq and Afghanistan as a member of the US Army and then returned to Afghanistan as a civilian contractor.\r\n\r\nHarms shares his unique perspective on the war and the military meta-narrative and the struggle he faced adjusting from living in a combat zone to civilian life.\r\n\r\n<strong>Things to consider as you listen ::</strong>\r\n\r\nHow does Harms\' story compare to the narrative you\'ve heard about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan?\r\nHow did 9/11 shape and inform your theology and ideology?\r\nHow has the \"army hero\" meta-narrative shaped your view of the military?\r\nHow has nationalism and/or american exceptionalism shaped your view of the current war on terror?\r\n\r\n[audio=\"http://somethingbeautifulpodcast.com/podcast/011312.mp3\"]','Something Beautiful - Luke Harms','','inherit','open','open','','4473-revision-6','','','2012-01-20 13:17:34','2012-01-20 21:17:34','',4473,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/20/4473-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(3935,100,'2012-01-11 06:14:54','2012-01-11 14:14:54','','joy-bennett','Joy Bennett','inherit','open','open','','joy-bennett-2','','','2012-01-11 06:14:54','2012-01-11 14:14:54','',3934,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/joy-bennett.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(3936,100,'2012-01-11 06:12:20','2012-01-11 14:12:20','[caption id=\"attachment_1808\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"477\" caption=\"joy bennett\"]<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2011/11/04/from-aha-to-uh-oh-and-then-what/1627-revision-15/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-1808\"><img src=\"http://somethingbeautifulpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/joy-bennett.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"477\" height=\"480\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1808\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nwe\'re kicking off 2012 with a conversation with blogger joy bennett. \n\njoy is, \'a Christian woman writing through grief and loss depression, and the overhaul of my faith in the face of suffering.\'\n\njoy\'s oldest child was born with severe special needs and passed away in 2008 at the age of 8 and she shares her journey on her blog and this week with the sbpodcast family.\n\njoy describes herself:\n\n<blockquote>I am a writer, mother of four, wife, reader, follower of Christ, bereaved, asker, and lover of rich soil, good food, music, and sunshine, listener… in no particular order. Two of my children were born with serious congenital heart defects, including my first. It was quite an initiation to motherhood. Between the two of them, we’ve been through six open-heart surgeries and countless nights in the hospital. This writer learned to give shots, insert feeding tubes, run i.v. pumps, measure in mLs, and pronounce words like tracheomalacia. I’ve blogged since 2005, writing on faith and doubt, family life (which is always humorous even with the medical spin), grief, and the depression that I only recognized a year after our oldest died at the age of 8. </blockquote>\n\n\n<strong>some questions to ask yourself while you listen ::</strong>\n\nwhat tragedies or crisis in your life have shaped your faith?\nwhat helped you through the crisis?\nhow can you use your experience to help walk others through their journey?\ndo you believe that all things are good - even the \"bad things\" - or do you agree more with joy that \"good can come out of bad things?\"\n\n<strong>related ::</strong>\n\n<a href=\"http://joyinthisjourney.com\" target=\"_blank\">joy\'s blog</a>\n<a href=\"http://twitter.com/WritingJoy\" target=\"_blank\">joy on twitter</a>\n<a href=\"http://www.facebook.com/joyinthisjourney\" target=\"_blank\">joy on facebook</a>\n<a href=\"http://blog.worldvision.org/forbloggers/bolivia/\" target=\"_blank\">bloggers for bolivia</a>\n<a href=\"http://www.deeperstory.com\" title=\"deeper story\" target=\"_blank\">deeper story</a>\n\n<strong>music ::</strong>\n\n<a href=\"http://www.stratospherik.com/stratospherik/3.html\" target=\"_blank\">ureiel asher - i don\'t know</a>','Something Beautiful - Joy Bennet','','inherit','open','open','','3934-revision','','','2012-01-11 06:12:20','2012-01-11 14:12:20','',3934,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/11/3934-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(3937,100,'2012-01-11 06:16:08','2012-01-11 14:16:08','<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Something_Beautiful.png\"><img src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Something_Beautiful-300x150.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-2101\" /></a>\n\nwe\'re kicking off 2012 with a conversation with blogger joy bennett. \n\njoy is, \'a Christian woman writing through grief and loss depression, and the overhaul of my faith in the face of suffering.\'\n\njoy\'s oldest child was born with severe special needs and passed away in 2008 at the age of 8 and she shares her journey on her blog and this week with the sbpodcast family.\n\njoy describes herself:\n\n<blockquote>I am a writer, mother of four, wife, reader, follower of Christ, bereaved, asker, and lover of rich soil, good food, music, and sunshine, listener… in no particular order. Two of my children were born with serious congenital heart defects, including my first. It was quite an initiation to motherhood. Between the two of them, we’ve been through six open-heart surgeries and countless nights in the hospital. This writer learned to give shots, insert feeding tubes, run i.v. pumps, measure in mLs, and pronounce words like tracheomalacia. I’ve blogged since 2005, writing on faith and doubt, family life (which is always humorous even with the medical spin), grief, and the depression that I only recognized a year after our oldest died at the age of 8. </blockquote>\n\n\n<strong>some questions to ask yourself while you listen ::</strong>\n\nwhat tragedies or crisis in your life have shaped your faith?\nwhat helped you through the crisis?\nhow can you use your experience to help walk others through their journey?\ndo you believe that all things are good - even the \"bad things\" - or do you agree more with joy that \"good can come out of bad things?\"\n\n<strong>related ::</strong>\n\n<a href=\"http://joyinthisjourney.com\" target=\"_blank\">joy\'s blog</a>\n<a href=\"http://twitter.com/WritingJoy\" target=\"_blank\">joy on twitter</a>\n<a href=\"http://www.facebook.com/joyinthisjourney\" target=\"_blank\">joy on facebook</a>\n<a href=\"http://blog.worldvision.org/forbloggers/bolivia/\" target=\"_blank\">bloggers for bolivia</a>\n<a href=\"http://www.deeperstory.com\" title=\"deeper story\" target=\"_blank\">deeper story</a>\n\n<strong>music ::</strong>\n\n<a href=\"http://www.stratospherik.com/stratospherik/3.html\" target=\"_blank\">ureiel asher - i don\'t know</a>','Something Beautiful - Joy Bennet','','inherit','open','open','','3934-revision-2','','','2012-01-11 06:16:08','2012-01-11 14:16:08','',3934,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/11/3934-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(4872,125,'2012-02-09 08:00:08','2012-02-09 16:00:08','It has happened since the beginning. It used to come up less frequently. Maybe at dinner with some family, a friend’s wedding, a random night out. Now, it seems to happen more and more. Thursday afternoon while watching TV or walking the dogs in the morning. It is becoming more and more common for me to come to this realization:\r\n\r\nMy wife is a lot cooler than I am.\r\n\r\nShe is cooler in many ways. Some of the ways rear their heads more often than others, but in a massive and all-encompassing way, she is by far out of my league.\r\n\r\nThis humbling thought process results in a few different things. Sometimes, it makes me truly feel blessed to be around her, to have even the opportunity to be seen eating fast food with her. Sometimes, it makes me wonder what it is about me that she likes…that she loves…to the point that I worry I may screw it up at some point. Sometimes, it makes me become introspective, looking into the moments of my life spent with her, and making sure that I am using them to give her the love that she so truly deserves for sticking it out with a guy like me.\r\n\r\nBut one thing that I try never, EVER to do is take her for granted. Any man truly living out a good love story will tell you that forsaking any part of it is the quickest way for it to sour. Coming into a place where this most amazing of relationships is seen as routine or the norm softens the edges of something that should forever remain sharpened and penetrating.\r\n\r\nA marriage lived out as the fullest expression of love can only hope to survive in its power if both people involved realize its true potency.\r\n\r\nRewind a bit. Replace all the times I wrote the word “wife” with “God”. Replace all the common pronouns with formal ones. Do this because our relationship with any person in this life, even a spouse, can only ever hope to capture a glimmer of the degree to which love is expressed in our relationship with the Father.\r\n\r\nSo why are we so quick to forsake our relationship with Him?\r\n\r\nIf we spend such huge amounts of time making sure to milk the most of every moment with those we say we love, why is it alright for us to put God onto a shelf save for once a week…when we profess to want nothing more than a relationship with Him?\r\n\r\nGod is out of our league. Far, far, far out of our league. His fingers have crafted creation and His heart has bled for humanity. If we are not responding to that with our greatest devotion and worship, then we are melting the power God wants to have into our lives into a mold we have made out of seeing Him as routine.','Cooler Than Me','','publish','open','open','','cooler-than-me','','','2012-02-07 11:12:27','2012-02-07 19:12:27','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=4872',0,'post','',0),(3938,100,'2012-01-11 06:19:29','2012-01-11 14:19:29','[caption id=\"attachment_3935\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"298\" caption=\"Joy Bennett\"]<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/joy-bennett.jpg\"><img src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/joy-bennett-298x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"298\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3935\" /></a>[/caption]We\'re kicking off 2012 with a conversation with blogger and author Joy Bennett. \r\n\r\nJoy is, \'a Christian woman writing through grief and loss depression, and the overhaul of my faith in the face of suffering.\'\r\n\r\nJoy\'s oldest child was born with severe special needs and passed away in 2008 at the age of 8 and she shares her journey on her blog and this week with the sbpodcast family.\r\n\r\nJoy describes herself:\r\n\r\n<blockquote>I am a writer, mother of four, wife, reader, follower of Christ, bereaved, asker, and lover of rich soil, good food, music, and sunshine, listener... in no particular order. Two of my children were born with serious congenital heart defects, including my first. It was quite an initiation to motherhood. Between the two of them, we’ve been through six open-heart surgeries and countless nights in the hospital. This writer learned to give shots, insert feeding tubes, run i.v. pumps, measure in mLs, and pronounce words like tracheomalacia. I’ve blogged since 2005, writing on faith and doubt, family life (which is always humorous even with the medical spin), grief, and the depression that I only recognized a year after our oldest died at the age of 8. </blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n<strong>Some questions to ask yourself while you listen ::</strong>\r\n\r\nWhat tragedies or crisis in your life have shaped your faith?\r\nWhat helped you through the crisis?\r\nHow can you use your experience to help walk others through their journey?\r\nDo you believe that all things are good - even the \"bad things\" - or do you agree more with joy that \"good can come out of bad things?\"\r\n\r\n<strong>Related ::</strong>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://joyinthisjourney.com\" target=\"_blank\">Joy\'s blog</a>\r\n<a href=\"http://twitter.com/WritingJoy\" target=\"_blank\">Joy on twitter</a>\r\n<a href=\"http://www.facebook.com/joyinthisjourney\" target=\"_blank\">Joy on facebook</a>\r\n<a href=\"http://blog.worldvision.org/forbloggers/bolivia/\" target=\"_blank\">Bloggers for Bolivia</a>\r\n<a href=\"http://www.deeperstory.com\" title=\"deeper story\" target=\"_blank\">Deeper Story</a>\r\n\r\n<strong>Music ::</strong>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.stratospherik.com/stratospherik/3.html\" target=\"_blank\">Ureiel Asher - I Don\'t Know</a>','Something Beautiful - Joy Bennet','','inherit','open','open','','3934-revision-3','','','2012-01-11 06:19:29','2012-01-11 14:19:29','',3934,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/11/3934-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(3958,0,'2012-01-11 13:26:35','2012-01-11 21:26:35','feminine spirituality, theological imaginings, current events and church, books, movies\n<!--more-->\nAUTHOR: Ellen Haroutunian\nAUTHOR EMAIL: eharout@gmail.com\nAUTHOR URL: http://www.ellenharoutunian.com\nSUBJECT: Provoketive Magazine Writing For Provoketive\nIP: 174.51.169.68\nArray\n(\n    [Name] =&gt; Ellen Haroutunian\n    [Email] =&gt; eharout@gmail.com\n    [Existing Blog or Website] =&gt; www.ellenharoutunian.com\n    [List the topic you are interested writing about] =&gt; feminine spirituality, theological imaginings, current events and church, books, movies\n    [Current or New WordPress Login Name (We\'ll send you a password.)] =&gt; ellenharoutunian\n)\n','Ellen Haroutunian - 2012-01-11 13:26:35','','publish','open','open','','c4fd1630a479b8144780e86a0e5de377','','','2012-01-11 13:26:35','2012-01-11 21:26:35','',358,'http://provoketive.com/?post_type=feedback&p=3958',0,'feedback','',0),(3959,64,'2012-01-11 13:20:52','2012-01-11 21:20:52','<em>The Resignation of Eve</em> is a thoughtful experiment, one that challenges men and women of the 21<sup>st</sup> century church to shake off their old ideas about where women fit in the Church. In a charming and disarming style, Jim Henderson tells the evangelical Church, its pastors and ministry leaders to start listening to the women in their lives, their daughters, wives, mothers and friends, and those women that work tirelessly by their side every day in the service of the Kingdom. (I was tempted to write \"their kingdom.\") Henderson, a spirited advocate for powerless people, has done the work for you. Through the narratives of fifteen women, he threads together themes that he found while listening. <em>The Resignation of Eve</em> is a daring challenge to the Church to reconsider the issue of women in ministry and issues a gentle threat for what may happen if you choose not to listen.\r\n\r\nWhile I do not doubt the sincerity of the author, the irony that lingered with me as I read the hundreds of pages of narrative is something Henderson alluded to himself that <strong><em>those with power</em></strong> don’t understand the necessity of the conversation.  I believe the very same people this book is challenging, made up their minds long ago (in seminary) and are unlikely to be swayed by the singularly sad stories of women, even women in their own church.  Through research done by the Barna Group the author has dug up another mostly silent, ever resilient group of people serving in the church, <strong><em>the oblivious</em>,</strong> those who “drank the cool aid” long ago and trusted those with authority for their own beliefs.  They feel there is no need for this conversation either. My personal experience has been that the more you challenge someone’s core belief the more rigid they become – asking who has the right to challenge long-held “biblical” truths, certainly not women.\r\n\r\nKnowing the push back, Henderson valiantly reinforces through his stories the idea that <strong><em>those without power</em></strong> are growing weary, doubtful and even suspicious of the Church.  And that women of faith and conscience who do choose to stay in the Church, are balancing on a tightrope every day; feel the tension between living with their convictions and the lingering thought of just not showing up.  Both options many days are simply untenable.  While <em>it seems that the only ones who do want this conversation are a small minority of mostly women whose theological views make them misfits in the evangelical church today I would encourage the reader to ask why?   </em>\r\n\r\n<em>The Resignation of Eve</em> is primarily written as a challenge to (male) pastors.  It is a grave warning with the promise or threat that if pastor’s are unwilling to reconsider these issues, more and more women will simply leave the community of faith. If pastors are unwilling to listen and think, the threat is that more and more women will walk. Ultimately I don’t think your average pastor believes that, nor does he think this issue is important enough. As he reads <em>The Resignation of Eve</em>, he may be compelled by the stories and even feel genuinely bad for the women described in the book, still <em>for the most part your everyday mainline denominational male leader won’t be swayed by a bunch of stories about women. </em>Because this about more than just “Eve.” And that is a lingering, unanswered question in the book.\r\n\r\n<strong><em>We are talking about a culture that defies change. </em></strong>As they defend their point of view, today’s pastor believes they are protecting their church from culture creep. I agree with Tom Wright when he says that the authority of God is embodied in Jesus himself, not in the literal words of the Bible. But most pastors today would hold that the issue of women’s empowerment in the church is a <em>cultural phenomenon stemming from the evil of feminism and therefore must be stopped.</em> By choosing which verses in the Bible are cultural and which are not, they cherry-pick a more patriarchal view that I would contend is culturally inappropriate for the 21<sup>st</sup> century.  Take 1 Timothy for instance. Even if you interpret it <em>literally, </em>these are instructions and restrictions for the behavior of some women in the first century church.  Some churches prohibit women\'s leadership in churches because they use these verses to \"prove\" that God doesn\'t approve.  But they happily ignore the verses right beside them, about how women are adorned and how they should dress, saying that is cultural. When you read it with context, and contrast this text and other texts in the New Testament, I believe it requires the reader to listen to more than one or two voices speaking about the role of women.\r\n\r\nHenderson is quick to point to the other examples: Jesus’ treatment of women, women as apostles and teachers, women financing the ministry, women sitting at Jesus\' feet learning from him with the other disciples, a woman being the first to speak to Jesus after his Resurrection, all examples of empowering of women in the early church, which you can see if you don\'t restrict your reading to a few very restrictive sections.\r\n\r\nWise pastors must begin to recognize and listen to women’s voices in the church. And women must with discernment do their own homework!  The early church does not need to be prescriptive for how we run churches today, but this idea challenges the essence of how most pastors view scriptures.\r\n\r\n<em>The Resignation of Eve</em> acknowledges with compassion the tensions women face but the premise is unfair. We are dared to bolt from our churches and force the church’s hand, in order for them to somehow see how important we are. <em>But you must</em> <em>appreciate the tragic fact that this will be held against us.</em> The very nature of our character will be called into question, women who have faithfully worked, loved, served the Church for generations. This would be a heartbreaking ending to the story.\r\n\r\nWomen in the church today are being pulled between being perceived as unfaithful, driven by need for power and by living by our God-given convictions within the faith community.  Reading <em>The Resignation of Eve</em> I found myself utterly exhausted by the trouble the women must exert to be faithful in the church today. The intentions of this book are so good! But I was left with questions hanging.  The same question that I live with every day. Are men and women ready to have a serious conversation about the role of women in the church? Or will it, as I fear, fall on deaf ears because the Church, her pastors and ministry leaders have already made up their minds?\r\n\r\nIn the introduction Lynne Hybel’s message was liberating, as she flirts with women challenging us to \"<strong><em>take ourselves seriously.\"</em></strong>  I wanted to say “There are so many of us that do, Lynne, if only it were the same for men.” I do recommend this book to you because it does that most enigmatic and beautiful thing, it listens to women.  Whether you choose to eavesdrop on these stories in <em>The Resignation of Eve</em> or sit down for a cup of tea with an actual breathing woman in your life, I challenge to please, start listening.','The Resignation of Eve: A Review','','inherit','open','open','','3951-revision-6','','','2012-01-11 13:20:52','2012-01-11 21:20:52','',3951,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/11/3951-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(4035,1,'2012-01-13 17:17:20','2012-01-14 01:17:20','','resignaiton of eve','','inherit','open','open','','resignaiton-of-eve','','','2012-01-13 17:17:20','2012-01-14 01:17:20','',3951,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/resignaiton-of-eve.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(3960,1,'2012-01-11 06:20:13','2012-01-11 14:20:13','[caption id=\"attachment_3935\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"298\" caption=\"Joy Bennett\"]<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/joy-bennett.jpg\"><img src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/joy-bennett-298x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"298\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3935\" /></a>[/caption]We\'re kicking off 2012 with a conversation with blogger and author Joy Bennett. \r\n\r\nJoy is, \"a Christian woman writing through grief and loss depression, and the overhaul of my faith in the face of suffering.\"\r\n\r\nJoy\'s oldest child was born with severe special needs and passed away in 2008 at the age of 8 and she shares her journey on her blog and this week with the sbpodcast family.\r\n\r\nJoy describes herself:\r\n\r\n<blockquote>I am a writer, mother of four, wife, reader, follower of Christ, bereaved, asker, and lover of rich soil, good food, music, and sunshine, listener... in no particular order. Two of my children were born with serious congenital heart defects, including my first. It was quite an initiation to motherhood. Between the two of them, we’ve been through six open-heart surgeries and countless nights in the hospital. This writer learned to give shots, insert feeding tubes, run i.v. pumps, measure in mLs, and pronounce words like tracheomalacia. I’ve blogged since 2005, writing on faith and doubt, family life (which is always humorous even with the medical spin), grief, and the depression that I only recognized a year after our oldest died at the age of 8. </blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n<strong>Some questions to ask yourself while you listen ::</strong>\r\n\r\nWhat tragedies or crisis in your life have shaped your faith?\r\nWhat helped you through the crisis?\r\nHow can you use your experience to help walk others through their journey?\r\nDo you believe that all things are good - even the \"bad things\" - or do you agree more with joy that \"good can come out of bad things?\"\r\n\r\n<strong>Related ::</strong>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://joyinthisjourney.com\" target=\"_blank\">Joy\'s blog</a>\r\n<a href=\"http://twitter.com/WritingJoy\" target=\"_blank\">Joy on twitter</a>\r\n<a href=\"http://www.facebook.com/joyinthisjourney\" target=\"_blank\">Joy on facebook</a>\r\n<a href=\"http://blog.worldvision.org/forbloggers/bolivia/\" target=\"_blank\">Bloggers for Bolivia</a>\r\n<a href=\"http://www.deeperstory.com\" title=\"deeper story\" target=\"_blank\">Deeper Story</a>\r\n\r\n<strong>Music ::</strong>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.stratospherik.com/stratospherik/3.html\" target=\"_blank\">Ureiel Asher - I Don\'t Know</a>','Something Beautiful - Joy Bennet','','inherit','open','open','','3934-revision-4','','','2012-01-11 06:20:13','2012-01-11 14:20:13','',3934,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/11/3934-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(3964,18,'2012-01-14 09:12:37','2012-01-14 17:12:37','<h2><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/walkingwounded-square-button.png\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-3965 alignleft\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/walkingwounded-square-button.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" /></a>Hope for Those Hurt by Church</h2>\r\nFor most of us, our faith journey is the most essential thing about us, the closest thing to the core of who we are. So whenever some major shift in perspective rocks our faith, or we’re involved in a conflict involving our faith community, it goes deep, affecting our soul in some surprising ways.\r\n\r\nIf you are feeling lost, disillusioned or hurt as a result of a shift in your faith or by a negative church (or other faith community) experience, this just might be the class for you.\r\n\r\nJoin us February 6, 2012 for <strong>Walking Wounded: Hope for Those Hurt by Church</strong>. Class price is $49 and includes daily posts (Monday through Friday) and weekly exercises in journaling, storytelling, and wellness practices.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<h3>Course Description</h3>\r\nThousands of honest, sincere people are finding themselves on the outside of a faith system they once held dear. The sadness, anger, disillusionment and fear can be debilitating. And confusing.\r\n\r\n<strong>Have You:</strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>Been asked to leave a church or told you’re not a “good fit”?</li>\r\n	<li>Felt forced to conform or remain consistently overlooked?</li>\r\n	<li>Been told that you are loved but not your sin?</li>\r\n	<li>Questioned leadership or theology and found yourself on the outside?</li>\r\n	<li>Felt sad, angry, afraid, lost, or disoriented after painful church experiences?</li>\r\n	<li>Experienced a significant shift in your theology or faith perspective and find yourself feeling disoriented and unsure?</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nYou are not lost, and you are not alone.\r\n\r\n<strong>Walking Wounded: Hope for Those Hurt By Church</strong> is designed to help you move through the painful and confusing aftermath of a negative faith-based experience.\r\n\r\n<strong>In this 4 week class you will:</strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>Connect with others who have similar experiences</li>\r\n	<li>Identify your losses and reclaim your dreams</li>\r\n	<li>Tell your story and receive support</li>\r\n	<li>Work through your unfinished business</li>\r\n	<li>Learn effective practices to restore a sense of sanity</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nThrough interviews, conversation, journaling and storytelling, Kathy Escobar and Phyllis Mathis will guide you through the confusion and into a place of purpose and peace.\r\n<h3>The Instructors</h3>\r\n<div><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http://liveittothefull.com/images/2012-01-walkingwounded/kathyescobar.jpg\" alt=\"Kathy Escobar\" width=\"90\" height=\"92\" /><strong>Kathy Escobar</strong> co-pastors the Refuge, an eclectic faith community in North Denver dedicated to those on the margins of life and faith (<a href=\"http://www.therefugeonline.org/\" target=\"_blank\">www.therefugeonline.org</a>). She journeys with people in hard places as a spiritual director, teacher, and group facilitator. A Pepperdine University graduate, she also has a Masters degree in Management/Organizational Development and a Certificate in Evangelical Spiritual Guidance from Denver Seminary. Kathy is the author of <em>Down We Go: Living into the Wild Ways of Jesus</em> (Civitas Press, 2011).</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http://liveittothefull.com/images/2012-01-walkingwounded/phyllismathis.jpg\" alt=\"Phyllis Mathis\" width=\"87\" height=\"107\" /></div>\r\n<div><strong>Phyllis Mathis</strong> is a long-time spiritual teacher, lay leader, former pastor, Ontological Coach and Licensed Professional Counselor (<a href=\"http://www.phyllismathis.com/\" target=\"_blank\">www.phyllismathis.com</a>) who has been practicing for over 20 years. A seasoned writer, retreat facilitator and a beginning potter, she is the co-creator of the forthcoming course: <em>The Iconic Self</em> (Jen Lee Productions, 2012).</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<a href=\"http://liveittothefull.com/register/?package=Y291cnNlc18yMDEyXzAyX3dhbGtpbmdfd291bmRlZCMyMg=\"><img src=\"http://liveittothefull.com/images/2012-01-walkingwounded/walkingwounded-capsule.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"77\" border=\"0\" /></a>','Walking Wounded:  Hope for Those Hurt By the Church ','','publish','open','open','','walking-wounded-hope-for-those-hurt-by-the-church','','','2012-01-14 09:12:37','2012-01-14 17:12:37','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=3964',0,'post','',0),(3965,18,'2012-01-11 16:55:21','2012-01-12 00:55:21','','walkingwounded-square-button','','inherit','open','open','','walkingwounded-square-button','','','2012-01-11 16:55:21','2012-01-12 00:55:21','',3964,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/walkingwounded-square-button.png',0,'attachment','image/png',0),(3966,18,'2012-01-11 16:52:12','2012-01-12 00:52:12','<h2>Hope for Those Hurt by Church</h2>\nFor most of us, our faith journey is the most essential thing about us, the closest thing to the core of who we are. So whenever some major shift in perspective rocks our faith, or we’re involved in a conflict involving our faith community, it goes deep, affecting our soul in some surprising ways.\n\nIf you are feeling lost, disillusioned or hurt as a result of a shift in your faith or by a negative church (or other faith community) experience, this just might be the class for you.\n\nJoin us February 6, 2012 for <strong>Walking Wounded: Hope for Those Hurt by Church</strong>. Class price is $49 and includes daily posts (Monday through Friday) and weekly exercises in journaling, storytelling, and wellness practices.\n\n<a href=\"http://liveittothefull.com/register/?package=Y291cnNlc18yMDEyXzAyX3dhbGtpbmdfd291bmRlZCMyMg=\"><img src=\"http://liveittothefull.com/images/2012-01-walkingwounded/walkingwounded-capsule.png\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" /></a>\n<h3>Course Description</h3>\nThousands of honest, sincere people are finding themselves on the outside of a faith system they once held dear. The sadness, anger, disillusionment and fear can be debilitating. And confusing.\n\n<strong>Have You:</strong>\n<ul>\n	<li>Been asked to leave a church or told you’re not a “good fit”?</li>\n	<li>Felt forced to conform or remain consistently overlooked?</li>\n	<li>Been told that you are loved but not your sin?</li>\n	<li>Questioned leadership or theology and found yourself on the outside?</li>\n	<li>Felt sad, angry, afraid, lost, or disoriented after painful church experiences?</li>\n	<li>Experienced a significant shift in your theology or faith perspective and find yourself feeling disoriented and unsure?</li>\n</ul>\nYou are not lost, and you are not alone.\n\n<strong>Walking Wounded: Hope for Those Hurt By Church</strong> is designed to help you move through the painful and confusing aftermath of a negative faith-based experience.\n\n<strong>In this 4 week class you will:</strong>\n<ul>\n	<li>Connect with others who have similar experiences</li>\n	<li>Identify your losses and reclaim your dreams</li>\n	<li>Tell your story and receive support</li>\n	<li>Work through your unfinished business</li>\n	<li>Learn effective practices to restore a sense of sanity</li>\n</ul>\nThrough interviews, conversation, journaling and storytelling, Kathy Escobar and Phyllis Mathis will guide you through the confusion and into a place of purpose and peace.\n<h3>The Instructors</h3>\n<div><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http://liveittothefull.com/images/2012-01-walkingwounded/kathyescobar.jpg\" alt=\"Kathy Escobar\" width=\"90\" height=\"92\" /><strong>Kathy Escobar</strong> co-pastors the Refuge, an eclectic faith community in North Denver dedicated to those on the margins of life and faith (<a href=\"http://www.therefugeonline.org/\" target=\"_blank\">www.therefugeonline.org</a>). She journeys with people in hard places as a spiritual director, teacher, and group facilitator. A Pepperdine University graduate, she also has a Masters degree in Management/Organizational Development and a Certificate in Evangelical Spiritual Guidance from Denver Seminary. Kathy is the author of <em>Down We Go: Living into the Wild Ways of Jesus</em> (Civitas Press, 2011).</div>\n<div></div>\n<div><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http://liveittothefull.com/images/2012-01-walkingwounded/phyllismathis.jpg\" alt=\"Phyllis Mathis\" width=\"87\" height=\"107\" /></div>\n<div><strong>Phyllis Mathis</strong> is a long-time spiritual teacher, lay leader, former pastor, Ontological Coach and Licensed Professional Counselor (<a href=\"http://www.phyllismathis.com/\" target=\"_blank\">www.phyllismathis.com</a>) who has been practicing for over 20 years. A seasoned writer, retreat facilitator and a beginning potter, she is the co-creator of the forthcoming course: <em>The Iconic Self</em> (Jen Lee Productions, 2012).</div>\n<a href=\"http://liveittothefull.com/register/?package=Y291cnNlc18yMDEyXzAyX3dhbGtpbmdfd291bmRlZCMyMg=\"><img src=\"http://liveittothefull.com/images/2012-01-walkingwounded/walkingwounded-capsule.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"77\" border=\"0\" /></a>','Walking Wounded:  Hope for Those Hurt By the Church ','','inherit','open','open','','3964-revision','','','2012-01-11 16:52:12','2012-01-12 00:52:12','',3964,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/11/3964-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(3967,18,'2012-01-11 16:56:02','2012-01-12 00:56:02','<h2><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/walkingwounded-square-button.png\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-3965 alignleft\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/walkingwounded-square-button.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" /></a>Hope for Those Hurt by Church</h2>\r\nFor most of us, our faith journey is the most essential thing about us, the closest thing to the core of who we are. So whenever some major shift in perspective rocks our faith, or we’re involved in a conflict involving our faith community, it goes deep, affecting our soul in some surprising ways.\r\n\r\nIf you are feeling lost, disillusioned or hurt as a result of a shift in your faith or by a negative church (or other faith community) experience, this just might be the class for you.\r\n\r\nJoin us February 6, 2012 for <strong>Walking Wounded: Hope for Those Hurt by Church</strong>. Class price is $49 and includes daily posts (Monday through Friday) and weekly exercises in journaling, storytelling, and wellness practices.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<h3>Course Description</h3>\r\nThousands of honest, sincere people are finding themselves on the outside of a faith system they once held dear. The sadness, anger, disillusionment and fear can be debilitating. And confusing.\r\n\r\n<strong>Have You:</strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>Been asked to leave a church or told you’re not a “good fit”?</li>\r\n	<li>Felt forced to conform or remain consistently overlooked?</li>\r\n	<li>Been told that you are loved but not your sin?</li>\r\n	<li>Questioned leadership or theology and found yourself on the outside?</li>\r\n	<li>Felt sad, angry, afraid, lost, or disoriented after painful church experiences?</li>\r\n	<li>Experienced a significant shift in your theology or faith perspective and find yourself feeling disoriented and unsure?</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nYou are not lost, and you are not alone.\r\n\r\n<strong>Walking Wounded: Hope for Those Hurt By Church</strong> is designed to help you move through the painful and confusing aftermath of a negative faith-based experience.\r\n\r\n<strong>In this 4 week class you will:</strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>Connect with others who have similar experiences</li>\r\n	<li>Identify your losses and reclaim your dreams</li>\r\n	<li>Tell your story and receive support</li>\r\n	<li>Work through your unfinished business</li>\r\n	<li>Learn effective practices to restore a sense of sanity</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nThrough interviews, conversation, journaling and storytelling, Kathy Escobar and Phyllis Mathis will guide you through the confusion and into a place of purpose and peace.\r\n<h3>The Instructors</h3>\r\n<div><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http://liveittothefull.com/images/2012-01-walkingwounded/kathyescobar.jpg\" alt=\"Kathy Escobar\" width=\"90\" height=\"92\" /><strong>Kathy Escobar</strong> co-pastors the Refuge, an eclectic faith community in North Denver dedicated to those on the margins of life and faith (<a href=\"http://www.therefugeonline.org/\" target=\"_blank\">www.therefugeonline.org</a>). She journeys with people in hard places as a spiritual director, teacher, and group facilitator. A Pepperdine University graduate, she also has a Masters degree in Management/Organizational Development and a Certificate in Evangelical Spiritual Guidance from Denver Seminary. Kathy is the author of <em>Down We Go: Living into the Wild Ways of Jesus</em> (Civitas Press, 2011).</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http://liveittothefull.com/images/2012-01-walkingwounded/phyllismathis.jpg\" alt=\"Phyllis Mathis\" width=\"87\" height=\"107\" /></div>\r\n<div><strong>Phyllis Mathis</strong> is a long-time spiritual teacher, lay leader, former pastor, Ontological Coach and Licensed Professional Counselor (<a href=\"http://www.phyllismathis.com/\" target=\"_blank\">www.phyllismathis.com</a>) who has been practicing for over 20 years. A seasoned writer, retreat facilitator and a beginning potter, she is the co-creator of the forthcoming course: <em>The Iconic Self</em> (Jen Lee Productions, 2012).</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<a href=\"http://liveittothefull.com/register/?package=Y291cnNlc18yMDEyXzAyX3dhbGtpbmdfd291bmRlZCMyMg=\"><img src=\"http://liveittothefull.com/images/2012-01-walkingwounded/walkingwounded-capsule.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"77\" border=\"0\" /></a>','Walking Wounded:  Hope for Those Hurt By the Church ','','inherit','open','open','','3964-revision-2','','','2012-01-11 16:56:02','2012-01-12 00:56:02','',3964,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/11/3964-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(3968,18,'2012-01-11 16:56:15','2012-01-12 00:56:15','<h2><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/walkingwounded-square-button.png\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-3965 alignleft\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/walkingwounded-square-button.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" /></a>Hope for Those Hurt by Church</h2>\r\nFor most of us, our faith journey is the most essential thing about us, the closest thing to the core of who we are. So whenever some major shift in perspective rocks our faith, or we’re involved in a conflict involving our faith community, it goes deep, affecting our soul in some surprising ways.\r\n\r\nIf you are feeling lost, disillusioned or hurt as a result of a shift in your faith or by a negative church (or other faith community) experience, this just might be the class for you.\r\n\r\nJoin us February 6, 2012 for <strong>Walking Wounded: Hope for Those Hurt by Church</strong>. Class price is $49 and includes daily posts (Monday through Friday) and weekly exercises in journaling, storytelling, and wellness practices.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<h3>Course Description</h3>\r\nThousands of honest, sincere people are finding themselves on the outside of a faith system they once held dear. The sadness, anger, disillusionment and fear can be debilitating. And confusing.\r\n\r\n<strong>Have You:</strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>Been asked to leave a church or told you’re not a “good fit”?</li>\r\n	<li>Felt forced to conform or remain consistently overlooked?</li>\r\n	<li>Been told that you are loved but not your sin?</li>\r\n	<li>Questioned leadership or theology and found yourself on the outside?</li>\r\n	<li>Felt sad, angry, afraid, lost, or disoriented after painful church experiences?</li>\r\n	<li>Experienced a significant shift in your theology or faith perspective and find yourself feeling disoriented and unsure?</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nYou are not lost, and you are not alone.\r\n\r\n<strong>Walking Wounded: Hope for Those Hurt By Church</strong> is designed to help you move through the painful and confusing aftermath of a negative faith-based experience.\r\n\r\n<strong>In this 4 week class you will:</strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>Connect with others who have similar experiences</li>\r\n	<li>Identify your losses and reclaim your dreams</li>\r\n	<li>Tell your story and receive support</li>\r\n	<li>Work through your unfinished business</li>\r\n	<li>Learn effective practices to restore a sense of sanity</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nThrough interviews, conversation, journaling and storytelling, Kathy Escobar and Phyllis Mathis will guide you through the confusion and into a place of purpose and peace.\r\n<h3>The Instructors</h3>\r\n<div><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http://liveittothefull.com/images/2012-01-walkingwounded/kathyescobar.jpg\" alt=\"Kathy Escobar\" width=\"90\" height=\"92\" /><strong>Kathy Escobar</strong> co-pastors the Refuge, an eclectic faith community in North Denver dedicated to those on the margins of life and faith (<a href=\"http://www.therefugeonline.org/\" target=\"_blank\">www.therefugeonline.org</a>). She journeys with people in hard places as a spiritual director, teacher, and group facilitator. A Pepperdine University graduate, she also has a Masters degree in Management/Organizational Development and a Certificate in Evangelical Spiritual Guidance from Denver Seminary. Kathy is the author of <em>Down We Go: Living into the Wild Ways of Jesus</em> (Civitas Press, 2011).</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http://liveittothefull.com/images/2012-01-walkingwounded/phyllismathis.jpg\" alt=\"Phyllis Mathis\" width=\"87\" height=\"107\" /></div>\r\n<div><strong>Phyllis Mathis</strong> is a long-time spiritual teacher, lay leader, former pastor, Ontological Coach and Licensed Professional Counselor (<a href=\"http://www.phyllismathis.com/\" target=\"_blank\">www.phyllismathis.com</a>) who has been practicing for over 20 years. A seasoned writer, retreat facilitator and a beginning potter, she is the co-creator of the forthcoming course: <em>The Iconic Self</em> (Jen Lee Productions, 2012).</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<a href=\"http://liveittothefull.com/register/?package=Y291cnNlc18yMDEyXzAyX3dhbGtpbmdfd291bmRlZCMyMg=\"><img src=\"http://liveittothefull.com/images/2012-01-walkingwounded/walkingwounded-capsule.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"77\" border=\"0\" /></a>','Walking Wounded:  Hope for Those Hurt By the Church ','','inherit','open','open','','3964-revision-3','','','2012-01-11 16:56:15','2012-01-12 00:56:15','',3964,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/11/3964-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(3969,18,'2012-01-11 16:56:42','2012-01-12 00:56:42','<h2><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/walkingwounded-square-button.png\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-3965 alignleft\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/walkingwounded-square-button.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" /></a>Hope for Those Hurt by Church</h2>\r\nFor most of us, our faith journey is the most essential thing about us, the closest thing to the core of who we are. So whenever some major shift in perspective rocks our faith, or we’re involved in a conflict involving our faith community, it goes deep, affecting our soul in some surprising ways.\r\n\r\nIf you are feeling lost, disillusioned or hurt as a result of a shift in your faith or by a negative church (or other faith community) experience, this just might be the class for you.\r\n\r\nJoin us February 6, 2012 for <strong>Walking Wounded: Hope for Those Hurt by Church</strong>. Class price is $49 and includes daily posts (Monday through Friday) and weekly exercises in journaling, storytelling, and wellness practices.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<h3>Course Description</h3>\r\nThousands of honest, sincere people are finding themselves on the outside of a faith system they once held dear. The sadness, anger, disillusionment and fear can be debilitating. And confusing.\r\n\r\n<strong>Have You:</strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>Been asked to leave a church or told you’re not a “good fit”?</li>\r\n	<li>Felt forced to conform or remain consistently overlooked?</li>\r\n	<li>Been told that you are loved but not your sin?</li>\r\n	<li>Questioned leadership or theology and found yourself on the outside?</li>\r\n	<li>Felt sad, angry, afraid, lost, or disoriented after painful church experiences?</li>\r\n	<li>Experienced a significant shift in your theology or faith perspective and find yourself feeling disoriented and unsure?</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nYou are not lost, and you are not alone.\r\n\r\n<strong>Walking Wounded: Hope for Those Hurt By Church</strong> is designed to help you move through the painful and confusing aftermath of a negative faith-based experience.\r\n\r\n<strong>In this 4 week class you will:</strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>Connect with others who have similar experiences</li>\r\n	<li>Identify your losses and reclaim your dreams</li>\r\n	<li>Tell your story and receive support</li>\r\n	<li>Work through your unfinished business</li>\r\n	<li>Learn effective practices to restore a sense of sanity</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nThrough interviews, conversation, journaling and storytelling, Kathy Escobar and Phyllis Mathis will guide you through the confusion and into a place of purpose and peace.\r\n<h3>The Instructors</h3>\r\n<div><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http://liveittothefull.com/images/2012-01-walkingwounded/kathyescobar.jpg\" alt=\"Kathy Escobar\" width=\"90\" height=\"92\" /><strong>Kathy Escobar</strong> co-pastors the Refuge, an eclectic faith community in North Denver dedicated to those on the margins of life and faith (<a href=\"http://www.therefugeonline.org/\" target=\"_blank\">www.therefugeonline.org</a>). She journeys with people in hard places as a spiritual director, teacher, and group facilitator. A Pepperdine University graduate, she also has a Masters degree in Management/Organizational Development and a Certificate in Evangelical Spiritual Guidance from Denver Seminary. Kathy is the author of <em>Down We Go: Living into the Wild Ways of Jesus</em> (Civitas Press, 2011).</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http://liveittothefull.com/images/2012-01-walkingwounded/phyllismathis.jpg\" alt=\"Phyllis Mathis\" width=\"87\" height=\"107\" /></div>\r\n<div><strong>Phyllis Mathis</strong> is a long-time spiritual teacher, lay leader, former pastor, Ontological Coach and Licensed Professional Counselor (<a href=\"http://www.phyllismathis.com/\" target=\"_blank\">www.phyllismathis.com</a>) who has been practicing for over 20 years. A seasoned writer, retreat facilitator and a beginning potter, she is the co-creator of the forthcoming course: <em>The Iconic Self</em> (Jen Lee Productions, 2012).</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<a href=\"http://liveittothefull.com/register/?package=Y291cnNlc18yMDEyXzAyX3dhbGtpbmdfd291bmRlZCMyMg=\"><img src=\"http://liveittothefull.com/images/2012-01-walkingwounded/walkingwounded-capsule.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"77\" border=\"0\" /></a>','Walking Wounded:  Hope for Those Hurt By the Church ','','inherit','open','open','','3964-revision-4','','','2012-01-11 16:56:42','2012-01-12 00:56:42','',3964,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/11/3964-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(3970,18,'2012-01-11 16:56:51','2012-01-12 00:56:51','<h2><a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/walkingwounded-square-button.png\"><img class=\"size-full wp-image-3965 alignleft\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/walkingwounded-square-button.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" /></a>Hope for Those Hurt by Church</h2>\r\nFor most of us, our faith journey is the most essential thing about us, the closest thing to the core of who we are. So whenever some major shift in perspective rocks our faith, or we’re involved in a conflict involving our faith community, it goes deep, affecting our soul in some surprising ways.\r\n\r\nIf you are feeling lost, disillusioned or hurt as a result of a shift in your faith or by a negative church (or other faith community) experience, this just might be the class for you.\r\n\r\nJoin us February 6, 2012 for <strong>Walking Wounded: Hope for Those Hurt by Church</strong>. Class price is $49 and includes daily posts (Monday through Friday) and weekly exercises in journaling, storytelling, and wellness practices.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<h3>Course Description</h3>\r\nThousands of honest, sincere people are finding themselves on the outside of a faith system they once held dear. The sadness, anger, disillusionment and fear can be debilitating. And confusing.\r\n\r\n<strong>Have You:</strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>Been asked to leave a church or told you’re not a “good fit”?</li>\r\n	<li>Felt forced to conform or remain consistently overlooked?</li>\r\n	<li>Been told that you are loved but not your sin?</li>\r\n	<li>Questioned leadership or theology and found yourself on the outside?</li>\r\n	<li>Felt sad, angry, afraid, lost, or disoriented after painful church experiences?</li>\r\n	<li>Experienced a significant shift in your theology or faith perspective and find yourself feeling disoriented and unsure?</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nYou are not lost, and you are not alone.\r\n\r\n<strong>Walking Wounded: Hope for Those Hurt By Church</strong> is designed to help you move through the painful and confusing aftermath of a negative faith-based experience.\r\n\r\n<strong>In this 4 week class you will:</strong>\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>Connect with others who have similar experiences</li>\r\n	<li>Identify your losses and reclaim your dreams</li>\r\n	<li>Tell your story and receive support</li>\r\n	<li>Work through your unfinished business</li>\r\n	<li>Learn effective practices to restore a sense of sanity</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nThrough interviews, conversation, journaling and storytelling, Kathy Escobar and Phyllis Mathis will guide you through the confusion and into a place of purpose and peace.\r\n<h3>The Instructors</h3>\r\n<div><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http://liveittothefull.com/images/2012-01-walkingwounded/kathyescobar.jpg\" alt=\"Kathy Escobar\" width=\"90\" height=\"92\" /><strong>Kathy Escobar</strong> co-pastors the Refuge, an eclectic faith community in North Denver dedicated to those on the margins of life and faith (<a href=\"http://www.therefugeonline.org/\" target=\"_blank\">www.therefugeonline.org</a>). She journeys with people in hard places as a spiritual director, teacher, and group facilitator. A Pepperdine University graduate, she also has a Masters degree in Management/Organizational Development and a Certificate in Evangelical Spiritual Guidance from Denver Seminary. Kathy is the author of <em>Down We Go: Living into the Wild Ways of Jesus</em> (Civitas Press, 2011).</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div><img class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http://liveittothefull.com/images/2012-01-walkingwounded/phyllismathis.jpg\" alt=\"Phyllis Mathis\" width=\"87\" height=\"107\" /></div>\r\n<div><strong>Phyllis Mathis</strong> is a long-time spiritual teacher, lay leader, former pastor, Ontological Coach and Licensed Professional Counselor (<a href=\"http://www.phyllismathis.com/\" target=\"_blank\">www.phyllismathis.com</a>) who has been practicing for over 20 years. A seasoned writer, retreat facilitator and a beginning potter, she is the co-creator of the forthcoming course: <em>The Iconic Self</em> (Jen Lee Productions, 2012).</div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<div></div>\r\n<a href=\"http://liveittothefull.com/register/?package=Y291cnNlc18yMDEyXzAyX3dhbGtpbmdfd291bmRlZCMyMg=\"><img src=\"http://liveittothefull.com/images/2012-01-walkingwounded/walkingwounded-capsule.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"77\" border=\"0\" /></a>','Walking Wounded:  Hope for Those Hurt By the Church ','','inherit','open','open','','3964-revision-5','','','2012-01-11 16:56:51','2012-01-12 00:56:51','',3964,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/11/3964-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(3971,43,'2012-01-11 12:45:44','2012-01-11 20:45:44','The title of this article is a quote from the film <a href=\"http://www.tuckermax.com/movie\"><em>I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell</em></a>, a crude movie about the escapades of Tucker Max.  I should note here that I haven\'t seen the film; I found the quote on a blog about rape culture (which, in case there was any question, is not dead—even this many years later).  I stumbled upon this in my search to understand why some conservative churches continue to push the message that women are responsible for the sexual harassment and violence committed against them.\r\n\r\nSadly, though it may be phrased more politely, far too many women echo the sentiment of the quote about our own gender.  We are prepared to blame ourselves for our men folk\'s lack of sexual self-control.  One young man recently told me, \"What girls don\'t get is that if they dress a certain way, guys are going to <em>treat</em> them a certain way.\"  This was something he had heard not from his father or a male leader at church, but from a woman.\r\n\r\nOver the last couple of weeks, I\'ve received multiple emails from well-meaning friends.  Every single one is about the call to feminine modesty, in one way or another.  It\'s as though we, as women, have absorbed the sentiments of rape culture and taken it on ourselves to resolve the issue.  This is particularly distressing because it\'s cleverly disguised as \"Christian sex education.\"  While I applaud the efforts to encourage modest dress, I don\'t believe this should be done in the context of telling young women we\'re responsible for keeping men from hurting us.\r\n\r\nIn fact, I don\'t believe this is the way most men and boys actually think.  The vast majority of men (and young men) that I know treat their wives, girlfriends, and friends with far more dignity than that.  The way that \"real life,\" so to speak, plays out is not merely a drama of trashy women being preyed upon by leering men.  I\'m not denying the reality of violence and sexual assault against women.  But it\'s unfair to characterize an entire gender based on the actions of some people.  Count me refreshed, then, having seen this photo on a friend\'s Facebook page:\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Men-Can-Stop-Rape.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-3568\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Men-Can-Stop-Rape-206x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"206\" height=\"300\" /></a>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nYes, men and boys, you <em>do </em>have the power to treat women and girls right, no matter the circumstances.  I want to see much more of this kind of thing taught to our sons <em>and our daughters</em>.  We need to teach our young people that both women and men have responsibilities.  I want to see women empowered to stand up for themselves, but with the understanding that they don\'t have to fight alone.  Everyone has the right to be treated respectfully in relationships.','“Your gender is hardwired for whoredom.”','','inherit','open','open','','3562-revision-14','','','2012-01-11 12:45:44','2012-01-11 20:45:44','',3562,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/11/3562-revision-14/',0,'revision','',0),(3975,119,'2012-01-21 08:00:51','2012-01-21 16:00:51','January is always a time of reflection for me as we cross the threshold into a new year.  Last year I was all set to project some goals for 2011, goals which were, in essence, no more than an extrapolation of the things I had done in 2010.  Yet last January, God spoke to me clearly about this.  He showed me that to base my future direction on my direction so far was unwise.  Worse than that, actually.  It was stupid.  Because when you do what you\'ve always done, you get what you\'ve always got.\r\n\r\nTo orient myself for 2011 based on my successes in 2010, based on the gifts which had already come to the surface in my life?  Such a process of orientation was deeply flawed.  It could only take me where I had been.\r\n\r\nAnd I should have known better.\r\n\r\nPerhaps I did.  From what I posted then, it would seem that I knew that my doing - my one-track, single-focus drive for success - only served to hide the reality that I did not know where I was going.\r\n\r\nIt was, as I put it in a sermon earlier this month, a case of climbing even more rungs on the ladder.\r\n\r\nA ladder which might one day turn out to be against the wrong wall.\r\n\r\nSo 2011 was a year of learning to be, a year of dwelling in the simplicity of the Son\'s doing as he told it in John 5:19, a year of seeking to understand what that meant for me.  Though I read vast portions of the Scriptures in the year (being at Bible college does mean that you get around the Bible a bit in the course of a week!), I came back again and again to this thought.\r\n\r\nThe Son could do nothing of his own accord but only what he saw the Father doing.  And to see what the Father was doing meant spending time in his presence.  Just being.  Knowing his identity as the Father\'s Son.  Living in that and letting his doing flow from that relational connection.\r\n\r\nThis year-long reflection, this dwelling in just one verse, was not intentional in 2011.  It just happened.  But, in just happening, it added richness to my walk with God.  I learned perhaps one of the more important lessons of my faith-life so far.\r\n\r\nThat he is the stability of my times.\r\n\r\nThat in returning and rest, in quietness and trust, are my strength.\r\n\r\nThat the <em>doing</em> which is going to make sense of God\'s call on my life has to flow from first <em>being.</em>  Being in his presence.  Listening to what he is inviting me to become and to do.\r\n\r\nSo, this month, when I preached our first service of the year, I spoke about this very lesson.\r\n\r\nI\'d meant it really as an explanation of why the leadership team was not producing a massive plan of goals for our church to achieve this year.  I\'d meant it as an explanation of why our only vision statement as a church is a sentence about who we believe God is inviting us to become - \'an outward-reaching community of disciples\'.  I\'d meant to invite our people into an understanding about why we feel that our most significant strategy in our becoming is going to be prayer which takes us to the heart of God, rather than an endless list of goals like every other church I know.\r\n\r\nAnd maybe they heard it like that.  I don\'t know.  I hope so because otherwise I\'ve got problems later on this year!  Problems when they realise that we\'re not necessarily doing all the worthy things which other churches are doing.  Problems when they realise that instead we\'re wasting time at the feet of Jesus in as profligate a way as we know how.  So I hope these precious people caught that vision for the church or I\'m going to be paying for it later!\r\n\r\nBut, at the very least, I know that many heard God speaking to them personally.  I know because they told me so, and when you\'ve preached in one place for as many years as I have, people give up commenting on your preach unless it was truly terrible or incredibly impactful.  At least it seems to have been the latter this time!\r\n\r\nPeople heard the invitation from John 5:19 and - my latest Scriptural hang-out! - Luke 10:41-42.  They heard a call to the \'one thing\', a phrase from Luke 10 which I think will haunt me all year.  So many of us there that Sunday had been seeking the \'one thing\' in 2011.  \"What is the \'one thing\'\", we would ask, \"the one thing which God wants me to do for him and with him?\"\r\n\r\nIt was my question too.  My life always seems to have multiple strands.  To be one step away from total chaos.  All year, I had longed to rationalise things, commitments, strands of doing.  I had longed to know what was the \'one thing\'.\r\n\r\nThen, on the very first day of 2012, I fell upon Luke 10:41-42 as if I had never read it before.  As if a direct message from the heart of God came the words, \'one thing\'.  Slap bang in the middle of a passage which I must have read tens of times.\r\n\r\nAnd what was the one thing?  To sit at the feet of Jesus.\r\n\r\nNothing else.\r\n\r\nOnly in that place will I learn who he is inviting me to become.  And only from there, that place of being, that place where who I am depends on the One who invited me into relationship with him...from that place alone can my doing flow.\r\n\r\nThat\'s true for the church too.  Goodness knows, I am the queen of lists and goal-setting.  I could come up with a formidable list of things for the church to achieve for God in 2012!  But to do so would, I suspect, be a repeat of the same mistake I was about to make with my own life last January.  Because until we, as a church, know whom God is inviting us to become, until we invest in the one thing of sitting at his feet, we will not know what it is which is on his heart uniquely for us to do in our little corner of London.\r\n\r\nAnd when we know who we are?  When we wait on the Lord?  Well, then it will be that what he is asking us to do becomes obvious, a natural overflow of our becoming.\r\n\r\nWhat about you?  Is your doing, your church\'s doing, an overflow of a knowledge of who you are when you sit at the Lord\'s feet?  And how could 2012 be a year more dedicated to the \'one thing\'?\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/vshioshvili/\">Photo credit</a>','In Returning and Rest','','publish','open','open','','in-returning-and-rest','','','2012-01-16 13:58:45','2012-01-16 21:58:45','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=3975',0,'post','',2),(3976,119,'2012-01-12 04:03:21','2012-01-12 12:03:21','January is always a time of reflection for me as we cross the threshold into a new year.  Last year I was all set to project some goals for 2011, goals which were, in essence, no more than an extrapolation of the things I had done in 2010.  Yet last January, <a title=\"Lost in 2011\" href=\"http://theartofsteering.wordpress.com/2011/01/07/lost-in-2011/\">God spoke to me clearly</a> about this.  He showed me that to base my future direction on my direction so far was unwise.  Worse than that, actually.  It was stupid.  Because when you do what you\'ve always done, you get what you\'ve always got.\n\nTo orient myself for 2011 based on my successes in 2010, based on the gifts which had already come to the surface in my life?  Such a process of orientation was deeply flawed.  It could only take me where I had been.\n\nAnd I should have known better.\n\nPerhaps I did.  From what I posted then, it would seem that I knew that my doing - my one-track, single-focus drive for success - only served to hide the reality that I did not know where I was going.\n\nIt was, as I put it in a sermon earlier this month, a case of climbing even more rungs on the ladder.\n\nA ladder which might one day turn out to be against the wrong wall.\n\nSo 2011 was a year of learning to be, a year of dwelling in the simplicity of the Son\'s doing as he told it in John 5:19, a year of seeking to understand what that meant for me.  Though I read vast portions of the Scriptures in the year (being at Bible college does mean that you get around the Bible a bit in the course of a week!), I came back again and again to this thought.\n\nThe Son could do nothing of his own accord but only what he saw the Father doing.  And to see what the Father was doing meant spending time in his presence.  Just being.  Knowing his identity as the Father\'s Son.  Living in that and letting his doing flow from that relational connection.\n\nThis year-long reflection, this dwelling in just one verse, was not intentional in 2011.  It just happened.  But, in just happening, it added richness to my walk with God.  I learned perhaps one of the more important lessons of my faith-life so far.\n\nThat he is the stability of my times.\n\nThat in returning and rest, in quietness and trust, are my strength.\n\nThat the <em>doing</em> which is going to make sense of God\'s call on my life has to flow from first <em>being.</em>  Being in his presence.  Listening to what he is inviting me to become and to do.\n\nSo, this month, when I preached our first service of the year, I spoke about this very lesson.\n\nI\'d meant it really as an explanation of why the leadership team was not producing a massive plan of goals for our church to achieve this year.  I\'d meant it as an explanation of why our only vision statement as a church is a sentence about who we believe God is inviting us to become - \'an outward-reaching community of disciples\'.  I\'d meant to invite our people into an understanding about why we feel that our most significant strategy in our becoming is going to be prayer which takes us to the heart of God, rather than an endless list of goals like every other church I know.\n\nAnd maybe they heard it like that.  I don\'t know.  I hope so because otherwise I\'ve got problems later on this year!  Problems when they realise that we\'re not necessarily doing all the worthy things which other churches are doing.  Problems when they realise that instead we\'re wasting time at the feet of Jesus in as profligate a way as we know how.  So I hope these precious people caught that vision for the church or I\'m going to be paying for it later!\n\nBut, at the very least, I know that many heard God speaking to them personally.  I know because they told me so, and when you\'ve preached in one place for as many years as I have, people give up commenting on your preach unless it was truly terrible or incredibly impactful.  At least it seems to have been the latter this time!\n\nPeople heard the invitation from John 5:19 and - my latest Scriptural hang-out! - Luke 10:41-42.  They heard a call to the \'one thing\', a phrase from Luke 10 which I think will haunt me all year.  So many of us there that Sunday had been seeking the \'one thing\' in 2011.  \"What is the \'one thing\'\", we would ask, \"the one thing which God wants me to do for him and with him?\"\n\nIt was my question too.  My life always seems to have multiple strands.  To be one step away from total chaos.  All year, I had longed to rationalise things, commitments, strands of doing.  I had longed to know what was the \'one thing\'.\n\nThen, on the very first day of 2012, I fell upon Luke 10:41-42 as if I had never read it before.  As if a direct message from the heart of God came the words, \'one thing\'.  Slap bang in the middle of a passage which I must have read tens of times.\n\nAnd what was the one thing?  To sit at the feet of Jesus.\n\nNothing else.\n\nOnly in that place will I learn who he is inviting me to become.  And only from there, that place of being, that place where who I am depends on the One who invited me into relationship with him...from that place alone can my doing flow.\n\nThat\'s true for the church too.  Goodness knows, I am the queen of lists and goal-setting.  I could come up with a formidable list of things for the church to achieve for God in 2012!  But to do so would, I suspect, be a repeat of the same mistake I was about to make with my own life last January.  Because until we, as a church, know whom God is inviting us to become, until we invest in the one thing of sitting at his feet, we will not know what it is which is on his heart uniquely for us to do in our little corner of London.\n\nAnd when we know who we are?  When we wait on the Lord?  Well, then it will be that what he is asking us to do becomes obvious, a natural overflow of our becoming.\n\nWhat about you?  Is your doing, your church\'s doing, an overflow of a knowledge of who you are when you sit at the Lord\'s feet?  And how could 2012 be a year more dedicated to the \'one thing\'?','','','inherit','open','open','','3975-revision','','','2012-01-12 04:03:21','2012-01-12 12:03:21','',3975,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/12/3975-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(3977,119,'2012-01-12 04:20:16','2012-01-12 12:20:16','','Returning and rest','','inherit','open','open','','returning-and-rest','','','2012-01-12 04:20:16','2012-01-12 12:20:16','',3975,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Returning-and-rest.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(3978,119,'2012-01-12 04:05:08','2012-01-12 12:05:08','January is always a time of reflection for me as we cross the threshold into a new year.  Last year I was all set to project some goals for 2011, goals which were, in essence, no more than an extrapolation of the things I had done in 2010.  Yet last January, <a title=\"Lost in 2011\" href=\"http://theartofsteering.wordpress.com/2011/01/07/lost-in-2011/\">God spoke to me clearly</a> about this.  He showed me that to base my future direction on my direction so far was unwise.  Worse than that, actually.  It was stupid.  Because when you do what you\'ve always done, you get what you\'ve always got.\n\nTo orient myself for 2011 based on my successes in 2010, based on the gifts which had already come to the surface in my life?  Such a process of orientation was deeply flawed.  It could only take me where I had been.\n\nAnd I should have known better.\n\nPerhaps I did.  From what I posted then, it would seem that I knew that my doing - my one-track, single-focus drive for success - only served to hide the reality that I did not know where I was going.\n\nIt was, as I put it in a sermon earlier this month, a case of climbing even more rungs on the ladder.\n\nA ladder which might one day turn out to be against the wrong wall.\n\nSo 2011 was a year of learning to be, a year of dwelling in the simplicity of the Son\'s doing as he told it in John 5:19, a year of seeking to understand what that meant for me.  Though I read vast portions of the Scriptures in the year (being at Bible college does mean that you get around the Bible a bit in the course of a week!), I came back again and again to this thought.\n\nThe Son could do nothing of his own accord but only what he saw the Father doing.  And to see what the Father was doing meant spending time in his presence.  Just being.  Knowing his identity as the Father\'s Son.  Living in that and letting his doing flow from that relational connection.\n\nThis year-long reflection, this dwelling in just one verse, was not intentional in 2011.  It just happened.  But, in just happening, it added richness to my walk with God.  I learned perhaps one of the more important lessons of my faith-life so far.\n\nThat he is the stability of my times.\n\nThat in returning and rest, in quietness and trust, are my strength.\n\nThat the <em>doing</em> which is going to make sense of God\'s call on my life has to flow from first <em>being.</em>  Being in his presence.  Listening to what he is inviting me to become and to do.\n\nSo, this month, when I preached our first service of the year, I spoke about this very lesson.\n\nI\'d meant it really as an explanation of why the leadership team was not producing a massive plan of goals for our church to achieve this year.  I\'d meant it as an explanation of why our only vision statement as a church is a sentence about who we believe God is inviting us to become - \'an outward-reaching community of disciples\'.  I\'d meant to invite our people into an understanding about why we feel that our most significant strategy in our becoming is going to be prayer which takes us to the heart of God, rather than an endless list of goals like every other church I know.\n\nAnd maybe they heard it like that.  I don\'t know.  I hope so because otherwise I\'ve got problems later on this year!  Problems when they realise that we\'re not necessarily doing all the worthy things which other churches are doing.  Problems when they realise that instead we\'re wasting time at the feet of Jesus in as profligate a way as we know how.  So I hope these precious people caught that vision for the church or I\'m going to be paying for it later!\n\nBut, at the very least, I know that many heard God speaking to them personally.  I know because they told me so, and when you\'ve preached in one place for as many years as I have, people give up commenting on your preach unless it was truly terrible or incredibly impactful.  At least it seems to have been the latter this time!\n\nPeople heard the invitation from John 5:19 and - my latest Scriptural hang-out! - Luke 10:41-42.  They heard a call to the \'one thing\', a phrase from Luke 10 which I think will haunt me all year.  So many of us there that Sunday had been seeking the \'one thing\' in 2011.  \"What is the \'one thing\'\", we would ask, \"the one thing which God wants me to do for him and with him?\"\n\nIt was my question too.  My life always seems to have multiple strands.  To be one step away from total chaos.  All year, I had longed to rationalise things, commitments, strands of doing.  I had longed to know what was the \'one thing\'.\n\nThen, on the very first day of 2012, I fell upon Luke 10:41-42 as if I had never read it before.  As if a direct message from the heart of God came the words, \'one thing\'.  Slap bang in the middle of a passage which I must have read tens of times.\n\nAnd what was the one thing?  To sit at the feet of Jesus.\n\nNothing else.\n\nOnly in that place will I learn who he is inviting me to become.  And only from there, that place of being, that place where who I am depends on the One who invited me into relationship with him...from that place alone can my doing flow.\n\nThat\'s true for the church too.  Goodness knows, I am the queen of lists and goal-setting.  I could come up with a formidable list of things for the church to achieve for God in 2012!  But to do so would, I suspect, be a repeat of the same mistake I was about to make with my own life last January.  Because until we, as a church, know whom God is inviting us to become, until we invest in the one thing of sitting at his feet, we will not know what it is which is on his heart uniquely for us to do in our little corner of London.\n\nAnd when we know who we are?  When we wait on the Lord?  Well, then it will be that what he is asking us to do becomes obvious, a natural overflow of our becoming.\n\nWhat about you?  Is your doing, your church\'s doing, an overflow of a knowledge of who you are when you sit at the Lord\'s feet?  And how could 2012 be a year more dedicated to the \'one thing\'?','In returning and rest','','inherit','open','open','','3975-revision-2','','','2012-01-12 04:05:08','2012-01-12 12:05:08','',3975,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/12/3975-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(3982,119,'2012-01-12 04:34:20','2012-01-12 12:34:20','Image from <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/vshioshvili/\">http://www.flickr.com/photos/vshioshvili/</a>\n\nJanuary is always a time of reflection for me as we cross the threshold into a new year.  Last year I was all set to project some goals for 2011, goals which were, in essence, no more than an extrapolation of the things I had done in 2010.  Yet last January, God spoke to me clearly about this.  He showed me that to base my future direction on my direction so far was unwise.  Worse than that, actually.  It was stupid.  Because when you do what you\'ve always done, you get what you\'ve always got.\n\nTo orient myself for 2011 based on my successes in 2010, based on the gifts which had already come to the surface in my life?  Such a process of orientation was deeply flawed.  It could only take me where I had been.\n\nAnd I should have known better.\n\nPerhaps I did.  From what I posted then, it would seem that I knew that my doing - my one-track, single-focus drive for success - only served to hide the reality that I did not know where I was going.\n\nIt was, as I put it in a sermon earlier this month, a case of climbing even more rungs on the ladder.\n\nA ladder which might one day turn out to be against the wrong wall.\n\nSo 2011 was a year of learning to be, a year of dwelling in the simplicity of the Son\'s doing as he told it in John 5:19, a year of seeking to understand what that meant for me.  Though I read vast portions of the Scriptures in the year (being at Bible college does mean that you get around the Bible a bit in the course of a week!), I came back again and again to this thought.\n\nThe Son could do nothing of his own accord but only what he saw the Father doing.  And to see what the Father was doing meant spending time in his presence.  Just being.  Knowing his identity as the Father\'s Son.  Living in that and letting his doing flow from that relational connection.\n\nThis year-long reflection, this dwelling in just one verse, was not intentional in 2011.  It just happened.  But, in just happening, it added richness to my walk with God.  I learned perhaps one of the more important lessons of my faith-life so far.\n\nThat he is the stability of my times.\n\nThat in returning and rest, in quietness and trust, are my strength.\n\nThat the <em>doing</em> which is going to make sense of God\'s call on my life has to flow from first <em>being.</em>  Being in his presence.  Listening to what he is inviting me to become and to do.\n\nSo, this month, when I preached our first service of the year, I spoke about this very lesson.\n\nI\'d meant it really as an explanation of why the leadership team was not producing a massive plan of goals for our church to achieve this year.  I\'d meant it as an explanation of why our only vision statement as a church is a sentence about who we believe God is inviting us to become - \'an outward-reaching community of disciples\'.  I\'d meant to invite our people into an understanding about why we feel that our most significant strategy in our becoming is going to be prayer which takes us to the heart of God, rather than an endless list of goals like every other church I know.\n\nAnd maybe they heard it like that.  I don\'t know.  I hope so because otherwise I\'ve got problems later on this year!  Problems when they realise that we\'re not necessarily doing all the worthy things which other churches are doing.  Problems when they realise that instead we\'re wasting time at the feet of Jesus in as profligate a way as we know how.  So I hope these precious people caught that vision for the church or I\'m going to be paying for it later!\n\nBut, at the very least, I know that many heard God speaking to them personally.  I know because they told me so, and when you\'ve preached in one place for as many years as I have, people give up commenting on your preach unless it was truly terrible or incredibly impactful.  At least it seems to have been the latter this time!\n\nPeople heard the invitation from John 5:19 and - my latest Scriptural hang-out! - Luke 10:41-42.  They heard a call to the \'one thing\', a phrase from Luke 10 which I think will haunt me all year.  So many of us there that Sunday had been seeking the \'one thing\' in 2011.  \"What is the \'one thing\'\", we would ask, \"the one thing which God wants me to do for him and with him?\"\n\nIt was my question too.  My life always seems to have multiple strands.  To be one step away from total chaos.  All year, I had longed to rationalise things, commitments, strands of doing.  I had longed to know what was the \'one thing\'.\n\nThen, on the very first day of 2012, I fell upon Luke 10:41-42 as if I had never read it before.  As if a direct message from the heart of God came the words, \'one thing\'.  Slap bang in the middle of a passage which I must have read tens of times.\n\nAnd what was the one thing?  To sit at the feet of Jesus.\n\nNothing else.\n\nOnly in that place will I learn who he is inviting me to become.  And only from there, that place of being, that place where who I am depends on the One who invited me into relationship with him...from that place alone can my doing flow.\n\nThat\'s true for the church too.  Goodness knows, I am the queen of lists and goal-setting.  I could come up with a formidable list of things for the church to achieve for God in 2012!  But to do so would, I suspect, be a repeat of the same mistake I was about to make with my own life last January.  Because until we, as a church, know whom God is inviting us to become, until we invest in the one thing of sitting at his feet, we will not know what it is which is on his heart uniquely for us to do in our little corner of London.\n\nAnd when we know who we are?  When we wait on the Lord?  Well, then it will be that what he is asking us to do becomes obvious, a natural overflow of our becoming.\n\nWhat about you?  Is your doing, your church\'s doing, an overflow of a knowledge of who you are when you sit at the Lord\'s feet?  And how could 2012 be a year more dedicated to the \'one thing\'?\n\n&nbsp;','In returning and rest','','inherit','open','open','','3975-revision-6','','','2012-01-12 04:34:20','2012-01-12 12:34:20','',3975,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/12/3975-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(3979,119,'2012-01-12 04:22:04','2012-01-12 12:22:04','Image from <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/vshioshvili/\">http://www.flickr.com/photos/vshioshvili/</a>\r\n\r\nJanuary is always a time of reflection for me as we cross the threshold into a new year.  Last year I was all set to project some goals for 2011, goals which were, in essence, no more than an extrapolation of the things I had done in 2010.  Yet last January, <a title=\"Lost in 2011\" href=\"http://theartofsteering.wordpress.com/2011/01/07/lost-in-2011/\">God spoke to me clearly</a> about this.  He showed me that to base my future direction on my direction so far was unwise.  Worse than that, actually.  It was stupid.  Because when you do what you\'ve always done, you get what you\'ve always got.\r\n\r\nTo orient myself for 2011 based on my successes in 2010, based on the gifts which had already come to the surface in my life?  Such a process of orientation was deeply flawed.  It could only take me where I had been.\r\n\r\nAnd I should have known better.\r\n\r\nPerhaps I did.  From what I posted then, it would seem that I knew that my doing - my one-track, single-focus drive for success - only served to hide the reality that I did not know where I was going.\r\n\r\nIt was, as I put it in a sermon earlier this month, a case of climbing even more rungs on the ladder.\r\n\r\nA ladder which might one day turn out to be against the wrong wall.\r\n\r\nSo 2011 was a year of learning to be, a year of dwelling in the simplicity of the Son\'s doing as he told it in John 5:19, a year of seeking to understand what that meant for me.  Though I read vast portions of the Scriptures in the year (being at Bible college does mean that you get around the Bible a bit in the course of a week!), I came back again and again to this thought.\r\n\r\nThe Son could do nothing of his own accord but only what he saw the Father doing.  And to see what the Father was doing meant spending time in his presence.  Just being.  Knowing his identity as the Father\'s Son.  Living in that and letting his doing flow from that relational connection.\r\n\r\nThis year-long reflection, this dwelling in just one verse, was not intentional in 2011.  It just happened.  But, in just happening, it added richness to my walk with God.  I learned perhaps one of the more important lessons of my faith-life so far.\r\n\r\nThat he is the stability of my times.\r\n\r\nThat in returning and rest, in quietness and trust, are my strength.\r\n\r\nThat the <em>doing</em> which is going to make sense of God\'s call on my life has to flow from first <em>being.</em>  Being in his presence.  Listening to what he is inviting me to become and to do.\r\n\r\nSo, this month, when I preached our first service of the year, I spoke about this very lesson.\r\n\r\nI\'d meant it really as an explanation of why the leadership team was not producing a massive plan of goals for our church to achieve this year.  I\'d meant it as an explanation of why our only vision statement as a church is a sentence about who we believe God is inviting us to become - \'an outward-reaching community of disciples\'.  I\'d meant to invite our people into an understanding about why we feel that our most significant strategy in our becoming is going to be prayer which takes us to the heart of God, rather than an endless list of goals like every other church I know.\r\n\r\nAnd maybe they heard it like that.  I don\'t know.  I hope so because otherwise I\'ve got problems later on this year!  Problems when they realise that we\'re not necessarily doing all the worthy things which other churches are doing.  Problems when they realise that instead we\'re wasting time at the feet of Jesus in as profligate a way as we know how.  So I hope these precious people caught that vision for the church or I\'m going to be paying for it later!\r\n\r\nBut, at the very least, I know that many heard God speaking to them personally.  I know because they told me so, and when you\'ve preached in one place for as many years as I have, people give up commenting on your preach unless it was truly terrible or incredibly impactful.  At least it seems to have been the latter this time!\r\n\r\nPeople heard the invitation from John 5:19 and - my latest Scriptural hang-out! - Luke 10:41-42.  They heard a call to the \'one thing\', a phrase from Luke 10 which I think will haunt me all year.  So many of us there that Sunday had been seeking the \'one thing\' in 2011.  \"What is the \'one thing\'\", we would ask, \"the one thing which God wants me to do for him and with him?\"\r\n\r\nIt was my question too.  My life always seems to have multiple strands.  To be one step away from total chaos.  All year, I had longed to rationalise things, commitments, strands of doing.  I had longed to know what was the \'one thing\'.\r\n\r\nThen, on the very first day of 2012, I fell upon Luke 10:41-42 as if I had never read it before.  As if a direct message from the heart of God came the words, \'one thing\'.  Slap bang in the middle of a passage which I must have read tens of times.\r\n\r\nAnd what was the one thing?  To sit at the feet of Jesus.\r\n\r\nNothing else.\r\n\r\nOnly in that place will I learn who he is inviting me to become.  And only from there, that place of being, that place where who I am depends on the One who invited me into relationship with him...from that place alone can my doing flow.\r\n\r\nThat\'s true for the church too.  Goodness knows, I am the queen of lists and goal-setting.  I could come up with a formidable list of things for the church to achieve for God in 2012!  But to do so would, I suspect, be a repeat of the same mistake I was about to make with my own life last January.  Because until we, as a church, know whom God is inviting us to become, until we invest in the one thing of sitting at his feet, we will not know what it is which is on his heart uniquely for us to do in our little corner of London.\r\n\r\nAnd when we know who we are?  When we wait on the Lord?  Well, then it will be that what he is asking us to do becomes obvious, a natural overflow of our becoming.\r\n\r\nWhat about you?  Is your doing, your church\'s doing, an overflow of a knowledge of who you are when you sit at the Lord\'s feet?  And how could 2012 be a year more dedicated to the \'one thing\'?\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','In returning and rest','','inherit','open','open','','3975-revision-3','','','2012-01-12 04:22:04','2012-01-12 12:22:04','',3975,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/12/3975-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(3980,119,'2012-01-12 04:22:17','2012-01-12 12:22:17','Image from <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/vshioshvili/\">http://www.flickr.com/photos/vshioshvili/</a>\r\n\r\nJanuary is always a time of reflection for me as we cross the threshold into a new year.  Last year I was all set to project some goals for 2011, goals which were, in essence, no more than an extrapolation of the things I had done in 2010.  Yet last January, <a title=\"Lost in 2011\" href=\"http://theartofsteering.wordpress.com/2011/01/07/lost-in-2011/\">God spoke to me clearly</a> about this.  He showed me that to base my future direction on my direction so far was unwise.  Worse than that, actually.  It was stupid.  Because when you do what you\'ve always done, you get what you\'ve always got.\r\n\r\nTo orient myself for 2011 based on my successes in 2010, based on the gifts which had already come to the surface in my life?  Such a process of orientation was deeply flawed.  It could only take me where I had been.\r\n\r\nAnd I should have known better.\r\n\r\nPerhaps I did.  From what I posted then, it would seem that I knew that my doing - my one-track, single-focus drive for success - only served to hide the reality that I did not know where I was going.\r\n\r\nIt was, as I put it in a sermon earlier this month, a case of climbing even more rungs on the ladder.\r\n\r\nA ladder which might one day turn out to be against the wrong wall.\r\n\r\nSo 2011 was a year of learning to be, a year of dwelling in the simplicity of the Son\'s doing as he told it in John 5:19, a year of seeking to understand what that meant for me.  Though I read vast portions of the Scriptures in the year (being at Bible college does mean that you get around the Bible a bit in the course of a week!), I came back again and again to this thought.\r\n\r\nThe Son could do nothing of his own accord but only what he saw the Father doing.  And to see what the Father was doing meant spending time in his presence.  Just being.  Knowing his identity as the Father\'s Son.  Living in that and letting his doing flow from that relational connection.\r\n\r\nThis year-long reflection, this dwelling in just one verse, was not intentional in 2011.  It just happened.  But, in just happening, it added richness to my walk with God.  I learned perhaps one of the more important lessons of my faith-life so far.\r\n\r\nThat he is the stability of my times.\r\n\r\nThat in returning and rest, in quietness and trust, are my strength.\r\n\r\nThat the <em>doing</em> which is going to make sense of God\'s call on my life has to flow from first <em>being.</em>  Being in his presence.  Listening to what he is inviting me to become and to do.\r\n\r\nSo, this month, when I preached our first service of the year, I spoke about this very lesson.\r\n\r\nI\'d meant it really as an explanation of why the leadership team was not producing a massive plan of goals for our church to achieve this year.  I\'d meant it as an explanation of why our only vision statement as a church is a sentence about who we believe God is inviting us to become - \'an outward-reaching community of disciples\'.  I\'d meant to invite our people into an understanding about why we feel that our most significant strategy in our becoming is going to be prayer which takes us to the heart of God, rather than an endless list of goals like every other church I know.\r\n\r\nAnd maybe they heard it like that.  I don\'t know.  I hope so because otherwise I\'ve got problems later on this year!  Problems when they realise that we\'re not necessarily doing all the worthy things which other churches are doing.  Problems when they realise that instead we\'re wasting time at the feet of Jesus in as profligate a way as we know how.  So I hope these precious people caught that vision for the church or I\'m going to be paying for it later!\r\n\r\nBut, at the very least, I know that many heard God speaking to them personally.  I know because they told me so, and when you\'ve preached in one place for as many years as I have, people give up commenting on your preach unless it was truly terrible or incredibly impactful.  At least it seems to have been the latter this time!\r\n\r\nPeople heard the invitation from John 5:19 and - my latest Scriptural hang-out! - Luke 10:41-42.  They heard a call to the \'one thing\', a phrase from Luke 10 which I think will haunt me all year.  So many of us there that Sunday had been seeking the \'one thing\' in 2011.  \"What is the \'one thing\'\", we would ask, \"the one thing which God wants me to do for him and with him?\"\r\n\r\nIt was my question too.  My life always seems to have multiple strands.  To be one step away from total chaos.  All year, I had longed to rationalise things, commitments, strands of doing.  I had longed to know what was the \'one thing\'.\r\n\r\nThen, on the very first day of 2012, I fell upon Luke 10:41-42 as if I had never read it before.  As if a direct message from the heart of God came the words, \'one thing\'.  Slap bang in the middle of a passage which I must have read tens of times.\r\n\r\nAnd what was the one thing?  To sit at the feet of Jesus.\r\n\r\nNothing else.\r\n\r\nOnly in that place will I learn who he is inviting me to become.  And only from there, that place of being, that place where who I am depends on the One who invited me into relationship with him...from that place alone can my doing flow.\r\n\r\nThat\'s true for the church too.  Goodness knows, I am the queen of lists and goal-setting.  I could come up with a formidable list of things for the church to achieve for God in 2012!  But to do so would, I suspect, be a repeat of the same mistake I was about to make with my own life last January.  Because until we, as a church, know whom God is inviting us to become, until we invest in the one thing of sitting at his feet, we will not know what it is which is on his heart uniquely for us to do in our little corner of London.\r\n\r\nAnd when we know who we are?  When we wait on the Lord?  Well, then it will be that what he is asking us to do becomes obvious, a natural overflow of our becoming.\r\n\r\nWhat about you?  Is your doing, your church\'s doing, an overflow of a knowledge of who you are when you sit at the Lord\'s feet?  And how could 2012 be a year more dedicated to the \'one thing\'?\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','In returning and rest','','inherit','open','open','','3975-revision-4','','','2012-01-12 04:22:17','2012-01-12 12:22:17','',3975,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/12/3975-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(3981,119,'2012-01-12 04:33:21','2012-01-12 12:33:21','Image from <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/vshioshvili/\">http://www.flickr.com/photos/vshioshvili/</a>\r\n\r\nJanuary is always a time of reflection for me as we cross the threshold into a new year.  Last year I was all set to project some goals for 2011, goals which were, in essence, no more than an extrapolation of the things I had done in 2010.  Yet last January, <a title=\"Lost in 2011\" href=\"http://theartofsteering.wordpress.com/2011/01/07/lost-in-2011/\">God spoke to me clearly</a> about this.  He showed me that to base my future direction on my direction so far was unwise.  Worse than that, actually.  It was stupid.  Because when you do what you\'ve always done, you get what you\'ve always got.\r\n\r\nTo orient myself for 2011 based on my successes in 2010, based on the gifts which had already come to the surface in my life?  Such a process of orientation was deeply flawed.  It could only take me where I had been.\r\n\r\nAnd I should have known better.\r\n\r\nPerhaps I did.  From what I posted then, it would seem that I knew that my doing - my one-track, single-focus drive for success - only served to hide the reality that I did not know where I was going.\r\n\r\nIt was, as I put it in a sermon earlier this month, a case of climbing even more rungs on the ladder.\r\n\r\nA ladder which might one day turn out to be against the wrong wall.\r\n\r\nSo 2011 was a year of learning to be, a year of dwelling in the simplicity of the Son\'s doing as he told it in John 5:19, a year of seeking to understand what that meant for me.  Though I read vast portions of the Scriptures in the year (being at Bible college does mean that you get around the Bible a bit in the course of a week!), I came back again and again to this thought.\r\n\r\nThe Son could do nothing of his own accord but only what he saw the Father doing.  And to see what the Father was doing meant spending time in his presence.  Just being.  Knowing his identity as the Father\'s Son.  Living in that and letting his doing flow from that relational connection.\r\n\r\nThis year-long reflection, this dwelling in just one verse, was not intentional in 2011.  It just happened.  But, in just happening, it added richness to my walk with God.  I learned perhaps one of the more important lessons of my faith-life so far.\r\n\r\nThat he is the stability of my times.\r\n\r\nThat in returning and rest, in quietness and trust, are my strength.\r\n\r\nThat the <em>doing</em> which is going to make sense of God\'s call on my life has to flow from first <em>being.</em>  Being in his presence.  Listening to what he is inviting me to become and to do.\r\n\r\nSo, this month, when I preached our first service of the year, I spoke about this very lesson.\r\n\r\nI\'d meant it really as an explanation of why the leadership team was not producing a massive plan of goals for our church to achieve this year.  I\'d meant it as an explanation of why our only vision statement as a church is a sentence about who we believe God is inviting us to become - \'an outward-reaching community of disciples\'.  I\'d meant to invite our people into an understanding about why we feel that our most significant strategy in our becoming is going to be prayer which takes us to the heart of God, rather than an endless list of goals like every other church I know.\r\n\r\nAnd maybe they heard it like that.  I don\'t know.  I hope so because otherwise I\'ve got problems later on this year!  Problems when they realise that we\'re not necessarily doing all the worthy things which other churches are doing.  Problems when they realise that instead we\'re wasting time at the feet of Jesus in as profligate a way as we know how.  So I hope these precious people caught that vision for the church or I\'m going to be paying for it later!\r\n\r\nBut, at the very least, I know that many heard God speaking to them personally.  I know because they told me so, and when you\'ve preached in one place for as many years as I have, people give up commenting on your preach unless it was truly terrible or incredibly impactful.  At least it seems to have been the latter this time!\r\n\r\nPeople heard the invitation from John 5:19 and - my latest Scriptural hang-out! - Luke 10:41-42.  They heard a call to the \'one thing\', a phrase from Luke 10 which I think will haunt me all year.  So many of us there that Sunday had been seeking the \'one thing\' in 2011.  \"What is the \'one thing\'\", we would ask, \"the one thing which God wants me to do for him and with him?\"\r\n\r\nIt was my question too.  My life always seems to have multiple strands.  To be one step away from total chaos.  All year, I had longed to rationalise things, commitments, strands of doing.  I had longed to know what was the \'one thing\'.\r\n\r\nThen, on the very first day of 2012, I fell upon Luke 10:41-42 as if I had never read it before.  As if a direct message from the heart of God came the words, \'one thing\'.  Slap bang in the middle of a passage which I must have read tens of times.\r\n\r\nAnd what was the one thing?  To sit at the feet of Jesus.\r\n\r\nNothing else.\r\n\r\nOnly in that place will I learn who he is inviting me to become.  And only from there, that place of being, that place where who I am depends on the One who invited me into relationship with him...from that place alone can my doing flow.\r\n\r\nThat\'s true for the church too.  Goodness knows, I am the queen of lists and goal-setting.  I could come up with a formidable list of things for the church to achieve for God in 2012!  But to do so would, I suspect, be a repeat of the same mistake I was about to make with my own life last January.  Because until we, as a church, know whom God is inviting us to become, until we invest in the one thing of sitting at his feet, we will not know what it is which is on his heart uniquely for us to do in our little corner of London.\r\n\r\nAnd when we know who we are?  When we wait on the Lord?  Well, then it will be that what he is asking us to do becomes obvious, a natural overflow of our becoming.\r\n\r\nWhat about you?  Is your doing, your church\'s doing, an overflow of a knowledge of who you are when you sit at the Lord\'s feet?  And how could 2012 be a year more dedicated to the \'one thing\'?\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','In returning and rest','','inherit','open','open','','3975-revision-5','','','2012-01-12 04:33:21','2012-01-12 12:33:21','',3975,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/12/3975-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(3983,119,'2012-01-12 04:38:01','2012-01-12 12:38:01','Image from <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/vshioshvili/\">http://www.flickr.com/photos/vshioshvili/</a>\n\nJanuary is always a time of reflection for me as we cross the threshold into a new year.  Last year I was all set to project some goals for 2011, goals which were, in essence, no more than an extrapolation of the things I had done in 2010.  Yet last January, God spoke to me clearly about this.  He showed me that to base my future direction on my direction so far was unwise.  Worse than that, actually.  It was stupid.  Because when you do what you\'ve always done, you get what you\'ve always got.\n\nTo orient myself for 2011 based on my successes in 2010, based on the gifts which had already come to the surface in my life?  Such a process of orientation was deeply flawed.  It could only take me where I had been.\n\nAnd I should have known better.\n\nPerhaps I did.  From what I posted then, it would seem that I knew that my doing - my one-track, single-focus drive for success - only served to hide the reality that I did not know where I was going.\n\nIt was, as I put it in a sermon earlier this month, a case of climbing even more rungs on the ladder.\n\nA ladder which might one day turn out to be against the wrong wall.\n\nSo 2011 was a year of learning to be, a year of dwelling in the simplicity of the Son\'s doing as he told it in John 5:19, a year of seeking to understand what that meant for me.  Though I read vast portions of the Scriptures in the year (being at Bible college does mean that you get around the Bible a bit in the course of a week!), I came back again and again to this thought.\n\nThe Son could do nothing of his own accord but only what he saw the Father doing.  And to see what the Father was doing meant spending time in his presence.  Just being.  Knowing his identity as the Father\'s Son.  Living in that and letting his doing flow from that relational connection.\n\nThis year-long reflection, this dwelling in just one verse, was not intentional in 2011.  It just happened.  But, in just happening, it added richness to my walk with God.  I learned perhaps one of the more important lessons of my faith-life so far.\n\nThat he is the stability of my times.\n\nThat in returning and rest, in quietness and trust, are my strength.\n\nThat the <em>doing</em> which is going to make sense of God\'s call on my life has to flow from first <em>being.</em>  Being in his presence.  Listening to what he is inviting me to become and to do.\n\nSo, this month, when I preached our first service of the year, I spoke about this very lesson.\n\nI\'d meant it really as an explanation of why the leadership team was not producing a massive plan of goals for our church to achieve this year.  I\'d meant it as an explanation of why our only vision statement as a church is a sentence about who we believe God is inviting us to become - \'an outward-reaching community of disciples\'.  I\'d meant to invite our people into an understanding about why we feel that our most significant strategy in our becoming is going to be prayer which takes us to the heart of God, rather than an endless list of goals like every other church I know.\n\nAnd maybe they heard it like that.  I don\'t know.  I hope so because otherwise I\'ve got problems later on this year!  Problems when they realise that we\'re not necessarily doing all the worthy things which other churches are doing.  Problems when they realise that instead we\'re wasting time at the feet of Jesus in as profligate a way as we know how.  So I hope these precious people caught that vision for the church or I\'m going to be paying for it later!\n\nBut, at the very least, I know that many heard God speaking to them personally.  I know because they told me so, and when you\'ve preached in one place for as many years as I have, people give up commenting on your preach unless it was truly terrible or incredibly impactful.  At least it seems to have been the latter this time!\n\nPeople heard the invitation from John 5:19 and - my latest Scriptural hang-out! - Luke 10:41-42.  They heard a call to the \'one thing\', a phrase from Luke 10 which I think will haunt me all year.  So many of us there that Sunday had been seeking the \'one thing\' in 2011.  \"What is the \'one thing\'\", we would ask, \"the one thing which God wants me to do for him and with him?\"\n\nIt was my question too.  My life always seems to have multiple strands.  To be one step away from total chaos.  All year, I had longed to rationalise things, commitments, strands of doing.  I had longed to know what was the \'one thing\'.\n\nThen, on the very first day of 2012, I fell upon Luke 10:41-42 as if I had never read it before.  As if a direct message from the heart of God came the words, \'one thing\'.  Slap bang in the middle of a passage which I must have read tens of times.\n\nAnd what was the one thing?  To sit at the feet of Jesus.\n\nNothing else.\n\nOnly in that place will I learn who he is inviting me to become.  And only from there, that place of being, that place where who I am depends on the One who invited me into relationship with him...from that place alone can my doing flow.\n\nThat\'s true for the church too.  Goodness knows, I am the queen of lists and goal-setting.  I could come up with a formidable list of things for the church to achieve for God in 2012!  But to do so would, I suspect, be a repeat of the same mistake I was about to make with my own life last January.  Because until we, as a church, know whom God is inviting us to become, until we invest in the one thing of sitting at his feet, we will not know what it is which is on his heart uniquely for us to do in our little corner of London.\n\nAnd when we know who we are?  When we wait on the Lord?  Well, then it will be that what he is asking us to do becomes obvious, a natural overflow of our becoming.\n\nWhat about you?  Is your doing, your church\'s doing, an overflow of a knowledge of who you are when you sit at the Lord\'s feet?  And how could 2012 be a year more dedicated to the \'one thing\'?\n\n&nbsp;','In returning and rest','','inherit','open','open','','3975-revision-7','','','2012-01-12 04:38:01','2012-01-12 12:38:01','',3975,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/12/3975-revision-7/',0,'revision','',0),(3984,119,'2012-01-12 04:40:19','2012-01-12 12:40:19','Image from <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/vshioshvili/\">http://www.flickr.com/photos/vshioshvili/</a>\n\nJanuary is always a time of reflection for me as we cross the threshold into a new year.  Last year I was all set to project some goals for 2011, goals which were, in essence, no more than an extrapolation of the things I had done in 2010.  Yet last January, God spoke to me clearly about this.  He showed me that to base my future direction on my direction so far was unwise.  Worse than that, actually.  It was stupid.  Because when you do what you\'ve always done, you get what you\'ve always got.\n\nTo orient myself for 2011 based on my successes in 2010, based on the gifts which had already come to the surface in my life?  Such a process of orientation was deeply flawed.  It could only take me where I had been.\n\nAnd I should have known better.\n\nPerhaps I did.  From what I posted then, it would seem that I knew that my doing - my one-track, single-focus drive for success - only served to hide the reality that I did not know where I was going.\n\nIt was, as I put it in a sermon earlier this month, a case of climbing even more rungs on the ladder.\n\nA ladder which might one day turn out to be against the wrong wall.\n\nSo 2011 was a year of learning to be, a year of dwelling in the simplicity of the Son\'s doing as he told it in John 5:19, a year of seeking to understand what that meant for me.  Though I read vast portions of the Scriptures in the year (being at Bible college does mean that you get around the Bible a bit in the course of a week!), I came back again and again to this thought.\n\nThe Son could do nothing of his own accord but only what he saw the Father doing.  And to see what the Father was doing meant spending time in his presence.  Just being.  Knowing his identity as the Father\'s Son.  Living in that and letting his doing flow from that relational connection.\n\nThis year-long reflection, this dwelling in just one verse, was not intentional in 2011.  It just happened.  But, in just happening, it added richness to my walk with God.  I learned perhaps one of the more important lessons of my faith-life so far.\n\nThat he is the stability of my times.\n\nThat in returning and rest, in quietness and trust, are my strength.\n\nThat the <em>doing</em> which is going to make sense of God\'s call on my life has to flow from first <em>being.</em>  Being in his presence.  Listening to what he is inviting me to become and to do.\n\nSo, this month, when I preached our first service of the year, I spoke about this very lesson.\n\nI\'d meant it really as an explanation of why the leadership team was not producing a massive plan of goals for our church to achieve this year.  I\'d meant it as an explanation of why our only vision statement as a church is a sentence about who we believe God is inviting us to become - \'an outward-reaching community of disciples\'.  I\'d meant to invite our people into an understanding about why we feel that our most significant strategy in our becoming is going to be prayer which takes us to the heart of God, rather than an endless list of goals like every other church I know.\n\nAnd maybe they heard it like that.  I don\'t know.  I hope so because otherwise I\'ve got problems later on this year!  Problems when they realise that we\'re not necessarily doing all the worthy things which other churches are doing.  Problems when they realise that instead we\'re wasting time at the feet of Jesus in as profligate a way as we know how.  So I hope these precious people caught that vision for the church or I\'m going to be paying for it later!\n\nBut, at the very least, I know that many heard God speaking to them personally.  I know because they told me so, and when you\'ve preached in one place for as many years as I have, people give up commenting on your preach unless it was truly terrible or incredibly impactful.  At least it seems to have been the latter this time!\n\nPeople heard the invitation from John 5:19 and - my latest Scriptural hang-out! - Luke 10:41-42.  They heard a call to the \'one thing\', a phrase from Luke 10 which I think will haunt me all year.  So many of us there that Sunday had been seeking the \'one thing\' in 2011.  \"What is the \'one thing\'\", we would ask, \"the one thing which God wants me to do for him and with him?\"\n\nIt was my question too.  My life always seems to have multiple strands.  To be one step away from total chaos.  All year, I had longed to rationalise things, commitments, strands of doing.  I had longed to know what was the \'one thing\'.\n\nThen, on the very first day of 2012, I fell upon Luke 10:41-42 as if I had never read it before.  As if a direct message from the heart of God came the words, \'one thing\'.  Slap bang in the middle of a passage which I must have read tens of times.\n\nAnd what was the one thing?  To sit at the feet of Jesus.\n\nNothing else.\n\nOnly in that place will I learn who he is inviting me to become.  And only from there, that place of being, that place where who I am depends on the One who invited me into relationship with him...from that place alone can my doing flow.\n\nThat\'s true for the church too.  Goodness knows, I am the queen of lists and goal-setting.  I could come up with a formidable list of things for the church to achieve for God in 2012!  But to do so would, I suspect, be a repeat of the same mistake I was about to make with my own life last January.  Because until we, as a church, know whom God is inviting us to become, until we invest in the one thing of sitting at his feet, we will not know what it is which is on his heart uniquely for us to do in our little corner of London.\n\nAnd when we know who we are?  When we wait on the Lord?  Well, then it will be that what he is asking us to do becomes obvious, a natural overflow of our becoming.\n\nWhat about you?  Is your doing, your church\'s doing, an overflow of a knowledge of who you are when you sit at the Lord\'s feet?  And how could 2012 be a year more dedicated to the \'one thing\'?\n\n&nbsp;','In returning and rest','','inherit','open','open','','3975-revision-8','','','2012-01-12 04:40:19','2012-01-12 12:40:19','',3975,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/12/3975-revision-8/',0,'revision','',0),(3985,119,'2012-01-12 04:40:40','2012-01-12 12:40:40','Image from <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/vshioshvili/\">http://www.flickr.com/photos/vshioshvili/</a>\r\n\r\nJanuary is always a time of reflection for me as we cross the threshold into a new year.  Last year I was all set to project some goals for 2011, goals which were, in essence, no more than an extrapolation of the things I had done in 2010.  Yet last January, God spoke to me clearly about this.  He showed me that to base my future direction on my direction so far was unwise.  Worse than that, actually.  It was stupid.  Because when you do what you\'ve always done, you get what you\'ve always got.\r\n\r\nTo orient myself for 2011 based on my successes in 2010, based on the gifts which had already come to the surface in my life?  Such a process of orientation was deeply flawed.  It could only take me where I had been.\r\n\r\nAnd I should have known better.\r\n\r\nPerhaps I did.  From what I posted then, it would seem that I knew that my doing - my one-track, single-focus drive for success - only served to hide the reality that I did not know where I was going.\r\n\r\nIt was, as I put it in a sermon earlier this month, a case of climbing even more rungs on the ladder.\r\n\r\nA ladder which might one day turn out to be against the wrong wall.\r\n\r\nSo 2011 was a year of learning to be, a year of dwelling in the simplicity of the Son\'s doing as he told it in John 5:19, a year of seeking to understand what that meant for me.  Though I read vast portions of the Scriptures in the year (being at Bible college does mean that you get around the Bible a bit in the course of a week!), I came back again and again to this thought.\r\n\r\nThe Son could do nothing of his own accord but only what he saw the Father doing.  And to see what the Father was doing meant spending time in his presence.  Just being.  Knowing his identity as the Father\'s Son.  Living in that and letting his doing flow from that relational connection.\r\n\r\nThis year-long reflection, this dwelling in just one verse, was not intentional in 2011.  It just happened.  But, in just happening, it added richness to my walk with God.  I learned perhaps one of the more important lessons of my faith-life so far.\r\n\r\nThat he is the stability of my times.\r\n\r\nThat in returning and rest, in quietness and trust, are my strength.\r\n\r\nThat the <em>doing</em> which is going to make sense of God\'s call on my life has to flow from first <em>being.</em>  Being in his presence.  Listening to what he is inviting me to become and to do.\r\n\r\nSo, this month, when I preached our first service of the year, I spoke about this very lesson.\r\n\r\nI\'d meant it really as an explanation of why the leadership team was not producing a massive plan of goals for our church to achieve this year.  I\'d meant it as an explanation of why our only vision statement as a church is a sentence about who we believe God is inviting us to become - \'an outward-reaching community of disciples\'.  I\'d meant to invite our people into an understanding about why we feel that our most significant strategy in our becoming is going to be prayer which takes us to the heart of God, rather than an endless list of goals like every other church I know.\r\n\r\nAnd maybe they heard it like that.  I don\'t know.  I hope so because otherwise I\'ve got problems later on this year!  Problems when they realise that we\'re not necessarily doing all the worthy things which other churches are doing.  Problems when they realise that instead we\'re wasting time at the feet of Jesus in as profligate a way as we know how.  So I hope these precious people caught that vision for the church or I\'m going to be paying for it later!\r\n\r\nBut, at the very least, I know that many heard God speaking to them personally.  I know because they told me so, and when you\'ve preached in one place for as many years as I have, people give up commenting on your preach unless it was truly terrible or incredibly impactful.  At least it seems to have been the latter this time!\r\n\r\nPeople heard the invitation from John 5:19 and - my latest Scriptural hang-out! - Luke 10:41-42.  They heard a call to the \'one thing\', a phrase from Luke 10 which I think will haunt me all year.  So many of us there that Sunday had been seeking the \'one thing\' in 2011.  \"What is the \'one thing\'\", we would ask, \"the one thing which God wants me to do for him and with him?\"\r\n\r\nIt was my question too.  My life always seems to have multiple strands.  To be one step away from total chaos.  All year, I had longed to rationalise things, commitments, strands of doing.  I had longed to know what was the \'one thing\'.\r\n\r\nThen, on the very first day of 2012, I fell upon Luke 10:41-42 as if I had never read it before.  As if a direct message from the heart of God came the words, \'one thing\'.  Slap bang in the middle of a passage which I must have read tens of times.\r\n\r\nAnd what was the one thing?  To sit at the feet of Jesus.\r\n\r\nNothing else.\r\n\r\nOnly in that place will I learn who he is inviting me to become.  And only from there, that place of being, that place where who I am depends on the One who invited me into relationship with him...from that place alone can my doing flow.\r\n\r\nThat\'s true for the church too.  Goodness knows, I am the queen of lists and goal-setting.  I could come up with a formidable list of things for the church to achieve for God in 2012!  But to do so would, I suspect, be a repeat of the same mistake I was about to make with my own life last January.  Because until we, as a church, know whom God is inviting us to become, until we invest in the one thing of sitting at his feet, we will not know what it is which is on his heart uniquely for us to do in our little corner of London.\r\n\r\nAnd when we know who we are?  When we wait on the Lord?  Well, then it will be that what he is asking us to do becomes obvious, a natural overflow of our becoming.\r\n\r\nWhat about you?  Is your doing, your church\'s doing, an overflow of a knowledge of who you are when you sit at the Lord\'s feet?  And how could 2012 be a year more dedicated to the \'one thing\'?\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','In returning and rest','','inherit','open','open','','3975-revision-9','','','2012-01-12 04:40:40','2012-01-12 12:40:40','',3975,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/12/3975-revision-9/',0,'revision','',0),(3986,119,'2012-01-12 04:41:29','2012-01-12 12:41:29','Image from <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/vshioshvili/\">http://www.flickr.com/photos/vshioshvili/</a>\r\n\r\nJanuary is always a time of reflection for me as we cross the threshold into a new year.  Last year I was all set to project some goals for 2011, goals which were, in essence, no more than an extrapolation of the things I had done in 2010.  Yet last January, God spoke to me clearly about this.  He showed me that to base my future direction on my direction so far was unwise.  Worse than that, actually.  It was stupid.  Because when you do what you\'ve always done, you get what you\'ve always got.\r\n\r\nTo orient myself for 2011 based on my successes in 2010, based on the gifts which had already come to the surface in my life?  Such a process of orientation was deeply flawed.  It could only take me where I had been.\r\n\r\nAnd I should have known better.\r\n\r\nPerhaps I did.  From what I posted then, it would seem that I knew that my doing - my one-track, single-focus drive for success - only served to hide the reality that I did not know where I was going.\r\n\r\nIt was, as I put it in a sermon earlier this month, a case of climbing even more rungs on the ladder.\r\n\r\nA ladder which might one day turn out to be against the wrong wall.\r\n\r\nSo 2011 was a year of learning to be, a year of dwelling in the simplicity of the Son\'s doing as he told it in John 5:19, a year of seeking to understand what that meant for me.  Though I read vast portions of the Scriptures in the year (being at Bible college does mean that you get around the Bible a bit in the course of a week!), I came back again and again to this thought.\r\n\r\nThe Son could do nothing of his own accord but only what he saw the Father doing.  And to see what the Father was doing meant spending time in his presence.  Just being.  Knowing his identity as the Father\'s Son.  Living in that and letting his doing flow from that relational connection.\r\n\r\nThis year-long reflection, this dwelling in just one verse, was not intentional in 2011.  It just happened.  But, in just happening, it added richness to my walk with God.  I learned perhaps one of the more important lessons of my faith-life so far.\r\n\r\nThat he is the stability of my times.\r\n\r\nThat in returning and rest, in quietness and trust, are my strength.\r\n\r\nThat the <em>doing</em> which is going to make sense of God\'s call on my life has to flow from first <em>being.</em>  Being in his presence.  Listening to what he is inviting me to become and to do.\r\n\r\nSo, this month, when I preached our first service of the year, I spoke about this very lesson.\r\n\r\nI\'d meant it really as an explanation of why the leadership team was not producing a massive plan of goals for our church to achieve this year.  I\'d meant it as an explanation of why our only vision statement as a church is a sentence about who we believe God is inviting us to become - \'an outward-reaching community of disciples\'.  I\'d meant to invite our people into an understanding about why we feel that our most significant strategy in our becoming is going to be prayer which takes us to the heart of God, rather than an endless list of goals like every other church I know.\r\n\r\nAnd maybe they heard it like that.  I don\'t know.  I hope so because otherwise I\'ve got problems later on this year!  Problems when they realise that we\'re not necessarily doing all the worthy things which other churches are doing.  Problems when they realise that instead we\'re wasting time at the feet of Jesus in as profligate a way as we know how.  So I hope these precious people caught that vision for the church or I\'m going to be paying for it later!\r\n\r\nBut, at the very least, I know that many heard God speaking to them personally.  I know because they told me so, and when you\'ve preached in one place for as many years as I have, people give up commenting on your preach unless it was truly terrible or incredibly impactful.  At least it seems to have been the latter this time!\r\n\r\nPeople heard the invitation from John 5:19 and - my latest Scriptural hang-out! - Luke 10:41-42.  They heard a call to the \'one thing\', a phrase from Luke 10 which I think will haunt me all year.  So many of us there that Sunday had been seeking the \'one thing\' in 2011.  \"What is the \'one thing\'\", we would ask, \"the one thing which God wants me to do for him and with him?\"\r\n\r\nIt was my question too.  My life always seems to have multiple strands.  To be one step away from total chaos.  All year, I had longed to rationalise things, commitments, strands of doing.  I had longed to know what was the \'one thing\'.\r\n\r\nThen, on the very first day of 2012, I fell upon Luke 10:41-42 as if I had never read it before.  As if a direct message from the heart of God came the words, \'one thing\'.  Slap bang in the middle of a passage which I must have read tens of times.\r\n\r\nAnd what was the one thing?  To sit at the feet of Jesus.\r\n\r\nNothing else.\r\n\r\nOnly in that place will I learn who he is inviting me to become.  And only from there, that place of being, that place where who I am depends on the One who invited me into relationship with him...from that place alone can my doing flow.\r\n\r\nThat\'s true for the church too.  Goodness knows, I am the queen of lists and goal-setting.  I could come up with a formidable list of things for the church to achieve for God in 2012!  But to do so would, I suspect, be a repeat of the same mistake I was about to make with my own life last January.  Because until we, as a church, know whom God is inviting us to become, until we invest in the one thing of sitting at his feet, we will not know what it is which is on his heart uniquely for us to do in our little corner of London.\r\n\r\nAnd when we know who we are?  When we wait on the Lord?  Well, then it will be that what he is asking us to do becomes obvious, a natural overflow of our becoming.\r\n\r\nWhat about you?  Is your doing, your church\'s doing, an overflow of a knowledge of who you are when you sit at the Lord\'s feet?  And how could 2012 be a year more dedicated to the \'one thing\'?\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','In returning and rest','','inherit','open','open','','3975-revision-10','','','2012-01-12 04:41:29','2012-01-12 12:41:29','',3975,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/12/3975-revision-10/',0,'revision','',0),(4432,1,'2012-01-19 10:45:27','2012-01-19 18:45:27','Question Everything is a series of posts that asks the questions people are really thinking, but are often afraid to ask. The fundamental assumption in these posts is that God is not afraid of the hard questions.  To ask is actually an expression of faith.  Each post serves to provide a space for the collective voice to answer that question with possibilities.  Questions can be about any subject of life, faith, culture or justice, or something that you are interested in.\r\n\r\nIf you would like to submit a question for the series, use the form below.  You can submit questions as \"Anonymous\" but you must provide an email.\r\n\r\n[contact-form subject=\"Submit A Question\" to=\"jb@civitaspress.com\"] [contact-field label=\"Name\" type=\"name\" required=\"true\" /] [contact-field label=\"Email\" type=\"email\" required=\"true\" /] [contact-field label=\"City\" type=\"name\" required=\"true\" /] [contact-field label=\"Your question\" type=\"textarea\" required=\"true\" /] [/contact-form]','Submit A Question','','publish','open','open','','submit-a-question','','','2012-01-19 11:18:13','2012-01-19 19:18:13','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?page_id=4432',0,'page','',0),(3990,18,'2012-01-12 06:55:37','2012-01-12 14:55:37','','the walking wounded jpeg','','inherit','open','open','','the-walking-wounded-jpeg','','','2012-01-12 06:55:37','2012-01-12 14:55:37','',3964,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/the-walking-wounded-jpeg.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(3991,18,'2012-01-12 07:12:04','2012-01-12 15:12:04','','the walking wounded','','inherit','open','open','','the-walking-wounded','','','2012-01-12 07:12:04','2012-01-12 15:12:04','',3964,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/the-walking-wounded.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(3992,18,'2012-01-12 07:16:05','2012-01-12 15:16:05','','the walking wounded','','inherit','open','open','','the-walking-wounded-2','','','2012-01-12 07:16:05','2012-01-12 15:16:05','',3964,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/the-walking-wounded1.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(3993,18,'2012-01-12 08:00:35','2012-01-12 16:00:35','A few years ago a <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeardley_Love\">young white girl</a> at a prestigious college was beaten to death by her lacrosse captain boyfriend.  I remember reading the story about it because it captured the world\'s attention and made it on every major news channel, even the cover of People magazine.   She was beautiful, talented, and had a bright future.  It was all cut short by domestic violence.   The world was outraged.\r\n\r\nLast year we watched the riveting story of a <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_Anthony\">white suburban party mom</a> who was accused of killing her little girl.  The grandparents were involved and it was a big hot mess, ending with her acquittal in the end.  That little girl was innocent, precious, and had a bright future.  It was all cut short by violence.  The world was outraged.\r\n\r\nA few months ago we heard the news that a prestigious university had a <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_State_sex_abuse_scandal\">football coach</a> who was sexually molesting young, vulnerable boys.  The boys he was violating weren\'t from strong families with education and money.  They were from a program for troubled kids, the kinds on the margins, the often forgotten and neglected ones.  When this story broke loose, riots ensued, not riots about the injustice that had happened, but riots about ruining a football program. The world was not as outraged that boys were being ruined but that a football program could be threatened.\r\n\r\nWe live in a culture where power, money, and class matter.\r\n\r\nEvery day women are beaten to death by their partners.  Right now, while we\'re reading blogs, women of every color, shape, and size are being horribly violated.  But because the majority of them aren\'t white, powerful, or \"important,\" we don\'t hear their stories on the front page of the news.\r\n\r\nEvery day children are taken, used, abused, and killed.   Heinous crimes committed against them, these children\'s stories are rarely told because the majority of them don\'t make for sensational news that sells newspapers and advertising time and all of the things that keep the media machine going.\r\n\r\nI am not saying the lives of white suburban women or kids aren\'t important.  They are precious, valuable, and worth fighting for.  But so are the lives of other colors and classes of people--the ones we rarely hear about.  The forgotten ones.  The neglected ones.  The marginalized ones.  The not-as-pretty ones.\r\n\r\nBut most systems are built upon power (I am not talking about the good kind).  Profits matter.  Donors matter.  Production matters.  Look at the top of almost any organization, church, or company and those at the top--on the whole--will not be the forgotten, neglected, or marginalized.   It\'s just not how the world works.  And power always perpetuates power.\r\n\r\nAnd those with power look through a different lens than ones without it.\r\n\r\nYears ago when I was on a big church staff I can\'t tell you the number of conversations that were centered on keeping the powerful happy so that the wheels could keep spinning.  And often, the powerful did not like hearing story upon story of the hurting, the marginalized, the sick.  They wanted cleaner stories, ones with neater and tidier bows, ones from \"their people.\"\r\n\r\nYeah, people with no voice, margin, or resource do not give big money. Or run organizations.\r\n\r\nThe next big thing we will hear about in the media related to Penn State won\'t be about the boys.  It will be about the coaches and the football program and what\'s next for their football program.  Meanwhile, scores of boys will be wrestling with the damages of being sexually abused for the rest of their lives.  They will slip into the crevices and have to find their way on their own.\r\n\r\nThe stories will be about the powerful.\r\n\r\n<strong>Because those are the stories that sell.</strong>\r\n\r\nThose are the stories that capture our attention.\r\n\r\nThose are the stories that perpetuate a false reality.\r\n\r\nThose are the stories that shape what we believe.\r\n\r\nThat\'s why we must become advocates, voices for those who can\'t use their own.\r\n\r\nThat\'s why we must carefully consider what we hear on the mainstream media through the proper lens of power, influence, and money.\r\n\r\n<strong>That\'s why we must tell the stories of the weak, the vulnerable, the neglected, and the forgotten in any way we can. </strong>\r\n\r\n<em>Because their stories matter, too. </em>\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Stories That Matter ','','publish','open','open','','stories-that-matter','','','2012-01-16 14:00:16','2012-01-16 22:00:16','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=3993',0,'post','',2),(3994,18,'2012-01-12 07:37:01','2012-01-12 15:37:01','large and small goldfish showing different competition or friendship concept','different','','inherit','open','open','','different','','','2012-01-12 07:37:01','2012-01-12 15:37:01','',3993,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/their-stories-matter-too.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(3995,38,'2012-01-01 05:52:03','2012-01-01 13:52:03','When you think of the universe, what comes to mind? For me “the universe” is a great mystery. It’s space, planets, stars, and nature. It’s matter, the elements, physics, thermodynamics, chemistry, and balance.\r\n\r\nOver the last couple of years it’s become easier for me to believe in the universe than a god because it is easier to believe that the universe is benevolent. It’s easier to believe that it has a natural order and it makes sure to keep things in balance.\r\n\r\nI keep find myself saying “The universe is being nice to me again,” instead of “The Lord is good! They were having a sale on clothing that I needed!” I think that the universe is the one pushing me towards the people I need to meet and the places that I need to be in. It gives me a gentle push when I’m confused. Sometimes if I’m really not listening, it will yell. Okay, Universe! I got it!\r\n\r\nI mostly tend to believe in karma too; that your actions will come back to find you and that justice will eventually be carried out. I like this idea that there is a natural order and balance, and that there are rules to keep everything in check. It’s a huge, benevolent grand element that slowly, silent keeps everything flowing.\r\n\r\nI think the reason this is so appealing to me is because when the universe “punishes” me, I don’t take it personally. It’s not out to get me. It’s not the school teacher, the parent, or the pastor who resents me and is watching my every move. It’s just the universe doing its thing. It’s keep everything in harmony and I did something to mess that up, so it sends the appropriate karma my way.\r\n\r\nSomeone had abandoned a 2-liter of root beer in the freezer aisle at the grocery store a couple of months ago. I casually knocked it over just because I could. Two minutes later I tripped and fell onto the tile floor, breaking the carton of eggs and glass jar of jam I was holding. It was like there was something that said with a slight smirk, “Do you think I’m not paying attention?” Correction received. We can both move on.\r\n\r\nMy image of God or Jesus has been weighed down to the point where I barely know how to interact with him.  “People don’t like to talk about the Lion,” Pete, the pastor at the church we attend, said on Sunday. He was talking about how there are two classic pictures of God: the lion and the lamb. He said that we can’t cleave too much to one or the other or we miss a crucial piece in the character of God and start to form him/her to our own image.\r\n\r\n“People don’t want to believe that God is wrathful,” my husband said to me last night. We were lying in bed at 1:30 AM, supposed to be sleeping, but instead were wide awake talking about theology. “Um, <em>I </em>don’t want to believe that God is wrathful,” I said.\r\n\r\nI have no problem talking about the lion. I have issues talking about the lamb. The image of God in my life has been so weighed down by guilt, fear, and shame that I really am unable to recognize Jesus as a benevolent being. I’ve revered him to be someone who is always watching my every move just waiting for me to trip up. This is probably my own fault; I was given the inch and I took the yard.\r\n\r\nI\'ve feared him my whole life and now it comes time for me to work on self-acceptance and give Jesus acknowledgement for the things that happen in my life. The thing that I referred to earlier as “the universe” <em>is</em> God. He is so much bigger than just the little person in a white robe somewhere up in the clouds keeping score. Maybe for a while I just need to call this force “the universe”. Maybe I need to respect this distance for a while to deconstruct the conditioning in my gut/heart and then transfer those feelings back to the right name: “God”.','Universe, Are You There? It\'s Me, Deanna.','','inherit','open','open','','3471-revision-9','','','2012-01-01 05:52:03','2012-01-01 13:52:03','',3471,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/01/3471-revision-9/',0,'revision','',0),(3997,18,'2012-01-12 07:59:50','2012-01-12 15:59:50','','their stories matter too 3','','inherit','open','open','','their-stories-matter-too-3','','','2012-01-12 07:59:50','2012-01-12 15:59:50','',3993,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/their-stories-matter-too-3.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(3998,18,'2012-01-12 07:34:58','2012-01-12 15:34:58','A few years ago a <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeardley_Love\">young white girl</a> at a prestigious college was beaten to death by her lacrosse captain boyfriend.  I remember reading the story about it because it captured the world\'s attention and made it on every major news channel, even the cover of People magazine.   She was beautiful, talented, and had a bright future.  It was all cut short by domestic violence.   The world was outraged.\n\nLast year we watched the riveting story of a <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_Anthony\">white suburban party mom</a> who was accused of killing her little girl.  The grandparents were involved and it was a big hot mess, ending with her acquittal in the end.  That little girl was innocent, precious, and had a bright future.  It was all cut short by violence.  The world was outraged.\n\nA few months ago we heard the news that a prestigious university had a <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_State_sex_abuse_scandal\">football coach</a> who was sexually molesting young, vulnerable boys.  The boys he was violating weren\'t from strong families with education and money.  They were from a program for troubled kids, the kinds on the margins, the often forgotten and neglected ones.  When this story broke loose, riots ensued, not riots about the injustice that had happened, but riots about ruining a football program. The world was not as outraged that boys were being ruined but that a football program could be threatened.\n\nWe live in a culture where power, money, and class matter.\n\nEvery day women are beaten to death by their partners.  Right now, while we\'re reading blogs, women of every color, shape, and size are being horribly violated.  But because the majority of them aren\'t white, powerful, or \"important,\" we don\'t hear their stories on the front page of the news.\n\nEvery day children are taken, used, abused, and killed.   Heinous crimes committed against them, these children\'s stories are rarely told because the majority of them don\'t make for sensational news that sells newspapers and advertising time and all of the things that keep the media machine going.\n\nI am not saying the lives of white suburban women or kids aren\'t important.  They are precious, valuable, and worth fighting for.  But so are the lives of other colors and classes of people--the ones we rarely hear about.  The forgotten ones.  The neglected ones.  The marginalized ones.  The not-as-pretty ones.\n\nBut most systems are built upon power (I am not talking about the good kind).  Profits matter.  Donors matter.  Production matters.  Look at the top of almost any organization, church, or company and those at the top--on the whole--will not be the forgotten, neglected, or marginalized.   It\'s just not how the world works.  And power always perpetuates power.\n\nAnd those with power look through a different lens than ones without it.\n\nYears ago when I was on a big church staff I can\'t tell you the number of conversations that were centered on keeping the powerful happy so that the wheels could keep spinning.  And often, the powerful did not like hearing story upon story of the hurting, the marginalized, the sick.  They wanted cleaner stories, ones with neater and tidier bows, ones from \"their people.\"\n\nYeah, people with no voice, margin, or resource do not give big money. Or run organizations.\n\nThe next big thing we will hear about in the media related to Penn State won\'t be about the boys.  It will be about the coaches and the football program and what\'s next for their football program.  Meanwhile, scores of boys will be wrestling with the damages of being sexually abused for the rest of their lives.  They will slip into the crevices and have to find their way on their own.\n\nThe stories will be about the powerful.\n\n<strong>Because those are the stories that sell.</strong>\n\nThose are the stories that capture our attention.\n\nThose are the stories that perpetuate a false reality.\n\nThose are the stories that shape what we believe.\n\nThat\'s why we must become advocates, voices for those who can\'t use their own.\n\nThat\'s why we must carefully consider what we hear on the mainstream media through the proper lens of power, influence, and money.\n\n<strong>That\'s why we must tell the stories of the weak, the vulnerable, the neglected, and the forgotten in any way we can. </strong>\n\n<em>Because their stories matter, too. </em>\n\n&nbsp;','Stories That Matter ','','inherit','open','open','','3993-revision','','','2012-01-12 07:34:58','2012-01-12 15:34:58','',3993,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/12/3993-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(3999,1,'2012-01-14 09:53:07','2012-01-14 17:53:07','A few years ago a <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeardley_Love\">young white girl</a> at a prestigious college was beaten to death by her lacrosse captain boyfriend.  I remember reading the story about it because it captured the world\'s attention and made it on every major news channel, even the cover of People magazine.   She was beautiful, talented, and had a bright future.  It was all cut short by domestic violence.   The world was outraged.\n\nLast year we watched the riveting story of a <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_Anthony\">white suburban party mom</a> who was accused of killing her little girl.  The grandparents were involved and it was a big hot mess, ending with her acquittal in the end.  That little girl was innocent, precious, and had a bright future.  It was all cut short by violence.  The world was outraged.\n\nA few months ago we heard the news that a prestigious university had a <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_State_sex_abuse_scandal\">football coach</a> who was sexually molesting young, vulnerable boys.  The boys he was violating weren\'t from strong families with education and money.  They were from a program for troubled kids, the kinds on the margins, the often forgotten and neglected ones.  When this story broke loose, riots ensued, not riots about the injustice that had happened, but riots about ruining a football program. The world was not as outraged that boys were being ruined but that a football program could be threatened.\n\nWe live in a culture where power, money, and class matter.\n\nEvery day women are beaten to death by their partners.  Right now, while we\'re reading blogs, women of every color, shape, and size are being horribly violated.  But because the majority of them aren\'t white, powerful, or \"important,\" we don\'t hear their stories on the front page of the news.\n\nEvery day children are taken, used, abused, and killed.   Heinous crimes committed against them, these children\'s stories are rarely told because the majority of them don\'t make for sensational news that sells newspapers and advertising time and all of the things that keep the media machine going.\n\nI am not saying the lives of white suburban women or kids aren\'t important.  They are precious, valuable, and worth fighting for.  But so are the lives of other colors and classes of people--the ones we rarely hear about.  The forgotten ones.  The neglected ones.  The marginalized ones.  The not-as-pretty ones.\n\nBut most systems are built upon power (I am not talking about the good kind).  Profits matter.  Donors matter.  Production matters.  Look at the top of almost any organization, church, or company and those at the top--on the whole--will not be the forgotten, neglected, or marginalized.   It\'s just not how the world works.  And power always perpetuates power.\n\nAnd those with power look through a different lens than ones without it.\n\nYears ago when I was on a big church staff I can\'t tell you the number of conversations that were centered on keeping the powerful happy so that the wheels could keep spinning.  And often, the powerful did not like hearing story upon story of the hurting, the marginalized, the sick.  They wanted cleaner stories, ones with neater and tidier bows, ones from \"their people.\"\n\nYeah, people with no voice, margin, or resource do not give big money. Or run organizations.\n\nThe next big thing we will hear about in the media related to Penn State won\'t be about the boys.  It will be about the coaches and the football program and what\'s next for their football program.  Meanwhile, scores of boys will be wrestling with the damages of being sexually abused for the rest of their lives.  They will slip into the crevices and have to find their way on their own.\n\nThe stories will be about the powerful.\n\n<strong>Because those are the stories that sell.</strong>\n\nThose are the stories that capture our attention.\n\nThose are the stories that perpetuate a false reality.\n\nThose are the stories that shape what we believe.\n\nThat\'s why we must become advocates, voices for those who can\'t use their own.\n\nThat\'s why we must carefully consider what we hear on the mainstream media through the proper lens of power, influence, and money.\n\n<strong>That\'s why we must tell the stories of the weak, the vulnerable, the neglected, and the forgotten in any way we can. </strong>\n\n<em>Because their stories matter, too. </em>\n\n&nbsp;','Stories That Matter ','','inherit','open','open','','3993-autosave','','','2012-01-14 09:53:07','2012-01-14 17:53:07','',3993,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/12/3993-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(4003,0,'2012-01-12 11:04:11','2012-01-12 19:04:11','Hi Jonathan,\r\nCongrats on launching Civitas Press. Your current projects look really great.\r\nI wanted to drop you a line to fill you in about a few projects I have in the works that may be of interest for reposting or discussion on your site. I’ll just drop some links below and then you can drop me a line if either sounds good and we can discuss some options from there.\r\nBlessings,\r\nEd\r\nDivided We Unite: Practical Christian Unity (free E-book promo for January)\r\nhttp://dl.dropbox.com/u/460671/Divided%20We%20Unite-pdfsize.pdf\r\nThe Women in Ministry Series (at my blog starting tomorrow)\r\nhttp://inamirrordimly.com/the-women-in-ministry-series-home-page/\r\nI think both will be rather… Provocative. ;)\n<!--more-->\nAUTHOR: ed cyzewski\nAUTHOR EMAIL: edcyzewski@gmail.com\nAUTHOR URL: \nSUBJECT: [Provoketive Magazine] Contact Us\nIP: 64.134.160.163\nArray\n(\n    [Name] =&gt; ed cyzewski\n    [Email] =&gt; edcyzewski@gmail.com\n    [Comment] =&gt; Hi Jonathan,\r\nCongrats on launching Civitas Press. Your current projects look really great.\r\nI wanted to drop you a line to fill you in about a few projects I have in the works that may be of interest for reposting or discussion on your site. I’ll just drop some links below and then you can drop me a line if either sounds good and we can discuss some options from there.\r\nBlessings,\r\nEd\r\nDivided We Unite: Practical Christian Unity (free E-book promo for January)\r\nhttp://dl.dropbox.com/u/460671/Divided%20We%20Unite-pdfsize.pdf\r\nThe Women in Ministry Series (at my blog starting tomorrow)\r\nhttp://inamirrordimly.com/the-women-in-ministry-series-home-page/\r\nI think both will be rather… Provocative. ;) \n)\n','ed cyzewski - 2012-01-12 11:04:11','','publish','open','open','','b5f179b27c3da81a2f97a4c6b17b5c21','','','2012-01-12 11:04:11','2012-01-12 19:04:11','',16,'http://provoketive.com/?post_type=feedback&p=4003',0,'feedback','',0),(4004,137,'2012-01-18 08:00:09','2012-01-18 16:00:09','For those of us who are parents, the question of hope takes us directly to our children. Our hopes are for our children and the life that we launch them into. Then at some point, usually later in life, we discover our hopes are in them, as we look to them to achieve what we were never quite able to pull off. Things like a cleaner, safer, more peaceful planet, whose driving force is love, rather than violence, destructive consumption and greed. Wowser, that’s idealistic. Yes it is, but isn’t idealism the structural helix of a healthy imagination? And isn’t imagination the magnifier of possibility?\r\n\r\nWe (together with my wife) have three beautiful children. Our experience of hope is expressed and experienced in their lives. Each is a separate facet of our hope, but I want to focus on my youngest, and only son, and from my perspective, rather than ours. Mark was born late in the game, ten years late. Everything went smoothly, and he was a beautiful boy, who from his first moments was very obviously my son. Even today, seventeen years later, people look at him, and then at my worn out gray and fuzzy face and they say, he looks just like you. I’m not sure what they see, but when compared with my boyhood pictures, the resemblance is uncanny. I was a very proud father, who immediately began to imagine the possibilities. This boy, with the benefit of his mothers genetic superiority, would be able to achieve all the athletic goals that I fell short of. I would be the next Walter Gretzky, teaching my boy to skate and handle the puck. Or maybe I’d make the rink and send Mom out to teach the skills. I hoped he’d be a better me.\r\n\r\nWithin the very first month of Mark’s life, I had to let go of that dream. Although there was no exact diagnosis, it was very clear that, genetically speaking, Mark was a few genes short of a full helix. I remember going for a walk, late on a cold winter evening, letting go of those dreams, and weeping from the deepest part of me. And yet there was hope.\r\n\r\nI got up the next day, freed from expectation, freed to imagination. I simply had to change the equation from, hope = (genetic potential x opportunity + encouragement + discipline – laziness) x expectation, to hope = possibility x imagination.\r\n\r\nIn the first few years I watched Mark learn how to crawl. I remember the moment so well when he manage to climb the one single step out of the family room, into the foyer. We were watching the Oakland A’s and keeping one eye on Marky. Once he figured out how to get past that step, possibility would be magnified. Mark had been working on get up over that step for weeks. He was able to get one knee up, but then seemed unable to get any further. This day though, his determination was palpable. After consistently failing for a more than an hour, he suddenly found that perfect tipping point, and up he went. There it was, hope. Mark, all on his own, demonstrated everything I hoped for him. He multiplied all the limited possibilities that life had dealt him, by his own unlimited imagination. Mark was 3 years old.\r\n\r\nWhen Mark was 4 years old we moved downtown. Both Linda and I had been volunteering with a homeless shelter and we wanted to get closer to the action. We were commissioned by a suburban church to be missionaries to the homeless in the inner-city. Our job was to nurture hope in a very marginalized group of people living on or near the street. I set up a woodworking shop and invited a few to come discover possibility. At the time we had no idea what a vital role Mark would play in that work. I thought he would be received as that retarded kid in the wheelchair. I thought we’d get the usual polite yet awkward stares that had become such a regular part of our suburban existence. Not so. The street folks took to Marky like he was one of their own. They seemed to understand the unlimited possibilities inside the little kid with so many outward limitations. They talked to him, directly. Marky was instantly accepted, and deeply loved, and I don’t think I had ever considered that possibility. In collaboration with his new friends, Mark was defining the possibilities.\r\n\r\nThis little man is now 17 years old, and still, despite having no language, and having lost the mobility he once had, he’s constantly redefining possibility, and bringing hope that changes the world. His condition, although not diagnosed, is clearly a neurodegenerative disorder. Today the physical possibilities for Mark are very limited, he’s very weak, just hangin\' on, but if you catch him during one of his six or seven waking hours, he’ll flash you a grin that tells you he believes otherwise.\r\n\r\nMy hope is that for the rest of my life I will always see the possibilities through the magnifying lens of God’s imagination. That’s what Marky discovered in his short life, that’s the gift he’s given us. There is hope.\r\n\r\n[This post is part of the <a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/01/18/synchroblog-on-hope/\">Synchroblog on Hope</a>.  For a full list of participants and posts, <a href=\"http://provoketive.com/2012/01/18/synchroblog-on-hope/\">go here</a>.]','Hope = Possibility x Imagination','','publish','open','open','','hope-possibility-x-imagination','','','2012-01-19 21:14:54','2012-01-20 05:14:54','',0,'http://provoketive.com/?p=4004',0,'post','',9),(4007,137,'2012-01-12 17:43:49','2012-01-13 01:43:49','','n693152138_1939727_8460','','inherit','open','open','','n693152138_1939727_8460','','','2012-01-12 17:43:49','2012-01-13 01:43:49','',4004,'http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/n693152138_1939727_8460.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4008,137,'2012-01-12 17:39:49','2012-01-13 01:39:49','For those of us who are parents, the question of hope takes us directly to our children. Our hopes are for our children and the life that we launch them into. Then at some point, usually later in life, we discover our hopes are in them, as we look to them to achieve what we were never quite able to pull off. Things like a cleaner, safer, more peaceful planet, whose driving force is love, rather than violence, destructive consumption and greed. Wowser, that’s idealistic. Yes it is, but isn’t idealism the structural helix of a healthy imagination? And isn’t imagination the magnifier of possibility?\n\nWe (together with my wife) have three beautiful children. Our experience of hope is expressed and experienced in their lives. Each is a separate facet of our hope, but I want to focus on my youngest, and only son, and from my perspective, rather than ours. Mark was born late in the game, ten years late. Everything went smoothly, and he was a beautiful boy, who from his first moments was very obviously my son. Even today, seventeen years later, people look at him, and then at my worn out gray and fuzzy face and they say, he looks just like you. I’m not sure what they see, but when compared with my boyhood pictures, the resemblance is uncanny. I was a very proud father, who immediately began to imagine the possibilities. This boy, with the benefit of his mothers genetic superiority, would be able to achieve all the athletic goals that I fell short of. I would be the next Walter Gretzky, teaching my boy to skate and handle the puck. Or maybe I’d make the rink and send Mom out to teach the skills. I hoped he’d be a better me.\n\nWithin the very first month of Mark’s life, I had to let go of that dream. Although there was no exact diagnosis, it was very clear that, genetically speaking, Mark was a few genes short of a full helix. I remember going for a walk, late on a cold winter evening, letting go of those dreams, and weeping from the deepest part of me. And yet there was hope.\n\nI got up the next day, freed from expectation, freed to imagination. I simply had to change the equation from, hope = (genetic potential x opportunity + encouragement + discipline – laziness) x expectation, to hope = possibility x imagination.\n\nIn the first few years I watch Mark learn how to crawl. I remember the moment so well when he manage to climb the one single step out of the family room, into the foyer. We were watching the Oakland A’s and keeping one eye on Marky. Once he figured out how to get past that step, possibility would be magnified. Mark had been working on get up over that step for weeks. He was able to get one knee up, but then seemed unable to get any further. This day though, his determination was palpable. After consistently failing for a more than an hour, he suddenly found that perfect tipping point, and up he went. There it was, hope. Mark, all on his own, demonstrated everything I hoped for him. He multiplied all the limited possibilities that life had dealt him, by his own unlimited imagination. Mark was 3 years old.\n\nWhen Mark was 4 years old we moved downtown. Both Linda and I had been volunteering with a homeless shelter and we wanted to get closer to the action. We were commissioned by a suburban church to be missionaries to the homeless in the inner-city. Our job was to nurture hope in a very marginalized group of people living on or near the street. I set up a woodworking shop and invited a few to come discover possibility. At the time we had no idea what a vital role Mark would play in that work. I thought he would be received as that retarded kid in the wheelchair. I thought we’d get the usual polite yet awkward stares that had become such a regular part of our suburban existence. Not so. The street folks took to Marky like he was one of their own. They seemed to understand the unlimited possibilities inside the little kid with so many outward limitations. They talked to him, directly. Marky was instantly accepted, and deeply loved, and I don’t think I had ever considered that possibility. In collaboration with his new friends, Mark was defining the possibilities.\n\nThis little man is now 17 years old, and still, despite having no language, and having lost the mobility he once had<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/n693152138_1939727_8460.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-4006\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/n693152138_1939727_8460-300x292.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"292\" /></a>, he’s constantly redefining possibility, and bringing hope that changes the world. His condition, although not diagnosed, is clearly a neurodegenerative disorder. Today the physical possibilities for Mark are very limited, he’s very weak, just hangin\' on, but if you catch him during one of his six or seven waking hours, he’ll flash you a grin that tells you he believes otherwise.\n\nMy hope is that for the rest of my life I will always see the possibilities through the magnifying lens of God’s imagination. That’s what Marky discovered in his short life, that’s the gift he’s given us. There is hope.','Hope = Possibility x Imagination','','inherit','open','open','','4004-revision','','','2012-01-12 17:39:49','2012-01-13 01:39:49','',4004,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/12/4004-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(4011,137,'2012-01-12 17:58:54','2012-01-13 01:58:54','For those of us who are parents, the question of hope takes us directly to our children. Our hopes are for our children and the life that we launch them into. Then at some point, usually later in life, we discover our hopes are in them, as we look to them to achieve what we were never quite able to pull off. Things like a cleaner, safer, more peaceful planet, whose driving force is love, rather than violence, destructive consumption and greed. Wowser, that’s idealistic. Yes it is, but isn’t idealism the structural helix of a healthy imagination? And isn’t imagination the magnifier of possibility?\r\n\r\nWe (together with my wife) have three beautiful children. Our experience of hope is expressed and experienced in their lives. Each is a separate facet of our hope, but I want to focus on my youngest, and only son, and from my perspective, rather than ours. Mark was born late in the game, ten years late. Everything went smoothly, and he was a beautiful boy, who from his first moments was very obviously my son. Even today, seventeen years later, people look at him, and then at my worn out gray and fuzzy face and they say, he looks just like you. I’m not sure what they see, but when compared with my boyhood pictures, the resemblance is uncanny. I was a very proud father, who immediately began to imagine the possibilities. This boy, with the benefit of his mothers genetic superiority, would be able to achieve all the athletic goals that I fell short of. I would be the next Walter Gretzky, teaching my boy to skate and handle the puck. Or maybe I’d make the rink and send Mom out to teach the skills. I hoped he’d be a better me.\r\n\r\nWithin the very first month of Mark’s life, I had to let go of that dream. Although there was no exact diagnosis, it was very clear that, genetically speaking, Mark was a few genes short of a full helix. I remember going for a walk, late on a cold winter evening, letting go of those dreams, and weeping from the deepest part of me. And yet there was hope.\r\n\r\nI got up the next day, freed from expectation, freed to imagination. I simply had to change the equation from, hope = (genetic potential x opportunity + encouragement + discipline – laziness) x expectation, to hope = possibility x imagination.\r\n\r\nIn the first few years I watch Mark learn how to crawl. I remember the moment so well when he manage to climb the one single step out of the family room, into the foyer. We were watching the Oakland A’s and keeping one eye on Marky. Once he figured out how to get past that step, possibility would be magnified. Mark had been working on get up over that step for weeks. He was able to get one knee up, but then seemed unable to get any further. This day though, his determination was palpable. After consistently failing for a more than an hour, he suddenly found that perfect tipping point, and up he went. There it was, hope. Mark, all on his own, demonstrated everything I hoped for him. He multiplied all the limited possibilities that life had dealt him, by his own unlimited imagination. Mark was 3 years old.\r\n\r\nWhen Mark was 4 years old we moved downtown. Both Linda and I had been volunteering with a homeless shelter and we wanted to get closer to the action. We were commissioned by a suburban church to be missionaries to the homeless in the inner-city. Our job was to nurture hope in a very marginalized group of people living on or near the street. I set up a woodworking shop and invited a few to come discover possibility. At the time we had no idea what a vital role Mark would play in that work. I thought he would be received as that retarded kid in the wheelchair. I thought we’d get the usual polite yet awkward stares that had become such a regular part of our suburban existence. Not so. The street folks took to Marky like he was one of their own. They seemed to understand the unlimited possibilities inside the little kid with so many outward limitations. They talked to him, directly. Marky was instantly accepted, and deeply loved, and I don’t think I had ever considered that possibility. In collaboration with his new friends, Mark was defining the possibilities.\r\n\r\nThis little man is now 17 years old, and still, despite having no language, and having lost the mobility he once had, he’s constantly redefining possibility, and bringing hope that changes the world. His condition, although not diagnosed, is clearly a neurodegenerative disorder. Today the physical possibilities for Mark are very limited, he’s very weak, just hangin\' on, but if you catch him during one of his six or seven waking hours, he’ll flash you a grin that tells you he believes otherwise.\r\n\r\nMy hope is that for the rest of my life I will always see the possibilities through the magnifying lens of God’s imagination. That’s what Marky discovered in his short life, that’s the gift he’s given us. There is hope.','Hope = Possibility x Imagination','','inherit','open','open','','4004-revision-4','','','2012-01-12 17:58:54','2012-01-13 01:58:54','',4004,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/12/4004-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(4009,137,'2012-01-12 17:52:10','2012-01-13 01:52:10','For those of us who are parents, the question of hope takes us directly to our children. Our hopes are for our children and the life that we launch them into. Then at some point, usually later in life, we discover our hopes are in them, as we look to them to achieve what we were never quite able to pull off. Things like a cleaner, safer, more peaceful planet, whose driving force is love, rather than violence, destructive consumption and greed. Wowser, that’s idealistic. Yes it is, but isn’t idealism the structural helix of a healthy imagination? And isn’t imagination the magnifier of possibility?\r\n\r\nWe (together with my wife) have three beautiful children. Our experience of hope is expressed and experienced in their lives. Each is a separate facet of our hope, but I want to focus on my youngest, and only son, and from my perspective, rather than ours. Mark was born late in the game, ten years late. Everything went smoothly, and he was a beautiful boy, who from his first moments was very obviously my son. Even today, seventeen years later, people look at him, and then at my worn out gray and fuzzy face and they say, he looks just like you. I’m not sure what they see, but when compared with my boyhood pictures, the resemblance is uncanny. I was a very proud father, who immediately began to imagine the possibilities. This boy, with the benefit of his mothers genetic superiority, would be able to achieve all the athletic goals that I fell short of. I would be the next Walter Gretzky, teaching my boy to skate and handle the puck. Or maybe I’d make the rink and send Mom out to teach the skills. I hoped he’d be a better me.\r\n\r\nWithin the very first month of Mark’s life, I had to let go of that dream. Although there was no exact diagnosis, it was very clear that, genetically speaking, Mark was a few genes short of a full helix. I remember going for a walk, late on a cold winter evening, letting go of those dreams, and weeping from the deepest part of me. And yet there was hope.\r\n\r\nI got up the next day, freed from expectation, freed to imagination. I simply had to change the equation from, hope = (genetic potential x opportunity + encouragement + discipline – laziness) x expectation, to hope = possibility x imagination.\r\n\r\nIn the first few years I watch Mark learn how to crawl. I remember the moment so well when he manage to climb the one single step out of the family room, into the foyer. We were watching the Oakland A’s and keeping one eye on Marky. Once he figured out how to get past that step, possibility would be magnified. Mark had been working on get up over that step for weeks. He was able to get one knee up, but then seemed unable to get any further. This day though, his determination was palpable. After consistently failing for a more than an hour, he suddenly found that perfect tipping point, and up he went. There it was, hope. Mark, all on his own, demonstrated everything I hoped for him. He multiplied all the limited possibilities that life had dealt him, by his own unlimited imagination. Mark was 3 years old.\r\n\r\nWhen Mark was 4 years old we moved downtown. Both Linda and I had been volunteering with a homeless shelter and we wanted to get closer to the action. We were commissioned by a suburban church to be missionaries to the homeless in the inner-city. Our job was to nurture hope in a very marginalized group of people living on or near the street. I set up a woodworking shop and invited a few to come discover possibility. At the time we had no idea what a vital role Mark would play in that work. I thought he would be received as that retarded kid in the wheelchair. I thought we’d get the usual polite yet awkward stares that had become such a regular part of our suburban existence. Not so. The street folks took to Marky like he was one of their own. They seemed to understand the unlimited possibilities inside the little kid with so many outward limitations. They talked to him, directly. Marky was instantly accepted, and deeply loved, and I don’t think I had ever considered that possibility. In collaboration with his new friends, Mark was defining the possibilities.\r\n\r\nThis little man is now 17 years old, and still, despite having no language, and having lost the mobility he once had<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/n693152138_1939727_8460.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-4006\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/n693152138_1939727_8460-300x292.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"292\" /></a>, he’s constantly redefining possibility, and bringing hope that changes the world. His condition, although not diagnosed, is clearly a neurodegenerative disorder. Today the physical possibilities for Mark are very limited, he’s very weak, just hangin\' on, but if you catch him during one of his six or seven waking hours, he’ll flash you a grin that tells you he believes otherwise.\r\n\r\nMy hope is that for the rest of my life I will always see the possibilities through the magnifying lens of God’s imagination. That’s what Marky discovered in his short life, that’s the gift he’s given us. There is hope.','Hope = Possibility x Imagination','','inherit','open','open','','4004-revision-2','','','2012-01-12 17:52:10','2012-01-13 01:52:10','',4004,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/12/4004-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(4010,137,'2012-01-12 17:52:24','2012-01-13 01:52:24','For those of us who are parents, the question of hope takes us directly to our children. Our hopes are for our children and the life that we launch them into. Then at some point, usually later in life, we discover our hopes are in them, as we look to them to achieve what we were never quite able to pull off. Things like a cleaner, safer, more peaceful planet, whose driving force is love, rather than violence, destructive consumption and greed. Wowser, that’s idealistic. Yes it is, but isn’t idealism the structural helix of a healthy imagination? And isn’t imagination the magnifier of possibility?\r\n\r\nWe (together with my wife) have three beautiful children. Our experience of hope is expressed and experienced in their lives. Each is a separate facet of our hope, but I want to focus on my youngest, and only son, and from my perspective, rather than ours. Mark was born late in the game, ten years late. Everything went smoothly, and he was a beautiful boy, who from his first moments was very obviously my son. Even today, seventeen years later, people look at him, and then at my worn out gray and fuzzy face and they say, he looks just like you. I’m not sure what they see, but when compared with my boyhood pictures, the resemblance is uncanny. I was a very proud father, who immediately began to imagine the possibilities. This boy, with the benefit of his mothers genetic superiority, would be able to achieve all the athletic goals that I fell short of. I would be the next Walter Gretzky, teaching my boy to skate and handle the puck. Or maybe I’d make the rink and send Mom out to teach the skills. I hoped he’d be a better me.\r\n\r\nWithin the very first month of Mark’s life, I had to let go of that dream. Although there was no exact diagnosis, it was very clear that, genetically speaking, Mark was a few genes short of a full helix. I remember going for a walk, late on a cold winter evening, letting go of those dreams, and weeping from the deepest part of me. And yet there was hope.\r\n\r\nI got up the next day, freed from expectation, freed to imagination. I simply had to change the equation from, hope = (genetic potential x opportunity + encouragement + discipline – laziness) x expectation, to hope = possibility x imagination.\r\n\r\nIn the first few years I watch Mark learn how to crawl. I remember the moment so well when he manage to climb the one single step out of the family room, into the foyer. We were watching the Oakland A’s and keeping one eye on Marky. Once he figured out how to get past that step, possibility would be magnified. Mark had been working on get up over that step for weeks. He was able to get one knee up, but then seemed unable to get any further. This day though, his determination was palpable. After consistently failing for a more than an hour, he suddenly found that perfect tipping point, and up he went. There it was, hope. Mark, all on his own, demonstrated everything I hoped for him. He multiplied all the limited possibilities that life had dealt him, by his own unlimited imagination. Mark was 3 years old.\r\n\r\nWhen Mark was 4 years old we moved downtown. Both Linda and I had been volunteering with a homeless shelter and we wanted to get closer to the action. We were commissioned by a suburban church to be missionaries to the homeless in the inner-city. Our job was to nurture hope in a very marginalized group of people living on or near the street. I set up a woodworking shop and invited a few to come discover possibility. At the time we had no idea what a vital role Mark would play in that work. I thought he would be received as that retarded kid in the wheelchair. I thought we’d get the usual polite yet awkward stares that had become such a regular part of our suburban existence. Not so. The street folks took to Marky like he was one of their own. They seemed to understand the unlimited possibilities inside the little kid with so many outward limitations. They talked to him, directly. Marky was instantly accepted, and deeply loved, and I don’t think I had ever considered that possibility. In collaboration with his new friends, Mark was defining the possibilities.\r\n\r\nThis little man is now 17 years old, and still, despite having no language, and having lost the mobility he once had<a href=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/n693152138_1939727_8460.jpg\"><img class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-4006\" src=\"http://provoketive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/n693152138_1939727_8460-300x292.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"292\" /></a>, he’s constantly redefining possibility, and bringing hope that changes the world. His condition, although not diagnosed, is clearly a neurodegenerative disorder. Today the physical possibilities for Mark are very limited, he’s very weak, just hangin\' on, but if you catch him during one of his six or seven waking hours, he’ll flash you a grin that tells you he believes otherwise.\r\n\r\nMy hope is that for the rest of my life I will always see the possibilities through the magnifying lens of God’s imagination. That’s what Marky discovered in his short life, that’s the gift he’s given us. There is hope.','Hope = Possibility x Imagination','','inherit','open','open','','4004-revision-3','','','2012-01-12 17:52:24','2012-01-13 01:52:24','',4004,'http://provoketive.com/2012/01/12/4004-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),