Debrief is an interesting word that seems to be in fashion. Let's take a look at how that seems to work in ministry. There is an incident, say with a minor injury. The minister debriefs people so that the carry no unhealthy guilt or shame about the incident. The incident report is done. Then the minister does not get to debrief for 4 - 6 weeks when they meet with their professional supervisor. I realize that the minister probably does have a network of minister friends to call on and pour out to. But it seems the minister sort of gets the raw deal.
Is this because in the past, there was perception that ministers were sort of better than everyone else. Once ordained does a person became some sort of super human that can handle anything?
I agree ministers have a great deal of training and gifting to debrief but they are still human. I am happy that ministers have professional supervisors to debrief with at all. This is a positive change.
So the underlying issue really is, how do the ordained keep the being set apart and the being human in a balance tension? My answer, they need to be true to themselves. Once you try to be something else, whosh the balance is tipped.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
No end in sight - Half of Chapter 2
I did get this far on Chapter 2 before getting bogged. So till there is time this will have to do.
As I told you, I am non-player in a storyline that began more than 2,000 years ago. Now you may wonder how why people with the same hope in a Kingdom of the same God would come to part ways. What was it specifically that this man/God did that could divide so many for so long? Well, let me see if I can explain.
Long before the man/God entered the story, the people of the original storyline were expecting a Savior from God to redeem them and usher in the Kingdom. The prophets of old told of this event. In beautiful poetic imagery, the expectation, prophesy really, of the Savior developed. As the expectation developed so did strong opinions on what would happen when the Savior would come. Many expected sounds of trumpet and an entrance fit for a King after all, the Savior was to reign in the promised Kingdom.
But God came as a man. Not really an ordinary man but a man born of a virgin. Remarkable, unbelievable really unless you believe that it was God. God would not need a man to be born. God had already created man. But to be born human, God would need to be born from a woman.
Setting aside the birth, the man/God did remarkable things. He challenged people to love, to understand the commandments through the lens of love. He challenged people to do the right thing and find fulfillment in honesty and integrity. He challenged people to have relationship with and worship God not to simply follow religious rules. He caused miracles to happen. He healed many. He broke down barriers and accepted all people.
Wow, that sounds like a Kingdom already, not a kingdom that we know about but a kingdom worth waiting for and believing in. Many believed and many followed. But some were threatened. The man/God had turned the tables on power and authority. He broke down barriers that some believe sacred; the Savior would not save all only the chosen. And a nail was driven in the fabric of the story. Slowly, ever so slowly, the fabric of the story began to tear in two.
Some people began to seek ways to kill the man. They did not believe that he was God. These people could only see their immediate situation and the loss of their power and control of the masses. Some were afraid. Some may have been trying to push that man into taking authority like the king they believed he was. In the end, the motivations were complex and maybe even not recorded however, history has proven over and over since that time, and before, that people will kill for power.
In a mighty climax, the opposition made their move and killed the man/God. Not just a quick killing but the man/God suffered, was beaten, mocked and nailed to a cross; the most humiliating death that can be imagined. The end? Oh no, not quite.
Many believed it to be the end; the leader dead, the followers scattered. The people responsible maybe breathed a sigh of relief. The followers were stunned and amazed; lost and grieving. What had happened? Was there no hope that the Kingdom would come? But it was not the end.
The leader rose again. Alive. The man/God walked again with the people. He was seen by many. So convincingly, that the group again banded together to proclaim the coming of the promised and now soon expected Kingdom. These people knew now with the utmost certainty that they had seen the Savior of God. Only God could die and come back to life and they believed he would come again to claim his people.
But wait, God die? How can God do that? I don’t know. God is God. But follow along with me this does make sense. In the beginning of the story, for people to be in right relationship with God, they needed to love God above all and love all around them like God does. This is not an easy task, in fact is impossible to do all the time, so God put into place a system of sacrifices, cleansing and worship that would allow for the atonement of sins. This however, meant continual sacrifices as any single person would get it wrong eventually again after a sacrifice. The belief then was that the Savior would save once and for all.
As I told you, I am non-player in a storyline that began more than 2,000 years ago. Now you may wonder how why people with the same hope in a Kingdom of the same God would come to part ways. What was it specifically that this man/God did that could divide so many for so long? Well, let me see if I can explain.
Long before the man/God entered the story, the people of the original storyline were expecting a Savior from God to redeem them and usher in the Kingdom. The prophets of old told of this event. In beautiful poetic imagery, the expectation, prophesy really, of the Savior developed. As the expectation developed so did strong opinions on what would happen when the Savior would come. Many expected sounds of trumpet and an entrance fit for a King after all, the Savior was to reign in the promised Kingdom.
But God came as a man. Not really an ordinary man but a man born of a virgin. Remarkable, unbelievable really unless you believe that it was God. God would not need a man to be born. God had already created man. But to be born human, God would need to be born from a woman.
Setting aside the birth, the man/God did remarkable things. He challenged people to love, to understand the commandments through the lens of love. He challenged people to do the right thing and find fulfillment in honesty and integrity. He challenged people to have relationship with and worship God not to simply follow religious rules. He caused miracles to happen. He healed many. He broke down barriers and accepted all people.
Wow, that sounds like a Kingdom already, not a kingdom that we know about but a kingdom worth waiting for and believing in. Many believed and many followed. But some were threatened. The man/God had turned the tables on power and authority. He broke down barriers that some believe sacred; the Savior would not save all only the chosen. And a nail was driven in the fabric of the story. Slowly, ever so slowly, the fabric of the story began to tear in two.
Some people began to seek ways to kill the man. They did not believe that he was God. These people could only see their immediate situation and the loss of their power and control of the masses. Some were afraid. Some may have been trying to push that man into taking authority like the king they believed he was. In the end, the motivations were complex and maybe even not recorded however, history has proven over and over since that time, and before, that people will kill for power.
In a mighty climax, the opposition made their move and killed the man/God. Not just a quick killing but the man/God suffered, was beaten, mocked and nailed to a cross; the most humiliating death that can be imagined. The end? Oh no, not quite.
Many believed it to be the end; the leader dead, the followers scattered. The people responsible maybe breathed a sigh of relief. The followers were stunned and amazed; lost and grieving. What had happened? Was there no hope that the Kingdom would come? But it was not the end.
The leader rose again. Alive. The man/God walked again with the people. He was seen by many. So convincingly, that the group again banded together to proclaim the coming of the promised and now soon expected Kingdom. These people knew now with the utmost certainty that they had seen the Savior of God. Only God could die and come back to life and they believed he would come again to claim his people.
But wait, God die? How can God do that? I don’t know. God is God. But follow along with me this does make sense. In the beginning of the story, for people to be in right relationship with God, they needed to love God above all and love all around them like God does. This is not an easy task, in fact is impossible to do all the time, so God put into place a system of sacrifices, cleansing and worship that would allow for the atonement of sins. This however, meant continual sacrifices as any single person would get it wrong eventually again after a sacrifice. The belief then was that the Savior would save once and for all.
Overload
Okay, I am officially overloaded. I would like to blog my ideas on the difference between God's will and man's will. But have not had time.
I would like to discuss symbols. What they mean to who.
I would like to discuss time management. This goes in cycles you know. You keep up then suddenly, there is a wrench (spanner for you Australians) in the cogs and boy is it tough going getting back on track.
There are 3 major essays I would like to do before I leave for Guam.
There is my daughter's wedding.
There are my church jobs.
I am a wife.
Mother.
Housekeeper.
Although, reflection on all these areas happens, I have little time to record it because it there is little time
Please don't feel sorry for me. I do not think I am different than anyother. Just pray.
Thanks
I would like to discuss symbols. What they mean to who.
I would like to discuss time management. This goes in cycles you know. You keep up then suddenly, there is a wrench (spanner for you Australians) in the cogs and boy is it tough going getting back on track.
There are 3 major essays I would like to do before I leave for Guam.
There is my daughter's wedding.
There are my church jobs.
I am a wife.
Mother.
Housekeeper.
Although, reflection on all these areas happens, I have little time to record it because it there is little time
Please don't feel sorry for me. I do not think I am different than anyother. Just pray.
Thanks
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Missed a week
Yes, I missed a week of blogging. I went on holiday and joined my husband in Melbourne. It was a lovely time. I communed with lovely ladies at a beautiful stone church in Williamstown. We feasted, broke bread with friends and family. I did some reading and a bit of writing.
Oh yeah, I shopped too.
Oh yeah, I shopped too.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Complacency
Complacency
I was visiting with my Dad not too long ago, when I commented on people that are “way smarter than I am”. He stated that it may not be a bad thing to keep notice of that. By noticing I would never become complacent. We went on to discuss how complacency fills work places with unhappy workers and fills churches with people wondering why they don’t get anything out of worship anymore. They have become complacent so do not put anything into it and in return get little out of it.
My Dad is a wise man for the most part and I am proud to have him for my Dad. I will work hard at whatever I do, meaning I will try not to be complacent, so that I can honour him. I will keep this in balance, though, with the notion that he is already proud of me, so I have nothing to prove.
God is wiser than my Dad. With God, I have even less to prove but still need to work at not being complacent. Right now, while I am studying, that is relatively easy to do. I am confronted daily with ideas that are bigger than I am and feel often that I am on the edge of this great revelation but never quite getting it.
My challenge, when in full time ministry, will be in spite of the routine to be excited, as I am now, to continue to learn and seek knowledge as if I am always on the edge of that big discovery.
I was visiting with my Dad not too long ago, when I commented on people that are “way smarter than I am”. He stated that it may not be a bad thing to keep notice of that. By noticing I would never become complacent. We went on to discuss how complacency fills work places with unhappy workers and fills churches with people wondering why they don’t get anything out of worship anymore. They have become complacent so do not put anything into it and in return get little out of it.
My Dad is a wise man for the most part and I am proud to have him for my Dad. I will work hard at whatever I do, meaning I will try not to be complacent, so that I can honour him. I will keep this in balance, though, with the notion that he is already proud of me, so I have nothing to prove.
God is wiser than my Dad. With God, I have even less to prove but still need to work at not being complacent. Right now, while I am studying, that is relatively easy to do. I am confronted daily with ideas that are bigger than I am and feel often that I am on the edge of this great revelation but never quite getting it.
My challenge, when in full time ministry, will be in spite of the routine to be excited, as I am now, to continue to learn and seek knowledge as if I am always on the edge of that big discovery.
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