Check this out!

Hey all and any - here's a very noteworthy website that I encourage you to spend lots of time perusing! Church leadership should have to have a Masters in Restorative Justice!

www.restorativejustice.org

Fall

Fall into the Word,
fall into its embrace.
The Word will always be there,
in love and in truth and with grace.
It might not seem sane,
it may not seem safe.
But, there is no greater high
than to fall into the Word,
to fall with all faith.
Faith that it will catch you.
Faith that it is right.
But, always remember
to have faith is to fight.
To fight fears and emotions.
To fight passions and cares.
To fight ego and people;
it's just a burden that we must bear.
Fall into the Word,
let it echo in your mind.
Fall into the Word
and leave all else behind.
Let not anything detour you,
to yourself be not untrue.
Fall into the Word,
and what the Word says,
DO!

I HAVE A DREAM

I have a dream that one day the church of Jesus Christ will rise up to her God-given calling and begin to live out the true meaning of her identity- which is, the very heartthrob of God Almighty- the fiancee of the King of Kings.

I have a dream that Jesus Christ will one day be the Head of His church again. Not in pious rhetoric, but in reality.

I have a dream that groups of Christians everywhere will begin to flesh out the New Testament reality that the church is a living organism and not an institutional organization.

I have a dream that the clergy/laity divide will someday be an antique of church history, and the Lord Jesus Himself will replace the moss-laden system of human hierarchy that has usurped His authority among His people.

I have a dream that multitudes of God's people will no longer tolerate those man-made systems that have put them in religious bondage and under a pile of guilt, duty, condemnation, making them slaves to authoritarian systems and leaders.

I have a dream that the centrality and supremacy of Jesus Christ will be the focus, the mainstay, and the pursuit of every Christian and every church. And that God's dear people will no longer be obsessed with spiritual and religious things to the point of division. but that their obsession and pursuit would be a person - the Lord Jesus Christ.

I have a dream that countless churches will be transformed from high-powered business organizations into spiritual families- authentic Christ-centered communities- where the members know one another intimately, love one another unconditionally, bleed for one another deeply and rejoice with one another unfailingly.

I have a dream today...

- Frank Viola -

A Call to Clergy: Stop Performing Legal Marriages!

Hey all - this is an interesting post that I saw on Will Samson's facebook. I don't know much about the author but is for certain to be a good tribute to the conversation, please scope it out and post your comments here.



http://blog.tonyj.net/2010/01/a-call-to-clergy-stop-performing-legal-marriages/