Self fulfilling?

Are you looking for the whore or the spotless virgin and are you convinced that they exist?

Because some woman treat their sexuality as a product does this make all woman whores? Conversely is it possible for the virgins to raise the overall value of womankind?

It seems that most woman are somewhere between these polar opposites and that is less important than the power of the respective ends. Is our treatment of woman more important than their actual expression of sexuality?

What happens when we begin to treat all woman one way or the other? When we treat all woman as if they are whores than I suggest that it diminishes the entire gender. We start to expect wanton behavior and start to build systems that actually reinforce the very behavior that we are seeking to avoid.

If on the other hand we treat all woman as if they are spotless virgins, then the entire gender is elevated and systems are established to reinforce that behavior.

The same behavior is applicable to the church. As I start to retreat from and expect bad behavior, I reinforce the stereotype and holistically do damage to His bride.

Always enough.

Abundance thinking at its finest.

Rolland and Heidi Baker
Always Enough: God’s Miraculous Provision among the
Poorest Children on Earth
Grand Rapids: Chosen Books, 2002, 2003.

page 9

"I (Rolland) always wanted to believe and live the
Sermon on the Mount, but I was usually told that it
did not mean all that I thought it meant and that I
needed to be practical. I would read the Scriptures
longingly, trying to imagine how wonderful it would be
not to worry about anything, safe and secure in the
presence of Jesus all the time. Miracles would be
normal. Love would be natural. We could always give
and never lose. We could be lied to, cheated and
stolen from, and yet we would always come out ahead.
We would never have to take advantage of anyone or
have any motive but to bless other people. Rather
than always making contingency plans in case Jesus
didn’t do anything, we could count on Him continually.
We, our lives and all that we preach and provide
would not be for sale, but would be given freely, just
as we have received freely. Our hearts would be
carefree in the love of our Father in heaven, who
always knows what we need, and we could get on with
the glorious business of seeking first His Kingdom and
His righteousness. There would always be enough!
"In time I realized that the worst possible fate
would be to miss all of this."

Scarcity verses Abundance

In this age of economic down turn and political, national and world wide unrest, scarcity thinking is running rampant. It seems that if we have grown up in a community of lack, we revert back to that thinking when we are pressed. Circumstances then determine what is impractical and pragmatism of the 'real' must be applied. Hope, risk and creativity are not just muted they are outlawed.

Steven Covey, author of Principled Centered Leadership, describes these mindsets with great clarity. Abundance thinking is hope and trust centered. It was established from the very foundations of the earth and is brilliant with its application. Brilliant as acting on its behalf sheds light in a seemingly ever darkening landscape and brilliant that same action leads us in better directions.

The people of God have the confidence of faith, to invest themselves and their human capital in ways that honor abundance thinking and other foundational principles. They are all based on the unshakable, unfailing, never ending love that comes from above. These are times prepared for such a people. How and where can you invest yourself that would allow yourself to shine?

Starfish and the Spider: The language of Touched Twice United

Since 1996 I have had a difficult time talking to people about the methodology or philosophy that Touched Twice United was organized around. Recently I was recommended the book, Starfish and the Spider; The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations. This book has given me the common language to engage people in another system that doesn't require a heavy, top down controlling bureaucracy. This system instead requires release and trust to allow it to grow. It is easily duplicated and is extremely resilient. The authors contrast and compare the creatures starfish and spiders. At fist glance they look similar. However if you cut the head off a spider it dies, cut a starfish and you tend to get another starfish.

It seems that the current health care system needs some work and our country can no longer afford to sustain the current escalating costs. Without some major change in thinking things look bleak. Either costs will continue to rise or people will be cut off from care.

I believe that this starfish way of organizing offers the hope we all are looking for. Helping more people at less costs while continuing the progressive research and development America know for. Over the next several blogs, I will see if I can effectively convey this idea using the language of The Starfish and Spider over the next few blog spots. This is a collaborative work in progress and it will require your help.

How much grace is too much and who gets to decide?

We have been wrestling through the freedom and grace that comes from following after Jesus. There are more than two-thousand years of documented attempts. It seems to me that the church of today is way to focused on the back of the pack than the front runner.

It may be that I am just so far behind the front that it seems easier for me to look ahead than to look behind. With so many people more godly, more loving, and less mistake ridden, ahead of me it seems foolish to keep looking back.

Paul seems to be a man like me in this regard. He said that he was to forget what was behind and press on toward the mark. I know that what I have left behind is nothing that I want to get caught up in again. I feel that the more I focus on the darkest of people it leads me to compete with them and then become complacent with my own progress.

When I press on towards the mark that Jesus has set for us. It leads me into appreciation of the gift of grace that I have received. It gives me an immense amount of gratitude for the price paid for my freedom.

Let gratitude and appreciation abound in the same lavish amounts that God's grace has been poured out for us.

Cultivate the enviornment.

In the beginning God created man and woman in His image then placed them in the garden. Not in the wild, but in a garden a cultivated place; a place where order was established from the beginning.

Why is it when we attempt something creative and new in the name of Jesus, people who regard themselves as Jesus fans are put off or threatened?

When did we get so familiar with the wild around us that forgot the possibility of what could be? If we as individuals resemble our Creator, could our creativity be one of those things?

My wife Andrea and her brothers look very much like their mother and father, and the brothers and sister favor each other as well. Why is it that as members of God’s family, we experience such a hard time seeing in each other a resemblance to Jesus? Simply talking about being related seems shallow.

After 10 years of marriage, Andrea and I are starting to look like each other. I think it has to do with behaving in a similar manor, picking up on the same likes and dislikes, and finding humor together. I believe that if we are given a long life here together, we will grow more and more alike as time passes.

The world and all things in it resulted from someone’s thinking, and I believe that we’ve not yet completed our part of the assignment. I feel that if we who follow Jesus would appreciate creativity as much as we do familiarity, we may grow a bit, coming closer to the heaven on earth we dream about.

Wisdom of Solomon

Just this morning I was I woke up to a report on gay marriage. I started thinking about what I believe on this divisive subject. I feel that community and relationships are foundational to my understanding of God. For me the Trinity: Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit is the ultimate form of community. Jesus uses this 'one' language when describing His relationship to the Father as does the apostle Paul when he talks about the relationship between a husband and wife. A complete new entity is formed by these unions and it seems that they are by design not to be divided.

In the old testament, there was a king Solomon who the Bible says was the wisest man that ever lived or will live. (Sorry Dr Hawkings) In the text is a story of two woman fighting over a child. Both mothers claimed it was theirs. To solve the conflict Solomon declared that the baby be cut in two. Once hearing his verdict the birth mother disavowed any claim to the baby. Solomon understood that because of this idea of oneness, who the mother was.

Is it possible that this baby gives the understanding to why marriage was designed to produce one flesh and can not be duplicated by same sex couples? Simply accepting this does not produce any sort of solution. If nothing else it divides us even further from each other and gives more force into the argument. If only Solomon was here now to help us diffuse the situation and bring order to this chaos.

In this world with a fallen humanity, and regarding our relationships with our same sex brothers and sisters, what represents the baby and how can it be spared?