Spiritual Immaturity...and why it happens...and why people who "grow up" leave church as we know it...

There's a fantastic post over on Paul Fromont's blog about spiritual formation. "Spiritual wha...?" you ask. Spritual formation. You may not have heard of it. But the jist of it is that it's that thing that happens to move the average pew-sitter past the "Feed ME!" stage and into actually *living* a life of faith.

Yah...there's a difference. Just think about it. Our spiritual parenting skills in the western church suck.

Here's the link...go read it...then come back here and give me some feedback. (The link will open in a new window because I want you back here...)
http://prodigal.typepad.com/prodigal_kiwi/2005/01/spiritual_fathe.html

Along these lines, I thing I'm going to do something unconventional and post my message from yesterday here as well. It fits.
http://newhope.squarespace.com/current/are-we-playing-to-the-crowd.html

Again, come back and talk to me. :)

Creech: closer than we think

"This quote from Thomas Merton raised a question a little while back. I thought maybe I'd try to expound on the concept a bit more. Here's the quote...

...sometimes when we have no feeling of peace or of God's presence He is more truly present to us than He has ever been before.

This idea is very foreign to most of us, especially to those who are used to hearing and talking about the notion of 'feeling God's presence' or 'having peace' in some tangible way."

Read the rest here...

Rest.

"Rest is the ultimate humiliation because in order to rest, we must admit we are not necessary, that the world can get along without us, that God's work does not depend on us." - Mike Yaconelli

Give me a break, Steve! Talk about genius marketing...

...at ThinkSecret's expense.

http://news.com.com/Apple+suit+foreshadows+coming+products/2100-1047_3-5513582.html?tag=st.prev

You know, at first I was going to comment on Steve Jobs' insecurity. It's well known that he has a pretty good ego, and that insecurity usually follows a pretty good ego...but then I got to thinking. This is genius! I mean, how many people have already changed their PC purchasing plans pending this new Mac? I know I'm sure thinking about it...Macs are phenomenal machines! And to be able to get one with OSX for around $500? Unheard of! I'll be eagerly watching the market to see what develops.

So, why sue? Well, it's a way of turning trials into gold, literally. Granted, leaked trade secrets can be a bad thing. On the other hand, if you leak just enough...then the anticipation will draw even more attention. I remember when things started leaking out of pa1mOne last year about the new PalmOS handhelds...there was a lot of anticipation. Unfortunately, this was followed by disappointment for many of us. I guess that could be the big downfall of this whole thing--that the product flops because the market got it's hopes up too high. Anyway...by sueing, a few things happen:

1. Apple makes a move to protect it's valuable IP and trade secrets. This is important.
2. Since the cat's already out of the bag, why not feed it a little more? The lawsuits confirm that these rumors are, at least in-part, correct. So...let's feed the anticipation a bit!

So, it's not so bad. The only loser could be ThinkSecret. I hope Apple drops the suit or at least doesn't receive a judgement against ThinkSecret. It would be a shame that they'd have to pay for a few Apple employees' loose lips. Would we sue ABC or USAToday if they talked about this?

It's SNOWING!

Winter is finally here! School just closed, and I'd be really surprised if there's school tomorrow! Here's the view out my window:

Update on Wednesday, January 5, 2005 at 11:56PM by Tory Larson
Just a follow-up...there wasn't school today. And I wouldn't be surprised if we start late tomorrow, too!

Emergent, emerging...who are we anyway?

Happy New Year!

I've decided to keep on trucking with this blog. The site will primarily be a blog and link repository...and that's OK.

I'm no longer running Linux. I think it's ready for prime-time...but not for me. It's a great utility OS for people who aren't "into" keeping their computers on the cutting edge with a minimum of effort.

Maybe I just need to run as root. :)

Anyway....

I just finished reading this article on CT about the emerging church. Interesting perspective, albeit a bit skeptical. It raises some interesting questions...like who in the world are we, anyway?

Some days I'm not sure. I feel like a square peg in a round hole most of the time...trying to communicate an incarnational Gospel to people who seem to be about "What can Jesus do for me?" You know, it's not about that. I like McLaren't illustration of the circles (read the article)--with the individual as part of the church which is affecting the world. It's a beautiful picture...and certainly it's Jesus-style. I still long to hose the bulding and the whole bit and just live incarnationally for God in whatever way I can. Frankly, church isn't making that big of a difference in my family's life--it's "Daddy's job." And that's not right. So we need to figure out a way to be incarnational...to get it right.

But what is right? Ahh, yes...the next loaded question. The fundamental question: what IS the Gospel...and how should we best relate it to the world?