General Update

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I read the book of Nahum this morning. As I was reading there were two phrases that jumped out at me. Before I give you the phrases, let me remind you of the setting of the book of Nahum. Nahum is written about/to Nineveh. Nahum is full of warning, judgement and destruction. However, in the midst of all that God's goodness and favor are still seen. Nahum 1:7 says, The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and He knows those who take refuge in Him. Grace. Favor. Mercy. Nahum 2:2 says For the Lord will restore the splendor of Jacob like the splendor of Israel, even though the devastators have devastated them... Grace. Favor. Mercy. _________________________
We went to Mechanicsburg Christian Fellowship yesterday. The service was uniquely interesting. I have never experienced a 'collective worship' service like it before. Early in the service the Spirit prompted different ones to openly confess sin issues in their life. As this happened others spoke truth and life to the issue while still others prayed. We sang, we danced, we cried, we laughed, we prayed, we worshipped, we clapped, we shouted, we wept, we experienced God's body drawing closer to one another through Him.
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Greenville Fellowship had a vision meeting Friday night. Where there is no vision the people perish, and since we don't desire that we came together to again state our vision. The format was more of an open forum. Each person present was given opportunity to share their 'vision'. There was much discussion on celebrating and embracing diversity. Diversity of gifts. Diversity of talents. Diversity of style. Diversity of presentation. Diversity of personality. Diversity of conviction. Diversity of preference. However, as acculturated American anabaptists, I'm afraid (for us) it's easier said than done. As I stated on Rich's site, 'I think it's possible to mistake the ability to articulate a 'vision' for the ability to perform it. Once articulated, a vision must be prayerfully and humbly pursued. NEVER should we rest simply because of our ability to describe a vision in human terms.' Another thought I had during our discussion Friday evening (and Brian eluded to it, but never specifically stated it), 'we absolutely MUST arrest any critical spirit within our hearts if we have any hope of enjoying the blessing of diversity'.
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I can't decide whether God is trying to 'shake up' my dogma (as one brother suggested) or if the devil is trying to hi-jack God's work. Last Thursday nite I began a series on the parables of Jesus at NCCF. The intent was to record each message and make them available through the chapel so those who missed some of them could stay sequentially with the text. After the service we discovered that the recording was empty. 52 minutes of.......................nothing. So we go Saturday with intentions to move to parable #2 and hopes of capturing a recording this time. Saturday we discover that the problem Thursday nite was the mic jack in the new recorder is broken. Also Saturday, we lose over 1/2 of our service time because of an unscheduled 'housing move' and the subsequent security count. This left me in a bit of a lurch. Since I didn't feel like I had time to give the next parable sufficient examination, and due to the recorder issues, I reached way back into the archives and preached a message entitled, 'Will The Worshippers Arise', with a basic call to genuinity of Christian experience. The 22 (as opposed to 122) men who showed up responded favorably.

I suppose I'm just learning what it means to relinquish control to the One who IS in control.
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