Family Faith

Okay, so right off the bat, let me say we had two videos this week…
I’ll include them below, but here are the links:
Idol Worship
Hate Religion – Love Jesus
Since it was Super Bowl Sunday, I think the first video hit home and I felt it went in with our discussion of culture and society. As for the second, we got to it at the end of class and will continue that next week.

We generally finished up inverted – chapter 5 today and discussed “interlude.” I felt that the interlude was a needed preparation for getting past the language of culture and prepare us for the language of God which we will be starting in chapter 6.

I hope you all read chapter 6 and maybe watch the videos below a few times prior to next week so we can really dive a little deeper into them.

Thanks

Here are the slides from this week.

Videos:

So we worked to finish chapter 5 today, well almost. I didn’t get to show the video I wanted so next week we will finish that and tackle the next section – interlude, next week. We had some great discussion today about the “churches” of today, should they try to be relevant to today’s society, should they represent the “rock” or just “pebbles,” should it be a veneer or a clear representation of the base… lots of great discussion and ideas.

We also had a short discussion about the role of a pastor. Those too in some ways surprised me, but in other ways they did not. Some of the statements were that Pastors cannot do everything, they can’t cover all the roles that are neede and that’s where the “family” of believers need to fill those gaps.

Next week I plan on showing a video which will challenge your thoughts about religion, Jesus, and whether the two are related or not. We’ll see where that goes. Finishing chapter 5 leads us to beginning the chapters which move on to the “language of God” rather than the language of culture… I look forward to it.

Here are the slides from today: The Slides

Great to have a few visitors this week. Thanks for bringing them Bonnie. We got through a part of this chapter… which to me is filled with lots of challenges for us. We have made it through many of the elements that the authors continue to pose as veneers and the language of culture/society. We are eagerly awaiting the last chapters to dive into the language of God.

The chapter’s title is “inverted.” I didn’t really deal with that today during class, but I’m curious why many of you feel that the authors chose this title for the chapter?

I look forward to next week… I think it will be very challenging as we discuss some of the things happening with “styles” of churches, etc. Please come and share your thoughts.

Here are the slides from this week

Have a great week.

Melanie and I first and foremost wanted to thank the class for your expressions of love via cards, emails, meals, etc. They are all greatly appreciated and living measures of “being the church.” Thank you.

Thanks as always to Beth. It is such a relief to know that you are willing to step in and take the class. Thanks as always.

So for Chapter 4 I just wanted to get through the chapter and make sure we touched on a few things. I really appreciate the comments and thoughts. I’m sorry I missed last week. It is clear that there are lots of things that are vanishing in our society, but we have the opportunity to ensure that some carry on. I think as we experience life, we learn to understand those things that make it special. “Experiencing” God, relationships, pain, these are all things that require time, attention, emotion, etc. They also require a sense of “being” there.

Here are this week’s slides.

Along with a few videos poking fun at our current status of “being present” and consumerism with technology. Please read chapter 5 for next week.

Well, in the past few days, our families have said goodbye to two incredible individuals. Please allow me the opportunity to share something about them. These men were not simply fathers, husbands, brothers, and friends. They were examples, role models, standards, living illustrations for the rest of us. Their love of God, family, and community were the things that drove them. With over 120 years of marriage combined, their devotion and love endured throughout their lives. The underlying character that guided them was one of sacrifice. They knew that to give of themselves was the greatest gift they had. Each of them strived to help others, to teach others, and to support others.

They were driven by the guiding principles which our generations are struggling with. Their generation saw these principles as unwavering. They weren’t things to pick and choose, but things to hold dear and cherish. I am not singling out our youth, I’m encouraging them to look to this generation and learn from their legacy. I think it is possible that the next generations are searching for these very principles which if found can guide them to a stronger more secure future. I saw in these men the things that can turn around a trend that has us spiraling out of control. I saw in these men the ideals and traits that can save the next generation just as it did theirs. They struggled, scrapped, worked, fought, and loved to save their families, country and so much more.

I hope to honor these two men as I live on. These aren’t the only men who possess these characteristics, but they are two who have displayed them with honor and integrity. Serving country, raising families, supporting their church are all attributes which guided them. Please consider this… never did “self” enter their equation. The generation they represent is one we can learn much from. Hope drives us to look for ways that our next generations will find similar characteristics as desirable and worthy of re-visiting.

Thank you for allowing me to use this venue to honor them. They were fantastic husbands, fathers, brothers and friends. But more, they were living examples for how to live a life for God, family and community. Thank you for that example, Joseph L. Hendricks, Jr. and William J. Evans, Jr. God’s speed. If you have members of this generation still living, cherish them. But if you can, spend some time with them, inquire of them, learn from them. They have much to share, worthy of our attention.