 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||
American Baptist Churches of Wisconsin |
||||
In This Issue:"I don't do camping!" Ever since I arrived in Wisconsin this has been my mantra. For ten years I have managed to live by my mantra. But I guess after ten years you run out of excuses and so last week I went to camp - Young At Heart! What a great group of seniors and what faith stories they have to share. I went to serve as their bible study leader. And did I put them through their paces! Each morning we began the day by doing bible journaling together. (If you have not tried bible journaling then I encourage you to check out: http://www.lifejournal.cc/) It was a joy for me to be able to sit at their feet and learn from them. Then later each morning we looked at God's word as it applied to their theme - "re-energize!" On the last day I used a clip from the movie Evan Almighty. This is a movie that is now out in DVD and is a spoof of the Noah story. If you have not seen the movie yet, I encourage you to rent it. Trust me, it is not a movie that will change your life, but it is a movie that will give you a glimpse into the world of God acting in and through individuals today. Has this every happened to you or to someone in your congregation - God, spoke to you and told you to do something? In the case of the movie it was build an ark, but it may be something as simple as buy the groceries of the person behind you or maybe something as radical as "sell what you have and give it to the poor." The only problem is that God did not tell anyone else that you were to do this. And so all of a sudden you exhibit crazy behavior and everyone gets worried about you! This movie will give you a glimpse of what it must have been like for the family and friends of Jesus to come out and get him because they had heard "he was beside himself." (Mark 3:20,21) If you feel called by God to do something in the kingdom and God and your friends think you are crazy - then I suggest you sit down with your friend(s) and enjoy this movie! Sam Brink Tom Clegg and Warren Bird in their book, Lost in America (p.43-45), suggest that people today have basically three fundamental needs in their life. They are transcendence (the need to connect with the Creator), significance (the need to have a purpose in life and do something meaningful), and community (the need to connect with others through deeply satisfying relationships). You might want to sit down with your leaders and ask what is it that we do to help people connect with their creator; develop a purpose in their life; and how do we help people connect with one another. Let me know what you come up with by emailing me at sbrink2872@aol.com and let me know if you liked the movie. p. 144 The Secret Message of Jesus by Brian McLaren |
