The Importance of Being The River

We are examining the book of James, our Lord's little bro- right now in our Worship Gatherings. I must confess that James is a tough portion of the scriptures to wrestle. Tough, but fruitful. I hope that it is also for the whole of our community.

This past Sunday we looked at James 1:26-2:26. A lot to tack in just an hour or so. It might prove to be transforming to open up some discussion as a community. One particular verse we lightly touched on is James 2:19- but perhaps we should discuss further.

"You believe that God is One; you do well. Even the demons believe-and shudder!"-

There may be a touch of sarcasm in that verse (you do well)! What James seems to be addressing is not a generic acquiescence to the existence of God. Rather, it appears that James is alluding to a Creed (The Shema` Creed/Prayer of the Hebrew People from Deut 6:4). A doctrinal statement of sorts.

To James, as we have been approaching the book, Jesus is what it is all about! James in his opening greeting identifies himself as a "Slave" or "Servant" of our Lord, Jesus the Christ. Whatever lack of references specifically to Jesus there may be, the book has a beautiful aroma of the teachings of Jesus, especially the Sermon on the Mount. For James, who Jesus is-that is the Paramount Foundation of Being the People of God- Being The River (being the river is how we "be" the people of God here). As Alan Hirsch (as well as a host of others) has identified: the Chief Doctrine is our Christology (Our Belief and Consumption of who He is & what He did/and does). Everything flows from Who Jesus is! (and what he does/did-but that seems to be consistent with who He is, therefore we shall say- Who Jesus is going forward). Alan H then suggest- Our Christology drives our Ecclesiology which drives our Missiology.

In other words, who we believe Jesus is, determines what We are, which inspires what We do! I know you can see it, hear it.............Jesus, the Authentic Life (Life Giver, Life Sustainer, Originator, Meaning instiller!) makes us what we are (as we embrace Him) and motivates us to do what should be natural. Or let's say it this way: we aspire (b/c of Who Jesus is) to be "An Afflux of authentic life"! We want to be the people of God, which dictates that we desire to live in such a way (an Afflux) that we overflow as vessels of Living Water, Rivers of Life (John 4:14, 7:38) for the good of the world.

Our Ecclesiology (what we are- A Community/A church/ Kingdom People) and our Missiology (what we do) feed off each other. No doubt that our Ecclesiology must come first in one sense-Namely-we cannot be on mission w/ God except that we are w/ God, belong to God through Jesus-are the people of God. But that is only initially in our understanding. What James seems to be saying in Chapter 2 is that the two (Ecclesiology & Missiology) feed each other. If we are the People of God, then we'll do what God in Jesus (whom we are in Also) did/does. And as we DO what God did/does-we foster the Kingdom Community! A People who do NOT Do what makes a people a particular people, are not those people at all. (E.g.- What makes Athletes, Athletes? Playing sports...right?! One is not an Athlete if one does not play sports. Surely, one plays sports b/c there is an inclination to play sports, a desire to compete in this way, and therefore one does compete in Sports. If one does not play sports, then one is NOT an athlete, however that does not make one an athlete b/c one plays, but only playing sports is the natural reality of being an athlete).

We are The People of God, therefore we ought to live as God in Jesus lived/lives!

This is what James is wonderfully reminding us. Be the People of God. BE THE RIVER!

What we are drives what we do-and what we do authenticates and cultivates what we are!

All of this has to be firmly, solely, passionately grounded in WHO JESUS IS!

Proverbs 29:18 says "Where the vision of God is cloudy, the people go crazy and stumble all over themselves; but when God's reality is seen and lived it is a great joy for the kingdom community"

It is a great practice to speak of Jesus and the vision of our community. We should never tire of dialoguing Who Jesus is, What we are, and what we do! And it even great to use the phrase- "We aspire to be 'An Afflux of Authentic Life'".

So here is an opportunity to join in as a community to speak this reality, dream:

Will you share who Jesus is to you, to us in your words, and what we are, and what we aim to do? Share it personally, narratively (not list form, but in Story form-that's a D~n~A of ours. we should practice these things).

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sc

Unlearning How to Talk

Tonight in our gathering with The River, Sam led us in an exploration of James 1:18-25. One of the scriptures we read and talked about and meditated upon was “let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger”. This particular passage really evoked my attention and I admit I wanted to sprint and tell everyone what my spin on it would be and how clever I am at interpreting it, but what really struck me was the way in which it really nails me to the wall (or cross) in daily life. My concern is more times than not speaking what I want the other person to hear rather than having me hear the other person. Even when another is telling me their opinion I frequently wonder the words, “When are they going to stop talking so I can really dazzle them with my knowledge of how things really are?” Of course, I am much too clever in my evil to think things in this direct sort of way, but I do tend to fell the gist of that thought.

It really is at the essence of selfishness for me to look at the world this way and I was convicted tonight that I am a part of the problem in my world of brokenness, as I look only on my interests and not the interests of others. I seek to be heard rather than to understand. I seek to insert my spin on the world without any regard to whether it might be right or not. My anger does seem to be connected to this, as well, as something can be truly small, but my mouth can erode it into something massive.

This brings to my mind a story from my childhood. Many years ago when I was in elementary school, my brother, who is seven years older than I am, and I were not getting along. I was angry with him and was looking for a way to get back at him. So, he was on the phone one day talking with who I assumed was his girlfriend at the time. I did not hear what he was saying but I could apparently tell he was talking on the phone, so I listened for my moment and the moment came. He sat the phone down on the bed and walked out of the room and I sprang to action. I went and picked up the phone and yelled in my most obnoxious voice the words, “Who in the hell is this?” I soon found out as the response came to me in a very familiar voice, “Jason? Is that you?” and I soon felt an overwhelming shock of numbness run through my body, as I was so paralyzed with fear that I dropped the phone back onto the bed and ran out of the room. I could soon hear my brother say something to the effect of “He said what?” He immediately came into the room after the phone call and expressed to me that I was going to get it when Daddy got home and my Dad was true to his word.

That story often reminds me of many conversations and relationships I have had with people in which I have made large assumptions about who they are without taking the time to really listen or understand. I barge in unannounced, unconcerned, and uninvited (in some cases) with the only intent being that of wanting to be heard. It is like the fool who “takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.” This post tonight hopefully will be the first step of change (or repentance) towards God’s work of recreation in my life and my community. God, help us to receive with humility your word of truth through which we can be rescued from our pride and selfishness and own loud voice. Help us to unlearn our tendency to talk first and listen second. Your will be done in our mouth as it is in heaven. In Jesus’ Name or Kingdom, amen.

Jason # 2

What I'm Here For.

The other night during the eucharist when everyone was confessing, I couldn't find the right words at the time. If I could have, I would have spoken about my dissatisfaction with life as of lately. 

I remind myself... I actually have a job in the midst of these grueling economic times, and opportunity to attend a fairly incredible school to receive an education. But all I find myself doing is complaining. 

"My job takes up too many hours of my time.. I hate school... I don't even know what I'm doing with my life.. This all feels like a huge waste of time." 

It's extremely unfortunate. 

I'm swarmed by the most incredible people in the world. That's enough for me right now.. and I honestly hope that never changes, but it makes it tough for me to suck it up some days and deal with the war I'm at with figuring out if some worldly things really are for me. I find myself wrestling with contentment in my actions.  

I was raised by two fairly traditional parents. Naturally, I always planned on graduating high school, attending a college for four years and then moving on to the next chapter, which mostly pictured me with a steady, pretty typical job.. probably married with 2 kids.. white picket fence, blah blah blah. Things have definitely changed since high school. I am completely changing my views on my future almost every day. I'm ok with that. I'm 22. I guess it's "normal". But it makes dealing with the passing time very difficult sometimes.  I usually remind myself.. It's only 2 more years of your life. People your age do it every day. Possibly stick it out just to honestly not deal with the wrath from my family. I know they just want the best for me, and care about my well being.. and graduating with a degree typically helps a person be in a more financially stable condition.. especially for someone who's not so distinct on a certain life plan. I had always wished I could have that one extreme passion that decided your major and education plan for you. I recently reached a place where I have finally accepted that I don't have that advantage.. and it's ok. I want it to make the ride even more beautiful. I want to be content with not knowing, and relying more on God to lead me. I want to be in a place where I'm treading through these last few semesters of school and part time job with a responsible and grateful attitude. 

I just know that I have realized more than ever, now that I've spent time at the River and with all of you, that my heart has a burning desire for missions. Any type, really. Just helping the helpless in general. I'm excited to reach a point of acting on this desire. I hope that it will be my driving force for something huge one day. I believe that it will be.. or something close to that nature.  

I have found MuteMath's song "Progress" to be my theme song these days. Listen to it if you never have before. Incredible.  

Pulling your confidence through 

Some courage is well overdue 

I believe solely in all your promise 

Why waste a second in doubt 

You could be helping you out 

Keeping your head in the clear  

Like an instrument for a song 

Like the sun for tomorrow’s dawn 

Every moment of time’s just an answer to find 

What you’re here for, what you breathe for

What you wake for, what you bleed for  

Everyone’s counting on you 

Save for yourself what to do 

Life is a card that you lay down sometimes 

To search for the best way of all

Is finding the best way to fall 

Keeping your head in the clear  

Every moment of time’s just an answer to find 

What you’re here for, what you breathe for 

What you wake for, what you bleed for 

What you hope for, what you live for 

What you’re here for, what you breathe for, what you live for 

What you’re here for, what you bleed for, what you live for  

Oh and also.. my favorite verse as of lately has become Matthew 6:34 "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

I never remembered the passage for some reason, and one night Sam referenced it.. I remembered how much I loved it, went to my phone to text it to myself and it was 6:34.  So I've remembered it ever since. 

Ain't that just like the Lord?

-Bittems

She Said That She Was Slave And I Told Her I Was Free. She Put Shackles On My Wrists And We Fell Onto Her Sheets.

Coming to The River for the past year has really challenged me in a lot of ways. As a lot of you know, I grew up Southern Baptist. Then during my latter high school years, moved on to Calvary Chapel (following a girl), which is basically Southern Baptists who like to surf. During my tenure in these churches, morals and rules were very well drawn out. There were no questions, only answers. I was okay with this for a long time. I had very little rebellious spirit in my younger years, simply out of fear of my grandpa (not so much God).  

At some point, Calvary started to feel very empty to me. The brightness and coolness of the atmosphere just seemed to fade to very dull colors. So I left the confines of the building called "church" and set out to find my own way. At this point in my life, my favorite song (which I listened to daily) was The Wanderer by Johnny Cash and U2. "I went out there in search of experience. To taste and to touch and to feel as much as a man can before he repents." These were words that spoke to me about exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted experience. And for the most, experience I did. I smoked, I drank, I cussed, I took pills. This was all very new ground to me, but it felt more real than what was being pushed on me at "church". I had a craving to understand how "the other side" lived. But I still found this to be empty ("Vanity, vanity). There were no answers, only questions.  

When I found my way to The River, I discovered something that I hadn't before. I could call it a lot of things, but at the core was community. There weren't rules dictating my life. There wasn't a sense of arrogance that seems to follow knowledge or understanding. There was simply honesty. Honest people seeking out an honest way to follow the teachings and the life of Jesus. There was/is no need for me to be something that I am not and I value that. There are bits and pieces of both previous eras of my life that stuck. I still am pretty conservative when you get right down to my core. I still smoke, drink and cuss. However, now I feel free to discover what it means to truly live in the freedom Christ grants and I know that along my journey, I will have a family to support me.  

Psalm 1 1:1 Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers; 1:2 but his delight is in Yahweh’s law. On his law he meditates day and night. 1:3 He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither. Whatever he does shall prosper.