Welcome to ASBO Jesus
Enjoy your stay and have your say! Cheers, Jon
Blogroll
- BigDaddyWhale
- birchmultimedia
- celtic difference
- changing worship
- dennis coburn
- frontier youth trust
- growing enthusiasm
- holy famoley
- iain cotton, sculptor
- jonny baker
- let them eat cake
- mark roques
- mindwriter
- naked pastor
- proost.co.uk
- Rainforest SOS
- reality bites
- sanctuary
- si smith
- sophia network
- stepping stones nigeria
Archives
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
Hahaha! He just reminds me of my Phil! We need T-shirts…first frame on the front and punchline on the back…I’ve told you
LOL lots and lots.
But cutting the grass? Nah. I’d rather follow the call any day!!
Or is that the point I’m missing – anything feels attractive compared to following the call.
Absolutely brilliant!
Been there, done that, doing this now.
Been there, done that, got the T-shirt!
rather raises the question as to whether I’d be happy to be ‘sent’ to mow the lawn!
Nancy @ 5: “got the T-shirt” – really? Where, then we can all have one
Good point, Caroline TOO!
Luke 9:62
We had to hire that out recently. Too hot!
I third Caroline TOO’s! point, although I am just as bad as mowing the lawn as I am as being a ‘good’ Christian.
I like to think as myself as ‘one’ being sent but gone AWOL.
but what is the call?
Lol@Dennis! You’ve got it in a nutshell there! AWOL or taking the scenic route or checking my Facebook or just stopped for a coffee…
Caroline TOO you are so right. Oh dear, if that call comes I might find I like hoovering afterall…
It reminds me of when Jesus told the guy to follow him and he wanted to bury his father. Jesus told him to leaqve the dead to bury the dead, yet with so many unions and readjustments in the church and parishes getting bigger, more and more of a minister’s time is spent doing funerals – often for people with no church connection. Same with weddings. A minister can spend half his Saturdays doing weddings, just because the church looks nice and they need a warm body to perform the service. At what point just the church implode because ministers are so busy that they have not time for discipling members and actually being about the kingdom? Sorry rant over!
for me it’s that sense of disempowerment, of not having a clue how anything supposed to be done. it clings to me like a shroud- (let the dead bury their own), and get reinforcements every time i get discouraged or dissuaded about doing anything. sometimes churches have been the most crushing things to belong too – there’s always someone ready to splash cold water at an idea i put forward
@subo
“there’s always someone ready to splash cold water at an idea i put forward”
The same with anything where two or more humans try to put their ideas together.
The key is to keep trying and learning from the constructive criticisms (and praise) of others.
The same advice holds for growing in one’s faith.
@ Jon: GREAT cartoon.
@ Dennis. Love it. I know how easy it is to start off with great intentions and then get distracted right in the mi
I think my response is more: “well you could send me, but would you really want to, and i’m not sure i could wholeheartedly recommend you anyway, and wouldn’t my life be a really bad advert for following you and… er… hello? are you still there? Are you there at all… er…”
@ subo. Ouch, thats really tough. I am really sorry that you have been crushed like that. God’s heart is to restore you, not crush you. Are the cold water dispensers in positions of authority that stop you doing stuff, or is it the discouragement that stops you?
@Rockingrev. I am a bit confused. I get that endless weddings and funerals must be hard going, especially when people don’t seem to comprehend that church is anything more than a ritual, but isn’t ministering to the unreligious people actually what ‘the kingdom’ is all about? Can you explain a bit more because i think that, not being a minister myself, i don’t really understand your frustration.
@Linus
I think (and I could be wrong) that the Rev o’ Rock is bemoaning the fact that so many churches are focused on funerals and weddings and other such events that the ministers don’t have as much time to engage in community building, or teaching people about the faith, or even spending time in quiet prayer with one’s brethren.
I sympathize. My local church was small and unassuming (about 90 people or so), until we suddenly got flooded with new neighbors and converts(now our numbers are in four digit territory).
My pastor (God bless his heart) is so busy working all the sacraments and various events we have going on, that he seems visibly exhausted when he’s away from the pulpit and isn’t able to focus on the ‘kingdom building’ aspects I listed above.
Fortunately, we are training new ministers and soon (or so I pray) we will be able to better handle our great and blessed growth.
Linus, My frustration is not so much with funerals although that can be quite bad. I had one recently where the family did not want hymns and when they asked how long it was going to take asked me to cut out some prayers as half an hour was too long to say goodbye to their own father! Usually I do get a chance ot at least minister ot bereaved families and it has been one of our areas leading to greatest growth of late. Weddings however are a different matter. They just want the pretty building and the romance of a white wedding. The faith aspect is swept under the carpet. I always spend quite a bit of time with couples doing premarital counselling and I even had a bride tell me she did not have time for this nonsense as she had so much preparation to do. I then pointed out that the wedding and reception would last maybe 10 hours, I was talking about the next 60 years of their lives, which was it more important to get right! The superficiality of weddings is the main frustration. Yes, I want to reach people where they are, but in the run up to a wedding you very rarely reach people at all.
That’s cool. All jobs can be wearying and all have their frustrations and thankless busyness. I don’t envy you at all.
Jan: wow that must be a pretty crazy ride at the moment. Sabbath is a really important thing and i hope your pastor can get some rest. Its important your church doesn’t fall into the trap of expecting one leader to do everything – people in the pews need to take some responsibility too.
RR, it is really sad to hear your story about the funeral. I hope that the family did manage to grieve in other ways than a formal service, but it sounds like they gave you the impression of just not caring, which is terrible. My heart goes out to that family if they are so broken as to think they don’t care about their Dad dying. They need our prayers and compassion.
Yes you’re right, the marriage is so much more important than the wedding. It must be tough to watch people getting in to something they don’t realise the significance of. I guess in instances where people live together already, they feel they have already made a big commitment to one another and so the wedding day being a promise of commitment, or marriage being a new life stage to prepare for is less where they’re at. I think lots of people see marriage/a wedding day as a seal or re-affirmation or celebration of a commitment that has already been made.
I was at a wedding recently and the vicar’s address – which was described to me as a “nothing sermon” by one person – really interested me. He didn’t really preach at all, but he did say (can’t remember it verbatim, but along the lines of) that as long as that church community was there, this couple would be welcome, and would be prayed for and would always have somewhere to turn to in difficult times. I think when the shit hits the fan thats gonna count for more than some homily on 1 cor 13 (much as i love that passage) that might go in one ear and out the other.
Even if people show no interest now, if you can offer them a promise that they will be welcomed and cared for and cared about in their moments of crisis then i think you have genuinely served them and expressed the kingdom to them.