It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted any random thoughts.
I just found out in Japanese my surname is “Kaku” (originally it’s Kit or “Guo” in Mandarin) and “Kaku” actually means “stiff” in Malay .. so you guess 🙂 Mr. “stiff”? Kasu san …
Nice to know that a church once hearing my name as a possible candidate to replace a pastor that resigned didn’t pursue it further .. apparently (now this is hearsay) one of their leaders felt that the church I’m pastoring now … hasn’t grown fast enough in numbers … hmmm … 🙂 I’m secure …
So this whole “I’m not a pastor of a fast growing church” made me think what do people REALLY consider as success – how do people perceive what’s the issues that matter in their local church? what do we want? or more precisely, what does God really want? What does it mean to be faithful to the Gospel? Basic questions lah!
Getting back to some prayer journaling was good this afternoon. My physical body also hasn’t been able to be fully on tip top energy the last few days but somehow I pull through …
Facilitating Lectio Divina was good tonight for the groups that came for the “Beyond leading a small group” training I did for 2 nights. My friend Wolfgang did well to share some background and theological insights from Bonhoeffer’s classic Life Together.
Today I heard from the Bishop’s mouth … who are the nominees for the upcoming convention for the various positions. Hmmm … we’ll see what happens.
wow! we had quite a feast just a while ago … went back to the “Kung Fu” man’s Fried Noodle stall …
Some younger person told me today that some of the links I posted were too deep… then I got comments that they love it … well, I just post what I post naturally … everyone is at a different place .. and it’s ok. … there are times we Pause, other times we move … sometimes, we need to dig deeper .. other times we just need to relax … it’s not a pick and choose .. it’s about acknowledging the different seasons we are in.
Nice to see Elysia begin to roll over the side!
I’m struggling through what “the issues are that matter” to God in our local church. I’m wondering if the whole way we are doing church is really Biblical. We gather on Sunday in a building w/ lots of people, sing songs, lecture for 30 – 40 minutes, take an offering, sing some more, and go home. Is this the Biblical model? Is this what Jesus wants for us?
It seems to me we’ve made the “worship service” the center of the church…the indespinsable thing…while we’ve regulated fellowship and discipleship (being a part of a small group of peole who “live” w/ us in Christ) to the arena of the optional. Success is evaluated by the # of people coming on Sunday morning or the # of people in our discipleship program. Are we so centered on Worship that life together becomes almost impossible? Is this the Biblical model? Is this what Jesus wants? Have we made an idol out of the worship service?
What would church look like if the worship service was NOT the central piece? Would it be more Biblical? Would it be a more Christian way to accomplish “the mission”?
just want you to know: from where I stand, BLC is Huge ; D. and the people there (whom I’ve met) are real, which is great. keep it up!
Fr’nklin ~ great to have a comment from you. I agree that the “worship service” (as most people perceive it) needs to have a re-examination of its role. In recent years, I’ve been working towards rethinking its role from a mere “come and fill me up!”-only or “this is a Christian obligation” to how can “meeting” together in this way open us up more to “accomplish” the mission! In our context I try to be a catalyst to encourage … a healthier view and interaction between smaller groups (we have 5 groups) and the all group gathering about 50-60 adults and 15 kids -worship service- (where others who are less connected with small groups are somehow included). I’m learning more and more to appreciate the value and limitations of both forms, and yet … consciously thinking reflectively (i.e. theologically & missiologically) on my level how all this translates in concrete situations!