the last frustration from Matt...for now

I am TERRIBLE at pictionary. Like there is bad, but i'm a completely new level. I was playing with some friends and I couldn't even guess truck. I mean it looked just like a truck, but all i could come up with is car...four wheel drive...limo. I did draw some real good stuff though. Like this gem (darkened for your viewing pleasure):


In case you can't tell...the answer is waterski! of course:)

Question. If there are clients who cannot buckle their own seatbelts, cannot turn off the phone, and cannot unclog their own toilets, do you think it's possible that they may need more help than I am able to give them? Perhaps we should have trainings for things like this? YIKES. I actually held a training on how to turn the power button off on a coffee pot. No joke. It's amusing...up to a point.

Church frustration I have begun reading a book entitled "A New Kind of Christian" by Brian D. McLarsen. It's a fiction book in that it's a novel, but it's kind of non-fiction for the content. It is a highly criticized book which tells me it's either heretical or dead-on balls accurate (sometimes people just cannot handle convicting truth). I don't agree with everything he says per se, but I do like his premise for writing. I like this quote: "What if our personal experiences of frustration are surface manifestations of a deeper movement of God's Spirit?" It makes me wonder if perhaps the Holy Spirit is frustrated Himself, and desires to impart change through us. That could be exciting...though it will possibly mean a willingness for us to break free from what the prophet Jeremiah calls, "our old wineskins." (Things that the church has placed undue and unneeded emphasis on in our church tradition)

One paragraph in the introduction reads as such: "You can't talk about this sort of thing with just anybody. People worry about you. They may think you're changing sides, turning traitor. They may talk about you as if you came down with some communicable disease. So you keep this sort of thing like a dirty secret, this doubt that is not really a doubt about God or Jesus or faith but about our take on God, our version of Jesus, our way of faith. You let it out only when you found someone you can trust." In our postmodern worldview, we have a different way of looking at life, politics, religion, and the world in general than people of medieval times for instance. Not saying Christianity is untrue, but I am saying that we should have the freedom to think. The freedom to be intellectually (and spiritually) honest with ourselves and wrestle with questions that don't fit into the theological, pigeon-holed framework that we have developed. Since when does being a Christian give license to stop thinking critically? The point is not to revolt against evangelicalism or mainstream christianity. The point is to get out of the mold of just thinking like everyone else and accepting pat answers, cliches and platitudes that sound nice, but when you get into the real world, don't amount for crap! God is too big, too majestic! And for us to see more of God and His beauty, we should all explore the Scriptures, search our own hearts and contribute something (something perhaps new and invigorating) to the church. Wow, i'm complaining a lot about church stuff it seems...in actuality, i love the church. Well, hopefully i got that off my chest. I have more good stuff to say than negative believe it or not. You'll have to keep reading to find out:)