Release the captives

We watched this in church today, along with prayer. More resources here.

The Sound of Truth

We have all heard what we wanted to hear
“Truth” that sounds right to our ears

      

But what wisdom is there within us
To live based on the feeling of our hearts
How many times has instinct let us down
Never to be thought through
Never to be questioned
Say what you really mean
When your ambition calls you
For what use is there in praying
If you will only hear what you want to hear?

    

We speak of fighting to resist this world
But what about the battle within us?
If we have chosen to live against the grain
Then why are we all facing the same way?
There is no difference between us and them
If we all blindly seek truth from sentiments 

The words of this song (by As I Lay Dying) really hit me this morning as I was on the treadmill and trying to get my head around worship and what it has become. We didn’t have a sermon this morning and instead had a time of discussion around the ‘Sunday’ Nooma DVD. I think the days of the ‘traditional’ preach are numbered.

The worship time was more intense today than it has been in a long time. People were responding to the Spirit in ways that we haven’t seen in a while. We had a longer than normal prayer/reflection time singing ‘This is my desire’. There seemed to be a real honesty in the singing of the words ‘Lord I give you my heart’.

We are a congregation in transition, and as we move forward our desire is for the masks to drop off and for us to be more like the people that God created us to be. If you’re a praying person, keep us in your prayers.

A sense of frustration with those who don’t get it!

 

“So why you gotta act like you know when you don’t know?
It’s OK if you don’t know everything.”

(Ben Folds)

Hear the Voice!

I still enjoy reading the Bible. I’m always discovering new things about me, about life, and about God, amongst other things. I try to avoid the translation wars, which is one of the dumbest, divisive things in the church today. If people can understand what God is saying through the archaic language of the KJV, then that’s fine for them, but it doesn’t work for me. I appreciate the people today who involve their lives around trying to translate the ancient words into something we can understand and share with others. That’s why I really enjoy reading the books in The Voice series, which has been described as ‘a Scripture project to rediscover the story of the Bible’. 

A large number of scholars, writers, musicians and others have been brought together to bring about this project. We used The Voice on Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday to help us tell the story and were able to have people from the congregation contribute the various voices included in the narrative. It offered a fresh perspective to words that sometimes become too familiar.

Check out the website for yourself. It may not replace your own personal favourite translation, but you may find it helpful as you try to share the good news with people around you who have no idea what it’s all about. Some people won’t like it. That’s okay. But don’t knock it or spoil it for those of us who do.

My favourite verse is translated as follows: “But think about this: while we were wasting our lives in sin, God revealed His powerful love to us in a tangbile display – the Liberating King died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

What are they scared of?

So, the Bloc Quebecois party leader, with a party that runs in only one province, is allowed to speak on the nationally televised leader’s debate, but the Green party leader, with candidates in over 300 ridings cannot. What are the others scared of? I, for one, am more interested in hearing what Elizabeth May has to say than what Gilles Duceppe, leader of a sovereignist party, has to offer.

Story here.

Petition here.

UPDATE: Wednesday – they changed their mind, click here. Good news!