GotNoBlue’s Weblog

On Monday, I got a new car. Not new as in a 08 model, but new to me. It’s actually old, a 95 Buick Riveria, with lots o miles. But it was free.

A gift.

No payment would be taken by the previous owner. They just wanted to give it away.

They had received a similar gift, and wanted to do the same for someone else. Then they found out I needed a car. At first they were going to take a nominal fee to cover the cost of a home project - but in the end the decided they wanted no payment.

And now I have a car that works. And I was able to pass my car on to someone who has the means to repair it, and use it to pile the miles on for their tri-weekly commute from Pittsburgh to Akron.

The kingdom at work. In the hearts of those generous people who just wanted to give a gift. Thanks Terry and Natalie.

So tonight, we celebrated communion at our gathering.

A little background. We serve communion once a month at our mid-week gathering. We have been trying something new for the past few months, where we give people the option to, after corporate worship, either attend a specific study, or stay for the sermon/message.

Usually, we serve communion after the message - so those who are attending the study need to decide whether to join in communion, or go to the study. Tonight, there was a miscommunication where some people in a study were told that communion would be moved so that they could partake and go to their study. Upon finding out this wasn’t actually the case, one woman sought me out in our lobby, and proceeded to explain in a very agitated state that she was told she would be served communion.

She was practically demanding that she be given communion. Which makes me wonder whether she really gets what communion is about.

Have we become such a consumer driven society that we think we have the right to demand a sacrament?

How sad.

We tend to put a lot of stock into a person’s last words. When it’s the last thing that you can to say, it tends to be a message that carries a lot of weight for the speaker.

The bible records the last words of Jesus, prior to His ascension after the resurrection in the book of Matthew. We call this the “Great Commission”, the charge to go out into the world and make disciples.

So Christians for centuries have been doing just that. Going out and converting the pagans. Because Jesus said this at the end of time on earth, we put a lot of stock in it. It is not a commandment to gloss over.

But read closely. Jesus said to “teach them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”

Jesus also said that the greatest commandment(s) were to love God with all we are (paraphrase) and to love our neighbors.

I think we are sometimes guilty of trying to convert without trying to love.

Maybe we should be more concerned with a person’s heart than adding another notch to our bibles.

Just read an article about Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback, calling for a Second Reformation within the Christian church. Read it here.

I love that he is humble enough to admit that an earlier opinion he held was wrong, or that his position on things have evolved a bit.

We need more leaders willing to look at their agenda and examine it under the lens of scripture and what is happening in the world at large.

so here is my trial run at blogging from my iPod touch.

I am still getting to know what all I can do with the touch, but so far, I am pleased with the experience.

Now that I can post from just about anywhere, you should expect much more from GotNoBlue.

Grace and peace.

i had to say goodbye to a family friend today. tiny, the 15 yr. old terrier and other stuff mix, finally needed to be out down.

now before all the peta people get mad - this was a mercy killing. tiny had become deaf, arthritic and was unable to keep down food. a natural death was only a matter of time, but would have been more painful.

this got me a thinkin’. in what other areas of my life would it be right to have a mercy killing?

are there relationships that need to die? habits? am i holding on to a belief that i need to let go?

anyway, i tossed one back for tiny tonight.  and tomorrow, i’ll be looking for those things that i need to just let go.

there are not many things in this world that are more important than me.

that is what i am saying if:

i refuse to change a pattern in my life that will benefit another.

i refuse to accept that my opinion may not be the right one.

i refuse to look at the whole, bigger picture and focus my little contribution.

as a member of a team, i need to be reminded that if one person one the team fails, i fail as well. i cannot claim that my hands are clean, that i did my part if a team member is unable to find success in their contribution. as ben lee  (my new favorie aussie pop singer) says, “we’re all in this together.”

Yummy - pie for breakfast!

Why pie? It’s my birthday! And also the birthday for Got No Blue - my riffs and rants about life and what’s going on in the church, locally and globally.

I’m new to this blogging game - so expect changes often as I get the hang of the sweet joy of letting the world know what I think.

Sweet like pie.

Breakfast birthday pie.