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I ran across a great quote from a Facebook friend, Garth Leno

When the enemy somehow tricks you into squeezing the size of your life to the size of your personal dreams, wants, and needs, he has got you right where he wants you.

I’ve been watching the great preponderance (that just means, there is a lot) of articles, videos and other media that purport (that just means, they figure they are right) to tell us about our visions for life.  We are told to have a purpose, to have plans and strategies. 

All well and good.

If we go to God first to figure out what we are about.

Our usual first place to go is to ourselves.  With pie charts and planning boards we figure out the pros and cons of life.  There are myriad (that just means, more than one or a thousand) ways to delve within ourselves and try to dredge up the truth about ourselves.

Meanwhile, God gets a sideline seat.  I’m sure he watches with amusement.  And he invites us over.  All he wants to do is put the playbook in our hands.

Simple – Yes!  Easy to do – No!  Our minds tend to like the small and controlled world we create for ourselves.  I wonder if we are ready to find out how big our lives could be?

Yesterday was a great day to be outside – while wearing some type of protection from the sun.  The weather forecast is for this to continue for the week.

Which forecast I appreciate. 

Of course, slipped in the midst of the forecast was the minor offering of a thunderstorm.  A possibility.  This does happen when the weather is warm.  But not always.  I went to bed awaiting a rainless day.  I forgot to consider a rain-filled overnight!

The rototiller was prepared, the yard was ready to be plowed.

And then it rained.  Some people missed it until they awoke this morning to a few puddles.

I awoke to the sunshine, and wet soil that would clog a rototiller without mercy.

So here I am, writing a blog.  Enjoying the sunshine.  And missing the sunburn from a day of rototilling.

Tomorrow, and tomorrow – perhaps tomorrow the soil will be tilled and the potatoes planted – or not!

Sounds a bit like a thriller about the mob!

As soon as we gather as more than one person, we must organize.   To see each other, to enjoy entertainment, to worship, to play sports, to do anything.  Any group of people becomes an organization.  The more people, the greater the organization. 

To distinguish the various stages of organization, we say things like “we are a movement”, “we have become fossilized”, and even, “our needs base is greater than our resource base.” 

Now, in both anthropology and other disciplines, we find that the least organization provides opportunity for the best per capita resourcing, the greatest amount of spare time and even the exercise of greater freedom.

A generation which watched the organization of the church take on phenomenal growth, also became disillusioned with the excesses of rules and the subsequent lack of creativity.  Centralizing does provide some efficiencies, but tends to create a standardization that stifles instead of encourages local initiatives and culture.

The fight of megachurch versus small group/church will grow greater as real estate prices increase, and as the celebrity culture confronts those who desire authenticity instead of sculpted images. 

Those who have soured on organized religion tend to feature the lack of connection, the misapplication of rules, and the need for closeness and support of a small group.  This is not just a millennial generation focus – this reaches from young to old. 

I accept that my religion, outside of my private devotion, will be organized religion.  Nevertheless, unorganized and sometimes disorganized connections with others in the church and community are enjoyed and encouraged. 

After serving in a church of over 500 people, a transition to this more flexible organization was difficult for me.  After moving to a small town and spending more than a decade in this type of setting, I still love organized activities, but I am more and more inclined to return to the very simple approach.  Love  your neighbour, hang out with them, and bring God into their lives simply and authentically.  Love God through Jesus Christ, and enjoy life!

An interesting conversation caught my attention recently.

We were trying to define the word “church”. 

Apparently King James, when he was establishing a translation of the Bible, required that the word “church” be used instead of “congregation.”  The reason:  congregation was too democratic.  While we see his effort to provide a standard translation as a unifying thing for the country, there may also have been a bias towards controlling the country through the office of the King.

Over the years, “church” has become a part of what many people revile:  organized religion.  In some cultures the word is pictorially represented by teaching – or cynically we would say indoctrination or brainwashing.  Membership is pictorially seen as related to business.

But the Bible seems to have a different approach to “church.”  I like the definition that was expressed:

When you are cut, we all bleed.