4.16.2009

In the New Building

This is a collection of statements that were supposed to be our dream within a dream realities of finally being in the new building. Feel free to add to the list in the comments section if you have something worth adding.

In the new Building…


1. Everyone will be perfectly lit all the time, no matter where they are.

2. If you put your ear up to any wall, you can hear the ocean.

3. There will be a constant breeze.

4. Services can go as long as we want, but it will never seem like more than an hour.

5. Justin will never go longer than he’s supposed to.

6. Everyone will know all the words to all the songs, all the time.

7. Phil won’t ever have to mix sound, it will just be perfect.

8. Everyone will be 8 feet tall.

9. People will be able to levitate at will.

10. Water fountains and toilets will be filled with wine.

11. Nothing will ever melt and the temperature will be a constant 74 degrees.

12. Everyone will have a perfect hair day.

13. People can fly.

14. The children will never be sick.

15. We will never have to rehearse.

16. Everyone will have perfect pitch.

17. The worship team will be beamed onto the stage.

18. People from all over the world will automatically speak English.

19. There will not be an offering, just a tree out back that money grows on.

20. Jesus will actually pray every night that Chuck Norris will protect the new building.

21. The church owns the land all the way down to the center of the earth.

22. The church is actually a self-sustaining Ark, good for up to 3 years.

23. It’s impossible to miss a basketball shot from half-court.

24. Everyone can dunk.

25. There will be no need for “in the new building jokes”…because we’ll be in the new building.

26. We will have a separate list of things that we couldn’t do in the Old Building.

27. Background Music will be in the Foreground.

28. Pictures of people will magically have halos over their heads.

29. Food will generate out of thin air whenever you are hungry, from whatever restaurant you want.

30. Everyone will know everyone’s names before they even meet them.

Walking the Walk, Talking the Talk.

It's been a while since I posted anything here and it's mainly because I've been working a lot (probably too much) but getting ready for Easter and all that, y'know...
Anyway, I've dealt with some pretty hard stuff at work and in life in general, and it's caused several things to happen. I realized later that these attitudes and reactions are shared by more than just me. Below is a short list of some of those...


1. anger.
2. sadness.
3. depression.
4. emotional numbness.
5. spiritual intensity.


These are just a few, and I'm sure that you could add your own to the list. The point for me was that it caused me to finally get to #5 on the list, and I want that to be my first reaction. Not my last. I thought it'd be appropriate to look at our responses to circumstances in our lives and then put them up against the biblical standard God wants us to follow.

Easy enough, right?

So the way we'll do this is, I will post the scenario and then the "typical" reaction, or reaction(s) and you can comment with scripture references that hold God's standard or God's action up for everyone to see and comment on. Also, if there is a different reaction that you may have experienced, put it down and then share the biblical standard that helps to make our process the one the honors God. My hope is that we produce dialogue that will affects life change and allows us to "live lives worthy of the calling of our Lord." (Col. 1:9-11)

So, here is the first of our situations.
(you can respond in your comments with the corresponding number)

#1

A friend from church invites you over to his house for dinner and when you get there, you realize that the other party guests are folks you have never met and, in fact, are quite opposite in regards to their spiritual walk. You soon realize that you are very much in the minority when it comes to eternal beliefs and even your friend is reluctant to share any kind of kinship on that level in the current company. (you know you've had friends like that...)

Typical reaction might be:
  • politely leave and call that friend later and express your disappointment.
  • try to blend in and be "one of the guys/girls" for the night.
  • get angry that people are such hypocrites and leave vowing never to talk to your "friend" again.
#2

The rumor mill has started and you find out that it may have been one of your closest friends that started it and what is being said about you is a horrible lie. You never did anything to provoke what is being said and you can't even figure out how someone would get that impression of you.

Typical reaction might be:
  • start your own bad-mouthing about that person.
  • blog about it! (that one's a joke... :) )
  • Track down all the people that perpetuated that rumor and tell them what you really think.
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There's a few scenarios's to get us started. Let's get the Word out and let's see what God says for us today. Can't wait to hear from you guys.