becoming

I will speak in a retreat for the weekend. Blogging should resume on Tuesday.

1. Relax.  This is not a performance-oriented event.  In our past church-life we gauged the value of our gatherings by how “good” the church-event was.  We have grown past that.  Our church-life, now, is about being the church everyday, living a 24/7 lifestyle, and about being part of a community of people whom we love and share life with.  We don’t look to the gathering to be the “big event” that will make up for our own lack of relationship with God.  So, we can relax and enjoy whatever God does in our midst.

2. Come to give as well as receive.  This is not meant to pressure anyone, but just a reminder that when we gather we are not “consumers” looking to someone else to mediate our God-experience or “bring the goods.”  Instead, we are part of an interactive community.  We come prepared, whenever possible, to share our current story and use our spiritual gifts to bless and encourage others.

3. Pause.  Take time in the gathering to just sit and wait on the Holy Spirit.  This teaches the entire group to practice listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit:

“The New Testament church was not only the dwelling place for the presence of God, it was also a learning center for the language of the Holy Spirit. People not only worshipped God in church, but they were equipped to hear him, and after hearing God, they were able to give something to someone that would build them up (Jack Deere).”

This takes time to develop.  Pausing, listening, allowing people to express what they believe the Holy Spirit is saying, this allows our gatherings to become more and more receptive to the Spirit’s promptings.

4. Pay attention to the flow.  “God wants everything to be done peacefully and in order… (1 Cor. 14:33).”  This verse is speaking to believers who are gathering together and simply indicates that there is a natural, orderly flow to His leading.  In other words, if the Spirit is leading in one direction, pay attention to that direction and don’t interrupt with something that does not fit in.  Perhaps later in the gathering it will!

5. Prepare.  Many times the Spirit will lead some or all of the participants to prepare ahead of time.  This may be something to talk about at the end of a gathering: “What does God want to do the next time we are together?”  “Are there some pieces that we know God wants us to prepare to bring?”  The Holy Spirit works through structure as well as spontaneity.  We want to make room for both.

6. Be adventurous.  We are learning to dance with a creative, adventurous God.  We can step out and try new things.  We are in a safe place to make mistakes, experiment, learn, and try again.  And as we do, as we learn to gather in Spirit-led groups, we will be part of a great harvest of people who will be prepared to take simple church—and God’s powerful presence—into homes, neighborhoods, marketplaces, and villages any time and everywhere.

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先給你一個 reference point：

• 14pt fonts，single-spaced，10 pages ，以我講道的速度相等於60mins。

而家：

• First Talk: 16pp.
• Second Talk: 22pp.
• Third Talk: ???

各位迦南團友，

點算？

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Update: Second Talk 已經cut 淨11頁！仍需努力！

不在乎合情合「理」，
卻在乎明白真「理」，
預備行各樣的善事。。

從提後三章學習

Anson is urging b/s to watch the new show God’s Warriors on CNN. I watched it last night and with some minor remarks, I urge you to do so as well.

Not sure since when, but permalinks are currently not working. If you have been clicking on any links from this site and they always refer you back to the frontpage, you know what I am talking about.

[Tech Talk: There seems to be something wrong with Apache/htaccess on Powweb, so I am reverting all links syntax back to wordpress default]

I have made some temporary adjustments in the mean time. Let me know if you encounter any more issues.

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Update (Aug 22 2007): Issue has been fixed by Powweb. Hopefully it will not happen again.

不要只作「路標」，
向人指示方向，自己卻原地踏步；
事奉者應該是「導遊」，
既與人前行，又不忘自己的成長。

從提後二章學習

教會網頁的中文繁體部份從八月一日更新至今已經半個月，因為性質內容的問題，我們沒有在網址內設下意見／回應收集。

因此我想在Becoming內問問各位，你認為

1. 新的教會網頁怎樣？
2. 有甚麼可以改善？
3. 若可能，你希望可以加入甚麼，叫你更多使用教會網頁？

請表達你的意見。