Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Participation Part 1 - From busted to better than Ever


I went to Reality, a church place in downtown Olympia, last Sunday. The experience gave me renewed perspective on two stories I'll share, and provided opportunity to co-labor with Papa for healing.

I don't typically go to places that call themselves church. Church is a who, not a what or a where. But this was an exception; an act of obedience to a series of undeniable words from Papa, which I will compile and share in part two.

The sermon, given by Paul Jones, an elder at Reality, was a kickoff to Advent (no surprise there). Titled "King of Faithfulness," the sermon launched from Psalm 98 and Paul discussed the cycle of pain, patience, and promise that humanity has experienced from Genesis on.

Basically, humanity experiences pain, then must patiently endure until God makes a promise and the pain ends (That's a extreme paraphrase, folks. The full sermon is available for a listen, if you need more detail and accuracy). That cycle is illustrated throughout the Old Testament, and we can see it in the world today.
Vocalist and Drummer participating with audience to sing
"The Fly" Dec 1 at Le Voyeur. Photo by Winter Rain X

So what breaks that cycle? According to Paul: participation.

Now we're getting somewhere.

Paul, using Psalm 98 as a reference, explains the cycle is broken because God participates. "He has remembered his love and his faithfulness," says verse three.

"If you're an underliner, take out your pen and underline 'remember.' If you take one thing from tonight, take this: God remembers," said Paul. "Remember" in this case doesn't indicate that God forgot, and has suddenly recalled his love and faithfulness. Rather, it indicates action; to remember is to act upon his promises. In other words, God participates. God is participating in our lives.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

The Unhinged Servant - Part 3

I'm writing for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), so my fingers and thoughts have been rather tied up. An Associated Press article released today caught my attention, though, and re-sparked some thoughts I was in the process of growing from and sharing here. 

Part 2: Boundless Leaders

November 7 at You Are Never Alone, an Occupy Sandy
outreach center. AP Photo by Craig Ruttle.
Service has been a huge topic of discussion for Papa and I. The impact of those discussions has been to completely reshape and restore my concept of The Church as Christ's bride, not a religious organization. 

In the first of two previous posts, I shared the point from which I entered these conversations with Papa (Part 1). Mostly rant, wholly honest, it was from that level of awareness Papa held my hand and walked with me the path to new awareness. In the second part, I recalled a few key moments in these conversations where the proverbial lightbulb flipped on (Part 2). From these moments, I was launched into territory I'd never been. Suddenly, fresh fruit was growing from conversations with Papa I hadn't even realized we were having. 

One of those conversations revolved around leadership. Communities I was a part of were dying, and I kept thinking, It's because we have no leadership. 

One day, not long after realizing I had been granted my request for new eyes (and so have you), Papa chimed in again. What does leadership look like? After a moment of imagining leaders I choose not to follow, and those I do, he asked What do leaders do? It took me a little more time to imagine this. Do they direct discussion? Tally votes? Disperse tasks? Make decisions? Teach? Prophesy? Guide? Motivate? 

It took more time to realize that a leader does all of these things, in any way they can, in whatever way is needed. It is a leader's role to step in and fill whatever role is needed for the project, group, or community to flourish. 

Leadership is a limitless gift, by which we release the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, by which we directly reflect Papa God. It is not a gift that grants control or authority. We have control and authority over the powers of darkness, the principalities and rulers of the world. Our authority is over satan, demons, and disease, not over our fellow humans. 

Leadership, like service, is a gift directly from Father God (here's that gifts list again). I discussed in Part 2 that my new eyes (and yours) were capable of seeing areas that once appeared as lack or laziness, but were in fact opportunities to co-labor with Papa. Opportunities to step into a need, and transform it into a blessing. I thought these were servants eyes, resultant of walking in the gift of service. 

Then Papa brought me back to the conversation we'd begun about leadership. Why aren't you leading, if it's leadership that is needed? He asked. 

Leadership is not my gift. I've never been a leader. Im not a leader. As I continue to pull the log out of my eyes, I've started to understand that the more I embrace the gift of service and choose to walk in it, the more I will find myself leading. Leadership is not an identity to claim, but a gift to receive and give. What I thought were servant's eyes, were also the eyes of a leader. The two gifts go hand in hand. The gift of leadership provides a willingness to take action, the gift of service provides a willingness to take the needed action, not the action that best suits us. When a need is presented, it doesn't remain a need after a servant leader gets hold of it. 

Saturday, October 27, 2012

The Unhinged Servant - Part 2

My understanding and experience with worship over the past week has me firmly convinced that worship is not limited to church buildings. Nor is it limited to musical talent. It is an all the time, everywhere part of life that allows our spirits the freedom they so crave. That said, I've included two songs I've been worshiping Papa with, and I find them very relevant to this post. Let your spirits soar, friends. (Some will be initially repelled by the first video. Please get over it and listen anyway.)


Part 2: Battle For Eye

Several months ago, my friends got together for one of our last Bible studies at The Yellow House. Over hookah and snack food, we opened our Bibles and talked about our lives. We were in the thick of Acts, which led to a conversation about spiritual gifts. I was going through a phase of breaking, inhaling, growing and breaking again and again (Dan Smith, "David De La Hoz," featured above). I shared my experience filling out spiritual gifting questionnaires (From Part 1), and said "I saw Service as a gift, knew I should mark it, and specifically chose not to. And still, though I understand the value of the gift, and I'm pretty sure I have it... I'm fighting it tooth and nail."

My roommate's dad, Dave, was there. He is one of the few adults I trust to share an open, Bible focused discussion with. In response, he said, "There are three lists of gifts in the Bible. Service is on the list of gifts given directly from Father God. If you're fighting that, you're fighting God."

"No wonder," I said. And was silent the rest of the night, pondering the implications of his statement. (Ok, silent is a drastic overstatement. But the pondering has continued ever since."

Service is a gift directly from Father God. If you, like me, are in the service industry, you are in position to move under open heaven. You are in position to commune directly with Papa God, all day long. You are in position to co-labor with the God of all creation, and significantly impact lives.

What's missing from this ministry opportunity? Not a thing my friends. Ready and willing hearts are all Papa needs.

You may feel mad. Used. Overworked, underpaid. Looked down on. Undervalued. Like no matter how friendly you act and how broad you smile, your tips are shit. [If you haven't read Part One, now would be an exceptional time to do so.]

You are ok.

Christ lived to serve, and was spit on, kicked, tortured and scorned in return. You are in good company.
Not all people are in the state of mind or spirit to receive your service gift. Many expect you to serve them; they're paying you after all. Many don't respond when you ask how they're doing, and most certainly don't ask how you're doing.

You are ok.
Your ability to walk in the gift of service, to serve in Christ's image, is not dependent on others' ability to receive that gift.

Friday, October 26, 2012

Givers 1.2 - To Walmart, and Beyond!

Provision is hard for me to ask for. Hard for me to expect. Because I fear. Fear that I'm being greedy, or prideful, or unworthy or lazy. But I am learning to trust Papa with my needs. I'm learning the importance of receiving as well as giving. That provision isn't just about money, food, and the various physical needs I tend to focus on (though Papa wants us to trust him with these). Our spirits need communion with Papa, and with people. Need to worship, to serve, to love and share. Here's a story about provision beyond the physical.

Givers 1.3 - To Walmart, and Beyond!


Jeremiah and I don't frequent Walmart often. The whole environment kind of freaks us out, to be honest. But on this day, we bit the bullet and made a trip. We needed the cheapest possible white t-shirts to decorate, and Walmart was our last hope.

We squinted under the florescent lights and made a beeline for the men's underwear section. Our mission: packaged undershirts.

We found our bounty, hastily decided on the package that contained the most for the least, plucked one pack of each size, and made another beeline for the register.

One register was separated from a cluster of open registers and a crowd of people. Twenty or so unused registers buffered us from the commotion. Our relief was immense as we stepped into line behind the man being rung up.

The woman checking and bagging products looked to be in her 30s. Short, curly, dishwater blond hair. Nothing stood out about her, except the expression of misery on her face. I was slightly offended by her poor customer service. She didn't say a word to the man ahead of us, except to inform him of his total. She didn't smile. She hardly looked up. The man rolled his eyes slightly and left without comment.

Before I could decide how to respond to this woman's attitude, I heard Jeremiah say "Hello, how's your day going?" His words were bright and sincere. Even my frustration dissolved into an honest desire to hear her response.

"Not well." She said quiet but firm.

"I'm really sorry to hear that," Jeremiah said. "Would you like to talk about it? I'd be happy to listen."

She looked at him for a moment, her eyes welling with tears. After a deep breath she said, "My best friend died a couple days ago. I just, I loved her so much. The police are opening an investigation for murder. I'm just so heartbroken."

Jeremiah and I glanced behind us. No one was in line. "Since there's no one waiting, would you be ok with some prayer?" I asked.

"Absolutely. And it wouldn't matter if there was a line," she said. Strength was returning to her voice already.

"We would like to lay hands, if your comfortable with that," Jeremiah offered. She was, noting that she was Seventh-Day Adventist (I think this was to suggest that laying hands was familiar to her, but I don't know much about Adventists.) With a quick peak at her name tag, he confirmed her name. "It's Susan, right?" We clasped hands across the counter, and prayed for several minutes. Someone walked up and paused in our line briefly, but decided better of it and walked away quietly.

Several tears and goosebumps later, we looked up at each other with relaxed lips and blushed cheeks. Susan walked around her register hugged us both. "Thank you brother, thank you sister," she said in turn. "God always knows exactly what we need before we even ask." We hugged again, and waved each other away with blessings.

Fleshbook Facelift

I have been on the verge of deactivating my Facebook account. If I weren't in the midst of some awesome conversations, I would do so. A series of reasons have urged me to keep it. Contact with distant friends and family. The teaching, revelation and conversation I get from the friendships I've found there (Click here for some examples).

Recently the desire to deactivate has been growing. And I've started telling myself to keep it, if only to promote my blog. Papa has spoken to me directly, three times now, on the issue of self-promotion. First was a suggestion to stop checking my page views. I get curious. I want to know if people are reading. I get motivated to write more when I see people are reading more. And therein lies the heart of Papa's suggestion, I believe. I don't ever want to alter my content in order to gain or maintain viewership. This is the same as a pastor altering her message to please (sometimes conversely, to chasten) her congregation, a reason I've quit following teachings in the past.

The second time was to reveal to me the issue I was facing, because I hadn't been aware of an issue at all. I knew what I didn't want to do - cater to crowds at the expense of truth and honesty - and figured that was enough to prevent myself from doing it. What I didn't realize is I was laying the groundwork to do just that, and could very well wind up on a soapbox I didn't know I'd built.

Why aren't you checking your pageviews? Papa asked.

I am trusting that if anyone will benefit from my writing, Papa, you will provide them with it.

I do not need to promote myself. Doing so is an act of mistrust. (Personal revelation, with various factors contributing. I don't suggest this is the case for everyone!)

When I allow my writing to be altered by fear of a negative reaction from a reader, even for a brief moment, I am allowing pride, doubt, vanity, and a host of other demonic forces to influence me. Not good. Not my goal. The third time Papa spoke was today, through the following Fleshbook post from Praying Medic. For me, it was confirmation that I can trust Papa with this blog. I do not need to self-promote. Papa is my provider. He will provide for both reader and writer. This is good news, because it speaks into a slew of other areas in my life. (It also confirms several aspects of our conversation that would simply be a repeat of Medic's note were I to share. But dang, this is  a good note.)

Monday, October 15, 2012

Givers 1.1 - By Needle and Ink.

I want to discuss giving. I believe the act of giving is an inherent trait of our identities in Christ. Christ is the embodiment of perfect theology, and he made giving a major component of his Earthly ministry. Love and selfishness do not go hand in hand. A selfless heart hoards nothing.

Before I can really get at my thoughts on giving, I need to share some stories about provision. Miracles in their own rights, these stories demonstrate the giving character of Papa. They should help to set the mood, energy, spirit feel, mojo, feng shui, whatever, for our giving chat.


Givers 1.1
Divine Provision by needle and ink.

Winter wanted a tattoo.

After stepping out of the workforce for several months (and thriving, I might add), she hadn't had extra pocket cash for anything more than essentials. Let alone a tattoo.

Winter, Rabbits, And Special Agent Dale Cooper.
Photo by: Winter Rain X 

"Connect me with an opportunity to get a tattoo," she asked God one day.

Shortly thereafter, she and her boyfriend Esa took their dog Cooper to the vet for vaccinations and a checkup. It was not a stress free experience. The appointment was made by Esa's mom without their foreknowledge. For fear of backlash from the doctor, they declared Cooper a German Shepherd Mix. Winter was feeling less that comfortable, and wanted little more than to bail on the entire operation.

"German Shepherd, huh?" The veterinarian raised her brows while looking over Cooper's charts. "I'm going to go check with doctor and make sure these vaccines aren't going to be harmful for her."

When Ms. Vet returned, Winter decided Cooper's health was too important for secrecy. "She's a hybrid wolf, not a german shepherd," she confessed.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

The Unhinged Servant - Part 1

Part 1: Self Interest 

Service is a gift directly from Papa (see Romans 12). Service is also an industry.

A fucked up, demon ridden industry that I thank Pops daily (now that I've had time to reflect on the situation) for the opportunity to infiltrate and destroy from the inside.

I am uncomfortable being paid to serve. I am uncomfortable being expected to serve. I'd really much rather spend my time doing pretty much anything else.

I write this as a servant of Papa God. A begrudging servant, at best. A cog in the machine that is the service industry. A burnt out cog in need of a spit polish.

I write this for the encouragement of my fellow servants, as well as my own encouragement. And whether you know it or not, if you're reading this you carry the gift of service (so this is for you, too).

I pledge my hands to larger service,
and Heavenly Doughnuts. 
About three years ago, I was discovering that Papa God is not a collection of bullshit fantasy fiction wrapped and bound in the pages of a book called Bible. Rather, as He's continued to reveal Himself to me, He's a loving, nurturing, living badass who heals, raises the dead, multiplies food, teleports people, and otherwise defies the laws of physics we tend to submit ourselves to. And those bullshit stories, well they keep ringing true. I see them happen with my own eyes.

With this new perspective, and after watching the documentary Finger of God several times, I decided I  seriously wanted to go to Africa and learn with Heidi and Roland Baker at Iris Ministries. I diligently perused the Iris Ministries website, found an application for their ministry school, and set to filling it out.

The application included a list of spiritual gifts, with a prompt to check off all that apply. I'd never seen such a list, and had no idea if I was worthy to check off any. Sure, I want the gift of healing, of prophesy, leadership, miracles (here's a useful link if you're unfamiliar with the gifts I'm talking about). Those are awesome. Frack yes.

But can I actually do these things? I asked Papa. And he nudged me to check off a few. Service was one. I chose not to check it.

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Fleshbook Weekly

Pete*, a regular customer and friend from my coffee shop, has had some life-shifting God encounters recently. I will be sharing his stories once Papa gives me the green light, so I won't go into detail now. However, he and I had a conversation yesterday that provides an added layer of relevance to both this edition of Fleshbook Weekly, and Pete's growing list of encounters.

"You told me God was going to reveal Himself to me in ways I could never imagine," Pete told me as I sat down.

A hive kept by Craig Adams, whose bee keeping practices
are as Spirit inspired as his Facebooking. (click for more)
"Now that you mention it, I remember saying something along those lines," I replied. I'd said it during a conversation we'd shared with Winter, which was the first of several of its kind to come after it. The discussion was full of stories and prayer, so the particular sentence that stuck with Pete hadn't really stuck with me. Funny how God speaks to and through us without our awareness sometimes.            
"Right, well I'm not quoting you perfectly accurate, but that's the gist of it. And I laughed then, but that's exactly what's happening." We both laughed. Pete's disbelief was not unmerited; his history with religion is a painful one, and the claims Winter and I made were bold at the least. I remember telling God afterward, look Papa, we spoke way too boldly for you not to back us up.

"I bought a Bible," Pete continued. "I've even been reading it. I feel like I owe you guys that much."

"Is it any different this time around?" I asked.

"Not really, to be honest. Still pretty boring. But I'm doing it because I feel like I should."

Friday, September 21, 2012

Kidney Roast Part 2: The Process

In-between laying hands on Jessie's kidneys, and writing "Kidney Roast Part 1," Papa and I did a lot of talking. I didn't realize just how much talking until I started writing Part 1, and the post grew far, far too long. If you haven't read Part 1, I recommend doing so before reading this post, for this will make little sense out of context.

Let's jump in!

One issue Papa and I talked about was why I wanted to write and share Jessie's story in the first place. Writing is a vital means of communication between Papa and I. As I wrote Part 1, God pointed out that if the current model of church, involving a building, programs, etc., isn't something I'm willing to embrace, I need an alternative.

I shared Jessie's story not only because she felt the tangible presence of God through me, but because I felt Him through her too. We shared the experience. "Kidney Roast Part 1" isn't just Jessie's story, but mine also. Shared experience is pivotal in my effort to illustrate an alternative to the church model I've rejected. 

Another aspect of my conversation with Papa revolved around personal growth, and further expounds upon the necessity of shared experience.

When I pray to heal people and ask what they feel, heat is the most common response. Jessie is the first person I've been able to confidently discuss the nature of that heat with. I  didn't know the relevance until I started perusing a friend's blog, Mobile Intensive Prayer Unit. Two posts in particular, "The Summer of my Discontent," and "ICU Being Healed," prompted me to email him and also taught me about this heat everyone was mentioning.

  
From ashes shall the phoenix rise.
From spro' and foam shall it be drawn.

When Kendal and I laid hands on Jessie the first time, I didn't know she'd felt any heat because I didn't ask. When customers came in, we abandoned our healing efforts. The conversation with her afterward went something like:

          How do you feel? 

          So much better, but still some pain. 

          Ok great! 

Round two, I'd had time to learn from our first attempt. I asked how she felt as we prayed, and after each interruption in our prayer I returned directly back to the task at hand. When I finally learned about the heat Jessie had been feeling, it still wasn't because I'd asked her about it. I felt heat in my own hands, and mentioned it without thinking.

 I realized afterward that I'd had a specific question on my heart, are you feeling any heat?, all along. But I wasn't confident enough to ask such a specific question, so I settled with how do you feel? 

Though on accident, I'd opened up conversation. This leads me to another point in my chat with Papa. Shared experience, I'll say, is the seed of community. Open communication, then, is the soil in which community flourishes.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Fleshbook Weekly

Technically, the meat of this edition of Fleshbook Weekly is actually a post on a friend's blog, The Pilgrimgram. This friend, who goes by Nor'West Prophetic on Fleshbook, shared a link to the post today, though it was written in 2007.


Interesting that Nor'West found it pertinent to repost today. In fact, it wasn't until a touch of research that I even noticed the post's age. As I read, I heard echoes of conversations Papa and I have been having over the past week about the vitality of community, provision and giving. I've got drafts in the works for upcoming posts on these very subjects. They're still drafts because I'm waiting for the right conversation with Papa to call them good. The post Nor'West shared strikes me as a significant element of that conversations.

Without further ado, click to read "Spend the Oil."

Sunday, September 16, 2012

A poem about love by my friend Winter

Kidney Roast Part 1: The Story

Friday, my coworker Jessi and I manned the coffee stand at Group Health. Jessie just went through a round of antibiotics to combat a kidney infection, and has been feeling better. But yesterday, her kidneys were aching and negative side-effects from the antibiotics were beginning to cause problems.

During her bout with the kidney infection, Kendal and I laid hands on Jessie's back. She guided us to the location of her kidneys, and we prayed. Afterward, she felt better. We felt relieved that she was open to the healing idea and that we actually gave it a shot.


This time was a little different.

Jessie clocked out promptly at two p.m. and gathered her belongings. For the first time during our shift, there were no customers waiting to be served. So I stopped her and placed my hands over her kidneys. I began praying, giving thanks for who Jessie is and the health that is her inheritance. "The river of life flows from Your throne, which is inside Jessie and I. I release it," I said. And someone in dire need of a cookie walked up.

I stopped and served the cookie. Usually I would have considered the interruption the end of our prayer, but Jessie waited around and without hesitation I returned my hands to her back and continued praying.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Cupcakes and beer: an unexpected, Spirit-filled Communion.

Alberto and Miah, giving the mash a whirl.
Last week, Jeremiah (Miah) and I found ourselves in a cupcake bakery downtown Olympia, helping a friend brew beer. What a communion it turned out to be.

We helped our friend, Alberto, sanitize and clean his supplies, peel labels off old beer bottles (which we've been "helping" him collect for a few weeks), and lent a hand whenever the brewing process required lifting and pouring. We learned more than our heads could contain. Alberto has been a home brewer for seven years, and has a beautiful understanding of each ingredients' purpose in his recipes.

Once the initial work was done, we had to wait for our 8 gallon pot of future beer to reach boiling temperature. We waited, and waited some more. And it still wasn't ready.

Generally I hate waiting. But when communion strikes, waiting becomes the best part.

Miah and I brought beer. Alberto and his girlfriend brought pizza and left-over cupcakes (SO many leftover cupcakes). The couple who lives above the bakery brought Catch Phrase and a delicious, traditional Russian cocktail. We broke bread and passed a good hour or two in fellowship.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Fleshbook Weekly

I've had a startling and liberating realization recently: Facebook is the closest thing to organized church that I regularly "attend." For this reason, I've decided that I will share an insight my Facebook friends have led me to each week. The series shall be titled "Fleshbook Weekly." (If "Fleshbook" makes you say huh? here is something sort of like an answer.)

I participate in enough spirit-filled groups and follow the updates of enough spirit-filled folks, that any time I need an easy drink of milk, I can log in and find someone whose got one poured and chilling for me. Yesterday, a post in The Spirit World*, a group that consistently and intensively discusses off-the-wall topics like translocation and levitation, provided a link to the podcast below. 



Talk about milk. Ian Clayton, speaking from the Courts and Government Conference 2012 in Wales, hit on just about every key word Papa has spoken to me about in the past month. Divine rest, and praying into violent, threatening weather systems, have been on my mind a lot. "Rest means total tranquility in the midst of chaos," Clayton says."...Jesus had dominion over weather because he was functioning out of rest." He connects the two concepts as though they were never separate.

 "Everything must come out of rest. If it's done out of striving, and out of the work of your hands, then it will fall. Because what you do is finite. What He does is infinite." Bam. Fresh perspective, new insight, writing material, and a completely refreshed and rested mind. And I got it all while practicing yoga in my room.

Friday, August 31, 2012

Glowing bladders and fiery words from God

Thursday, some things went down. 
Unplanned. 
Undesired. 
Completely awesome and I can't wait for it to happen again. 

Jeremiah's band, Simon The Leper, had practice Thursday afternoon at The Yellow House. This means that our friends Winter and Esa (STL's bassist) came over. While the band shook the walls of our basement, Winter and I had a chat. 

By "chat" I mean, a thought provoking and heart felt conversation. We spent some time catching up, it's been a good week or so since our last chat. But for the most part we shared struggles we've been facing and spoke truth into those struggles. 

Some issues I noticed we and our male counterparts shared (which I will describe brief and vague because it's not the enemy I care to focus on in this post): unexplained bouts of anger, random spirals into despair, intense moments of self-doubt, and barrages of the poverty spirit

"We are a piece God uses in His plan. God is not a
piece we use in our plan." - Winter Rain

Winter has also been dealing with a bladder infection since April. It is now, I'd like to point out, September. She and Esa are battling some demonic strongholds in and around their house, which are leaving physical marks like cuts and bruises. Jeremiah and I have established Gates at our house, with the purpose of allowing the spirits of God and Man to pass, but blocking anything else. Interestingly, Winter had to fight with herself to come over; couldn't convince herself to get out of her car and cross our street until Jeremiah walked up and said hello. 

We talked for probably a long time, but it was one of those God-filled conversation that don't exist in time, so I completely lost track of the clock's existence. By the end of the conversation, Esa had joined and we'd determined the issues at hand were to be conquered. Jesus has conquered them already, that we knew. But it was time we step into our place of victory next to Him and conquer them too. 

We decided to pray. We discussed specific areas we wanted to pray into. Depression was a big one for all of us, so we wanted to be sure and speak Joy. We also wanted to get Winter healed. We've laid hands on her a three or four times, and though we feel pretty good afterward, the infection has persisted. As of the past week, after her third round of antibiotics, it was intensifying drastically. Gates needed established at their house, as well. Why we hadn't done that yet? Frack if we know. 

Jeremiah walked into the living room just as we were about to launch in. Our initial response was to lay out the game plan for him, but I hesitated. "What if we don't tell you and you pray according to how your led?" I asked. My tone was humorous, in the way we try to cover up honesty with joke in an attempt to avoid looking foolish (or is that just me?). "Are you down to pray prophetically?" 

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Fleshbook: my daily Church experience

Have you every heard Facebook referred to vehemently as "Fleshbook?" Generally I hear the term used by religious folk who think they're cleverly reaching a lost generation by using their own technological vices against them. 

If I sound irritable or judgmental, I honestly don't mean to. I'm deeply discontent, though, with Christ's followers claiming places, activities, technologies, etc. as negative and thus to be avoided. Negativity is not a fruit of the Spirit, therefore not from God. If we're claiming something as negative, we're not claiming it for the Kingdom, folks. We're claiming it for that devilishly cunning Satan.


Nothing we see as "dark," for whatever the reason, should remain dark after we've seen it. Sure, Facebook provides a forum for people to share in vanity. To post fleshy pictures to see how many thumbs-up can be accumulated. To update the world on how many beers were consumed last night. 

Fleshbook: Whose Kingdom claims it? 

Facebook is also a place alive and teeming with Holy Spirit revelation, prophesy, encouragement. Healing the sick, raising the dead, feeding the poor - these are all topics of dedication for various groups I've joined on "Fleshbook."


Come to think of it, if Church is the body of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 12. Particularly 12:12-end), perhaps Fleshbook is a perfectly accurate description for my daily social experience on the website. 


Case and point - a link to one of the more brief but Spirit filled-to-overflowing conversations I've had with a Fleshbook friend: That Poverty Spirit, by Passion Scribe Lyriic