From the Rush House

Dear Jesus-- I love you.  I am not great at showing it all the time.  But I feel like sometimes I'm on the brink of finally deciding to really fall in love with you.  And, Sometimes I feel like I am about to close the door on faith all together.  Each day is different and mostly increasingly difficult. My life is too busy.  We all agree on that.  You tell me to slow down, to just be, but I  don't really trust you.  If i did, I would wait for you instead of going ahead of you.  I wish I knew you better, but sometimes I'm glad I don't.  I live in the grey are most of the time.  I am lukewarm. The bright side of what keeps me closer to you is the church.  The FOM exists in a place that genuinely reflects your love for those who need you, and the FOM shows your face outwardly to the world.  That is beautiful.  But for me, for some reason it misses my own heart. I believe in doing things for others of course.  But also, I feel like my relationship with you takes a back seat due to how busy the FOM maybe with helping others.  That maybe a crappy thing to say, but it's how I feel.  My heart is constrained without knowing you more.  A lot of the fault lies in my own apathy and my selfishness.  But I also sometimes believe that a journey into the heart of who you are and how you can fix me, seems like a journey few of us have the heart for.  Mainly because it is scary and I hate seeing the things that are screwed up in my heart. I need the fom to be that for me, I think.  I think I need to help be that for the fom.  I want others to know me, but I have to make the step to know others.  Jesus, If I am created in your image, and your desire is to be known, then that is my desire as well.  I pray that you will help me know you, to truly trust you, and in turn let me know others and them to know me.  Align our hearts and put our faith in you.  I love you. Your Son, Santry

Recent FOM Comments

I've received some really encouraging emails over the last couple of weeks about the impact of The FOM in the journey of some of our people. Here are a few snippets.

“We both were excited to find a place where authenticity was important and where the church was actually practicing what they were preaching. We love The Fom and what God is doing in it, and through it. I personally think that it's through these kinds of community, that God is able to do the best work.”

“My testimony says it all about how Jesus, the FOM, and you guys have helped me stay on the path and grow.”

“I always thought the church helped people who were really in need (like food, clothes etc.)...but it was unbelievable to me that you all reached out to someone like us....has really changed my perspective on things.”

“I am grateful to the FOM for being a welcoming organization that is doing great stuff for others and for myself. “

“Thanks for letting me express some of my doubts. I am grateful to the FOM for being a welcoming organization that is doing great stuff for others and for myself.”

“I am so proud to be a part of FOM and witness the incredible gifts God has working through FOM and impacting so many people!”

“I can't imagine my life without the FOM right now. I love the people that make it what it is, and the approach we take to living life as a community.”

Comments from Arno

The Danger of Routines

 

Jason has expressed his concerns with doing things by rote.  I’d like to present the analogy of a carpenter building a home for his family.  He’s doing the one of the most important things in the world.  But when he’s hammering, I’d prefer to have him concentrating on the nails rather than his ultimate purpose.  I agree that we can sometimes get caught up in the meaningless details of life, but I have faith in Jason (and Ivy) to regularly check to ensure that the little things they’re doing are leading up to good big things.

 

 

Mosaic’s Purpose

 

I think it’s easy to appreciate Jason’s work with FamilyPoint Resources assisting those in great need.  Mosaic’s role is a bit more subtle.  I see it as assisting those not in apparent or relative need.  It’s objective is to nudge general society in a positive direction, to engage our culture, and to spread our values.  Mosaic’s purpose may be just as important as FamilyPoint’s, but it is by nature harder to assess.  I see this as a worthwhile challenge, not as a reason to back away.

 

 

Simplicity, or Not

 

In essence, our goals are simple.  But if we’re to engage society, our endeavors will have to grow more complicated.  The challenge is to keep our basics simple while dealing with a complex world.

 

Also, I find that own thinking tends to get narrowly channeled when thinking on my own or with similarly minded people.  Interacting with the world can help get me (and others, I assume) out of self-created ruts.

 

 

FOM vs FamilyPoint vs Mosaic

 

I think there’s a lot of concern that we’re tending a lot of flocks other than our own.  I think it was wise to set up the FOM, FamilyPoint, and Mosaic as separate groups.  Although the FOM is kind of a parent to the other organizations, it also has its own separate purpose of serving the member’s spiritual lives.  I think the community outreach of the other groups can both assist our own spiritual goals and distract us from them.  The key is balance.  Maybe we need to decide what the FOM needs to do apart from these other groups before deciding how it will assist them in their objectives.

 

 

FOM Next vs. Community Center

 

The existing community center is hidden behind the church.  It doesn’t engage society, though it does provide a useful meeting place for various groups.  It helps support society’s strengths (scouts) and helps fight society’s problems (AA and similar counseling groups).  If you belong to a group that meets there, it is great that it exists.  If you don’t belong to one of these groups, you may not know it exists.  I think the advantage of FOM Next is that it will try to attract individuals who have not committed to joining a particular group.  And of course, we will have much more freedom in deciding how to shape our own facility and what types of activities to sponsor.

 

 

FOM Next: FOM’s Front Porch

 

Although our door is always open (figuratively), there’s still a pretty strong boundary between “us” and “them”.  The FOM Next facility would help to break this boundary.  How we engage “them” will have to be determined, but it would allow the following interactions that can involve expression of our values in some form:

 

Theater: Kidz Planet, other children’s theater, adult theater, church services, other entertainment with positive values.

 

Coffeehouse: General socializing; Sales of CDs, books, etc.; Fair trade products.

 

Coffeehouse performances: Musicians, open mic night, student performances, poetry.

 

Meetings at coffeehouse: Church small groups, One year Bible, book clubs, knitting groups, writing groups, art groups, environmental groups, financial literacy, life skills.

 

Classrooms/play areas: Kidzstreet and Treehouse, playing while parents at coffeehouse, child education (FamilyPoint non-sports activities), adult education.

 

 

Arno

 

Blog

Exodus 14:14
The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."

Psalm 37:7
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.


Psalm 46:10
"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

I am addicted to busy; I now sit at a desk piled with papers that need my attention; I haven’t even finished reading my emails for the day and it’s almost 9 pm at the office.
I go home exhausted with little to share with my family, certainly not much time to spend in quiet waiting before God before I fall asleep.

I have calculated the number of the beast, and it is man’s number, but it’s more than 9 to 5.

As the prophet hid himself in the cleft of the rock awaiting a still small voice, so we shall need to position ourselves.
It’s not enough to be there an hour early to put up curtains, practice music, run through the powerpoint presentation or check the child-care area.
It’s not enough to make sure we have the coaches to cover our teams.
It’s not enough to call everybody for small group.
It’s not enough to have all those volunteers to set up and break down sets for actors who arrived an hour before sunrise to go over scripts for the coming performance, all for a viewing audience of a dozen or two.
Where is God in all of this? I know the right answer, the way it’s supposed to be, the theologically correct remark (not unlike the daydreaming child who blurts out the answer “Jesus” during Sunday School when aware they were just asked some kind of question).

Perhaps I’m just projecting, but I’m in great need of this Sunday, a time of waiting (not the standard “time for silent prayer” that lasts all of 20 seconds because folks start shifting in their pews). I’m ready for something different; I need something different, like I need oxygen for my soul.
I want to be still, and I’m afraid I can’t be.

Incapable.

"The person who's in love with their vision of community will destroy community. But the person who loves the people around them will create community everywhere they go."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer


The more I read and expose myself to people in need, the fringe the marginalized, I see needs, but also what develops, maybe even in a subconscious way, the idea that I depend on God for less.

Maybe it's pride.

Maybe it's spiritual ignorance.

Whatever it is, this idea that God has provided greatly for me, and I am somewhat independent, some moment shatters those thoughts and leaves me limping through the rest of my pilgrimage with the realization that I am incapable of love separate from God.

I've realized that I can give my money to Non-profits, NGO's, FINCA, LWI and the lot, and have not love, I am just receiving a government tax benefit at the end of a year.

I can blog to the masses (probably not), watching the hit counter as musings of spirituality and theology hit cyberspace, if I have not love, I am a loud gong whose only blog follower is his mother (though a faithful fan, probably biased in her support).

I can set-up curtains, stages, lights, computers, help feed the poor, create graphics, finish my OYBG, attend group regularly, and have not love, I am burdened with obligation and grow fatigued from my commitments.

Love is patient
Love is kind.
Love does not envy.
Love does not boast.
Love is not proud.
Love is not rude.
Love is not self-seeking
Love is not easily angered
Love keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love offers a ride to church.
Love helps cancel a financial burden.
Love opens their home to friends.
Love visited me in the hospital.
Love helped mend a broken arm.
Love has made room for confession.
Love has given me hope.
Love helped renew my faith.

Love is what I have found in this little community we call the FOM. Apart from Christ, we are incapable of this love. Apart from Christ I know I am selfish, proud, and rude. I have realized that, I am even greater need for Christ than ever.

Jesus have my heart.