Rouge River Community Church

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Partners Meeting Slides- March 29 2009

On Sunday, March 29 the River had a quarterly Partners' Meeting after the morning gathering. Like most emerging churches, we are in the process of deconstructing and reconstructing how our church works. Below are the slides we used on Sunday to point out the areas currently being reconstructed; Missional Living (almost done!), People Care, and Sunday morning gatherings. Peace!
Posted By Andre Lauzon At 11:07 AM •

Friday, March 27, 2009

Healing and Forgiveness

Our third area of exploration into confession is the relationship between healing and forgiveness. This stems from our discussion on Sunday (March 22) around the topic of Spiritual Disciplines.

James 5:13-16 says:

¹³ Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. ¹⁴ Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.

¹⁶ Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

James was the half-brother of Jesus. Same mom, different dad. He became a leader in the church at Jerusalem during the first century. This letter, written shortly before his death, was circulated throughout the early church. This was a church struggling to form identity. Some congregations were mostly Jewish converts to Christianity, some were filled with Gentile converts, and still a few more were thoroughly mixed. The church, as witnessed at Pentecost, consisted of people from varied social and cultural backgrounds. James wrote this letter to help refine what it meant to be a follower of Christ in the church, in the first century.

The passage above comes near the end of James' letter, and speaks to the place of prayer within the life of the local congregation. It is clear that James draws several connections between prayer, healing and pain. Here is a graphic to illustrate:
James 5 graphic.jpg

Now, what is the link between these three spiritual states? Faith. James says it in verse 15. Faith is the key. Where does one get faith? Ephesians 2:1-10 tells us that faith is a gift that comes from God. Faith is not earned. The impact of this faith, and its' expression in confession and prayer, stems from the ultimate source of faith and forgiveness: Jesus. More specifically, Jesus at his crucifixion.

Jesus' spiritual perfection as the Son of God is applied to his followers because he chose to substitute himself for us. This act of grace and sacrifice allows us to have a relationship with God, beyond sin. Jesus' resurrection demonstrated his complete mastery of and victory over sin. Yet the impact of sin still exists. Evidences of this are pain and illness.

We are made up of four distinct yet overlapping aspects of humanness: the spiritual, the physical, the emotional and the intellectual. When one aspect of who we are is in pain, it affects the other three. Several years ago, I suffered through an abscessed tooth. The pain was awful. After a few days of constant pain, I had trouble thinking, and became emotionally raw. Maybe you've had a similar experience.

That is what James is speaking to in this passage. When our spiritual side, our souls, suffer under the weight of unconfessed sin or unacknowledged troubles, the rest of who we are begins to suffer as well. King David is an example of this. Read 2 Samuel 12:15-25 , then Psalm 51 to see how unconfessed sin impacted every aspect of David's humanness.

The healing we can expect from confession is best described as a lifting of a heavy burden from our souls. A heavy soul weighs down the other aspects of our humanness. A lighter soul leads to greater overall health. Even science sees the link. Below are several articles that addresses this. Note that not all of these articles came from the same worldview that I hold, but are still of value. While I do not agree with everything said in these articles, these do make for good discussion starters! Feel free to comment using the link below.

http://www.guidetopsychology.com/forgive.htm

http://www.amsa.org/healingthehealer/forgiveness.cfm

http://marriageandfamilies.byu.edu/issues/2001/April/forgiveness.aspx

Peace!

Posted By Andre Lauzon At 11:00 AM • Comments (0) Trackbacks (0)

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Forgiveness in a Vacuum

During our Sunday Gathering on March 22, we examined the spiritual discipline of confession. The ensuing discussion left us with three unresolved issues that deserved more attention. The first one was The Nature of Forgiveness. In this second installment, we are looking at how to forgive someone who has really hurt you, and then died. Below are link to three articles I find helpful on the subject.

Comments on these articles are invited! Use the comments link below.

Peace

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Christianity-Christian-Living-1401/forgiveness-died.htm

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/forgiveness-when-offender-has-died.html

http://www.stbarnabaslutheran.org/communications/sermons/sermons/wpsermon20050911.pdf

Posted By Andre Lauzon At 10:01 AM • Comments (0) Trackbacks (0)

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The Nature of Forgiveness

On Sunday, March 22, our discussion time on confession led us to debate the nature of forgiveness. Below are some links to articles/ blogs/scripture that I find helpful on the subject.

The Aggressive Nature of Forgiveness http://jollyblogger.typepad.com/jollyblogger/2005/07/the_aggressive_.html

A parable on forgiveness
http://theyellowjournalist.blogspot.com/2007/12/nature-of-forgiveness.html

-I'd love to read your comments on this one. Not sure if I agree with the author or not.

Here's a Buddhist take on forgiveness
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Buddhists-948/nature-forgiveness.htm

-Again, comment please!

And to finish off......

21 ¶ Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?”
22 “No, not seven times,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven!
23 “Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him.
24 In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars.
25 He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt.
26 “But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’
27 Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.
28 “But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.
29 “His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded.
30 But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.
31 “When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened.
32 Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me.
33 Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’
34 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.
35 “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”

-Matthew 18-21-35 (NLT)

If you have a comment to contribute to the discussion, please use the link below!

Peace!

Posted By Andre Lauzon At 2:17 PM • Comments (0) Trackbacks (0)

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Confession 1

This past Sunday we had good discussion about confession, one of the spiritual disciplines we are exploring during Lent.

Below is a review of the what we covered.   Subsequent blog entries this week will cover some of the outstanding issues that arose from our discussion, such as the nature of forgiveness, forgiving someone who has died (or is unreachable), and the relationship between healing and confession! Read on...

Definition of Confession

Confession is the act of agreeing with God. It speaks to our acknowledging wrongdoing in our lives, revealing it before God or another person.

The Elements of Confession

Psalm 51:1-19                     Acknowledgment
Jeremiah 3:25                    Self-abasement*
Psalm 38:18                        Sorrow
Proverbs 28:13                   Humility
Numbers 5:6-7                   Restitution

*Not a healthy element, but a common aspect of confession. Often related to guilty feelings.

The Results of Confession

1John 1:9-10                    Forgiveness
Psalm 32:1-5                    Joy/ Freedom from guilt
Psalm 51:12-19                Fixed relationship
James 5:16                        Healing & Power

Posted By Andre Lauzon At 2:13 PM • Comments (0) Trackbacks (0)

Friday, March 20, 2009

Spring?

Don’t be afraid, my people. Be glad now and rejoice,
for the LORD has done great things.
Don’t be afraid, you animals of the field, for the wilderness pastures will soon be green. The trees will again be filled with fruit;
fig trees and grapevines will be loaded down once more.
Rejoice, you people of Jerusalem! Rejoice in the LORD your God!
For the rain he sends demonstrates his faithfulness.
Once more the autumn rains will come, as well as the rains of spring.
The threshing floors will again be piled high with grain,
and the presses will overflow with new wine and olive oil.

-Joel 2:21-24

Have you ever been hungry? Hungry, as in nothing to eat, and little hope of food on the horizon? Hungry, as in starving, no hyperbole, but truly starving? Me neither. In the passage above, the people of Israel have experienced a terrible famine, due in large part to enemy armies, locusts and drought. They are starving, and so turn to God, asking why. God answers them through the prophet Joel.

In our instant-oriented society, God's answer seems somewhat lacking. He tells his people to hold on, to hang in there just a little bit longer. He points in two directions for sources of hope- the past and the future. He points out that He has done great things for the people of Israel in the past. He says this to drive out their fear, and to direct them into an attitude of worship. He tells them to be glad now and rejoice, to set aside their fear, because of His track record. Then he tells them (and the animals too!) to look froward to the next growing season. God promises them lots of grass, lots of fruit, lots of grain. He says the rains will come, both in autumn and spring (there are two growing seasons in that part of the world), and that there will be an abundance of food, not only to eat, but to trade as well. Israeli wine and olive oil were major exports in that time period.

So, to drive out fear during an extremely difficult time, God says to look back at His record of love, and to look forward to His promises being fulfilled. Looking back leads to expressions of worship and thankfulness. Looking forward leads to a renewal of hope and the promise of better days ahead.

How are you doing lately? Are you in the middle of a drought? A spiritual famine? An emotional dry spell? Has fear crept into your soul? God seems to have an answer for you. Hang in there! Hold on, just a little bit longer. If you have a relationship with God, look back on His goodness to you over the years. If you do not know God, consider Jesus as his gift of introduction to you. Let your reflection lead you to thankfulness and joy. Look forward to better days ahead, not only to a time when your needs will be met, but from the overflow, you will be able to share with others "new wine and olive oil". The wine is a symbol of Jesus' sacrifice for us that first Easter weekend, and the olive oil is a symbol of God's Spirit. Wine and oil together were used medicinally to treat wounds.

Need a little boost to your hope level? Remember that "once more the autumn rains will come, as well as the rains of spring". These kinds of rain are good things when you live in a desert.

Peace.

Posted By Andre Lauzon At 9:28 AM • Comments (0) Trackbacks (0)

Friday, March 13, 2009

Broken

Last night at our youth group Bible study, we watched one of the Nooma videos starring Rob Bell. The video was called You. In it, Rob Bell presents the historical context of the early church, and the pervasive attitude of rebuilding among these first Christians. They saw the world as broken, with their job to be servants to help God rebuild. Do we see ourselves as part of a movement that's putting the world back together? I like the point of view, but there are several ways to go off the rails if we're not careful.

An attitude that has crept into some fundamentalist churches is to look down upon and judge "the world" for its brokenness. This disconnect occurs when we see ourselves as better that others, forgetting that we are God's reclamation projects as well. The church that judges and condemns the world like this has a very difficult time loving it. With the absence of love for others, fear rushes in to fill the void, and a fortress church mentality can take hold. This is precisely the opposite of what Jesus desires for his church. In his teaching, Jesus says Hell is the one that needs walls (gates), because the church is coming to overcome it. A church hidden behind walls is just a hell waiting to happen.

Missing to identify the world as broken leads to a whole new set of problems. If nothing is broken, nothing needs to be fixed. Everything is fine just the way it is. What goes missing in this world view is any objective standard of what the world could be or should be. "I'm OK, You're OK" is taken to the extreme so that everything has an equal voice and is equally accepted. I am not trying to justify intolerance. The very recognition of intolerance indicates an objective standard at work in evaluating the world. What I am saying is that if nothing needs loving and gracious repair, the need for the church and the saviour disappears.

A third misstep the church can take is to recognize the world's brokenness, feel love for those in need, and then only offer a partial solution. I believe each of us has four key facets to our humanness. Our emotions, our intellect, our physicality and our souls. If we do not respond to the brokenness of others by marshaling all four aspects of who we are, our response in incomplete. We can see someone suffering from hunger of lack of clothing, yet only respond with the Four Spiritual Laws. The book of James has something to say about that! We can also go to the other extreme of responding to physical or felt needs only, and never do any of the work of rebuilding in the spiritual realm. Both approaches are incomplete and flawed.

As we see the world as broken, we need to respond in love and grace, from our hearts, minds, bodies and souls. We need to help others and direct our efforts towards their hearts, minds, bodies and souls. We must never look down on others, but rather look up to the God who is busy rebuilding us from the inside out- a repair job that goes on our entire lives.

In the next days and weeks at the River, we will be given ample opportunity to practically live out these principles. The River laundry, The ReUse store, our Food Bank partnership, downtown cleanup day, River Garden, volunteering at the Hospital Run- all of these demonstrate our answer to the question: Do we see ourselves as part of a movement that's putting the world back together? I hope our answer is yes.

Posted By Andre Lauzon At 10:32 AM • Comments (0) Trackbacks (0)

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Dead End

Yesterday I was out for my morning run, and decided I needed a change. I have run the same route, with small adjustments for the past few months. I was bored with it, so I decided to shake things up. I ran my usual route backwards.

The route is more or less a big a circle, so reversing direction would be an easy way to have a change. At least I thought that. The run started fine. I turned right instead of left, and off I went. The hills were different. The look of the streets was different. The wind was blowing at me in a different way that I was used to. Just the change I was looking for!

My usual run takes me on several side streets and crescents. Running the route the opposite way, I found it difficult to find my usual turnoffs. At one point I turned too early, and ended up on a dead-end street. Later, I figured out that I had missed a turn, and was running in completely new territory. I had a choice- turn around right away and try to get back on track, or keep going. I decided to keep going.

The wrong-turn road led to another dead-end, as far as pavement went. To the left, there was a little path leading into a wooded area. In the fresh snow, I could see several sets of foot prints, so I decided to brave the path. What a wonderful choice!

I had no idea where the path would lead me, but I followed it anyway. The further I got from the road, the quieter it became. It was beautiful- just me and snow and trees and that was it. The path eventually opened up to a cul-de-sac close to my usual running route. With just a few steps, this wrong turn had taken me through a little oasis of nature, and deposited me back where I needed to be. The run finished well (new personal best!) and before long I was home.

Here are a few things I learned from yesterday's run:

-Sometimes a change is a good as a rest.

-Reversing direction opens a whole new area of exploration.

-Not all dead-ends lead no where.

-Taking the "wrong" turn can open up a whole host of new opportunities.

-Taking the path less traveled can bring refreshment to the soul.

What have you learned from the "wrong" turns in your life? Share some in the comments section. Follow the link below!

Peace!

Posted By Andre Lauzon At 11:52 AM • Comments (2) Trackbacks (0)

Friday, March 06, 2009

The Honesty of Silence

In my first year of ministry training, I attended a school in Saskatchewan. The school was located in a tiny village in the south-central part of the province. I recall following the dirt roads out of the village to wander alone on the prairies. The silence I found in those walks was an experience new to me.

If I close my eyes, in my mind I can return to that dirt road. The blue cloudless sky above me, the unending flat nothingness of the prairies stretched all around me, the only sound my feet crunching on the the road. I joke a lot about Saskatchewan, especially with those who have lived there or were born there, but the prairies in early autumn or late spring is still one of the most beautiful sights I have seen.

The silence on those walks was a treasured companion. No cars. No people. No noise. Just the wind blowing, my foot-falls on the road, and me. The silence helped me to make sense of God's calling on my life to full time ministry. It was a patient listener as I talked through what I was learning. The silence did not judge my tears of homesickness, and it did not turn away when I expressed frustration over the torubles of my day. I was welcomed by that silence, and missed it when I was too long absent from its embrace. It was in that silence that I received a fresh revelation of Jesus Christ, and learned to talk to God as a friend.

I miss those walks. I miss the quality and texture of that particular silence. At times I long to return to that silence.

I miss the honesty of silence. Even if I tried, I could not leave some part of me out of the experience. All of me showed up, my soul was revealed by the quietness. It was pointless to lie, to dissemble, to bring anything but my complete and true self into the silence. The silence would have nothing of pretense or bluster, beacuse in the silence there was me, and there was God. And both of us knew my heart.

To choose to spend time in focused silence is scary. I think that is why we fill our days with busy-ness. We are too afraid of who waits for us in the silence.

Peace.

Posted By Andre Lauzon At 11:41 AM • Comments (0) Trackbacks (0)

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Pervasive Fear

¹Now the Lord said to Samuel, “You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel, so fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king.” ² But Samuel asked, “How can I do that? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.” “Take a heifer with you,” the Lord replied, “and say that you have come to make a sacrifice to the Lord. ³ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you which of his sons to anoint for me.” ⁴ So Samuel did as the Lord instructed. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town came trembling to meet him. “What’s wrong?” they asked. “Do you come in peace?” ⁵ “Yes,” Samuel replied. “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Purify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.”

-1Samuel 16:1-5

We've all seen the images. People running for their lives as the towers fell in New York. Overcrowded freeways as families fled Katrina. Confused commuters pouring out of tube stations in London as the underground was bombed. The Halifax explosion, the Blitz, the Tsunami. We've all seen the images. We've watched the video, if one exists. We have been witnesses, through the media, to scenes of great pain and loss. Pervasive fear.

Have you ever been overtaken by an environment of fear? Maybe during a natural disaster. Maybe in a politically unstable country. Maybe in an organization gone bad. Maybe in your family.

I recall the story of a young boy, perhaps five or six years old. His parents were in the midst of an ugly break-up, caused in large part to his father's alcoholism and abusive behaviour. All the family members- mom, older siblings, and the boy- were afraid. For what seemed like weeks, night after night, the father, drunk and enraged, would try to kick in the front door. Or the back door. Or smash the windows. Night after night the boy trembled at the top of the stairs, wishing the nightmare would go away. Daytime brought no relief, with the fear of abuse and kidnapping. The kids would run back and forth from school, ever mindful of who might be stalking them. The family lived in an environment of pervasive fear.

That was the setting in Israel thousands of years ago when a king had gone bad. Saul had been chosen by the people to be their king (1Samuel 8:6). Samuel, the prophet who could hear God's voice, didn't like it very much. Saul seemed like the ideal king. He was tall, good looking, well trained in the arts of war and leadership. The perfect candidate! But things went horribly wrong. Saul stopped serving God. He became tyrannical, unhinged, vindictive. God rejected him, and decided to choose a new king for Israel.

When God ordered Samuel to go anoint the new king, Samuel was scared. We read about it in 1 Samuel 16. Samuel tells God, "I can't go do that! If Saul finds out I'm annointing a new king, he'll kill me. That's treason! And if others find out, it could lead to civil war! Count me out!"

But God pressed the matter, gave Samuel an option to make it work, and sent him out. When Samuel got close to the small village where he would find the new king, the elders of that town went out to meet him. They were scared. The scripture says the elders of that village trembled before Samuel. Picture it- an old man with a young cow. How is he scary? It wasn't what Samuel looked like, it was what he represented. Everyone knew that Saul and Samuel had a falling out. Everyone knew that Saul was off his nut. The elders were terrified that Saul would find out Samuel was up to something in their village, and would order it destroyed, along with everyone who lived there. When they asked Samuel, "Do you come in peace?" The answer really mattered to them. Their lives depended upon it!

We know the rest of the story. The village was called Bethlehem, the king to be anointed was David, and Samuel and the townspeople survived. Can you imagine living in those time? A feeling of fear holding the land hostage. Uncertainty about the king and his actions. Everyone trying to keep their head down, hoping to go unnoticed. Pervasive Fear.

Eventually, police took the young boy's father away. He did not see his dad again for many years. The fear left with him. The next time the man tried to kick in the front door, the children were not afraid. They had grown, and through their teenage eyes, their father looked old and weak. His threats were ineffectual, and his violent actions were more sad that scary. Their lack of fear quickly deflated his bluster. He was never a threat to them again.

My hope is that you will never know an environment of fear. God does, however, give us the tools we need to overcome fear. They are love, obedience and time.

John 4:8 says, "..perfect love drives out fear..." Experiencing the love of God in a transformational way chases fear from our lives.

In the 1Samuel 16 passage, Samuel's fear was abated through his obedience to God. I love verse 4, "So Samuel did as the Lord instructed."

And the elders of Bethlehem had their fears allayed as they watched Samuel perform the sacrifice and spent time with him. They were able to judge his actions to discern his intent.

May you never know the hammer of fear as you build your life with God.

Peace.

Posted By Andre Lauzon At 2:30 PM • Comments (0) Trackbacks (0)

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