Well, you can kiss your sanity good-bye cause the day has finally arrived. For those of you who are wondering what I'm talking about...today is the day my wife went "global" to use her own words. The internet is not safe anymore. She now has her very own blog, which she swore she would never have cause she "never gets on the computer" to use her own words again.
She's off to a great start, at least in my opinion, but I could be biased. Check her out over at Life Lesson Number...
The internet will never be the same!
Live the Revolution. Be the Church.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
A New Way To Live
A while back I said I would hopefully give an update in regards to where we are (as a family) spiritually speaking and what we are up to these days. So at long last, here it is.
(For ease of communicating and for clarification purposes please note that the word Church with a capital "C" is speaking of the Church or Body of Christ as a whole meaning the people of God, the word church with a lower-case "c" is speaking of buildings, institutions, and/or organizations. There is no derogatory intention in making this distinction, just trying to communicate as clearly as possible. Thanks for understanding and sharing in grace.)
Our Family's Journey
In March 2009, my family and I stepped away from the mentality and lifestyle of going to church to wholeheartedly pursue community life. Some people call it Simple Church/Organic Church/House Church. In fact we used those terms early on in this journey because it was the only terminology known to us at the time. Now we don't really call it anything, we just strive to live it out as a new way of life.
What does this new life look like?
Here are a few brief descriptions to get the wheels turning:
So, you've started a new church in Altus, you're just calling it something different like house church or organic church right?
The answer to that question is a resounding, NO!
As I said before, in some of our earlier days we used terminology like house church or organic church because those were the only terms that were known to us at the time. We are seeking to live out this new life of being the Church. We don't believe we are starting anything new because the Church in Altus already exists. It has been around for a long time. The Church in Altus can be found in various places around town, as has been the case for decades. Some of the places you can find the Church in Altus would include places like the Protestant churches and Catholic churches around town. I would dare say you could probably find the Church in Altus in homes, on golf courses, in stores and at restaurants. My point is this, every true follower of Jesus here in Altus, regardless of how they do church life is part of the Church in Altus, and the Church in Altus was here long before we got here and will, no doubt, be here long after we are gone. We are seeking to live out this new life (new mentality and lifestyle) of being the Church in a shared community life.
What were some of your reasons for stepping away from what you were doing to pursue this?
My family and I started to experience the fulfillment of a longing that was deep within us when we started gathering with other followers of Jesus outside of church services and events (read the "Thoughts On Church" section HERE). The longing is to share community life centered around Jesus and his purpose in our lives with other followers of Jesus. When we started to experience this it was like finding a part of us that had been missing all along. The impact of living a shared community life was changing our lives in ways we had not experienced before.
One of the other things Brenda and I noticed is that we also started connecting with people who didn't attend any type of church for various reasons; Either their work schedules didn't allow them the time to attend, or they had a bad experience in a church they went to in the past, or they just had no interest in attending a church at all. Most of them still had a desire to connect with God and other followers of Jesus, but felt like they were out on their own with very few options available to them to help make those connections. There were also a few who were still attending church, but who were very discontent with the status quo and wanted something different, something more. As we began to share what was happening in our lives it made a connection with a longing in their hearts to be a part of something like what we were describing.
Through many conversations and prayers, we believe the Lord was and still is leading us to live out this new mentality and lifestyle of being the Church, living our lives in community with other followers of Jesus, helping those who can't or won't attend church to connect with God and with other followers of Jesus, and helping those who feel like they are out there on their own to realize they are not alone and they can experience God and community life with other followers of Jesus, even outside of the four walls of church.
There's more I can share and will hopefully make the time to do so here in the near future. In the meantime, if you'd like to read something related to this new way of living, you should check out "A Way To Do Life -- Not A Way To Do Church" by Roger Thoman at SimpleChurch Journal.
Live the Revolution. Be the Church.
(For ease of communicating and for clarification purposes please note that the word Church with a capital "C" is speaking of the Church or Body of Christ as a whole meaning the people of God, the word church with a lower-case "c" is speaking of buildings, institutions, and/or organizations. There is no derogatory intention in making this distinction, just trying to communicate as clearly as possible. Thanks for understanding and sharing in grace.)
------------------------------
Our Family's Journey
In March 2009, my family and I stepped away from the mentality and lifestyle of going to church to wholeheartedly pursue community life. Some people call it Simple Church/Organic Church/House Church. In fact we used those terms early on in this journey because it was the only terminology known to us at the time. Now we don't really call it anything, we just strive to live it out as a new way of life.
What does this new life look like?
Here are a few brief descriptions to get the wheels turning:
- We believe we are all called as ministers unto the Lord and each other, each of us has the opportunity to live that truth out when we are together, using the gifts God has given us through the Holy Spirit. As a result, there are no distinctions between ministers and non-ministers. There are no paid salaries, professional ministers, or staff.
- We are a community of Jesus followers, seeking to gather under the headship of Christ, and live shared lives together.
- We believe and seek to flesh out this truth, that we, the followers of Jesus, are the Church, the body of Christ, whenever and where ever we gather together. What we do/how we live is not run like a business, and there are no buildings to maintain. We gathering simply, in homes, at restaurants, coffee shops, parks, etc.
So, you've started a new church in Altus, you're just calling it something different like house church or organic church right?
The answer to that question is a resounding, NO!
As I said before, in some of our earlier days we used terminology like house church or organic church because those were the only terms that were known to us at the time. We are seeking to live out this new life of being the Church. We don't believe we are starting anything new because the Church in Altus already exists. It has been around for a long time. The Church in Altus can be found in various places around town, as has been the case for decades. Some of the places you can find the Church in Altus would include places like the Protestant churches and Catholic churches around town. I would dare say you could probably find the Church in Altus in homes, on golf courses, in stores and at restaurants. My point is this, every true follower of Jesus here in Altus, regardless of how they do church life is part of the Church in Altus, and the Church in Altus was here long before we got here and will, no doubt, be here long after we are gone. We are seeking to live out this new life (new mentality and lifestyle) of being the Church in a shared community life.
What were some of your reasons for stepping away from what you were doing to pursue this?
My family and I started to experience the fulfillment of a longing that was deep within us when we started gathering with other followers of Jesus outside of church services and events (read the "Thoughts On Church" section HERE). The longing is to share community life centered around Jesus and his purpose in our lives with other followers of Jesus. When we started to experience this it was like finding a part of us that had been missing all along. The impact of living a shared community life was changing our lives in ways we had not experienced before.
One of the other things Brenda and I noticed is that we also started connecting with people who didn't attend any type of church for various reasons; Either their work schedules didn't allow them the time to attend, or they had a bad experience in a church they went to in the past, or they just had no interest in attending a church at all. Most of them still had a desire to connect with God and other followers of Jesus, but felt like they were out on their own with very few options available to them to help make those connections. There were also a few who were still attending church, but who were very discontent with the status quo and wanted something different, something more. As we began to share what was happening in our lives it made a connection with a longing in their hearts to be a part of something like what we were describing.
Through many conversations and prayers, we believe the Lord was and still is leading us to live out this new mentality and lifestyle of being the Church, living our lives in community with other followers of Jesus, helping those who can't or won't attend church to connect with God and with other followers of Jesus, and helping those who feel like they are out there on their own to realize they are not alone and they can experience God and community life with other followers of Jesus, even outside of the four walls of church.
There's more I can share and will hopefully make the time to do so here in the near future. In the meantime, if you'd like to read something related to this new way of living, you should check out "A Way To Do Life -- Not A Way To Do Church" by Roger Thoman at SimpleChurch Journal.
Live the Revolution. Be the Church.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
New CD Available Online
Another Day (Now Available Online)
Got some cool news last night! My new CD, Another Day (released Feb. 2009), is now available online HERE or you can use the nifty link (yes I said nifty!) below to check it out!
Altus Area
For those of you who live in the Altus area, Hasting's (in Altus) is now carrying the CD as well. You can swing by and check it out there as well! If you haven't picked up a copy yet check out one of these two places and let me know what you think when you do pick it up! Thanks for the support!
Live the Revolution. Be the Church.
Got some cool news last night! My new CD, Another Day (released Feb. 2009), is now available online HERE or you can use the nifty link (yes I said nifty!) below to check it out!
Altus Area
For those of you who live in the Altus area, Hasting's (in Altus) is now carrying the CD as well. You can swing by and check it out there as well! If you haven't picked up a copy yet check out one of these two places and let me know what you think when you do pick it up! Thanks for the support!
Live the Revolution. Be the Church.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Some Updates
Just a few updates for you to be aware of...
Subscription Services
The subscription service from FeedBurner is making some changes and I'm not sure if I am going to like them or keep them once the changes are made, so for now I am temporarily disabling that feature for a while. If you are a subscriber and wish to continue receiving posts from re:Think send an email with the subject "Subscribe" to tobiasvaldez@gmail.com and I will make sure you continue receiving the post until I get subscriptions going again. This will be the last post to go through the FeedBurner subscription service.
New Features
There will be some new links over the next couple of days, weeks under the Communities & Zines section (left hand side bar). These links will pertain more to what my family and I are involved in these days (cool stuff there!). For a bit of an update on that click on the "CLICK HERE" link in the top right hand side bar and read that post. It was updated April 2009.
...and Other Stuff
I hope to get back to posting more on a regular basis in the near future. One of the down falls of doing a blog like this is that it is a public space and sometimes the thoughts are not fully developed and therefore not communicated as well as they could be. I've been journaling a lot lately, in my private book journal that is, and that has taken the place of this blog to some extent, especially when talking about under developed thoughts. But when I do post, I hope and expect it to be of significance with regards to where I am at (spiritually speaking), as well as where we (family) believe the Lord is leading us. You won't want to miss it!
Until that time, peace and grace to you all.
Live the Revolution. Be the Church.
Subscription Services
The subscription service from FeedBurner is making some changes and I'm not sure if I am going to like them or keep them once the changes are made, so for now I am temporarily disabling that feature for a while. If you are a subscriber and wish to continue receiving posts from re:Think send an email with the subject "Subscribe" to tobiasvaldez@gmail.com and I will make sure you continue receiving the post until I get subscriptions going again. This will be the last post to go through the FeedBurner subscription service.
New Features
There will be some new links over the next couple of days, weeks under the Communities & Zines section (left hand side bar). These links will pertain more to what my family and I are involved in these days (cool stuff there!). For a bit of an update on that click on the "CLICK HERE" link in the top right hand side bar and read that post. It was updated April 2009.
...and Other Stuff
I hope to get back to posting more on a regular basis in the near future. One of the down falls of doing a blog like this is that it is a public space and sometimes the thoughts are not fully developed and therefore not communicated as well as they could be. I've been journaling a lot lately, in my private book journal that is, and that has taken the place of this blog to some extent, especially when talking about under developed thoughts. But when I do post, I hope and expect it to be of significance with regards to where I am at (spiritually speaking), as well as where we (family) believe the Lord is leading us. You won't want to miss it!
Until that time, peace and grace to you all.
Live the Revolution. Be the Church.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Resurrection Day!
Remember the sacrifice of Jesus. Celebrate His resurrection! The good news of Jesus is living in each of us today. Share it with family and friends. Happy Resurrection Day!
Live the Revolution. Be the Church.
Live the Revolution. Be the Church.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
