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    theresa


    Theresa Lode or, simply “T”, had her world turned upside down and inside out when her son was diagnosed with ADHD and a few other goodies. Her choice- follow the doctor's orders....or trust her heart and delve into the world of Free Range Education. She chose the latter...

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Christianty a la carte

Posted on October 1, 2009 by therealmotherlode

The only thing more fun than people watching while eating a dog and Coke at Costco ($1.60!) is eavesdropping while you’re eating a dog and Coke at Costco.  (Did I mention it’s only $1.60?)

Yesterday conversation was amusing.  It was between a few women and lanky fellow with thick glasses and an overbite.  The topic: Church. A topic near and dear to my heard.

“There was a BAND!” woman #1 said.

Was that a gasp I heard or the HVAC system?

Nope.  I think it was a gasp.  “There were drums!  Git-tars! It was a regular BAAAAAAAAND.”

“NO!” Woman #2 said with disgust appropriate for the the discovery of a certain magazine hidden under her son’s mattress.

Overbite remained quit.

“And get this….the worship leader was a WOMAN!” woman #1 said in a stage whisper.

I plopped some more sauerkraut on my dog and took a swig of my Diet Coke.  This was getting good; but I dribbled some pop down my front.

“I’ll never go back there,” woman #1 said.

Overbite said something about a denomination; said that’s where they go. Ah! Woman #2 must be his help meet.

The scandalous conversation continued as they compared notes on what was appropriate for worship and what wouldn’t pass muster with the Almighty.

I slurped more Diet Coke and glanced away.  I think they were on to me.

A call interrupted their dialogue.  Overbite had to get back to the office.  And Help Meet had to go too.  The horrified one followed suit.  Yowsers!  Too bad her church didn’t have a doctrine about ill-fitting polyester pants.

And I was left alone with my thoughts.  That was fun.

Since when did Christianity turn into a salad bar or an a la cart menu?  A picking and choosing affair about how we view God….versus a simple relationship with Him?

Heavy on the lettuce….hold the bacon bits….oh wait….can’t have the bacon bits, they’re ungodly…Is the Blue Cheese more godly than the Thousand Island?

Oh, the silliness that ensues when we think of God as a good version of ourselves.  Or when we fashion an image of him based upon our opinions.

I suppose if you’re busy doing that stuff though, it keeps you distracted from doing the heavy lifting of loving that annoying neighbor and being nice to your family.

Saddest part though….it also keeps us from seeing the reality of his love and kindness.

Ah yes.  Life is full of learning opportunities.  Even at the Costco snack bar.  (Did I mention the dog and Coke are only $1.60?)

theresa_sig

Filed under: church, church life, Spirituality, The God Journey | Tagged: , , , | 3 Comments »

Jesus is coming back…and boy is he ticked!

Posted on December 5, 2008 by therealmotherlode

The first time I saw that bumper sticker it cracked me up.  It reminded me of the time when we’d play “Angry Daddy” or whatever the heck we called it when we were kids.  One of my siblings or I would grab dad’s belt, fold it over and then smack it on the steps as we walked up.  Step-SMACK!-Step-SMACK!  I can’t remember what we’d say but I’m sure it was something along the lines of “YOU’RE GONNA GET IT!”

The rest of us would be upstairs hiding and giggling.  Don’t ask me where we got that game but I think it’s hilarious in that it so graphically depicts in my mind the “Angry God” picture religion creates in the hearts and minds of its adherents.

Our Heavenly Father  is coming up the steps, only he’s wielding a horsewhip….Step-SMACK!-Step-SMACK!  “Be ye perfect as your Father-that would be moi-  in heaven is perfect! Conform! Perform!”  And I’m not sure that Jesus would swear but I can almost hear him saying in this ridiculous picture, “I died on the cross, dammit!” SMACK! “Get your crap together!”

Yes….this is an exaggerated picture.  But as I see the fallout from the elections and hear the amount of believers wringing their hands and fretting what went wrong I think it’s grievous.  Maybe if we fasted enough…Maybe if just prayed more…maybe IF WE DID fill-in-the-blank.

It’s the same ole same ole religious song and dance.  “If we don’t—God can’t”  This thinking really makes our loving Heavenly God to be no different than some avenging pagan god.

It’s not about what we do or don’t do…it’s about entering into a relationship with our Loving Creator.  I believe God is kinder and more loving beyond what we’re able to comprehend.  I believe he has a hilarious sense of humor and a compassion deeper than we’ll ever understand this side of heaven.  And I believe that in the midst of our sin and pain…he’s right there in the middle of it with us; not sitting on the sidelines waiting for us to get our act together.

I don’t believe God has allowed Obama to be elected to gives us a good collective whipping.  And I don’t believe he’s the antichrist either.  Feelings are running quite strong on this one.  When I was in an office the other day, politics came up.  The receptionist WHISPERED to me, “I dare not say this too loud in here; I voted for Obama.”

Good gracious!  We’ll accept you as long as you agree with us is the message that came across loud and clear.(“SMACK!”)

This sort of mean intolerance is religiousity at its worse.  But then again, when the Angry Daddy is storming up the steps these are the rules we play by.

Learning to live loved and extending grace and kindness to a hurting world will yield far more fruit than any election result.   And you don’t have to smack any belts around either.

Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , | 3 Comments »

Mystery Worshippers?

Posted on October 26, 2008 by therealmotherlode

Had to post this before I turn off the computer.  This article was in today’s Tennessean.  At first I thought I was reading a parody piece from Lark News.

But alas, I wasn’t.  I find this sadly hilarious. It’s also funny that Lark News even has a parody article about secret shoppers in this month’s issue.

You can read my comment down below the article in the Tennessean.

Filed under: Uncategorized, church life, church | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

The state of the American Church

Posted on October 10, 2008 by therealmotherlode

Found this little morsel and said WOW.

In the beginning the church was a fellowship of men and women centering on the living Christ.  Then the church moved to Greece, where it became a philosophy.  Then it moved to Rome, were it became an institution.  Next it moved to Europe, where it became a culture.  And finally, it moved to America where it became an enterprise.

Attributed to Richard Halverson, Former Chaplain of the US Senate.

PS One more little thing.  My friends the Millers have been up to more creative work and started a new network at http://www.48days.net.  If you’re an entrepreneur, a wanna be entrepreneur or just a creative type looking to earn money doing work you love, check out this new community.  And don’t be put off by the picture of Dan in front of his red car up at the top of the page.  This is NOT a get rich quick thing or some invite to a multi-level marketing thing.  Dan loves cars and I don’t think I’ve ever heard a successful businessman boasting about how LITTLE they pay for their cars.  ;)   And if you join, be sure and link to me!

Filed under: church, church life | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

“Shopping for God”

Posted on October 8, 2008 by therealmotherlode

How Christianity went from in your heart to in your face

Can you resist a title like that?  I couldn’t especially when I saw that it’s written by one of my favorite authors, James B. Twitchell.  Twitchell is a University of Florida professor of English and Advertising.  I first read one of his books when I was on a reading jag on advertising a couple of years ago.

The other titles I read- Branded Nation: The Marketing of Megachurch, College Inc., and Museumworld

Living it Up- America’s Love Affair with Luxury.

His books are full of his cheeky humor, thorough research and plenty of real life examples that will have you laughing aloud.  And you’ll regard mega churches in a totally new light.  (Chapter 8 is entitled, “The Megachurch: ‘If You Are Calling about a Death in the Family, Press 8.’”)  Oh Sweet Mercy! where’s the emesis basin when you need it?

Thankfully, Twitchell’s humor helps with the horror of regarding what “Christianity” has come to mean for the mulititudes.

I was going to blog today about an article by Julia Duin  in The Washington Times entitled, “Flocking Away from Churches” but finding this book preempted my intentions.

But I guess the common theme with these two…Marketing and Branding is King in the land of church.  And for those of us interested in the Other King…”church” just doesn’t cut it.

Filed under: church, Marketing, Spirituality | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

Freedom is a good thing

Posted on October 4, 2008 by therealmotherlode

Today we’re heading to a gun and knife show.  I am so grateful to be living in a country where we can still keep and bear arms.  But of course, I always wonder how much longer we will have that right.

I often ponder this thing called freedom.  Our right to own guns can get swallowed up in laws.

But we do that in other areas too.  We turned the freedom Christ’s given to us into a set of laws and list of do’s and don’t.  We take a child’s natural curiosity and try to box it up in a curriculum.

Every time a decision is made out of fear, we lose a bit of that freedom.  Fear of guns, fear of “doing enough” in serving God or educating our children…all leads to a loss of freedom.  Glorious freedom.

We need to guard it jealously.

Filed under: Individuality, Misc | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

What are you doing here?

Posted on September 15, 2008 by therealmotherlode

We visited the Outer Limits yesterday.  At least it was for us….we visited a large church.  We thought we’d go check some things out and look for other homeschoolers and perhaps service opportunities to the poor.

Now keep in mind our frame of reference…the largest church we were ever a part of never broke the 200 member mark.  And that suited us just fine.

Jay’s first comment was, “This is like Disneyworld,” referring to the golf carts shuttling people from the hinterlands of the parking lot.  I was thinking more along the lines of Alice in Wonderland.

Entering into the building, we felt swept along the current of people moving to their appointed places: younger kids- this room, junior high kids- that room.  Adults- into the sanctuary and if you feel you MUST have your children with you, please sit in the back so they don’t distract anyone.  (That last tidbit was spelled out in the Visitor’s package.)

I ran into a friend there.  Surprise spread across her face and she said, “What are you doing here?” I made polite mouth noises but she persisted, “What ARE you doing here?”  I was wondering that myself.….

She knows we’re “free-range” believers and her shock was apparent.

At the conclusion of the service Molly and Caleb were telling me about their classes.  Molly loved the snacks and the games.  Caleb too had fun.

“Did you grow in your relationship and intimacy with God?” I asked.  Silence.  Caleb confessed he ate a candy before he was supposed to.  (He needed to properly answer a Bible question first.)

We talked some more and I asked, “So, what was the difference between this and family night at the roller rink?”  Molly responded, “This was FREE!”  I assured her it wasn’t free but it was supported by the tithes and offerings of the parents.

It took the majority of the day to process through all the emotions.  And please, hear my heart.  I’m not out to throw rocks at these precious people or their deal.  But I just kept thinking how does this resemble what Jesus modeled? I thought of a quote by Brian McLaren who said something to the effect that it’s really sad when we filed into a building, stare at the backs of heads and expect fellowship to break out.

I don’t want to communicate to my children that church is about attending a fun meeting…it’s about raw, real relationship and service to others.  That doesn’t come from structure–it comes in the form of everyday life with the people that we interact with.  And through hearing those little promptings from our Helper and acting on them.

I think over all, I feel very sad over this.  I wondered how many of the people sitting there were struggling with serious sin or depression or troubled kids.  But they can hide out in the busyness of it all and never experience any depth of relationship.  And then when the you-know-what hits the fan…Sad.

Church these days is big, and I mean BIG, business.  I was talking with another believer the other day and I told him that I measure things by “The Africa” test.  Ie…if what we’re preaching over here is truly the Gospel…it should work in Africa.  And it should work for the simple.  He smiled and replied…”Well, you’re not in Africa.” I have no desire to live in Africa, but of a moment, it sounded appealing.

Wow.  Are we teaching the Gospel or a church culture?

Filed under: church life | Tagged: | Leave a Comment »

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