URBANarmy

I was struck with Richard Rohr's thoughts yesterday about the place and responsibility of  relationship restoration and what it is  for  human beings move ahead with dignity. "Only mutual apology, healing, and forgiveness offer a sustainable future for humanity. Otherwise, we are controlled by the past, individually and corporately. We all need to apologize, and we all need to forgive or this human project will surely self-destruct.  No wonder that almost two-thirds of Jesus’ teaching is directly or indirectly about forgiveness. Otherwise, history winds down into the taking of sides, deep bitterness, and remembered hurts..."

Ongoing reflections on  Warren, R (2004) The Healthy Churches' Handbook  and its 7 marks of health... The first mark of health to consider is what it is to be energised by faith. While it s eems a little obvious on a first read through, the more I thought of it, the more challenging it became.  Robert Warren sees being energised by faith to be foundational for healthy churches ." At the heart of these churches and their members is a reality about their awareness of the presence, goodness and love of God. Faith is the fuel on which these churches run."   Warren, R (2004) The Healthy Churches' Handbook. Church House Publishing The recognition is that a strong sense of church identity stems from 'knowing' the reality of God's love, experiencing it through a worship shaped by Christlike living. This is all about a motivation that embodies the Great Commandment, love for God and neighbour.  The danger comes from when that motivation is knocked, and a church fin...

Here at suttonsa the leadership team have been considering important questions that surround what constitutes being a healthy church. Robert Warren's book 'The Healthy Church Handbook' has been a useful companion, while not purporting to having all the answers his research has presented a useful framework for discussion.  I first came across his material while teaching at William Booth College and found it a refreshing, alternative means of theologically reflecting on the life of the church, without being swamped by success by measurement, strategy by 'key performance indicators' and other 'borrowed' idioms that are as easily applied to selling more baked beans than your competitors at a supermarket! Asking what would you expect to find in a healthy church was a good starting point, and interesting to find some common ground with Warren's material, most of what we brainstormed could be identified. Consequently working through the '7 Mark's' h...

It always seems a shame when we fall into the trap of looking for the next discipleship model and programme, striving rather than relaxing with becoming who we are intended to be.  It has been many years since I stumbled upon  Renovaré  and its balanced vision and practical approach to discipleship, I guess I was looking for the next model and programme when I found it! But in reality it has become a gateway and a journey companion in exploring the purposes of God for me. It has been good to recently be reminded of the value's that I found attractive and helpful. LIFE WITH GOD The aim of God in history is the creation of an all-inclusive community of loving persons with God himself at the centre as its prime Sustainer and most glorious Inhabitant THE AVAILABILITY OF GOD'S KINGDOM We can experience genuine, substantive life in God's Kingdom through Jesus Christ, beginning now and continuing through all eternity THE MEANS OF GRACE Amongst the variety of ways God has g...

" Grace is not something God gives; grace is who God  is.  Grace is God’s official job description.  Grace is what God does to keep all things that God has created in love alive—forever. "

"Receiving is an art.  It means allowing the other to become part of our lives.  It means daring to become dependent on the other.  It asks for the inner freedom to say:  "Without you I wouldn't be who I am."   Receiving with the heart is therefore a gesture of humility and love.  So many people have been deeply hurt because their gifts were not well received.  Let us be good receivers." Nouwen got me thinking today. How often do we as church think we are doing our community a favour by being there? In what ways can we receive form our communities, allowing our communities to become part of our lives? I wonder how we should receive and allow that receiving to embody humility and love? Just a thought!

"Life, when lived fully, tends to tool and retool us until we eventually discover a mercy that fills all the gaps necessary for our very survival and sanity. Without grace, everything human declines and devolves into smallness, hurt, and blame."