random sass & musing™

recently i have seen more & more discussions about the role of the local church. my pastor consistently discusses how we should seek to bring the message to our community. i've always believed the local church to gather in an effort to praise God while in partnership with others, as well as a way to equip believers. some might argue that the church should only fulfill the role to organize corporate worship of God, but i believe that limits the intent of the local church.

i'm at work so i can't delve into the exact scriptures to fortify that discussion but i will place it on my list.

in the meantime, i ponder the hows & whys of hurt by the local church on those who are believers &, to some extent, non-believers. it's a quandry to me to understand how a local church could embody characteristics taht would hurt non-believers. i say that with the recognition that to hurt someone or something, they must give weight to whatever action you commit against them. so, if a non-believer were to be hurt by the local church, it would seem it is because they allowed that local church to have some sort of authority over them. an interesting concept because it indicates they are far beyond the so-called "unchurched" who want nothing to do with religion.

in contrast, i believe the local church could have more impact on the believer because the believer gives more weight to the actions of the local church. by local church, i'm referring to the typical church building + congregation, rather than the body of believers.

have i confused you yet? i may have confused myself.

more to come. in the meantime, may i suggest reading these threads:

CIRCLE SIX MAGAZINE : WHAT SAY YOU?
RELEVANT MAGAZINE : WHEN THE CHURCH IS THE CHURCH

argh, silly sha. wrote a whole entry, entry was gobbled somewhere. it now flies in cyberspace. no matter, it wasn't much in the way of making sense, but it made sense to me.

how did people survive in "the old days" without bloggery to keep them entertained? i've had more & more people tell me that they visit blogs during the work-day or school-day in an effort to alleviate the boredom. i was trying to recall what i did back before being tethered to a computer all day.

i remembered.

i jumped creeks, made forts, played house, cut barbie's hair, crated furniture from tuna cans for the barbiehouse, played with matchbox cars, swang on the swingset, ran through sprinklers, jumped in the pool, made mudpies, dragged my fingers through the cool creekwater, swang recklessly on a ropeswing, climbed through drainage pipes & enjoyed the echo of our voices as we crawled through, dressed the dog up in baby clothes, danced & sang to cheesy records, made a slip & slide in the backyard with trashbags, a gardenhose, & dishwashing liquid, made neighborhood kids push me on the riding lawnmower, rode my pink huffy to & fro, feared for my life from the neighborhood dobermans, got lost in the woods, picked fresh blackberries & honeysuckle, flew kites, played freezetag/tvtag/tunneltag/hide&seek, threw frisbees, caught lightening bugs, jumped in piles of leaves, & other asundry things.

that was a good life.