unity in the Church is fought for and won a single relationship at a time, let us acknowledge, love, listen to, and serve one another — really, we can do this
if I don’t acknowledge my need for you and you don’t acknowledge your need for me, there will be no unity in Christ’s body
and if in my heart of hearts I have no need for others —another perspective, another expression— then I am truly lost
forgive me father in Heaven
unity doesn’t mean we loose our unique expression of how we follow the way of Jesus, unity means we are confident enough to serve our brothers and sisters from different expressions from our own unique perspective
let’s be unique together, yeah?
unity in the body of Christ will never happen in isolation, it’s staggering that we still put the majority of our time, energy, and resource to build our brand within our walls — there is another way forward for us
unity in the Church is all of us laying down our brands, our non negotiable strategies and opening our gates, moving beyond our walls and asking our brother and sister what they are hearing and how we can help
unity in the greater Church is a little more bumbly than we’d like it to be, but if we can admit that it simply is, then perhaps we can bumble forward together
here’s to us working it out 🥂
Going on from there was the bravest thing he ever did. The tremendous things that happened afterwards were as nothing compared to it.
— The Hobbit, Tolkien
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
could we create a normal practice within the body of Christ to affirm the artistically extreme, bizarre, and unusual, encouraging and funding artistic expression as an investment into the next generation of the Church? investing now in what will be normative
That which is artistically extreme, bizarre, and unusual will become normative, shaping culture and perspective. How is the Church contributing to this progression? Are we willing to risk what is for what could be?
He was trembling with fear, but his little face was set and grim. Already he was a very different hobbit from the one that had run out without a pocket-handkerchief from Bag-End long ago.
— The Hobbit, Tolkien
The sunrise and sunsets are good spectacles that happen twice each day and are seldom noticed by people too busy to look. God could have made an ugly world; he was not obligated to make a world that inspired awe...Simply gazing at a daisy reveals the mind of God.
— J B Smith