" ... Where there is just you alone - and maybe God"

Sunday night we begin our consideration of The Shack. The main human character in the book, Mack, comes to the story with a difficult past. Beaten as a child by a father who was abusive to the entire family, his dad was a church-goer - an elder in the church - Mack remembers the time he shared the pain of his own inability to come to his mother's aide with a church leader at a youth revival. He was thirteen at the time. By the time he arrived home, Mom and his sisters were gone, and Dad was waiting for him to teach him a lesson.

Shortly after that incident, Mack left home, striking out on his own. He headed overseas, sending money back to his mother through his grandparents whenever he could. He spent some time in a seminary in Australia. Ultimately, he returned to the US, met a wonderful girl and got married. When the story is told, they have been married over thirty-three years, and have had five children together. Mack works in the "hi-tech" field - smart - not much of a talker - although, when he does speak, people listen to him.

Here is the question for us to consider: How does Mack's background affect his understanding of God? We are told that Mack's relationship with God was "broad", while his wife's (Nan's) was "deep".

The obvious spin-off from the question is this: How has your background affected your relationship with God? Your understanding of who God is (or might be)?

Chapter Two begins with this quote from Paul Tournier: Nothing makes us so lonely as our secrets.

Perhaps you could review the Legend of the Indian Maid in Chapter Two (pages 27-28).

And, the Biblical image we will use in terms of one's past and how it shaped their concept of God is that of David. How does the story of David and Goliath (I Samuel 17) telescope for us who David has been and who he will become?

You can begin the "conversation" by sharing any comments or thoughts you might have. Looking forward to Sunday evening ...

February 22 - Surrender

One of the best known scenes in the New Testament is that of Jesus in the garden called Gethsemane. Here he prays while his disciples sleep. And the line we all are familiar with is this:
Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will. Mark 14:36

Jesus surrenders to God.

Step Three of the Twelve Step program says this:
"We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."

Perhaps the most difficult thing to trust to another is our will. Turning over our will can feel like a complete loss of freedom and control.

Henry David Thoreau said: The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. Thoreau says that people are "resigned" to certain ways of living, but that in fact, what is called "resignation" is often nothing less than "desperation".

To what have we as a society "surrendered"? To what have we as "Christians" surrendered? What has the strongest influence in your life when it comes to convincing you what you should surrender to?

What are the things you do, the disciplines you have adopted, to assist you in your quest to be more fully surrendered to Christ? To God's will for you life?

And finally, is there a Biblical story besides the example of Jesus that speaks to you with regard to the temptation to surrender to things, realities, habits other than what you believe God wants for you life?

We'll talk about this on Sunday evening at 7. I'm looking forward to our conversation - you can begin it now by commenting below ...

For February 15

Welcome to the "Sunday at 7" blog! This is the meeting ground for the Sunday evening Home Group at the Adirondack Community Church in Lake Placid, NY.

Hopefully people who regularly attend the Home Group have received the Abridged Millennium Matrix - coming by way of snail mail. We will be sending it along to our "diaspora" participants as well! We will be talkiing about "The Matrix" on Sunday evening., February 15. This blog gives us the opportunity to begin the dialogue together - and to continue the dialogue after Sunday evenings are over. You can post your comments, add to the conversation.

In his book The Millennium Matrix, Rex Miller writes:

The Church is not losing ground. On the contrary, we're simply awakening to our true condition.

Some things to ponder:

1. What condition are we (the Adirondack Community Church) in? (...with a nod to Kenny Rogers!) Can you point to specific aspects of our ministry that cause you to characterize our "condition" as you do?
   
2. What do you think about this concept, part of the Matrix that Miller shares - that community connections used to be maintained by tradition; then, by creeds; then by issues and interests; and now, connections are maintained by questions.

And here is the Scripture we will be launching from and diving into: Acts 10:44-48.

Looking forward to reading your thoughts and engaging in the conversation!