Posts

Posted on

pliny the younger on CHRISTian worship

pliny the younger

i very excited about sunday night (3.28.2010) at tapestry because the whole worship gathering is a potluck. i don’t mean that we are canceling our normal gathering and having a shared meal. nope, we are doing the whole gathering, singing, LORD”s supper, preaching, praying, discussion and all, as a part of a common meal. it’s an ancient practice within the bride of CHRIST (i.e. the church) that just isn’t done as much as it should be.

here’s how pliny the younger (a roman magistrate) described the worship practices of the early CHRISTian church.





they affirmed the whole of their guilt, or their error, was, that they met on a stated day before it was light, and addressed a form of prayer to Christ, as to a divinity, binding themselves by a solemn oath, not for the purposes of any wicked design, but never to commit any fraud, theft, or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was their custom to separate,and then reassemble, to eat in common a harmless meal. (pliny to emperor trajan, book 10 letter 97




“to eat in common a harmless meal” HA! he got that wrong. harmless – what a joke!


there is something about eating together that plays such a huge part in following CHRIST. i believe there is a reason that the bible tells so many stories of JESUS eating with people. i believe there is a reason that followers of CHRIST should eat together – ALOT!


i can’t wait to eat with everyone sunday night. if you are bringing food please bring enough for 8 people. that way together we will have more than enough for everyone.

	


	





		

		
Posted on 
tenebrae – 4.2.2010
	


	
	

		
tenebrae-facebook 


for the second year in a row tapestry will be having a tenebrae worship gathering. here’s how i sum up the tenebrae in the bulletin this week.




The Tenebrae is an ancient CHRISTian worship service that helps worshipers reflect deeply on the sufferings and death of Christ for us and our salvation. "Tenebrae" means "darkness" or "shadow." Tenebrae uses candles, scripture, singing, and darkness to help us prepare for Easter.




basically it is a worship gathering that is composed of 7 candles, a lot of scripture, a few songs, and darkness. it was very moving last year. actually last year’s tenebrae was when people involved in tapestry started being called “threads.”here’s the facebook event page if you want to say you are coming. 


the thing i am most excited about this year is that we will be doing it in the garage at emy j’s. those of you who know me understand that i love emy j’s. it’s an important place to me and to tapestry. most of the very important conversations that have been a part of tapestry coming about took place in emy j’s. the uwsp encore room was awesome last year. i think this year could be even better.


btw, i’m looking for people to read scripture during the tenebrae so if you are interested contact me.


SIDE NOTE – i’ve recently realized that i will most likely never again be a part of a church that has an easter pageant and i am thrilled about that. i have some friends that i love who think pageants are the great thing ever. i don’t necessarily think there is anything wrong with pageants. it’s just that they have never been something i enjoyed or felt passionate about. thankfully i can’t really ever see tapestry feeling comfortable with doing a pageant.

	


	





		

		
Posted on 
random thoughts at 11:11 on a tuesday night
	


	
	

		
    

  • integrity insurance/granger insurance, the insurance company of the man who hit my car last week, has decided to total my car and after their calculations they think it is generous to offer me a grand total of $1,042 for my car or $700 if i keep it. this seems like a complete cheat to me (and the others i have discussed this with). now i have to determine how i respond to them and what i do next. i think i’ll begin by saying that i will most definitely never be a client of integrity/granger. i’m quite unimpressed with them and wouldn’t want them as my insurance company. i hope none of you use them or are ever hit by one of their clients.
    • 

  • i sent my xbox 360 in for repairs today. it developed 3 red lights and then started freezing. it’s past the machine’s warranty but it appears that 3 red lights usually equals a free repair. we’ll see. anyhow on a lark i’m buying a used original xbox from a friend who sells vintage game consoles and i am considering running xbmc on it. i’ve never run xbmc so if anyone has any experience with installing it on an xbox i’m all ears.
    • 

  • pam and i just watched 3/23’s episode of “lost” – interesting. i’ve been a little disappointed with this season until this episode. like i said … interesting.
    • 

  • i also just caught up on this season’s “24” – c.t.u. must purposefully go out and recruit traitors. it seems like every season there is another person inside the agency working for the bad guys. how many times can this happen? thus far it has happened around 9 times. i would have ditched the show a long time ago except for jack bauer killing everything in sight. every now and then  i feel like i get a little closer to being a pacifist but somehow  i still enjoy watching jack do his thing – but i sure do hope we don’t have any agents like him.
    • 


	


	





		

		
Posted on 
island of misfit toys
	


	
	

		
islandofmisfittoys 


this week i’ve heard a couple of different people say things about tapestry that have made me smile. one of these was meant as a compliment (though some wouldn’t think so) and the other wasn’t really meant as a compliment but i’m taking it that way because it thrilled me. the only one i’m going to talk about is the one that was meant as a compliment.


a person who has been a part of tapestry for a few months made the following statement, “we’re a church of misfits.” i love this statement. i know some people would not want their church described as a bunch of misfits but i think it is great. 


i’ve recently been thinking of the church as similar to the island of misfit toys. if you remember the rudolph the reindeer tv special then you know that the island of misfit toys is an island that defective and unwanted toys went to. it’s where the “rejects” went to develop a community. again i know this sounds a little negative but it’s not.


King_Moonracer you see i believe that the scripture teaches that we are all a little screwed up. we’ve messed up, we’ve done stupid things, and pretty much not gotten it right. we’re not the perfect ones. we are not the ones who have it all together. instead we are the ones who recognize that we are desperately in need of someONE to claim us and call us HIS own. yep we’re a church that is made up of a bunch of misfits but i’m thrilled to be a part of a group of misfits because the LION OF JUDAH loves to claim professed misfits. HE chooses the ones that admit they are misfits, alone, and in need. it’s what HE does.


i actually feel sorry for the churches that are not made up of misfits.

	


	





		

		
Posted on 
the week in tweets – 2010-03-21
	


	
	

		
    

  • happy pi day! i hope we have pie at tapestry tonight but i'm not in charge of that so i have no say in the matter. still pie would be nice. #
    • 

  • every time i try to kiss pam a kid gets in the way. this is getting old! #
    • 

  • @joecausey  i agree with @meganckelly  on you off days. of course, that probably doesn't make it any better for you. #
    • 

  • @dhaltom7 – WOOHOO!!!! in reply to dhaltom7 #
    • 

  • @theboy1der-oh! painting with mid schoolers is great for the 1st day and maybe the 2nd. past that i want to kill them 🙂 anything but paint. in reply to theboy1der #
    • 

  • Standing in line at Belt's to bring ice cream home to the fam. I hope they appreciate it. #
    • 

  • @adkinsoncpa – i gladly would in reply to adkinsoncpa #
    • 

  • my car was hit by a drunk driver tonight while i was driving home. i'm fine, he's healthy but arrested, and my car is mediocre. #
    • 

  • @allisonrichmond – thanks allison in reply to allisonrichmond #
    • 

  • 1st contact with WI state troopers concerning the wreck monday and they were quickly helpful. thus far i'm very impressed with WI patrol. #
    • 

  • i just got the accident report and it turns out the guy who hit me wasn't just a little buzzed. BAC of .14 almost twice the legal limit. #
    • 

  • my bracket is pretty much over now. how could kansas and villanova both lose? #
    • 

  • UWSP wins 3rd division iii basketball championship in 7 years.! WOOHOO! #
    • 



Powered by Twitter Tools

	


	





		

		
Posted on 
pointer men basketball – CHAMPS!!
	


	
	

		
pointers-basketball 


way to go pointers! for the 3rd time in seven years the uwsp pointers are the champs for division iii ncaa men’s basketball. the ladies did pretty awesome too, making it to the elite eight.

	


	





		

		
Posted on 
churches? bowling alleys? guns? strip clubs?
	


	
	

		
churches, bowling, guns, strip clubs


well this is an interesting graphic. i think i could have predicted most of the areas that would have more churches, guns, and strip clubs (let’s face it, we all knew that one of the regions that would have more strip clubs than anything else would be around las vegas). areas with more bowling alleys? i could have never guessed where any of them would have been.

	


	





		

		
Posted on 
i want to watch this
	


	
	

		


my undergraduate schooling is in business management and psychology. i remember reading the study the above “show” was based on while studying at the great school of the university of south alabama (go jaguars!!). it’s pretty famous. it’s called the milgram experiment and was meant to study how far people would follow authority when crossing the lines of their conscience. this isn’t really a show but a documentary study. too bad it’s in france. hopefully it will show up on youtube.

	


	





		

		
Posted on 
just courage
	


	
	

		
just courage yesterday i finished listening to just courage: GOD’s great expedition for the restless CHRISTian by gary haugen. i’ve been listening to it on my daily runs for the past few days and it was so interesting that i found myself running a little longer each day just to hear more of the book. i have loved the international justice mission for years and thus was familiar with haugen already. i’ve heard him speak several times and thus i knew that he could tell a good and meaningful story but i didn’t know how he was as a writer. turns out he’s a pretty good author.


“just courage” is full of rationale and inspiration for those who wish to walk in the way of JESUS. if you want to understand the need for social justice in the world in regards to practical and real slavery in the world then read this book. haugen tells the stories of many who were stuck in the sex trade and indentured servitude. he also tell the stories of many who have been involved in helping this inidviduals reach freedom. finally haugen gives a ton of suggestions on how anyone can get involved in freeing those who are enslaved.


an added benefit to this audiobook for me was that it was one of CHRISTianaudio.com’s free books a few months ago. WOOHOO!

	


	





		

		
Posted on 
i hope this isn’t true
	


	
	

		
eskimo_baptism  


pam posted this comic on her facebook profile. i thought i would post it on my blog as a reminder that mid-apiril/early may (depending on the weather)tapestry will baptize all who need to be baptized. we’ll do this in the plover river and make a picnic out of it too. so let’s hope for continued weather like we’ve had this week.