The body and the world

I love it that no matter the time of year, whether Jordan, Kelly, Sue, or I are on vacation, school year or summer, people can come to this blog as a part of their devotional life and read the thoughts of one or two other brothers and sisters in Christ. It has come to our attention that we need someone mystical, sacramental, or sensory in their spirituality to blog with us for balance. If you don't know which of the 9 spirituality styles is your native tongue (the other options are rational, doctrinal, Scripture-driven, sharing, ascetic, and enthusiastic), I would be happy to administer the 72 question quiz, so that you can find out. Jordan or Sue could do the same.

Either way, as a family maturing in its faith life together, we present ourselves to the world. As Kelly mentioned, Heidi and I are veggies for planetary reasons. If you haven't already seen the movie Food Inc, please do so. You can watch it on your computer via netflix. We need to be good stewards of this world for the next generations.

"Use your heads as you live and work among outsiders. Don't miss a trick. Make the most of every opportunity."

How does the church on the rock in Quincy appear to those outside of our fellowship? Here's my dream, using the Mike Yaconelli theology "something is better than nothing". To give you some background, Mike was a pioneer in youth ministry, serving nearly 40 years with teens before a tragic one car accident claimed his life much too early. When he died, youth workers all over the country gave from their meager wages to build a $53,000 school in his memory in Zambia. Another phrase he coined was "You have one life. Do something."

I would like Cathy and Mackenzie and any other new members who join on July 18th to be able to walk into the church sight unseen and be loved and forgiven as a sister or brother in Christ, to be integrated into the body. Each month, I would like to celebrate someone's offering of time, a talent, or treasure, whether they have been a part of the church for 75 years like Elsa or 77 days like Ryan, Lora, and Dominic. I would like the fruits of the spirit to flow like wine at a party. All the body of Christ stuff Kelly blogged about, none of the church politics stuff.

Paul says that we are the body of Christ, because we are. He has no other. Consider these words from Teresa of Avila:
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.