When it is time to leave...

Recently I came across this bit from William Ritter while researching different relationship counseling tools.  This bit may be helpful for all sorts of relationships.  I share this for consideration if there is a relationship in your life (work, marriage, friend, etc.).  I am not advocating one way or the other, just wanted to share this mostly so that I have it in my files.

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It may (just may) be time to think about leaving…

When your are no longer doing yourself any good. When you are experiencing no good… feeling no good… and being led to believe that, at the deepest level of your being, you probably are no good.

When you are no longer doing anybody else any good. When there is little evidence that anybody is better off as a result of your persevering in marriage, job or whatever. When no one who is counting on your “hanging in there” will be appreciably harmed if you don’t.

When all that seems to be resulting from your efforts is more harm than good, when you find yourself speaking and acting in ways that are more indicative of your worst self than your best self. And when, in the act of preserving, you find yourself becoming more and more perverse.

When you are hurting the body… by being tense all the time… sick much o the time… abused some of the time… and self-destructive in the darkest times.

When you are killing the soul, by the fact that more is consistently going out from you than is coming back to you. When you are underfed… undernourished… and withering (as they say) on the vine.

When you are the only one who seems to care, to the point of discovering that without a mutuality of effort, it is hard to accomplish anything alone.

When, having prayed to God, it seems that God is no longer giving you the strength to stand. As to when that point is, I don’t really know. But I suppose it is the point when you find that you are no longer standing.

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Thank you Steve Heyduck

If you are not following Steve Heyduck or reading his stuff, you should.

This is a post in which he shares a slide-show presentation put together by someone else.  It is called "You Suck At PowerPoint." (Which I am sure lifts its name from the "You Suck At Photoshop" videos which are hilarious.

Thank you Steve.

"We need a contemporary worship!" cried the masses.

As I continue to pray for direction in the discernment of the future of worship at my local church community, I continue to be intrigued with the language that is used when talking about worship.

At my local community there is an expressed need to have an alternative worship celebration offered. All of the conversation about this alternate worship is always described as "contemporary". Then there is discussion about what "contemporary worship" means. Most contemporary worship services have many traditional things:
Prayer, Scripture, Song, Preaching, and maybe even Communion.

So it seems to me that when we talk about contemporary worship we are not really talking about worship itself but about the way these essential elements of worship are acted out.

No big surprise there, I suppose.

I suppose what is interesting to me is the limited view of what an alternative worship at my community could look like. That is any alternative worship is contemporary. I do not hear alternate worship service opportunities described as contemplative or mission driven or traditional re-imagined or ancient/future or silent or ecumenical or the like. It is as though there are only two worship styles: Traditional and Contemporary (oh and by the way Contemporary really means a more casual form of Traditional).

How do we break from the idea that there are two types of worship?

Perhaps it just takes creating an alternative worship that is not a typical "Contemporary" worship in order for us to see the multiple and vast array of worship in the Christian tradition.

I hope there is courage and imagination to help lead in these directions.