Well, he said if I didn't blog about him, he would clog up my comments with his message, so here we go:
It was really great to have Jon come out to the Cave, we try to have someone come and speak once a month, and Jon was able to make it out. Jon works with UNOH, urban neighbors of hope, in Springvale, but is leaving next month to start a new chapter of UNOH in the western suburbs of Sydney. I really love UNOH and the work they do. They have learned to value the poor and marginalised, to truly live in community, and to strive for social justice. They are a great inspiration to my family, and Jon and his wife Lisa are a great inspiration to us personally.
Jon talked to us a bit about what it means to get an understanding of who we ourselves really are. He explained that often we cannot share ourselves and our faith with others, because we are so unsure of who we are, and who God made us to be. He invited us to remember the truths about our very nature, that we are made in the image of our creator. And then he asked us to take a piece of clay, and reflect something of the creative impulse, that is deep inside of us all.
We sat and worked on our clay while some music played, music that talked about how our hands can change the world, and how our lives are important. It was a great time.
For me personally I sensed how God works in my life, smoothing out the rough edges, sometimes roughly adjusting things that are out of balance, and creating more and more of himself into his work. We are reflections of our creator, and He is working with our lives to make us a clearer and clearer representation of that.
I am very thankful for people like Jon and my wife, who are able to teach us in ways that involve our senses. These experiences often fill us with truth on such a deep level, and the experiences in some cases really helps us to see things from a truly different perspective. It was a good night, and Jon is a wonderful man.
rev
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10 comments:
Kindergarten church.
i was there and it was a great time of journeying. Sometimes, You need to be like a child at the feet of God to find who you are! it was far from kindergarden, maybe you should come next time david.
Phil U
I am deleting your post because of the profanity, not sure who you are. I would actually be fine with David coming to a service if he didn't purposely disrupt things.
If you would like to post again without the profanity I will not delete it. Sorry I could not just edit it.
rev
UNOH is one of the great stumbling blocks to my own christianity. Looking at the lives of these guys leaves me asking the question: "am i just playing?"
Good job with the creative worship Rev. We're called to be like children before God. It is definately not kindergarten church
THanks for posting this Jon, I think you summed up in a few lines what it took me 20 minutes to spit out. You have a very graceful community that allowed me to try that out!
David, I really like the idea of Kindergarten Church:
For me it speaks of the importance of getting the "beginning right" in our spiritual walk (read "initiation").
Unfortunately most of the religion I was brought up with only talked about getting the "end right", and even worse than that, getting only the last 15 minutes right!
Yeah, thanks man, I like the idea of Kindergarten Church!
Could you imagine the world if all of us got the beginning right?
You can tell your wife that I really appreciated the sensory stuff she did at the last FORGE intensive. The "if nuts" were probably my favorite. They're still sitting on my desk as a reminder to stop asking so many "if" questions and just be content with what God gives me ...
"I would actually be fine with David coming to a service if he didn't purposely disrupt things."
What the?
That suggests one or more of the following:
(a) David has been to the Rev's church and has been disruptful.
(b) Special conditions must be imposed on David - conditions that would not normally be relayed to other attendees.
Well I have two words in response to that, Rev. The second one is "off".
wasn't implying either. Wouldn't want anyone to be disruptive, and if anyone was disruptive they would be asked to leave.
But the reason it was written is that you have been disruptive here, and intentionally so. So the actual idea was more along the lines of, if Dave is respectful, which he isn't on my blog, then he would be welcome, even if he was being contrary in our discussions.
rev
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