Phil's name is still not Mark...

Table stakes

Who is at your  table? and who is not? and why?
Who's table are you willing to sit at.. and why?

I was so proud of how our conversation evolved this am.  It is indeed powerful when we begin to rationalize the implications of: no sacrifice we can ever make will ever be enough. The world will continue, the problems and blessing will remain.. but we can CHOOSE how we REACT.  The sacrifices have been made by God already, and we are loved..our "seat" is assured". It is despicable to exclude others from the table based on our human judgements of their worthiness.  Jesus calls us to action and that action is mercy not sacrifice or sacrificial ritual..   (seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly)

Talking points and experiences flow through my mind like a whirlwind..

• The seats at the table are open to everyone. 
• It is good to be at the table, but it dangerous.
• Hierarchical power structured based on "works/goodness" or "compliance with the law" are flawed at their very foundations.
• Phil's name is not Mark ;-) (BE)
• Discernment can only be done spiritually.  (BE)
• We must see people. Despite their actions, consequences. (BE/LOVE)
• If we create an exclusionary model intentionally or unintentionally, people are hurt..(LOVE)
• EVERYTHING we do must seek to include..(LOVE)
• Choice to action is individual for self, it is not to be prescribed for others..(SERVE)
• Inviting others to our table only goes so far. It must be balanced with going to their table.(BE & SERVE)
• Goal is not to "invite them to come to church, even to OpenDoor" the goal is be "Christ" for the world. walk around, live, set an example rooted in love and mercy every day (BE, LOVE, SERVE, REPEAT)

Matthew 9:9-13 The Calling of Matthew
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, "Follow me." And he got up and followed him.
10 And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax-collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax-collectors and sinners?" 12 But when he heard this, he said, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners."
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(Micah 6:8 NIV) He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
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What God Is Looking For (Micah 6:1-8 MSG)
Listen now, listen to God: "Take your stand in court. If you have a complaint, tell the mountains; make your case to the hills. And now, Mountains, hear God's case; listen, Jury Earth— For I am bringing charges against my people. I am building a case against Israel.
"Dear people, how have I done you wrong? Have I burdened you, worn you out? Answer! I delivered you from a bad life in Egypt; I paid a good price to get you out of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you— and Aaron and Miriam to boot! Remember what Balak king of Moab tried to pull, and how Balaam son of Beor turned the tables on him. Remember all those stories about Shittim and Gilgal. Keep all God's salvation stories fresh and present."
How can I stand up before God and show proper respect to the high God? Should I bring an armload of offerings topped off with yearling calves? Would God be impressed with thousands of rams, with buckets and barrels of olive oil? Would he be moved if I sacrificed my firstborn child, my precious baby, to cancel my sin?  
But he's already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It's quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,  be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don't take yourself too seriously—  take God seriously.

Joy or Despair. Your choice...Ooooohhhhhh

Life is hard
Life is not fair.
Throw a party and celebrate.
The end is certain and we win..



Zephaniah 3:8-20



We aren't called to WIN but we are called to show up and finish...

ROMANS 12
So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Are you serious?

What is worship and why we must come to worship, not just see our friends and support our kids?
Who exactly is responsible for exactly what?

Our mission "as the church" not "for the church" is to announce the good news and live in the light of Christ. God should be speaking through us, not just to us.  We have talked at great length in the past about accountability, and obligations.  I agree that each of us individually must assess our role in living out the messages of Matt 25 around social justice, benevolence, and being Christ for those in need.. however I think tomorrow we will be talking more about the role of worship.

Our God is a Holy God and is indeed worthy of our worship and our best. When we come together, and lift our hearts and our minds "in worship" it is not about social justice, or education, or receiving some blessing.. It is about Loving our Heavenly Father and showing our humility and praise through the offering of ourselves, our spirits, our voices, our hearts, and our time.  This is why it is important to be at church on Sunday AM and it is a lesson worth remembering.

Don't miss the Open Door tomorrow.. we will GET SERIOUS!

Outline for Discussion:

1. How do you define value/valuable/special/honor? How do others around you define it?
2. How do you define cheap/shoddy?

3. In a world of "me", what is the value of ritual/discipline/work ethic/perseverance?
4. In your life how/when has discipline and ritual served you well? How about taking the easy way?

Who is accountable for the results, for the perspective, for the process? boss, employee, leader, soldier? To whom will go the rewards?

Why is authentic worship necessary?

Authentic worship, sacrificial, humble, transforming experiences IN God's Love are a critical piece of us as the "priesthood of the believer"
The Holy Spirit lives in us. We are the priests that Malachi is speaking to.. The temple is no longer divided and God is available to us.

It is true that we are charged to be light for the world and that we should be consumed with loving others as God would love them. Social justice and Brotherhood is an imperative of every Christian but it cannot be accomplished unless we first utilize discipline, meet together regularly, worship our Holy Father experiencing grace, love and forgiveness..

Once we have experienced that love and grace we are freed to share it with others.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

--- Marianne Williamson.

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Malachi 1:6–2:9 (THE MESSAGE)

No More of This So-Called Worship!

   ¹ A Message. God's Word to Israel through Malachi: ^{2 -3}God said, "I love you." You replied, "Really? How have you loved us?" "Look at history" (this is God's answer). "Look at how differently I've treated you, Jacob, from Esau: I loved Jacob and hated Esau. I reduced pretentious Esau to a molehill, turned his whole country into a ghost town."
   ⁴When Edom (Esau) said, "We've been knocked down, but we'll get up and start over, good as new," God-of-the-Angel-Armies said, "Just try it and see how far you get. When I knock you down, you stay down. People will take one look at you and say, 'Land of Evil!' and 'the God-cursed tribe!'
   ⁵"Yes, take a good look. Then you'll see how faithfully I've loved you and you'll want even more, saying, 'May God be even greater, beyond the borders of Israel!'
   ⁶"Isn't it true that a son honors his father and a worker his master? So if I'm your Father, where's the honor? If I'm your Master, where's the respect?" God-of-the-Angel-Armies is calling you on the carpet: "You priests despise me!
   "You say, 'Not so! How do we despise you?'
   "By your shoddy, sloppy, defiling worship.
   "You ask, 'What do you mean, "defiling"? What's defiling about it?'
   ^{7 -8}"When you say, 'The altar of God is not important anymore; worship of God is no longer a priority,' that's defiling. And when you offer worthless animals for sacrifices in worship, animals that you're trying to get rid of—blind and sick and crippled animals—isn't that defiling? Try a trick like that with your banker or your senator—how far do you think it will get you?" God-of-the-Angel-Armies asks you.
   ⁹"Get on your knees and pray that I will be gracious to you. You priests have gotten everyone in trouble. With this kind of conduct, do you think I'll pay attention to you?" God-of-the-Angel-Armies asks you.
   ¹⁰"Why doesn't one of you just shut the Temple doors and lock them? Then none of you can get in and play at religion with this silly, empty-headed worship. I am not pleased. The God-of-the-Angel-Armies is not pleased. And I don't want any more of this so-called worship!

Offering God Something Hand-Me-Down,

    Broken, or Useless
   ¹¹"I am honored all over the world. And there are people who know how to worship me all over the world, who honor me by bringing their best to me. They're saying it everywhere: 'God is greater, this God-of-the-Angel-Armies.'
   ^{12 -13}"All except you. Instead of honoring me, you profane me. You profane me when you say, 'Worship is not important, and what we bring to worship is of no account,' and when you say, 'I'm bored—this doesn't do anything for me.' You act so superior, sticking your noses in the air—act superior to me, God-of-the-Angel-Armies! And when you do offer something to me, it's a hand-me-down, or broken, or useless. Do you think I'm going to accept it? This is God speaking to you!
   ¹⁴"A curse on the person who makes a big show of doing something great for me—an expensive sacrifice, say—and then at the last minute brings in something puny and worthless! I'm a great king, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, honored far and wide, and I'll not put up with it!"

Desecrating the Holiness of God

   ^{1 -3} "And now this indictment, you priests! If you refuse to obediently listen, and if you refuse to honor me, God-of-the-Angel-Armies, in worship, then I'll put you under a curse. I'll exchange all your blessings for curses. In fact, the curses are already at work because you're not serious about honoring me. Yes, and the curse will extend to your children. I'm going to plaster your faces with rotting garbage, garbage thrown out from your feasts. That's what you have to look forward to!
   ^{4 -6}"Maybe that will wake you up. Maybe then you'll realize that I'm indicting you in order to put new life into my covenant with the priests of Levi, the covenant of God-of-the-Angel-Armies. My covenant with Levi was to give life and peace. I kept my covenant with him, and he honored me. He stood in reverent awe before me. He taught the truth and did not lie. He walked with me in peace and uprightness. He kept many out of the ditch, kept them on the road.
   ^{7 -9}"It's the job of priests to teach the truth. People are supposed to look to them for guidance. The priest is the messenger of God-of-the-Angel-Armies. But you priests have abandoned the way of priests. Your teaching has messed up many lives. You have corrupted the covenant of priest Levi. God-of-the-Angel-Armies says so. And so I am showing you up for who you are. Everyone will be disgusted with you and avoid you because you don't live the way I told you to live, and you don't teach my revelation truly and impartially."

Jan & Feb Major themes aren't Minor! Don't miss a single episode of Open Door

The prophets we are studying are referred to as “minor,” but their messages are a “major” component of our spiritual heritage and shape our understanding of God and God’s people.

Jan 24 ---  Malachi was concerned about the quality of worship he witnessed among his people. He noticed that both the priests and the people were bringing substandard sacrifices to the temple. Malachi relayed the message that God was not pleased with the offerings, particularly since the people were giving their best to earthly rulers. This raises the question, “When have I offered less than my best to God?”

Jan 31 -- The familiar text in Micah 6 calls us to examine how our worship is connected to acts of justice. Micah charged Israel with ingratitude for God’s many saving acts and superficial worship. God desired not only their worship but also that they love kindness, do justice, and walk humbly before God. This text calls us to reflect on how our behavior demonstrates the depth of our devotion to God.

Feb 7 -- Habakkuk lived during a time when justice seemed nonexistent in his world. Like others before him, he lamented undeserved suffering. He wanted to know how a just God could allow such suffering to occur. In the last chapter of this brief book, the prophet draws on ancient traditions in which God establishes order in the cosmos.

Feb 14 -- Zephaniah lived during the reign of King Josiah, just before the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC. This was a time in which the people sinned against God by living outside God’s laws. Zephaniah announced the arrival of the Day of Lord, which would be marked by judgment. But he also spoke about the future national restoration and the return of the nation’s exiles. Even though he pronounces judgment, Zephaniah’s message concludes on a note of praise for God’s redeeming grace.

Now What?

I enjoyed talking with you all this morning as we executed our "year in review"..  It was great to have a visitor (Steve) in the room and I was impressed at the conversation.  What a year we have had... and what a year we have ahead of us.   As it has been, it will always be.
Do you believe that Jesus was born, lived, died and rose from the dead?  That is pretty much the whole game..  So my answer is YES.. I do believe..  Now What?

That is what we talk about each week in the "coolest room in the church".

LOVE IS A CHOICE

Thanks for making the time to study through the open door this am.
jeff

Below are some other links I talked about:

• Circle of relationship not a chain of command. 
• Church is not about assets. 
• Sacrifice for who? by whom.
• Relationships are a blessing. Now if I can just figure out how to keep up with it all.

Peace in Bethlehem?

Open Door Discussion today was focused on the importance of Bethlehem and the role of humility in the Christmas story. After we studied and worshipped together, we continued our fellowship at TK Tripps for great luncheon.  Good times had by all.. Two full tables of kids, and no issues.. Amazing.

Talking Points Summary:

• We are spiritual beings on a human journey, not human beings seeking a spiritual journey. 
• Jesus models the way for us in everything that he does. It isn't about importance, it is about love and a willingness to sacrifice for others' needs.
• Bethlehem's peace story is about inner peace.
• Death is not something to be afraid of. Bethlehem points us on the path toward the crucifixion and resurrection.
• We need to seek to recognize and truly appreciate the value and unique blessings that every person lends to our lives. Every person is special and can do great things.. through Christ.
• There is no such thing as impossible.

If I missed anything, please feel free to add in your thoughts in the comments.

jeff

Below are bunch of links we talked about.. and even laughed about at lunch.. 

Jeff's Quotes that are important to me page: http://web.me.com/jeffp/Jeff_Prillaman/Quotes.html

Alarmi, Alarmi! Are there artists among us?  http://vatenor.blogspot.com/2009/12/alarmi-alarmi-are-there-artists-among.html

Atlas doesn't shrug in my mind even after weeks : http://vatenor.blogspot.com/2009/09/atlas-doesnt-shrug-in-my-mind-even.html

Religious Objectivism http://vatenor.blogspot.com/2009/09/religious-objectivist.html

"Sometimes you have to create that which you wish to be a part of." -- Virginia Tenor: Fit in http://ow.ly/GXZd

command and control doesn't mean what you think it does. http://ow.ly/FB4v

Unity requires a circle of relationships, not a chain of command. http://vatenor.blogspot.com/2009/08/unity-requires-circle-of-relationship.html