What about 'Hell'?

Hello, blog church people, what do you think about hell? Do you think a loving Heavenly Father would cast people into the fiery pit? How does that fit in with, God so loved the world? What about all those people you love who would not profess to be 'Christians', what do you feel about a God who casts them out into the darkness? There's a bit of a stooshie going on in churchy circles about Rob Bell's book addressing the question of hell. Go onto Paul Leader's excellent blog this week and follow the link. Makes interesting reading.
Just another question to join all the others in the great scheme of things.
Cheers, the Tartan Heretic

The 'Christian' Me

Just been reading the post by Cheryl on Martin's blog. Worth a read. It asks the question, 'When you say that you're a Christian, how do I know it's true?'
Provides food for thought. Do I want to be called a Christian these days with all its connotations? What defines me as a Christian? Can't be my church attendence; can't be my long prayer times; can't be my extensive bible study.
I would like it to be the extra mile, the little random acts of kindness, a smile instead of a frown. Not a label or a definition. Just a heretic on a journey of discovery.
To fellow heretics,
Morag

A Story Ending ....

For those who have had connections with Frank and Shay Houghton and the Village of Hope, I thought you might like to see this. Debs who I travelled to Morocco with, and who some of you will have met, has posted this article on her blog.

www.laughingstreamphotography.co.uk/2011/01/a-story-ending/

Andrea

Gather by the River

At the Saturday morning happening, we were talking about gathering together. The old hymn Gather By the River came to my mind and I said that I saw the river as the river of God, the river of the Holy Spirit and we were gathered by it.
I looked up the hymn on the internet and found the following.

One af­ter­noon in Ju­ly, 1864, when I was pas­tor at Han­son Place Bap­tist Church, Brook­lyn, the wea­ther was op­press­ive­ly hot, and I was ly­ing on a lounge in a state of phys­ic­al ex­haust­ion…My imag­in­a­tion be­gan to take it­self wings. Vi­sions of the fu­ture passed be­fore me with start­ling vi­vid­ness. The im­ag­ery of the apoc­a­lypse took the form of a ta­bleau. Bright­est of all were the throne, the heav­en­ly ri­ver, and the ga­ther­ing of the saints…I be­gan to won­der why the hymn writ­ers had said so much about the “riv­er of death” and so lit­tle about the “pure wa­ter of life, clear as crys­tal, pro­ceed­ing out of the throne of God and the Lamb.” As I mused, the words be­gan to con­struct them­selves. They came first as a quest­ion of Christ­ian in­quiry, “Shall we ga­ther?” Then they broke in chor­us, “Yes, we’ll ga­ther.” On this quest­ion and an­swer the hymn de­vel­oped it­self. The mu­sic came with the hymn.

Pretty good place to gather, by the pure water of life, for thirsty travellers.

Hope this makes some sort of sense.Morag

Hello all,
Wayne Jacobson`s website is certainly worth a look,
www.lifestreamministries.org
More of the good stuff,
Feilicious salutations, Keith

my first blog!!

Hi guys,

thought I would respond to what julia asked and tell you a little of what I have been up to.  For those of you that don't know, I became an adult and turned 30 last week - he he!  I have been so excited to turn thirty and many of my friends have no idea why I would be celebrating, most of them feel down about getting older.  I have never understood this concept as i feel age is in the mind and i suppose with God I know that there is so much more ahead for me to discover.  I looked up what the number 30 meant and i got really excited because it is linked in with coming into wisdom, experience and purpose (Jesus was thirty when he got into his ministry).  So no, i have not missed the boat, I am not going to be depressed by a number and yes wooo hooo to getting just that little bit wiser!

I am really excited for what 2011 holds for all of us, these are new days and the foot prints haven't been made yet!  I love the fact that we can all walk through this year together and share the laughs and the tears.  You are all so important to me and I am blessed to be discovering the new with ya'll.

Love Lia

What are we up to?

I'd be interested to hear what folks get up to during the week, even if it sounds quite "ordinary"!  I'm off to a residents and relatives group  meeting in my mum's home today - have a few things to say.  Starting with staffing cuts....  (Julia)

The new stuff

Thanks to Andrea for organizing this means of communication.
It is an important shared means of telling our stories as we find ourselves `out there `,  being salt and light, but as well as our individual stories, it becomes a means of hopefully establishing a more authentic function of the Body of Christ in these turbulent days.
It does mean that we cannot afford to ignore such opportunities as Andrea has created for us. We take a risky but promising path in these days, times have changed and opportunities for communication have expanded. Blogs and email provide a bigger picture for us all and hopefully will inform and enrich our face to  face fellowship ! So keep pounding those keyboards...

At the risk of repeating myself, can I share again something that I came across on Martin Scott`s blog some two years ago. Most may have seen this already, but I consider it a most helpful and concise summary of what groups of Christians like ourselves aspire to.
Elements that define Emerging Missional Communities (Us..).
1. Don't do mission - they are mission.  Breaking down sacred/secular divide, becoming agents of change.
2. They take Jesus as their model and are countercultural.  They try to answer the question as to what it means to be authentic Christian community.
3.  They are a subversive community, not willing to provide a religious service, not looking to bring people into something, but are within a (wider) community releasing the transforming life.
4.  They are a connected community and discover new ways of being together so they are made up of relational networks not structures.
5.  They are made up of both apprentices and ambassadors.  Always learning what it means to be a subject of the King and always representing the Kingdom.
6.  They are prophetic communities pointing forward, reaching after new expressions that model the coming age.

I aspire to these, though we are past the days of one person`s vision for a particular church. I simply share them as food for thought...
Every blessing, Keith

Bill H

The meeting with the ex oversight team last night was a breath of fresh air. I was blessed to be in the company of folk who were prepared to be honest as to where they are in thier walk with Father. This is a time to explore ground where there are no maps to follow. I don't understand half of what is going but I think God is asking for trust not understanding and I know that in my heart there is a peace that passes all understanding. This is a great way to keep each other informed as to what is going on as well as meeting face to face.

Welcome to Dimensions blogspace ...

Hello all,

I hope you all had a good Christmas and New Year.

This blogspace has evolved after speaking with a few folks over the last few months about having some kind of collective space to share thoughts, insights, and what's generally going on either with us as individuals, families or wider afield as we continue to journey with God together. I think that we are probably past the days of the old "newsletter" even if it is sent by email. We wondered about a web-page, but settled on a blog as it is easier to maintain and it is free!

To post on the blog you will need to sign in with the blog username and password which you should have received in an email. Once signed in it is easy to post text and photos on the blog. Further instructions are included in the aforementioned email!

In the side-bar you will also find links in one place to other blogs and websites that people might feel relevant.

If you would like to include a post on the blog either post directly using the username and password, or email  the content to andrea.basecamp@btinternet.com and I will upload it.

Whether by blog or not, keep the stories alive!

Happy posting,

Andrea