Renew Together?

Yes.
This is a good thing.
Vintage gets down to business.
I sat in church a few weeks ago and overheard a convsation in front of me. Innocent and understandable enough. But revealing.
One person was commenting to another how he had not attended VFC for quite some time, and that now it seemed like the crowd was a whole different group of people he mostly did not recognize.
I think he was wondering how this fit the "body" concept of the community of faith. This got me asking myself myself some even deeper questions. Are we all here because of the "buzz" of the place? Is this just another pop blip that people drop into and move on from like a million meaningless blogs out there. Are our meetings jammed full with people who stop by a few times and then move on and forget? Just like most else in life today? X-Box attention span?
Or are we a family of faithful, a community? The living body of Christ? And not just a momentary religious blog--"the bloggy of Christ"?
Sunday's message, January 28, was the call to get down to business. I hope we were all listening well.
Thank you, VFC.

A living House

I think the word “painful” could so appropriately be added to messy and mysterious to describe the process of transformation. The pangs of being renewed, reshaped, transformed, reborn- whatever language we use to describe our sanctification- can strike so hard and hurt so deeply in those mysterious and messy moments in which God is really at work inside of us- in our minds, in our hearts- in our souls.
Sometimes the pain is quite literal, quite physical. I remember one particular night over the summer, I felt so strongly convicted in so many areas of my life that needed to change, the pain inside my heart became overwhelming. I prayed. I was pacing my studio in the dark, in this state of confusion soon after, feeling so many things inside going on at once, it seemed like absolute chaos within. I thought to myself, that these moments of chaos were supposed to have passed, and accepting Christ was supposed to lead to some greener pasture, some place more peaceful than this. In that moment I had this image of a house being gutted. The outside was in tact, but inside I saw walls being knocked down, rooms being stripped bare, old furniture being carried out, dust everywhere. In some areas it seemed there was nothing left but the foundation. I then realized what God was doing.
Some weeks later I came across a C.S. Lewis quote and was completely taken aback. It was a parable he had borrowed in one his books from George MacDonald. Apparently they had seen it too, maybe on some night like the one I had- and the many I have had since - what God’s messy, mysterious process of transformation looks like…
“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of- throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”

Chris Durso

untitled

I love the Lord with all my heart, spirit and mind. I love my neighbors with gratitude and grace. I love my parents with honor and respect. I love my Brothers and Sisters in Christ.
I have learned through Christs teachings that He loves me. But I am not familiar with any passages in the bible that teach me how to love myself. I do not love myself.

A man I consider wise once told me that our walk with God was like a trip to Disneyland. Somewhere along our trip down Highway 5, we pulled off and got lost. We spent years lost on this road, not knowing how to get back. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere, Jesus came, and directed us back to the freeway. So what did we do? We set up a monument on the spot. A huge sign with flashing lights that tells everyone what happened. This is NOT the way to Disneyland, we got lost, but now we have found our way back to Highway 5 with Jesus' help. We hand out brochures, and hold meetings, it is so great to not be lost anymore! Somewhere along the way, we forgot that God made us to go to Disneyland. Jesus didn't find us so we'd know where the road was, he found us so we would get back on it.

I find myself so caught up in that moment when Jesus found me, whispered in my ear, and called me back to the road. That alone is good enough for me, and I can never thank Him enough. But, Jesus is calling me back to the road. All I want is to stay where I am, where I know. But, He whispers to me, this is only the beginning. He doesn't seem as concerned as I am about getting lost again. He isn't worried about whether or not I'll have enough gas, money, food. He is just excited to see me back on the road He made me for.

I don't know how to start this entry except to start typing and see where it ends. As I have sat in church on Sunday and listened to the message about changing and renewing one subject resonates in my mind. In January 2006 I made the decision like I had done several times before to loose weight. This time was different. It was different because I came to several realizations, the most important being that I was on a path of destruction. When I started this process I told myself it was going to be different this time. I was going to succeed unlike my past attempts. Don't get me wrong, the last year has been successful, I have lost 40 pounds. However, I have find myself in a rut struggling to succeed. With all this in mind I have decided to take a different route. I have asked god to help me to change. I am seeking his guidance and strength to get me through the difficult times.

I imagine this is a subject on other peoples minds so I thought I would let you all know what was on mine....

transformation through family

That means church family and my own family. My children have transformed me, as I have watched them transform, and this could not have taken place without the grace of God. Through all of this, my church family, First Presbyterian Church of Santa Cruz, has held my children in their hearts. To read more, visit http//www.toestothenose.blogspot.com.

I am grateful to have joined the Vintage Faith family.

Tory Wilson

How Great is Our God

We sang “How Great is Our God” and it was so awesome! I felt like if I just had the right kind of glasses, I could have seen God and the angels singing with us. That's when it struck me. The key to my transformation is completely wrapped up in "How Great is MY God"--not a god of wood and stone but One beyond my understanding in greatness and yet nearer to me than I can fully comprehend.

Head games

Here's a practical idea someone shared with me once. Maybe it will help you too. Imagine a baseball glove above your head. (You know like how the light bulb idea works in cartoons.) Here's what I do. I "catch" the thought in the glove and take a look at it. Does it jive with what I know about God from his word and my love relationship with him? If not, is it coming from my own fear, insecurities, my narcisism? Or is it from one antagonistic to my relationship with God, from the enemy of my soul? If I can determine the source behind the thought, it can slow me down enough to allow me to see what I'm considering. Is the action in keeping with my true identity as a daughter of my Creator. If I give in will keep me from being who I truly am becoming as I walk with God? Hopefully someone out there will be helped by this. It was huge for me.

love is key

first, i am so stoked that dan used the passage about loving God with all your being as a key thought last week. to me, that is the starting point. if i can grasp that God craves my love and that he IS God, those are the first steps toward my transformation. it's always a tougher road to transformation if i forget God is loving and desires to be close to me. i also have to let him be God instead of me. once i focus on the love and protective heart of God, i begin to grow.

longing for purity

why is it so easy to want to change and yet so hard to actually do it? i have come so far in claiming victory over sin in my life, and today i found myself faced with yet another temptation. i went through the entire of process of weighing whether i should give in to temptation or not. i clearly had a way out and what did i do? i gave in! does it mean i'm back where i started 4 years ago when i began really seeking freedom from this particular sin? no, but it certainly makes me feel like a wretched waste of God's time. i often wonder how long the Lord will offer me a way out...how many times He'll forgive me before His grace runs out...and i sometimes wonder if i will ever be fully free. my heart cries out - LORD FORGIVE ME! I NEED YOU! I CANNOT FIGHT THIS FIGHT ON MY OWN AND I NEED YOU EVERY MINUTE...TO STAND WITH ME AND BRING ME INTO COMPLETE FREEDOM. and in my heart, i know He hears and with new hope, i step forward, believing His desire for my freedom is even greater than my own. i sinned. i chose to bow to temptation instead of running from it. it was a moment of weakness that i will one day have to give an account for, but it does not erase all that God has done. today i choose purity. i choose freedom. i choose to believe i am forgiven. i choose to be renewed and transformed. i am not my sin and i will not let it rule me. i am a beloved daughter of the King. a sinner saved by grace. purified. loved. accepted. and free.

transformation

One of the things that I love about transformation is that no matter how difficult it may seem at the time...especially as we begin to see that we have places in our lives that are NOT pleasing to God...the end result is more beautiful and more amazing than we may ever realize. God longs for us to be close to Him...to long for our lives to be changed and renewed from the inside out. What transformation am I looking for? To say my entire life seems like a pretty tall order...but I guess it isn't for God. He said NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE. So yes, I want my entire life to be transformed...to see the greatness of God mold and shape me into the woman He desires I would become. If you think of me, pray that I will continue to believe what God says about who I am in Christ and that I would submit fully to God's leadership over my finances. My prayer for all of you is that you will be open to being changed by God, to become more intimate in your relationship with Him, and know His love more deeply than you ever have, and that as a church community we would truly become all that God desires for us to be!! :)
-René

Please Read Before Posting

(re)new: the messy mysterious process of transformation

Where is God taking us and how do we do this messy, this mysterious, this sticky thing that we call transformation? Well, we can’t do it alone and it is for this reason that this Renew Together blog was created—for us, as members of First Pres and Vintage Faith, and for us as the body of Christ—to be able to dialogue and discuss and wrestle with the places we are being transformed.

Please post your prayers, prayer requests, your heart cries, your questions, your wrestling, your insights, and your testimonies. We are asking God to transform us into who He wants us to be. We are asking God to use this space so that we can begin to open up to each other as a community, to ask the hard questions, and to reach out, as well as to share the inconceivable and good things that God is doing. You might be surprised to learn that—whatever you’re going through—that you’re not alone. We are excited to see the new beginnings and wholeness that God has for our lives!

We ask that those who participate are thoughtful and respect each another’s opinions, keeping what we learn confidential. We cannot wait to hear where people are being transformed.

Vintage Faith and First Presbyterian Churches

hope springs

eternal