Of Roots and Shoots

Last fall some friends gave us a bush that they said would attract humingbirds. So I planted it and have been waiting this spring for it to grow.

But it didn't grow. At least not at first. If anything it looked dead. I told my wife that I was going to dig it up because it was obviously dead.

Then in the next few days I noticed a shoot coming up from the root. In a few days several others had come from the root. Finally one of the branches I was sure was dead sprouted leaves.

I was reminded of Jesus saying He was the vine, I a branch and the Father was the vinekeeper. What did I need to do to let this plant "abide" in the vine? Basically to leave it alone and not pull it up. You see the root was fine and growing on its on time table.

So as I look around me what is God doing? Am I seeing the same process? When I can't see I can be sure He is working. Just because I saw no action with my bush it did not mean something wasn't going on.

So as I pray for my friends and enemies that don't know Christ, when I pray for those who are struggling with their marriages, jobs, etc... I can be sure the Father is working. I need to keep praying and the leave the growing to God.

Why Does This Bother Me?

We visited a friend's parents 50th anniversary dinner. It was great seeing everyone. However when the subject of church came up I felt this urge to pick a fight. I wanted to tout my self-righteous view of basically how wrong everyone else is and how right I am.

Why? It seems I have some baggage here. The truth is that I am arrogant and proud of my views. This is not love. This is also not where Jesus is or wants me.

So I repent. Perhaps I should seek His kingdom in others lives and let him sort out the details.

Are my views on church right? Wrong question. Am I right in my relationship to God. Am I seeking His best for those around me. Am I playing for the audience of One or for others approval?

God deliver me from religion.

Hi I am a Pharisee

Hi I am Tim Rogers and I am a Pharisee. I suppose recovering Pharisee would be more accurate but I don't want to give myself to much slack. You see somewhere along the way of walking with Jesus I replaced performance for relationship.

Now this should not come as a surprise. After all didn't Jesus warn against the "doctrine" of the Scribes and Pharisees? And what did Jesus call that "doctrine"? Play acting. Actually hypocrisy but the word means an actor, a fake.

So in His love for me He has been moving me into what I call perpetual repentance. An ongoing turning away from death to His life. He is so much better than the rules. And His love is surely not based on my holiness or performance. It is Him. To paraphrase part of 1John 3:16 "I know what real love is by this , that Jesus gave His life for me, knowing all about who I am and would be, and still He loved to the point of death" In doing this Jesus was not keeping a rule He was just being Himself.

So I am trying to learn from Jesus not to hide but be myself. I am trying not to live for the praise of or to meet the expectations of others. Slowly I am learning to live for the audience of one.

I have much more to say on this but that is for another time....

Why do this?

I have always thought blogs were self-absorbed ramblings. I am not so sure I am not right! But after being encouraged by some friends to write and after reading some very helpful blogs I decided to give it a go.

The theme of this blog will be my journey with Christ. Most will be about my thoughts about walking with Jesus in the 21st century. Church and church life will come up. At the outset I must state that we I talk of church I am thinking of two different things. One is those called by God to become His through faith in Jesus Christ. For the sake of calrity I will captilize that understanding of Chruch. The other is the institutional church which I will refere to with a small "c".

If there is a goal here it is to encourage other believers to live outside the box of church and instead have a living and personal realtionship with the living Christ, to be the Chruch.

The wild goose reference is from celtic Christians who said following the Spirit is like following a wild goose. You never know where he is going or where he will take you.