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| My firstborn son, Andrew James Hein, got married on Saturday, May 24th at 10 AM at Castle Avalon. The setting was truly romantic and the perfect place for this couple to enter into covenant with one another before God. The music was perfect for each processional. The grandparents and parents walked down the aisle to a song called "Walking in the Air". Then the groomsmen entered the garden to Metallica's version of "The Imperial March" which is Star Wars' Darth Vader music. The bridesmaids elegantly strolled down the stone path to "Procession of the Nobles". And last of all came the stunning beauty of Amanda Leilani Hare and her father Bill Hare, slowly making their way to the groom, to Pachelbel's "Canon in D". The music was as perfect as movie music. It was the perfect backdrop to the beautiful garden wedding. The ceremony was so sweet. There was a "Hands Ceremony" where A&A took turns looking at each other's upturned hands as one of the pastors, Mike Jaynes, spoke of all that they will mean to each other. Then Darrell Hein, father of the groom, spoke on behalf of the parents and then we prayed over the bride & groom. Next was the "Sand Ceremony" where A&A each had a vessel of colored sand and they poured their sand simultaneously into a large glass container that had white sand in the bottom - symbolizing Jesus as the foundation of their now combined lives. Then the 2nd pastor, Rickey Fyffe from Washington state, spoke of covenant and performed the vows and exchange of rings. His words were moving & memorable. After the vows and rings had been exchanged, Pastor Fyffe broke down in tears as he told the witnesses gathered there that this wedding was a first for him in that he had never joined together in holy matrimony, a couple who had never kissed before the wedding. His tears caused many others of the assembled guests to begin to cry, many of them men. It was an awesome thing to behold so many men in tears as Andrew lifted Amanda's veil and kissed her for the very first time as husband and wife. It was the purest, most holy moment I think I've ever experienced. God is the ultimate romantic, and when we do things His way, love can truly be a fairy tale come true. I certainly feel that way about Andrew and Amanda's relationship. It has been rare and unusual from the start, and a wonder to watch unfold. I wish I had photos to go with this post, but we hired someone to do that so that we could just enjoy the day and not worry about taking pictures. But 2 of my dear friends have really good pictures on their blogs. So if you will go to either http://www.depthsofhisriches.blogspot.com or http://diaryofninjane.blogspot.com/ you will read more wonderful details of the wedding and see some great photos. I will post my own photos soon. Thank you, dear Jesus, for the great and marvelous things that you do in our lives every day, all the time, and on very special occasions. I love you. Keep A&A safe on their honeymoon (they are in Scotland!). They are in Your capable hands. | | |
| God just blows me away every day! He is so cool! I made a comment in one of my recent entries that information comes to you when you need it. When your heart is crying out for something and you don't know exactly what, He brings the answer to you. I had that happen to me today. Noah and I are studying American History this year and we are doing a timeline. I bought a nice pre-made timeline, with characters and events to color, cut-out and glue onto the timeline. Today, we colored & cut-out "The Salem Witch Trials". So when I went to glue it into the timeline on the 1690's page, there's this little quote at the top of the page that says, "Why should any man have power over any other man's faith, seeing Christ Himself is the author of it?" - George Fox. Wow! You could have knocked me over with a feather! This quote perfectly sums up and puts into words exactly the way I am feeling right now. And I did not think that could be done. I want to tell people what is going on with me, but it seems so vast that I have no idea where to start. So next I get on the internet and google George Fox. I come across his autobiography and start reading it. Oh my gosh! It's so good! And it perfectly complements and enhances and magnifies everything else I've been reading. God is the perfect orchestrator (is that a word?)  tee-hee. He knows just how to put it all together for you. He knows our hearts cry, and He is the answer. He will get the information to you. And that was my little God story for today. | | |
| I read a book a few weeks ago called Dumbing Us Down - The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling by John Taylor Gatto. He brings up a concept that I had never heard of before, but as soon as read his exposition on the topic I was arrested by the truth of it. It's a comparison between what he calls networks and communities. I don't know if I can explain it or not, but I really want to try, because I want to be able to share this with others. So here's my feeble attempt at explaining this idea. Networks are people coming together usually to accomplish a common goal. Homeschool groups can fall into this category because they are groups of people who come together to help one another in educating their children at home. These groups provide social interaction for children, and classes that parents cannot teach at home, or that are better suited to group activity. My neighborhood has a homeowners association that strives to enforce the standards of the neighborhood. My son is on a men's soccer league where men from all over San Antonio can get on a team and play soccer on Sunday afternoons. Actually, most people's jobs are networks. People go to work to help a company accomplish their goals. Of course, we get paid for doing this, but it's still a network. All of these are examples of networking. In a network, only part of you is needed. People in a network aren't interested in the rest of you........only that part of you that helps to get the task done. There isn't a lot of genuine caring that goes on in a network. I want to quote from Dumbing Us Down (pg. 48): "Networks, however, don't require the whole person, but only a narrow piece. If, on the other hand, you function in a network, it asks you to suppress all the parts of yourself except the network-interest part - a highly unnatural act although one you can get used to. In exchange, the network will deliver efficiency in the pursuit of some limited aim. This is, in fact, a devil's bargain, since on the promise of some future gain one must surrender the wholeness of one's present humanity. If you enter into too many of these bargains, you will split yourself into many specialized pieces, none of them completely human." On the other hand, communities are places where the whole person can be brought and shared - the good, the bad, the pretty, and the ugly. Families are communities. On rare occasions, church can become a community. A community is open and free. Everyone is who they are and each member of a community must deal with the good and bad parts of the others. Sometimes small towns have community. In a community there is real, genuine caring. John Taylor Gatto says it this way, "community is a place in which people face each other over time in all their human variety: good, parts, bad parts, and all the rest. Such places promote the highest quality of life possible - lives of engagement and participation." Networks sometimes try and imitate community, and that is when they are dangerous. Because they promise something they do not have the power to deliver. In a network you can be surrounded by people, but feel totally alone. It's because only a part of you is wanted or needed. The network cannot allow the members to be whole because then efficiency is lost. During my years in Paris, Texas, I experienced some years of community in the church I attended there. You never forget people with whom you have had community. They become a part of you forever. We lived together, and grew in God together, and argued and fought and disagreed and loved and forgave and restored one another. It was awesome. We saw the best and the worst of each other and still loved one another. I still love all of those people even though I have moved away and lived without them for many years. We still keep in contact. Like family members. You don't forget your aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents. We are all a part of each other. I think that God wants church life to be like this - where each member has something to give. Everyone is participating and active giving all of themselves. Each one is received and loved and accepted. And when we disagree we don't part ways and never speak again. We continue to love and embrace each other. We know that Jesus is Lord of us all, and is working on each of us. We go through awkward stages and it would be good of us to remember that about each other. We Christians are all part of His Body and we should not have to hide who we really are from each other. There should be no fear among us in regards to showing our true selves to one another. That is my vision of how church should be. It's what I see in the New Testament. Believers having all things in common - living and loving Jesus in community - open before each other, never fearing rejection - spurring one another on to love and good works. Thank you, Jesus, for all that you are doing in the earth today, to restore community life back to Your people everywhere. | | |
| This coming Easter will be my one year anniversary of leaving church. I haven't spoken about it to hardly anyone in the last year. God is doing so much in me that it seemed best to let Him work, and me be quiet. I didn't really have words for what He was doing anyway. I only knew beyond doubt that it was Him at work in my life, and I had to follow His direction. I am now only barely ready to talk about it. But it is stirring to overflowing in my heart, so I want to share a tiny bit of my journey. It's costly to do something radically different than what everyone else is doing. Almost everyone I know has a negative opinion of people who leave church. I used to be one of those people who had the negative opinion. That explains perfectly why I am now being made to become the kind of person I once criticized. Every time I judge someone, I end up having to do the very thing I judged another for. Father, You never cease to amaze me! The irony of life! Since last Easter, I have joined in the conversation taking place out there in Christendom concerning "church" as we know it today. Is the way we do church in line with what God has in mind? I spent many years feeling guilty about not inviting people to church. The reason I didn't invite people to church is because I instinctively felt that church is not something that people want. It is somehow not relevant to them. I began to ask myself "why". That has always been a dangerous thing to do, but I seem to always do it anyway. I don't want to attempt today to explain all of the answers God has been giving me over the last year. That woud take too long, and I still feel quite inadequate to put it all into words. I'm writing today to others who may be asking similar questions. I wanted to give you some free things to read online if you are interested. When I began my own journey I thought, "Who knew all of this was out there. I never heard of such things. This move of God has been going on for many years, but I am only just now hearing of it." I think information comes to you when you need it. That's just the way it has always worked for me. In my mind, it's a little bit like the homeschooling movement. Many years ago you were just considered to be a total nut case to homeschool your children. I mean, come on, are you crazy? But over time it became more and more accepted as something that God called some people to do. Now it's not unusual at all. People who have found alternative ways of coming together as the Body of Christ are growing in numbers, and there's much information out there concerning this movement. It's still in the very radical stages, I believe. It's just very contrary to most people's belief system so they can't even open themselves up to hearing about it because it seems like heresy to them. I know this because I once felt this way. But if you ever start asking yourself questions about your own church experience, and you become hungry to know of something different, here are some online resources for you: www.housechurchresource.org www.house2house.com www.ptmin.org www.unveiling.org - www.unveiling.org/articles/church.html - this is one of my favorite articles. www.searchingtogether.org There are millions of your fellow believers out there experiencing God outside of the traditional church setting. It's very exciting and I am slowly becoming a part of it. God doesn't hurry in His dealings with His people. All that God is doing in me is very slow, but it is growing. When I look at how I think today compared with a year ago, I am amazed at God's work in my heart. He is truly about freeing us to make more room for Himself. That's what it's all about.........being conformed to the image of His Son. That is His purpose in purchasing us........a bride for His Son, a holy dwelling place for the Most High God. I want to be a part of that more that I want to breathe. My heart pants for God more strongly every day. And it is all Him. Nothing I have done except pursue the desires that He put in my heart. It is God Who is at work within us, to will and work according to His good pleasure. | | |
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