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Comments

Michelle

Excellent thoughts!

Bruce

This is good, bro! Very good. I wish we could sit down and talk sometime. What a wonderful time that would be!

Darren

Bruce ~ Me too! My mother lives in Berwick, PA. The next time I pass through Pittsburgh we should have a sit down.

Kevin

Paul wrote in Acts that the Christians
gathered EVERY day to pray and worship
together! I spend lot's of time outside
of church with those who have no time or very
little interest in God because I believe
that is what Jesus did. But we are told so
many times in the NT that we are to look
after fellow believers and to show them a special
love, even beyond that which we show to those
who are not Christians. Inviting non-believers
to book clubs or soccer games is great, but is
that all they think our spiritual life is about.
I think that might be why so many Christians
don't even understand how important studying the Bible is - they never saw their Christian friends
doing it or talking about it.

Darren

Kevin,

i don’t think that they would regard book clubs or soccer games as our spiritual life. It is a relational connection point for them as well. Once we get to know one another, then the invites to other areas of life start. In my post i was suggesting how to create more missional groupings. So i did downplay the “pro Christian” components that are so necessary in our congregations. You are correct that many church people do not follow the acts idea of praying and helping out other Christians. We talk a good game but fail in the praxis of it.

i also think that Christians who are more “involved” with the church and their fellow Christian tend to become isolated from the “non-Christian” on a relational level. The Church is their life and most of their relational network is contained within the church. i arrived at this conclusion from my 10 years of vocational ministry.

We need to BE both, hanging out with those who have yet to believe in Christ and serving/growing with our fellow Christian. Will they mix? That is up to you and the Holy Spirit. i invite my friends to help me with stuff regardless of their status with Christ. i’ve had non-believers helping out at church functions. Maybe i am a freak or something but you would be surprised how many people will help with social awareness issues even if it is held during a church event. Their cigarette breaks sure opened me up to some pressure form the congregation i was serving.

Thanks again for you comments Kevin. It is a needed reminder in a format like this where only a thin slice of the pie is spoken about in any one post.

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  • In the Celtic tradition "Thin Places" are places where the spiritual and the natural world intersect. It is a place where it is possible to touch and be touched by God. "Thin Spaces" are the moments when we experience a deep sense of God’s presence in our everyday world.