So this is a post republished from CV NEWS....it is written by Genevieve Pylypiw. My summer youth coworker. She is telling a story about our recent discipleship time with God in nature.

It was a beautiful day, a perfect day to work outside. I was standing under what appeared to be an apple tree, though before that day I had not realized the existence of it's fruit bearing abilities -- a strand of Macintosh at that. It had been a couple of weeks since Rob had announced to me that we were going to prune the apple trees on the property. "Apple trees," I had exclaimed, unknowing that we even had one. We have four! Four (decent kinds of apple) trees in the backyard of the Cambridge Vineyard. One more new discovery since I've started working here six weeks ago.So, there I was standing under the first chosen tree to prune, apparently a first experience for both us. Rob was already fully immersed in chopping off limbs and branches at the top of the tree when I walked over.

I had a memory flash of an apple orchard and thought out loud, "Aren't apple trees supposed to be fairly sparse in branches?" Rob grinned and chuckled as he jumped out of the tree and answered me, "Yep. Apple trees are generally sparse -- we've got a lot of cutting to do," and he handed me the clippers.For the trees to bear good fruit they need partial sun and partial shade, so the branches need to be spaced in a way that allows the sun to shine through, yet at the same time provides some coverage from too much heat. This is why typically the structure of an apple tree is shaped like a pyramid/triangle. The tree we were standing under was shaped like a big sphere. It took me a little while to figure out "what branches would get to live or die," as Rob so eloquently put it.

At first I was timid and thought I was going to screw up the tree if I cut the wrong branch, but after my first few cuts I started seeing and understanding the process a bit more. As I looked up from the ground and surveyed the direction the branches were growing in, I was able to recognize what branches were good and what one's were deterring healthy growth."This is why we can be thankful that Jesus is gentle and only prunes us a little bit at a time." Rob's one sentence sermon ended as he finished sawing through a large branch with a 3.5-4" diameter. I should say it was more like the top of a limb he was cutting off. It was full of leaves and looked healthy, it had many smaller branches sprouting from its thick trunk. The limb fell to the ground with a thud. The leaves rustled and shook from the impact, then rested peacefully. "Yea, it's a good thing Jesus is gentle," I thought as I witnessed what looked like harsh treatment of a perfectly fine living structure, "..because the chopping off of a limb that size on my own body would really hurt."I think it's hard for us to recognize pruning because all it really feels like is suffering. We may have a branch that is bearing good fruit of love and joy, but because of the great abundance of goodness there begins to sprout a lot of branches. So many, in fact that the weight of the branches become overbearing and because of the coverage, the limb begins to die from lack of warm sunlight. This may look like weariness, bitterness, resentment or frustration.

This is a good branch that the Father needs to prune. Pruning may be Jesus asking you to step back from leadership for a while, or it may be needing to ask your son or daughter to choose only one sport per season. It may be making the decision to commit to only two nights out a week and the other three you stay home or it may be resolving some conflict between you and someone. Whatever it is, it is usually uncomfortable, hard and possibly hurts a little bit depending on the situation.Well,

I have now turned Rob's one sentence sermon into a six paragraph thought. I'm going to bring it to a close by saying, I'm really glad that I have Jesus to stand under me, look up and see the branches that are deterring good fruit from growing. And I'm really glad that He doesn't just walk away and leave me to grow into something that the Father did not create me to be. He only asks me to trust and obey.Over-growth and bad fruit is self produced.

advent ideas

So I have been searching for creative things about advent. ADVENT- You know that strange word for the 40 days before Christmas. It means, something....

In Latin, it actually means 'the coming' or 'before the coming'...it is the time we sit in darkness before....the BABY. (A little reminiscent of my life this year).

I actually like it just about as much as lent. I think it is probably the most important thing for us as Christians to remember and celebrate. Darkness, Longing, Hope, Despair, WAITING.....

Proost....a creative uk group has several things to engage churches. Including a snazzy litl' video I want to show at church.

Marshill has their congregation doing a community blog...

My personal favorites are still posts by Jonny Baker. Jonny just finished beer and carols....(man I can't believe I haven't met this guy). Search his links for advent...worship tricks 48-51

Jonny also lists some awesome ideas from Cheryl Lawrie, 'the pregnant pause' an idea that i stole.....with love. Cheryl has some advent services that are very creative and thoughtful.

If it takes all your faith to simply survive advent,join your prayer to those

throughout timeand throughout the worldwho despair at hope’s promise.
Take a baby,hold it in your hand
make your prayer of protestor your prayer for peace.

If you are looking for a video cause that is your thing, the church of england has put together a series of meditations you can watch every day......its called why we are waiting. It is also a great explanation of advent.

My Advent Addition: Last week I bought the youth candles. We had been talking about the word 'saved'. I made the connection between knowing you need something and WAITING. I told them to remember their need as they waited for a savior....in the dark....as they studied. Burn the little, fragile light and LONG FOR, and WAIT FOR IT.

Put it on God's Tab

So, don't you think living beyond your means is irresponsible? At what point to finances dictate the will of God? I am so far from a prosperity gospel having lived for so many years 'doing' ministry. Reality is you need money to survive and you need to feed your family. Or do you?

I have been contemplating this as i have been trying to sell either or both of my vehicles. Crazy thing is I have been spiritualizing my prayers to God saying....'well you know I need to so help me!' You would think that I having lived now for many years exceeding my income for the sake of ministry would teach me. Every year being a miraculous endevour. A few years ago we literally had cheques dropped by our door every day for 2 weeks. Should I at this point doubt that God can provide?.......k i'm slow.

I recently filled out a survey for one of 'those' financial advisors. One of the questions was, 'how long can you feel comfortable with a negative income? one day, one week, one month......' I realized suddenly that I had an entirely different perspective on the subject than most people. In fact I was happy when i realized that I might actually be one of those crazy's who would sell everything.

BUT HERE IS THE THING:

If there is no money.......shouldn't i get the hint?

If we have exhausted all our options, maybe God is interested in a life change!!

So often we spiritualize when times are good about 'what would you do for god.' Happy to go home to our big screen TV's and our....microwave ovens (give me a break it just came to me). WE also FEEL like we throw out our faith when times are lean- because we gotta get a job, gotta feed our family. I think feeding our families might be spiritual.

Trouble is where do how can we tell when we are being spiritual and when we are just concerned about our cash?

cheers

Life at the Margins

There are very few churches I could work at for one simple reason....I like beer. I love to try new beers, old beers, and very old beers- especially Irish. I don't really drink cheap beers. I have drunk beer from the fount of all beers at St. James' Gate Dublin, at the factory of Guiness.

This might seem odd to you if you come from a church in which drinking is permissable. My grandparents who were members of the temperance movement until the day they died would roll in their graves with my beer loving confession. Faith and alcohol were diametrically opposed to them. My father, who is a well respected pastor theologically asserts drinking is not forbidden by scripture, is also astounded at my enthusiastic response to the drink that imperils so many- because he doesn't prefer it and it was never part of his social culture. Growing up in this environment meant I always was suspect of pubs, of alcohol and of people who enjoyed them. It was a great baptist friend and man of God who eventually saved me from my safe life.

See here is the thing......Having a beer is a the way I thank people for helping me, pubs provide a place for my neighbours to meet me, it is an excuse to go to the place people hang out. Beer and coffee are the universal communicators of hospitality. 'Come for coffee! We'll hang out.' It is part of the social reality of our culture. This means to not engage in it potentially alienates me from my neighbours, community and culture.

I really don't care what the issue is. A love of sports cars, dancing, music- these are part of life and need to be enjoyed. Imagine a life and a faith that is lived away from things that people find fun, enjoyable. Life would be pretty dull without chocolate, sailing, beautiful art, expensive watches etc. In fact, besides having a pickle up their backside, we would say people who avoided pleasure were dull, out of touch. Heaven forbid that this ever be the world's impression of the church. This is life in the middle. It is safe it is clean. This is the goal of many youth groups. Keep kids from trouble, provides an alternative and positive but safe example from the real world.

The reason I advocate life at the margins, and encourage people to drink and smoke, dance and have a pleasure filled life is this.....That by doing this you will set an example of life. Life free of addictions, a life with safe margins, but a life that also demonstrates your freedom in Christ. It also is a life that accurately depicts my theology. Theology means that I believe God says something I model. Is it dangerous-no it's freedom. Life at the margins is good for my soul. By living there I create common ground with people who need to discover authentic people of faith. Jesus was a smart partier. Living life in the middle may actually be teaching people to avoid their humanity, and enforce the ghetto subculture of people who are disconnected from their community, their mission and their own lives.