Comments on: To Hell in a Handbasket

By: Woody

Woody — Sat, 10 May 2008 01:02:12 +0000

It seems to me that all people including church leaders are moving towards the devil and away from the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost…. it will be the demise of civilization… it has been prophesied that the end is coming… God knew that we could not hold our spiritual dedication for ever… we as humans forget easily where we have been and come from….. God has warned that we will not be on earth for ever…. we are only human and Adam and Eve proved that before God even had a chance to get started good with his dream of a perfect mankind… there is nothing that can stop the inevitable, we can only keep our own relationship with God as true as humanly possible, so that we as individuals may be one of the few that will spend eternity by the side of God….

By: grace

grace — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 11:54:33 +0000

Dan,
I would never call you stupid.
Now you know.

By: dan h.

dan h. — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 01:47:45 +0000

Call me stupid, but… I never really knew what the hell a handbasket was until I saw this picture. Learn somethin new every day.

By: grace

grace — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 03:48:57 +0000

heather, I have found lifestream to be a helpful resource on the churchless journey. You are definitely not alone. Great comments everyone!

By: Tom (aka Volkmar)

Tom (aka Volkmar) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 02:34:46 +0000

We planted some tomatoes last week… ;o)

Already had some cabbage and broccoli on the go. The rabbits are enjoying the cabbage too much.

I think that the wine skins are being slapped to see if they actually contain anything worth keeping and whether they will take any pressure without cracking.

Tom

By: traveller

traveller — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:06:49 +0000

maria, i am in on the tomatoes and will bring some cucumbers to share as well….

mak, right on!

In “Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organizations” Clay Shirky writes, “….real revolutions don’t involve an orderly transition from point A to point B. Rather, they go from A through a long period of chaos and only then reach B. In that chaotic period, the old systems get broken down long before new ones become stable.”

This is precisely what is happening in the ekklesia today. We are in the chaos period. By necessity, it then applies in some senses to each one of us personally. Our old systems of thinking are being broken down and our new thoughts remain still in formation.

By: molleth

molleth — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 00:22:47 +0000

Good stuff. This quote says it all:

“we have inherited Christendom tools for doing a post-Christendom job.”

Gulp.

By: Heather Huang

Heather Huang — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:38:06 +0000

I read your article in New Wave and breathed a sigh of relief, I am not alone. My husband and I left a church we once loved about four years ago and I have been terrified that I will remain churchless for the rest of my life. We have found community among Quakers and have looked over our shoulders throughout this time waiting for our church-going friends to start throwing stones at us. That has not happened either and it has left me feeling guilty that no one is punishing us for not feeling at home among “our own” even though I know this where God wants us right now. I feel lost without the structure and yet feel more in touch with who I am in Christ without the church expectations I used to battle. I just wait to see what He is doing and is going to do.

By: Jeff McQ

Jeff McQ — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 01:44:49 +0000

Grace, you’ve verbalized some things going on in my head for some time.

I really don’t see what is going on in the church (or “outside” of it) as a decline, but rather a shift. Ultimately, I think at some point institutional church leaders will face a choice–a choice to radically adapt their structures to reflect what God is doing, or a choice to “circle the wagons.” My feeling is that there will be those whose hearts truly favor the will of God over their own well-being that will find a way to adapt, but that there will be many others who will harden their hearts out of fear.

Just a speculation. Great post.

By: Mark R

Mark R — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 22:33:56 +0000

The Early Church began as a microtrend and shared a powerful message of hope throuhout this world, we’ve lost a lot along the way. Two thousand years of history has blunted our Sword, distanced us from The Well, distorted what once was a Simple Message and a Simple Faith, we’ve locked the Open Gate, and the gatekeeper (Established Church) defines who can come in, who can’t, structure and walls that did not exist have been erected and IT’S TIME FOR THEM TO COME DOWN.