Angie's Aim

First order of business:

Again, thanks for the insightful and honest comments on the last post. You guys make me worth reading. The big drawing took place last night and Amy Grant is the winner! So, expect a copy of Sweet’s The Gospel According to Starbucks in the mail really soon!

I knew Amy before she took on the last name that made her instantly famous! Her dad was the minister at the Starkville Church of Christ where I attended during my brief stint at MSU! In fact, I probably went to church more than I went to class… hence the brief stint. Amy’s dad and mom just transitioned into another congregation after a not-so-brief stint of serving in Starkville for 28 years! I’m sure they enjoy being closer to Amy now!

But I must say that it has only been through blogging that I’ve really come to know Amy! Deepening a relationship with her is one of the best fringe benefits of blogging. And it has spurred on countless behind-the-scenes e-mail interactions that I *know* were orchestrated by God. So, Amy, now you are famous to me for reasons far beyond your name! Keep on dreaming, my friend!

Interestingly enough, Amy provides the perfect segue into the explanation of my title. When I think of Amy’s dad, one of the many things that come to mind is the countdown. Not the countdown until Christmas, the New Year, Spring Break or Summer vacation… but the countdown until the Tulsa Soulwinning Workshop! John T. kept a running count of how many days until the workshop! Until then, I had never heard of it. But pretty soon you’d find me among those road trippers singing T-U-L-S-A to the tune of B-I-N-G-O! Good times! Taking a couple of trips there with the fine folks from Starkville planted the seed in me for entering the Adventures In Missions program in Lubbock. That step of faith was only supposed to last for the 8-month training at the Sunset School of Preaching (not the apprentice missionary part), and then I would return to MSU. Wrong! My life has been an uncharted path ever since.

I haven’t been to the Tulsa Workshop in several years, though I really wanted to be there last year and even blogged about my longing! But this year I made the decision ahead of time, thanks to Terry Rush - who is giving me the opportunity to offer a class on responding to homosexuality with the heart of Jesus!!! It’s an answered prayer for me to see this issue I’m passionate about being given a place among all the good and relevant topics at the workshop.

So, if *any* of you are planning to travel to the Tulsa Workshop this year, I’d sure love to meet you there! If you are teetering on the edge of decision-making… take the plunge and join the fun! Only 60 more days!

I shamed fellow blogger Nellie into posting more often, and now she’s leaving me in the dust! Nell tagged me, so I will gladly participate:

(1) Grab the book closest to you

(2) Open to page 123 and go down to the 4^th sentence

(3) Post the text of the following 3 sentences

(4) Name the author and book title

(5) Tag three people to do the same

“It is important that Christians not shirk from serving as high-profile figures to incarnate the gospel in this image-rich world. But as icons of Christ we invite others to see through us to God, the gospel, beauty, truth and goodness. And if we’re all celebrities, then before we see humans as sinners, perhaps we should see them as God made them: as icons of God, cracked icons to be sure, but icons waiting their animation in the light.”

The Gospel According to Starbucks by Leonard Sweet

This particular section of Sweet’s book addresses our tendency to idolize people and things in our celebrity culture, both within and without Christianity. It’s actually a misdirected passion, because God has always used people and images in scripture and in our lives to tug at our hearts. Our fault lies in bowing to the thing rather than the creator and sustainer of all things. Icon is a scary word to most in my faith tradition because it conjures skewed thoughts of Catholicism. We were taught early on to avoid visual imagery in worshipping God because of the temptation to idolize, yet we’ve managed to make idols out of plenty other “legal” parts of Christianity! Here are a couple more passages in Sweet’s book that clarify:

“Icons are different from idols, fetishes, or totems. You pray to an idol, fetish, or totem. You pray through an icon. An icon is a window through which you look to God…”

“If celebrities were true flesh-and-blood icons, we would see right through them. They would become magnifying glasses through which we see God. But instead, celebrities are fetishes, or idols, or totems. They obscure what’s beyond them so attention focuses on them. They absorb all the light that comes their way rather than deflect it away from themselves and reflect it back on us and forward on God.”

“Our hope is not in idols. Our hope is in God. The only demands idols make on us is greater devotion. But icons, by inviting us to look through them to God, make us more wise and good and holy, and more dependent on God.”

Rather than tagging three people to do the same, I’ll end with a question Sweet poses. Of course I received this (hot off the press!) book from our very own Stuart McGuiggan, a true icon for Waterbrook Press! He sent me an extra one to pass along to one of you, which I’m more than happy to do! So any comments received on this post will automatically qualify you for a drawing for this wonderful little book!

Who acts as an icon in your life, inviting you to look through him or her to God? As a result of this relationship, do you notice yourself becoming more dependent on God?

(Side Note: I tend to write in books while I read them. After I started this book, I accidentally picked up the giveaway book and continued my reading in it, complete with markings… So I will gift the book with the least underlining! Sorry ‘bout that!)

Time in Nashville was too short! It was the last time our retreat group will meet in that way, so we soaked up every meal, conversation, prayer... My group includes fellow bloggers Dusty Rush and Owen Burgess as well as our Nellie, who suffers shame and reproach for not updating her blog regularly!

Most of my adult life, I have been completely sporadic with personal Bible study and prayer. Not much has existed outside the bounds of studying for a class, researching something relating to ministry or reading books.  I was heavy on head knowledge - theology, doctrine, etc. - but had a pretty dull relationship.  God certainly wasn’t begrudging of this… His nature is to show Himself to me more often than I seek Him and bless me based on His goodness rather than my insufficiency.

Yet, that kind of spiritual life left me longing for something more - especially after I had my little fling with depression.  Everything seemed empty after that.  Even though I didn't lose confidence in what I knew to be true in my head, it felt very one-sided and most of the time I felt guilty for not doing more to encounter God. Perhaps I should’ve been feeling guilty for not doing less! The Growing Deeper program brings into focus the most basic tenets of relationship with God… stripping away the noisy layers of life to find Him in silence, being attentive to what He is already doing in my world, listening for Him in prayer, simply enjoying His presence, and pouring forth His love to the world with no strings attached or expectations… Basically, falling in love again. And for the first time in more years than I’d care to count, I have a love life that's on fire!

All of this is new to me – the terminology of spiritual formation and the spiritual disciplines as well as the history of different ways God-followers in other traditions have opened themselves to experience God.  But the practices are all faintly familiar, as they seem to strum chords of a song I thought I'd forgotten.

So, I went from having no idea what to do… to being overwhelmed with the possible ways to approach the living God! Still...  I fell prey to “doing” the disciplines rather than using them as tools and guides to interact with God. I am finding a rhythm now, but I can tell it will be ever-evolving.

Another incredible benefit has been finding a community of people in Churches of Christ who feel these longings toward God that just don't seem to be satisfied by going to church or a daily Bible reading plan.  It’s so refreshing to find people who are willing to go to extreme measures to encounter Him (and who aren’t afraid to go outside the CofC box in the process!).

In my human relationships, I'm always tempted to feel that it is my responsibility to  fill the silence when things get awkward.  It was hard to understand that it is enough to just be in the same room with someone I love.  But I'm getting it.  The pauses are as significant as the spoken word.  And the loving gaze gives me goose bumps! 

If any of you are considering joining the next class, feel free to e-mail me and we can chat more (keepintouchwithangie@yahoo.com).

I’m gone again! I’m off to Nashville for the second retreat/residency associated with the ZOE Growing Deeper Spirituality Program. I’m really thankful for this chance to start 2007 with a group of people who are all about our God! Besides, I need a do-over for New Year’s! I’ve been pitifully sick and missed out on several chances to celebrate with friends. :-( So this Nashville jaunt will serve as the real start of the new year for me.

I’m also fortunate to be able to spend some time before and after the retreat with my friend Mark Hall – who truly epitomizes the love life with the Savior I crave so much! I’m his embarrassing fan club! I might dote a bit much, but it’s all within the realm of giving honor where honor is due.

In looking back over the disciplines we’ve studied together, I don’t have to look far to see how I’ve come up short in their implementation. Discipline has never been a strong suit of mine. But the beautiful thing is how even in my failures I end up at the same place that my best successes bring me… face down at the feet of Jesus.

Folks, you probably won’t find my name amid the spiritual greats of our generation after our days are recorded in the annals of history. But I’ll be the most grateful spiritual flunkie on the fringes, utterly amazed by His grace!

Our virtual party is coming to an end! :-(  But it’s been absolutely wonderful to spend this Christmas season with all of you!  We've made some memories, haven't we! 

Without further delay, it’s time to announce our door prize winner and make someone happy! It's widely known that I’m a sucker for giving *everyone* something just for participating… but there is actually just one winner this time. I printed out all the comments, cut and folded them and shook them around in a box for the drawing. And the winner is…

Congratulations JEFF GEARHART! You’ve just won a $50 gift certificate to spend at CHRISTIANBOOK.COM, CBD’s online store!

(I know… I couldn’t believe that TCS didn’t win either!)

For those of you who do not know the Gearharts, I could never describe their lives and their hearts adequately… Jeff and Amy and their 3 super kids are living out the great commission in Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico (hence, they are no strangers to bathroom humor!).  I am fortunate to have spent many meals and many hours of conversation with them.  I have shared tears and prayers with them.  I have danced at their wedding!  And I miss them...  But today, I celebrate knowing them and knowing the Savior that bonds me to such people for eternity.  No virtual party in our grandest imaginations will compare to the celestial one that awaits us!

Jeff, you will receive prize claim details via e-mail!