David Ralph

A View From The Stage

I am sitting on the stage at Lakeside – in the set that is part of the service for tonight – waiting for several hundred people to arrive.  This year the presentation is different than it normally is.  The music will be as good as ever – the visuals will be awesome – but instead of me sharing a talk as part of the service – we are doing it different.  The set looks a little like my office and the focus of this year’s presentation is about a “spiritual seeker” showing up in my office trying to figure out how to get rid of those nagging feelings of emptiness that come after Christmas is over.  I am working with Susanne Golds and she does a great job playing the part of the seeker.  She asks great questions and pushes back when I try to simply spout off those well worn cliche’s that we often use to communicate the story.  Her struggle is all about this feeling called happiness – a feeling that most of us are looking for.   Last night I watched a movie – again it was about a young man looking for happiness – but struggling to find it.   Happiness seems like something we all seek and yet it at times seems so illusive.  I hope that through our presentation over the next four services that somehow we can communicate that happiness is not a bad thing – but it is not THE thing that will fill that void we all feel in our soul from time to time.  We want happiness to fill this void – but it won’t.  The only thing that will is to have a personal relationship with Jesus and out of that relationship begin to discover a life that is full and abundant.  A life that is filled with feelings and emotions and thoughts that are much deeper than happiness.  I hope we can communicate the truths without “pat” answers or cliches.  This will be my last entry prior to Christmas.  I wish all who read this – Merry Christmas and a great and joy filled New Year.

More About Blogging

Well, I didn’t get an entry in yesterday but I am working on being more diligent even if I still am wondering whether I have anything real worth reading to say but none the less I will continue to do it. Staying on the theme of blogging… I have read a large number of blogs over the last few months and I have read about a dozen this week. There is one thing that I have noticed about the blogging world that I don’t like. Actually is about the Christian blogging world that concerns me. What concerns me most is the way that some people use their blog to take a shot at other churches and organizations, Christian leaders and other things happening in the Christian community. More and more people seem to think they have the right to be hyper critical about others who are their brothers and sisters in Christ and write about it for all to read. It would be one thing if they were pointing out how one of these members of Christ’s family was caught in a sinful pattern of behaviour but even then that should only happen after a Matthew 18 conversation has taken place and they should do it with a Galatians 6:1 attitude. But it isn’t about that. It is criticizing someone’s teaching – maybe about what they say in a message. And so much of it is lifted out from the context of the message. It is criticizing one church’s methodology or approach that is different than the writer’s church. It is criticizing someone who does ministry different. It is criticizing someone who interprets hard to understand passages in a way that the writer disagrees with. It has the smell of a “I’m right and everyone else is wrong” attitude.  Jesus greatest character quality was humility and if we are followers of Jesus shouldn’t that be our greatest quality? Jesus’ bride is the church and should we throw mud on the bride of Christ?   Jesus continued to push back on religious people who criticized others because they didn’t follow their rules. Would he push back on us? I wonder if Jesus was here on earth while there was blogging, what might people write about him?  I know that this sounds critical like those who I am accusing of doing the same thing. But its really not. I just think that in a world that is confused about but maybe still seeking Jesus that the followers of Jesus need to be careful about how they talk about and write about each other. Those are just my thoughts. Criticize away!!!

Why I Struggle Blogging

It has been more than a week since my last entry.  When it comes  to blogging –  I keep getting started with a big flurry of activity – I write a whole weeks worth of entries – then the activity level drops off – I don’t write anything for a few weeks – people mention it – I feel guilty about it – I eventually quit.  I have fallen prey to  this pattern a number of times when it comes to blogging.  Maybe I need some kind of recovery group for this – “bloggers anonymous”.   Today I am wondering why that is the case.  Is it because I don’t have anything to say or I can’t think about anything to write about?   Most people know me better than that.   I have lots of ideas in my mind that I love to share with others and I do it all the time.   Is it because it hasn’t turned into a habit yet and I need to make it one.  That might be part of the issue.  If you do something every day for forty days it will turn into a habit I am told so maybe I need to just get real disciplined and find an accountability partner to help me turn it into a habit.   But is that all there is.  I was thinking today that maybe it is because I wonder if blogging is a bit narcisistic.  What do I have to say that is worth putting in print that people would actually want to or like to read?  I honestly wrestle with that.  Our society is so focused on themselves and I am part of that culture and I wonder if blogging is just adding fuel to that “me focused” fire.  I am not sure.  I don’t Twitter yet so I have no “tweets” for others to read.  I seldom fill in the status line on my facebook page.  I wonder if people really care what I am doing at this moment.  Is it worth putting in print?  I’m not sure.  Or maybe all of this is just an excuse so that I don’t have to admit that I am not as disciplined as I would like to be.  I will keeping pondering all of this.  Until I come to a conclusion I will do my best to share my thoughts with whoever is willing to read them in “blogland”.  I will do my best to have an entry tomorrow.

Both Challenging and Affirming

A Very Full Day