So what's Church all about anyway?

Ok, it's been what seems like forever since I last posted, so maybe I'm not cut out to be a blogger! Of course, 'till I figure that out, I'll keep up these sporadic,and possibly annoying, posts!

The question bouncing around in our house lately has been "So, what's the role of 'church' and what exactly do we believe about Christ's church?" We've been wrestling with this and in view of the conclusions we've been lead to draw, we're now "churchless". That might shock you, but really all that means is that we've left the body that we had called home since moving here to Sandy, and we're searching for one that supports or practices more of a "family" mentality.

So, what are we looking for in a church? What do we believe? I wish it were a concise and concrete thought, easily expressed and explained, but it's rather more complicated than that (at least at present). I'll do my best to explain what is causing us to break with a traditional protestant, non-denominational mega-church.

What is the church and how does it function in the New Testament? Well, from what I've read, it's a group of people, not a building, and it's really about 'community', as in the group is the 'community'. There is real interaction and relationships in the 1st century church, more like 'family' than just community members. The church was the venue for learning about this Christ and what it truly means to follow Him. Church was the place where love was abounding! Do you have that in your church? I'm pretty sure that there were and are authentic relationships, teaching on the meaning of following Christ and even love within the church body we just recently left. What I'm not convinced of is that the "culture, or atmosphere" of our former church is love and relationships.

What we've been realizing lately is that you really have to know what your goal is in order to decide if something is best for you. (insert some funny analogy here ... I tried one but didn't think it worked) We've been analyzing our goals as parents, as husband and wife, as educators of our children. If our goal as parents is to raise passionate followers of Christ, and our goal of education is to train them up in the 'fear and admonition' of the Lord, and my goal as wife is to submit to my husband's authority and to show all the members of my family love, the love that does what's best for others, and Charles' goal is to pursue Christ and lead his family in Christ, to protect and provide for us and to love us also with a love that does what's best for us, then we should surround ourselves with such relationships as would uphold and support those goals. Honestly, most of those goals most people in the church would affirm as good goals, but... truly, as much as they are biblical and should be supported within the church, not many are on a core level. There will always be some aspect of ministry that will support those goals, but I believe that the 'church' in general is so full of the 'world' that it's only adding those goals or precepts on top of worldly assumptions and habits. I propose that we (the followers of Christ who have affirmed our own sinful state, believe that Jesus paid our penalty on the cross by His death and has purchased eternal life for us in His resurrection and that the Father now reckons our account as paid in full and we am Free, Free, Free from the bondage of sin, indwelt with the Holy Spirit, who empowers us to do good and love others) are called to be in the world, but not of it (Seems I'm not the first to say this - 1 John 2:14-16 says it a little differently). I think all of us within the 'church' have so much 'world' in us that the 'church' can't help but also be full of the 'world'.

Let's take it all back to scripture: Christ is the head of the Church and the husband is the head of the family, given all authority and responsibility for his wife and children (Eph. 5:22-25 ). The wife is to submit to the husband, and be a keeper at home, raising up the children (Titus 2:3-5). The children are to obey the the parents (Eph. 6:1). The parents are responsible for actively training up their children, educating them and leading them toward the real goal, relationship with God (Deut. 6:6-9; Prov. 22:6). We are ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor. 5:20). We are to be known for our love (John 13:35). We are to love others and share Christ's love with them, sharing the Good News (John 13:34; Matt. 28:18-20).

Now, we want a church that supports and affirms those God-given roles. We don't want a church that allows for the "personality clause." You know, the one that says, "That's just not the type of person I am, I'm not made that way, (ie. I'm not meek and mild, so I just can't submit to my husband all the time, or... I'm not a natural leader, it's not who I am, so I don't have to lead the family because my wife does a good job of it, or... the list of excuses not to obey God goes on and on and on!) so I'll do it this way, or that way, but not the way God says to do it."


We want a church that is about the people, about relationship, about Christ's finished work on the cross, about God's mercy and grace, not about the building, about the worship 'concert' every service, or about the lighting or video capabilities. We want something genuine, not the glitzy emptiness we often encounter.

Editors Note: We found what we were looking for. A local congregation that's all about Christ, all about God's grace and mercy, and all about our obedience to Him. They're all about loving one another, about relationships, about training up men and women, boys and girls, in their scripturaly defined roles. We visited once. It's home now! Home, sweet home!

Reason to Homeschool

Just wanted to share this reason for homeschooling, from The Old Schoolhouse:
"I can't think of anything more intensely sanctifying than living together in the crucible of shared family experiences. In this context, none of us can escape the reality of our own sinfulness, and none of us has the opportunity to go too long without the correction, compassion, and/or encouragement of a brother or sister or parent or child. Each of us is challenged by those around us-those who observe us constantly and who see us without a facade-to align our practice with our faith, to love our Lord and our neighbor "not in word or in tongue, but in deed and truth." Call it Extreme Sanctification: Homeschool Edition. Where else will you find so many daily opportunities to run to the Cross, to repent, and to rest in the sufficiency of the work of Christ, if you give up homeschooling?"

Amen to that! Boy are we in the crucible right now.... Couldn't be because Nathanael is turning 13 in 11 days, or because our sinfulness now has such a huge impact on the family when all relations are strained due to these 'teenage moments' we deal with practically every second! Lord give us grace and a new perspective!!!

Now I know why everyone warned us that the teen years were coming!

Renewed spirit!

I don't know about you, but worship is where my spirit really seems to connect with the Lord. And I normally only have one, well, if I attend all three services our church offers I would have three, opportunities to join brothers and sisters in worship. So, when my insurance agent told me about one of my former church's offering live worship online 6 days a week, I had to check it out. The only real drawback is that it's early in the morning, and for those who know me well, well... 'nough said about that! Now really, mornings and I love each other, it's the getting up part of mornings that my whole being seems to object too! Anyway, Monday I did get up early (partly because a contractor was supposed to be here to work on the bathroom that morning and I needed to get a shower and all that before he came) and logged on, went to the KAPL site and clicked the link that uses Window Media Player to listen to their broadcast. So, from 6:30 - 7:30 am I was able to commune in worship to the Creator God of mornings... and I was hooked! I even got up the next morning early enough to worship! Now, that's when I fell down on the job and took Wednesday and Thursday off, being lazy and sleeping in, but I was up again this morning... and it was so worth it to reset my compass heading on the Truth of who I am and who He is!

Want to try it out? Worship with Applegate Christian Fellowship every morning, Monday through Saturday, 6:30 - 7:30 AM PST at KAPL. Meet the Lord, let praises proceed from your lips, and join in reading a Psalm and in prayer. I can guarantee that He will meet you there. He is ever faithful and so worthy of our praise and worship!

Now, anyone ready for a nap :)

Garden!

Here are a few pictures from the garden on July 20th.

The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Oops, it's only fish!

Have you ever camped at one of those remote high lakes areas and wondered how those fish that you caught for supper got into that lake in the first place? Well here's how:


Those high lakes that you often have to hike in to are stocked by air! The Department of Fish and Wildlife has this neat shuttle like contraption (called the "Rudy") which attaches to and is controlled by a helicopter. Within the "Rudy" are 30 small canisters which are filled with specified amounts and types of fish based on each individual lake that is being stocked.



A Department biologist uses different factors known about each lake being stocked to determine how many and which fish to stock. Several of these factors are, fish habitat (is there food and cover available and how much), water temperatures (highs and lows), and size of the water body. Then based on those findings, Rainbow trout, Cutthroat trout, Brook trout, or a combination thereof are chosen for each specific lake.



The canisters are filled on the ground prior to the first flight, or a second set of canisters is loaded during the subsequent flights in order to minimize turn-around time. The canisters are pre-filled with a specified amount of water, then the fish are loaded, by weight, into each numbered canister. The numbers correspond to a master list which the Biologist in the air has with them for each flight. Mikael got to help measure and load fish into canisters for the last flight out on Tuesday the 14th.



The canisters are loaded into the "Rudy" (so named for the Director of the Department of Fish and Wildlife who spearheaded and funded this program) by the ground crew. The pilot and at least one Department Biologist fly on each flight, with the biologist directing the air release of fish into area lakes located with GPS. Often there are a couple Department employees as 'ride-alongs' for each flight.



While in the air over the lake, the operator is able to press a button in the helicopter which releases, or dumps, the canister of fish specifically filled for that lake. The canisters release or dump the fish much like water is dumped on fires from the large mechanical bucket. Good thing those little guys are hardy! Kind of a tough way to end up in the water though!



The first day scheduled for flights was clear at the base, which was Mt. Hood Meadows, but thick clouds, rain and fog over all the lakes to be stocked made it impossible to make any dumps. They made a second attempt on Tuesday, and everything was clear and they finished the stocking by mid-afternoon.



Charles was responsible for hauling and handling two of the three stocks of fish, so he was up there both days. We joined him Monday for part of the day and Tuesday for the afternoon portion, where Mikael helped load fish and Nathanael played in the snow. I provided scones and coffee on Monday to help the crew pass the time while they waited for the cloud cover to lift.



The view of Mt. Hood from the exit to Mt. Hood Meadows off Highway 35.



On the way back down the mountain on Tuesday, the boys and I stopped at the White River to check it out. It's a beautiful, glacial fed river, cut deeply through the rock and ash of the mountain. The channels are deep and run beneath Hwy. 35. When we stopped and hiked down to the water, the river was indeed running white. I was just up there two days ago (two weeks after this picture) and the water was running the most yucky color or cheap hot-chocolate! We've had days of intense heat and the snow and glacial melt is now running brown in all the rivers. Even the Sandy, here where we live, is running brown.

Even in the summer we can have science classes and field trips! This was one of my favorites!