Surprise, Mystery and Possibility

 

What is Scripture?

For a long time we have seen…

·      The Bible as a rule book…

·      The Bible as an answer book…

 

The metaphors we choose determine the approach we take. When a pastor says the inspired word of God is His owners manual for your life, this does certain things to the way you are now going to view and approach the text. 

 

Throughout history there have been lots of other ways of approaching the Bible and of course each group thinks they have a corner on the market of “rightness.” 

 

What if the Bible is suppose to give us a spiritual set of eyes.. not a list of rules to live by but a new set of eyes about how God has interacted in this world and how that has changed as the people He is interacting with have changed and evolved?

 

What if we handled the mini stories of Scripture within the larger context of the big story of scripture….and NOT AS TREASURE CHESTS OF PRINCIPLES TO APPLY?

 

What if the Bible is meant to give us windows into two things

·      1. The big fat story of how God has acted in history

·      2.  Windows on how God has acted in the past so we come to our relationship with Him ready for His surprise, mystery and possibility… like the possibility of IMPROVISATION

 

If you are interested in discovering…

 

THE (R)EVOLUTIONARY SPIRITUALITY OF SCRIPTURE

 

Join us on Sunday nights at SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS LIVE with Ron at 6:00pm EDT. 

 

TO PARTICIPATE EACH WEEK:

You may register weekly or monthly. The fee is  $10/person/week or $40/person/month paid by  clicking on the “Donations Spiritual Explorations” button on the homepage at http://www.velocityculture.com to register. Register no later than 7:00pm EST the Saturday before the session you are attending. The instructions for Sunday night’s conversation will be emailed to you by 4:00pm EDT the Sunday afternoon of that night’s conversation.

 

 

 

Stages and States

In resuming my reflections on “Perspectives” that I did back on Feb. 7th, I want to head back into our thoughts about transformation….

Studies indicate real transformation, as we have been talking about it here, is something that lasts forever. It’s integrated into your new, ever expanding matrix and mindset. Transformation from this perspective alters how you see your self and make sense of the world around you. This would include God, others, self and even the cosmos.

This is exactly why we distinguish this as a stage of consciousness development and not a state.

There are states of consciousness to include awake, asleep, trance (Paul apparently had something like this on the Damascus road, and when he was caught up into the third heaven}, day dreaming, visions, some ecstatic utterance-tongues, as well as peak experiences in sports.

I had a ridiculous golf experience a few years ago where I got into the zone for 27 holes and literally had the best day of golf in my life that was so over the top better than my typical game that I was having a wild surreal experience. I then went home and painted a 5×6 foot canvas in about 45 minutes, one of the best paintings I have ever done. Those canvas’ usually take me 3-4 hours minimum to complete. Something happened to me that day that was a state of consciousness change. But that is a not a stage change.

All of these states of consciousness may have nothing to do with moving you to a new stage of consciousness or transformation. Another way of explaining this is to realize as you become more and more aware of the false self and how the false self is constructed as a way for you to present something other than the true self…that realization and shedding of the false self is transformation.

• I have been crucified with Christ…. Laying the false self down.

The false self by definition buries elements of your true self that you are hiding or are hiding from. As we deal with the false self and begin living within the truth of the true self, the habits and patterns of the false self begin to dissolve

“You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” Jesus said. (John 8:32)

Transformational Architecture

TRANSFORMATIONAL ARCHITECTURE: RESHAPING OUR LIVES AS NARRATIVE 

An Online Velocity Learning Conversation

Saturday, May 23, 2009 

9:00 am EDT – 10:30 am EDT

Maybe you’ve had a chance to read the book and maybe you have not. 

Regardless, it’s the conversation that we must have if we are to know God’s story and how one fits into it.  So this is what we are going to do….

 

Come together with Ron online for a Velocity Learning Conversation on May 23rd where we will have an interactive discussion about how to reach those around us with God’s Life-Changing Message of Hope.  If you want to know how to take the bigger framing story and put it on the ground in spiritual conversation join us for this live online conversation.  If you are longing for a conversation that goes beyond the talk of ‘lifestyle’ evangelism to  explore the design elements that cause us to crave transformation and how these elements, in FRESH ways, open up spiritual dialogue, you don’t want to miss this conversation.  

What is the story each of us lives every waking day of our lives?

What does it mean to be human with similar core yearnings,  made imago dei?

Where did Jesus begin the conversation?

How Can I More Effectively Reach People of My Generation with the Message of the Gospel?

and more…

Meet online in real time where Ron will interact with the group via video seat and you may ask questions, make comments via a chatboard.  

CLICK HERE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER