Friends at Dwelling Place Church

Easter is the most important day in Christianity. Te resurrection of a dead man is a hard act to follow. Many important religious leaders have spoken well, taught good things and set up good rules.

Only Jesus came back from the grave after a Crucifixion and being dead three days. Hallelujah! He's alive!

Dwelling Place for Easter

Easter at Dwelling Place

Our primary fellowship is The Dwelling Place. It is a small, group of wonderful people who meet in homes and a little white church building in Loveland. The building doesn't makesthe church, the church makes the building.

Rest in Christ

When Consulting and Coaching Leaders I sometimes tell them that a favorite hymn of the church is by Kenny Rogers.

It goes like this:

You gotta know when to hold em

Know when to fold em

Know when to walk away, and

Know when to ______________!

(I bet you can fill in the blank. The person who makes comment number three will receive a free training book on timing of ministry interventions.)

The essence of Christian is having discernment about what is the best thing to do in a decision. Here is a time when God knew that the best thing to do was "Walk away from trouble."

"When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, ‘If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.’ So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle." Exodus 13:17-18 (NIV)

One of the problems with a lot of unbalanced theology is its obsession with "The Silver Bullet Syndrome". When there is trouble in river city, all we need to do is call for The Lone Ranger who will clean up the troubles and leave a silver bullet in his wake. And, it is solved in 30 minutes!

American loves the instant mashed potato, quick fix of a Silver Bullet Syndrome. We hear it all the time from preachers and evangelists who say things like:

1. Just come to Jesus and everything will be fine. It can be summarized by slogans like, "No Jesus, No Peace! Know Jesus Know Peace"!

2. The people who promote prophesy bring in "prophets" who will read your mind and tell you what will happen in the future. When the prophesy fails the person is left thinking they messed up God's plan.

3. Then there are the "Name it and claim it, blab it and grab it" healing guys. They promise the Silver Bullet of total healing with no relapses" to anyone who has the sure faith. When there is any pain or sickness the patient is made to believe that it is his lack of faith that has caused his relapse.

I am picking up the broken pieces of so many ministers and their wives who were taught this kind of toxic, self defeating theology that it is a near epidemic. Their depression, anxiety and family conflict to say nothing of the sexual compulsions and moral lapses are painful to see.

Even more disturbing is the awful, works righteous responses by so many ministries to suggest even harsher legalisms and punishments. These push the pain farther within the heart making it harder to root out and more likely that the people will fall again.

Will you help support our ministry to leaders in trouble?

Making a Difference?

What would you say if you had a month to live and were offered an opportunity to tell people some of the most important things you have learned? There is a tradition at some universities called, "The Last Lecture" that is based on that premise.

Professors and administrators who are retiring or leaving for other reasons are asked to deliver their "Last will and testament" to their students, faculty friends or a general audience. It is a big moment that requires some careful thought. As a Believer, I would want to say things that left a positive and uplifting spiritual message but that is tricky business.

One man was able to do this quite well. In my opinion he was sensitive to all of his audiences. Watch the video and see what you think.

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=ithct48cqw

Living Large in the Workplace

I grew up with the idea that church and work were supposed to be clearly separated. We lived and worked and played in a secular world and went to church to be spiritual. I was wrong.

Don't misunderstand what me. I am not saying that we who Believe that Jesus died and rose again from the grave ought to be standing on a soap box and expounding on a favorite text from Holy Writ. I have worked in several organizations where that would have been inappropriate, offensive and illegal.

I worked at the University of Cincinnati for six years as an Associate Dean of Students. I had a wonderful boss, Dr. Bill Nester, who used his faith to be a blessing to many people. Bill encouraged me to integrate God's love and word into my life on campus whenever possible. However, most of the time it was by relating to people with the Fruit of the Spirit. "Love, joy, peace, gentleness and patience..." are always acceptable to others. Galatians 5:22ff

U.C. was a State University and it was illegal for me to agressively promote my Christian faith to students. However, showing God's love in practical ways is never out of bounds. I often spoke about God and pray for students but I always asked permission first.

One day I asked a young man suffering from depression if I might include him in my personal prayers. He said, "No"! I replied that if that was what he wanted it would be fine with me. We have no right to attempt to force our views on others. It is disrespectful of both God and the person to do so.

If we truly trust God we can relax and initiate a specific action step only when the Spirit has first prepared the way. Many Christians think they need to "help God out" by pressuring people to listen to their testimony or receive prayer. God does not need our help. He is perfectly able to tell us when and how to minister at work. However, when He does show up, be bold and offer God's love to the person in need.

Gary Sweeten

Quotes: Someone Said It

Holding on to bitterness and unforgiveness is like personally drinking arsenic and expecting the rats to die. Anonymous

Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us. Jesus