Luke 1:7-14

7 And she brought forth her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.8 And there were shepherds in the same country abiding in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock.9 And an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.10 And the angel said unto them, Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people:11 for there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord.12 And this is the sign unto you: Ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,14 Glory to God in the highest,

~Merry Christmas!

‘Nuff Said

I’m a Wannabe

There is no question in my mind, that I love Christ more than anything, except perhaps myself.  I know that it’s not popular to voice this type of confession.  I know that people will judge, but the reality is that I still do things my way.  I don’t WANT to be that way – I’d love to know how to “die to self”.  As passionate as I am for Christ, I have a hard time abiding in his mercy and benevolence.  I desire to be more like him, but simply fail – often. 

I am not comforted by the fact that others have this same struggle.  I have desire to show His love, but fail.  I have a passion for seeing God’s best in people’s lives; but not always the patience to build the trust needed to convey this.  I’m a “Wannabe”….

I want to have the Wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Samson and the passion of David.  I want to show love, as Christ did and to have His humility. 

Getting Over Ones’ Self

I think it’s not only hypocrisy, but an out right lie to think that any of us are where Christ desires us to be.  I laugh when I recently heard someone say  “God has really worked on humbling me, He’s done that to use me for better things.”  Isn’t this presumptive in and of itself?  I use this example, but I think that while judging the “humble guy’s” motivation for bragging about being humble, I was judging his motivation. 

Psalm 69:5

O God, thou knowest my foolishness; And my sins are not hid from thee.

I am foolish. I’ve squandered opportunity to share with my passion with friends and family at times.  I’ve been cynical of how others have related to God and questioned their motivations.  I’ve not always been wrong, but there are many times when I’ve questioned God’s wisdom without simply trusting that His way is best. 

All of this has made me nutzy, and struck with guilt at my own arrogance.  I’ve not always been able to maintain my status as a “Wannabe”.  Luckily we find this verse in 1st John:

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Using Power for Good and not Evil

I love picking on the goofiness of the church and even with the prelude of the preceding paragraph, I can tell you that not all satire or snarky remarks about the Church are about God.  Hardly any of them are.  The Church has so lost the heart of God in pursuit of melding with the culture to the point that I find…..well, stupid. 

The culture today is running, not walking, away from “Church” we’re not what we were intended to be.  I find it hard, at times, to separate my cynical side; from my “Wannabe” side.  when I see a TV evangelist with the corny “Christianese” lines and swinging his jacket over his head, while asking for money – I just laugh and think THAT’s what the world thinks of us all. 

I want the church to be so much more, but where is the line?  At what point does recognition of the church’s failings just become judgment?

I have always been a fan of people who have hidden talents and are under estimated by “the norm”.  Exceeding expectations is Christ’s specialty and keeping us from judging a book by it’s cover is reoccurring theme in the Bible.

If you haven’t seen the Susan Boyle video, you’ve really missed something.  I can only imagine the times that this lady has been been laughed at or told that she wasn’t going to get to live her dream.  She’s simply amazing…

Susan Boyle

By the way, this has ranked by Mashable, as the most viral video ever.  It far exceeded any of the often circulated political or humor videos.

I wanted to share with you the oil painting that Jan Beveridge did, at the request of my wife. Jennifer had seen me identifying for this painting elsewhere. It’s one of the best images I’ve seen and the easiest for me to understand. I’ve often seen Christ as needing time to ponder the looming evil and I can seem him thousands of years ago thinking of us, today. It’s very inspiring to know how much He really cares for us.

Foundation

The World changes, but God does not change. Our techniques and venues for communication changes, but God does not change. The traditions and theology of man sometimes fails and changes, but God does not change.

Purpose

The Vision of the Tribe is to be able to share Christ’s word in a meaningful way, using today’s technology. The plan is to use social media to communicate with individuals using today’s tools. We desire to be practical in our approach of sharing The Word. We want to bring together Men and Women of God with a heart to learn and share. Its the hope that the Tribe will grow a cadre of writers and readers with similar passions to write, read and create open dialogue about beliefs and the changing world.

Direction

God is alive and has not changed; but the altered and evolving World-View has continued to find it’s way into the Christian culture. It has allowed varied interpretations of scripture to make people feel warm, happy and entertained; without really challenging us. Christ is passionate about going after our hearts, there’s a battle for that ground and thus the Christian walk is not always easy.

Deuteronomy 12 is God’s Vision; that is casted to create the idea of where His people should be dwelling within the promised land.

Deuteronomy 12:5 “But you shall seek the place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place.

This scripture encompasses our desire to seek God in the place where He chooses as a central location. The gift of Christ isn’t limited to an individual tribe; but for whomever He chooses. The emerging generation of believers desire to answer call of Christ. Christ is a warrior fighting for our hearts. He is passionate to the point of death. My desire is to answer that passion and allow Him to dwell where He wishes!