Wednesday, November 29

10 days of vision...

Mark Nelson at 8:47 AM 13comments

13 Comments

at 6:57 PM  Anonymous said...

I really like the wording of this line. At first I wondered, "why didn't they say 'hear' in place of 'listen to'?" My whole church life those two words have been interchangable "hear/listen to the words of God, hear/listen to what God is saying to you", etc. But as I sat and thought about it,I began to see that there is a difference between "hearing" and "listening".
Take for instance, oh... let's say - Jake. There are many times I know he hears me "blah blah blah" (Charlie Brown's teacher) and then there are the times I know he's listening to me.
I am not just to hear what God is saying, I am to Listen...take note...try and understand (ha) and then go do.
And the second half of that statement the obedient half...whew...that's a hard one because it does not leave room for...me!
I am obedient even when I don't think it's a good idea. I am obedient even when I am angry at God. I am obedient even when I might get my hands dirty. I am obedient even when I have to step outside my comfort zone. I am obedient even when I am asked to love someone I think is unlovable. The list goes on and on and on and on.
Obedience is going that one step further. Because, yeah I can listen to God, but obey him...whew...

But what about me God?

It's not about you Carrie.

Ouch!

 

at 7:27 PM  Bethany Zumba said...

this line only makes sense to me in the exact order that it's written: listen and obey. also, like Carrie said, the word is listen, not hear.

i believe we as people constantly hear the sound of God in everything around us. the only difference is that many of us have recognized the sound as being God. i like what Rob Bell has to say about God being everywhere, but not recognized everywhere. i feel, to some extent, that it may be the same concept. plenty of people, if everyone, hear God. they just don't know that's who it is making the sound. obedience starts when we recognize what we hear as being God, and start to listen with the intent of understanding it.

consequently, we can't obey unless we listen to what's being commanded.

wordy, much? maybe another concept explained more clearly within the walls of my own head.

 

at 9:13 PM  Anonymous said...

The word obedient strikes a key with me... it seems to tug at me. Obedience requires me to get up and do some kind of action. I once was told of a story how followers of a rabbi during Jesus's time would leave behind their homes and closely watch and learn from the rabbi as to model their lives. Consequently, the followers would become covered in the dust of their rabbi as they walked by them. When I think of a community where people listen and are obedient to God, I think of a community that is covered in the dust of the greatest Rabbi, Christ. The words "May you be covered in the dust of your rabbi" echo through my mind. I dream of a community where people follow Christ so closely that they become covered in his dust. Make sense?

 

at 10:40 PM  Brotherbeary said...

Mark,
I look forward to observing your journy into your search for God's vision for Crossings. I am reading several books as we speak about how God gives his vision and what we must do to recive this vision. I'll listen and learn. I'll also pray for your discernment and that you will be still and quiet over the next ten days. This listening is not passive. It is active obedience.

 

at 9:06 AM  Anonymous said...

I won't go further into the listen v. hear dichotomy, as that has been dealt with quite well in the comments above.

Obedience is an interesting concept to me. I tend to think of it as simply doing as told--actually that's my perception WITHOUT thinking about it. That's kind of the socialized definition we inherited. But I do not believe that simply following directions really hits the mark on obedience. Carol can ask me to do something and I can grumble about it internally and wear a grimace as I complete the task. I may have obliged her request in the technical sense, but I have completely sidestepped the larger premises of obedience: a listening ear, a soft heart, a malleable spirit, the laying down of personal rights, and a servant mentality. Obedience starts with the heart, and flows to the head, making it much easier for the limbs to comply in the physical sense.

 

at 9:42 AM  truevyne said...

finding their way back to God...God created us for friendship with Him. Our natural way, inherit in freewill, seems to lead us off the path of abiding in Him. So I creating a path and space for abiding may to the be the work of Crossings.

listening and obeying... Listening requires inner silence, not easily accessed in this culture. Reading _Into a Silent Land_ lately to inspire my own listening.
My favorite definition of worship is "radical obedience to the word of God". We are created for worship. Cultivating deep love of our Creator best motivates us toward obedience.

 

at 9:46 AM  Anonymous said...

I think of it as an authority thing. in the past our traditions (some good some not so good) have determinded how we do things in a church community. In being obedient to God we're asking Him what He has in mind for us and since we're kind of a blank slate as far as traditions go...we're letting Him guide us in what we decide to do as a body. It won't be dictated by what we did at another church just to fill up our calendar, it will be decided by what we are moved to do by His Spirit, today. It's a living, moving, breathing body...obedient to God in what we do every day, Not a stagnant body set on cruise control doin the same thing over and over hoping for different results.

 

at 2:03 PM  Anonymous said...

I would gladly obey God concerning anything and everything he tells me to do. My problem is that God doesn't speak to me "audibly" and his 'words' are left up to me and my own interpretation. Honestly, I don't trust myself to decipher the thoughts of God.

 

at 2:19 PM  Anonymous said...

dan, that's a good thought. i'd like to ask everybody about that...maybe it's a combination of things...knowing the word and acting consistently with it for one. maybe listening to that gut feeling you have about something. or in a church setting it could be that a bunch of people have thought of something at the same time or are passionate about the same things and they see if it's consistent with what they know to be true about God, and act accordingly. i don't know...anybody else? I also don't want to say that God doesn't ever speak audibly or even speak to us in dreams or through other people. His Spirit moves in ways we can't see!

 

at 10:03 PM  Nicole said...

Everyone has said so much and I"m late to the debate so to speak.

Listening to me means silence. Lots of silence. Making space in our lives to actually listen to God, shutting off the tv's, cell phones, and all the noise of the world, and occasionally sitting alone with God in the silence.

Obedience is a hard word for me because it has been so misused. Obedience for me means patience to wait on God's leading. Patience to be different than the status quo and to be comfortable in the discomfort of not knowing what is coming next because of our inability to see God's plan.

 

at 10:25 PM  Nicole said...

In a keynote address I heard by Tony Campolo, he told this story:


Someone asked Mother Theresa, “What do you say when you pray to God?” She responded, “I don’t say anything. I listen.” Dan Rather said, “Alright, when you pray what does God say to you?” “He doesn’t say anything, God listens. If you don’t understand that, I can’t explain it.”

 

at 2:07 PM  The Watson Family said...

This is such a daily struggle. There are many voices vying for my attention. My hope and prayer is that I can separate His voice from all the others...

 

at 8:29 AM  truevyne said...

His sheep follow Him, because they know His voice. But they will never follow a stranger, in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice.

 

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