This morning I was enjoying some time quiet with the Lord, when I had one of those…still small voice experiences. I was thinking and praying about this Sunday and the time we are planning, as we gather to be and do church, of having time for retreat-rest and reflection. I noticed a part of our outdoor paving except it was not the paving I noticed. What stood out was actually the grass and the weeds. In fact the growing green blanket was a lot more evident then the dirty paving bricks below.

And this is when I heard/saw/understood what the Lord was saying! This can happen in our lives. When we don’t quiet down enough to hear, when our lives are to busy we do not examine, and when there is no space to be slower…weeds can grow up, covering, crowding and therefore changing what we really want seen.

This sunday is about practicing the discipline of retreat so we can rest and also reflect. We are going to have time to be alone, time to reflect on scripture and time to consider our answers to some “life questions”. There is danger in an unexamined life but there is health in examining, in retreating for rest and reflection.

I bet that caught your attention. It has not been everyone’s experience…fun and church in the same sentence.

Early on when we began the process of seeing a church established, we had a little statement that we threw around a lot to help us keep perspective and to shape our identity so that we lived out from our values rather then just lived. The statement was, “We don’t go to church we are the church.” The church(us the people, not the building, not the gathered event) does gather to be with Jesus and one another as family. It does go sharing Jesus love. It does need to keep gazing on the King(that’s worship and prayer) and it does need to keep growing in His character and in His calling which he directs through His Spirit and His Word(Bible).

Sunday was fun. The church was involved interacting on the topic of healing. Everyone had opportunity to share a story, share a question, even have a different take on the same thing. There was integrity, “yes He heals, no we do not see it all the time” and to talk about some of the why?

Church is the people and when the people are interacting, involved and there is integrity in the journey…now in my book that is fun!

Last Sunday at our gathering I started my sharing by asking “What people did to look after their souls?”. Our world is fast paced, moving to a different drum beat than Jesus sound, and attempting to shape us in its mold. One of the important priorities we have is to take time to care for our soul, to step out of the pace and out of the activity and drink on water from that other well.

I shared about spending an hour at the pool on a Saturday am while my kids swam, drinking coffee and slowly reading a few pages from Dallas Willard’s classic The Divine Conspiracy. I am reading through his books a few pages at a time, maybe once a week. Trying to just read, and reflect…to stop and rest…to build up the real John Wall, with truths from Jesus’ well of living water.

This is part of what Soul Cafe is about, time to stop, grab a great coffee and think, reflect, and then continue on with the journey. Enjoy the read.