Happy (late) Easter everyone!  He is RISEN!

Yesterday morning we had the chance to experience our first "network gathering", where both house church networks in Abilene(Abilene Mission Church and Jesus Family Network) came together for food and for praising our resurrected Lord.  It was a really great experience; we met many for the first time, and yet there was already a deep connection of love and appreciation we all had for each other because we were connected through a network of friends and prayer.  

Isn't this much of what every Christian gathering should be like?  I think there were a few things that made yesterday very special for Katrina and I.  1. This was a new thing.  While for many they had been meeting regularly in house churches and celebrating occasionally in larger gatherings, this was a first for us.  I know that the newness of anything can rub off eventually, no matter how sweet it is!  2. Perhaps the deeper cause for all the the intentional love, hugs, loyalty etc. came from the true web of relationships that are born from natural connections throughout the network, rather than a crowd of people gathered around a preacher because they like his Power Point outlines.  3. We all had stories to tell of resurrection life, because we have truly been on a journey to see God change us.  Of course, this is happening all over the Christian world, but where are the conversations where we share openly about it all?  Confession of past sin and celebration of new life…I can't think of a better way to spend my Easter morning!  4. It was at one of my favorite parks in Abilene, outdoors under a few trees with some great food…what more could you ask for? 

While growing up in my family, Easter didn't exactly have the same focus we put on it today.  For one thing, I was younger and didn't appreciate Christ's Passion as the "reason for the season".  But the reality was, my Christian tradition as a child specifically didn't recognize Easter because it wasn't celebrated in the New Testament.  Its true that much of Easter is today is simply pagan transference, (see a good book by Frank Viola for more on pagan influences in our faith) but is it wrong to abandon the worldwide/church wide remembrance of Christ's death, burial and resurrection just because they didn't think to celebrate each year the resurrection before the close of the Canon?  Today, any chance I get to intentionally and communally embrace my Lord's story of Good News I take it.  

Right now Katrina and I are creatively thinking through the Christian holidays and trying to find fun, Christ-centered ways of celebrating.  Purposely inviting a poor family we've built relationships with into our home for Thanksgiving, reading the story of St. Nicolaus and celebrating the 12 days of Christmas, tossing out the Easter Bunny lie and remembering Christ's new life in a fun way with games and friends.  We're trying to sort all this out - and we welcome all ideas…we don't want to fall into the trap of just "enjoying" our holy-days the way we enjoy a hamburger or a good praise team - we want to savor the Christian calendar, and share a distinctive message of grace with our friends that surround us.

Last 5 posts by Mark

• Chicago Spiritual Map: Rogers Park - August 8th, 2008
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This entry was posted on Monday, April 17th, 2006 at 7:06 pm and is filed under Christian Calendar, Network Developments, Personal Reflections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.