Archive for July, 2007

It is a severe violation of the adult conscience to treat the saints as children under the over-lordship of elders. The ultimate effect of treating the saints as children is that they will either remain children in their understanding as they submit to bondage, or they will rebel. Elders exercise appropriate authority as fathers within their own households, but their role in the assembly is not as fathers and lords over children and servants, but as elder brothers in the faith and humble servants to the whole.

Source: Steve Atkerson, New Testament Church Leadership

Then the Elder continued, “What if a truly strong leader is one who is un-threatened enough to actually, honestly listen to the input of those around them, precisely because (a) they are secure in their identity in Christ, and (b) they know they need the voices of others to adequately hear what God is saying to the whole group? What if the ‘weak’ leader is really the one who insists on his or her own personal vision, and is too threatened to consider the voices of anyone else?”

“Maybe it takes more cajones to NOT insist on the leader’s ‘vision’, or ’strategy’, and to trust that the Spirit speaks through the Body, hmm?”, he asked, gesturing with open hands.

Source: Robby Mac, Through The Looking-Glass

It looks like the next few months are going to include some big changes for the Seitler family, across a very wide spectrum. I can’t get into the details right now, but suffice it to say it’s all a little overwhelming. We’ve been spending more time outside (parks, berry picking) with the kids lately, and it’s amazing how getting a little bit of fresh air can do wonders for an anxious heart.

Katie is currently enthralled with Saturn. (It’s the rings that she loves the most. What is it with girls and rings?) We went to the library on Saturday and picked out a coffee-table book full of photos from the Cassini-Huygens mission. I love seeing her get so excited about space–I didn’t start until I was twice her age. They grow up so fast these days, don’t they?

Joshua’s been cruising for a while now, and over the past couple of days he’s stood up on his own. I figure he’ll take his first step before August, but the kid doesn’t act like he’s in any hurry.

The 2007 Blogathon takes place on the same day as the 2007 Jackson Family Reunion (that would be my mom’s dad’s mom’s side of the family). I was looking forward to doing the Blogathon right this time; looks like I won’t be doing it at all. I suppose I could always play on their B Schedule. Maybe if I was part of a group blog… but I’d have to be putting it together now to have it ready in time, wouldn’t I? Hmm…

What I mock is exactly the same thing that we find mocked in the pages of the New Testament—ecclesiastical stuffed-shirt pretentiousness, and an inability to maintain a sense of godly proportion. You know, camels and gnats, gold and altars, and justice and mercy and tithing from the spice rack.

(Source: Douglas Wilson, Reformed Catholicity)

There’s something the folks at Chesapeake Community Church were asked not to talk about until July 15th, but anyone who downloads this MP3 of the Sunday meeting and goes to the 1:35 mark will hear it for themselves.

Personally, I think all the secrecy about stuff like this is silly and more than a little melodramatic. Reminds me of something someone recently said about Vice President Cheney….

Why all the spectacle? Why do things like this have to be kept hush-hush until we can make some big “event” out of it? It just feels so disingenuous and showy.