as a staff at ecclesia we have been reading aqua church 2.0 by leonard sweet and it has been a truly fascinating read! the image of an aqua church has got me thinking a lot. the interesting thing about water is that it is obviously very fluid in form and yet it never changes in substance. the substance never changes and yet the form is always changing so that it can flow where it needs to flow. what an amazing analogy for a church that seeks to remain pure and true to the substance of what it has been called to be and yet must be ever evolving as it seeks to be relevant to an ever changing culture. may i learn to always be an aqua christian!

god is really amazing! i was thinking this morning about the simple truth in scripture that god's mercies are new every morning... what an amazing gift! to think that god is so loving, so patient and so merciful that everyday he gives us a fresh start! what an awesome promise to start each day with... to know that the past is the past and even when we blow it over and over again, god let's us start each day as a brand new day! praise god for who he is and all he has done!

i'm thinking a lot today about the power of words. i was reading the story of jacob and esau in the book of genesis today and it got me thinking. there seems to be a pattern in scripture that when words are spoken they cannot be taken back... and not only that those words have power and they mean something. when jacob deceived his father to steal his brothers blessing, there was nothing that could be done to change it. isaac had spoken the blessing over jacob and HE WOULD BE BLESSED. the bible also declares that there is life and death in the power of the tongue.

i think about how frequently i speak without thinking about what i am saying; how i often i say things i don't really mean and wish i could take them back. yet once those words have been spoken, they can't be taken back. words can be incredibly powerful, inspirational and uplifting; or they can be incredibly destructive. may we all stop and think a little more about the things we say.

i've been reading through the book of genesis lately and thinking a lot about rhythms of life. it's fascinating to me to read the creation story and see the rhythm and pattern in which god creates. so many things in our world move in rhythms and patterns... including us as human beings. a few weeks ago in church we talked about the importance of routine in our faith; of establishing patterns of discipline to grow with god. as part of that message we talked about people's natural rhythms; some people move in daily rhythms, some people move in weekly rhythms, some people move in seasonal rhythms; our minds and bodies naturally function differently. it got me thinking a lot about my own routines and rhythms.

maybe it's just me but i've always had this idea in my mind that in order to be a disciplined person, i need to wake up before the crack of dawn and get into my daily routines. i'm not naturally wired as a morning though so no matter how hard i would try to develop this "disciplined" lifestyle i would always fail. i'm not sure what it was that finally clicked for me but i realized that i need to learn to work within my own natural rhythm. i need to reorient my day around my own patterns and rhythms but i can still be just as disciplined in a routine that works for me. for the past couple weeks i have been reorienting myself to work in my own natural rhythms and it has been incredibly rewarding. there are still the natural struggles of being disciplined on a daily basis but it is much easier to do it in a pattern that works for me.