October 14th @7pm, up/rooted.west is back at Gino's in Wheaton for a roundtable (usually it's a round table, depends where they seat us) on the question "When Does the Christian Life Begin?" Spoiler alert: there won't be just one answer. We'll have Kristine Socall, Pat Green, and myself each talking about the story of our own Christian origins, inviting others to interact with these personal stories, and possibly sharing bits from their own, along the way. Our goal again won't be to try to settle on the right one--and as ground rules for the discussion, we'll take care not to judge the authenticity of anyone's coming to faith (and this isn't just a warm-up for some sort of altar call at the end either)--but rather to struggle with and hopefully appreciate the diversity of these stories and stand in greater awe of the God who gathers us in to the family of Christ with more agility and grace than we can pin down into a program or system.
So come and join us; no preparation or experience required. Nor does your Christian life have to have begun already--maybe that'll even be one of the responses to this question... Just come with a hunger to know God more deeply, and an appetite for pizza too.
Mark
up/rooted.west co-leader
2 comments:
Well done! My daughter and I were pleased to meet with you folks last night. Faith-beginning stories are always a joy for me to hear and you three modeled a way to share these with such grace. I felt drawn into your stories and not threatened by sensing you were advocating something that I should have done or ought to be doing.
A quick word study I just did on charis, used 122 times in the NT, usually translated "grace" and sometimes translated as "thanks," closely linked to chara which is translated "joy" (http://www.foundationsforfreedom.net/Topics/Grace/Grace013.html) helps explain for me why I felt joy in hearing your stories which for me were shared with grace and I am grateful for that!
Thank you for that insight. It was such a delight to meet you and your daughter the other night and I hope it is the beginning of more sharing among you two with us. :)
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