11 posts from 2006
- January
- February
- March
- April
- May
- June
- July
- August
- September
- October
- November
- December
Vox will resume our Sunday gathering at 6pm on New Year's eve at our regular location. We will be participating in the ancient
church tradition called a Love Feast. If you are in town, please
come worship with us, bring a meal to share, and an empty stomach to fill.
Please email us stating what dish you will bring on the subject line or if you have any questions. Invite your friends that will be in town on the 31st.
Please email us stating what dish you will bring on the subject line or if you have any questions. Invite your friends that will be in town on the 31st.
Historically, the season of advent has been a time for Christ followers to rest, reflect and remember the profound meaning of Christ's life here in this world. Vox is teaching through the lectionary during these weeks. Here is the upcoming schedule for the next few Sunday gatherings.
December 17th Advent Week III - Peace on Earth.
December 24th Advent Week IV - No Sunday Gathering
(please celebrate with your family and light the last advent candle together)
December 31st New Years Eve - Love Feast
(please bring a meal to share with the community)
May your season of advent be filled with mystery, rest, and worship.
December 17th Advent Week III - Peace on Earth.
December 24th Advent Week IV - No Sunday Gathering
(please celebrate with your family and light the last advent candle together)
December 31st New Years Eve - Love Feast
(please bring a meal to share with the community)
May your season of advent be filled with mystery, rest, and worship.
Richard Troxell, from ARCH (Austin Resource Center for the Homeless), shared at Vox about a month ago. He talked about homelessness and shared some practical ways we can help. One of the things he asked our community to do was to raise funds for a poncho drive. As a community, we pledged $1600 towards the purchase of 800 ponchos for the homeless in Austin.
The results? We collected a total of $1830 from our community! So thanks for your generosity as a community. Many people on the streets of Austin will be getting new, durable and versatile ponchos to help them stay dry. ARCH will be giving these ponchos, as well as other winter-appropriate clothing, on Christmas Day to those who are in need. So keep your eyes open for people with blue, yellow or orange ponchos on the streets of Austin. Know that you had a direct hand in that.
This entry is written by Jim Daniel, Vox's resident drug dealer (pharmacist):
The first thing I would like to do is to sincerely thank all of those who prayed for me while Joyce and I (Jim) were in India. I truly believe that prayer is the reason that the trip went so smoothly. It also truly made me feel like I was part of the community by the fact that people would pray for me while I was not here. So once again, a heartfelt thanks to all who prayed for me.
When I was first approached by Gideon to go on this trip, I had a lot of reservations. I was concerned that short term missions were not an effective means of reaching the nationals (the Rajasthani people). Gideon told me that short term missions trips are 99% for the person going and 1% about helping the nationals. He said that even as a pharmacist, providing healthcare, that it would be difficult to have a lasting impact on the community. After going on this trip, I am convinced that he is completely correct. To me, that is where the problem lies.
This thought came to me during one of the medical camps at which we were serving. We had seen several hundred patients at this point, and we were fairly tired. I was feeling good about the work that we had done and decided to talk to one of the Indian doctors who was also volunteering. He was a Christian man who had come into contact with our group and who I quickly became friends with. During one of our conversations, he made the comment that about half of the patients that I had seen, unbeknownst to me, had tuberculosis. I was shocked because we didn’t have any drugs to treat Tb. It would not really matter if we did, because treatment for Tb can range from 6 months to 2 years, and we were only giving the patients at most a 10 day supply of medication. I asked what he had given them, because we had given some medication to everyone who had come through the camp. He told me that he had given them a prescription for vitamin supplements as a placebo.
I was truly torn by what I had heard. Here I was, thinking that we were making a big difference in these people’s lives. In reality, I was essentially handing a man, with a life threatening condition, Flintstone vitamins and telling him to be blessed. From this illustration, it became clear to me that these people didn’t need me for 2 weeks, but rather they needed someone for 2 years. I also made the realization that the medicine which I had handed out would be finished before I had gotten over my jetlag. I became completely frustrated (and to those close to me, completely agitated) over what I felt is possibly a huge fundamental flaw in our approach to missions.
So what is the flaw? It is that our need to feel “used by God” and to be blessed by seeing what God is doing around the world takes greater priority over the actual missionary work that is going on around the world. No other facet of the church would be able to run with so little results to show for it without facing an outcry of either impropriety or incompetence. When we go on a missions trip to help other people, the vast majority of the financial resources are being spent on us, and a very small amount actually is received by the people who need it. We would tar and feather the Red Cross if they told us that 50% of the money we donated was being spent on administrative costs. In the case of short term missions, it is safe to say that 75% (and probably more) of the money raised is going to the person who is going on that trip.
So let us look at the results for God’s money in a best case scenario. We go there and preach the gospel to someone, and they accept Christ. We are only there for 1 day in this particular town. There is no Christian fellowship in this town for this person to meet with, because not enough pastors have been trained to do the work. Even if there were enough pastors, how could the pastors support themselves in this area without a church to support them? So what is the likelihood that this person, who took Christ in their heart but has no long-term spiritual support, remain Christian in an area full of persecution? It is a very uphill battle. So the result of monies spent on an ideal mission is that someone who already knows Christ gets to feel good about himself, and someone who didn’t know Christ before will very likely fall by the wayside because he hasn’t been fed spiritually. So the question that I have to ask is: what is the goal of missions?
The first thing I would like to do is to sincerely thank all of those who prayed for me while Joyce and I (Jim) were in India. I truly believe that prayer is the reason that the trip went so smoothly. It also truly made me feel like I was part of the community by the fact that people would pray for me while I was not here. So once again, a heartfelt thanks to all who prayed for me.
When I was first approached by Gideon to go on this trip, I had a lot of reservations. I was concerned that short term missions were not an effective means of reaching the nationals (the Rajasthani people). Gideon told me that short term missions trips are 99% for the person going and 1% about helping the nationals. He said that even as a pharmacist, providing healthcare, that it would be difficult to have a lasting impact on the community. After going on this trip, I am convinced that he is completely correct. To me, that is where the problem lies.
This thought came to me during one of the medical camps at which we were serving. We had seen several hundred patients at this point, and we were fairly tired. I was feeling good about the work that we had done and decided to talk to one of the Indian doctors who was also volunteering. He was a Christian man who had come into contact with our group and who I quickly became friends with. During one of our conversations, he made the comment that about half of the patients that I had seen, unbeknownst to me, had tuberculosis. I was shocked because we didn’t have any drugs to treat Tb. It would not really matter if we did, because treatment for Tb can range from 6 months to 2 years, and we were only giving the patients at most a 10 day supply of medication. I asked what he had given them, because we had given some medication to everyone who had come through the camp. He told me that he had given them a prescription for vitamin supplements as a placebo.
I was truly torn by what I had heard. Here I was, thinking that we were making a big difference in these people’s lives. In reality, I was essentially handing a man, with a life threatening condition, Flintstone vitamins and telling him to be blessed. From this illustration, it became clear to me that these people didn’t need me for 2 weeks, but rather they needed someone for 2 years. I also made the realization that the medicine which I had handed out would be finished before I had gotten over my jetlag. I became completely frustrated (and to those close to me, completely agitated) over what I felt is possibly a huge fundamental flaw in our approach to missions.
So what is the flaw? It is that our need to feel “used by God” and to be blessed by seeing what God is doing around the world takes greater priority over the actual missionary work that is going on around the world. No other facet of the church would be able to run with so little results to show for it without facing an outcry of either impropriety or incompetence. When we go on a missions trip to help other people, the vast majority of the financial resources are being spent on us, and a very small amount actually is received by the people who need it. We would tar and feather the Red Cross if they told us that 50% of the money we donated was being spent on administrative costs. In the case of short term missions, it is safe to say that 75% (and probably more) of the money raised is going to the person who is going on that trip.
So let us look at the results for God’s money in a best case scenario. We go there and preach the gospel to someone, and they accept Christ. We are only there for 1 day in this particular town. There is no Christian fellowship in this town for this person to meet with, because not enough pastors have been trained to do the work. Even if there were enough pastors, how could the pastors support themselves in this area without a church to support them? So what is the likelihood that this person, who took Christ in their heart but has no long-term spiritual support, remain Christian in an area full of persecution? It is a very uphill battle. So the result of monies spent on an ideal mission is that someone who already knows Christ gets to feel good about himself, and someone who didn’t know Christ before will very likely fall by the wayside because he hasn’t been fed spiritually. So the question that I have to ask is: what is the goal of missions?
Thanks to all who put in so much of their time and effort to make our Vox community a great family to be a part of. Your countless hours invested these last few months are a blessing to all. We're proud to be a part of your team. May your season of advent be worshipful and restful.
Amazing that it has been over a year since the tragedy of Katrina. As New Orleans continues to rebuild itself, we as a community want to pick up a tool, roll up our sleeves, and chip in. On March 11th-16th our community will be spending a week in The Big Easy doing nothing but tearing down, cleaning up and getting dirty. (The cost of the trip will be $300 including transportation, room and meals.) If you would like to join us, please email matt [at] voxveniae.com or sign up on Sundays in the upstairs foyer.
Elements, Vox's home communities, have been going through the book Irresistible Revolution, by Shane Claiborne. Through the book Shane, recounts his personal adventures in following Christ from visiting Mother Teresa in Calcutta to war torn communities in Iraq.
For better or worse, Vox exists in an affluent 21st century culture. One of the greatest struggles for our church in this context is the battle against apathy resulting from over abundance and comfort. What does it mean for us as a community trying to follow Christ to give up our lives so that we can find it?
A strong objection coming from some readers is that Shane's way of life is not practical. However, we must wrestle with the impracticality of Scripture. Was Jesus asking the rich young ruler to sell everything practical? Was John the baptists life in the desert practical? Was God asking Abraham to kill his only son Isaac practical? Ultimately, was God killing his own son (who in some mysterious way was also himself) practical? Where would our faith and life be if God chose what was practical?
Perhaps the point of Claiborne's book is not for us to imitate Claiborne's exact way of life and decisions but be challenged by someone who was willing to give it all to follow Christ. We may not end up selling everything and giving it to the poor but our hearts must at least be willing. Maybe we're suppose to wrestle with what our personal imitation of Christ's life looks like in our context. As we wrestle together as a community, may the revolution that began 2,000 years ago live on.
(Shane Claiborne will be speaking at Vox on Sunday, April 8th at 6:00 pm)
Congrats to Nathan and Sarah Brown. Baby Gwyneth Moirah Brown was born December 11th at 2:38am. She weighed in at 5 lbs 13 oz. Greenhouse is increasing at an alarming rate. The Browns have been a part of our community for the last 5 years.
We've been singing some sufjan during the advent season. Sufjan Stevens hails from Detroit, Michigan and could well be THE musical genius of our generation. This excerpt is taken from Wikipedia: IPA pronunciation: [ˈsʊf jɑn]) (born July 1, 1975) is an American musician, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Michigan.
He is known for his lyrically focused and instrumentally rich songs
that often relate to faith and family. He has enjoyed wide critical
success in the United States. He is considered part of the folkindie pop, but his influences are very broad. His music has been likened to electronica,[1] the jazz of Vince Guaraldi,[2] and the academic minimalism of Steve Reich.[3] Stevens has announced plans to make an album for each of the 50 U.S. states, having begun the series with the albums Michigan (2003) and Illinois (2005). revival in
Join us Sunday, December 17th for our third Sunday of advent. Our community will gather for a time of reflection on the peace and shalom of Christ. This Sigur Ros video will be shown as part of that time of reflection.
