Agape Communities

Many people are still living in a first-stage “beat up on myself” mode, as if this is supposed to please God.  Unfortunately when you hate or fear yourself, you usually do the same to others—wives, husbands, family, coworkers, and neighbors.

In the second half of our spiritual lives, we do not need to prove, assert, or punish ourselves.  We can freely and lovingly say “I am who I am.”  Of course this grace has been granted after much shadowboxing and recognizing of one’s own failures.  Afterwards you know that you are the same as everybody else, and we are all on this human journey together.

What you hate in other people is usually unrecognized and hated in yourself first.  The only place to start therefore is with utter honesty and humility about yourself, but do not waste any time punishing yourself.  That is the work of ego that always wants to judge everything up or down.

The soul compassionately sees everything in its wholeness and says “It is what it is.”  From that radical acceptance comes real and deep change.

Via Richard Rohr

“You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are…no more…no less.  That’s when you’re the proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.”  - Jesus

 The veneer was shiny…”religiousy”…certainty.  The truth was wounded…searching…lost.  In a word….stuck.

I made the choice, through much “prodding” of friends, to go through Break Through in 2002.  To be honest with you, before that, I knew the life-changing stories of friends that had gone through.  I had also become friends with Paul Fitzgerald, founder and leader of BT.  I, also, wondered…privately if there was a one-way flight to Guyana somewhere with Kool-Aid as the main course!  I took the dive…and haven’t looked back.  It is easily one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in  my life.  I can’t imagine anything having a more life-awakening impact on me.  Period.  

“How’s that working for you!”  - BT

“Do you want to get well?”  - Jesus

At the end of the day, the real truth is there.  Breakthrough, more than anything I know, does a masterful job of creating space for people to look at their lives, walk through their shame, and find grace and strength to create the lives inside them.  For me, BT helped me look at the broken relationships (my parents, my wife, myself) in my life (including my relationship with God) and find real healing….real life.

There are 2 things, in my opinion, that are impossible to oversell…..Hawaii…and BT.  Look, I don’t know where this moment…this year…this season finds you…maybe your relationships…your life…maybe they’re working for you.  If so, great…keep it up, but if not…if you’ve found yourself more than once whispering “Is this it?” If you’ve found yourself in a maze of hiding that takes…so…much…energy…to keep up the impression management game.  If you’ve looked at your spouse and without saying a word…you know it…dead inside…no life.  If you’ve found yourself listening to the same stories about a God that loves you but doesn’t really like you…and always seems distant…and you never say it publicly…but you think “Is that what You’re really like?”  You say it’s a tough day but really…it’s been a “tough day” for months…maybe years…and…if people really knew what went through your mind…the doubt…the shame…the loneliness…the monotony.  “Am I just bored or is it more than that?”  It’s the leader who thinks stoic actually compels hearts..but he can’t take the next step.  The wife who has never really shared her soul with anyone…especially her husband.  The pastor…who puts up a great front…but deep down is incredibly…alone.  On and on and on.  The truth I leave with you…and maybe the biggest BT truth I realized is…you….don’t….have…to….live…like….this.  You really don’t.  You don’t have to hide.  You don’t have to be alone.  You don’t have to….be stuck.

I went through in 2002.  Raegen, my wife, went through in 2007.  It matters…you’re life matters…more than you know.  I can’t think of a better investment for you or anyone than going through BT.  Don’t give up hope…there’s so much more!

Next BT starts this Friday in Kansas City (go to www.heartconnexion.org for more info)

Religions separate us, by their very nature. Spirituality unites us. That’s the key, and if spirituality is not about humanity, it’s not spiritual. I am a practicing Catholic. I love the faith. I’m not nuts about the institution, but the faith is mine, everywhere I go in the world. The belief that God became human — that’s genius, man. And that God would choose to dwell where we would least likely look, inside ourselves and each other. The genius of God in our humanity, I love that.

Every culture has that — the Hindus, Muslims, all of them have it. That’s the fundamental belief in all true believers, that God is present, God suffers and is broken with us. That’s why the Catholics never removed the corpse from the cross. Our hero is a convicted criminal. He was tried and convicted in a kangaroo court and then he was murdered. That’s God. We’re embraced by that. The most fundamental, most basic, most sincere beliefs — that’s not religion. It’s spirituality. It’s transcendence. People are looking for transcendence now more than ever, I think. Sometimes our transcendence becomes drugs, alcohol, money, power, sex, and they’re so shallow. It’s we ourselves, we must surrender ourselves to our brokenness. That’s the beginning of community.

Martin Sheen

Our moods change constantly and thus our ideas about the past change with them. As for the future, it remains unwritten. Anything can happen, and often we are wrong. The best we can do with the future is prepare and savor the possibilities of what can be done in the present. Only in the present can we be liberated to do whatever it is we want. It’s a razor-thin moment when we are truly free. When we are curious, we exploit these moments by being there, sensitive to what is happening, regardless of how it diverges from what it looked like before (past) or what we expect it to be (future). We are engaged and alive to what is occurring.  We are energized. We are open and receptive to finding opportunities, making discoveries, and adding to the meaning in our life.

Via Porpoise Diving Life