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Hope Community

... staying connected

Thursday, July 31, 2003

I wanted to post this. This is from a blog of an Allelon-friend of mine.

His wife is 27 years old.

"I thought I would post an update on Jennifer and the journey that we have been on for a few months now. We were in Cincy two weekends ago, worshiping and sharing life with friends from around the region. Jennifer had a really wonderful time; she was strong and was encouraged by all the prayers and love we received while there. When we returned on Monday, she became very tired, and then started to experience nausea on Thursday. The nausea became so severe on Sunday that I took her to the emergency room, and we spent the night in the hospital.

While there, she began to have waste drain from the tube in her stomach. Her doctor told me that this indicated that the stomach and the bowels had fused, and that waste was passing freely into her abdomen. This was what was causing the nausea. He encouraged us to bring her home, so that she could be comfortable for her last days here on earth. While at the hospital, we also made the most difficult decision I have ever been faced with, to stop her nutrition. It was only feeding the tumors and making her more sick. So as of Saturday evening, Jennifer is no longer receiving any nutrition for her body to live.

We came home Monday evening, and have been controlling the nausea with around the clock injections of medicine. Jennifer is sometimes aware, and sometimes not. This morning we spent a few hours together in the gardens behind the house, talking of the future, the past, and how unimaginably wonderful it will be when she meets God.

I also told her that I still believed God could heal her, and renewed my promise to pray for that until the end. I would encourage you to join me in that prayer, asking God to bring His healing in a miraculous way. I know that if Jennifer had the strength to write, she would say the same thing.

She would also say to be encouraged. Do not lose heart. The Kingdom is present.

All glory to Jesus."

May God give us all the proper perspective on our own lives.

contributed by ... greg 6:35 PM

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Friday, July 11, 2003

This is outstanding:

Problem of Individualism
Maybe a major problem with the desire of churches to form community, is that we are born into a culture of indvidualism. When we gather as the church, we gather as a group of individuals, primarily concerned with my needs and wants, and not to serve a communanl mission and purpose.

There is a popular move to dismantle/abolish/abdandon congregations, i.e sunday services, with many seeing them as axiomatic to modernity and consumerism.

The danger is they can be replaced by other gatherings that are just as individual focused, to keep meeting my new post modern sociological needs. i.e I''m fed up with preaching, I''m fed up with sunday services, therefore I''ll form church around my new needs, of avoiding things I''m burned out on.

I think we need a well thought through theology of community, that informs our way of doing church. Otherwise, alot of people beleiving moving away from congregations is going to generate community, are going to be very dissapointed.

So as we try to form community, we are trying to ask, how much of our re-structuring is due to continued individualism, and how much is because of thoughtful theological reflection, and motivation for our mission and purpose as a church/community.

contributed by ... greg 3:54 PM

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Thursday, July 10, 2003

After a very hard day we welcomed Cole Timothy Wheeler into the world at 8:19 pm. Mother and baby are resting comfortably.
8 lbs 3 oz.
20 1/2 in.
cute as a button.

contributed by ... Tim 3:05 AM

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Tuesday, July 08, 2003

Hey all...Just wanted to let you know they plan to induce Melissa tomorrow morning around 7:30 am. Please pray for a successful delivery and a healthy baby. We'll keep you posted tomorrow! It's very exciting, yet very strange to schedule the birth of a child.

contributed by ... Tim 8:56 PM

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Tuesday, July 01, 2003

RE: the regularity of teaching et. al

just my thoughts...

I think teaching should be regular, but varied. By that I mean more than various topics. Perhaps sometimes it looks like a sermon - a more traditional communication, speaker to "audience." Other times it could be slightly more interactive. Sometimes, perhaps, a panel discussion. Still other times could be a complete "round table" discussion. How great would it be for everyone to bring their thoughts/biblical support on what it means to be a Christian parent. The stories that would come up would probably make it seem like simply a time hanging out...and yet everyone would learn, and thus, be taught. An occasional movie night would be cool (discuss the spiritual implications of a movie or something).

Maybe I've dodged the question, Greg...what do you all think?

contributed by ... Tim 9:54 PM

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