Doing it differently but the same....

Truth remains the same, but you have to LEARN to make it new and exciting to your spirit and in your walk with the Lord- Dr. John A. Tetsola

There's More Than The Missionary Position
I think learning truth in a new way is similar to marriage/sex/relationship. I think we have to add various different elements, positions, places, patterns and words to keep the freshness alive. If all one did with their spouse was the same thing, the same way, the same place and at the same time...that relationship would grow so painfully predictable and stale. Many people do grow bored of their spouses because they have not learned how to make their life together, new and exciting.

I think life in the Spirit and the church is the same.
So often we stay in the same mode, the same places, the same faces, the same music, the same words, the same everything...and people just get bored and move on to another church. Not because there was something so bad at their church but simply because they couldn't ever cook anything other than the same meal day in and day out.

Bored Out Of My Mind
People move on out of extreme monotony of spirit.
They long for something spoken in a way that stirs them, something fresh, something new...a new word, or how about new faces! Sometimes seeing the same people over and over again with no new birth or no new people to add to the flavor gets real stale too.

I think the Lord would desire His people to explore the various ways to take an eternal message and make it new every morning. Just like the dawn. Every day is a new day but every day we can expect the same thing to happen but God does the same thing every morning but different. I think that is the way God is...the same and yet not. Stable, secure and orderly but with a wild unpredictability and holy chaos that makes every dawn or dusk ripe with new possibilities. You never see the same day twice but you can always be assured the sun will rise, that is the glorious newness of the God.

Just Do It...but Do It Differently
Unfortunately we rarely see such characteristics within the average church. I think we need a renaissance in how we experience life in the Spirit in church gatherings, church ministries and simply discipleship. New speakers, new paths of discipleship, new ways of presenting the word, new arrangements of how we sit or the flow of our times together. How about the use of color, painting, imagery, scent and sound. How about architecture and the predictable use of space, form and function of our buildings. How about dreaming new ways to facilitate spiritual growth among a congregation that goes beyond the tried and true methods we've grown accustomed to relying on out of complacency instead of a spirit of adventure.

All of this translates down to seeking new rivers of spiritual refreshment in our own private devotional life too. A new ministry, a new bible translation, a new journal, a new place or time to seek God, a new book, new mentors or at least add some fresh voices. How about a new small group or new worship music.

These are all very simplistic steps but there are far more daring steps for the more adventurous dreamers but that is for another discussion...-Eric Blauer