tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-348701232024-03-07T03:34:51.996-05:00Lessons in Christianity from Witch CityPastoring a Christian Church which is currently a bit nomadic - meeting in a variety of locations in Salem, MA, (home to a huge Halloween Festival, and not just a few Neo-Pagans); we thought we might have a few interesting thoughts pertaining to ministry in a postmodern world.Pastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.comBlogger181125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34870123.post-84813704481080124992016-05-16T06:27:00.000-05:002016-05-16T06:27:48.173-05:00The Parable of the Sower: Hearts Like DirtI recently spoke with a young man from Chicago, who was living in Chattanooga, TN. He told me that prior to living in Chattanooga, he was allergic to dirt. Now, he spends most of life outside climbing, mountain biking, and camping; and is happier than ever.<br />
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The spiritual life is a bit like dirt. Counterintuitively, the dirtier we get, the <a href="http://www.webmd.com/parenting/d2n-stopping-germs-12/kids-and-dirt-germs" target="_blank">healthier we may actually be</a>.<br />
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The Parable of the Sower compares the heart to different kinds of soil, and the in this parable, the dirtier the dirt, the better the receptiveness the heart has to the Word of God. The soils are described as "by the wayside" (the hard-packed section along the road), "stony", "thorny", and "good soil". Good soil is well tilled, soft, and rich. After a day in the garden one comes back with deep rich soil under the fingernails and all over the clothing. The other soil types typically represent elements that separate the seed from the actual dirt.<br />
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This represents how we try to protect ourselves from a variety of elements related to the Word of God itself. The Way-side heart is unconcerned and ambivalent to either the voice of God or the concerns of humanity. Stony, hard hearts have become reactionary and hardened to the struggles and hard truths of life. The Thorny hearts are those whose greeds and personal desires have inoculated them against caring for the deeper values of life. In some bizarre inversion, we who are made from the dirt of the ground, or as others have recently described it, "star stuff", try to avoid contact with soil. We similarly attempt to protect ourselves from other people, hard truths, or the suffering in our world. In doing so, we separate ourselves from a healthy spiritual life. Just like an overly clean child may be a setup for a weak immune system, an overly defensive heart may be a set up for spiritual sickness.<br /><br />Have a soft heart, be willing to get dirty in this life, and allow for the fact that you just may be wrong about life and are in need of correction from God's Word. These simple principles are evidences of a person ready to receive the Word, and grow in fruitfulness.<br /><i><br />“Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble. Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”</i>Pastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34870123.post-28857684314171849502016-03-24T14:06:00.001-05:002016-03-24T14:06:35.073-05:00The Great Inversion of Good Friday and Easter<div class="js-tweet-text-container" style="color: #292f33; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">
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A Burning Religion requires burning thoughts of revolutionary impact.
<a href="http://burningreligion.com/2016/03/24/death-and-life-darkness-and-hope-the-strange-inversion-of-good-friday-to-easter/" target="_blank">Follow this link to the article about Easter.</a></div>
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<a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Easter?src=hash" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #216b12; text-decoration: none;">#Easter</a> <a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoodFriday?src=hash" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #216b12; text-decoration: none;">#GoodFriday</a> <a class="twitter-hashtag pretty-link js-nav" data-query-source="hashtag_click" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BurningReligion?src=hash" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #216b12; text-decoration: none;">#BurningReligion</a></div>
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Pastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34870123.post-75817286632334528492015-12-11T19:53:00.003-05:002015-12-11T20:02:12.820-05:00Pastor Phil Wyman looks back at 2015 at The Gathering<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYxYnls5zY3Td_yN7epIh-VrXwO-UakdBuPPXHwAdOEJlxQLcKp8KnuPvX4wyTP199x3c1NiH0j5mKcHv3GQ9XKPIiqKj2rK0pdqR2TqiglI6V_Xqk_hasvB5autDZDbkHeQji/s1600/IMG_0287.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYxYnls5zY3Td_yN7epIh-VrXwO-UakdBuPPXHwAdOEJlxQLcKp8KnuPvX4wyTP199x3c1NiH0j5mKcHv3GQ9XKPIiqKj2rK0pdqR2TqiglI6V_Xqk_hasvB5autDZDbkHeQji/s400/IMG_0287.JPG" width="400" /></a><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br />2015 joins the previous
couple years as part of our crazy years of transition. We have taken an epic
wilderness journey into becoming a gathering of house (and pub) churches. This
year (perhaps) has been even more of a wandering than any previous year of our
existence. Then again, having mapped territory no one before us had ever mapped
in our work in the city of Salem, maybe it was just another crazy year, but we keep following the Shepherd who leads us on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">2015 started off with a
surprise. At the end of January, I (Pastor Phil) ended up with a sudden attack
of back pains, which could have been measured on the Richter Scale. By
February, this turned into an extended hospital stay and the discovery that the
pains had nothing to do with pulled muscles or slipped discs. Rather, a strep
infection was found in my blood stream, and pockets of that infection had
settled inside my spinal column, and scarier yet, inside my heart. I was
effectively down and out from late January until May, and although I was home for
much of that time, I was connected to antibiotic drip systems six hours a day,
which looked like a medical version of the “<a href="https://youtu.be/xOrgLj9lOwk" target="_blank">Holy Hand-Grenade of Antioch</a>.” And,
fortunately, like the Holy Hand-Grenade of Antioch it worked and wiped out the
infection.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The church, and our local
friends were wonderful during this time. They brought me food, lots of
probiotics, and reminders of love. Boxes of nerds arrived from our geek
friends, balloons from bartenders, and meals that made a hospital visit seem
less of a drudgery. One of our home-groups even held a service in the hospital
room one Saturday morning. I did not feel as badly, as my critical condition,
and so I became a bit squirrely, and wandered the hallways playing my guitar
and singing to people. This turned out to be enough of a hit, that some of the
night crew cheered when I returned for a second visit, and then apologized for
being excited to see me back in the hospital again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Somewhere in this time, our
now weekly home and pub groups gathered together for a grand meeting of eating
and sharing and I was hooked to my Holy Hand Grenade, and they made it all
happen, while I sat like a happy papa and looked on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The Holy Hand Grenade worked
just in the nick of time, and while the church had been meeting and doing its
weekly activities without me, there had also been a UK Festival Outreach, which
had been in the planning for 6 months. Two days before I was to fly to the UK,
and meet Dennis there, I received the doctor’s clearance. So, off I flew to
Wales with oral antibiotics in hand. There we built an <a href="https://youtu.be/if7TUzYz2c0" target="_blank">art project at BurningNest</a>; we worked the doors and debates at a philosophy festival; and we
ministered to the 23,000 hippies, hipsters and all around seekers at Stonehenge
during the Summer Solstice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Of course, as October rolled
around, we were back on the streets of Salem during our one million visitor
month with live music every weekend, and hundreds of friends from around the
country joining us for ministry. We bought pizza for some of the homeless youth
and elders who like to hang around our stage, we interpreted dreams, we shared
the love of our Lord Jesus with locals and visitors alike, and we simply created a
presence of acceptance and love during a weird and wild holiday season in our
unique city.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Between the time in the
hospital and the frenetic pace of Festival outreach from Summer through Fall,
this year has seemed like a blur, and does even now as I look back in the
rearview mirror. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The hospital stay and
prolonged downtime was perhaps a forced sabbatical of sorts. I was able to
complete a book I had been working on for a few years, and <u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Burning-Religion-navigating-impossible-religion-ebook/dp/B015TOOD6S" target="_blank">Burning Religion</a></u>
is now self-published and online at Amazon.com.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Despite all this, we <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153436761955853" target="_blank">bought ice cream for the kids</a> at the park on the Point in Salem during the summer, and we
joined the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/philwyman/videos/vb.604625852/10153601759910853/" target="_blank">World’s Largest Eye Contact Experiment</a> in October.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Please keep us in your
prayers. Getting back into a regular pattern of spiritual life as a body of
people has not been easy, but we continue our ride into Bethlehem and
appreciate every person who remembers our labors.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
If you would like to help support the mission of the The Gathering, which has moved from a local expression of innovative mission, to something beyond the boundaries of our own country, you can do so at our <a href="http://www.salemgathering.org/" target="_blank">website --> salemgathering.org</a>. May your Christmas, your Solstiee, your Hannukah, and your New Year be blessed.</div>
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Pastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34870123.post-18044854476693104182014-11-26T13:28:00.004-05:002014-11-26T13:28:50.828-05:00Thanksgiving and Communal Feasting: a way of lifeFollow the link to a post by Pastor Phil on the subject of Thanksgiving. There is more to the story than just being thankful. Although, don't forget that lesson, because it is a big one.<br /><br /><a href="http://burningreligion.com/2014/11/26/thanksgiving-and-communal-feasting-a-way-of-life/" target="_blank">Thanksgiving and Communal Feasting</a><br />
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<br />Pastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34870123.post-54519976425391067912014-11-07T11:54:00.003-05:002014-11-07T11:54:43.911-05:00Halloween 2014, another wild ride with GodIt's been another wild Halloween in Salem, MA<br />
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It’s Friday, November 7th. On Tuesday morning, Dennis Huxley and I cleaned up the last of the October outreach items, when we took this year’s new performance staging panels, and stored them with the Salem Department of Public Works.</div>
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Once again, people from outside Salem joined us in outreach, and offered prayers of healing, and words of counseling to locals and visitors. A team from the Bridge Church from Ipswich led by John Harding, and a faithful group from Syracuse, New York led by Barry Kierstein. Kelly Williams joined us from North Carolina, and was here for the 3rd straight year. This time she brought Robin Johnson with her. Linda Quadros brought fellow students/former student from Global Awakening School with her on two separate occasions, and on Halloween Day a YWAM team of about 50 people, comprised of students from Somerville, MA, and Maine joined us in outreach, and some of our favorite Streams Ministries peeps Brandon Crummer and Matt Keating showed up to help lead those teams.</div>
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This was the first year working directly with the YWAM group, and I led a morning workshop with the students describing the nature of ministry in Salem, MA, which always includes teachings describing the nature of Neo-Paganism so that young Christian students don;t get freaked out when they meet Witches, Pagans, Druids and the like. This year marked the 16th Halloween we have openly taught visiting people that “Witches are Real People Too” and deserve to be treated with respect. This is our assumption about everybody. We don’t care who you are, where you come from, what you believe and how different it may be from our own worldview, or what your choice of lifestyle is, we believe that Jesus loves you just as much as he loves everybody else. Yeah, we are pretty heavily Jesus-centric, but we try to be as loving as possible about it.</div>
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This year was highlighted a ban the City of Salem placed on amplified music. This ban would have stopped all the live music we had planned for October, but along with about 30 musicians, we showed up at City Hall, and were able with the help of an amendment placed on the Mayor’s order by Councilman David Eppley, and the work of Police Chief Paul Tucker to have most of the hours of amplified music restored. This was the beginning of a new relationship with the musicians in town, who have been busking (performing on the streets for tips) without the help of amplification. This, of course, has made it impossible for some musicians to busk. This year, we are planning on fighting with them for their right to use amplification tastefully on the streets of Salem. That's the back of David Eppley's head in the photo, and yes, that is a unicorn at city hall advocating for the artists and musicians. I have no idea who's under that mask - really - no idea. <i>(Special thanks to councilman Josh Turiel for the mask)</i></div>
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This year, Dennis Huxley, who has been visiting for the last 8 years moved to Salem, and without him, most of what we did this year would never have happened. April Alario, and Hilary Davis joined Dennis on the weekends, and Halloween Day for outreach, and the number of people who were directly blessed with spiritual counsel, between all the people involved is impossible to number.</div>
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As usual, street preachers from out of town were yelling through bull horns and upsetting the city, and that was in fact what the order from the mayor to ban amplification was about.</div>
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So inspire of a ban, music happened once again, and Aaron Katz, Mamadou Diop and Adam Zampino were such a great part of making it come to life this year. Without them them Pastor Phil would have been a sound man for the entirety of the month. This year others jumped in a helped pull the music together. That is something that has been needed for a number of years.</div>
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The Plummer Home for Boys, and Align Credit Union, the Bridge Church from Ipswich were some of our sponsors for the Fountain Stage, and this helped offset our typically high cost for serving Salem with live music during the month of October. Thanks all.</div>
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Keep us in your prayers. We are still a nomadic little church, moving from place to place, since we left our location at the Vault last year, and it has been a bit tough on us. We are hoping to reset ourselves in downtown Salem again by the beginning of the year.</div>
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<i>Photo credits: Adam Lentine, and Dan Kupka</i></div>
Pastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34870123.post-91968173118791696552013-07-15T19:06:00.002-05:002013-07-15T19:06:37.360-05:00
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Our little church in Salem, MA has developed one of the most unique Christian Outreach projects in the world over the last 14 years. The video describes a few of the things we do, and needs we have. You can contact me for further information at philwyman (at) salemgathering.com or visit <a href="http://www.salemgathering.org/donate" target="_blank">our donation page</a>.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="281" mozallowfullscreen="" src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/70363442" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="500"></iframe> <a href="http://vimeo.com/70363442">The Gathering, Salem | Fundraising video</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/salemgathering">Phil Wyman</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.Pastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34870123.post-13966351399958840992013-04-12T09:43:00.002-05:002013-04-12T09:43:24.794-05:00The Waiting Game and the women at the tomb<span style="font-size: small;"><i>"It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. And their words seemed like idle tales, and they did not believe them." (Luke 24:10-11)</i><br /><br />The seasons of our waiting come are often the result of waiting for other people. Like the women who came to the tomb, and first discovered that their witness to the miracle was treated skeptically, we find ourselves with seasons of waiting, because we are waiting to be taken seriously.<br /><br />It may be that others are turning our waiting into a game. We are treated like fools. Our experience is disrespected. Sometimes the game is closed because the players have created a closed circle of bias and prejudice.<br /><br />What are we doing while the Waiting Game is forced upon us by others? Are we patient? Are we unfaltering in our pressing forward with our dreams and goals? Those two questions appear to be opposites to one another, but they are not. Patience and conviction should exist together if we want to make our Waiting Game a positive experience.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">At the Gathering we are playing the Waiting Game between Easter and Pentecost<i>. </i>What
this means is that we are considering the subject of waiting: what we
are waiting for in life, how effectively we wait, whether we are waiting
for the proper things, and perhaps even if we have given up and stopped
waiting. Jesus told his disciples to wait for<i> "the promise of the Father"</i> in those
10 days between His ascension and Pentecost. We have extended this time
from Easter to Pentecost with the desire to learn about waiting. We all
do it. We might as well play the game together.</span>Pastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34870123.post-62330683605301839762013-02-21T15:25:00.001-05:002013-02-21T15:25:00.409-05:00Faces of the Smear Campaign<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QSyzeS7U_XE" width="560"></iframe><br />Pastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34870123.post-70442758655166616212013-02-21T15:24:00.001-05:002013-02-21T15:24:16.220-05:00The Smear Campaign - week 1<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Fp-MEndurJY" width="560"></iframe><br />Pastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34870123.post-84869443878494434072013-02-21T15:22:00.003-05:002013-02-21T15:22:44.404-05:00The Smear Campaign Begins<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QJ0WVrqkaCA" width="560"></iframe><br />Pastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34870123.post-26022880611011864332012-03-26T10:25:00.001-05:002012-03-26T10:42:44.910-05:00Closing out Lenten - 2 weeks to go: Thoughts on false poverty<i>"Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:<br />
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I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see."</i><br />
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I can not help but wondering if we are perhaps even more twisted than those who were the focus of Jesus' critique in the above passage in Revelation 3. The Laodicean church saw themselves as rich and without need. Christ saw them as spiritually destitute and at the edge of an eternal rejection: to be spewed out of His mouth. (Revelation 3:16)<br />
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In the United States, most of us live in relative riches compared to much of the world. Even those of us in poverty are doing better than a majority of the world. Yet, as a common crunch comes upon the middle class of America, driving it downwards, even those of us who are doing well are feeling the downward spiral, and are panicking. Still we remain the rich of this world. Could it be that we who are rich in comparison to the rest of the world are beginning to see ourselves as poor, and through our sense of poverty claiming ourselves to be spiritually rich?<br />
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The Laodiceans knew they were rich and attached that richness to their spirituality. Could it be that we think we are poor, when we are really rich, and that we are attaching our false sense of poverty to the belief that our poverty makes us spiritually rich? Are we actually one more step removed from spiritual richness than even the Laodiceans were?<br />
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Let us finish the days of Lent with a proper sense of our place in the world: Most of us in America and Western Europe are economically rich compared to much of the world, and most of history. Yet, we see ourselves as poor, because commercialism has sold us a silly picture of success based upon the greed of a 2 year old who hasn't grown out of the "mine" season of life.<br />
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Do we know that we are rich? Or do we pretend we are not? Do we assume that God has a special place in His heart for us because we have falsely assumed that we are "poor?"<br />
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As we all know, God does have a place in His heart for the poor. Let us evaluate ourselves properly. Let us not press close to the gates of the poor if we do not belong there, but make a place for those who really do belong there.<br />
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Perhaps our true place is that we are liars, who like Ananias and Sapphira pretend we are poor. Perhaps our true place is that we are Laodicaens who are rich in pocket, and poor in spirit. Perhaps we are like Solomon whose wisdom in this world brought him a most disastrous idolatrous condition.<br />
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This is Lent. It is the season of our introspection. We are found in our enemies, and in the greatest failures of the faith.Pastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34870123.post-15597809527444640652011-12-13T16:14:00.000-05:002011-12-13T16:14:41.087-05:00Jesus without strings: a look back at 2011Having a church in Salem, Massachusetts is considered by some to be adventurous enough by itself. Having that church downtown along the historic walk which all the visitors follow, and in the midst of the plethora of witchcraft shops, haunted houses and Halloween knick knack shops, is even more adventurous. Making friends with the Witches, the musicians, the artists, and the homeless in Salem is downright dangerous - or some believe it is. But, Jesus lived dangerously, and we expect that following His example might occasionally have the same adventurous results.<br />
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This year there have been some new and adventurous things happening at the church. <br />
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There is a a Open Mic every Thursday evening, and a group of local musicians have made the event a regular experience, and it has become a place some have found a home away from home.<br />
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Our creative style of outreach reached out as far as northern Nevada this year. With a team from around the US, we led an art installation at the Burning Man Festival. Like Salem, Burning Man is a strange and crazy place. A video of our project, with interviews from the people who came to experience it can be found on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh8MjW4araE&list=UUn1Uy8tyRtWDwpoL28ok6DQ&feature=plcp">Youtube</a>.<br />
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Like each of the last 13 years, October was a wonderful time of <a href="http://salemgathering.blogspot.com/2011/11/salem-outreach-2011.html">outreach</a> and <a href="http://salemgathering.blogspot.com/2011/10/coming-up-last-weekend-of-halloween.html">stories of redemption</a>. People came from far and wide to minister with us once again - from Texas, California, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and the UK were just some of the places represented. The Vineyard, the Association of Bridge Churches, the Assemblies of God, Youth with a Mission, and people from Baptist and Episcopal churches were just a few of the groups represented. Our desire to become a place for people of all Christian traditions to minister in a unique post-modern, post-Christian environment is becoming more and more of a reality each year.<br />
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We believe in Jesus without strings.<br />
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The Gathering has also experienced a little growth. New faces, new people, and a sense of excitement with it.<br />
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Melissa and Jodi are re-starting the Women's Bible Study on Tuesday evenings. Ian has been recording the services and posting them on our Facebook page. <a href="http://ia700206.us.archive.org/6/items/TheGathering-WorshipMusicAndServiceOn12-10-2011/4.TheSouldOfManNeverDies-PhilJodyJonathanHonorEvanDavid.mp3">The worship team</a> is an amazing group of musicians, and help make the Sunday services both comfortable and fun. (The song link is Pastor Phil leading worship and Ian says this song sounded like an Irish Pub Song, because we were laughing at the fact that Jonathan stumbled on his way to the piano.)<br />
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Thousands have been touched in a variety of ways this last year through our outreach projects here in Salem, and now as far away as Nevada. <br />
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Many of you have been part of the support of our unique missional community over the years, and our thanks and appreciation go out to you. May the Lord bless you abundantly this Christmas Season, and in the New Year.<br />
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If you would like to help our small church with an enormous mission continue reaching the world with the message of God's abounding love in this coming year you can give securely online on <a href="http://www.salemgathering.com/">our website</a>.Pastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34870123.post-13233344893845040052011-11-03T12:28:00.002-05:002011-11-03T12:39:06.481-05:00Salem Outreach 2011This was a fast paced month with every weekend busy with outreach, visitors from distant places who joined us for ministry, and some wonderful results in the busyness of it all.<br />
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The month started off with Mark and Anthea Searle joining us from Cheltenham, UK. They walked with some of the people of our church through "More Light" ministry sessions, and taught a short workshop on the basics of the ministry.<br />
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Dennis Huxley was here on that second weekend as well, and would return every weekend - even staying for a full eleven straight days at one point. In the end Dennis was with us in Salem for more days than he was home in Rome, NY.<br />
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John Harding joined us from the Bridge Church in Ipswich and led a couple local teams through Dream Interpretation and prophetic outreaches at The Gathering.<br />
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Andy Gamble joined us from Pennsylvania on four different weekends, and brought people with him - lots of people with him - and different people each week.<br />
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Brandon and Grace Crummer helped lead teams in Dream Interpretation, prophetic ministry, and healing prayers. Matt Keating joined us from Ohio and brought a team with him on the fourth weekend. We were also joined by Jamie Dickson from Crave Ministries, a YWAM missions team, and a variety of people who flew in specifically to join us: April Alario, Alan Drake, Christopher Gaston, Allen Henninger, Peter Parkas, Debora Spotted Eagle, the Matthews family from British Columbia and Enrique who is from Honduras even joined us during his travels across the US.<br />
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Here are a few highlights, and strange events from the month:<br />
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Enrique tells the story of his interaction with a man with a severe case of arthritis who was prayed for by one of the prophetic ministry teams. He started off with constant pain which he described as "10" in severity, and in a few short minutes of prayer was experiencing painless freedom.<br />
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A man from Philadelphia sat in to receive ministry from one of our teams, and told them that he returns every year to Salem specifically for this experience. His wife was not quite as zealous as he was about the experience and wondered at her husband's zeal.<br />
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A number of people made solid steps toward walking with Jesus. They made confessions of faith for the first time, and asked for more information on how to get involved with the kind of outreach we are doing. Deliverance prayers were offered at length for people struggling with depression, or temptation to fall into old habits or lifestyles, and by the end of the month a whole crew of friends was part of our little circle at The Gathering.<br />
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To make such festival evangelism work properly it requires hard work, creativity and sensitivity. <br />
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I can not thank the members of our small church enough: Joyce, Jeff and Diane, Rennie and myself put people up in our homes throughout the month. Carlos organized the crazy schedule of visiting friends. Paul and Carrie handled organizing the massive task of serving free hot cocoa next to our outdoor stage. Jane was there just about every day, making food and filling in wherever she was needed. David helped run the sound on the stage, and performed a couple gigs as well. Jodi helped arrange a concert with the worship band Aradhna, and it was a smashing success. These are just a few examples of the hard work necessary to put on such a large number of events in the month of October.<br />
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The creativity this year seemed to be flow beautifully and naturally. Christopher Gaston brought dozens of his pictures to give away to people who came to us, and personally signed them. The music from our outdoor stage was exciting and the number of local bands who show unbelievable talent was striking. Ian Bennet worked hard on video taping responses from some of the people who came to minister alongside us, and soon we will putting together a video of some of our work here in Salem. April joined the festivities by dressing the part, and came in costume as "the fire of God." These are only a few of the creative expressions found this month at The Gathering.<br />
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Of course, there is always a necessity for sensitivity. In a small tourist city with over a dozen Witchcraft shops, and a tourist season dedicated to Halloween, one must be sensitive to many things. The Gospel is in its own right offensive enough at times, but there is no reason for us to add to the offensiveness by either rudeness, or a lack of understanding the cultural dynamics we are facing. During the last week we were faced with blaring bull horns and preachers standing outside the church shouting to the crowds about their sins, and telling that they were going to Hell. As every other year, we try to help them see that there might be a better way to reach people, and often we do so in vain, but occasionally some of them understand our concern. This year was as crazy as usual on the final few days of October, and some of our new friends who had just decided to follow the Jesus Way were themselves quite offended by the antics of the noisy street preachers.<br />
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Such are the challenges and the joys of ministering at the Haunted Happenings festival in Salem, Massachusetts in October. Please keep us in prayer as we seek to help those who are now recently following Christ to grow in their new faith.<br />
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Too many stories to tell. More coming soon, and videos as well.Pastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34870123.post-31117183766177931432011-10-26T14:36:00.001-05:002011-10-26T14:36:51.199-05:00Coming Up: Last Weekend of Halloween Outreach in Salem, MAUpdate on happenings at The Gathering<br />
October 26th, Two-Thousand Eleven in the year of our Lord.<br />
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The last four weekends we have held outreach events at The Gathering. Hundreds of people have experienced gracious words of blessing, and received interpretations to dreams. Teams of "prophets" have spoken words over them. This is Halloween in Salem. Our small church has become a major player in setting the tone of Halloween events in the city because of our location, and because of the fact that the city has graciously allowed us to use the fountain on Essex Street to help set a tone of fun and blessing.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHV4WDbcyCg_XphLZ56Rm-qQP6rwCZ92BNI65S_7cRzHk2qwjEMkGQZ66GmKdRcBtLb16Q6mkzenefq_dniAhNb6ddYvqlHTPzdpVCCnE8yNWgEq0ov_FGZUXC_63m4EFfAJYW/s1600/IMG_0345.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHV4WDbcyCg_XphLZ56Rm-qQP6rwCZ92BNI65S_7cRzHk2qwjEMkGQZ66GmKdRcBtLb16Q6mkzenefq_dniAhNb6ddYvqlHTPzdpVCCnE8yNWgEq0ov_FGZUXC_63m4EFfAJYW/s320/IMG_0345.JPG" width="320" /></a>Free Hot Cocoa has been active and serving up cups by the thousands on the weekend. Fair Trade Cocoa has been served as a message about the necessity of breaking away from slave dependent sources. We were able to serve out of biodegradable cups for the first few days, but the cost has been prohibitive for doing this throughout the whole of the season. The costs for serving free hot cocoa have increased almost four-fold since choosing the fair trade method, but we are committed to the purpose and its important message. Deep, deep thanks to Carrie Erwin and Paul Drake for making this cocoa service run smoothly. You rock like organic beans.<br />
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The Fountain Stage is now moving into its fourth week of music on the streets of Salem. Christine Cooper the Welsh Celtic Fiddle Champion, and storyteller was on the stage and performed from The Vault. She is now a favorite of some locals. Aradhna was here for a weekend concert and brought Christina worship music in Hindi, and some of the best musicianship we've seen here. Paul Duffy, Sarah Van Wyk and others brought us good music over the last few weekends on the Fountain Stage.<br />
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Dream Interpretation and Spiritual Readings were happening over the last three weekends. We saw some physical healings when people were prayed for. Gracious words of encouragement brought tears of joy to many people. Many were encouraged in their search for God and truth. This is what the heart of our investment into the Halloween season of Salem is about. It is our desire to impact as many of the 500,000 people who visit Salem in October as we can. The only way to do such a thing year after year is to make sure that Christians are embedded into the fabric of events like this, and that we learn to work with leaders of the events in ways which are beneficial to the event itself, and sensitive to the culture around us. John Harding from the Northshore Bridge Church and Carlos Zeisel from The Gathering will continue to help lead these outreach projects.<br />
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This last weekend friends will be joining us from around the US. Allen Henninger is here now from LA. Dennis Huxley is returning. More friends from Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, California, and Texas are coming as well. <br />
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College groups from Boston are joining us for outreach, and will walk the streets dressed as monks offering free blessings. The last two years, these events have greatly blessed hundreds of people. A Youth With a Mission Team has asked to work with us this year, and Pastor Phil will be training them in how to minister in unique environments like Salem, MA with large numbers of Witches and other types of Neo-Pagans.<br />
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April Alario has been attending a school of ministry at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, and will be coming home to lead all night prayer as well. If you are interested in joining the all night prayer contact us and let us know.<br />
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Please join us in prayer for this last week of outreach as we seek to serve people from Friday through Halloween Day (Monday).Pastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34870123.post-78129270845610111012011-10-20T09:42:00.000-05:002011-10-20T09:42:51.976-05:00Jeff shares his experiences in Salem with usOur new friend Jeff spoke on Sunday last week, and blessed us. This week he shares a bit of his story of the experience in Salem during Haunted Happenings and all the outreach activities of The Gathering.<br />
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<i>"Our front door - Half a million, that’s 500,000 if you are counting – people that is, that walk by the front door of the “Vault” – a former bank that was here for 200 years and is now occupied by the “Gathering,” a local church. I say “our” because the pastor assimilates people easily into the local body of believers and extended culture of Salem – so for two weeks, it’s been home.<br />
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Home includes extended normal conversations with a gnostic quoting random literature, a local witch who comes into use our wifi and loves just hanging out, a nationally known warlock who rides into the building on a Segway, some really smart intellectuals (Boston area has highest concentration of colleges and universities in the world), and a really diverse collections of people who believe a lot of different things or nothing at all – some come for internet, some for lecto divana a form of meditation on our Scriptures – the Bible – some come for Thursday open mic night, or movie night …<br />
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… and as I mentioned 500,000 tourists walk by the door and hundreds have sat for Spiritual Readings – simply asking the Spirit of Truth from the Creator to speak to us on their behalf so we can comfort, encourage, and build them up – and hopefully they catch a glimpse of a loving God who really really Loves the people He created. By the end of the month, the Gathering will have touched the lives of several thousand people thru Spiritual Encounters and dream interpretations, hosting kids day at the park, hosting a stage with eclectic choices of artists from opera to country to a Beatles cover band, hosting an Christian band doing Indian fusion and singing about Jesus in Hindi. <br />
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Just a question, but how can you find a way to interact with the lives around you? I am not content to go into a building, sing a few praises, to simply do it again in a local house mid-week. A friend of mine bought a house in the inner city of Durham, is rehabbing it as simply a space to have a presence in the community and interact with those who live there – no other agenda but to provide love encounters – and those go both ways. She gets it. I don’t always get it, but I am growing in walking in God’s grace, practicing mercy, and loving people. God’s truths about eternal live, need for redemption from sin, live in the Spirit now, and even the consequences of avoiding God’s love are real – how we as Christians or the “Church” haven’t always been.<br />
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500,000 might not pass by your door this month, but who are the 50 or so you pass by and maybe might touch with new love this week?"</i><br />
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Thanks Jeff. We really appreciate you and all you've done. May God bless you in your coming travels. You are always welcome to make your home here for a few days, a few weeks, or however long.Pastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34870123.post-87956646125194416302011-07-29T16:52:00.001-05:002011-07-30T06:25:52.538-05:00Update on The Gathering<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_GB-ejpqs_eQn3LxK_oluzY7MA7fR6j7qLFZ9fzNpHDEHkYm98ZrOMwIXc7qXVcx_DaUaoa1hSSPXRZTCW8Wi7mXRaXnRYpDE5xIyKASvTAOoLwNUaLkQ8Xuf4TIkwfByDWI7/s1600/IMG_0199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_GB-ejpqs_eQn3LxK_oluzY7MA7fR6j7qLFZ9fzNpHDEHkYm98ZrOMwIXc7qXVcx_DaUaoa1hSSPXRZTCW8Wi7mXRaXnRYpDE5xIyKASvTAOoLwNUaLkQ8Xuf4TIkwfByDWI7/s200/IMG_0199.JPG" width="148" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><b>The Gathering: an update on activities, outreach, finances and life.</b></span><br />
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Hi Friends!<br />
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As is the case for many of us in these wild times, The Gathering is going through wild times. Changes, challenges and gloriously wonderful experiences.<br />
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The Gathering has never been, since our inception, church as usual. Our friends are unique, our way of doing things is open and invites questions and responses, our outreach is innovative in this unique and world-famous small city, and our location is even weird and wild. We have had a great group of people involved in our lives over these first 12 years of our existence, and are thankful for every one of them. We would not be here without you. Each, and every one of you who have made this home - even for a season.<br />
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Here is the latest in brief:<br />
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• new faces are appearing almost every day at The Gathering<br />
• an outreach to Burning Man is coming up in less than a month<br />
• we have a new member - born today<br />
• finances are as tight as they have ever been<br />
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Okay, that's the short of it. Here's the longer version:<br />
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><b>New Faces from The Vault Alarm! Open Mic Night each Thursday</b></span><br />
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Thank you Chris Reiss, Dan Kupka, Will Spreadbury, and David Gerard. These four guys have been instrumental in starting an Open Mic night at The Vault. It was the brainchild of Chris Reiss, and Dan Kupka added his skills and influence and the first night 50 people showed up. It is quite fun to see the community arrive at The Vault and experience some fun, music and friendships. It's not a church service. It's not a evangelistic outreach. It's just a community event, and our friends are enjoying it. After three weeks some of them like it enough to check us out on Sundays or at the Lectio Divina early Thursday PM service, and of course everyone is welcome to everything we do - but never pressured!<br />
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><b><br />
Burning Man Outreach</b></span><br />
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Matt the Pirate and Pastor Phil are headed to Burning Man deep in the Nevada desert. They are part of an art installation team which was Pastor Phil's crazy idea. They (along with other team members from around the U.S.) raised $5,000 on kickstarter.com, and will be erecting pillars in the desert which will be used to allow people to meditate and listen for "the voice of the Spirit." Please keep this project in prayer. They are hoping to film it and turn it into a short film documenting the voices people hear today.<br />
<span style="font-size: 14px;"><b><br />
New Member - Aria Marie Bennett</b></span><br />
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She was born to Ian and Brittany Bennett at 2:48 this afternoon. Yeah!<br />
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<b>Finances</b><br />
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Many people have been asking how we are doing, and if we are still surviving. The answer is we are still here, and believing that we shall be able to increase to a place of stable financial support. So far, so good, but like many people in our country today the belt is tighter than usual.<br />
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Our space has allowed us to do things most churches only dream about in regards to reaching a community. In fact, many churches have joined us over the years to help us serve the city of Salem and it's 500,000 visitors. We have been able to hold this spot in a strategically beneficial location on behalf of many others over the years. Yet, it has not been without great cost, and just as it has been at some other points in the past our finances are crucially tight.<br />
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Our location and our unique and creative ministry have become a model for thousands of people over the years, and we are dependent on the prayerfulness and support of others often, because our church is so small; but our dream, our mission, and our work has been so large.<br />
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If you have been blessed by The Gathering over the years - please keep us in your prayers, and if you are able, we are most indebted and thankful for your <a href="http://www.salemgathering.com/">financial support.</a> <br />
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Blessings in most abundance upon you, and the God of Grace give you rest for your soul,<br />
Pastor Phil<br />
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</span>Pastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34870123.post-80252528212086919752011-07-15T10:48:00.000-05:002011-07-15T10:48:38.217-05:00Friends create great open mic start!Yesterday I posted about the friends of The Gathering creating a weekly open mic night each Thursday at 8:30. Well, musicians were playing 3 song sets from around 8:30 to 12:30 last night, and throughout the evening about 50 people attended.<br />
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Chris, Dr. DK, Big MC LargeHuge did a great job of pulling this together. Thanks guys. You are awesome.Pastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34870123.post-32180983661423956302011-07-14T14:59:00.000-05:002011-07-14T14:59:10.471-05:00We Have Friends! Rock On!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCBLhwHu1Fvx1Hdfb3FdzhkPR4_YvWx36rTZVfa4a7rVBWDxMAPkRhOrVOFKKSRRMdbsyXm9YrowSfJD_EgDt0wEbOFRUGx5a2Qb-LoHEWfv2ekhun7oCh-HfIraDNSoL4QUWd/s1600/Photo+on+2011-07-14+at+15.11+%25232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCBLhwHu1Fvx1Hdfb3FdzhkPR4_YvWx36rTZVfa4a7rVBWDxMAPkRhOrVOFKKSRRMdbsyXm9YrowSfJD_EgDt0wEbOFRUGx5a2Qb-LoHEWfv2ekhun7oCh-HfIraDNSoL4QUWd/s320/Photo+on+2011-07-14+at+15.11+%25232.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Friend can seem like such a distant and benign term in the world of Facebook and distant, sometimes only "virtual." Lately, "friend" has been meaning something else to me, and some of us at The Gathering. Our little church, has a rather large mission in the city of Salem, and we are parked smack in the middle of downtown able to interact with visitors and locals with regularity. October (of course) with it's 500,000 visitors makes us one of the most active little churches in the world.<br />
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That is all to set the stage for the story of our friends.<br />
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Lately, money is tight. Okay, that's an understatement. It is always tight, but lately it is brutally tight - like many of us are experiencing. So much so, that there is concern about the ability to maintain our mission in our current location at The Vault.<br />
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Enter stage left our friends. People who are either very new to this little church called The Gathering, or friends in the community who simply like us are concerned, and want to help us out so that we can survive here and do well.<br />
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Tonight, some of those friends - those people simply "liked" are proving that friendship and liking are more than a distant facebook phenomenon. They are beginning a <a href="http://www.facebook.com/groups/240041146023752?ap=1">weekly Open Mic at the Vault</a> to raise a few bucks to help us out. So to, Dr. DK, Big MC LargeHuge, David Gerard and the initiating force of all this - Chris! Thanks. You guys are awesome.<br />
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See you tonight guys, and to everyone else - hope to see you there too.Pastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34870123.post-81676903337255690702011-07-02T09:20:00.000-05:002011-07-02T09:20:39.354-05:00Pub Theology solves world's problems every monthWell, maybe not, but we sure have fun sitting around the table and discussing theology and life. June we discussed the question of "Why?". Our question for the evening was "Why Why?" That is, why do we ask the question "Why?" and why has this question plagued humanity throughout history.<br />
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This month we forgot to order fried pickles. That is critical, because we've decided that ordering fried pickles is the solution for world peace.<br />
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Here's the gang sitting around solving the problem:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp0oS_7WXX8amP4OJz2tuHM6YYGhaQH56U3WMfJNyyD1sTNJieZvJoJr0wi9ZKNhDt-l2L9I9QNBlxFeGpJuYEC6YhN1PQpq4U6iRkgi3sEPm9d23Xu4wasGFubnojmqeoZezp/s1600/IMG_0092.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp0oS_7WXX8amP4OJz2tuHM6YYGhaQH56U3WMfJNyyD1sTNJieZvJoJr0wi9ZKNhDt-l2L9I9QNBlxFeGpJuYEC6YhN1PQpq4U6iRkgi3sEPm9d23Xu4wasGFubnojmqeoZezp/s320/IMG_0092.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
The discussion led to the consideration of the difference between good and bad questioning. We discussed when the question leads us to a place of stagnation, and when it leads us to personal growth.<br />
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This month, on July 26th, we will consider the most important event or movement of the 20th century. What is the premier defining event of the 20th century and why? Join us for this consideration on July 26th at The Old Spot.Pastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34870123.post-11881321144127106442011-06-09T11:19:00.000-05:002011-06-09T11:19:03.645-05:00Burning Man Art ProjectPastor Phil has designed and is leading a team of artists to build an art installation at Burning Man at the end of August. Below is a video prepared for the project fundraising, which will give you an idea of what it is like:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OTspUTcbmWY" width="640"></iframe><br />
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David Gerard, one of our own from The Gathering has provided an ambient music meditation CD to help raise the funds for this art installation.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1WNx7I80ZWPK7bKXBXSEO_pkLyYSD3DH7jWEwdWzw8-nXd4XFNaXl06qjxg13wW0K8JvmkMha_q1YFVdxTz2ftyuDFDl96ZKKDDV0u-_UXpDFELb4kvuKIVNTqYH3ym8sUiGG/s1600/CD+art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1WNx7I80ZWPK7bKXBXSEO_pkLyYSD3DH7jWEwdWzw8-nXd4XFNaXl06qjxg13wW0K8JvmkMha_q1YFVdxTz2ftyuDFDl96ZKKDDV0u-_UXpDFELb4kvuKIVNTqYH3ym8sUiGG/s320/CD+art.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Consider helping to support this project, and keep us in your prayers.<br />
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Pastor PhilPastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34870123.post-41203006603527020202011-04-28T15:16:00.002-05:002011-04-28T15:18:55.726-05:00Left Behind: The Party! May 22nd - rough draft poster<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeD0fe2_OcNdQA6FBMirtMwy-fqg8VIFJr39-AaCjbabITO6AtUMlw6Ws8DSt3H1gFlq1Ar4FEPvO6lMW7Zl3LMiIHzkbg5rVzb_amcgqm9kPcY8Cs-kw2eBAvEItYmUewe_yt/s1600/Left+Behind+Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeD0fe2_OcNdQA6FBMirtMwy-fqg8VIFJr39-AaCjbabITO6AtUMlw6Ws8DSt3H1gFlq1Ar4FEPvO6lMW7Zl3LMiIHzkbg5rVzb_amcgqm9kPcY8Cs-kw2eBAvEItYmUewe_yt/s400/Left+Behind+Poster.jpg" width="317" /></a></div>Pastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34870123.post-12783224235148332182011-04-22T22:58:00.000-05:002011-04-22T22:58:02.379-05:00Good Friday Service 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7KvPoM0Q97wWHCKpxk_2YBPXt2IPiPLDw-UL-cKwr6CXDWk6YSCyqMKh84td-VrrotyAAJhW8e9ItxRr7q5jjDlUoOR4xdPYtowOG4shRG1POGDGGvlui7o3dJnye-OT78wu4/s1600/DSC_0001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7KvPoM0Q97wWHCKpxk_2YBPXt2IPiPLDw-UL-cKwr6CXDWk6YSCyqMKh84td-VrrotyAAJhW8e9ItxRr7q5jjDlUoOR4xdPYtowOG4shRG1POGDGGvlui7o3dJnye-OT78wu4/s320/DSC_0001.JPG" width="212" /></a></div><b>Good Friday musings at The Gathering today:</b><br />
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Gathered by candle light around the reproduction of the celtic cross from Drumcliffe, Ireland.<br />
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"Cast a cold Eye on Life on Death, Horseman pass by" These are words upon the grave stone of William Butler Yeats who is buried in the graveyard at the church in Drumcliffe, Ireland. They were not a focus of our time together tonight but they do highlight some of our thoughts.<br />
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We talked about the revolution which is the cross - a revolution which eventually shall overthrow all the Kingdoms of this world through a violent sacrifice of love.<br />
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Jew and Gentile, Church and State, You and I are responsible for the death of Christ.<br />
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Heather Leigh asked a what if question - what if the end was not determined or known by God, but it was big chance He was taking? This is a great Good Friday question, because we are faced with that same question every time we are forced to live out the revolutionary nature of the cross of Christ.<br />
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We also talked about the dead tree which the Lord was hung upon, and how it seems to speak of this earth day. The dying Creation was used by humanity to torture and kill the shepherd of the earth. How apocalyptic can it get?<br />
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David Gerard helped organize the service - thanks David.Pastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34870123.post-25506891485909096342010-12-23T15:38:00.005-05:002010-12-23T15:40:34.580-05:00The Gathering through the year in a glimpse<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW_mfrmJzLsevkm6X8YkzzU1jVy9_5m9o3IJHOKGsgDjxYPMu0gLaayEraYWwrYxuVZE-EMbw3NQzX8msjGhW2SHifjRzeZa24opswc1AWTMcotFsJ95MkZ4l3bvhiZhSf3Rqh/s1600/DSC_1610.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW_mfrmJzLsevkm6X8YkzzU1jVy9_5m9o3IJHOKGsgDjxYPMu0gLaayEraYWwrYxuVZE-EMbw3NQzX8msjGhW2SHifjRzeZa24opswc1AWTMcotFsJ95MkZ4l3bvhiZhSf3Rqh/s320/DSC_1610.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>This year at The Gathering may one day be viewed as the year of blind survival. We continued in many of the same community outreach projects as we have for many years now. Christmas Tree Bonfire with the free hot cocoa, Fourth of July face-painting for the kids of the city, the month long Halloween outreach were among the many things we have once again done in our city.<br />
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Along with the standard yearly projects The Gathering has seen new faces, written new music for the Advent season, made new friends from far-away places, and like many individuals during this difficult economic season - we have struggled along and yet survived with gentle smiles at the end of the season.<br />
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The story of struggle and survival, and of grace in the midst of difficulty is the story of scripture. It is the story of redemption, which is the story of Christ. Each of us live through this story in our own way, as God works in our lives over the years.<br />
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This year we have stories of blessing which come from those who joined us from afar, and those who are members here at The Gathering.<br />
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Taloa Gibson joined us from Tulsa, Oklahoma during the summer and we created a <a href="http://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail?pid=78035">podcast with Taloa</a> reading Bible passages, and singing in his Native American tongue - Choctaw. Mark and Anthea Searle joined us from the UK during the first days of October outreach, and were a greet blessing to the members of our church with their "More Light" ministry activities. Mark and Anthea created a <a href="http://salem.themarking.co.uk/">wonderful blog</a> about the experience. (user: salem, pass: letmein)<br />
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A few of the stories from our Halloween outreach have been compiled here on <a href="http://salemgathering.blogspot.com/2010/12/unedited-reports-from-october.html">The Gathering's blog</a>, and include those who joined us from other churches and other states, as well as thoughts from our own gang at The Gathering.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFHswd8wE-odM6J30jpOyvtFC2TpRAxdc3uBhmF3IfiDWwk7m47xYR2mCIXZ3aqzojOXeBuhlcIddxNRO_2PNg_sEaX_9KfGsr6PMR3iqbtNgBtmYX5NxLsQpPBDzNufvlDCeG/s1600/DSC_1374.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFHswd8wE-odM6J30jpOyvtFC2TpRAxdc3uBhmF3IfiDWwk7m47xYR2mCIXZ3aqzojOXeBuhlcIddxNRO_2PNg_sEaX_9KfGsr6PMR3iqbtNgBtmYX5NxLsQpPBDzNufvlDCeG/s320/DSC_1374.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>Pub Theology has continued on the last Tuesday of each month with a group from The Gathering as well as friends from outside the church discussing relevant theological issues. People from every perspective of life have joined us for these discussions, and it continues to be one of ways we network with the people of Salem and share our faith.<br />
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Our small church in the heart of Salem, MA continues to be an pilgrimage location for people who travel from afar, and for locals in need of a simple touch from the Lord. People have found their first touch of God and have experienced His loving grace. People have discovered an unencumbered and simple Christianity. People have worked together as a family, and been servants of hospitality to others from around the world, and this is at the heart of this small community called The Gathering.<br />
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Our members are learning to serve, to teach, to offer hospitality, and to do this toward all people. In a city known for its history and its contemporary expression of witchcraft we have had the unique opportunity to accepted by the many different groups in Salem, and still be recognized for our simple unwavering devotion to Jesus.<br />
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As this year ends and the next begins we are embarking on a recording project of chants and worship music we have written, and hope to have them available soon in the coming year. <br />
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We recognize that it is many of you: our friends, family, and fans who help us continue forward in our service. Thank you for your prayer, and support through 2010. We are ever indebted to you.<br />
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For those who would like donate to help us in our journey of serving the city of Salem you can donate securely online through Paypal on our <a href="http://www.salemgathering.com/">website at http://www.salemgathering.com</a>Pastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34870123.post-45219009835127317982010-12-23T15:35:00.001-05:002010-12-23T15:38:02.666-05:00Unedited reports from OctoberStories from October:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilLQAdbrMLjJpzvtcgVGsV5Lo47y8ChbPgWQlM9UbmkQOZNGlNEMwnxBZYL9dHuHP9n5BBXEXhXm1z0oBNuLHEaVIf8-DNnIAsuxOPUMvDFq8QCsDjbx7-JeeSb4vM7wM6Rla1/s1600/IMG_4160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilLQAdbrMLjJpzvtcgVGsV5Lo47y8ChbPgWQlM9UbmkQOZNGlNEMwnxBZYL9dHuHP9n5BBXEXhXm1z0oBNuLHEaVIf8-DNnIAsuxOPUMvDFq8QCsDjbx7-JeeSb4vM7wM6Rla1/s320/IMG_4160.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>OK John here goes. I was teamed with Nelleke and Allie and a couple came in visiting from Chicago. She was kind of jovial and talkative and he was non-verbal and somewhat melancholy. After hearing her we turned to him and he told us about a dream he had and it involved at the end, him chasing,with a stick/staff, rodents that were surrounding him. He was also wearing a helmet. Allie determined that the rodents had something to do with depression or mental illness, which he said he had for some time. This is when we asked him if we could pray for him, and I asked if I could pray in the name of Jesus and he okayed that request. We then layed hands on his head and put some anointing oil on his forehead, which he also okayed. Now he had NOT been smiling at all up to this point and we asked how he felt and a great big smiley face came upon him, his countenance totally changed, Praise the LORD. After this, girl A and B came to us. They were visiting from a college. Girl A had a pocketbook with three straps on it and it seemed to me that they were tangled and the word entangled came to my thoughts. I left it alone for a while because I didn't know what exactly what that meant and if it was for her. Another word came to me about girl A, afraid, and I asked her if she was afraid of what was going on and she said no, but immediately girl B said to her, "You lie". We didn't say anything about it. The word entangled was still with me so I asked girl A, not B who owned the pocketbook. if she was entangled in something or with someone and immediately girl B leaned towards her and whispered into her ear. Girl A started to let us know about some guy she was involved with but wanted out of it and he wasn't leaving her alone, so we began seriously praying for this to end and that he would be out her life. After this girl B said to her friend " Do you feel better now" and the answer was "Yes". I did ask if she had been a little afraid of this all the time and she did admit it and that was all that was said. See you Sunday and say hello to Sabrina for me. Jerry. PS There is one thing I said to the man who was wearing the helmet in his dream which he agreed with but I could have maybe said it differently. I said that the helmet was probably keeping your head on straight. What do you think.<br />
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Hi John,<br />
Jim said you were asking about what happened to the Saudi guys in Salem yesterday. I was on a team with Fotios and Barry when a Saudi Harvard professor M- in psychology came in with a friend Ma-, an MA student in business. M- said that he had been in the gathering for a spiritual reading last year and this year he brought Ma- who had just arrived in the US. We first gave Ma- a spiritual reading. Unfortutely Barry and Fotios treated both guys like new age people, talking about the Creator in front of these Muslims. M-, the prof, said to Ma- 'they mean God' but Barry and Fotios did not pick up on it and kept talking about the Creator. They both got very good words for Ma-: they saw him as a royal person who takes good care of others. Ma- said that he doesn't like to be higher than others. We could not understand why that was a problem for him so there was a pause. Then I asked them straightaway if they were Muslims. They said yes. I said that we both believe in Jesus, except they call him Isa al Masih. M- said 'yes but he is a prophet for us but not for you Christians'. Fotios said 'he is the son of God for us' and then the conversation went on another topic. Ma- also asked if there was a spell on him as he has many enemies who are into black magic. (At this point it should have dawned on me that Ma- was afraid of being a royal person as this would attract the jealousy of his friends, or the evil eye or whatever but I only realized this hours later). Fotios said that he saw that Ma- was well protected. Ma- said that that that makes sense as he has had the impression since age 5 that there is some being from another dimension standing behind him, protecting him. Fotios and Barry tried to tell him that that is the Creator who wants to have a relationship with him, and that Ma- can take the initiative to make contact with him. I was afraid that this would affirm them in their belief in Allah so I became more and more nervous. Ma- said that he could see I wanted to say something. So I said that, according to the Quran Jesus will judge the world, so he is very important, so he can protect Ma-. I did not get any further. I'm not sure if I got the order right here, was I first or was Fotios first? Anyhow, I regret that I not having said that the person protecting him was Jesus in my view but on the other hand I cannot disagree with Fotios in front of them. I was also too slow to react because I was intimidated by the idea that I was talking to Muslims. We gave M- also an encouraging word but made no spiritual connection. I will just keep praying for them.<br />
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I learned from this that on the one hand I should not be intimidated and take more initiative, but on the other, I don't think we could improve anything as we were trained to help ex Catholics and new agers but not muslims as they are so rare. If you were to train us for Muslims as well the training would take a few more days... Besides that, we cannot correct each other in front of the clients, can we?<br />
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Thank you for your training and for leading us. We enjoyed the outreach very much and learned a lot.<br />
Blessings,<br />
Nelleke<br />
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Here's a little description of my last two sessions, which were such a blessing to me.<br />
- JJ<br />
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Last Two Ministry Sessions, 2010-10-31 (around 9:00- 10:00 PM)<br />
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Team:<br />
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April (leader)<br />
Dennis (with red headscarf & moccasins)<br />
Jim Johansson<br />
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1) To M- & J-<br />
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M- was coming back after getting prophecy last year because he got such accurate revelation last year. He definitely wasn’t disappointed this year in that department. I have seen by now a lot of accurate revelation, but the accuracy and confidence with which things were delivered here went beyond anything I had seen, and really left me in awe, both by Dennis and April.<br />
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April described very accurately J-'s personality, even noting that “someone with horns” (M-’s costume) teased her about some to these characteristics. Basically she was very childlike and starry-eyed.<br />
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Dennis described M- in great detail, how everything he does is focused on the future, at the expense of enjoying the present, and how he could correct this. Everything was extremely accurate and detailed.<br />
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We did a “spiritual encounter” for both of them. J- felt tingling and some heat. M- got some revelation, seeing a forge, and something being built, and some other things.<br />
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In the end M- revealed that he believed in the Norse gods. April talked some about this, apparently ineffectively. I wished I had asked him, “You’ve seen that the God of the Bible can give you accurate revelation, and solutions to your problems, showing that he loves you. Could the gods you are now following do that for you?” Unfortunately I didn’t ask that.<br />
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2) D-<br />
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D- was quite a case, and quite a gift from God as my final Halloween experience here. He apparently slipped by the screeners, and suddenly just plopped himself down in the chair in front of us when the previous couple got up. He talked very much, and obviously used it as a defense mechanism as well. He turned out to be an ex-con, and he clearly had the ex-con ways of both manipulation and looking for someone’s tricks in everything, not trusting anything you say, always looking for your “angle”. He knew AA inside and out, plus NA (narcotics anonymous). He was using come-on language with April, which she of course ignored. He got up to walk away, when April called out to say we really wanted to do a reading for him, and he came back and sat down again.<br />
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April told Dennis to go first, apparently knowing he had something. D- jokingly asked, “So, are you going to tell me about my future?” When he saw how burdened Dennis was to give the word, he said, “Don’t worry, if you see me going to jail, I’m used to that. I’ve been there many times.”<br />
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Dennis told him, “I’m not going to tell you about your future, but about your past.” Then he said, with an obvious emotional struggle, “This is totally outside of what we do, but I’m going to go ahead and do it anyway. When you were a little child, someone beat you brutally. You can do all the AA you want, but until you deal with this, you ain’t goin’ nowhere.”<br />
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Finally D- was caught by surprise, and sat briefly with his mouth open. It turned out even worse that stated. After he had done something naughty, his grandmother told him to come to her, promising that she wouldn’t do anything to him. When she got a hold of him, she beat him bloody, to within an inch of his life. So she had betrayed his trust as well as nearly killing him.<br />
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Dennis told him that he would have to forgive his (dead) grandmother. Very surprisingly, D- was not only willing, but seemed to do it quite easily.<br />
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About that time, the Spirit came very powerfully on me, in a slightly different experience than I had ever had. It was like a freight train passing thru me, headed for David. As soon as I was about to say something, April said, “Jim, I think you’ve got a word for D-”.<br />
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I released this word, “God says he is going to grow you up into the full stature of the man he designed you to be.” I could barely choke out the last words with the overwhelming emotion that gripped me. I expected to see this freight train bowl D- over, but I really didn’t seem much impact on him. I repeated it to try and get him to remember it. I still couldn’t believe how he didn’t appear to be impacted, as it had totally penetrated my soul, and was still doing so an hour later.<br />
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After that April revealed that he had made some inner vow that kept him from getting married. It turned out he had done that in 11th grade after an unrequited love, and had dropped out of high school as a result. April discussed some psychological ins and outs with D-, showing, I thought, great insight.<br />
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Sometime in there there was more discussion of the abuse, and God gave me a second word; again I was very powerfully gripped by it. I delivered it, with somewhat less emotion than the first, but still it was very powerful in my soul. It was something like, “God says it ends with you. This generational curse of abuse ends with you.” (I motioned a horizontal cutting-off motion with my hand.) I then explained that he could get married with confidence, because now the abuse cycle was broken, and would not go on to his children if had had any. He then told us he had traced it back to his great grandmother; he assumed that it went back for many more generations, but he couldn’t trace it back any farther than her.<br />
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They led him to renounce that vow, and break the power of it. Strangely it turned out to be harder for him to do that forgiving his grandmother, but eventually he got there.<br />
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At this point Dennis suddenly says, “Now I’m going to reveal your future to you. You are going to be in demand to speak at AA meetings because of your powerful testimony. You will be travelling to different places to give your testimony.”<br />
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Several times D- showed he couldn’t believe what was happening, couldn’t believe April and I had just met, etc. His mind seemed to be wildly searching for some “angle”, and coming up blank. I trust eventually he concluded that there was no “angle” – we really were who we said, and were really getting revelation, and communicating the love of God.<br />
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Somewhere in all the talk, he had revealed that he prays to Jesus, but we didn’t explore where he was at spiritually beyond that while I was still there. Hopefully April and Dennis did more when I left. I felt I had to leave to get Byarta back home, as well as my wife, so I left D- in their hands.<br />
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<br />
From Dennis:<br />
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Hi, Phil. Here's a write up of a ministry experience I had on Sunday.<br />
Wishing I was still in Salem hanging out with you.<br />
<br />
It was late Halloween night and another successful, fulfilling season of ministering to people at Salem was just about over. The team I was ministering with at the time was just finishing up what seemed to be an effective session with two people, a couple. We had said our goodbyes, and they had no sooner stood to leave when a very animated man, gesturing and talking nonstop, came over and sat down, and began flirting with April, the lone woman on our team of three. April tactfully excused herself and walked away, saying she needed a short break, but would be back. The other team member and I (Forgive me, whoever you are, I forgot your name. You’re from the North Shore Bridge and you look a little like Brian McClaren) tried to engage the man in conversation. He never stopped talking in his nervous laughter kind of speech, and never stopped moving either. He sat, then he stood, then he was leaving, then he was walking back, talking nervously and waving his arms the whole time. It sounds like I’m describing someone on drugs, but I was certain he wasn’t. Eventually, he told us he had been shooting heroin prior to going through rehab. He told us how long he’d been clean, but I don’t remember what he said. Around ninety days, if I remember right. He also said he had spent much time in jail. All the while, he kept saying he had to go, he couldn’t stay.<br />
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April came back and sat down, and the monologue continued, with April interjecting as often as she could for the man to stay and sit. Eventually, he did sit, and we were able to get him quiet long enough to go before the Father for him. I immediately got a picture of him as a child and an adult was severely beating him. I didn’t feel the most prudent thing to do would be to just blurt that information out, so I asked Father what I should say to the man. He said, “Tell him you see him as a child and someone is beating him”. I decided that couldn’t be God, so I asked again and didn’t get anything. Experience has taught me that that means I need to do the last thing God told me to do. But I was wrestling with it.<br />
April noticed I was agitated, and suggested I speak. So I said to the man, “I see you as a child, and someone is beating the crap out of you”. The man’s jaw dropped, and his eyes widened. He stared at me, and said, very slowly, “Woooooow!” He repeated it several times. He even said it backwards. He told us it was his grandmother who had beaten him, and that there had been a lot of blood, and he had been injured badly. April and the other man on the team got very comforting, loving words for the man. We all had tears in our eyes. We were able to demonstrate to the man how to release his grandmother by forgiving her, and to ask the Lord to forgive her also, which he did, in his own words.<br />
As we continued to minister to him, he, in his own words, repented of a vow he had made as a child. He had earlier expressed faith In Jesus, whom he had met as a result of the twelve step programs he was using to get clean and sober. The man was transformed before us. His whole demeanor changed. The agitation was gone, the façade was gone. There was peace on his face—all over him, in fact. He talked about Jesus, about recovery, about plans for his future, about bettering himself. April told him about churches he could attend, including The Gathering. Before he left, he hugged us all—big, tight, bear hugs that lasted a long time. Only a few minutes before, he had not been a man you could hug—well, maybe April could have! He left, not with April’s phone number, but mine. He called me yesterday, which was Tuesday, November 2. He was still amazed at all that had happened, particularly that he had forgiven his grandmother. He had told friends about all that had happened, and his friends had not believed it. But he said, “I was there! I know what happened”. He said that the next day would be the anniversary of his grandmother’s death, and that he planned to go to his mother’s to see if he could e a comfort to her, and to tell her he had forgiven her.<br />
Father, you are awesome! Thanks!Pastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34870123.post-20595890053861144822010-12-21T14:50:00.004-05:002010-12-22T14:40:56.226-05:00Solstice, Advent and New Year all offer hope<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRVPIuN36WmQCWvmSQSpr0ZP32-fzUf5AHqXnUqNJU2CICmIIyRzJcbX9CdkT38blZ4-VFYVwtyUeEyE1752Mj_3Q6purfcBIWNteTNK5TmIQawJZZAA3xQknCPbOJhwbqWE9s/s1600/DSC_1608.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRVPIuN36WmQCWvmSQSpr0ZP32-fzUf5AHqXnUqNJU2CICmIIyRzJcbX9CdkT38blZ4-VFYVwtyUeEyE1752Mj_3Q6purfcBIWNteTNK5TmIQawJZZAA3xQknCPbOJhwbqWE9s/s320/DSC_1608.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>As the end of the year nears, once again I look back at and consider the things which have happened here at The Gathering.<br />
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This year has been most trying, and without a question the single most difficult year of my life, which is saying a lot for those who have walked with us through the last 5 years. Yet on the other hand, it has proved itself to be a fruitful, and faithful year as well. How these elements of opposite value can trend together I am not sure, but this is not the first year I have seen struggle and blessing go hand in hand.<br />
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The fact that the Winter Solstice, the Advent and the coming of a New Year are positioned so close to one another is the perfect alignment for rethinking life. The Winter Solstice marks the ending of shortening days and lengthening darkness. This night points us toward Spring, new life, and dawning of longer periods of light. It is a birth of hope. The Advent calls us to consider the place of God in our hearts, and reveals the deepest place of God's interaction with humanity. It is a second birth of hope. The New Year completes the passage of a season of life, and enlivens our hearts with the potential for new things. It is a third birth of hope in this short period of only a handful of days.<br />
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How will you re-position your life in order to take full advantage of the grace afforded us in changing seasons? This is a question I ask myself for this coming year. May the Lord bless us both with the proper response to this season of transition.<br />
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To learn more about The Gathering you may visit us on <a href="http://www.salemgathering.com/">our website</a>.Pastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.com4