“Mark and Bev Tindall” <> wrote in message . Part 1

A SPIRITUAL AUDIT (for John Mark Ministries retreatants).

Some quick answers …..

7. CHURCH: Am I a regular contributing member of a worshipping/missional community?

No. Not the slightest desire to ever belong to an instutional church ever again. I am repelled by most church services. They bore me and put me to sleep.

Are my skills/gifts available to others?

Yes.

15. HEALTH: Do I have a healthy diet

Improving …due to my wife’s insistence.

adequate exercise

Also improving …due to my wife’s insistence.

and sleep

Yep.

regular physical check-ups?

Yep.

17. STUFF: Do I have a desire to sell or give away more possessions than I bring into my home?

Yep. Have given more to others in need than I own.

Do I (at least) tithe my money, skills and time?

No. Tithing is of crops, livestock and the spoils of war according to the OT. I prefer to give as it is it required without measuring how much I give each week.

I responded:

Fast off the mark with this one Mark

(How often have I heard sermons about ‘you come to church to *give* not to *get*’ – ignoring our personal needs, and the consumer-driven culture we live in, which has invaded the church)…

If you can incorporate these responses into the full one after you get back we’ll get a nice picture of the *real* Mark Tindall!!!!

Thanks for your wonderful honesty!

P.S. A note about church services. Have you given the ‘high liturgical’ churches a shot? C S Lewis expressed similar sentiments to yours about church services with his famous phrase about ‘liturgical fidgeting’… He felt that a predictable, structured, timeless liturgy allowed him to relate to God unimpeded by the lack-of-intelligence of the priests/preachers… These days (a la Robert Webber) it’s termed ‘Mature Christians on the Canterbury Trail’…

–

Shalom!

Rowland Croucher

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