((deep)) -- tonight's team thought...

I share a thought with the ((deep)) team before each gathering... to get everyone focussed and in the zone for the evening. Here's what I spoke on tonight ::

ROONEY

What's so dangerous about a character like Ferris Bueller is that he gives the good kids bad ideas. The last thing I need at this point in my career is fifteen hundred Ferris Bueller disciples running around these halls.

SECRETARY

He's very popular, Ed. Sportos, motorheads, geeks, sluts, pinheads, dweebies, wonkers, richies, they all adore him.

ROONEY

That's exactly why I have to catch him this time. To show these kids that the example he sets is a first class ticket to nowhere.


I love this quote from one of my fave films “Ferris Bueller's Day Off”. Its a really funny moment in a really funny film.

I love the labels Joyce, the Secretary, uses. Kind of 80's but still relevant. Proud to say I am a GEEK! Do you relate to any of these labels?

Thing is... we use labels all the time. We probably aren't even aware of the labels we use... Think of the youth tribes we see everyday... emos... goths... skaters... neds... You get what I mean.

We label people and put them in pigeonholes to make it easier for ourselves. Just as we label our work into files and folders so that we can easily access them later... we do this with people.

Just think of all the folk we'll get here tonight. All the labels that could be used. All the ways we categorise folk.

I am glad, however, that I love and serve a God who only has one label for people... and that's LOVED.

This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.

John 3: 16&17 (The Message)

Familiar yet powerful words. Tonight let's follow the example of Jesus and help those “loved” by God. Let's forget the world's labels... the categories that accuse and condemn... and adopt God's label of loved.

I'll share more on ((deep)) tomorrow... Its been a long day.

However, I will leave you with this. The Massive Attack song Teardrop starts with...

Love... Love... is a verb. Loving is a doing word.

This fits nicely with tonight's team thought. We are loved [noun] but in loving us [verb] He sent His Son into the world... as the verse says above... not to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was... but to help... to put the world right again.

Thing is... as followers of God in the Way of Jesus... are we seeking to put the world back together again... or are we pointing an accusing finger at all the people we conveniently label... telling them... and the world in which we all live... how bad it is?

Hmmm..?