Journey into the Son is about exploring Jesus and our relationship with Him. It’s about feeding on Him as the Tree of Life and walking each step in Him, 24/7. As we walk together in Him, we display His characteristics more and more, both to one another and to the world around us. He builds and knits us together into His house, His body, His bride. Here you’ll find His words to me, my ponderings on Him, and even an occasional slice of life and how I see Him in it. From time to time, I may offer some practical advice in the art of hearing from Him and making time to sit with Him and enjoy His closeness.
I’ve made a lot of changes here in the last month or so. First, the name: formerly Cindy in SD; now Journey Into The Son. The former was never a name I was in love with, and now that the blog has found its identity, it’s time for a real name. Second, I’ve moved from wordpress.com to this dedicated URL. Of course, you know that if you’re here!
Just a quick word about myself, in case you’re curious. I live way out in the woods with my husband, daughter, and two dogs in the central Black Hills of western South Dakota. I have two other grown children, and my baby is 18. :sob: My mother also lives here on our place, in her own house. We participate in an organic church, which is just getting its start. There are 5-6 families involved in this, and we meet from house to house, breaking bread with one another. Jesus is our pastor and we all have the desire to follow Him as we live life together. It’s hard learning how, but we’re not giving up. This blog will also occasionally chronicle our baby steps in learning how to follow Him, and many of the posts you see here have been or will be shared in our weekly/weekday gatherings.
Hi, I saw that you posted on endtimeprophetic, and when I saw that your name was cindyinsd, I thought I would click on your name…I live in the black hills too! Just nice to see a fellow south dakotan posting on there too! God bless!
Hi there! How cool to meet someone else from around here–on such a huge megalith of a site. I’m always excited when I hear someone from Rapid call in on a talk radio show. So few people know we’re here.
We live by Pactola–you? Church? I moderate my comments, so if you want to chat, you can post a comment and I’ll reply privately without publishing your comment.
God’s Strength,
Cindy
I am glad to see someone writing a blog without a Ph. D or a Hagee style bent on ranting about what the Bible should be about. good for you.
jk
Thanks, Joe.
I appreciate the encouragement. It’s amazingly fun and enlightening to just go through the Bible and think and meditate on it. When I get stuck, I ask my husband or my daughter or look up Greek meanings or other people’s commentary. Someone nearly always has a good idea. It’s not the be-all or end-all, but it’s been a great blessing to me.
BTW, if you see some meaning or point that I’ve missed, you’re more than welcome to chime in.
Grace and Peace to you,
Cindy
I just wanted to say thank you for the comment you left on my memoir. I really appreciate it, you really helped me open my eyes. I don’t think I realized what I was doing before, either that or I didn’t want to. Anyway, thank you once again.
God bless and take care,
Mo
Hi, Mo
I’m so glad if I helped at all. I know how hard it can be to deal with that sort of thing. Hang in there and keep your perspective.
God’s grace and strength to you,
Cindy
you were like a refreshing cup of cool water for me today.
Thanks, Mandy.
I really enjoyed your article. It’s always encouraging to see signs of love and regard for one another in the church.
God bless,
Cindy
I enjoyed reading a couple of the Bible Study lessons on your blog and I hope that others are blessed and encouraged as they read what you have written.
Thanks for the comment that you left on mine. It is good to see that you are able to share from your varying gifts and talents.
God Bless you!
Hi Cindy,
You were right. I was having trouble with the ending of my post. I wanted to say something about the difference between God and religion.
In the end, I put this:
“I don’t know much about religion. To me it’s all like Greek philosophy. All I know I know is that men need something to worship, they need something to hold onto in this unpredictable world. Since day one men have been inventing religion. Religions. They have worshiped demons, they have thrown babies to Moloch’s fires, they have chipped women from stone. They have tried to change their world by creating gods to believe in.
Jesus didn’t say he would change the world. He said he could change men. That’s the difference between Jesus and religion. Religion is men creating gods to believe in. Jesus is about men believing in the God that created them.”
(You don’t have to publish this)
All the best,
Ami
Hi, Ami
I hope you don’t mind that I posted this. I didn’t have time to read it this morning, but saw your name and just hit the accept button. It’s very good and hopefully will encourage people to click over and read your whole post.
Thanks for checking out my blog, too, and thanks for your kind words.
God bless,
Cindy
PS . . .
Ami’s blog is called Via Maris. I’ve added it to my blogroll, so anybody who wants to can read his whole post. It’s for sure worth the time.
Thanks, Eagle’s Wings
I’m glad you came over to look around.
I was trying to find you again, but I couldn’t for some reason. What’s the name of your blog?
God bless,
Cindy
Thanks for stopping by the “elevating a generation” blog. It’s always great to connect with other bloggers around the area.
BTW, I teared up when I read first read Ray-Ray’s story, too.
You have a nice looking blog. I’ll visit again.
My wife’s ancestors passed through South Dakota on their way to Montana. She still has distant relatives in SD.
Thanks, Ren
I have really been enjoying your blog. I particularly like the essay on faith (I read it to my daughter) and the story about the Texas couple.
It’s interesting about your grandparents. My grandfather was born on a covered wagon in Nebraska, en route to Edgemont, SD in 1907. I don’t think Edgemont was there yet (it’s barely there now).
His birth certificate just said “baby boy.”
God bless,
Cindy
Hi Cindy,
I wanted to thank you for your comment on the Emerging Highway; it was humble and insightful, just the kind of interaction I hope for.
I just wanted to let you know I posted a reply (http://emerginghighway.wordpress.com/2008/11/09/javalujah/#comment-39) and welcome your interactions any time. Please don’t worry about sounding irritated; your whole tone is far from it, and we cherish good questions and challenges and differing ideas because they often can lead us to a stronger grasp on the truth. That is surely part of why God gave us each other that we might have community that helps us know and love him better. How else are we to grow and learn?
I look forward to reading your posts on your own blog as well.
Chris
My wife was from Rapid City, SD and since college we’ve been living out here in the Black Hills too. It’s been nice to see some inspiring words from Bible Studies from a blogger in SD!
Wonderful work!
Thanks!
It’s so great to hear from other folks in the Black Hills. Please don’t be strangers.
God bless,
Cindy
Cindy,
I like your pottery! I have a couple of wordpress blogs, http://zedek.us and http://word-light.com
I’m going to add your site in my links.
Blessings!
Glenn
Hi Cindy. When I leave a comment do you get my email??
Cindy,
It was funny when I stopped by here tonight. I thought to myself….. is this the same Cindy? If so, what happened? Then I went to this “about” to try and figure it out. And I did. You wonderfully explained it. Sounds like a nice community of believers.
Bless you all as you go out for Him and His Kingdom!
Oh, Hi Richard!
Thanks for stopping by. Yes, I’ve been working on improving the blog — probably too much!
Love ya, Bro
Cindy
Hey Cindy
finally read your response on Rachels blog. Feel free to email me.
Thanks for the help and concern.
Hi Cindy, love your site, and love that you know the Word and Love Jesus so much! What a mighty God we serve! Keep up the good work for our Savior!
I have a small blog as well, it is pretty edgy, but the whole idea is just to bring people there so they will click on “how to become a Christian” link…which, praise the Lord gets about 150 hits a month, plus many hits on apologetics. I believe the Lord will return very soon, and we must be about our Father’s business.
Thanks, Brother
I really appreciate stopping by, and I have also enjoyed many of the posts I’ve seen on your site.
Blessings, Cindy
Dear Cindy,
just a quick note to thank you for your psotings. I’ve only just discovered your blog and have only read four posts but I’ve been moved by what I read.
I’ve been on a deeper and deeper journey these last few years as I’ve discovered more and more about Jesus and am so happy to find someone who says they are experiencing organic church. Having read extensively of Viola, Rodriguez, Simpson, Zens, Goodall et al I and my small group have been finding the organic thing somewhat elusive. I’d be grateful for some e-conversations with you if you felt so led.
Yours in Him for aye,
Dave
Sure, Dave.
I’ll drop you an e-mail shortly. And I’m glad some of the things I’ve written have blessed you.
Hi Cindy,
I’ve enjoyed checking out your website and reading some of your reflections. Your church planting endeavor seems quite interesting, and I wish you all the best.
As one who has been a close follower of Christ for 30 years, I would just like to add a few insights that might be helpful to keep your group on track. I have seen many groups over the years who have sprung up only to dissolve or wither away for various reasons. Many times it is due to an anti-establishment kind of attitude and approach that seems to undermine their fellowship because it is not really biblical. I am an outsider looking in, so you can take or leave what I have to offer as the Lord gives you wisdom. I would like to offer 3 basic points to you.
1. I noticed you said that Jesus is your pastor. I would that all churches really and truly saw Jesus as their true head and followed Him in total dependence. Too many churches preach Jesus, but simply do not follow Him. So your dependence upon Him is commendable. But what I don’t know is if you are seeking to operate as a kind of spiritual democracy, where you assume everyone stands as an equal in the direction of your group. I just want to remind you that Paul taught that God has gifted individuals to be leaders in each local group and that those leaders are to be in submission to the head, who is Christ. Plurality of leaders seems to be a very biblical pattern, but a rudderless ship that is dependent upon the prevailing currents is not, if you understand what I’m getting at. Again, I only mention this because many organic movements that I have witnessed seem to have this common denominator of an anti-establishment attitude. There’s no need to hook up with an extended fellowship of churches necessarily, only to have CLEARLY defined male leadership within your group. For this is the biblical pattern.
2. I noticed that many of your postings are devotional meditations upon a certain passage. And you seem to center in upon what the Lord is teaching you. What you had to say seemed very insightful and profitable. My only caution would be to make sure that you balance the devotional with the doctrinal emphasis. Many churches that are very doctrinally centered can also be very dead. And so sometimes we react against doctrinal emphasis for this reason. I have often used the phrase “reactionary theology” in describing different groups approach to beliefs and practice. For example, back in the 70′s when the charismatic movement was taking hold, many of the fundamentalist type groups reacted to this by rejecting anything and everything that came out of that movement. And so they began to define themselves by being in opposition to whatever the other group was about. “Oh, well the charismatics do this kind of music, so we’re going to stay with the hymns of the faith, because we’re not charismatics.” And so they deprived themselves of a wonderful dimension of worship because of their reactionary posturing. I am only saying don’t posture yourself against doctrinally based teaching just because some groups have lost their spiritual vitality. In my humble opinion, there is nothing more exciting than digging into the original languages and history of the test to really dig out the original intent of the author of scripture. God did not write us a letter and then leave it up for grabs as to what He meant by it. He says what He means and means what He says. And we must do our homework to make sure that we have to true meaning of the text.
You know all those verses in John 13-17 about the Holy Spirit leading us into all truth? Remember those were the words of Jesus to His disciples that were His instructions to them as He was getting ready to depart from the scene. He was telling THEM that He would send His Spirit to lead THEM into the truths that He had already taught them. And in this way they could write it down and have an accurate record of the teachings of Jesus for the ages to come. Sure, the Spirit leads us into an understanding of the word, for if we have not the Spirit, we don’t “get it” when it comes to scripture. But God isn’t going to give us something that He hasn’t given to everyone else as well. As someone has said, “If it’s new it isn’t true, and if it’s true it isn’t new.” And often in a devotional approach to scripture we tend to focus on what God is saying to ME rather than what God is saying to His church at large. I certainly believe that God can speak to us in the application of scripture, but not in a personal interpretation of scripture. I think one of the most helpful pieces of advice that I have ever received is when someone told me that scripture is not written TO us, but that it is written FOR us. In other words, the book of 1 Corinthians was written TO the church at Corinth. And for us to best understand the message FOR us in the 21st century, we need to fully understand what issues were being addressed to the church at Corinth in the 1st century. And the Spirit speaks to us individually as we rightly understand what He was truly trying to communicate to those who the particular book in the bible was written to.
Those of us on the conservative side of politics tend to get very irritated at those on the liberal side who contend that the constitution is a living and breathing document, and who then proceed to redefine it beyond the framer’s original intentions. But then we turn around and mistreat the bible in the same fashion. The question always at hand is, “What was God trying to say to this immediate audience He was addressing?” and then “How then does that message to them apply to me in this day and age?” The “Holy Grail” is the truth. Jesus said, “Sanctify them in Thy TRUTH, Thy word is truth.” There’s often a big difference between what is really truth, and what I’m thinking God is saying to me.
The longer I follow Jesus, the less I trust my “intuitions” apart from the diligent study and digging into God’s word. I have found the Spirit more often meets me in my study than He does my quiet time. And the reason is simple. My study dismisses my personal biases while my reflections do not. Quiet times often lead to discoveries or rich ore, but study brings about the refinement of those discoveries into that which is truly precious, while the dross is discarded.
3. Remember what it’s all about. It’s not about having our perfect little group whose got it right, while everyone else is missing it. It’s about being a channel of God’s love to those around us. It’s all about the cross – saving us from what we’ve done and who we are. And He saves us to serve – to be a light in a dark place, and to make the world a richer experience for everyone by our existence in it, and most of all, to bring glory to our Father in heaven.
These are my humble thoughts for whatever they may be worth to you. I wish nothing but the best for you and your group and hope God will richly bless you all in the pursuit of His truth and His life. God bless.
Wow! Thanks for taking so much trouble, Brother. I appreciate it.
Hi Cindy,
Hebrews 13:2
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
Very much so, Rap!
Hi Cindy,
Just subscribed to your blog. Read a few posts today and was greatly encouraged. Looking forward to the coming posts.
Thank you so much, Tobias!