Purpose in Connecting

Further posts will explore the nature of connections, their contexts, purposes and the barriers obstacles we face in connecting.

why thoughts to finish the phenomenons of .... dissonance ... disconnected-ness in the light of why we are here (in the Kingdom, our Kingdom Communities and in (not of) the world.


Knowing the nature of a thing or a matter often reveals its purpose
Connecting is a term that is almost too cliche in these days but it is a good synonym for relationship. Perhaps it is a better word for relationship as it implies a bond where relationship can mean anything from disconnected to vital, depending on the context. I have a relationship to my rabbit. He thumps the floor when there is no food in his bowl; i feed him in response. That pretty much describes that relationship. It may be vital to him but it is not that vital to me. Nothing meaningful is shared or imparted. There is little if no mutual edification.

Connecting does imply something vital. It is simply a bond that exists between one another where interpersonal transactions take place. It comes to my mind as two one way transactions that are not governed by anything other than love (agape); no other conditions other than meeting another in a need (emotional, spiritual, material, physical, etc.).

The Word describes vital connections in detail and is perhaps best left for our own honest and earnest discovery. Most prominent in my mind are the Gospels, Acts 1-6, 1 John where the vitality of the connections are exemplified in community. It is the conduit of community. We see it in forms of encouragement, kindness, forebearance. The attributes of vital connections and their workings are laid out in 1 Corinthians 12-14.

Love is also about Community and Connecting: ordinary people with extraordinary relationships; to the Father, to the Son and in the Spirt to each other. It Goes Beyond Forgiveness, past Reconcilliation, past healing into Restoration into what God desires for our lives. It is Connecting to the Father's heart to release the Spirit of Might (true power) and going beyond the appearance of being connected (a form of godliness but denying His Power).

1 John 4 (New International Version)

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.


One of my favorite paraphrases of Love comes from a band called the 77's. Not too many people know of their work. They don't fit the molds well in either secular or Christian music. Larry Norman calls them “too Christian for the radio and too radio for the Church”.

This Is The Way Love Is (Mark Tootle)

When I gave up, you held up
When I ran out, you filled me up
When I kept runnin', you kept up
When I let you down you lifted me up

This is the way love is

When I couldn't find the words, you understood
When I didn't find the time, you were in no hurry
When I wouldn't make ends meet, you tied them together
When I cheated you kept to the rules

Well, this is the way love is
This is the way love is
When it's a one-sided double-minded mirror with no reflection

When I was keepin' it in, you were givin' out
When I was losin' out, you'd let me come back
When I was holdin' back, you were holdin' on
When I was losin' my cool you were keepin' your love warm

Well, this is the way love is
This is the way love is
When it's a one-sided double-minded mirror with no reflection

When I kept it all to myself like a miser holds on to his last dime
When I closed up myself like a desperate hand on a lifeline
Well I was bled, I was dried, all wrapped up in my pride
This is the way it is when you're on the wrong side

Well, this is the way love is
This is the way love is
When it's a one-sided double-minded mirror with no reflection

Bless you all.