http://dangilliam.net/news.html Dan Gilliam: Old News Jannis' PHPRss class - http://www.jannis.to/ Wed, 08 Sep 2010 01:02:16 -0700 http://dangilliam.net/news.html#95 http://dangilliam.net/news.html#95 Thu, 03 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700 A Spiritual Journey of Creativity and Contemplation. - Dan Gilliam - Old News http://dangilliam.net/news.html#94 http://dangilliam.net/news.html#94 Fri, 27 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800 A Spiritual Journey of Creativity and Contemplation. - Dan Gilliam - Old News http://dangilliam.net/news.html#93 http://cdbaby.com/cd/dangilliam

DAN GILLIAM: Simple God Songs
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DAN GILLIAM: The Color of God
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DAN GILLIAM: My Best So Far 1991-2001 http://cdbaby.com/cd/dangilliam4

DAN GILLIAM: Farm Cafe
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- Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, p. 81.

Like many others I know, I grew up with an inherited ethos and a doctrinal prerogative hell-bent on "helping" people by convincing them to believe the "right" truth. I even went to college and earned a degree in truth-speaking. I have dedicated many years of my life to teaching a better way of living, even before I discovered how to live happily myself. Now just 2 days into my 50th year on the planet I am aware that I believe without a shadow of a doubt that my best impact on people with whom I would wish to share positive influence is in how I live. My spiritual footprint is only as large as the path that I tread. Words are okay if they are used to describe the life I am actually living or to affirm the value and beauty of life around me, but they have little value if I only use them to talk about theories of living that exceed or contradict my own experience.

Like Thomas Merton wrote, it is evident to me that there is a paradox at work with regards to discovering real happiness in this life. Happiness is not something to seek and find, in itself, but rather a gift to embrace that has already been given. My part lies in simply becoming aware that God has already given me everything I need for life and goodness, and this comes most quickly through a daily practice of prayer and mediation and regular acts of service to others. Together, these spiritual principles allow me to "get happy" and learn to be content in any and all circumstances. This is the real work of the Kingdom of God, the inside job stuff that truly allows us to change, grow, and be like Christ to those around us. This real happiness, in no way linked to the purchase, acquisition, or possession of any material good, is what we are all wired to seek and what we are all spinning our wheels to find.

Today, may we all find a quiet moment and place in which to take a deep breath, settle into an awareness of the goodness and happiness that is our spiritual birthright, and hear the affirming inner voice of our Creator say, "Rest in me. I have you right where I want you."

Thank you for sharing the journey with me.]]> http://dangilliam.net/news.html#91 Tue, 05 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0800 A Spiritual Journey of Creativity and Contemplation. - Dan Gilliam - Old News http://dangilliam.net/news.html#90
The thing I have done my entire life I no longer want to do. I love the wood, but the nails seem to have something against me. I am convinced I am entering a process of new creation, creating a new self or better yet, revisiting a former, familiar self. All the building, the making, the tearing down, and restoring of physical structures matters not to me now. I will soon be visited, nay consumed, by a season, a dispensation, an era. A time for walking. Walking and talking will be my new job. I think I have something to say, though I know not yet what it is. It will come. A slow burn has begun in my soul. An old fire that warmed my brothers Isaiah, Joel, Jonah and David. The embers and ashes of their prophecies have landed on the roof of my house and I am ablaze with a purpose unrevealed.

Dead is the forest of the spiritual winter. Brown, wet, dark, dank. Barren limbs reach high in their final stretch from wooded graves. Here lies dormant the pregnant life of spring, the birth of Spirit and Sky — the new of the old. Dead is the Temple of Law where God once collected his thoughts and reasoned with men. Gone are the passion and freedom of a people once saved from the wilderness, the flood, the tyranny of Pharaohs and the deep silence of The Creator. Replaced by wrist boxes and foreheads full of rules, worshippers wander now about in fear, toting heavy baskets of false hope and wearing soft brains full of soggy self-concern. Is there nothing left but the shell of the House of God? Why such a love affair with a sun-bleached, wind-whipped carcass? I have something living in me not reflected in that standing rubble. I am expectant with fresh Holy! I wonder, how will the dead welcome the living?

I am a cursed man. What good is it to have knowledge of the Word of the Lord only to be surrounded by men with no understanding of its Truth? I am cursed with eyes that can only see the broken system that my fellow man has adopted for pursuing the mercy of God. They spit out the cream and prefer the splintered pail. Those Pharisees are a gaggle of noisy geese, each louder than the next, squawking about all that they know. They know shit about the heart of the Law. There is no love only legalities — no mercy only monstrosities — no God only god-awful disregard for the people for which the Father cares. (Who is the Mother, the Spirit of God?) This system must die. And in its death new life will rise. Who and how many will have to die with it? Seems that a part of God must die as well if a new thing is to be born. I wonder if I will live to see this.]]> http://dangilliam.net/news.html#90 Wed, 07 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0800 A Spiritual Journey of Creativity and Contemplation. - Dan Gilliam - Old News http://dangilliam.net/news.html#88
Enjoy Life,

Dan Gilliam]]> http://dangilliam.net/news.html#88 Thu, 20 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0700 A Spiritual Journey of Creativity and Contemplation. - Dan Gilliam - Old News http://dangilliam.net/news.html#85 by rgoodman@enquirer.com

The Rev. Mark Angel, a Cincinnati native who was an involvement and outreach minister at Russell Christian Church in Eastern Kentucky, drowned Sunday afternoon while swimming in the Gulf of Mexico.
A certified swimming instructor, he had taken eight college students to Matamoros, Mexico, which is across the border from Brownsville, Texas, on a weeklong mission trip. The men were helping to build an addition to a church there.

Rev. Angel and two of his party were swimming at a beach south of Matamoros when he was pulled down by an undertow or a rip current and was swept into the gulf. Rescuers recovered his body and attempted CPR.

As overseer of the church's mission department, Rev. Angel, 41, went on many missionary trips in the United States and outside the country. His work, which included preaching and teaching, included construction of orphanages, churches and schools.He made blocks and dug ditches, said his mother, Gail Angel of Colerain Township. "He loved the Lord and all the work that went with serving Him."

He met Lori Alexander while on a mission trip to Haiti and married her in 1993. They have a 4-year-old daughter, Riley Grace.

Rev. Angel was born in Cincinnati on Dec. 22, 1965, and grew up in Colerain Township. He was an Eagle Scout and a member of the Colerain High School Class of 1984.After graduating from Cincinnati Christian University in 1988, he served as a youth minister at the Rising Sun Church of Christ in Ohio County, Ind., for three years.

He moved to Russell, Ky., which is on the Ohio River about 150 miles east of Cincinnati, in 1992. He was a youth minister at the church for eight years before being named minister of involvement and outreach.Among other responsibilities, he oversaw the church's ministry for college students and its outreach program.

"He looked for opportunities to reach out in the community and show people God's love in a practical way," said the Rev. Mark McKinney, pastor of the church."Mark was just a great guy. He always believed in everybody no matter what and people loved to be around him. He's going to leave a hole in our church and our community that will be very difficult to fill.
"He died doing something he enjoyed - working with missions and working with young people. It will be a great loss for us but a great gain for him through his faith in Christ."

In addition to his wife, mother and daughter, survivors include: his father, Howard Angel; and two brothers, Gary Angel, of Crosby Township, and Scott Angel of Cincinnati.
Visitation is 4-9 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Russell Christian Church. Funeral services are 1 p.m. Saturday at the church.There will also be a celebration service in place of the regular service at 10:30 a.m. Sunday at the church. Burial will be at Bellefonte Memorial Gardens in Flatwoods, Ky.

Memorial gifts are suggested to Workers of Mexico or the Riley Angel Scholarship, both in the care of Russell Christian Church, 1402 Kenwood Drive, Russell, KY 41169.]]> http://dangilliam.net/news.html#85 Thu, 07 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0700 A Spiritual Journey of Creativity and Contemplation. - Dan Gilliam - Old News http://dangilliam.net/news.html#84 drowned while on a mission trip in Mexico. This may be the first you
hear of this and I am sorry you did not get a more personal notice. I
just needed to write about it and see it in print so that I can start
to believe it, although I'd rather not.

I met Mark in 1982 when he was a sophomore in High School and I was
his new youth minister. It took a little while for Mark to warm up to
me especially after I "busted him" coming out of an R-rated movie with
a couple of girls from the youth group. (He always made fun of me
because I was there having taken a date to see Black Beauty.) Two
years later, I took Mark on his first mission trip to Haiti. I had to
visit him at his job at Steak-n-Shake to tell him that he wasn't going
to be able to go on the trip unless he made all the mandatory
preparation meetings of which he had already missed a few. He asked me
if I thought he should quit his job for a stinking mission trip, to
which I replied, "You do what you need to do." I can't remember if
Mark every worked at Steak-n-Shake after that but I know he made all
the meetings and that our trip to Haiti had a profound impact on him.
For one thing, he met his wife to be, Lori Alexander, on that trip.
Her family lived in Haiti as missionaries. Over the years, I believe
Mark has been back to Haiti more than a couple of dozen times,
building orphanages, feeding and loving children, preaching about
God's love and enjoying the beauty of the Caribbean.

A couple of years later, Mark spent six months in Kingston, Jamaica
on a mission internship with Dennis Herko and his family. Gary, Mark's
brother, and I made a surprise visit to him and took a little vacation
over to the coastal resort town of Ocho Rios. I will be writing a
chapter for my next book about this experience as it was one of my
last alcohol binges before getting permanently (one-day-at-a-time for
17 years) sober. It broke my heart to see the look on Mark's face when
I told him that I had relapsed while on that trip. The realization of
the heart break I was causing others was a large part of what helped
me get and stay sober.

I have stayed in touch with Mark Angel over the years, more than
anyone else who was once part of the Ohio youth ministry I led from
1982-1986. Many times as I was passing through on I-64 I would give
Mark a call and we would meet for lunch or a cup of coffee. He was a
good friend and I will miss him dearly.

I don't know the details of his death or of the funeral arrangements,
but I will be attending whatever services that are held at First
Christian Church in Russell, KY. I don't doubt that thousands of
people are a part of the legacy Mark Angel leaves behind and that it
will be difficult to find an empty seat in the church. As with most
funerals, Marks' will likely be a reunion of many people who will be
saddened by the occasion but delighted for the opportunity to get
together and love one another. I can hear Mark now,
"Rrrriiiiiggghhhtttt. Hee, hee, hee."

I love you, Mark. I'll see you later.

http://www.wkyt.com/news/headlines/7832467.html]]> http://dangilliam.net/news.html#84 Mon, 04 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0700 A Spiritual Journey of Creativity and Contemplation. - Dan Gilliam - Old News http://dangilliam.net/news.html#83

How would you define the church?

One person honestly sharing his or her life and faith with another. This is church in the most simple "book of Acts" kind of terms. True spiritual fellowship is seeking God in authentic ways and getting together with others to talk about it. The church is alive and well all over the world in many ways that the institutional church isn’t aware of, simply because it isn’t being tracked, counted, or overseen. God knows where we are, however, and Christ is in our midst wherever and whenever we gather.


Can the church provide the kind of fellowship people need to thrive?

Of course. Spiritual fellowship is a viable option for many in the church, but much of it is available and occurring outside of the institutional programs of that which we traditionally call “the church.” It is scripturally incorrect to view churches as entities distinct from the people that make up the body of Christ. Depending upon religious institutions and human leaders to provide for us that which we should inherently seek and find as Christ-followers makes our Western view of church sort of codependant. There’s something “in the air” when you step inside a church building that says property, personalities, and preferences are what matter. I’m one of millions who have chosen (recently, again) to do and be church without having aspects such as these to deal with in order to experience spiritual growth and fellowship.


I think your talking about community. How do you define community?

I think spiritual community is any gathering of people who are trying to be honest with each other—showing unconditional love and acceptance for one another and seeking God’s will and way for their lives. Christ has made this possible and people are starting to figure out that the spiritual life can be real and exciting, fun and free when shared with others who aren’t afraid of their humanity This means, of course, that there will be conflict and difficulty. Avoiding certain topics or situations just because they’re uncomfortable isn’t an option like it is in the big church. The institutional church in my opinion is too committed to cleaning things up before they can be part of our gatherings. God is not uncomfortable with messy things or people. Jesus seemed to prefer people who didn’t look all that good on the outside.


Has your experience as a church staff member jaded you?

Probably. But God has knocked many, many chips from my ministerial shoulders. I’m sure I still have a long way to go. Once you are on a church staff and you see behind the “Oz” curtain, it is difficult to go back to seeing things from your previous limited perspective. On the bright side, having been on staff at several large churches helped to drive me deeper into my walk with God and my community with others, even though I had to go outside the institution to get this. Ironically, I have found working for a church to be spiritually hazardous. This is probably why I have not served in a professional capacity for more than a couple years at a time. I find church to be more real when God is allowed to speak through more than a small handful of people, and this can only happen, in my opinion, when you don’t have a mortgage, a weekly programmed event, or a paid staff.


It seems as if your parents’ divorce started a real downward spiral for you as a teen? Would you call that the defining event of your life?

I wouldn’t say the defining event. It certainly was the first major twist away from how life was unfolding for me. I think it was the beginning of my own journey toward finding a relationship with God that was uniquely mine; therefore it was certainly a defining event. My perspective has been shaped to see that God can redeem any event, no matter how tragic, to his purposes. Unfortunately, it is usually hardship or devastation that causes people to step back from their routine, religious and otherwise, and say, “I know what I’ve been told. Now, what do I really believe?” When we have life-threatening circumstances that force us to let go and trust God for help, he is released to work in us in ways we did not know possible. In this respect, I have come to be grateful for every difficulty in my life. They have allowed God to change me in ways I could never have changed myself.


Would you call yourself the prodigal son?

Oh yeah. More than once. I’m the perpetual prodigal son. I’m pretty sure I’m done leaving the fold, though. If the fold is a religious institution, I’m a prodigal son again. If the fold is the kingdom of God, I’m smack dab in the middle of it. I kind of like wearing the robe and ring and have developed a taste for fatted calf, medium well.


How would you be different if your parents hadn’t divorced?

I probably would have just been another version of who I am now, but with not as many colorful stories to tell.


What other struggles have you faced in life?

As an adult I had a defining moment when I left my first youth ministry under duress because of an addiction to prescription drugs. This opened a Pandora’s box of alcoholism for me that had, for the most part, been in remission since my freshman year of Bible college. I was completely stripped of all I had and knew when it appeared—to my surprise—I would survive it. That, I think, led to a kind of a launching point into what I’ve become now—and what I will become. In 1989, with no place left to go, I found myself glued to a chair in an anonymous 12-step fellowship. That’s where my truest transformation and my best experience of New Testament Christianity occurred. I need to write a whole other book about the other hardships and how God has shown up in the darkest places imaginable to redeem me and show me the way home. Staying active in my 12-step fellowship allows me the opportunity to see God do this for others on a regular basis. I don’t think you get to see people change all that much in traditional expressions of church.


So good can come from bad?

I wouldn’t be who I am now without the good and bad. Whoever said, “I’m a sum total of all my experiences,” spoke for me. I hear scriptural truth ring in that quote—it’s like Romans 8:28. I’m grateful for all those potholes in my spiritual road because they’ve allowed me to bottom out, look at where I’m going, and let God alter my course as necessary.


What do you think it means for a person to be broken?

As you ask the question I can still taste the brokenness lingering in my mouth. Just like anyone who has ever had their face smack down on concrete or asphalt, you don’t forget the sensation or the sound. Brokenness, to me, is a relinquishing of control of my life. It’s getting my knuckles wrapped enough times with some kind of cosmic ruler where I finally let go of the reins. For me, I had to lose a marriage and career and be hospitalized a half-dozen times before I was able to let go and let God. I had to lose absolutely everything before I was 30 years old to say, “OK, God, I don’t have any ideas any more of how you should work in my life.” I gave it up to God and daily give it to him to work in my life any way he would choose. Up until then, I would say “God, I give you permission to work in my life in ways that I deem fit for you.” I see many people whose relationship with God is like that. It doesn’t work very well and it keeps God at a distance, though we usually don’t know it.


Is recovery just for alcoholics and drug addicts?

In modern language we use the word recovery most often to refer to alcoholics and drug addicts. Recovery is just another version of the spiritual program God has given mankind through the revealed Word. Recovery, particularly the 12-step variety, is definitely for alcoholics and drug addicts. Redemption is for everyone. From where I sit, it appears the church is really struggling to find ways to help members of the body of Christ experience the process of sanctification that is intended for us. Getting our souls into heaven, while a welcomed prospect, is a worn-out message for those who are saying, “Hey, I need some salvation in the here and now.” Salvation and sanctification are not separate messages; they’re two branches on the same stick of spiritual development.


How would you define sanctification?

Sanctification is coming to terms with who we are and trusting God to change us into the likeness of Christ. For the most part we are dirty, nasty, ugly, mean, and greedy people, but God is not shocked by that. he is fully prepared for us to be who we are and has launched a plan for us to change. Sanctification is God changing us from the inside out. Too much of modern religion focuses on external activity that is not necessarily flowing from an internal transformation. In God’s economy, it’s a package deal. It seems people are trying to change their insides by working harder on the outside. Service to others will never be truly rewarding or lead us to internal and miraculous transformation unless accompanied by the spiritual disciplines of prayer, meditation, confession, restitution, forgiveness, etc. These may sound like external works, but they are simply keys that allow us to open doors to the workings of the Holy Spirit.


You write about “living an authentic life.” What does that mean?

For me it has meant discovering and experiencing multiple layers of being who I really am—“who God is making me.” It’s experiencing self-acceptance in my relationship with God and unconditional love in my community with others. Living authentically is being aware of your “OK-ness” because of what Christ has done. This is a basic symptom of authentic spirituality. I like myself today, in part, because I am truly and uniquely the "me" God intended.


What would you call yourself . . . storyteller, writer, sage, counselor, theologian, artist? Do any of these rise to the top?

I’m flattered by the choices. I would say artist best describes how I view myself, but I prefer the term “contemplative” because I tend to look for God as he reveals himself in all things and all people. I’m more of a Christian mystic, because I don’t think we can get our minds around who God is and all that he is doing. I celebrate the mysteries of life and embrace all that I don’t understand, though this is a process. I consider myself to be more a spiritual person trying to have a human experience rather than a human being trying to have a spiritual experience.


Who should read this book?

God Touches is written primarily for people who are spiritually hungry but religiously tired. I realize it could also be an encouragement to someone who is active in a congregation but seeking fresh expressions of how to do and be the church. There are novel and energizing expressions of church waiting to be discovered by anyone willing to step back and review what they have been taught, look at Scripture with new eyes, and say with an open heart and mind, “God, show me your ways.” From what I have seen, God is waiting for us to seek him in all of life, in the ordinary as well as the extraordinary.]]> http://dangilliam.net/news.html#83 Wed, 09 May 2007 00:00:00 -0700 A Spiritual Journey of Creativity and Contemplation. - Dan Gilliam - Old News http://dangilliam.net/news.html#82 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0784719632

Features include Back Cover, Copyright Page, Table of Contents, Exerpt, and Surprise Me! which takes you to a random place in the book.

You can also do a word or phrase search and see all the places in the book where that subject is referenced.

I want to thank you for your support during this my first publishing campaign. It is my hope that God Touches will acheive and maintain a little market traction and momentum so that I will be able to finish and publish my next book.

If you happen to be one of my many friends who bought their copy of God Touches on Amazon.com, you can help me by taking a minute to write a brief "Customer Review". This will allow folks who don't know me to order the book based on a reference from someone who has read it.

Again, thanks for your support. let me know how I can be an encouragement to you.

Peace, love, and self-promotion,

Dan Gilliam]]> http://dangilliam.net/news.html#82 Thu, 03 May 2007 00:00:00 -0700 A Spiritual Journey of Creativity and Contemplation. - Dan Gilliam - Old News