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	<title>Provoketive Magazine &#187; tsmith0095</title>
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	<description>Provoking The Imagination With Conversation</description>
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		<title>When to Give and When to Build</title>
		<link>http://provoketive.com/2012/10/17/when-to-give-and-when-to-build/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=when-to-give-and-when-to-build</link>
		<comments>http://provoketive.com/2012/10/17/when-to-give-and-when-to-build/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Oct 2012 15:00:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>tsmith0095</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Questions]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://provoketive.com/?p=7854</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve spent the majority of my life in the institutional church, giving of myself and being blessed by folks giving of themselves into my life.  That time in my life was very valuable.  It was necessary.  Had I not spent so much of my life in that environment, I would not be suited for the plan God has for my life, for my family and for my church. My wife and I are planting Church of the Misfits in the West Atlanta Metro area.  We have both spent so much of our lives to the institutional (brick, mortar and steeple) church.  That time is valuable as I said previously and I wouldn&#8217;t trade it for the world.  I thank God for the churches in my hometown that allowed me to serve for so many years.However, I am at a point now where the practices of the institutional church don&#8217;t necessarily work for me anymore.  The idea that only one person (the pastor) of a congregation has the ability and responsibility to interpret Scripture doesn&#8217;t work for me anymore.  I am no longer interested in going to listen to a 30  -45 minute lecture on one man&#8217;s interpretation of what a particular... ]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
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		<title>The Collection</title>
		<link>http://provoketive.com/2012/06/26/the-collection/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=the-collection</link>
		<comments>http://provoketive.com/2012/06/26/the-collection/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 26 Jun 2012 15:00:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>tsmith0095</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Community]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[#WildGoose12]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[beauty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[faith]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Music]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Collection]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wholeness]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://provoketive.com/?p=7030</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I am just returning from a weekend with a wonderful eclectic group of folks.  You may call us Wild Geese, Goslings, Progressives, Liberals, forward-thinkers, heretics, saints, sinners or a myriad of other descriptors.  And, not one of those descriptors would be more true or less true. Let me tell you a secret. A Creator created YOU. And when that Creator created you (with all your failures, fears and passions), this Creator was not thinking, &#8220;I&#8217;m creating the next MLK Jr., Brian McLaren or John Lennon&#8221;.  I believe a Creator spent time on you.  Adding a dash of this and a dash of that to make you just the awesome person you are. And I say this, because this Creator created you to play an instrument.  This Creator created you to participate in life with others.  This Creator gave you gifts like charm, talent and charisma. There&#8217;s a shift coming.  This Creator is calling us to be ready to take part.  The Creator has gifted you with a particular place to stand and a particular role to play. As I mentioned earlier, I have just returned from a week with the Wild Geese of Shakori Hills, North Carolina.  We got bit by bugs.  Some of us... ]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Why The Van</title>
		<link>http://provoketive.com/2012/06/21/why-the-van/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=why-the-van</link>
		<comments>http://provoketive.com/2012/06/21/why-the-van/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 21 Jun 2012 15:00:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>tsmith0095</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Justice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Atlanta]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Homeless]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kingdom of god]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Poor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[The Van Atlanta]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://provoketive.com/?p=7010</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m a big guy.  I&#8217;m loud. I like to think I&#8217;m a likable guy.  This picture of me is very indicative of my personality.  I love everyone I meet.  I like to keep my arms open.  Sometimes I say I&#8217;ve been hurt. But I&#8217;ve got clothes on my back, I don&#8217;t go hungry and I have a warm bed and a beautiful wife. This is Bear.   He&#8217;s homeless.  He lives in the woods.  He&#8217;s a Vietnam Veteran who was honorably discharged after the war.  He&#8217;s a good guy.  Sometimes, he&#8217;d help me when I was trying to help others.  He is a nice guy.  He packed up all his belongings and moved out of the Atlanta area. When folks ask me &#8220;Why &#8216;The Van&#8217;?&#8221;, I show them a picture of Bear. Why &#8220;The Van&#8221;?  Because folks like Bear go cold every night.  Folks like Bear feel like society has moved along and left them behind.  Folks like Bear get depressed.  Folks like Bear need things and don&#8217;t have the money (or ability) to get those things. Yet, folks like Bear are made in the image of God.  Why &#8220;The Van&#8221;?  Because I couldn&#8217;t not do it.  Why &#8220;The Van&#8221;? Because when I drive down the... ]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Cry Loudly</title>
		<link>http://provoketive.com/2012/06/02/cry-loudly/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=cry-loudly</link>
		<comments>http://provoketive.com/2012/06/02/cry-loudly/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 02 Jun 2012 15:15:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>tsmith0095</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Relationships]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crying]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[grief]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[humanity]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[loss]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mourning]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://provoketive.com/?p=6789</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I once was a tough guy. I was the loud guy who never got his feelings hurt. I would never cry. At one time, I questioned whether I even could cry. In the 10 months from April 2000 to March 2001, I lost my grandmother, my elder brother and my grandfather. During that time I &#8220;stayed strong&#8221;, because I thought that&#8217;s what I needed to do. I didn&#8217;t cry. I didn&#8217;t show emotion. I was in 7th grade. For the rest of my middle school and high school years, I remained so calloused. I called myself a Christian but my life was not an example of the Gospel. I hurt many people and I still grieve those relationships I lost in those years. I never let myself grieve the losses that happened in my life because that&#8217;s not what &#8220;guys&#8221; did. This internal hardening and refusal to mourn these losses of dear parts of my family was a sin, and I realize that now. My heart was hardened and it made me a very abrasive person. I exploded at home toward the people closest to me (my sister and parents). I spent a good bit of my time angry. I... ]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>What Should The Church Be Doing?</title>
		<link>http://provoketive.com/2012/05/24/what-should-the-church-be-doing/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=what-should-the-church-be-doing</link>
		<comments>http://provoketive.com/2012/05/24/what-should-the-church-be-doing/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 May 2012 15:00:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>tsmith0095</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Community]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[church]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jesus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Loving your Neighbor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Poor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Zip Code]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://provoketive.com/?p=6745</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Christian Church has been converting people since the Council of Nicea.  But, how does a church grow its membership and get people to buy into its vision when it doesn&#8217;t use the fear of Hell to coerce others into action? What does the Church have to do to survive? Where does the Church go from here? What will we do when we can no longer pay the mortgage on the building? These are questions we might ask ourselves when we look at the Church as buildings.  It&#8217;s no secret that churches all over the country are being foreclosed on.  So, what&#8217;s the answer? The answer is&#8230;. The Church is not a building. Do you want to the Church to survive?  Then, we have to convince the Church of this fact.  We have to lose our love affair with addresses and fall in love with zip codes again.  When Paul wrote to churches, he didn&#8217;t write to &#8220;The Church on Jones Street&#8221;.  He wrote to &#8220;The Church at Phillipi (Thessalonica, Colossae, etc&#8230;)&#8221;.  These first churches were not individual buildings but more like Presbyteries or Diocese.  They served huge areas.  Their focus was not a building.  Their focus was people. So, here I am. ... ]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>8</slash:comments>
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