Just Saying ...

"Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive" (C.S. Lewis). Do YOU have something to forgive? And you haven't done so yet because ... why? "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her" (John 8:7). "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). Strange how many of us are still casting stones, as if sinless ourselves, in the way we judge one another. Do we really think that our s**t doesn't stink and that we are somehow better than them? Have we forgotten the moral of Jesus' teaching as depicted in this picture? Perhaps Phillip Yancey was right when he said, "Christians get very angry toward other Christians who sin differently than they do." Instead of judgment, could it be time to offer a little love and forgiveness instead? Something for us all to think about next time we're inclined to want to compare ourselves with our perceived shortcomings of others. Peace. 

- Omnia Bene Facere -
Do all things well
Welcome to rochow.ca
the personal website of Will Rochow
Who is Will Rochow?
First and foremost, he is a Christian. He is also a Bible School and Seminary graduate who went on to fulfill what he believed was a call of God into the ministry as a Baptist pastor. After having served in three Alberta churches he felt what he believed was another call of God, but this time (perhaps ironically) out of the traditional institutional church and into non-institutional organic fellowship.

Will is an avid motorcycle enthusiast. Other interests that occupy Will's time include linguistics, wine making, music, extensive reading and maintaining two blogs. In the warmer months, another favourite pass time of Will's is enjoying the outdoors on the deck with, as he sometimes jokes, his "favourite wife." It was on one such evening that the following picture of Will and Ginny was taken.

Will and his wife Ginny live in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. They have two adult children.


Why two blogs?
Since Will's Christian faith is a central part of who he is, he calls his main blog "Rethinking Faith and Church." It is a collection of his musings and wrestlings in the faith since leaving the traditional institutional church. A caveat that Will would want mentioned is that, though his posts sometimes seem a little confrontational, they are only so towards the religious and institutional systems, and not towards the people within those systems. 

However, Will's rather eclectic personality include many other interests as well, such as what he often calls his "twisted sense of humour." Since these other interests do not lend themselves well to the overall theme of his main blog, he created a second blog that he calls "The Other Side of Will."

Is Will on social media?
Yes. Both of Will's blogs have their own Facebook pages by the same names, "Rethinking Faith and Church" and "The Other Side of Will." In addition, Will can be found on Google+ and Twitter.

What about other publications?
Recently Will became one of the contributors in the multi-authored book, "Finding Church," a Civitas Press publication (2012) edited by Jeremy Myers. It is a collection of "Stories of Leaving, Switching, and Reforming."  What drew Will to this book project is that it is not simply just another subjective theology text, but is rather a collection of personal testimonies of 36 different people. Having said that, if you have ever questioned church, this book may be of interest to you.

Besides blogging, Will also has a dream to one day publish his own book, but for now he leaves that entirely in God's hands. 
What's with the image of the upside down church?
"Rethinking Faith and Church" uses the image of an upside down church. Why? There are two main reasons Will chose that image.

First, it represents Will's wrestling in the faith since being called out from the traditional institutional form of Christianity. This was a time in which he found himself reevaluating a lot of previously dearly held doctrines; some of which he ultimately discarded, while others he embraced all the more. It was a time of turning everything upside down in his spiritual life, and going back to what he believed were the basics of the faith. He reasoned that he wanted to embrace more than just church tradition; he wanted Jesus, and Jesus alone.

Secondly, this picture also represents his belief that sometimes it may be necessary to shake us all upside down a bit in order to dislodge us from our inherent lethargy and comfortable pews. This stems from Will's belief that maybe the church needs to "get out there" more than it typically does. Will often muses that perhaps we have all become a little too comfortable in our institutions, forgetting that those who really need us and the message of the church, the Good News, will likely never find themselves inside of her walls. Perhaps that is why in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19), Jesus said, "GO." Go where? Go to where the people are. In other words, don't just "GO" to church and wait for them to come to you (as we often tend to do), rather "BE" the church, wherever the people are, and wherever the Spirit of God may lead you.

The image of the upside down church building, therefore, represents an important part of Will's renewed spiritual pilgrimage. 


"In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity." -Augustine