tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68828285114884346782024-03-12T18:30:57.884-06:00Scandalous Mathematics of GraceUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger526125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882828511488434678.post-72830178379737539612020-05-25T16:28:00.000-06:002020-05-25T16:28:37.831-06:00Let's Talk - Jimmy Rollins, Jeremy Foster, Chris Durso, and Earl Mcclellan - Full Experience<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6PCcdAOJvvU" width="560"></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882828511488434678.post-74649358823257910622019-01-14T12:36:00.001-06:002019-01-14T12:36:52.540-06:00Shaun Nepstad – Don't Quit In The Dip<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tIqbvysthiA/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tIqbvysthiA?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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<h1 class="title style-scope ytd-video-primary-info-renderer" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: var(--ytd-video-primary-info-renderer-title-color, var(--yt-spec-text-primary)); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: var(--ytd-video-primary-info-renderer-title-font-size, 1.8rem); font-weight: 400; line-height: 2.4rem; margin: 0px; max-height: 4.8rem; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; text-shadow: var(--ytd-video-primary-info-renderer-title-text-shadow, none); transform: var(--ytd-video-primary-info-renderer-title-transform, none);">
<yt-formatted-string class="style-scope ytd-video-primary-info-renderer" force-default-style="">Shaun Nepstad – Don't Quit In The Dip</yt-formatted-string></h1>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882828511488434678.post-53538042515925879682016-06-20T11:48:00.001-06:002016-06-20T11:48:25.784-06:00We never expect to see Jesus in a bear market, pink slip, lawsuit, foreclosure, or war.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiOBfVN3qP4ph6RydtSfZdAmN87lgVR1_8ZP510ioEHJ_gcboIYs7hlNWS28PNyUMbdeDl4KM18dM4JBUMpRpEdU1DQVC3zOwUJFnc3w4PmT8gnVRJhCy7m1-Yq-CRR7yhe60G8CGpb7g/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiOBfVN3qP4ph6RydtSfZdAmN87lgVR1_8ZP510ioEHJ_gcboIYs7hlNWS28PNyUMbdeDl4KM18dM4JBUMpRpEdU1DQVC3zOwUJFnc3w4PmT8gnVRJhCy7m1-Yq-CRR7yhe60G8CGpb7g/s320/maxresdefault.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span class="autogrow-textarea ">Peter and his fellow storm riders knew
they were in trouble. What should have been a sixty-minute cruise became
a nightlong battle. The boat lurched and lunged like a kite in a March
wind. Sunlight was a distant memory. Rain fell from the night sky in
buckets. Lightning sliced the blackness with a silver sword. Winds
whipped the sails, leaving the disciples “in the middle of the sea,
tossed by the waves.” </span><br />
<br />
<span class="autogrow-textarea ">Apt description, perhaps, for your stage in life?
Perhaps all we need to do is substitute a couple of nouns . . . In the
middle of a divorce, tossed about by guilt. In the middle of debt,
tossed about by creditors. In the middle of a recession, tossed about by
stimulus packages and bailouts. The disciples fought the storm for nine
cold, skin-drenching hours. And about 4:00 a.m. the unspeakable
happened. They spotted someone coming on the water. “ ‘A ghost!’ they
said, crying out in terror” (v. 26 MSG). </span><br />
<br />
<span class="autogrow-textarea ">They didn’t expect Jesus to
come to them this way. Neither do we. </span><br />
<br />
<span class="autogrow-textarea ">We expect him to come in the form
of peaceful hymns or Easter Sundays or quiet retreats. We expect to find
Jesus in morning devotionals, church suppers, and meditation. We never
expect to see him in a bear market, pink slip, lawsuit, foreclosure, or
war. We never expect to see him in a storm. But it is in storms that he
does his finest work, for it is in storms that he has our keenest
attention. </span><br />
<br />
<span class="autogrow-textarea ">Jesus replied to the disciples’ fear with an invitation
worthy of inscription on every church cornerstone and residential
archway. “ ‘Don’t be afraid,’ he said. ‘Take courage. I am here!’ ” (v.
27 NLT).</span><br />
<span class="autogrow-textarea "><br /></span>
<span class="autogrow-textarea "> - Max Lucado</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882828511488434678.post-29925391958815998472016-03-02T09:35:00.000-06:002016-03-02T09:35:05.386-06:00A Prayer for Repenting of My Critical Spirit and Selective Compassion<article class="general-post">
<div class="pf-content">
By <a href="http://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/scottysmith/2015/08/16/a-prayer-for-repenting-of-my-critical-spirit-and-selective-compassion/">Scotty Smith</a>: <br />
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span class="s2"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD25KLjcx7SeQILQp2mjuhXuzrS3Cnn_H7elva4GAGl5NiE227nBNdD3aQBDgmphMt0bXU_3VXQwebdLV2y0RbdOl3MytebcmaHh3Nssf-oo9hGhZhFnMh1YvQJLQptTyEKWdP8LX3A7s/s1600/Compassion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD25KLjcx7SeQILQp2mjuhXuzrS3Cnn_H7elva4GAGl5NiE227nBNdD3aQBDgmphMt0bXU_3VXQwebdLV2y0RbdOl3MytebcmaHh3Nssf-oo9hGhZhFnMh1YvQJLQptTyEKWdP8LX3A7s/s320/Compassion.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span class="s2">You, therefore, have no excuse, you
who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge
another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do
the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do
such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere human being, pass
judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will
escape God’s judgment? Or do you show contempt for the riches of his
kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is
intended to lead you to repentance?</span><span class="s1"> <a class="rtBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Rom. 2.1-4" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Rom.%202.1-4" target="_blank">Rom. 2:1-4</a> (NIV)</span></span></span></div>
<blockquote>
</blockquote>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1">Dear heavenly Father, I feel
“busted” and beloved at the same time this morning. The call to love
others as Jesus loves me keeps driving me to you for more grace and for
more power of the gospel. Meditating on this passage has convicted me
about being <b><i>way</i></b> too selective in my love. I hoard the riches of your grace and withhold them from people desperate for your kindness. I’m <b><i>not</i></b> an equal opportunity dispenser of your mercy and compassion.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1">Father, I am quick to shower the
riches of your kindness, tolerance, and patience on people whose
brokenness, struggles, and issues are similar to <b><i>mine</i></b>. But
I can be condescending and judgmental toward people whose weaknesses
inconvenience, annoy, or offend me. Forgive and free me, Father. This
attitude blatantly contradicts the gospel.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1">Father, it’s your kindness that
leads me to repent today. I own my political-persuasion,
theological-family, life-choice orientation, and personality-profile
arrogance. I’m a mess, Lord, in need of a bigger, freer heart.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1">Jesus, you took the judgment I deserve on the cross—the <b><i>fullness </i></b>of God’s righteous wrath toward my sin; and now you love me with the <b><i>fullness </i></b>of compassion, acceptance, and delight. The greatest non sequitur in life happens when I withhold the same from others—<b><i>whoever</i></b>
they are. Deepen my repentance and deepen my compassion for fellow
broken image-bearers of God. So very Amen I pray, in your righteous and
loving name. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1">http://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/scottysmith/2015/08/16/a-prayer-for-repenting-of-my-critical-spirit-and-selective-compassion/ </span></div>
</div>
</article>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882828511488434678.post-17174993239316757722016-01-31T11:42:00.001-06:002016-01-31T11:42:46.188-06:00Torn Between One Way and Another (The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up.)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlyKvnpx2sKj-kv31V1JNxdzYBuNYHav93V8CkgiRCLYPdXF4mSG-rW8xQcBB-BP2VLpj7Vbj2PDguIBMWom1_4_tz9YuhhM8wIzdt-SRo-FpIDA5st3OKTwbXrQrp3D7qXwHc-RljNrM/s1600/trusting-god-childlike-trust-in-a-fearful-world-brent-lokker-7-638.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlyKvnpx2sKj-kv31V1JNxdzYBuNYHav93V8CkgiRCLYPdXF4mSG-rW8xQcBB-BP2VLpj7Vbj2PDguIBMWom1_4_tz9YuhhM8wIzdt-SRo-FpIDA5st3OKTwbXrQrp3D7qXwHc-RljNrM/s320/trusting-god-childlike-trust-in-a-fearful-world-brent-lokker-7-638.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
This is one of best sermons that I have heard on Romans 7-8.<br />
<br />
Click on this link to watch:<br />
<a href="http://thecity.org/message/the_six_week_journey_part_two#sthash.zLRfugkD.cmfs">The Six Week Journey - Part Two | The City Church</a><br />
<br />
Judah uses The Message version:<br />
<br />
Torn Between One Way and Another (Romans 7:14-8:17 MSG)<br />
<br />
I can
anticipate the response that is coming: “I know that all God’s commands
are spiritual, but I’m not. Isn’t this also your experience?” Yes. I’m
full of myself—after all, I’ve spent a long time in sin’s prison. What I
don’t understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act
another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can’t be trusted to
figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious
that God’s command is necessary.<br />
<br />
But I need something more! For
if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin
within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I
realize that I don’t have what it takes. I can will it, but I can’t do
it. I decide to do good, but I don’t really do it; I decide not to do
bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don’t
result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the
better of me every time.<br />
<br />
It happens so regularly that it’s
predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up.
I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all
of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I
least expect it, they take charge.<br />
<br />
I’ve tried everything and
nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do
anything for me? Isn’t that the real question?<br />
<br />
The answer, thank
God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in
this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart
and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally
different.<br />
<br />
With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful
dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no
longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new
power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind,
has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of
brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.<br />
<br />
God went for the
jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn’t deal with the problem as
something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took
on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling
humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code,
weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have
done that.<br />
<br />
The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on
sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for
but we couldn’t deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling
our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us.<br />
Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with
measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it
in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s
Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these
matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open,
into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of
focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up
thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and
what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being ignored.<br />
<br />
But if
God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be
thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not
welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ,
won’t know what we’re talking about. But for you who welcome him, in
whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of
sin—you yourself experience life on God’s terms. It stands to reason,
doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the
dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in
Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in
you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from
that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as
alive as Christ’s!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8p7xfBIkp3yH6TaqsQP2DChV5GLIB65_0eCZTjISl921zob9a4sjIcvDTQIzRs0zEIrxKIDWR4Zj0d-9B3KpiRHATbKscXgoi4KyLW6akEtt5XCNG9RNCjvHbLMsnxm9E9c45C9nQqP4/s1600/what-is-next.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8p7xfBIkp3yH6TaqsQP2DChV5GLIB65_0eCZTjISl921zob9a4sjIcvDTQIzRs0zEIrxKIDWR4Zj0d-9B3KpiRHATbKscXgoi4KyLW6akEtt5XCNG9RNCjvHbLMsnxm9E9c45C9nQqP4/s200/what-is-next.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>
So don’t you see that we don’t owe this old
do-it-yourself life one red cent. There’s nothing in it for us, nothing
at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with
your new life. God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places
to go!<br />
This resurrection life you received from God is not a
timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God
with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits
and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we
are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming
to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ
goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re
certainly going to go through the good times with him!<br />
<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882828511488434678.post-59027887499359689722016-01-24T18:29:00.001-06:002016-01-24T18:29:27.025-06:00A Prayer for Gospel Parenting<article class="general-post"><a href="http://blogs.thegospelcoalition.org/scottysmith/2015/09/26/a-prayer-for-parenting-and-grand-parenting-by-grace-faith-and-love/">A Prayer by Scotty Smith</a>:<div class="pf-content">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://media.salemwebnetwork.com/cms/CW/26254-parenting.1200w.tn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" class="irc_mi" height="209" src="http://media.salemwebnetwork.com/cms/CW/26254-parenting.1200w.tn.jpg" style="margin-top: 34px;" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<i>Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the
city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up
early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he
gives to his beloved sleep. Behold, children are a heritage from the
Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. <a class="rtBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Ps 127.1-3" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Ps%20127.1-3" target="_blank">Psalm 127:1-3 (ESV)</a></i><br />
<br />
Dear heavenly Father, yet again we turn to you as the designer
and builder of all things, including the lives of our children and
grandchildren. Thank you for reminding us that our children are a gift,
not a project.<br /><br />
At times you’ve had to use a gospel wrecking-ball on my parenting
style, in order to build something more lasting and beautiful. That
process continues. But even when I’m overbearing or under-believing,
disengaged or too enmeshed, I am thankful to know that you remain
faithful and loving.<br /><br />
Continue to rescue me from relational “laboring in vain”—assuming a
burden you never intended parents to bear. Father, only you can reveal
the glory and grace of Jesus to our children. Only you can give anyone a
new heart. You’ve called us to parent as an act of worship—to parent
“as unto you,” not as a way of saving face, making a name for ourselves,
or proving our worth.<br /><br />
It’s the height of arrogance to think our “good parenting” accounts
for the best of what we see in the lives of our children; and it’s a
lie from hell to assume that our “bad parenting” is the sole reason for
the things that break our hearts. Free us, Father, free us, and forgive
us. Oh, the undue pressure our children must feel when we parent more
out of our fear and pride than by your love and grace.<br /><br />
Since our kids are your inheritance, Father, teach us how to care
for them as humble stewards, not as anxious owners. More than anything
else, show us how to parent and grandparent in a way that best reveals
the unsearchable riches of Christ. Give us quick repentances and
observable kindnesses. Father, we want to love and serve our children,
“in line with the truth of the gospel” (<a class="rtBibleRef" data-purpose="bible-reference" data-reference="Gal. 2.14" data-version="esv" href="http://biblia.com/bible/esv/Gal.%202.14" target="_blank">Gal. 2:14</a>).<br />
<br />
So very Amen we pray in Jesus’ faithful and powerful name.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i><b>Scotty has an incredible book of prayers like this available at Amazon and other retailers.</b></i> <br />
</div>
</article>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882828511488434678.post-61525382296915279082015-12-20T18:55:00.001-06:002015-12-20T18:55:48.435-06:00A gift from a God we hardly even knew.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.philipyancey.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/bigstock-Business-man-offering-a-gift-13020299-300x200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="bigstock-Business-man-offering-a-gift-13020299" border="0" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-3555" height="200" src="http://www.philipyancey.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/bigstock-Business-man-offering-a-gift-13020299-300x200.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
We enjoy thinking of ourselves as
basically generous, benevolent, giving people. That’s one reason why
everyone, even the nominally religious, loves Christmas. Christmas is a
season to celebrate our alleged generosity. The newspaper keeps us
posted on how many needy families we have adopted. The Salvation Army
kettles enable us to be generous while buying groceries (for ourselves)
or gifts (for our families). People we work with who usually balk at the
collection to pay for the morning coffee fall over themselves
soliciting funds “to make Christmas” for some family.</div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
We
love Christmas because, as we say, Christmas brings out the best in us.
Everyone gives on Christmas, even the stingiest among us, even
the Ebeneezer Scrooges. Dickens suggests
that down deep, even the worst of us can become generous, giving people.</div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
<b>Yet I suggest we are better givers
than getters, not because we are generous people but because we are
proud, arrogant people.</b> The Christmas story–the one according to Luke
not Dickens–is not about how blessed it is to be givers but about how
essential it is to see ourselves as receivers. </div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
We prefer to think of ourselves as
givers–powerful, competent, self-sufficient, capable people whose
goodness motivates us to employ some of our power, competence and gifts
to benefit the less fortunate. Which is a direct contradiction of the
biblical account of the first Christmas. There
we are portrayed not as the givers we wish we were but as the receivers
we are. Luke and Matthew go to great lengths to demonstrate that
we–with our power, generosity, competence and capabilities–had little to
do with God’s work in Jesus. God wanted to do something for us so
strange, so utterly beyond the bounds of human imagination, so foreign
to human projection, that God had to resort to angels, pregnant virgins,
and stars in the sky to get it done. We didn’t think of it, understand
it or approve it. All we could do, at Bethlehem, was receive it. A gift from a God we hardly even knew.</div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
</div>
<br />
<em>—William Willimon, taken from an article in The Christian Century, Dec 21-28, 1998</em>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882828511488434678.post-45849075103238872782015-10-10T13:03:00.000-06:002015-10-10T13:03:29.365-06:00Now I drive the speed limit.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2p8XTt3U2gG2dfzSXQJe-NUHN02nHy0SdSImtUNVeI2_eWbbGo4sziNNMYBtAt3NSKs2wqw02M7kJJJ6doBREmoQsQRHqbeleHysFpSmWhknYs4sBdXTP_y5HIZeXUsQpIjdt72ZMtdo/s1600/but-god.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2p8XTt3U2gG2dfzSXQJe-NUHN02nHy0SdSImtUNVeI2_eWbbGo4sziNNMYBtAt3NSKs2wqw02M7kJJJ6doBREmoQsQRHqbeleHysFpSmWhknYs4sBdXTP_y5HIZeXUsQpIjdt72ZMtdo/s320/but-god.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="passage-display">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="passage-display-bcv">Jesus didn’t come to make bad people good, but dead people live. - CS Lewis</span></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="passage-display-bcv"> </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="passage-display-bcv"></span></span></span></span></b><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span class="passage-display-bcv"></span></span></span></span></i></div>
<div class="passage-display">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span class="passage-display-bcv"><br /></span></span></span></span></i></div>
<div class="passage-display">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">What we preach is not a message of good to great. Jesus did not come to
the planet to make good people greater. He didn't even come to the
planet to make bad people good. This is not an improvement plan. This
is not a remodel. This is death to life. The testimony of Jesus
followers is not "I was an OK person. Then Jesus came along and I put on
a gold necklace with a gold cross and he made me a little bit better.
Now I drive the speed limit, I pay my taxes...all of them. I'm a pretty
respectable employee. This has just really improved me." That's not
the message we preach. The message is "I was dead and now I'm alive." - Judah Smith</span></span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></i></div>
<div class="passage-display">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="passage-display">
<i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ephesians 2:1-3 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.</span></span></span></i> </div>
</blockquote>
<h1 class="passage-display">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span></span></h1>
<h1 class="passage-display">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">But God.....Not "but you need to do this"..."But God" made us alive, saved, raised up, seated with....</span></span></span></h1>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Ephesians 2:4-10 <u>But</u> because of his great love for us, <u>God</u>, who is rich in mercy, <u>made us alive</u> with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you <u>have been saved</u>. And God <u>raised us up</u> with Christ and <u>seated us </u>with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages <u>he might show</u> the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is <u>not from yourselves</u>, it is the gift of God— <u>not by works</u>, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which <u>God prepared</u> in advance for us to do.</i></blockquote>
<h1 class="passage-display">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Watch whole sermon here: http://thecity.org/message/a_new_you_part_three</span></span></span></h1>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882828511488434678.post-77102638256781697022015-07-04T14:22:00.000-06:002015-07-04T14:22:22.154-06:00Trust v. Transaction<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDlJyn-1LCdAhSWHO1cJACiXfPquL8OgKXjAK22H2oJmANtkjyaMrgexQ55DLBZZy2bBJ1GutsLZInYUQOqjhyeyUex0GqfbLo0PaKDS8BCGGZw-cmPvxdD6tDqm5hc9yzSEsy3Nyz3IQ/s1600/CDF8BC91-10E4-4103-A7F4-00192F3F2E9E.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDlJyn-1LCdAhSWHO1cJACiXfPquL8OgKXjAK22H2oJmANtkjyaMrgexQ55DLBZZy2bBJ1GutsLZInYUQOqjhyeyUex0GqfbLo0PaKDS8BCGGZw-cmPvxdD6tDqm5hc9yzSEsy3Nyz3IQ/s320/CDF8BC91-10E4-4103-A7F4-00192F3F2E9E.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Click <a href="http://pca.st/Dl7V">here</a> for a wonderful 25 minute discussion by Rob Bell on the <a href="http://pca.st/Dl7V">Prodigal Son</a>.</span><br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882828511488434678.post-55404245391405542022015-06-20T04:11:00.000-06:002015-06-20T04:11:26.980-06:00Eager Beavers and Grinning Drunks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvHWC4hPcjrBw0wqGFvg578ko-LIh60s0ZNAhOkTJkLwSLHI5SsNvmoj3l0TPnYULSQr1hBju9RyAeaeIg6Efb-YtluqfKruKU7FC7rqnsy7q89ZqscW_oAAi-JgN4vQyzqECXkE-oXt4/s1600/hqdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvHWC4hPcjrBw0wqGFvg578ko-LIh60s0ZNAhOkTJkLwSLHI5SsNvmoj3l0TPnYULSQr1hBju9RyAeaeIg6Efb-YtluqfKruKU7FC7rqnsy7q89ZqscW_oAAi-JgN4vQyzqECXkE-oXt4/s320/hqdefault.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Great quote from Brennan Manning’s essential <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1434764184/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1434764184&linkCode=as2&tag=themockblog-20">All Is </a><a href="http://www.mbird.com/glossary/grace/">Grace</a>: A Ragamuffin Memoir, pg 193-94:</span><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">My life is a witness to vulgar grace–a grace that amazes as it offends. A grace that pays the eager beaver who works all day long the same wages as the grinning drunk who shows up a ten till five.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A grace that hikes up the robe and runs breakneck toward the prodigal reeking of sin and wraps him up and decides to throw a party no ifs, ands or buts.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A grace that raises bloodshot eyes to a dying theif’s request–“Please, remember me”–and assures him, “You bet!”</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A grace that is the pleasure of the Father, fleshed out in the carpenter Messiah, Jesus the Christ, who left His Father’s side not for heaven’s sake but for our sakes, yours and mind.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This vulgar grace is indiscriminate compassion. It works without asking anything of us.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It’s not cheap. It’s free, and as such will always be a banana peel for the orthodox foot and a fairy tale for the grown-up sensibility.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Grace is sufficient even though we huff and puff with all our might to try to find something or someone it cannot cover.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Grace is enough. He is enough. Jesus is enough.</span></blockquote>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882828511488434678.post-54478058234339533682015-05-10T15:34:00.000-06:002015-05-10T15:34:20.282-06:00Just forget it, Arthur.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOFFXrH6kDbxHcLHMShJFJMGhJRN4cBjlcniUxXkm8zkWnfGwfp__abIox6GahOfzQW1sVrepBJhPrI38elCjcfcmOvupMvVKYYnGO65RyoMfqMQU3Gp-c6tNSZVe3w8kWvocILprl7s8/s1600/423c6955-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOFFXrH6kDbxHcLHMShJFJMGhJRN4cBjlcniUxXkm8zkWnfGwfp__abIox6GahOfzQW1sVrepBJhPrI38elCjcfcmOvupMvVKYYnGO65RyoMfqMQU3Gp-c6tNSZVe3w8kWvocILprl7s8/s320/423c6955-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Robert Capon on Luke 14:1-14 and Christ’s lesson on dinner party etiquette:</b></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
At the end of his speech to the host, Jesus specifically ties this
condemnation of bookkeeping to the resurrection. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
‘You will be happy,’ he
tells his host in verse 14, ‘precisely because these losers and
deadbeats you invite won’t be able to repay you.’ </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
He says, in other
words, that happiness can never come in until the bookkeeping stops,
until the hand that clutches at the dance goes dead and lets the dance
happen freely. And he says that the place where that happy consequence
will burst upon us is at the resurrection of the just. And <strong>the
just, please note, are not stuffy, righteous types with yard-long lists
of good works, but simply all the forgiven sinners of the world who live
by faith — who trust Jesus and laugh out loud at the layoff of all the
accountants.</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And the unjust? Well, the unjust are all the forgiven sinners of the
world who, stupidly, live by unfaith — who are going to insist on
showing up at the resurrection with all their record books, as if it
were an IRS audit. The unjust are the idiots who are going to try to
talk Jesus into checking his bookkeeping against theirs. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And do you know
what Jesus is going to say to them — what, for example, he will say to
his host if he comes to the resurrection with such a request? I think he
will say, </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
“Just forget it, Arthur. I suppose we have those books around
here somewhere, and if you’re really determined to stand in front of my
great white throne and make an ass of yourself, I guess they can be
opened (Rev. 20:12). Frankly, though, nobody up here pays any attention
to them. What will happen will be that while you’re busy reading and
weeping over everything in those books, I will go and open my other book
(Rev. 20:12, again), the book of life — the book that has in it the
names of everybody I ever drew to myself by dying and rising. And when I
open that book, I’m going to read out to the whole universe every last
word that’s written there. And you know what that’s going to be? <strong>It’s
going to be just Arthur. Nothing else. None of your bad deeds, because I
erased them all. And none of your good deeds, because I didn’t count
them, I just enjoyed them. So what I’ll read out, Arthur, will be just <em>Arthur!</em>
real loud. And my Father will smile and say, ‘Hey, Arthur! You’re just
the way I pictured you!’ And the universe will giggle and say, ‘That’s
some Arthur you’ve got there!’ But me, I’ll just wink at you and say,
‘Arthur, c’mon up here and plunk yourself down by my great white throne
and let’s you and me have a good long practice laugh before this party
gets so loud we can’t even hear how much fun we’re having.</strong></div>
</blockquote>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882828511488434678.post-12990180116265847212015-03-02T09:56:00.001-06:002015-03-02T09:56:25.325-06:00Thank You.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXT601oG-AzbWDpL0QYnViSWG0bDk1P6dDT4msOqlXUts0aJK3JAi2h-pLqH_wlh31nt9clso0Oyp6x4nWupaksDaaHJc_W9CY548xDZLJ6kOl5UvKP9SPt9m_guEat0ha54dsyKM4634/s1600/thank-you-different-languages-15099282.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXT601oG-AzbWDpL0QYnViSWG0bDk1P6dDT4msOqlXUts0aJK3JAi2h-pLqH_wlh31nt9clso0Oyp6x4nWupaksDaaHJc_W9CY548xDZLJ6kOl5UvKP9SPt9m_guEat0ha54dsyKM4634/s1600/thank-you-different-languages-15099282.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><strong>Thank You </strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>A prayer by Michel Quoist:</b></span><br />
<br /> We must
know how to say, “Thank You.”<br />
<br />
Our days are filled with the gifts the
Lord showers on us. If we were in the habit of taking stock of them, at
night we should be like a “queen for a day,” dazzled and happy with so
many blessings.<br />
<br />
We should then be grateful to God, secure because he
gives us everything, joyful because we know that every day he will renew
his gifts.<br />
<br />
Everything is a gift from God, even the
smallest things, and it’s the sum of these gifts that makes a life
beautiful or sad, depending on how we use them.<br />
<br />
“All
good giving and every perfect gift comes from above, from the Father of
the lights of heaven. With him there is no variation, no play of passing
shadows.” (James I, 17)<br />
<br />
Thank you, Lord, thank you.<br />Thank you for all the gifts you have given me today,<br />Thank you for all I have seen, heard, received.<br /><br />
Thank you for the water that woke me up, the soap that smells good, the toothpaste that refreshes. Thank you for the clothes that protect me, for their color and their cut.<br />Thank
you for the newspaper so faithfully there, for the comics (my morning
smile), for the report of useful meetings, for justice done and big
games won.<br /><br />
Thank you for the street-cleaning truck and the men who run it, for their morning shouts and all the early noises.<br /><br />
Thank you for my work, my tools, my efforts.<br /><br />
Thank
you for the metal in my hands, for the whine of the steel biting into
it, for the satisfied look of the supervisor and the load of finished
pieces.<br /><br />
Thank you for Jim who lent me his file, for Danny who gave me a cigarette, for Charlie who held the door for me.<br /><br />
Thank
you for the welcoming street that led me there, for the shop windows,
for the cars, for the passers-by, for all the life that flowed swiftly
between the windowed walls of the houses.<br />
<br />
Thank you for the food that sustained me, for the glass of beer that refreshed me.<br /><br />
Thank
you for the car that meekly took me where I wanted to be, for the gas
that made it go, for the wind that caressed my face and for the trees
that nodded to me on the way.<br />
<br />
Thank you for the boy I watched playing on the sidewalk opposite, Thank you for his roller-skates and for his comical face when he fell.<br />
<br />
Thank you for the morning greetings I received, and for all the smiles.<br /><br />
Thank you for the mother who welcomes me at home, for her tactful affection, for her silent presence.<br /><br />
Thank
you for the roof that shelters me, for the lamp that lights me, for the
radio that<br />
plays, for the news, for music and singing.<br /><br />
Thank you for the bunch of flowers, so pretty on my table.<br />
<br />
Thank you for the tranquil night.<br />Thank you for the stars.<br />Thank you for the silence.<br />
Thank you for the time you have given me.<br />Thank you for life.<br />Thank you for grace.<br />
Thank you for being there, Lord.<br /><br />
Thank you for listening to me, for taking me serioulsy, for gathering my gifts in your hands to offer them to your Father.<br /><br />
Thank you, Lord,<br />Thank you.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882828511488434678.post-27774507893838886772015-02-08T11:52:00.002-06:002015-02-08T11:52:55.648-06:00God is not Disappointed in You<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3-PnBmmfoZmnc2IoZgg8_U25KeiN0g0dheNk5e6qoUb1_B2lCp7F5w4IMbqlzltxarG_CPxiNPSZoo8hf9BiAeRv7gdf4sK_uwzbuJ3hvpwidztxpwqt_dBQMMGDQhAVbtSmeslcWppQ/s1600/cross+orange.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3-PnBmmfoZmnc2IoZgg8_U25KeiN0g0dheNk5e6qoUb1_B2lCp7F5w4IMbqlzltxarG_CPxiNPSZoo8hf9BiAeRv7gdf4sK_uwzbuJ3hvpwidztxpwqt_dBQMMGDQhAVbtSmeslcWppQ/s1600/cross+orange.jpg" height="320" width="304" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="text Zeph-3-17" id="en-NIV-22838">The <span class="small-caps" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span> your God is with you,</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text Zeph-3-17">the Mighty Warrior who saves.</span></span><br /><span class="text Zeph-3-17">He will take great delight in you;</span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text Zeph-3-17">in his love he will no longer rebuke you,</span></span><br /><span class="indent-1"><span class="indent-1-breaks"> </span><span class="text Zeph-3-17">but will rejoice over you with singing.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="indent-1"><span class="text Zeph-3-17"> --- Zephaniah 3</span></span></span></span> </span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“God is not disappointed in you. And I can say that because what
disappointment means is that God has unmet expectations. All the
expectations for righteousness have been completely fulfilled in Christ
and all the expectations for your debt have been fulfilled too. I’m not
going to go over what you already know, I’m sure that being reminded of
what you’re failing to do won’t result in more obedience. So here’s the
good news: you are forgiven, you are righteous. The Lord has taken away
the judgements against you. He is rejoicing over you with gladness. The
Lord has promised to bless and keep you. His face is smiling on you now,
and He will be gracious to you now and forever. You can rest. Go in
peace. Smile.” </span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
-Elyse Fitzpatrick, Liberate 2014Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882828511488434678.post-59157610551380049242015-02-05T19:57:00.000-06:002015-02-05T19:57:22.602-06:00Wounded and Weary Sinners Waiting for Good News that Never ComesBy Jeff Nichols at <a href="http://liberate.org/2015/02/05/wounded-and-weary-sinners-waiting-for-good-news-that-never-comes/">Liberate</a>:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT4T_Igd4ay3fV6SrsiNN38wUQLIDqO7tPy_vIt5NevAW7Ryw9rt35JuJrmSixfpk_ntSAk5m7ZpvnhMWdZru5ifATCSgTwsllqnWY17oKC6FqtI2p5agntQw9A6LEdhih3Qj9C5VOX1o/s1600/wounded-and-weak-sinners.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT4T_Igd4ay3fV6SrsiNN38wUQLIDqO7tPy_vIt5NevAW7Ryw9rt35JuJrmSixfpk_ntSAk5m7ZpvnhMWdZru5ifATCSgTwsllqnWY17oKC6FqtI2p5agntQw9A6LEdhih3Qj9C5VOX1o/s1600/wounded-and-weak-sinners.jpg" height="225" width="320" /></a></div>
I usually take a solo camping trip to the North Carolina mountains
every Labor Day weekend. Sort of my way to hit the reset button. On one
of those outings a couple of years ago, I decided one Sunday morning to
head down the Blue Ridge Parkway on my way to a small rural church.<br />
<br />
It looked like a postcard from the outside. The parishioners inside
warmly greeted this blue jean wearing, scruffy stranger. It was awesome
to sit with them in old straight-back wooden pews again and sing
“Amazing Grace.”<br />
<br />
Then the sermon started. From the beginning the pastor whacked us
with the Law. Nothing wrong with God’s Law, it shows us the standard.
The standard we can’t meet on our own.<br />
<br />
As I waited to hear the resuscitating words of the Gospel, I realized they weren’t going to come.<br />
<br />
With increasing intensity and sweat, the message was solely “do more,
try harder, get your act together. God is tired of sinners! His
patience is wearing out! You’re nowhere close to doing everything you
can to please God!”<br />
<br />
It was the elder brother from Jesus’ parable of the lost son(s) up on
that tiny stage with a message that wayward little brothers and sisters
have no right to any feast. No right to a warm greeting from a Father
who joyfully runs out to greet sinners and welcome them back home over
and over again. We hadn’t earned any of that.<br />
<br />
Thundering Law. Not even a whisper of the Gospel.<br />
<br />
A scene too often played out in worship services not just in the South, but across the world. In churches large and small.<br />
<br />
Wounded and weary sinners waiting for an announcement of good news that never comes.<br />
It turned out he was a guest preacher. The church was looking for
someone full-time.<br />
<br />
When he finally sat down after kneeling and wiping
his brow, one of the elders stood up and said, “Now <em>this</em> is the kind of man we’ve been missing. Someone unafraid to tell us, and it, like it is.”<br />
<br />
When <em>it</em> was over, I eased out of the pew, lowered my head
and made a beeline to the parking lot, thinking I was the first soul to
leave in such haste and wondering why I hadn’t gone for a nice hike
instead.<br />
<br />
When I looked up, I saw the pastor’s college-aged daughter already
ahead of me on the way to their car. I’ll never ever forget the look on
her face. The very picture of beaten-down. Not an especially embarrassed
or surprised look—she’d obviously heard all this before.<br />
<br />
Just weariness. Hopelessness.<br />
<br />
I wish to this day I would’ve said something to her, although I have no idea what that would’ve been.<br />
<br />
Maybe, on the day before Labor Day, just Jesus’ words from Matthew 11:29-30.<br />
<blockquote>
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,<br />
for I am gentle and humble in heart,<br />
and you will find rest for your souls.<br />
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.</blockquote>
<span style="color: black;">Along with maybe the message we had all
just sang—some in tears—but never heard spoken back to us. God’s saving
promise of “Amazing Grace.” </span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">The sound that revives. The sweetest sound.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882828511488434678.post-89565512165323713012015-01-31T16:52:00.001-06:002015-01-31T16:52:37.985-06:00East and West<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxqWFVw8aWGWQ-4N1vGqlbzNXhZUGtOm-_v-adwrOhgWpM026fXg9j7QTPB29ook-flE6zOVd2Ic47NQdnffLmiSq9yVp4OWWfnvOqpvv3MSmRC-vYGu3VgMk3o3A-n-yv8B5hiAsRBGM/s1600/Psalm-103-12-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxqWFVw8aWGWQ-4N1vGqlbzNXhZUGtOm-_v-adwrOhgWpM026fXg9j7QTPB29ook-flE6zOVd2Ic47NQdnffLmiSq9yVp4OWWfnvOqpvv3MSmRC-vYGu3VgMk3o3A-n-yv8B5hiAsRBGM/s1600/Psalm-103-12-web.jpg" height="236" width="320" /></a></div>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><b><span class="text Heb-8-12" id="en-NIV-30105"> </span></b></span></b></span></span></span></span></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="text Heb-8-12" id="en-NIV-30105">For I will forgive their wickedness</span><span class="indent-1"><span class="text Heb-8-12"> and will remember their sins no more. Hebrews 8:12</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="indent-1"><span class="text Heb-8-12"><span style="background-color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"></span></span></span></span></span></span><b><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"></span></span></span><span></span></span></b></span></span><br /></span></span></span></h2>
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="indent-1"><span class="text Heb-8-12"></span></span><span style="background-color: black;"><span></span></span> </span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">The writer Brennan Manning tells the story about a woman, who had been having visions of Jesus. And the local archbishop comes to find out more about this woman, who had been having these visions about Jesus – because we can’t have that. </span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">The archbishop says, “Have you been having visions about Jesus?” <br /> </span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">The woman says, “Yes.” </span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">She does not back down, so the archbishop said, “Okay, here’s what I want you to do. </span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Next time you have one of your visions of Jesus, I want you to ask Jesus a question.” </span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">“Okay,” the woman said. <br /><br />“I want you to ask Jesus what sins I confessed the last time I went to confession.” <br /><br />The woman said “Fair enough.” And the archbishop leaves. <br /><br />A little while later, he hears rumors that she’s been having visions again about Jesus. So he returns to the woman and says, “Have you been having visions of Jesus again?” <br /><br />And the woman says, “Yes. I’ve been having a vision about Jesus.” <br /><br />And he says, “Well, did you remember?” <br /><br />And the woman says to the archbishop, “Yes. I did remember.” <br /><br />And then she took the archbishop’s hand in hers. And she said, “I asked Jesus what sins you confessed the last time you went to confession. And Jesus’s exact words were: 'I don’t remember.'"</span></h3>
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></h3>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882828511488434678.post-29349066971590659542015-01-23T07:29:00.002-06:002015-01-23T07:29:23.719-06:00Owners of Nothing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKJePM91qmsoVnIxYKydUfDxRaXsOww5MiBhHiHU0hamARBcefr37XzFZz1xQ_G9_fOf61egV3-rk9K8X-1NzMxu2kSKlG5JyVJWkLQCwMYqzNPicUsSVGyK3wkMj-BHzzluT8_ygvb3w/s1600/Genesis-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKJePM91qmsoVnIxYKydUfDxRaXsOww5MiBhHiHU0hamARBcefr37XzFZz1xQ_G9_fOf61egV3-rk9K8X-1NzMxu2kSKlG5JyVJWkLQCwMYqzNPicUsSVGyK3wkMj-BHzzluT8_ygvb3w/s1600/Genesis-1.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">We are owners of nothing </span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">and stewards </span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">of everything. </span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Tullian Tchividjian </span></div>
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882828511488434678.post-5160605531556153092015-01-20T18:58:00.000-06:002015-01-20T18:58:27.239-06:00My God, I Don’t Believe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnnMsIuYza-_ZK2_UT2qgHRhucEMrtJ6K8hY9ocXjsnTSaiEkJ5EAA1X8vvO5Z0EsPLEl4uMjyUZHF5XbJzqvAb4LCW7sFifc0R85jHIRRyMyYU0H-G9w6yL1gpKnAP_hlT_uz5qsJQs/s1600/Father_and_son.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnnMsIuYza-_ZK2_UT2qgHRhucEMrtJ6K8hY9ocXjsnTSaiEkJ5EAA1X8vvO5Z0EsPLEl4uMjyUZHF5XbJzqvAb4LCW7sFifc0R85jHIRRyMyYU0H-G9w6yL1gpKnAP_hlT_uz5qsJQs/s1600/Father_and_son.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a><b><span style="font-size: small;">PRAYER: My God, I Don’t Believe by Michel Quoist</span></b></div>
<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">My</span> God, I don’t believe<br />
that you cause the rain to fall or the sun to shine,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">to</span> order,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">on</span> request,<br />
so that the christian’s corn will grow<br />
or the parish priest’s Bazaar will be a success;<br />
that you find work for the virtuous unemployed person<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">but</span> leave others to search alone<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">and</span> never find a job;<br />
that you protect from accidents<br />
the child whose mother prays<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">and</span> allow the other one to be killed,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">the</span> little one who has no mother to storm heaven;<br />
that you give us food to eat<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">when</span> we ask you for it,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">and</span> allow people to die of hunger<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">when</span> we stop asking for your help.<br />
<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">My</span> God, I don’t believe<br />
that you lead us wherever you want us to go,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">and</span> that we only have to let ourselves be led:<br />
that you send us hardship<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">and</span> all we can do is to accept it;<br />
that you offer us success<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">and</span> we only have to thank you for it;<br />
that when you make a decision,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">you</span> know what is good for us<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">and</span> it is up to us to accept with resignation.<br />
<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">No,</span> my God, I don’t believe<br />
that you are a dictator,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">all-</span>powerful,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">imposing</span> your will,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">for</span> the good of your people;<br />
that we are puppets<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">and</span> that you pull the strings<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">whenever</span> you feel like it;<br />
that you make us play out a mysterious drama<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">in</span> which the smallest details<br />
<span style="margin-left: 50px;">have</span> been preordained by you since the beginning of time.<br />
<br />
No, I don’t believe it,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">I</span> no longer believe it,<br />
because I know now, my God,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">that</span> this is not what you want,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">that</span> you couldn’t do this,<br />
because you are LOVE,<br />
because you are our FATHER<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">and</span> because we are your children.<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">Forgive</span> us, oh my God,<br />
for having distorted your image as a loving Father.<br /><br />
We believed that in order to know and understand you<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">we</span> should imagine you<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">endowed</span> with infinite power and authority,<br />
of the kind that we humans too often seek.<br />
Thinking of you and speaking about you,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">we</span> have used words that are alright in themselves,<br />
but in our closed hearts they have turned into traps<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">and</span> we have translated:<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">omnipotence,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">the</span> will of God,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">commandment,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">obedience,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">judgement</span>. . .<br />
into the language of arrogant men and women<br />
who dream of dominion over their brothers and sisters;<br />
and we have assigned to you:<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">punishment,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">suffering</span> and death,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">while</span> what you wish for us is<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">forgiveness</span>,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">happiness</span> and life.<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">Forgive</span> us, oh my God,<br />
because we haven’t had the courage to believe that, through your love for us,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">you have always wanted us to be <em>free,</em></span><br />
free not just to say yes or no<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">to what you have decided for us in advance,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">but free to reflect,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">to choose,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">to act as independent beings</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">throughout our lives.</span><br />
<br />
We haven’t had the courage to believe<br />
that you wanted our freedom so much<br />
that you risked sin, allowing us the freedom to sin,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">that you risked evil,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">suffering,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">spoiled fruits of our misused freedom,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">awful consequence of our rejection of your love,</span><br />
that you risked losing,<br />
in the eyes of many of your children,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">your halo of infinite goodness</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">and the glory of your omnipotence.</span><br />
We haven’t had the courage to understand<br />
that when you wanted to reveal yourself to us definitely,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">you came on this earth,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">small,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">weak,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">naked,</span><br />
and that you died on a cross,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">abandoned,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">powerless,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">naked,</span><br />
to signify to the world that your only power<br />
is the infinite power of love,<br />
love which frees us,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">so that we can love.</span><br />
<br />
I know now, my God, that you can do everything<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">. . . except take our freedom away from us!</span><br />
<br />
Thank you, my God, for this beautiful and frightening freedom,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">supreme gift of your infinite love.</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">We are free!</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">Free!</span><br />
Free to harness nature, little by little,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">and to use it in the service of our sisters and brothers;</span><br />
free to abuse it<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">by exploiting it for our own advantage;</span><br />
free to protect and develop life,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">to fight against suffering</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">and sickness,</span><br />
or free to squander intelligence, energy, money,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">to manufacture weapons</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">and to kill each other;</span><br />
free to give or not to give children to you;<br />
free to organize the sharing of our wealth,<br />
or to allow millions of human beings<br />
to die of hunger on fertile land;<br />
free to love<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">or free to hate,</span><br />
free to follow you<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">or to reject you.</span><br />
<br />
We are free. . .<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">but loved <em>infinitely</em>.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">So I believe, my God,</span><br />
that because you love us and because you are our Father<br />
you have always wanted us to be happy forever,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">that you always propose</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">but</span> never impose.<br />
<br />
I believe that your Spirit of love<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">at the center of our life,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">whispers to us, faithfully, each day,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">the desires of your Father.</span><br />
And I believe that amid the great dove-tailing<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">of human freedoms,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">the events that touch us, all our involvements,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">those we have chosen</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">and those we haven’t chosen,</span><br />
sources of joy or of cruel suffering,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">all of these,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">through us and for us,</span><br />
with the help of your Spirit who is with us,<br />
thanks to your love for us in your son,<br />
thanks to our freedom to be open to your love,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">all of these can be providential,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">each time they become part of us.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">Oh my great and loving God,</span><br />
so humble and unobtrusive before me<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">that I cannot reach out and understand you</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">unless</span> I become like a little child,<br />
let me believe with all my strength<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">in your only omnipotence:</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">the omnipotence of your <em>love</em>.</span><br /><br />
Then, one day, in union with my sisters and brothers,<br />
proud of having lived my life as a free human being,<br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">supremely happy,</span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 25px;">“Go my child, your faith has redeemed you.”</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #990000;"><em>Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us
to be his through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and
without fault before him. Because of his love God has already decided
that through Jesus Christ he would make us his sons – this was his
pleasure and purpose. Let us praise God for his glorious grace, for the
free gift he gave us in his dear son. (Ephesians 1:4-6)</em></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #990000;"><i>
</i></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #990000;"><em>Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. And God
showed his love for us by sending his only son into the world, so that
we might have life through him. This is what love is: it is not that we
have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the means
by which our sins are forgiven. (1 John 4:8-10)</em></span></b><br />
<h1 class="entry-title">
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></h1>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882828511488434678.post-7101651529590197642014-12-04T07:38:00.002-06:002014-12-04T07:38:36.800-06:00Un-Manicured Hands <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGzSQR9M47hPjPKnYLRy64jwxGpPMidjJAmLClGSzaATBKHT3KAJfnnuoMP9YXtzIeoH_w9M3k-n9RURb3JYjOhuQ2yyCYdZXCVX0Y3bdTa36N7Nrj4GvC2lFUoSYvokh_oVpojgZzzlg/s1600/ACEO-Original-Folk-ARt-Nativity-Scene-by-Moody.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGzSQR9M47hPjPKnYLRy64jwxGpPMidjJAmLClGSzaATBKHT3KAJfnnuoMP9YXtzIeoH_w9M3k-n9RURb3JYjOhuQ2yyCYdZXCVX0Y3bdTa36N7Nrj4GvC2lFUoSYvokh_oVpojgZzzlg/s1600/ACEO-Original-Folk-ARt-Nativity-Scene-by-Moody.jpg" height="320" width="226" /></a></div>
From Max Lucado:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; line-height: 150%; margin: 1em 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">
Jesus
came, not as a flash of light or as an unapproachable conqueror, but as
one whose first cries were heard by a peasant girl and a sleepy
carpenter. The hands that first held him were un-manicured, calloused,
and dirty. For thirty-three years he would feel everything you and I
have ever felt. Weak and weary; and afraid of failure. His feelings got
hurt.</div>
<span style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">
</span>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; line-height: 150%; margin: 1em 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">
To
think of Jesus in such a light seems almost irreverent. There’s
something about keeping him divine that keeps him distant and
predictable. But don’t do it! For heaven’s sake, don’t! Let him be as
human as he intended to be. Let him into the mire and muck of our world.
For only if we let him in can he pull us out!</div>
</blockquote>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882828511488434678.post-56518113410130305982014-12-02T08:29:00.002-06:002014-12-02T08:29:48.528-06:00Jesus in our Neighborhood Part II<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 20.7999992370605px;"></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUm9J1_lc6Vb96aa80e-yYjpO782gN5drCSpWrWUh9GiSimllPYNALf-6Z1fSYTHj2E3tMZzWh55g9urrTLmfbyU08ZovkUI7gc5P7US_jXSWgA3ViRSsK6oRhBUYZMJJAcP8NFoXYKt4/s1600/taking-Jesus-into-the-neighborhood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUm9J1_lc6Vb96aa80e-yYjpO782gN5drCSpWrWUh9GiSimllPYNALf-6Z1fSYTHj2E3tMZzWh55g9urrTLmfbyU08ZovkUI7gc5P7US_jXSWgA3ViRSsK6oRhBUYZMJJAcP8NFoXYKt4/s1600/taking-Jesus-into-the-neighborhood.jpg" height="169" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; line-height: 150%; margin: 1em 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">
From Max Lucado:</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; line-height: 150%; margin: 1em 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">
The
God of the Universe was born into the poverty of a peasant and spent
his first night in the cow’s feed trough. He left the glory of heaven
and moved into our neighborhood. Who would have imagined he would do
such a thing?</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; line-height: 150%; margin: 1em 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">
What
a world he left. Our classiest mansion would be a tree trunk to him.
God became a one-celled embryo and entered the womb of Mary. He became
like us. Just look at the places he was willing to go: feed troughs,
carpentry shops, badlands, and cemeteries.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; line-height: 150%; margin: 1em 0; padding: 0; text-align: left;">
The places he went to reach us show how far he will go to touch us. He loves to be with the ones he loves!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882828511488434678.post-45473330337042089972014-11-30T12:13:00.000-06:002014-11-30T12:13:02.564-06:00Jesus Moved into a Bad Neighborhood<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYGHSLwSZ9icTRfEpttFOpwg1aMuHCrgMo7pR3DvroZr1FR6wRHvWTaoHNGJDE401_MD71t2TMILeRm0-zd3sctqP1PYCeoYm1o2cXR5_NZ0GPBjewUZbQln1bYZ3ZE1PM3dWmKpb-G-E/s1600/9845986344_7b329d5dac.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYGHSLwSZ9icTRfEpttFOpwg1aMuHCrgMo7pR3DvroZr1FR6wRHvWTaoHNGJDE401_MD71t2TMILeRm0-zd3sctqP1PYCeoYm1o2cXR5_NZ0GPBjewUZbQln1bYZ3ZE1PM3dWmKpb-G-E/s1600/9845986344_7b329d5dac.jpg" height="160" width="320" /></a></div>
<i>From <u>Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals</u>. It is an amazing daily prayer book that will
change the way you start your day. You can buy it <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Common-Prayer-Pocket-Ordinary-Radicals/dp/031033506X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=&qid=" target="_blank">here</a> or read it online <a href="http://commonprayer.net/" target="_blank">here</a>.</i><br />
<br />
Everything in our society teaches us to move away from suffering, to
move out of neighborhoods where there is high crime, to move away from
people who don’t look like us.<br />
<br />
But the gospel calls us to something
altogether different. We are to laugh at fear, to lean into suffering,
to open ourselves to the stranger.<br />
<br />
Advent is the season when we remember
how Jesus put on flesh and moved into the neighborhood. God getting
born in a barn reminds us that God shows up in the most forsaken corners
of the earth. <br />
<br />
Wherever we come from, Jesus teaches us that good can
happen where we are, even if real-estate agents and politicians aren’t
interested in our neighborhoods. Jesus comes from Nazareth, a town from
which folks said nothing good could come. He knew suffering from the
moment he entered the world as a baby refugee born in the middle of a
genocide. Jesus knew poverty and pain until he was tortured and executed
on a Roman cross.<br />
<br />
This is the Jesus we are called to follow. With his
coming we learn that the most dangerous place for Christians to be is in
comfort and safety, detached from the suffering of others. Places that
are physically safe can be spiritually deadly. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882828511488434678.post-13708499939963314462014-11-19T08:00:00.000-06:002014-11-19T08:00:50.709-06:00Having Nothing to Plead<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="text Eph-2-8" id="en-NIV-29238"></span></span></span></b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiHV075w8cbTvtsHJo9iXscyxK5UApUU3th2adaWFKH-8ioPO6KX50aB3jBbXTBfhGH9xdhi2g2mFJEpY88zbyyrcjAHBB11oFIocsCe8QvxeKQ7Uu2iTKUuds_YSweIKp-kEl4cf_BUI/s1600/Ephesians-2-8-web1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiHV075w8cbTvtsHJo9iXscyxK5UApUU3th2adaWFKH-8ioPO6KX50aB3jBbXTBfhGH9xdhi2g2mFJEpY88zbyyrcjAHBB11oFIocsCe8QvxeKQ7Uu2iTKUuds_YSweIKp-kEl4cf_BUI/s1600/Ephesians-2-8-web1.jpg" height="295" width="400" /></a></div>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></b><span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: small;">All the blessings which God hath bestowed upon man are of his mere grace, bounty, or favour; his free, undeserved favour; favour altogether undeserved; man having no claim to the least of his mercies. It was free grace that “formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into him a living soul,” and stamped on that soul the image of God, and “put all things under his feet.” The same free grace continues to us, at this day, life, and breath, and all things. For there is nothing we are, or have, or do, which can deserve the least thing at God’s hand. “All our works, Thou, O God, hast wrought in us.” These, therefore, are so many more instances of free mercy: and whatever righteousness may be found in man, this is also the gift of God.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: small;">Wherewithal then shall a sinful man atone for any the least of his sins? With his own works? No. Were they ever so many or holy, they are not his own, but God’s. But indeed they are all unholy and sinful themselves, so that every one of them needs a fresh atonement. Only corrupt fruit grows on a corrupt tree. And his heart is altogether corrupt and abominable; being “come short of the glory of God,” the glorious righteousness at first impressed on his soul, after the image of his great Creator. Therefore, having nothing, neither righteousness nor works, to plead, his mouth is utterly stopped before God.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: small;"> --John Wesley </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: small;">Sermon on Salvation by Faith </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Preached at St. Mary's Oxford</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-size: small;">June 18, 1738 </span> </span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882828511488434678.post-68446422742959361012014-09-28T17:23:00.002-06:002014-09-28T17:23:50.205-06:00Jonah<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOoVvLtNtO7JCRCWEUPv9oq-TVkLdBNLGv7DbbqeOwFiwt7ESZVauAb0azfa9_2VPSlV0oHaSWgSVIOCFmwzLeVlTUTKnO_KY9FeP4fuDltv3E8_PybL0iwESKTp8Uf2IDL6ICHxT8Xk0/s1600/jonah-tarshish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOoVvLtNtO7JCRCWEUPv9oq-TVkLdBNLGv7DbbqeOwFiwt7ESZVauAb0azfa9_2VPSlV0oHaSWgSVIOCFmwzLeVlTUTKnO_KY9FeP4fuDltv3E8_PybL0iwESKTp8Uf2IDL6ICHxT8Xk0/s1600/jonah-tarshish.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #990000;"><i>I love Rob Bell's take on Jonah. Often we, as Christians in the West, look more like the Pharisees of the New Testament (for whom Jesus had reserved his harshest words) or the Israelites in the Old Testament (who God compared to a wayward prositute) than like what Jesus describes in John 17. </i></span><br />
<br />
<br />
Rob Bell on Jonah from <a href="http://robbellcom.tumblr.com/post/66292714601/what-is-the-bible-part-3">here</a>: <br />
<span class="s1"><strong></strong></span>
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><em>…Then Pul king of </em><strong><em>Assyria</em></strong><em> invaded the land…</em></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"><em>Tiglath-Pilesar, king of </em><strong><em>Assyria</em></strong><em>, came…and deported the people…</em></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"><em>Shalmaneser king of </em><strong><em>Assyria</em></strong><em> marched against Samaria and laid siege to it…</em></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span>-from 2 Kings 15 and 18</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Invaded.</span><span class="s1">Deported.</span><span>Laid siege.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1">Invading is what happens when you raise
an army and then march into another country and take it over using force
and power and violence.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Deporting is what happens when you
capture the inhabitants of said country you’ve invaded and forcibly
remove them from their homes and jobs and towns and land and then take
them far away.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Laying siege is what happens when you
surround a city with your army and in doing this sever the city from its
food and water sources so that so many people are starving and
suffering and dying that eventually they give up and surrender. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">The Assyrians, in other words, were mean.
Nasty, brutish, violent, oppressive-the Assyrians made life miserable
for the Israelites. Year after year after year.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">It’s during this era in history that a
story emerged about a man named Jonah. Jonah was an Israelite. And
according to this particular story, Jonah’s God tells Jonah to take a
message <em>to the great city Nineveh</em>.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1">And Nineveh was in…Assyria.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><em>Assyria? Our worst enemy? Those hated
infidels who have made life for our people a living hell time and time
again? You want me to go into the center of the beast-and do something
good for them? Seriously?</em></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Jonah wants nothing of it and so he heads to the nearest port, jumps on a ship, and sails in the opposite direction.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Of course he does.</span><span class="s1">You’d get in a boat, too.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1">(Side note: Often this story is told in such a way that Jonah’s disobedience is the point of the first part, along the lines of <em>See what happens when we don’t do what God tells us to do?</em>
But how do you imagine the first audiences would have reacted to this
story when Jonah won’t go to Nineveh? They hated the Assyrians. Would
they have focused on his disobedience or would they have cheered him on
because they could totally relate?)</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">So he gets on the boat, a storm comes,
there’s a discussion among the crew about the cause of the storm, they
determine he’s the problem, they throw him overboard, he’s swallowed by a
fish, he prays in the belly of the fish, the fish spits him out, he
then goes to Nineveh, the Ninevites are fantastically receptive to his
message, and then the story ends with him so depressed he wants to kill
himself because of a <em>gourd</em>.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">(You can’t make this stuff up.)</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1">There’s so much here, where do I start? We’ll get to the <em>swallowed by a fish part</em> shortly, but first, I’ll start with the sheer strangenessof this story.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">You would assume that a story told by
Israelites about Assyrians would stick to fairly straightforward
categories of good and bad, right and wrong, righteous and evil. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">But the Israelite in this story, the one
who supposedly follows God, runs in the opposite direction from God. The
word that’s used is <em>flee</em>. Jonah <em>flees</em>. He then ends up on a boat full of “pagan/heathen” sailors who <em>pray</em>. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1">And while they’re praying for the storm to stop Jonah doesn’t pray at all. Jonah <em>sleeps</em>.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">The pagan, heathen sailors ask all sorts
of questions trying to figure out why this storm has come on them, only
to discover that Jonah is the problem, something Jonah knew all along.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">And then, when he finally does get to
Nineveh, after he’s resisted God again and again, these horrible, mean,
nasty Assyrians turn out to be open to God’s message, really open-so
open that the king orders </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"><em>…Let man and beast be covered in sackcloth.</em></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1">Sackcloth was what you wore when you were
crying out to God, when you were acutely aware of your sins, when you
were asking for God’s mercy. The king orders everybody to repent and
wear sackcloth-including the animals! </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">(Animals repenting? Wha….? A fairly
surreal detail, to say the least. One of the many hints that the author
has a larger point in mind…a point we’ll get to shortly.)</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">(Another point about that point: when you
read the Bible, embrace the weird parts. Animals wearing sackcloth is
weird. Take note of the strange parts because they’re usually there for a
reason…)</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">We’re familiar in the modern world with
frameworks that see things in dualistic terms: there are the good
people, and then there are the bad people, there is the right thing to
do, there is the wrong thing to do, there are the people who need
saving, and then there are people who do the saving. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">But in this story the categories are all
scrambled. The supposedly righteous Israelite is defiant and lazy and
generally prickish (is that a word?) while the supposedly evil and
wicked heathens are receptive and open to God’s message for them.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1">And then, in the end, after Jonah has had
a change of heart and he’s seen this massive, miraculous change of
heart in the Ninevites right before his eyes, he’s so upset by it that
he wants to die.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1">He says to God </span><span class="s1"><em>I
knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and
abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.</em></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">And then he adds</span><span class="s1"><em>:</em></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><em>Now LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.</em></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1">What a bizarre story.</span><span class="s1"> </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1">A story in which none of the characters do what you’d expect them to do. </span><span class="s1">Which raises the questions</span><span class="s1"> </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1">So why did this story survive?</span><span class="s1">What did people find this story important and worth telling and preserving?</span><span class="s1">What does it tell us about how they understand who they are and who God?</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Several answers.</span><span class="s1"> </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">First,
this story is about a man, but it’s about a nation. Jonah doesn’t want
to go to Nineveh because the Assyrians had treated Israelites horribly.
The story asks the question </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1">Can Jonah forgive the Assyrians?</span><span class="s1">which is really the question</span><span class="s1">Can Israel forgive the Assyrians?</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Jonah is angry at the end,</span><span class="s1">angry that God has been so kind to them.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"> Of course Jonah is angry.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">When you haven’t forgiven someone who has
wronged you and then something good happens to them-when they are
blessed or shown mercy or experience favor-it’s infuriating. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Which leads us to a larger theme of the
Bible: According to the story that’s been unfolding up until Jonah gets
on a boat, Israel had a calling from early in its history (Genesis 12 to
be more precise) to be a light to the world, to show the world the
redeeming love of God. </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">A calling they haven’t lived up to.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">There’s a question, then, that lurks in the story of Jonah:</span><span class="s1">Can you forgive your worst enemy and be a channel through which God’s redeeming love can flow to them?</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1">It’s a question for Jonah</span><span class="s1">because </span><span class="s1">it’s the question for Israel.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">This is why the book of Jonah doesn’t end with a conclusion or a judgment or details about what Jonah does next.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">The book ends with a question, a question God has for Jonah: <em>Should I not be concerned about that great city?</em></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><em>It’s a question for the Jonah character in the story,</em></span><span class="s1"><em>but
at a far more significant level it’s a question the author is asking
the audience, an audience who we can only assume would have had many,
many personal reasons to answer…</em></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><em>no.</em></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">That said, what about the fish part?</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Next: What is the Bible? </span><a href="http://robbellcom.tumblr.com/post/66395502167/what-is-the-bible-part-4"><span class="s1">Part 4: Fish#2</span></a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882828511488434678.post-30825202084120144032014-09-27T08:32:00.000-06:002014-09-27T08:32:02.719-06:00Hiding from God's Love?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPYYPpDLI0bkp9YIJ6kXKU3WCDaHn5u9WHpw3etncpoeC48HLZcSHaPqv8igCeoKluL0NdT-CLxbzn437KfjrxUHEu07H7GSrXssbnylMU6LF15mvf6vp4YY4LYR-jJDF_L0PbrD_bba4/s1600/will-not-work-for-salvation-saved-by-grace-ephesians-2-8-9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPYYPpDLI0bkp9YIJ6kXKU3WCDaHn5u9WHpw3etncpoeC48HLZcSHaPqv8igCeoKluL0NdT-CLxbzn437KfjrxUHEu07H7GSrXssbnylMU6LF15mvf6vp4YY4LYR-jJDF_L0PbrD_bba4/s1600/will-not-work-for-salvation-saved-by-grace-ephesians-2-8-9.jpg" height="247" width="320" /></a></div>
There are two ways to hide from God’s love – rebellion and religion.
Rebellion, illustrated in the prodigal son, defies God’s love and seeks
to cover up guilt and shame through the indulgence of sensual desires.
Religion, on the other hand, is far more subtle. It seeks its cover-up
through good works and obligation. However, like the prodigal’s older
brother, it still denies the Father’s place in our lives and leads us no
closer to knowing him for who he really is.<br /> <br /> Simply, religion
is keeping score – striving for acceptance through our own performance
whether it be in our good works or in ritualistic activities. Those
things put the focus squarely on us and what we can do to be accepted by
God, thereby dooming us to failure.<br /> <br /> Most of Paul’s letters
were written because even the earliest believers found themselves
trading relationship for religion. Instead of learning to live in the
security of his love, they would go back to traditions, creeds,
disciplines, and laws as an attempt to earn it themselves. He reminded
them again and again that God’s love would take them further than their
own efforts and achievements ever would…<br /> <br /> What would you do today if you knew God absolutely loved you?<br /> <br /> -----<br />
Wayne JacobsenUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882828511488434678.post-14698384536598805952014-09-17T06:34:00.003-06:002014-09-17T06:35:33.244-06:00Jesus lives; here’s a toaster.<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia,serif;">This
is an excerpt from Rob Bell's book called <u>Velvet Elvis</u>. Some might criticize this quote as being being only about a
social gospel and not about spreading the message of Jesus. I disagree.
Jesus said: "</span></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia,serif;">for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I </span></span><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia,serif;">was</span></span></i><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia,serif;"> naked
and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and
you came to Me.'" It was Jesus who emphasized that a Christian would
love others through action and by those works the world would know that
we are his.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">"Imagine an average street in an average
country. Let's imagine person X lives in a house on this street. Next
door is a Hindu and on the other side is a Muslim. Across the street is
an atheist, next door to them an agnostic, and next door on the other
side, someone from Ohio.<br />
<br />Imagine person X becomes a Christian. Let's say she starts living
out Jesus' teachings so that she can become a compelling force for good
in the world. She is becoming more generous, more compassionate, more
forgiving, more loving. Is she becoming a better or worse neighbor? If
we are her neighbors, we're thrilled about her new faith. We find
ourselves more and more grateful for a neighbor like this. We wish more
people would be like this.<br />
<br />Let's make some observations about this street. The good news of
Jesus is good news for Person X. It's good news for Person x's
neighbors. It's good news for the whole street. It's good news for
people who don't believe in Jesus. We have to be really clear about
this. The good news for Person X is good news for the whole street. And
if it's good news for the whole street, then it's good news for the
world.<br />
<br />If the gospel isn't good news for everybody, then it isn't good news for anybody.<br /><br />And
this is because the most powerful things happen when the church
surrenders its desire to convert people and convince them to join. It is
when the church gives itself away in radical acts of service and
compassion, expecting nothing in return, that the way of Jesus is most
vividly put on display. To do this, the church must stop thinking
primarily in categories of in or out, saved or not, believer or
nonbeliever. Besides the fact that these terms are offensive to those
who are the "un" and "non", they work against Jesus' teachings about how
we are to treat each other. Jesus commanded us to love our neighbor,
and our neighbor can be anybody. We are all created in the image of
God, and we are all sacred, valuable creations of God (Genesis 1:26-27).
Everybody matters. To treat people differently based on who believes
what is to fail to respect the image of God in everyone. As the book of
James says, "God shows no favoritism" (James 2:1-13). So we don't
either.<br />
<br />Oftentimes the Christian community has sent the message that we love
people and build relationships in order to convert them to the
Christian faith. So there is an agenda. And when there is an agenda, it
isn't really love, is it? It's something else. We have to rediscover
love, period. Love that loves because it is what Jesus teaches us to do.
We have to surrender our agendas. Because some people aren't going to
become Christians like us no matter how hard we push. They just aren't. <span style="text-decoration: underline;">And at some point we have to commit them to God, trusting that God loves them more than we ever could.</span>
I obviously love to talk to people about Jesus and my faith. I'll take
every opportunity I can get. But I have learned that when I toss out my
agenda and simply love as Jesus teaches me to, I often end up learning
more about God than I could have imagined.<br />
<br />I am learning that the church is at its best when it is underground,
subversive, and countercultural. It is the quiet, humble, stealth acts
that change things. I was just talking to a woman named Michelle who
decided to move into the roughest neighborhood in our city to try to
help people get out of the cycle of poverty and despair. She was telling
me about the kids she is tutoring and the families they come from and
how great the needs are. Some other women in our church heard about
Michelle and asked her for lists of what exactly the families in her
neighborhood need. They then circulated the lists until the found people
who could meet every one of the needs. It's like an underground
mom-mafia network. Michelle told me at last count they had helped 430
families, and they are making plans to expand their network. <br />
<b><br />'Jesus lives; here's a toaster.'</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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</div>
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These are the kinds of
people who change the world. They improvise and adapt and innovate and
explore new ways to get things done. They don't make a lot of noise and
they don't draw a lot of attention to themselves."</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6882828511488434678.post-8973602176362609852014-09-14T19:12:00.000-06:002014-09-14T19:12:18.826-06:00Come Weary. Come Messy.Great <a href="http://addiezierman.com/2013/02/05/come-weary/">post</a> by Addie Zierman<i>:</i><br />
<br />
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Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”<br /> -Jesus, Matthew 11:28<br />
<br />
“The criteria for coming to Jesus is weariness. Come overwhelmed with life. Come with your wandering mind. Come messy.”<br /> -
Paul E. Miller, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1600063004/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1600063004&linkCode=as2&tag=howtotaleva-20%22%3EA%20Praying%20Life:%20%20Connecting%20With%20God%20In%20A%20Distracting%20World" target="_blank">A Praying Life</a><br />
<br />
<br />
Come straight from your bed with your morning breath and your
sweatpants. Come with your crazy-hair and your unwashed face and last
night’s dishes still sitting out on the counter.<br />
<br />
Come as soon as the alarm goes off, or after three or four smacks at the Snooze button.<br />
<br />
Or maybe morning’s not your thing, but you keep trying to muster
yourself up to it because once someone told you that this was the <i>best way. </i>That morning is the <i>best time</i>, that you need to start your day right, with God. (I want to tell you that there is no <i>best time. </i>There is you – your particular, individual heart – and there is God, his love like a deep-flowing river. And it doesn’t matter <i>when</i> you step into the river, love. All that matters is that you come.)
<br />
<br />
Come with your mind skittering a thousand different directions. Come
with your insurmountable to-do list, and don’t feel a bit guilty when
you keep drifting back to the day’s demands. Just notice it, and then
make your way back to the quiet.<br />
<br />
There will be so many trips back and forth while you’re here…from
worry to planning to prayer and then back around again. That’s just part
of it.<br />
<br />
And maybe you don’t know that. Maybe you’ve heard a hundred sermons
about that night in the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus prayed deep and
long, and his disciples fell asleep. You know that verse by heart,
where he says “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” and
the one that says, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”<br />
<br />
(Here’s what I think about all that: this was never meant as a call
to do better, to be better, to come perfect and focused and spiritually
“strong”. I think Jesus was simply telling us the truth about ourselves,
here in the midnight garden – that thing that we who can handle it all
(who don’t need help, thank-you-very-much, who will do it all by
ourselves even if it kills us) never truly believe: <i>You are weak. You are weary. It’s okay. I am enough.</i>)<br />
<br />
Maybe all this time, you’ve been trying to come <i>perfect, </i>you’ve been trying to come <i>wide-awake</i> when you’re exhausted. Maybe you’ve been trying to work up the faith when your heart is sunk deep in doubt. <i>You don’t have to hustle for approval here. Come weary. </i><br />
<br />
<i>Come beloved.</i><br />
<br />
Come reluctantly or expectantly. Come half-asleep or half-alive or broken into ten thousand pieces.<br />
<br />
Stare blankly into your fluorescent sunlamp in the cold, dark morning
and say nothing. Or say everything – rant and rave and whine and cry
and bare it all – your whole fearful, jealous, angry heart. Both of
these things are a kind of prayer, and neither is better or more honest
than the other.<br />
<br />
Let your swear monkey out. Say the truth you need to say even if the words sound unholy, unacceptable. There is the time <a href="http://howtotalkevangelical.addiezierman.com/?p=1060" title="In Defense of the 4-Letter Word">when the four-letter-word is <i>the right word</i></a>, and God can handle your impolite, your wildness, your temper tantrums, your tears.<br />
<br />
Come with a heart stone-cold in its silence. Come bitter. Come distant.<br />
<br />
Read the Bible, or don’t. Write it out in a lined journal, or don’t.
Read a bit of liturgy and feel yourself connected to a thousand other
broken pieces of humanity, all trying to figure it out.<br />
<br />
(Or don’t. There is no right way to come. There is only the honesty of showing up entirely yourself in the place you are now.)<br />
<br />
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</div>
Maybe you won’t feel anything. Just the winter dark pressing in and
the cold seeping in under the patio door and a weary dread for the
mundane tasks of another day. Another week. Another year.<br />
<br />
<i>Come anyway.</i><br />
<br />
Come even if you’re not one bit sure about this God business at all.
Start here, with these open arms, the ones that are welcoming the weary.
Start with a God who invites the imperfect: the mad-at-their-kids. The
pissed-at-their-bosses. The one who sits in traffic, feeling a rage she
cannot understand. The one who can’t stop crying. The one who’s full to
the brim with happiness.<br />
<br />
Start with Jesus, who welcomes the overwhelmed. The under-awed. The hopeful. The hopeless.<br />
<br />
He is looking at you who don’t have one scrap of it together, and there’s not a <i>how-to </i>or a <i>best-practices –</i> just Him. Just you. Just the river.<br />
<br />
Just one word, <i>Come.</i><br />
<br />
The first step. Really, the only step. The one you keep taking every
weary, heavy-laden, joyous, hopeful, normal, average, dish-filled, noisy
day of your life.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0