Blog Archives

"Join the Love Revolution"

10/30/2018

"... do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others" Phil. 2:4

Listen to:   Israel Houghton & New Tribe: "Love Revolution"  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PycBIqjZSjw

What a painful week we have had, on top of ongoing, unremitting conflict in our nation. Pipe bombs. Praying worshipers murdered in their holy sanctuary. Countless hate crimes, attacks, even teenage girls hatching plans to slash younger students.

What are we to do? Bury our heads and ignore the pain. Or do as Jesus calls, to practice patience and forbearance To love more sacrificially. To reinvest our energies, especially where people are hurting in the world.   Our leaders may fail us, but God is our eternal Sovereign. We carry God's standard: so we must be the salt and leaven of our communities. We bring God's order: so we must listen to those who don't have a voice. We must see those made invisible by injustice and sin. We must touch those who are angry, fearful and forsaken.

Today is a new day and there is much ministry to do. There are devastated communities we can help repair. There are hearts that need mending. There are needs out there that fit the longing of our own hearts. If our communities are to be restored, we must model giving and service. We discover, in the process, our own spirits are touched and healed.

This is a great, spiritual truth: as we focus on and meet the needs of our neighbor, we in turn find peace and a balm for our souls. Giving is key to our spiritual maturity. For as St. Francis said, "in giving we receive."    Let us carry Jesus' words as go forth this day:

"Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you" Luke 6:38

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"Yoked to Jesus"

10/23/2018

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A young ox, being trained to the yoke, is placed with an older more experienced animal. The older one carries the brunt of the load. Most of the weight is put upon him. The younger one must learn to pace itself, not too fast, and not too slow. It learns when to start and stop. It learns which way to go. It learns from its partner how to be in "relationship".

So it is with Jesus. When we give our lives to God, we are invited to remember that we are spiritually yoked to the Lord. So as we go through life, we encounter heavy burdens. We face obstacles that we must overcome. We grow weary. At these times Jesus reminds those who are weighted down by life's cares to come to him. Twice in these two verses he promises rest. Rest is part of God's plan. Rest gives us restoration of strength and spirit. Yoking ourselves to Jesus gives us balance -- work and rest. If we are workaholics we are taught to let go, to lay down the burden and rest. Jesus will carry the brunt of the weight.

As we walk along side Jesus, we learn the task of plowing through life's soil and becoming more like him. Jesus assures us that he is "gentle and humble in heart." He leads us securely, patiently, so we can develop a heart that is gentle and humble. Imagine: gentleness carrying the burden of our lives. Humbleness soothing our weariness. Such is the way of the Lord.

God has also spiritually yoked us as brothers and sisters in faith. We help carry each other's heavy burdens in our sharing and caring. We help each other to turn it over to God. We build in opportunities to rest, relax and fellowship. And together we learn to be gentle and humble with each other ... as we are yoked to Jesus,who shows us how to plow and prepare God's fields for an abundant crop of spiritual growth.

PRAY: "Lord, I am tired. I am weary. My burden's are heavy, as they are for so many others. Teach us to lean on you and find rest."

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Matthew 11:28-30

Listen to:  Troy Sneed, "Lay It Down"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThHMlSTPjnI&playnext=1&list=PL7vy24BGVZRlyP7-vTjrvBnXd7bYssbVF&feature=results_main “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Matthew 11:28-30

Listen to:  Troy Sneed, "Lay It Down"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThHMlSTPjnI&playnext=1&list=PL7vy24BGVZRlyP7-vTjrvBnXd7bYssbVF&feature=results_main

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"Eyes To See"

10/16/2018

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"The eye is the lamp of the body."Matt 6:22

Listen to: Brandon Heath: "Give Me Your Eyes"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGr8as7pPBE

Look at the picture of two old people. How many faces and images do you see? Every time we study this amazing picture, we see something we didn't see before. What does it evoke in you?

One summer, I needed some vision therapy, because my eyes weren't working together properly. I had to train my eyes, with exercises and games, how to see together. It was amazing; every week, I could see something I hadn't the week before. The same is true with our "spiritual eyes." They need to be trained to see as God does.

In the Bible the eye is the organ of perception, and perception involves more than physical sight. The eye often stands as a metaphor for the mind. What we see, what we allow ourselves to take in, informs how we think, the questions we ask and how we will behave.

We use a lamp when we what to be able to see or find something in dim light or darkness. So what if our "lamp," our eye, is covered with prejudice? anger? bitterness? self-righteousness? Ignorance? It will determine how well we can see the world. We will project our perceptions onto others -- because that's what we are used to seeing!! What we see is what we get.

Jesus encourages us to practice seeing the way God sees. God's eyes are pure light and pure love.

What do we see when we see an addict? a self-indulgent bum? or a suffering, lost, child of God?
What do we see in the crabby co-worker? a difficult person who makes life hard? or someone who is struggling, and needs encouragement?
What do we see when we see a poor person? Someone who is lazy? Or someone searching for dignity?
What do we see when we see a rich person? A snob, who cares nothing for others? or someone lonely, or lost?

It's all a matter of perspective. Of training our eyes in the school of love. Week by week, day by day, we gain the vision of Jesus, until all whom we see are brother and sister, children of the same God.

PRAY: "Lord, I am blind. Give me your eyes to see"

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"Be God's Yes"

10/9/2018

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For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not waver between "Yes" and "No." He is the one whom Silas, Timothy, and I preached to you, and as God's ultimate "Yes," he always does what he says. (2 Corinth. 1:19)

Questions. Confusion. Doubt. Have you ever had them? How often do we ask: how does a loving God allow such evil in the world? Why such pain, such heartache? If I tell the truth about myself, will they still accept me? How can we forgive such hurt? Why? Why? Why?

How do we, as people of faith, live with integrity? The challenge is not to dismiss serious questions with simplistic answers; yet trust in the power and love of God to be with us through tough questions, questions for which there seems no easy answer forthcoming?

Paul reminds us Jesus is God's "Yes." Above all else, this is what we need to know. We don't need to understand everything, and have answers to life's pressing problems, to take positive action. How many of us really know the make up of an atom -- the anatomy of a cell? The names of the animals and sea creatures, and fauna and flora of the world? The intricacies of the Tree of Life? How many of us even understand our own motives -- why we do what we do? But we still go on living and we make choices. We can make a difference in our world, by staying rooted in God's Yes: Jesus.

Remember this powerful message by poet, Rainer Maria Rilke, in his Letters to a Young Poet:: "I beg you...to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."

Live your way into Jesus. Be God's "Yes" wherever you go today.

Watch & Listen to: A young filmmaker's grappling with questions of faith:
"A Thousand Questions"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiNBmNl88Pk

PRAY: " Yes, God, Yes. Here am I. Send me."

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"Becoming Masterpieces"

10/1/2018

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Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3: 5-6

In 1755, Robert Robinson was a gang leader, his life characterized by dissolute living. In a drunken stupor he heard the famous preacher, George Whitefield speak. Whitefield’s message touched his conscience -- three years later he came to faith in Jesus Christ. He penned the powerful hymn, "Come Thou, Font of Every Blessing" to capture the struggles of his life. Robinson had a hard time remaining faithful to God. He struggled to live as Jesus taught us. He came to understand that we need to recommit to Jesus' teaching every day.
"Come Thou, Font of Every Blessing" was one of the first "Protestant" hymns I was introduced to. It spoke to me as well. It reminded me of how easily it is to compromise our faith, if we are not careful. It speaks of our need of God -- but of our struggles with the forces of the world. How easy it is to forget God in the course of our daily life. We need help to be Christ-like. The help of the Holy Spirit -- and help from each other.

Isn't it the truth: we need to share what we desperately need to incorporate in our lives? That we need to teach what we most desperately need to learn? Every day we need to walk our faith anew. Robinson captured this reality of ours so well “prone to wander Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the God I love.” Augustine and Martin Luther both spoke of it as the state of living incurvatus in se -- which is Latin for the human person living bent in on himself. Through following Jesus, we are reforged so that we change direction -- from oneself to God. It is like a bone being set, everyday. The Holy Spirit leads us to conform our lives to the gospel -- in the face of our human frailty and daily temptation.

May our spirits acquire a" Godward" bent through the transforming power of the gospel. May we find the glory of Jesus -- in the face of our neighbor, and deep in the recesses of our hearts, where untarnished by sin and our struggle, lies the image of God .

Listen to:  Tobymac, "Me without You"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hL8DpxDQij0&feature=related

PRAY:  "Come Thou Font of Every Blessing"
O to grace how great a debtor Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3: 5-6

In 1755, Robert Robinson was a gang leader, his life characterized by dissolute living. In a drunken stupor he heard the famous preacher, George Whitefield speak. Whitefield’s message touched his conscience -- three years later he came to faith in Jesus Christ. He penned the powerful hymn, "Come Thou, Font of Every Blessing" to capture the struggles of his life. Robinson had a hard time remaining faithful to God. He struggled to live as Jesus taught us. He came to understand that we need to recommit to Jesus' teaching every day.
"Come Thou, Font of Every Blessing" was one of the first "Protestant" hymns I was introduced to. It spoke to me as well. It reminded me of how easily it is to compromise our faith, if we are not careful. It speaks of our need of God -- but of our struggles with the forces of the world. How easy it is to forget God in the course of our daily life. We need help to be Christ-like. The help of the Holy Spirit -- and help from each other.
Isn't it the truth: we need to share what we desperately need to incorporate in our lives? That we need to teach what we most desperately need to learn? Every day we need to walk our faith anew. Robinson captured this reality of ours so well “prone to wander Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the God I love.” Augustine and Martin Luther both spoke of it as the state of living incurvatus in se -- which is Latin for the human person living bent in on himself. Through following Jesus, we are reforged so that we change direction -- from oneself to God. It is like a bone being set, everyday. The Holy Spirit leads us to conform our lives to the gospel -- in the face of our human frailty and daily temptation.
May our spirits acquire a" Godward" bent through the transforming power of the gospel. May we find the glory of Jesus -- in the face of our neighbor, and deep in the recesses of our hearts, where untarnished by sin and our struggle, lies the image of God .

Listen to:  Tobymac, "Me without You"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hL8DpxDQij0&feature=related

PRAY:  "Come Thou Font of Every Blessing"
O to grace how great a debtor Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to Thee
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.

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"Join the Love Revolution"

"Yoked to Jesus"

"Eyes To See"

"Be God's Yes"

"Becoming Masterpieces"

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