The Dream Factory

Shall We Be Free?

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years.

America is not a static entity. It is more of an evolving organism. Its DNA is encoded on on collective consciousness, but is not stable. It is subject to the whims and wished of each generation and that generation's level of investment and understanding of America's principles.

And what are those principles?

In many ways, they are the natural next steps of the Enlightenment mixed with elements of Jewish tradition, Christian Humanism, the Protestant Reformation, frontier individualism, European exceptionalism, and the tenacious thinking of of an elite class of scholars, farmers, lawyers, and clergy who actually sat down around tables and through correspondence, developed a philosophical rationale for a new system of government that reflected their emerging values.

The things they wanted for themselves, many of them, in theory, believed should belong to all.

They envisioned a classless society, but could not come to agreement about that because the states were so heavily invested in another modern and evil institution of chattel slavery. Because of that dependence, outdated notions that male landowners made better "governors of the body politic," and their own intellectual elitism, they did not have the faith, courage, or will to enfranchise all into the American promise.

But they laid the philosophical foundation for universal enfranchisement.

They created a foundation for those universal rights to evolve.

They built a constitution that Jefferson believed should be revisited from time to time. It was a patchwork of compromises with a surprising unity of thought. It was built with a tension between representative and democratic rule with democratic values at the core.

It was a system where the tug-of-war between localized and central powers was anticipated.

The American experiment seemed, at the time, to require a bloody revolution. Such a revolution expedited a transition that would eventually be replicated, sometimes without war, in other nations on most if not all continents.

Whether through war, résistance, or persistence, the urge for humanity to be free, self-determining, just and cooperative in a fair and just government of the people seems to stir a common theme in the hearts of citizens.

Yet, it must evolve, expand, and include more and more of those who have been excluded explicitly or implicitly.

To summarize the poetic words and sentiments of Langston Hughes, America has not been America for everyone, but it can be.

That requires every generation to exercise its citizenship and influence, to be informed, and to be philosophically reflective. People who may not be able to define political science must, nevertheless, be engaged in it.

To be an American in the fullest sense requires a plurality of the population who reads history in a larger context.

To be an American requires a larger worldview of the community of nations.

It demands, at its core, what President Carter placed at the center of his presidency, a passion for human rights for all.

I believe that the preservation and realization of the American dream requires constantly looking for ways to do things better and make the dream available for more and more around the world.

Frederick Douglas once explained why he could not afford the luxury of celebrating the Fourth of July. Yet, know one of his generation did more to work within the system to make its promise a reality.

I have love problem with sentimentality, but their comes a time when the work of democracy in a republican system demands more than warm fuzzy feelings. It requires engagement and commitment to make it work.

It requires vigilance to insure that the core values that were not fully realized are moved advanced and developed. It requires thinking and acting, holding the line and moving the line when necessary. It requires challenging authority and laws while upholding laws for all.

It always requires holding our leaders accountable as well as a willingness to step into leadership when the mantle falls upon us.

America is not a cultural identity. it is not a common language. It is not a common ethnic heritage. It is not just a place. It is not a stationary set of policies.

It is not even one religion, not even a civil religion, which is a poor excuse for real religion. Those of us who believe in God, see God as the source of the principles that provide the foundation of creation and revelation for our big idea, but that foundation is wide enough for all people to stand upon it.

And people of faith give God credit for that kind of plurality as well.

America is an emerging idea based upon a philosophy of human dignity, freedom, and a desire for common good.

We lose that, and we lose America.

We lose that, and no flags, symbols, or songs can hold us together.

Happy birthday, U.S.A., a grand experiment in opportunity, welcoming, growing, and working out lots of kinks that create dissonance between what we aspire to be and what we are.

The key is in the becoming.

We are not static. We have had some wars.

Our wars have not defined us, but have, at times, refined us.

We have had disagreements, inconsistencies, and contradictions, but we have an essentially righteous philosophy that has been articulated and is waiting to be fully applied.

The core structure is laid so that we can work these things out.

We are a community of communities.

We are not perfect, but we are capable of fixing our imperfections.

We are diverse.

We are changing.

We are free.

We thank our thinkers and our protectors, our builders and our critics today. We join hands and sing of our common love. Let us be one people.

"America, America,
God mend thine every flaw.
Confirm thy soul in self-control
Thy liberty in law."
https://www.purpleheart.org/static/forms/AmericaTheBeautiful.pdf

 

 

The Kingdom Has Come

The Commission

Luke 10:3 – Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.

The costly commission to follow Jesus and to go forth as His ambassadors is so controversial as to appear adversarial. Jesus warns us to expect hostility and opposition. He does not say this to discourage us, but to encourage us. He does not intend to frighten us away, but to have us brace ourselves in the embrace of His grace and power.

“Go your ways,” He says, knowing that each of us has a path that is uniquely and wondrously ours. No two paths are exactly the same though they often intersect and frequently follow parallel courses. We may hesitate to go our ways because it is less risky to continue as we have been, sitting at the feet of Jesus in the cloistered environs of our religious retreats. But we must go. It is His commission.

“I send you,” He says and that gives us courage to go forth, knowing that we have been authorized and mandated we bear His Name and represent His kingdom. It gives us confidence and joy to know that we are not staggering through the darkness of meaningless humdrum. We have been sent.

“I send you forth as lambs,” He says. We are like baby sheep. We still need our shepherd. As we go from Him, we develop a new relationship with him. We discover that He has come along in a new way.

“Lo, I am with you always,” He assures us.

“… as lambs among wolves.” This is the scary part. It is dangerous out there to the extent that we really could lose some things along the way. And if the things we can potentially lose are dearer to us than the commission, we could lose everything. However, if we have relinquished our hold on the things of earth so that they “grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace,” then we have absolutely nothing to lose. We have died, as the scriptures say, and our lives are hidden with Christ in God.

Don’t be afraid of the wolves. Beware of them, but don’t let them stop you. Whatever you do, don’t miss the mission.

 

A Time for Rejoicing

And the seventy returned again with joy ... - Luke 1 

Our people were full of energy and excitement. Though physically exhausted, they could not contain themselves after returning from a one-week mission to another country. What they had seen, heard, and done affirmed their callings and assured them that God's hand had been upon them.  They had ventured forth into the unknown and had been touched by the Spirit in the process of touching others.

They returned again with joy.

Have you ever had this experience? Have you ever answered the call to get out of your "safe place" and move out on faith? Perhaps it was to cross the street and speak with a neighbor. Perhaps it was to help serve food to the needy or sit with an elderly person. You were apprehensive and unsure of yourself, but as you answered the call and moved out at the command of Christ, you sensed His presence with you and were exhilarated by His power flowing through you.

There is an energy that is created whenever we venture forth in obedience to Christ empowered by the Holy Spirit. Once we get the taste of personal ministry, evangelism, and proclamation of the good news, we want to do it more and more. We return to the place from which we have been sent with rejoicing and enthusiasm to report all that God has done through the likes of us.

If you have never ventured forth in ministry, now is the time to do so.

 

Another on the Same:

Real Rejoicing

 Luke 10:20 -  Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven – Luke 10:20

The disciples on an early Kingdom mission had not only survived hostility but had thrived in the process. To their delight and surprise, God had come along with them and had wrought miracles of healing and deliverance. Even demons had been subjected to them and they were excited. It was at that moment that Jesus had to remind them of an important lesson. It is in our moments of intense religious exhilaration and enthusiasm that we must learn the same lesson.

It is great to enjoy the frills and thrills of practical discipleship and divine manifestations, but that kind of rejoicing pales in comparison to the joy of redemption. A stirring worship service inspires us to face a week of temptations and challenges, but it is not the main impetus to our spiritual success. Inclusion in God’s purpose is the greatest cause of rejoicing of all.

It is true that spirits are subject to the believer as he or she prays in the name and authority of Jesus Christ.  It is a reality that when the Holy Spirit chooses to work through us, He can leave us as breathless as a roller coaster ride – and more so. All of this is true, but it is not our cause for real rejoicing.

We rejoice, no matter what is happening around us, that God has inscribed our names on the rolls of Heaven. No earthly joy and no spiritual fulfillment come close to the felicitous flame that glows in the heart of a redeemed soul. In the darkest night, it burns bright and warms the heart of the child of God.

It is why we rejoice now and rejoice evermore. Our names are written in heaven.

 

1 O God of love, O King of peace,
Make wars throughout the world to cease;
Our greed and violent ways restrain.
Give peace, O God, give peace again.

2 Remember, Lord, your works of old,
The wonders that your people told;
Remember not our sins' deep stain.
Give peace, O God, give peace again.

3 Whom shall we trust but you, O Lord?
Where rest but on your faithful word?
None ever called on you in vain.
Give peace, O God, give peace again.

4 Where saints and angels dwell above
All hearts are joined in holy love;
Oh, bind us in that heav'nly chain.
Give peace, O God, give peace again.

                        H.W. Baker

Oh God of love o king of peace

 

 

 

Sifted

Satan made demands.

They are accusatory in character, derisive in demeanor, and cynical to the core. They were also audacious!

Jesus prayed.

Satan wanted to have Simon, "that he might sift you like wheat."

Jesus  prayed that Simon's faith would not fail, even though he knew that Simon himself would fail. So he prayed that when Simon turned again, not if but when, he would strengthen his brothers.

Simon protested he would not fail.

It was a noble thing he said,  “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.”

His intentions were strong but Jesus said he would fail

We all fail. It does not mean that faith fails or that god fails.

Simon's predictable failure did not alter the hope, the expectation, or the reality of Jesus' prayer. Simon Peter would also turn. His faith would not fail. His faith did not fail.

You have had, are having, and will have failures, but it does not mean that your faith has failed.

These failures are sifting you/ What remains after the sifting is the authentic you that you were made to be.

It is your faith and the accompanying prayers of Jesus that are seeing you through, bringing you back, and prepares you to strengthen your brothers and sisters.

"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.”

Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”

                - Luke 22:31-34 ESV

 

 

The Scandal of Forgiveness

Photo by Felix Koutchinski on Unsplash

Forgiveness is a scandal. Forgiveness is irrational. It is out of balance, disproportionate, beyond our capacity, humanly unjust, and controversial ... and very, very real, liberating, and healing. It is always premature and it is always timely.

God forgives you. He does not excuse you or your deeds. He forgives you. He does not force you to accept forgiveness, but He does not cease to offer it.

Society may not forgive. Rational people may not. History may not. The justice system may not. But God does and God's people do as they open the channel of giving and receiving it in their own hearts.

The magnitude of the offense is not nor ever is the issue. Your remorse is not the issue. Deterrence is not the issue. There is no issue. This is beyond issues.

The only issue is the issue of blood from the hands, feet, and side of Jesus.

"Father, forgive THEM..."

It cost God to forgive. It costs God to forgive.

To maintain truth and justice while extending mercy can tear at the heart of humans and of God. To be angry and to sin not is tough. But bitterness and hatred are tougher and more toxic.

God invites and equips us to do the same as He does. We cannot demand it of others or of God for ourselves or anyone. But when He enables us to give it, we receive more than we give.

It also costs us to receive forgiveness because it implies that we know we need to receive it and makes us vulnerable at levels that evoke it from us. It strips us bare and hangs our lives on crosses.

Sometimes it may be too early to talk about it because one must process what it is that is being forgiven.

Yet, here is the scandal.

It was brought to bear upon us by the victims of a terrible atrocity recently and no one has the right to criticize them for it. What they did was because their primary identity was not their skin color that made them a target or their ideology or their victimology. They identified with the Forgiver.

A racist was confronted with a God who is no respecter of the arbitrary labels we assign to human being.

Those forgivers are first and foremost, children of God and, in forgiving, they declare that nothing can take that away from them. That is their dignity not their weakness.

I hear people marginalizing them, dismissing them, considering them weak, naïve, or unsophisticated in understanding their own emotions. How condescending!

Argue the societal implications of forgiveness all you like. Discuss who is authorized to offer forgiveness. Theorize its repercussions. It does not matter.

The voices of those who cry out, however prematurely you think it is, speak of their character before God and much more, the GRACE and power of God in their lives. His love in them is stronger than hate and it is love that shall prevail.

Nothing in forgiveness negates justice.

Nothing minimizes indignation.

In fact it fires up indignation at anything and everything less than God's love at work in the world and His justice lifting up every man, woman, boy, and girl.

I can only forgive the Boston Bomber or the Butcher of Charleston, or ISIS for the minimal effects of their crimes on me. Those who have suffered most and more have more to forgive and so many have. Their witness inspires me to forgive the petty little offenses I have suffered with such boisterous protest.

If God forgives those who create the most horrific, massive, and public crimes, how about you and me?

Why would we leave such a gift on the table?

Stephen, in Acts, led his accusers through long bible study and recounting of the grace of God at work in history and the response of the crowd was ...
... to pick up rocks and throw them at him until he died.

His response ... "God, don't put this on their account ..."

Forgiveness.

God forgives you and it is irrationally scandalous.

What are you going to do about it?

What Does It Mean to Be a Christian?

The name is tossed around and associated with some many things that are not necessarily what Jesus says about it.

Here is Sunday's sermon.

 

Free Indeed

Today's Epistle: Freedom or Indulgence

For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. - Galatians 5:13

Some of you will be planning your Independence Day picnics and excursions this week. You will be laying out menus, itineraries, guest lists, and budgets, but you may forget a matter or two of great significance. As you plan to overindulge in whatever you find appealing, you are likely to forget that liberty is not license and that it is a costly gift – a calling to serve others.

Now that you have been reminded, perhaps you can build some plans into your feasts and excursions for remembering the heritage, which has brought you such amazing freedom, and contributing to the legacy that will insure it for the next generation.

First, take time to remember that your freedom ultimately is a gift from God and has been bought with the price of Christ’s blood. Then, remember that this garden of liberty we call America has been fertilized with the blood of liberty-lovers through the years. Let us pause to be grateful. Build it in to your plans for the day whether that means raising the flag or taking a few moments to participate in a ceremony of remembrance.

Second, remember your calling – not to indulge the flesh with unbridled lusts and gluttony, but to serve others in Jesus’ Name. The heart of discipleship is service and the heart of Americanism is neighborliness. What a wonderful time of the year it is to go out of our way to be good neighbors. Lead your family in a good neighbor project and a servant ministry as a way of thanking God and our forefathers for the liberty we enjoy.

Brothers and sisters, you have been called to liberty.

A Prayer for Safety and Security from the Psalmist

Today's Reading from the Common Lectionary cycle of the Psalms (16) with my reflections (written some years back):

Psalm 16:1 - Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge.

Never separate the two parts of this prayer or you will diffuse its power. The first part is a request made in faith. The second is a declaration of faith upon which every request is made and in which our confidence resides. Safety, in and of itself, is of limited value. We are safe from what and for what? The end and the means are the same here. We are made safe by abiding that we might safely abide in Christ. If God is our refuge, that is enough to say. It is an end in itself. To be in Christ is the end that brings every new beginning. Where is your principal residence in this life? Every anxiety and discomfort is addressed by the answer of faith. If you reside in God and take refuge in Him, then rest in Him and abandon all concern for safety from that which you cannot control. God is in charge.

Psalm 16:2 - I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”

This is so very important! First, we must recognize that to say “Lord” is not just to utter a religious word or to speak with respect toward our chosen deity. In the naming of God as Lord is a relinquishment of every other value, treasure, and prize. It is to acknowledge Him as Supreme Master and to render everything else in our lives as valueless apart from Him. It is in acknowledging Him as the source of every good gift that those gifts have worth. It is in knowing Him that every other vision fades in importance and takes its place in His court as subservient to His will.

Psalm 16:3 - As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.

One of the great privileges of the new birth is that we are born into a family of saint with whom we can associate and in whose fellowship we can delight. To be a saint is to be separate, holy, and dedicated to a particular function. That function, for the Christian, is the praise and glory of God. In one sense, it is not a mysterious or otherworldly thing to be a saint. In another sense, it is to profoundly embrace a mystery that we can never fully understand and be apprehended by a world far beyond our reach in these mortal bodies. If one is a saint indeed, one loves other saints because, in them, we see God’s face as clearly as possible in this life –even among those who dwell in the land.

Psalm 16:4 - The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods. I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips.

Today, we join the eternal chorus of welcome as the Lord Jesus Christ enters into our consciousness as the King who comes in the Name of the Lord. He is the Prince of Peace and righteousness. His Kingdom comes with glory and praise, but also with a cross of pain and disgrace. Yet, He willing enters into the sphere of time, space, and judgment to face whatever stands between Him and His mission to bring all who welcome Him into eternal fellowship with the Father. Let us lift our voices in worship as we worship Him.

Psalm 16:5 - Lord, you have assigned my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.

God is righteous. That means that everything about Him is fully integrated into His holy character – He is 100% pure truth, love, goodness, and holiness. There are no contradictions in God – except those that we contrive in our own misunderstanding of Him. He loves justice. His heart delights in seeing things set aright. He loves consistency in our lives. He takes joy when His truth is integrated into the loose dimensions of our lives and we come into right relationship with Him. There is a promise in this verse, that the upright will see His face. What a glorious affirmation! The more we seek Him, the more our hearts are changed by His power within us and the clearer our vision of Who He is becomes. We can see God. His grace in Jesus Christ removes the scales from our eyes so that we may have a glimpse in this life and the hope of full disclosure in the life to come. Let that truth sink into the pores of your being today and celebrate it as you walk through the maze of confusing messages and distorted truth. You can see God.

Psalm 16:6 - The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.

Do you feel alone in your spiritual journey? Do you imagine that you are the only person in your school, workplace, or neighborhood that desires the things of God or seeks after His will? Do you wonder if there is even one other person who will stand with you for truth and righteousness? Are you overwhelmed by the loneliness of solitary seeking? Do you even wonder if the psalmist was somehow transported out of his time to speak of ours? Things have not changed that much have they? We all look back on better times when we were sure that there were more righteous and earnest people living among us and compare those times with our “todays.” We conclude that we are alone and that no one else is godly or faithful. While that is not true in every sense, it is in one. “There is none that is righteous, no not one.” We are indicted by that statement and must include ourselves among the number of the “no more” who have “vanished from the earth.” From God’s perspective and standard of perfect holiness, no one measures up. Then Jesus Christ enters the picture and He alone stands for truth. Our only hope is in Him and in Him we are not alone. Consciously align yourself with Him today and allow God to flush away that sense of “aloneness.”

Psalm 16:7 - I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.

If you can’t trust a compliment, what can you trust? The psalmist has had it with flattery. He is discouraged over the tendency of his neighbors to use speech only to manipulate and deceive. We ought to develop that same level of disgust with untruth because all lying and falsehood are at odds with a God who is truth. Pretty lies are no better than ugly lies. Lies are lies and they are dark and dismal. Ask God to fill your heart with truth today and with a love for that truth so that whenever you would tell yourself a lie, you would immediately appeal to the God of truth and be rescued. Whatever urge you may have to be hard on your neighbors, start first with yourself and let God’s grace fill you and change you.

Psalm 16:8 - I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

First, consider this  reflecting on Maundy Thursday – praise and flattery met Jesus upon His entry into the Holy City. “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord,” they cried and most likely meant what they said. Is it possible that some of those who praised Him on Sunday cursed Him on Thursday evening when He was arrested and brought to trial? Could it be that some who praised Him were seeking to manipulate Him for their own ends and to triumph with their tongues, even to co-opt Him for their own causes? Is it even possible that some that welcomed Him with their lips retained no sense of responsibility for their words beyond themselves? We see ourselves as masters of our words whenever we refuse to submit ourselves, body, soul, and spirit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Jesus went to the upper room and took the role of a servant. With His words and deeds, He offered His body and blood for the redemption of lost men and women. He emptied Himself and held nothing back. His words are truth and love. Let us bring ourselves and our words to Him in that same spirit. If possible, find a place this day to partake of communion with other believers and remember the sacrifice of Jesus and be reminded of His gracious words.

Psalm 16:9 – Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure,

God saw the oppression of the weak and heard the groaning of the needy, bound in the chains of sin and wickedness. Thus, He came to us as a man among men. He arose and took upon Himself of a lowly servant, He emptied Himself and became obedient unto the death of the cross. (Philippians 2) He identified with us completely, yet without sin and became our protector and deliverer from sin. God has always been the champion of the weak and needy. The Christ-event and the passion of the cross make it clear that every man, woman, and child is in need of a savior. We are all oppressed – even if we are oppressors. We each writhe in agony for someone to intervene in our darkness and bring us into the light. Friend, the cross, was, is, and always will be for you. Spend some time today meditating on it. Seek out other believers with whom you can worship in wake of Calvary. Get alone with God and thank Him for remembering you on the cross. Do not let this day pass as any other.

Psalm 16:10 - because you will not abandon my to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

Oh, precious words, flawless, pure, beautiful in their refined glory. God’s words stir the soul, comfort the afflicted, afflict the comfortable, and pierce the heart with divine truth and brilliant light. On that dark Saturday between the cross and the resurrection, the disciples had only the remembrance of His words. What would they have meant to you in such an hour? What have they meant to you in your darkest hours. After the resurrection, Jesus would meet men on the road to Emmaus and remind them of His words and those that the Father had spoken over the centuries through the scriptures. He would bring them new meaning and their hearts would burn within them. Let Jesus apply all of God’s words to your heart in the darkness of death from the place of resurrection. We can never fully visit the despair of that bleak Saturday, but we can enter into our own darkness with the flawless Word of God to comfort our souls.

Psalm 16:11 - you have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

What a pointless prayer this would be divorced from resurrection truth! Without the resurrection we are exposed, vulnerable, and unprotected. If Christ were not raised, we would be as Paul said, “still in our sins (I Cor. 15).” We could not expect help in the onslaughts of wicked and violent people or non-human forces from a dead and powerless God. Prayers would be futile attempts to feel better about our miserable circumstances. Compliance with ethics would be fruitless acts of legalistic compulsion if not overwhelmed by a dynamic conviction that God can raise the dead and thus, protect, deliver, and save. God raised Jesus from the dead and pronounced the death sentence on death. He is alive and brings to life all who trust in Him. Celebrate! The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed!

"Start by doing what's necessary, then do what's possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible." -- Saint Francis of Assisi

 

 

 

I Choose Civility

1909_Tyee_-_Debate_and_Oratory_illustration.jpg: Unsigned, but certainly same artist as File:1909 Tyee - baseball illustration.jpg and almost certainly: Olaf E. Caskin  (–1971)  

 

Civility is important to me because of who I am-not because of who anyone else is.

 

I can't force it on anyone.

 

It doesn't mean I don't tell the truth or believe lies.

 

It doesn't mean I approve or pretend to approve.

 

It doesn't mean I stop resisting wrong.

 

It's my choice.

 

It is how we can relate.

 

It is how we remain humble, teachable, and real. It is also how we stay independent of any outside mind-coercion or control. It is how we get things done and create sustainable, effective change.

 

War is not a viable, sustainable, or  healthy state of affairs. Neither armed warfare nor political or religious warfare.

 

So, I'll continue to try and be civil because my basic conviction about the dignity of every human cannot change just because I find it hard to respect their choices or views. That is a predetermined conviction and if it does not work out, oh well.

 

There will always be a way for me to express my feelings of repulsion or resistance to a tide of culture that offends my sensibilities. But I choose to treat people as kindly as I can without criticizing those who find that difficult or impossible.

 

And ... I will choose my indignation toward what might be uncivil very carefully, in context, and with a sense of balance... respectfully.

 

 

Bureaucracy in the Service of Bureaucracy

And Church in the Service of Itself

Art Credit - cco David Eppstein - Own work

I heard a great comment in a webinar today. One of the panelists said that we are adding a layer of bureaucracy to support our current level of bureaucracy.

Now, that is a hoot!

Because of my background, I immediate applied it to the church and this morning's gospel. Jesus used the occasion of his disciples vying for recognition, position, power, and privilege to teach that, in his glory, the only two people to his right and left would be the two thieves crucified with him.

That was because he did not come to save himself or to serve himself, but to seek the lost, give his life, and serve people.

When the bureaucracy exists to serve the bureaucracy, there is a disconnect and a mission drift.

When the church starts existing to serve itself, prop itself up, defend its own rights, and assert its will, it is also missing the big point and the big mission.

Unfortunately, that has become daily life for many of us.

 

 

Try It - Marketing 001

Name Who Matters

Photo by James Eades on Unsplash

 

Do I Matter?

 

You may be asking that whenever you hear me or others say something like "Black lives matter" with passion, conviction, and tears.

 

Of course you matter.

 

You matter to God.

You matter to me.

 

Yes, I can affirm that all lives matter, but the God who sees us as He saw Hagar and Ishmael tends to be both specific and general in His declarations of love.

 

You matter ..

 

Your life, your pain, your history, your dreams.

 

You.

 

Indigenous lives matter.

"White" lives matter.

Lonely lives matter.

Broken lives matter.

Criminal lives matter.

Police lives matter.

 

John's life matters as do the lives of Mary, Sal, Jim, and . Letisha.

 

I missed many.

But God misses none.

 

He calls them out in groups and individually as needed and whenever there is a loss of balance or need of emphasis or any hint that those lives might not matter as much as others.

 

If you cannot single someone out who has been singled out for exclusion, the word "all" does not mean much.

 

And, when that happens, someone, somewhere is going to feel insecure, forgotten, or marginalized.

 

God has not forgotten you.

God loves you.

I love you.

 

I have some very strong views and plan to express them in ways that may seem very opinionated. I filter them through a long and devoted commitment to hearing the voice of God in scripture while reading the past and the present.

 

It does not make me always right, but it tends to make me feel I am more right than wrong about some things ... My perspective.

 

But that does not mean I can build a curtain around myself, my views, and those who share them, excluding all others and saying, "only our lives, perspectives, and words matter."

 

You matter.

 

I just wanted to say that today, because I have been struggling with it, leaning into the pain of the moment, how I sense God speaking, calling, and inviting in the moment.

 

I do not want to live deeply troubled over the fact that I strongly disagree with someone or they with me. Nor do I want to be intimidated by that or obligated to defend every point or convince every person in order for me or they to be ok.

 

Our OKness comes from God.

 

Jesus spoke in capital letters when he emphasized that love for God and neighbor sum up all the law and prophets.

 

That has never been repealed and ...

... you matter.

 

If You Have a Job to Do ...

Do it!

And Do Your Best!

I was at LAX in June, 2014, waiting for a flight to Israel. I arrived in the wee hours of the morning because I had come from Fresno by train. The international terminal was almost empty. I napped and watched intermittently.

Not so, for the man at the currency exchange counter. I do not believe he ever nodded off. He was alert every time I opened my eyes.

The dude seldom moved for over an hour.

Mostly, he had  folded hands.

Staring forward.

I waited for him to look down.

One person came by. As fate would have it, no currency exchange, but he did get directions.

Some jobs are hard - like waiting, and boredom.

He waits well for the exchange rate to change.

Then he pops into sudden action and changes the board.

He does his job.

What more can we ask?

What is on your job plate today?

Do your very best!

 

 

Sermon Outline for Romans 4

Fra Angelico

Romans 4

Here is the outline. It is up to you to flesh it out.

 First – Consider the Giver -  Believe God

 ¹What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? ²If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. ³ What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." ⁽Gen. 15:6; also in verse 22) 

The Message puts it this way: "Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own."

Second -  Consider the Gift -  Stop Counting on Our Works and Count Only on God’s Gift.

 ⁴Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. ⁵However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. ⁶David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

 The Message puts it this way: “If you're a hard worker and do a good job, you deserve your pay; we don't call your wages a gift. But if you see that the job is too big for you, that it's something only God can do, and you trust him to do it—you could never do it for yourself no matter how hard and long you worked—well, that trusting-him-to-do-it is what gets you set right with God, by God. Sheer gift. “

 Third – Consider the Cost – The cost is forgiveness and forgiveness is costly.

  ^7"Blessed are they
      whose transgressions are forgiven,
      whose sins are covered.
 ⁸Blessed is the man
      whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” (Psalm 32:1,2) 

Fourth – Consider Your Response – There is a twofold response.

 ⁹Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness. ¹⁰Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! ¹¹And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. ¹²And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

 A Two-Fold Response

• • Take the Seal.
  • Walk in Faith.

Fifth – Consider the Benefits

 ^13It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. ¹⁴For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, ¹⁵because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. ¹⁶Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. ¹⁷As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. 

• • Great Promise
  • Great Possibilities 

Sixth - Consider Two Great Examples

 ¹⁸Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." ¹⁹Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead. ²⁰Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, ²¹being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. ²²This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." ²³The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, ²⁴but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. ²⁵He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. 

• • Abraham demonstrated faith.
  • Jesus died, in faith, for all who would come by faith.

 

Here is some more help.

 

Sunday's Message at The Fellowship of Joy

Correction - It was June 19

A Father to Pharaoh

James Tissot French painter

FATHER’S DAY

“And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were troubled at his presence… So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.” – Genesis 45:3,8

Fathers, you are making history daily.

Joseph, who had in Egypt become a father to the king, was facing the very men who had snatched him from his father’s house and sold him into slavery. Because they were his father’s sons, these men who had sinned against him so deviously, were still his brothers. More than that, Joseph knew that they had been instrumental in God’s plan for his life in Egypt. They were unwitting agents of God’s deeper and more eternal purposes in preparing His people for His purpose of redemption through the Messiah.

Nothing can thwart God’s plan.

But through years of slavery, Joseph, who adapted and thrived in every new situation, had not forgotten his father. It was his father who had loved him, encouraged him, provided the earliest example of integrity to him, and had taught him the lessons of life. But his father had not always been such a man.

Joseph had excelled in character that had come to Jacob later in life. He had not, as a young man been the man his son was. He had dealt treacherously with his own brother and the lack of integrity in his early life had, no doubt, helped to shape the character of his older sons.

But Joseph was raised by Israel, the man Jacob had become through an encounter with God and his character was shaped by a different man than the one who had stolen his brother’s birthright and dealt deceptively with his own father. As fathers, our own character will help to shape that of our sons and will impact history.

 

 

Prayers That Make God Angry

And Those That Don't!

Is it conceivable that God would be angry at our prayers?

Irritated?
Perturbed?
Cynical?

The psalmist thought so and prayed,

"O LORD God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people's prayers?" (Psalm 80:4 ESV)

Consider context, please, Here is a reminder that this prayer was not rejected. In fact, it was accepted into the canon.

Were the psalmist's prayers disingenuous?

Were they rote?

Were they self-righteous, self-absorbed, or self-centered?

Were they religious mumbo-jumbo with no life engagement?

This one, Psalm 80, is gut-level, gut-wrenching, gut-spilling expression of honesty. God seems to like that.

Three times, he cries (actually sings),

" Restore us, O LORD God of hosts!
Let your face shine, that we may be saved!"
(Psalm 80:19 ESV)

He also says, "Hey, we are your people, your prize, your statement to the world. This is all about you!" (Very loose paraphrase)

God does not turn away from real prayer, though His silence and delays may be disturbing. He longs for our honest engagement and for us to pour out our hearts that He might fill them.

Every forlorn and desperate psalm is an invitation for us to come to God in very honest prayer.

God is not angry at your heart-felt prayer.

Two Messages on Spirit of Truth

 

The Spirit of Truth

John 16:12-15

 

It is GRADUAL - So have FAITH -

16:12 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

 

We have a GUIDE- So, ,FOLLOW -

6:13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

 

There is GLORY and verified credibility - So FIND it is Christ 

 

(The term doxa is aGreek term (δόξα) that comes from the verb dokein (δοκεῖν), meaning 'to appear, to seem, to think, to accept'. Between the 3rd and 1st centuries BCE, the term picked up an additional meaning when the Biblical Hebrew word for 'glory' (כבוד, kavod) was translated by the Septuagint as doxa. , a term with social, moral, and theological implications derived from the Hebrew root for weight, meaning honor, respect, reverence, importance, distinction, or glory. A person gives kavod (honor) to .)

16:14 He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 16:15 All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

 

 

Clear Cut Accuracy and Certainty

Photo by Tim Foster on Unsplash

There is no place in the Bible where it says we are saved on the basis of our accuracy or certainty with regard to our theological stances.

That is not the meaning of faith.

Faith is not opinion, thought it moves us to opine in one direction or another.

Faith is not orthodoxy, though the orthodoxy of our teachings should flow through the filter of faith.

We are not tested on our facts or perceptions before gaining entrance into the Kingdom of God.

One is not suggesting that we set out with the goal to be wrong or wobbly in our convictions. It is the opposite. The perpetual love of truth, desire for truth, and seeking of truth must be done from a place of openness to truth and willingness to recant or rethink.

Sometimes, we are not doubting God, but our ideas about God when we seem to be wavering.

The trajectory of our lives is the indicator of faithfulness, moving toward that which is eternally true and real.

We seek God in each measured segment of time, in each manifestation of reality, and in each perplexing question.

This is true of our trust in Jesus as the Word of God. There is no Christology exam that determines the prestige of our address in the New Jerusalem. We determine to trust Jesus and follow Jesus wherever Jesus is and however Jesus reveals himself to us at different stages of our journey.

Thus, with the Bible.  As we determine that it contains a message from God that is true and reliable, we do so without the assumption that we fully understand it and with a commitment to study and know it better, employing every tool at our disposal to grasp the message of each narrative and essential teaching. We sort out the literary genre's, the canonical purpose for inclusion, the context, the voice of who is speaking, God or human, and we pray, think, pray, act.

But whether we are right or wrong  at  any given time is not the test of our seeking faith, in God, God's Son, or the Bible.

We teach the doctrine of grace and then, apply legalism to those who do not fully understand it or articulate it as we do.

None of this is to say that Christian faith is without a spine or skeletal structure. Structure exists, but even in creation, those humans born with variations of physiology are still human.  Something deeper defines their humanity.

Something deeper defines our spirituality..

Much of our systematic theology and rigid dogmatism, while helpful for finding common ground of understanding, seems to flow more from an engineer's slide rule than from an artist's brush.

We need all the tools, but we also need humility when we are tempted to categorize people and their faith based upon their accuracy and certainty.

 

 

How to Smile in Five Easy Steps

Are you a novice to the habit of smiling. I will suggest a beginning exercise that may help.

Not only will you feel better, but it pays well too.

S

Stretch your cheeks as far as they can go to the left and the right.

M

Make yourself hold that position.

I

Inhale, but hold your facial position.

L

Lighten up your stance by tensing and relaxing your muscles.

E 

Enjoy the giggle that is now turning from a chuckle to a cackle.

 

Practice that 5-10 times a day, holding it for 5 minutes.

See what your brain and outlook can learn from your face.

If you do not believe me, try it anyway to prove me wrong. You will be happy when you fail to do so.

 

 

 

Gathered and Scattered

And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. - Acts 2:3

Sometimes the word God has for others or for us comes and sits on us. Then, it does its work and we are as amazed as the listeners. We jut don’t know where it came from or how we could be used so mightily – except that God did something spectacular. Often, we don’t know what to say or how to say it. We do not speak the “language” of an acquaintance. We may share a common tongue, but we do not know the language of his or her heart.

Words are like triggers sometimes. Careless, even innocent use of some words can push the play buttons on “old tapes” sending the listener into a rage of defensive posturing. More often, we overuse words and speech patterns. The ears of listeners grow dull to the repetitious sound of our religious platitudes and spiritual utterances. What we say is true, but the truth does not penetrate or take root because it is not heard. So, either a wall of defense is build to keep the gospel out or a wall of apathy. Either way, a fire is needed to burn away the walls.

At Pentecost, all heard the gospel in their own languages. More important, each person heard the word in the language of his or her heart. It penetrated deeply and cut to the quick. It burned away resistance and complacency with the heat of its passion and the clarity of consuming fury.

We need tongues of fire today as well. We need our own souls set on fire by the Holy Spirit who alone can burn through the rubbish of noisy distractions and set the world on fire with the ”buzz” of God’s good news. Do you deeply desire to be an effective witness for Jesus Christ? Give yourself over to God and ask Him, in faith, to speak through you, believing that He will. You will be amazed and people you never expected to pay attention will hear the life-changing message of Jesus.

And Another Meditation on this Verse

The tongue holds a prominent place in scripture – sometimes for the evil it can do and other times as a tremendous force for good. In the New Testament, it is the purveyor of the good news of Jesus Christ. By the foolishness of preaching, the gospel is spread throughout the world regardless of the languages of the people.

Fire burns away dross and every superficial thing that vies for attention and distracts from the message of truth. Fire burns in the hearts of those who are entrusted with God’s message so that the message spreads without hindrance and impacts all who are in its path.

At Pentecost, God placed His message of grace in the hearts and on the tongues of every believer. Consider the each and the every, the individual and the collective in the experience of Pentecost. God calls us each to worship Him and that is very personal, intimate, and individualized. But He also calls us, everyone, to be part of the whole, to be joined as a body in the ensemble of harmonic voices lifted in unified praise in and through the Holy Spirit to the glory of His Name and the proclamation of His Word.

Today, as we come together, we are many and we are one in the celebration of the mystery of the Holy Spirit in the majesty of the Body. We are here at God’s invitation and sent forth with His commission because of Pentecost.

Gathered and Scattered

 

Come holy spirit sacred dove

 

Daddy

Photo by Caroline Hernandez on Unsplash 

For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. -Romans 8:15

 

Little Sarah was only three years old. All day long, she had been home doing what little girls do. But as the sun began to go down and the smell of hot rolls filled the house, her tiny heart began to sing with anticipation. She knew that evening meant one thing. Her daddy would soon walk through the door. The love of her life would come home from a hard day at work, and she would run to meet him, jump in his arms, and be embraced with joy and love.

 

"Daddy, I missed you," she would exclaim. "You’re finally home! I'm so glad you are here."

 

At that, her father's heart would melt.

 

The Spirit of God invites us to pray as Jesus prayed, Abba, or Daddy.

 

We are drawn into a relationship of warmth, acceptance, and love with our Heavenly Father. Those of us who have enjoyed such relationships with our earthly fathers have a glimpse of what our relationship with God can be. Those of us who have not had such relationships can take comfort in the knowledge of His absolute love and unbridled joy when we call out to Him and jump into His arms.

 

 

It was not my best day ever. I have to be honest. Otherwise, I have nothing of value to say.

Yet, who am I to say anything about a day?

I have experienced, exercised, and exorcised most possible negative emotions. I am so tired and frustrated that I have turned to late night work to energize and encourage me.

It does. The very notion that I can somehow be productive and contribute something lifts my spirits and I think it will lift most people's spirits.

"Bad days" are crossroads. If the day is truly rotten and discouraging, the temptation is to give up. It is a strong temptation, not only to give up, but to do it in some big, demonstrative way that announces to the masses that ... well ... another person has quit.

And then, you expect a monument, a testimonial, or a day of recognition. It is not likely to be that way.

Quitters are a dime a dozen. There is no shortage of people giving up.

At the crossroads we choose: Give up or get up.

We already know how to give up. We need no tutorial on that. What we need is a strategy for getting up when the frustration anchor is deeply embedded in muck of bad luck and the sand of grand plans gone awry. Getting up takes a burst of energy from somewhere else and a big dose of extraordinary courage.

GET

G - - Give it another shot.

Whatever it is and however disappointing the results may have been, agree to taking one more step toward where you are going and being led. You don't have to agree to anything for a week from now - not today. Just agree to give it another day. Then we can talk again tomorrow.

E - Energize!

Squeeze it out. Something is left in you and there is a power greater than you that can supply what is lacking. Stand to your feet and begin. There is one brush left in that bottle of toothpaste. There is one more sip in that glass of water. There is always something left. Spend it on the prize before you!

T - Tell someone that you are not quitting today.

Tell them that you felt like it and that you were justified in it, and that it would have been the easiest and most practical thing for you - but you just aren't going to do it! You are going to keep moving forward,. When you tell it, you commit to it at a deeper level and you accumulate a team of supporters.

UP

U - Utilize every resource you can find.

Muster them all - human, creative, practical, material, and emotional. Getting up from disappointment requires more of everything than starting from the beginning. Be creative. Be resourceful. Be assertive.

P - Pray.

Now some of you, I know, don't believe in God or in prayer, but it will not hurt you to do it as an exercise. Your version might be a time of thought and reflection. For believers, it is that and more. As you pray, you will collect people and resources along with ideas and solutions. You will slow down your frantic thinking and sharpen your focus.

There are no guarantees that you will succeed in your venture or that I will in mine. What you will guarantee is that you woke up to another day and that you did not quit before the right time.

GET UP!

 

 

What Must I Do to Be Saved?

View on Facebook:

View in YouTube:

 

Acts 16:16-34
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we met a female slave who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners a great deal of money by fortune-telling. While she followed Paul and us, she would cry out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”

She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, very much annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I order you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.”

And it came out that very hour.

But when her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said, “These men, these Jews, are disturbing our city and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us, being Romans, to adopt or observe.”

The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was an earthquake so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”

The jailer called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. He brought them up into the house and set food before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.

Psalm 97
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice;
let the many coastlands be glad!
Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
Fire goes before him
and consumes his adversaries on every side.
His lightnings light up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of all the earth.

The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all the peoples behold his glory.
All servants of images are put to shame,
those who make their boast in worthless idols;
all gods bow down before him.
Zion hears and is glad,
and the towns of Judah rejoice
because of your judgments, O God.
For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.

You who love the Lord, hate evil;
he guards the lives of his faithful;
he rescues them from the hand of the wicked.
Light dawns for the righteous
and joy for the upright in heart.
Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,
and give thanks to his holy name!

Revelation 22:12-14, 20-21
New Revised Standard Version

“See, I am coming soon; my reward is with me, to repay according to everyone’s work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they will have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates.

“It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.”
And let everyone who hears say, “Come.”
And let everyone who is thirsty come.
Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift.

The one who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.

John 17:20-26
New Revised Standard Version

“I ask not only on behalf of these but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

“Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them and I in them.”

 

Tom's Link Tree

 

Earlier this week

Last Week's Message

 

 

 

 

 

 

These Days Should be Remembered

And that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed. -Esther 9:28

We walk gingerly among the gravestones that dot the pathways of our memories. Like those characters in the Spoon River Anthology, shadows arise from the markers and tell their stories. They are stories of love and laughter, of providence and accidence. They touch mystery and mischief. They are stories of deep devotion and unspeakable sacrifice.

These are the sometimes vivid, sometimes shadowy memories of ordinary men and women swept up into the wave of national conflict, ready to answer the call of duty, desiring to live, willing to die, and gradually being forgotten except for this: We choose to remember them.

We strain to remember them.

In the dash that is their moment between the date of birth and that of death, every choice, every embrace, each and every thought, dream, or word was accomplished and enshrined. Dedicated beneath the stones is a place of memory. Consecrated within the hearts of loved ones are their smiles and presence.

But they too will die and with them, memories.

So, we commit and strain to remember. We tell their stories. We exalt their blood offering. We look upon their suffering with gratitude and horror. We hug their children. We remember.

Long after each of us is gone and our names have been erased from the consciousness of all who knew us or of us, we can still be giving and these who died for country will still be loved and appreciated for their selfless gifts. What they gave will keep on giving.

So let us be reminded, by their memories, to so live, that every day, we shall create a ripple in the river of life that will freshen the stream for all time.

 

 

Go with the Flow

The FLOW of Grace

It has been suggested that when storms come into our lives, that we "go with the flow." I would like to suggest that we embrace grace as a flow of God's mercy and attention in our lives.

Psalm 11:1 - "In the Lord I take refuge. How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to your mountain.""

The impulse to flee is one of two that we face in any crisis situation. Fight and flight are the two extremes that confront humans. But there is a third option that occupies the seat of grace – it is to flow and to let God’s grace flow through you as you flow with the circumstances of life. Flowing does not require denial of danger. It acknowledges the truth of the situation, but embraces a greater truth in the mix of reality. It is the truth of God’s presence, His power, and His love. It is the truth that in Him we have a sturdy and steady refuge from danger. In God’s mercy, we neither run to the mountains to avoid potential pain nor stand to fight our battles ourselves alone. The life of faith is a journey of trust and balance. Find your refuge in God today.

F

Face the Challenge

Psalm 11:2 - "For look, the wicked bend their bows; they set their arrows against the strings to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart."

Wickedness lives in the midst of dark shadows. It attacks without warning and without rules of engagement. The snipers of sin and temptation align with the forces of discouragement, bitterness, despondency, and cynicism to derail our growth in grace and righteousness. Satan would have us flee to the hills and abandon our God-given assignments. Or he would be equally pleased if we would take the battle in our own strength and suffer defeat at his hand. God calls us to take refuge in Him. His is the battle; He is our protector, defender, and friend. Do not be discouraged, dismayed, or shocked by the sinister conniving of evil. Satan is an accuser and liar and hides in darkness. Bring every thought, motive, and deed to the light. Allow every memory that pains the heart to come into the brilliance of God’s grace. Then we can speak as forthrightly and with the same matter-of-factness as the psalmist. Then we can bring these matters that once caused us to tremble before a God who already knows and cares. We can take refuge in Him, but first, we must face and expose the challenge and name it for what it is.

L 

Lament. Lean into the circumstance and lift up the frustration to God.

Psalm 11:3 - When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

Who has not expressed such a lament in the recesses of a discouraged heart? If indeed, the foundations are destroyed, there is not much the righteous can do. The righteous person depends upon foundations to stand under the weight of external conflict and internal stress. There are values and beliefs in which we invest ourselves. We call them ultimate and we hang our lives upon them. There are irreducible standards that we set for our families, our communities, and ourselves. When these are threatened, we are flung into chaos and spasmodic reaction. We cry out to God in utter desperation and confusion. “God,” we cry, “ is there nothing that is sacred, nothing that is permanent, nothing that cannot be destroyed by the forces that afflict with without and within?” And God answers us that what we thought were the foundations were only part of the extended structure of our lives, that He is our true foundation and He will never be shaken. Paul concluded that no other foundation can be laid than that which is laid: Jesus Christ (I Cor. 3:11). Anything else can be destroyed, but the believer whose life is planted in Jesus Christ cannot be toppled. Trust Him in the midst of the quaking of the earth and the battering of the storm.

O 

Observe the presence, power, and stability of God

Psalm 11:4a - "The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord is on his heavenly throne."

When the foundations are seemingly being destroyed, God remains securely seated in His holy temple and rules from His throne. There is no interruption in His reign, no pause in His oversight, and no cause for concern by His subjects. He is the true foundation that cannot be shaken. He is our refuge. He is our sure protection in times of trouble. Nothing escapes His constant attention. When, in the bleakest moments, all that is right appears vanquished, He speaks and the frayed strands of time and space come into their proper order. We are not a patient people. We are easily stirred from our strident faith. We become disturbed by the news, by prognosticating commentaries on our times, and by our own emotions. We gaze into our problems with such intensity that we, for a moment, lose sight of God on His throne. But He is there. He has not moved. He will not be displaced, replaced, or ultimately ignored. The greatest relevance in the universe is that God is active and alive in His Holy temple supervising and involved in the affairs of men and women. Tune your hearts to that reality today and live in joyful confidence in God.

W

Wait on God with faith that He sees, knows, and is acting. It is not passive waiting, but active trusting with awareness of His attention.

Psalm 11:4b - "He observes the sons of men; his eyes examine them."

God is watching. There is a popular song that announces that truth but distorts it with the words, “from a distance.” That is only half-true. There will always be a distance between God and man because He is God and we are men – but that is a distance of essential nature that Jesus bridged and brought us into intimate fellowship with the Father. Even those who do not know Him are known by Him for He is as imminent as He is transcendent. Some envision a God so far away that He requires a telescope to observe us, but it is with His eye that He watches and nothing escapes His notice. He examines us with such divine scrutiny that all is known, even that which our hearts cannot acknowledge in awareness. Knowing that God knows frees us in prayer to be absolutely honest. It liberates us from the limitations of language to open ourselves to Him. He knows every circumstance and every deed done in darkness or in light. He has all the information and, in His wisdom, is the only true and reliable interpreter of history and current events. It would behoove us to withhold judgment until He speaks in a matter for we see only within a thin spectrum of all that is. He sees all. Understand that as you meet Him in prayer today.

Go with God's flow today.

My Thoughts and Prayers

 

I am drained.

I have exhausted my thoughts and stretched my prayers.

I am sapped of strength to do either in a meaningful way.

Yet, I pray.

Yet, I think.

And in my thinking and praying, I seek wisdom to act, to do, to behave, to exercise influence, to know and share wisdom.

I have big feet and my elder and Sunday School, Mrs. Emily Daniels, told me I should attach them to my prayers because the most vital intervention in prayer is not outside of ourselves. It is inside of us. It motivates, activates, and empowers us.

Yes. I am thinking about Uvalde and Buffalo and all the hundreds of places and incidents where violence has erupted because of someone with guns. Yes. I am praying.

But fully engaged prayer involves our total being, our bodies, our feet, our voices, our influence, our courage, our problem-solving capacity, our willingness to make sacrifices and work with our adversaries to make changes.

But I am exhausted and numb.

Yesterday peeled another layer off of my neuropathic skin and exposed more rawness. I looked at every picture I could find online of the children, precious, sweet children and of the parents, devastated and grieving and found one bit of good news:

I can still feel.

I can still be shocked.

I can still be devastated.

I am not numb to this.

I am sad and I am angry.

I am sad for them and I am sad for any eighteen year old kids who can be so angry, twisted, self-absorbed, fixated on weapons, unperturbed by death, and mean as to throw away the lives of others and not care about their own.

I am angry that their followers copy them and cheer them.

I am angry that someone buys them guns or sells them guns.

I am angry that the first words out of some peoples' mouths is about our rights to have guns. I have never owned a gun and never will. I actually believe you have the right to have one if you are stable and law abiding and pass at least the same background checks and proportional training comparable to others who hold the power of life an death in their hands:

• Surgeons
• Hairdressers
• Food handlers
• Drivers

Personally, I do not need them, want them, or allow them in my home. And that is a mutual decision between myself and my wife.  We will find other ways to  protect ourselves or will die. That is our choice.

And I see no need to participate in an armed uprising against the government. We will fight for our rights in peaceful ways or we will suffer persecution.

That is where my thoughts and prayers take me. They move me to use my vote, my words, and my actions to influence reasonable policies that protect everyone's rights, even rights I do not choose to exercise, but with logical limits.

My thoughts and prayers also lead me to be pastoral toward those who are in pain. As I have opportunity to minister, I will take it. That includes my readers and listeners.

My thoughts and prayers further lead me to be respectful, cordial, civil, and gracious toward others. May they also empower me to do so and to put my anger in it place.

What about mental illness?

Some of the kindest, gentlest, and most spiritually healthy people I know deal with mental illness. I support their right not to be lumped together with demented killers. I will certainly not do that to all gun owners and hunters.

However, when distorted thinking comes under the strong influence of evil thinking, there is cause for concern. There is greater concern when that happens to impressionable adolescents at their stage of brain development.

So, how can we address that with our thoughts and prayers?

I am not being sarcastic. I am asking and not expecting a quick answer. If we combine thinking and praying, we may start with more questions than answers. Arrogance does not appreciate that. Genuine spirituality does.

Well, I said I was exhausted and I am. I am done for now without a clever closing. Maybe that is the way it should be.

Put a comma there.

 

 

The Big Squeeze

You are a business, social, or spiritual entrepreneur. No doubt, you are also someone's employee while you build your dreams. Most likely, you have a family, a home, and "chores."

You are busy.

You are doing whatever you do in the cracks of your life between other major responsibilities. You frequently complain that you just don't have "enough time." You feel guilty when you relax. you feel frustrated about all the things you didn't get done.

You are in a self-imposed squeeze and, when it comes to building your dreams, you have to "squeeze things in."

Top that off with the troubling reality that you are not all that fond of tight spaces, which is one reason why you ARE and entrepreneur -- so that you can get out of them.

Unfortunately, in order to accomplish that, you need to get into some for a while.

Let's consider some, quite impromptu ideas for coping with the squeeze and letting it even squeeze a little more greatness out of you and efficiency out of your schedule

Here is today's acronym for squeezing it all in.

S is for SCHEDULE.

Make it; break it; bend it; keep it as best as possible. Make it reasonable. Break it gently. Bend it whenever necessary (So keep it flexible). Keep it as a form of disciple and as a planning tool.

Q is for QUIET.

Quiet your soul.

Live by grace.

Receive it and give it.

Relax often.

Leave space in your life for God, family, self, and reflection. Whatever your spiritual, emotional, or intellectual disciplines, include a quiet time in every day. Make it the un-squeezed portion of your life.

U is for UNDERSTAND.

Do what you do with a rationale and purpose. Understand yourself: your pace, your purpose, your passion-driven energy, and your productivity index.

By knowing what makes you most effective and how to apportion your energy and time, you will be able to squeeze more out of every hour. Then, also understand the task as part of the whole project and mission and what it takes to get done what you are determined to do. Live with understanding.

E is for ENERGY.

Know that your productivity index is more about how you budget your energy than your time. Time is a necessary commodity, but if you have from midnight to 6 AM every day, it doesn't mean that such time is going to be productive because you will most likely be out of energy and much in need of rest.

E is also for EQUIPPING.

It is said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. It is just as true that an ounce of preparation is worth a pound of effort. Squeezing an empty tube of toothpaste is a useless activity. Don't become encumbered with useless expenditures of valuable time and effort. Learn what you need to learn.

Read what you need to read.

Plan ahead.

Prepare yourself and others.

Equip yourself for maximum productivity in the squeeze. It may SEEM like a waste of time to read this article when you could be making a call. Ignore that voice that discourages you from equipping yourself and keep preparing.

Z is for ZOO and it is a zoo out there

Yes, it is a zoo without the cages --- more like a zoological reserve with all sorts of wild things roaming around and creating an illusion of unpredictability. The bottom line of this proposition is that no matter how hard you try to bring order to your life, there will be unforeseen events and circumstances. It is predictable that these will arise and with all the information, one might be able to see these crises coming, but no one has nor can they assimilate all the data necessary.

Therefore, what may be a well ordered universe manifests itself as utter chaos from time to time. Count on it and make the appropriate arrangements to cope.

E and the last E is for EITHER/OR

This is the most important letter of all because it is about our choices which are always ours alone to make. When we are in a squeeze we must decide what we are going to do, say, think, or believe.

In 15 seconds one can bend over and pick up a penny on the ground, stand back up and prepare to bend down and pick up another. One person might quip that it would be a waste of time. Another might do the math and realize that at that rate, one would be making $24 per hour.

At that point you'd need to ask yourself if you could be making more in that 15 second period by jotting down a great idea, making a mental note of an insight, or even speaking to the person next to you.

Any of those would be more productive than complaining, blaming, or feeling sorry for oneself.

There are always choices.

You have the same number of hours in a day as everyone else, but it seems less because your dreams are bigger, your expectations higher, and your goals loftier. You will frequently find yourself squeezed, but even in the squeezes you can make choices that will make those tight spaces wide opportunities for great things to happen.

You are a winner.

 

 

How Dominant Narratives Dominate Our Thinking

And Cloud Our Vision

Some  of our opinions reflect an honest belief in what we are calling a "dominant narrative" of reality. We generally believe the story in widest circulation among people who share our common experience.

 

Then, some exposure or new information from sources outside our own experience challenges our embrace of that narrative and creates new conversation.

 

Most narratives are based upon some truth, but none, by human limitation, on all the truth or necessarily the most determinate truth. As the old cliché speaks to me about my assumptions of reality, "Follow the money."

 

That is - whatever "money" means in a specific context.

 

Who benefits and how?

 

Do we get the results we really want for what we really want and do we really want what we should be wanting?

 

What if we are getting neither what we want or ought to be wanting? What many good people are working for something that we think is getting what is not being delivered and there is enough temporary reinforcement to train our thinking and behaviors to keep things as they are?

 

Well, then, we have described the human condition at any given time in history.

 

So, we must dialogue, seek, challenge our thinking, and create a new story for a future reality. For those who walk in the light of the Kingdom of God as proclaimed by Jesus Christ, this is always an imperative because He always challenged the narrative with a completely new, yet old way of looking at everything.

 

Our views are to be considered, respected, addressed, challenged, and/or/and examined beyond the first layer of reality.

 

Jesus told us to seek first the Kingdom and its righteousness which a entirely different from the kingdoms of the world which are systems that can usually boil down to self interest and perpetuation of someone's sense of need to preserve wealth, power, or a false sense of security and safety.

 

In like manner, it is a different sort of righteousness that is based upon a paradigm flipped over to draw a new picture of laws and principles that all must hang upon our call to vertical and horizontal love of God and neighbor.

 

Who is my neighbor?

 

That becomes the question with which we must wrestle in all of our personal and social ethics as they touch our relationships with people and communities.

 

So, it is no small consideration to ask the right questions and continuing to stir the pots.

 

I have often wrestled with the difficult consequences of not stirring the pots on my stove adequately.

 

Stirring is hard work, but scraping the bottom of a burned pan is sheer torture!

Fear and No Fear

 

The Fear that Nullifies Fear

 

Only the fear of the Lord begins a process of wisdom.

 

There is no wisdom in any other sort of fear, only poor choices that seem right in the moment.

 

All other fears are cast out by that awe-some, jaw-dropping, knee-popping, head-bending, body-trembling unveiling experience of God's power, holiness, and love.

 

Then, in that love, all fear is cast out.

 

So, fear of anything or anyone else produces bad decisions whether personal or policy driven.

 

We live by the liberating law of love.

 

Fear and love cannot coexist equally in our attitudes toward others. Fear imprisons us and constricts us.

 

Love sets us free. God's love intervenes when we are inclined to retreat from Him and the hand of Jesus draws us toward Him.

 

The Spirit fills us and we come. And we come that we may go, fearless into the world.

Help in Purple

A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul.

 

 

Psalm 67 

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, Selah

that your way may be known upon earth, your saving power among all nations.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you.

The earth has yielded its increase; God, our God, has blessed us.

May God continue to bless us; let all the ends of the earth revere him.

 

John 5:1-9

Wesley, Frank, 1923-2002. Arise, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.

After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids--blind, lame, and paralyzed.

One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"

The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me."

Jesus said to him, "Stand up, take your mat and walk."

At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. Now that day was a sabbath.

Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5

The New Jerusalem. Armenian manuscript by Malnazar and Aghap'ir in New Julfa bible, 1645.

And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.

And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.

Its gates will never be shut by day--and there will be no night there. People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.

But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

 

Acts 16:9-15

Lydia of Thyatira, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. 

During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."

When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them. We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days.

On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there.

A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home."

And she prevailed upon us.

 

John 14:23-29

Jesus answered him, "Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me."

"I have said these things to you while I am still with you.

"But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you."

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid."

"You heard me say to you, 'I am going away, and I am coming to you.' If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe."

God's Bias and Our Alignments

Photo by Mihály Köles on Unsplash

God has this great "thing" for the poor and oppressed.

Don't take my word for it.

Psalm 146:7-9
New International Version

He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

God loves the broken of this world.

Question: If God seems to have this decided bias for the oppressed, the hungry, the prisoners, the blind, the bowed down, the righteous, the alien (Yes, the alien), the orphan, and the widow, ought not we? If He frustrates the ways of the wicked who oppress these, ought we not be cheering Him on?

Whose side are we on when we align ourselves only with those who can improve our own standards of living and who work only for self-interest?

We must follow our dreams. But we must hold our dreams up before God and ask if they are aligned with His dreams. We must focus on goals, but we must allow God to scrutinize our goals. Perhaps our dreams and goals are too measly for us. perhaps we have settled for something less than God's larger dream. Perhaps our circle of hope is too tightly woven around our own personal desires.

Isaiah said it first in Isaiah 61:1-2 and it is then quoted by Jesus as His life mission in Luke 4:18-19. It is the calling to be God's instrument of peace to the most vulnerable of the earth:

Luke 4:18-19

New International Version

 

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

 

Jesus stopped at, "...the acceptable year of the Lord ..." not because the rest was not true, but because He was speaking of His own mission in that moment, His dream, His goals, His calling.

Then, in John 20:21, He declares,

" ... Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent
me, even so send I you."

If our dreams, visions, and goals are to be aligned with His, we must be sent as He was sent and go as He went to live our lives for the Greater Dream.

You can claim that He is only referring to spiritual deliverance if you like, but you will be taking great hermeneutic liberties. Of course, it is spiritual. And of course, we are all poor and broken if we get honest with God. The richest among us is needy and poor. But there is no room for dismissing the obvious and simple application that God is concerned for those who are oppressed by wicked people and institutions in this world.

He is biased toward those who are downtrodden. He takes the side of those who do not have the power to take their own side.

For that reason, I am neither a loyal Republican or Democrat. The politics of Jesus is such that is a bit simpler and, at the same time, more complicated. Both parties are sometimes right and often wrong. That is OK because they are human and doing their own thing.

But there is no party or political philosophy with which a Christian can and ought to be entirely comfortable.

For the same reason, I cannot view my business goals and dreams for success as merely secular pursuits. They are part of a larger view and a bigger dream.

I encourage people to think positively and move toward success as part of this understanding that God wants to lift people and wants to use us to lift people as well. But it is in the context of a deeper understanding and wider perspective.

It is wrapped up in God's grace, in Christ's redemption, in the call to repentance, in the invitation to personal salvation, and in the call of Jesus to follow Him to those places where people are needy and hurting. I cannot be convinced that there is some division between a social conscience and an evangelical message, between a concern for the needy and principles of personal success. They must must be integrated and they must be understood in light of God's big picture.

He is personally invested in the business of lifting people who are broken ... and so must we be, whether our primary calling is ministry through the church, through business, or through public service.

I filter my thinking about many issues through this understanding of the Word and heart of God.

Do Not Worry About Your Life

"Look at the birds."

"Consider the lilies."

Photo by Richard Sagredo on Unsplash 

There was a little blue jay lying lifeless on the ground when I went out to feed my chickens this morning. While I could not tell him apart from the other jays that I feed and enjoy watching, I was reminded that my Heavenly Father knew him personally.

My dog sniffed him curiously and I was sad.

That blue jay had not spent one moment of his life worrying about anything. He probably had not seen death coming. He was pretty much always in the moment.

We often worry ourselves into inaction, but are more often stifled by worry.  We are motivated by what we value.

I like to think I know my own motives and that worry, and the cares of life do not occupy too much of my mind’s real estate.

The truth is, I need some growth.

Jesus’ teaching on the mount continues with the discourse where he connects our worries to our ultimate values. He challenges us to be more connected to value than fear of loss and to examine our motives.

“Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.”

“Are you not of more value than they?”

“And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life?”

“And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.”

“But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you-- you of little faith?”

“Therefore, do not worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.”

“But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. "So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today.”

–Matthew 6:25-34, NRSV

What motivates you? 

What energizes your imagination and activates your soul? 

Are you paralyzed by the fear that you will not be able to provide the necessities of life for yourself and your family? 

Are you enslaved by the need to move forward economically or to build earthly security?

God cares for His own, for birds and lilies, and people who seek Him.  His kingdom and His righteousness are of such great value that nothing else compares with them.

Our task is to check in with what motivates us as we make important decisions and view the realities of life. 

By keeping first things first, we can eliminate the need to juggle multiple priorities or to fret over things that ultimately perish.

 

Bible Drill Above 

Sidney meets his match in Mother Maria.

Where to Focus

You have a limited supply of attention to give and you can only really pay attention to one thing at a time. There will be a focus and everything else will be peripheral.

 

You decide where to focus.

 

You get to choose where you will spend your attention.

 

Things that deserve my attention today:

 

#1 - Being in an honest and transparent relationship with God and with the people in my life.

#2 - Making positive change in the world in those areas where I have influence. The second and third are of equal value so, they should be 3a and 3b.

#3- Paying attention to issues that involve correcting justice in PUBLIC policy, international diplomacy, matters of war and peace, issues of  oppression and other areas where my influence, vote, or comments may count.

#4- Encouraging, inspiring, motivating, and uplifting people.

#5 - Doing my work and minding my own business.

#6- #1976 - A variety of things because there will always be a variety and some things cannot be anticipated. 

And then, at the bottom of the list:

#1977 (if that high) - The personal scandals of high profile people (apparently somewhere between 1-4 on many peoples lists).

These are mine.

What are yours?

What if you paused for five minutes and wrote them down?

"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." - Eleanor Roosevelt

Change from the CORE

Extreme Makeover - Life Edition

How many bloggers does it take to change a lightbulb?

How about life coaches?

What?!!! Change?!!!

If we don't want change, all change is intimidating.

George Carlin said he put some money into one of those change machines and nothing happened.

I'd be delighted to find a change machine that actually produced transformation in any number of areas of my life and community.

That is the appeal of every great movement in history. Those who embrace it and proclaim it know it to be a message of transformation. The human side of transformation is a word that sounds like a Bible thumper's theme, "repentance." It calls forth memories of muggy nights, loud preaching, stern looks, and harsh threats to all who will not repent.

But here is some insight into the word:

It means "change."

The repent is to change one's mind or direction or both.

And that is good news.

Why?

The good news is that, when there is a new regime and order of things, change is possible. It can be mandated because it is no longer futile.

If you want different results, you must change the variables. That is not merely a directive; it is a fact of life.

If you want different outcomes, you may have to adjust your behaviors that are driving your outcomes.

A man asked the Zen Buddhist merchant for change for a dollar and he replied, "All change comes from within."

He asked a member of a Twelve Step group and the response was a question, "Does the dollar really want to change?"

All change does come from within and it is driven by desire.

It often requires what our Twelve Step friends of Bill W. call reliance on a higher power.

A few years ago, I was an avid fan of "Extreme Makeover, Home Edition."

How About an Extreme Makeover - Life Edition?

What if we start with the CORE of our lives?

There is some Ultimate Concern, as Tillich called it, dead center in our beings where we define ourselves and order our living. Ultimate Concern defines our WHY for everything we do. It answers the question, "So What?"

Flowing out from that center are three dimensions and manifestations of living from the core of our beings:

• Community
• Occupation
• Resources 
• Emotions

Yes, that spells, CORE.

Here is a confession: This thinking and writing is part of a bigger project. I am working on a book about how we can make changes in our lives. The acronym is a start.

Community is what surrounds us and envelops us in something human that is greater than our solitary selves. It is our support group. It involves the causes with which we associate and the people we love and align with.

Occupation is what we do daily. It encompasses our purposeful and strategic behaviors that bring us closer to our goals and flesh out our visions of the future.

Resources are the things we need to get it done. They are intellectual, material, relational, physical, social, and most of all, however you define it, spiritual. I will suggest a working substitution for spirituality for those of you on the fence: essential, referring to essence.

Emotions supply energy because they are, are their core, motivational. They move us.

Each of these core elements covers a vast territory of possibilities.

Another key word is related to the construction of a life that is strong and resilient in the midst of the culture quakes, economic tornadoes, circumstantial floods, and faith explosions of our times  is STAND.

I have another acronym. To STAND, we must engage in these commitments:

• Shore up our foundations.
• Take a Team approach.
• Act purposefully.
• Name our resources.
• Develop our souls.

It will take the time that I devote to write the book and the time you take to read it in order to consider these matters. It will lifetime to implement. Hopefully, this will get your mind started.

Perhaps you will take the reading and writing journey with me. Perhaps you will contribute.

Change is possible and we can stand and withstand the onslaughts of overwhelming problems in uncertain times if we will develop from the CORE and take a STAND for change.

Or, if you are satisfied with things as they are, click NEXT.

For the rest of you, let's get started.

 

 

All Things New in Love

Introductory Message

The Table Is Widened

The table of love and acceptance is a big table. Human divisions of culture, background, and religious affiliation are made null and void in Christ.

At that very moment three men … arrived at the house where we were.    The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. - Acts 11:11ac, 12a

Glory Is Announced

What Jesus is about to say must be understood in view of his sacrifice of love and his commandment to love. Love is of the deepest concern to Jesus because it is the very disposition of the heart of God toward humanity.

“Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. ” - John 13:31

You have to take it all as a package or there is no glory. Jesus understood that these final days were one great redemptive event – from mingling with the crowds and teaching them, to provoking the Sanhedrin with His very presence, to the upper room, the washing of feet, the prayers in the garden, and on to the cross. It was the process of God glorifying Himself in His Son. It was all part of the package: His life, death, and resurrection were one magnificent demonstration of the power of God.

Jesus had spoken similar words when some gentiles had come looking for Him. He responded that the coming of these men was an indication that He was soon to be lifted up from the earth and to draw all men unto Him. Lifting up could mean exaltation or crucifixion. In this case, it meant both. He moves from tragedy to triumph in a split second intersection of time and eternity.

This time he speaks of being glorified as He confronts the one who will betray Him. This is strange to our warped thinking. But this is Jesus who donned the apron and wiped His disciple’s feet. This is the one who taught that the path to greatness is servanthood. This is the Master of great reversals.

Our Lord never lost sight of the big picture. He didn’t stop with cross in His panoramic view of His mission. He didn’t even end the story with rising from the dead. He taught His friends that He was going to the Father through this path of glory and that He would come to them in a new way to indwell them, that they might do even greater works. He promised further that He would come again visibly to introduce a grand new eternal day. It was about glory. It is still about glory.

Take a walk in the garden this morning where there is an empty hole in a rock, a barren place where death once dwelt. What do you notice but emptiness? He is not there. He is risen! The work of redemption is done. It was worth it all. The pain and the suffering have accomplished their ends. He is alive and we can live also. What name do you give to your pain of the moment, your struggle of this hour? Call it suffering or call it glory. It all depends upon whether you view it from the present or from the resurrection.

Now is the Son of man glorified

A Call to Action

In light of God's glory and the glory of the Jesus event of death-resurrection-ascension, we are left with a new command to love with big table and big hearted visible love.

"I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” - John 13:34

The Results Are Predicted

Love is the chief indicator of a community's commitment to be disciples of Jesus. This love is seen by others in the world who can associate it with the characteristic of fellowship among followers of Jesus. In turn, they are drawn to the fellowship because the love is so compelling,

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." - John 13:35

Pastor Tom's Message

The Fulfillment Is Previewed

This is accomplished in the Alpha-Omega God who merges Heaven and Earth in absolute newness and removes all barriers to fellowship with mortals. God comes to live among humanity for whom God has the deepest love and affection.

"… the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them …”  - Revelation 21:3b

 

 

 

 

Shepherds and Seamstresses - a Mother's Day Message

Download 5-8-22.pdf (936.4K)

View or download the PowerPoint .

What is your name?

What happens when your name is called?

Mother's Day is a celebration of one truly wonderful human relationship.

All human relationships point us to the one vital and life-giving relationship that is necessary for real life, a relationship with God.

 

Watch the Service Here

Four Insights from Today's Readings

• • When your Name is Called, Rise Up! ( See Acts reading)
  • When Your Name is Called, Rest. ( See Psalm  reading)
  • When You Realize the Shepherd's Name, Rejoice! ( See Revelation reading)
  •  When Your Name is Called, Respond, ( See John reading)

Whether  a shepherd or one of the sheep of a seamstress asleep in the sleep of death, it is all about the relationship between God and God's people that is played out and glimpsed in every human relationship.

The Scriptures in One Place

Acts 9:36-43

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was devoted to good works and acts of charity. At that time she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, who heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, “Please come to us without delay.” So Peter got up and went with them, and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them. Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, “Tabitha, get up.” Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord. Meanwhile, he stayed in Joppa for some time with a certain Simon, a tanner.

Psalm 23

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

A Psalm of David.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
    He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
    he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
    for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
    I fear no evil,
for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    my whole life long.

Revelation 7:9-17

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying,

“Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb!”

And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, singing,

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor
and power and might
be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “Sir, you are the one who knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

For this reason they are before the throne of God
    and worship him day and night within his temple,
    and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.
They will hunger no more and thirst no more;
    the sun will not strike them,
    nor any scorching heat,
for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd,
    and he will guide them to springs of the water of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

John 10:22-30

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

At that time the Festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me, but you do not believe because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, in regard to what he has given me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one.”

God’s Care 

 An Extra Message

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”- Psalm 23:1

 Today, we take a fresh look at the most familiar words in the Bible. Yahweh, the God of Israel, is my very own shepherd. He has many sheep, but He is MY shepherd who knows me, cares for me, leads me, and speaks in a voice I recognize. He can differentiate me from all other sheep and always knows whether I am walking with His flock or wandering away. When I do wander, He seeks me because I am His. He is jealous for me and will not tolerate anything that would harm me. I can trust Him.

“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters” – Psalm 23:2

 Sheep are not very good at locating their own grazing lands. They tend to wander aimlessly, following this patch of grass to another until they are lost. The Shepherd knows the places of abundant food and pure, sweet water. Worry and care are redundant exercises if one is a member of Yahweh’s flock; He already has our needs in His heart and plans. His care is complete. His provision is sure. Are you wearing your life and patience thin trying to duplicate His efforts? Stop. It is futile. Trust Him.

“ He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” - Psalm 23:3

 The care that God gives us restores something that has been lacking in our lives.  His desire is not simply to keep us going or maintain our existence, but do a deep work of grace in us that places us back on the path of righteousness – right relationships with Him and others and right living that nourishes our souls. As He works profoundly in us, His purposes are accomplished and His Name is glorified. We cannot divorce the glory and love of God as opposing realities. When we prosper, He is exalted.

  “ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” – Psalm 23:4

This valley was a real place of danger in the psalmist’s time and it is any place of danger and despair in our own where we feel alone and vulnerable. But neither the valley nor death itself are the essential and fearful evils that we shun. Evil overtakes us as we grow frightful and discouraged in the valley and it is that evil that the Shepherd confronts with His rod and staff to comfort our souls. Sometimes it is the rod and staff of discipline, but more often, of protection that reminds us that we are not alone.

“  Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.” – Psalm 23:5

We are guests of God, honored and prized. So far, the psalmist has portrayed God as a shepherd. Then, he has added the role of friend to the Lord’s description. Now, He is also our host. As we see more of who God is in our lives, our self-image is expanded. We have been invited to sit at the head table and partake of a feast of love, joy, and abundance. Looking on with jealous rage are our impotent enemies –  forces that endanger our souls. They are powerless to interrupt this celebration for God is in charge.

“ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.” – Psalm 23:6

Wherever we go, goodness and love follow. Our journey is a temporal transition leading to an eternal home, but throughout it all, we are accompanied by the presence of God. His Shepherding friendship and hospitality cause us to reinterpret every event of our lives in the light of His purposes and providence. Nothing has meaning apart from Him once we have trusted Him and known His covenant love. Everything prior to our coming to Him was a cruel illusion. But now, we live in a constant state of grace. Amen.

Bonus Message

I Have Already Come

 “And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”. – Revelation 7:14

 There are two powerful words joined together in the scriptures – two prepositions that together bring us hope in our trials and tribulations: out of.

We catch a glimpse of Heaven and behold the saints, on display as examples of potential victory and ultimate triumph. These are they who have come out of tribulation. You might as well say, “through.”

Years back, my wife underwent surgery for breast cancer. The next day she was visited by a survivor. While she had already made up her mind to be more than that – even an “overcomer,” the visit was an encouragement. Someone had come out of the struggle, through the difficulties, and over the hurdles. And out of those tribulations, there emerged good.

“I have already come.”

When we hear those words and when we speak those words, we get courage. Whether it is our experience or someone else’s, there is precedent for victory. We affirm again with Paul that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

We draw upon past victories to nurture belief for present and future challenges. We recognize the power of God’s grace in our lives up until this point. We see where we were, what we had to face, and how we emerged and we know that if we have to, we can do it again.

We don’t want to do it again, but we can.

Then we think of the saints around the throne and know that we have really faced such little hardship compared to them. And from there we look to the cross and know that we have not even approached Christ’s suffering. Then we go back to our Bibles and underscore the words, “out of,” and back to our hymnals and highlight the word, “through.”

I have already come.

A Taste of Excellence

Coffee and Honey

09/21/2006, 03:35:30 PM

Two people taught me lessons in entrepreneurial excellence some years ago. They confirmed and illustrated some truth I already knew. You have to stay on your toes to make a lasting impression.

Some folks collect postcards, swag, and other souvenirs when they travel. I do that too, but mostly, I collect memories and ideas. As I was browsing through my files, I found a reflection I had written in 2006 during a trip to Canada. I have blended those words into this final product.

They all go together like coffee and honey.

When you are in Cochrane, Alberta, Canada, you must go to Guy's Café and Bakery (http://www.guyscafebakeryinc.com/)  for lunch. You will be greeted by Guy and that is an experience not to be missed. He will entertain you as he gets your order right. The food is worth it without the atmosphere, but with the atmosphere, you will be making a memory.

The coffee is aromatic and delicious. The refills are free.

Your food will be brought to the table by a staff member with an embroidered insignia that reads, "Insane Staff." Our servers had clearly embodied the corporate culture which apparently includes service, fun, and quality with an underlying value for friendliness.

We went in as a group (The California Singing Churchmen) and were invited to sing the Doxology for our dessert. Seldom have as many customers been as unanimously enthusiastic about a lunch and an establishment.

Find Guy at 6201 Grande Blvd., Cochrane, or call 403-851-9955 for directions (in Alberta, Canada).

Don't wait until you get to Canada to try some Canadian honey from the Nixon Honey Farm (https://nixonhoney.ca/ ). Craig and Tammy Nixon raise the bees, gather the honey, and package it for marketing. I have never tasted anything so tasty or met a nicer honey maker as Tammy.

We ran in to her in the mall in Calgary and she supplied us with all the samples in her car - just so that we could have the experience.

The common denominator with both entrepreneurial ventures is the second mile of service and passion associated with delivering that service with quality.

They will go far. So will you if you learn what they know about staying on their TOES!

Take Initiative for Excellence.

Don't wait to be asked. Keep your mind active and your imagination flowing for new ways to go the extra mile and delight your public with joy and fun.

Overwhelm People with Unexpected Enthusiasm.

Be a cheerleader for your brand. Love what you do and what you produce.

Extend Your Service Beyond Anyone's Expectations.

Tammy and Guy both did this. They went out of their way to do the unexpected and that was to the delight of many. We enjoyed what they did and we told many people about it. Sixteen years later, I am still telling the story.

Serve People in Surprising Ways.

Yes! Surprise them and surprise yourself that you thought of something new. This will feed your enthusiasm and energize you as well as energizing your public. People will be come your ambassadors.

I hope to get back some day. I want to visit the Rockies again and I want to check in on my old friends!

 

HUMOR - Spell it Out!

Photo by Aikomo Opeyemi on Unsplash

Download 1973 Conversation from Today

You really do need to take a break from serious thoughts from time to time and laugh at absurdity if you intend to survive with a sound mind. I'm serious. Humor is no laughing matter.

Here are some suggestions (from me) for embracing the HUMOR in life:

Humility

The essence of humor is the ability to laugh at oneself. It is not self-deprecation; it is simply humility and the self-esteem and security necessary to be humble.

Understanding 

It is necessary to have some insight into humanity in order to fully appreciate how silly we must look from the outside. The best humor of all actually loves and empathizes with humanity while appreciating its foibles and flaws.

Maturity 

As you grow older, wiser, looser, and better informed, you have more of a smorgasbord of humorous material. Life itself becomes your best source of intelligent humor. The better your command of language, the keener your capacity for wit. The broader your experiences, the deeper your belly laugh. Maturity frees us to enjoy more of what is best about laughter - not at the expense of others, but with them.

Obvious and Ordinary

Humor takes what is obvious and allows it to entertain deeper or alternate meanings. If you want to enjoy the laughter of life, keep your eyes and ears open and be ready for those moments of serendipity when everything comes together, when timing is, indeed, everything.

Rip and Relax

Let it rip! Get over it. Let go of it. Relax. Give yourself permission to take a short vacation into the realm of the absurd.

Download Humor

 

HUMOR - Spell it Out!

Photo by Aikomo Opeyemi on Unsplash

Download 1973 Conversation from Today

You really do need to take a break from serious thoughts from time to time and laugh at absurdity if you intend to survive with a sound mind. I'm serious. Humor is no laughing matter.

Here are some suggestions (from me) for embracing the HUMOR in life:

Humility

The essence of humor is the ability to laugh at oneself. It is not self-deprecation; it is simply humility and the self-esteem and security necessary to be humble.

Understanding 

It is necessary to have some insight into humanity in order to fully appreciate how silly we must look from the outside. The best humor of all actually loves and empathizes with humanity while appreciating its foibles and flaws.

Maturity 

As you grow older, wiser, looser, and better informed, you have more of a smorgasbord of humorous material. Life itself becomes your best source of intelligent humor. The better your command of language, the keener your capacity for wit. The broader your experiences, the deeper your belly laugh. Maturity frees us to enjoy more of what is best about laughter - not at the expense of others, but with them.

Obvious and Ordinary

Humor takes what is obvious and allows it to entertain deeper or alternate meanings. If you want to enjoy the laughter of life, keep your eyes and ears open and be ready for those moments of serendipity when everything comes together, when timing is, indeed, everything.

Rip and Relax

Let it rip! Get over it. Let go of it. Relax. Give yourself permission to take a short vacation into the realm of the absurd.

Download Humor

 

Reading and Leading

Reading Time/Feeding Time

Leaders are readers - and listeners.

That means that they also spend a lot of money on books and audio and are always looking for ways to save.

Tell me I can't read and watch me shrivel up and die. 

I need fresh material.

Many of the great stories and essays have already been written, but many more are being written daily.

I crave the old and the new. Principles never change, but challenges do and so do strategies for applying principles.

We need to be grounded in the past, present in the present, and alert to the future so that we can be one step ahead of change. We spend a great deal of time in our cars these days.

For that reason, as it has often been said, we need to turn those vehicles into universities on wheels. If we are valuing our time behind the wheel as learning time, we will be less stressed about traffic jams and less likely to be dialing our cell phones. Audio books are an excellent option for those hours of driving.

My reading comes in waves where sometimes I am finishing a book a day and sometimes reading very slowly and digesting what I read. However, balanced out over the years of my life, I have spent tens of thousands of dollars on books and audio. Now I am looking for ways to save money without cutting back on consumption.

I shop for used books sometimes. There are numerous sources - online and in real time and space. I use the library, but it is difficult to get the most current titles. No problem, there are thousands of classics I have not yet read. Get a library card. I actually do buy new books and shop for the best deals I can get. I borrow books, but I am at the mercy of the reading habits of my friends.

However you acquire your material, read and listen to it. it is not on your self to impress people or decorate your office. It is there to help you grow as a person and a leader.

 

Do You Love Me?

Koenig, Peter. Breakfast on the Beach, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. Original source: https://www.pwkoenig.co.uk/.

 Worship with the Fellowship of Joy

May 1, 2022

Psalm 30

New International Version

 

A psalm. A song. For the dedication of the temple. Of David.

 

Listen and Read

I will exalt you, Lord,
    for you lifted me out of the depths
    and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
Lord my God, I called to you for help,
    and you healed me.
You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead;
    you spared me from going down to the pit.

Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people;
    praise his holy name.
For his anger lasts only a moment,
    but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
    but rejoicing comes in the morning.

When I felt secure, I said,
    “I will never be shaken.”
Lord, when you favored me,
    you made my royal mountain stand firm;
but when you hid your face,
    I was dismayed.

To you, Lord, I called;
    to the Lord I cried for mercy:
“What is gained if I am silenced,
    if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
    Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me;
    Lord, be my help.”

You turned my wailing into dancing;
    you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
    Lord my God, I will praise you forever.

Join us for the prayer our Lord taught us to pray

 

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come;

thy will be done;

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation;

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory,

for ever and ever.

Amen.

Children's Story

New Testament Lesson

 

Acts 9:1-6

New International Version

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

 

 

 

Please stay in touch with us.

Leave us a comment or connect online

We meet online at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fellowshipofjoy

Blog: https://pastortomsims.typepad.com/the_fellowship_of_joy/

 

Devotions are posted daily at we gather on Sundays at 9 AM (PST) at  - http://facebook.com/pastortomsims 

 

 

 Revelation 5:11-14

New International Version

 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
    to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
    and honor and glory and praise!”

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
    be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”

The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

 

John 21:1-19

New International Version

 

Sermon

Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”

“No,” they answered.

He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.

Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

 

You may email Pastor Tom Sims at mailto:pastortomsims@gmail.com

If you wish to give to The Fellowship of Joy through our legal entity, Baptist Temple, you may use this link.

 

From the Live Broadcast

So Send I You

Caravaggio, Michelangelo Merisi da, 1573-1610

Psalm 150
New International Version

Praise the Lord.

Praise God in his sanctuary;
    praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power;
    praise him for his surpassing greatness.
Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
    praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with timbrel and dancing,
    praise him with the strings and pipe,
praise him with the clash of cymbals,
    praise him with resounding cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord. 

 

New Testament Lesson

The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”

Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” - Acts 5:27-32, NIV

 

 Kings and Priests

“John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;  And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” - Revelation 1:4-6

There has been a societal emphasis on self-esteem and feeling good about ourselves. Children with a distorted concept of themselves grow into troubled adults. Without a sense of value and worth, people disrespect themselves and tend to disrespect others. Sometimes this disrespect leads to crime or anti-social behaviors. It is self-destructive and manifests itself in unhealthy families. It is visited upon children and children’s children.

But the remedy is not found in superficial affirmations of our essential worth or in the denial of sin and darkness. It is to be found in God and His esteem for us. He loves us because of His amazing grace, tender mercy, and sovereign choice. All of this was bestowed while we were yet sinners. He saw what we could be.

God has called us out of darkness.  He has freed us from sin by the blood of His Son so that every impediment to our becoming who we were intended to be, has been removed. 

The outcome is that God’s vision of us as His people is an elevated vision.  He does not look upon His children, who have received His grace, as miserable sinners.  He sees us as a kingdom of priests who serve and exalt Him.  That is who we are.  All other visions of self are false and fading.  It is by grace, and it is complete.  God’s glory is manifest in His loving esteem for us.  We are kingdom people, and we are priestly people with a high calling and a sanctified s us.

Alpha and Omega

“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. “- Revelation 1:8

Everything is wrapped up in the babe who was wrapped in swaddling clothes. In a tiny bundle of newborn humanity is the sum total of all truth and meaning. In that crude cradle of creation lay the Creator of the universe. His Incarnation condensed into one representative human life the start and finish of history and the cosmos. Though He presented Himself in time and space as a participant in our history, He is beyond history. He is the Lord of eternity, the Almighty. And we knew it not.

The grand spiritual, “Sweet Little Jesus Boy,” say it succinctly, “We didn’t know it was you.”

But it was Him and is Him and always will be Him? What child is this? Oh, so much more than we could ever imagine. He is Alpha and Omega, the A and the Z. He starts things and finishes them. He always was and yet, is present. And He always will be. Divine mystery is flesh. John wrote that we could touch Him, the Word of Truth.

“What wondrous love is this, that caused the Lord of bliss” to come and live among us? We didn’t know who He was and John, in the Revelation of Jesus Christ allows us to see what He saw, and He conveys to us His vision of the risen and exalted Christ, the Eternal One.

 

Intercessory Prayer

Reproduced from Revised Common Lectionary Prayers copyright © 2002

O God, your Son remained with his disciples after his resurrection,
teaching them to love all people as neighbors.
As his disciples in this age,
we offer our prayers on behalf of the universe
in which we are privileged to live
and our neighbors with whom we share it.

Prayers of the People, concluding with:

Open our hearts to your power moving
around us and between us and within us,
until your glory is revealed in our love of both friend and enemy,
in communities transformed by justice and compassion,
and in the healing of all that is broken. Amen.

 

The Gospel

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 

After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Again, Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 

And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 

Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. - John 20:19-31

The Sending

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”  -John 20:21

Peace settles things. 

It allows the right order and relationship and brings vision into focus. 

It is absolute well-being, and it is the gift of the Risen Christ. 

His peace does more than just calm the soul, however; it enlivens the spirit and prepares us for a calling.  In our vision of the resurrected Lord, is a clear and compelling message from God:

As the Father sent Jesus into the world, so we are being sent by Jesus. 

He came as a servant; we have been sent to serve. 

He came in the power of the Holy Spirit; we go forth in that same power. 

He came to do great works; we have been sent to do greater works because He indwells us. 

He came to die; we die to self that we may live to Him. 

This commission is neither symbolic nor optional. 

It is not an addition to His promise of peace; it a result of it and reason for it.  It cannot be realized by proxy. 

We have been commissioned. 

We are sent.

 

 

Death and Ritual - Holy and Mundane

Death and Taxes!

We all face both.

I have stood at the head of a casket and declared, more than once, "We have been here before and we will be here again."

I have waxed eloquent on our common search for life's meaning, on the comfort of love, on the peace that passes understanding, and the shortest verse in the Bible, "Jesus wept."

I have much to say about death, dying, and grieving having observed and participated in the process for decades. It would not be hard to stop writing about the insights, questions, and observations. More likely, it would be like opening a floodgate and would be difficult to stop.

Until I have time for that, I will share some passing thoughts from time to time.

Better still, I will let others, like Elizabeth Kubler Ross, from a phycological point of view, and a few of my favorite pastoral theologians carry the ball.

Beyond that, funeral directors have been among my teachers in the process, especially those who are very ethical and willing to meet families where they are. I am a big fan of Caitlin, but this is some of her best work.

Caitlin Doughty  is an author, advocate, and funeral director as well as founder of "The  Order of the Good Death." 

The New Yorker says that she, "Chronicles death practices with tenderheartedness, a technician’s fascination, and an unsentimental respect for grief." 

I discovered her on her YouTube channel, "Ask a Mortician,"  and have watched all her videos.

Her mini-documentary on the funeral and grief issues around the death of President John F. Kennedy brings many of the issues we deal with in death and dying and the practice of ritual mourning to the surface.

I am sharing it with you here as well as the comments I made.

You have outdone yourself with this work of scholarship and storytelling. This may be one of the best narratives of any element of the Kennedy assassination I have seen in terms of thorough, fair, and interesting reporting in a concise manner. I cannot imagine how much time you had to invest in this. Well done, Caitlin. I love all your work, but this really excels.

One more thing: I love the way you honored Jackie, one of the most graceful and dignified women America has known. She was such an icon in the 60s that even Republican women sought to dress like her. 

People of my generation were deeply impacted by JFK's death. We all remember the moments when we heard. I, for one, cannot be reminded of the time without a deeply emotional response. When I finally went to Dallas for a convention in the 70s, my pilgrimage to that site was a profoundly moving experience and your last scene captures my emotion of that time.""

Keep up the good work you do. As a pastor for over 45 years with over 3000 funerals I have officiated, I offer you my fullest support. Your thoughts resonate with mine.

My faith teaches that death does not get the last word. It also teaches that death is our last enemy and shall be destroyed. Because scripture presents paradoxical realities in expressing the breadth and depth of human and divine experience, it also calls death, "previous."

If  death is a precious enemy, there must be something holy about the experience while it is also both mundane and natural. The meaning is in the balances. Leaning into the experience, we fear no evil in the valley of shadows as we realize that we are shepherded by God and accompanied by fellow travelers.

 

Your Labor Is Not in Vain

 

This Photo by Nancy Hughes on Unsplash  alerts me to a juxtaposition of two realities. All is in vain and nothing is in vain.

The first reality is expressed by the "Preacher" in Ecclesiastes. "Vanity of vanities. All is vanity and a chasing of wind." 

The counter to that is the resurrection and overriding reality Paul expresses when he says, "Your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

All is in vain and nothing is in vain.

Take your pick by how you respond.

Keep On

People have differing views of work ranging from dread to excitement - but very view people relish working in vain. We want something to show for our efforts.

In the fifteenth chapter of his first letter to Corinth, the Apostle Paul admonishes his friends,

"Therefore my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

Perhaps the Corinthians suspected that it all might be for naught.

Everyone who uses a computer to communicate deeply felt convictions and intricate concepts has had the experience of seemingly working in vain. We have labored over thoughts and words for intense periods of time and have finally formulated those ideas into concrete sentences when the computer suddenly crashes, and all is lost.

All of that for nothing! But not really.

We have meditated, wrestled, and have been shaped by truth. We may have to step away, take a break, or lick our wounds. However, the next time we write the same thing, it comes out a bit differently, but it comes, nevertheless.

The process was about what was happening inside of us and not what was occurring on the screen or the page.

It is often that way.

The occasion for Paul's encouraging words was twofold. It came in recognition of the people's present concerns. All truth is wrapped in a veneer of present reality. We live in context and experience the full range of what it means to be human. We know pains and joys, satisfaction, and discouragement. It is all a part of life. Add to that the ever-present, looming threat of death that eventually will overtake us all and we may wonder, "What is it all about?"

The second occasion he addresses is the future conviction that people of faith are going somewhere, that the resurrection of Jesus Christ has something more than an historical significance to His followers. In the earlier verses of the chapter, he expresses the conviction that resurrection hope is shared among all who embrace Jesus and live in the power of His death and life.

Everything has meaning, even the mundane and tedious experiences of life.

What follows is a threefold admonition. The NIV uses the words, "Stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourself to the work of the Lord."

The first admonition is to STAND.

It is hard to stand when the ground is shaking. For that reason, people who intend to live forever must find deeper grounding for their lives. They (we) cannot be controlled by our circumstances or our emotions. These are a part of our reality; they are not the sum of it

"My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness."

Another way he could have said this might have been, "Don't lose your footing." Remember what you believe. Remember where you are going. remember why you are doing what you are doing. Reconnect with what stabilizes you in your resolve and commitment.

Someone has said that if you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything.

The second admonition is to WITHSTAND.

"Let nothing move you."

We have some choices to make about what we will allow to move us. I choose God and God alone.

It is easy to place one's life in neutral when bombarded by a cacophony of voices and a barrage of influences all vying for our attention and compliance. Everyone wants our ears and our acquiescence.

Political, social, peer, commercial, moral, and familial voices tantalize, rationalize, and intimidate us into uncertainty about our core values and commitments.

That is what Paul is saying when he encourages the folks not to be moved.

Of course, we need to challenge our presuppositions, prejudices, comfortable notions, and assumptions. He is not addressing these. He is talking about our life mission, or unchanging purpose for living, our devotion to God and His vision within us, and the work that we are called to do.

Keep on keeping on. Be not easily dissuaded from the cause. Persevere. Expect to be maligned, attacked, challenged, and inconvenienced, but stay with it.

The third admonition is to ABOUND.

He says we are to abound in the work of the Lord, always giving ourselves to it. The first admonition was abounded grounding; the second was about rebounding in the face of opposition. Now we are looking at the call to be abounding in work itself.

It is about full engagement, heart devotion, energy investment, and enthusiasm.

"Whatsoever your hand findeth to do, do it with thy might."

You can stand with deep conviction and withstand with stubborn tenacity, but it takes the power of the Holy Spirit within you to abound. You must rely on a strength greater than your own to fully engage.

The word "enthusiasm" means "God within."

The word "inspired" means "breathed upon," as though by the very breath of God.

"Motivated" really means "moved to action."

Abound. As you know in the physical world, the body requires rest, replenishment of energy through nutrition, and exercise to abound. The health system Kaiser calls it "thrive."

In the realm of work that has abiding significance and eternal implications, the same is true. We must nourish ourselves spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, and physically to abound in our work. Paul says that our labor is in the Lord which means that He supplies the tasks as well as the ability to do them.

Some of the tools we have for abounding are true for ministry, business, and social endeavors:

READ - For me, part of the diet, the biggest part, is the Bible, but I also read instructive, encouraging, motivating, and challenging books and articles from many sources.

PRAY - Engage in an honest, ongoing, satisfying, and open relationship with the Source of your life. "Pray without ceasing."

RELATE and PARTNER - In Christianity, we call this fellowship. In business and entrepreneurship, we call it networking. In any realm, it is the reality that we are not alone and the assurance that others are engaged in the mission that helps encourage us.

FOCUS -Christian words for this are obedience and faithfulness. We focus on what we are doing and let lesser things go. We keep eyes on the prize and invest our time, energy, and love in what produces lasting results and deep change.

Stand, withstand, and abound or, you could say, ground, rebound, and abound. That is the threefold admonition.

Finally, he gives a grand assurance -

Your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

God knows it is hard. You know it and God knows it. Sometimes you just don't want to get up and have no idea where the energy will come from or how to muster the will, but you do in faith and it comes.

God knows it is discouraging. You will not always be complemented, appreciated, or affirmed. Stay with it. It is not in vain. There will come a day. The story has been told so many times that no one really knows the source or whether it is fiction or history. It may not be true, but it is truth:

As she tells it, it is the story of missionary Samuel Morrison’s (or was he called, "Henry?") return to the United States, as told in Ann Graham Lotz’s book, The Vision of His Glory:

The story is told of an old missionary named Samuel Morrison who, after twenty-five years in Africa, was returning to the United States to die. As it so happened, he traveled home on the same ocean liner that brought President Teddy Roosevelt back from a hunting expedition. When the great ship pulled into the New York harbor, the dock where it was to tie up was jammed with what looked like the entire population of New York City! Bands were playing, banners were waving, choirs of children were singing, multicolored balloons were floating in the air, flashbulbs were popping, and newsreel cameras were poised to record the return of the president.
Mr. Roosevelt stepped down the gangplank to thunderous cheers and applause, showered with confetti and ticker tape. If the crowd had not been restrained by ropes and police, he would have been mobbed!

At the same time, Samuel Morrison quietly walked off the boat. No one was there to greet him. He slipped alone through the crowd. Because of the crush of people there to welcome the president, he couldn’t even find a cab. Inside his heart, he began to complain, “Lord, the president has been in Africa for three weeks, killing animals, and the whole world turns out to welcome him home! I’ve given twenty-five years of my life in Africa, serving You, and no one has greeted me or even knows I’m here!”

In the quietness of his heart, a gentle, loving voice whispered, “But my dear child, you are not home yet!”

That is because God knows the outcome. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard; neither hath it entered into the heart of man, the things that God hath prepared for them that love Him."

You are going somewhere, and your labor is not in vain.

Keep on keeping on.

 

 

One More:

I listened to 5 or 6 renditions of this and after I had shared another, I found this and was deeply moved.

What heart and love you brought to this! I had to come back and add it to my post!

Thank you.

- Tom

 

Run to God

Photo by Denny Müller on Unsplash

When the grain came to the temple as an offering, a tenth of it was burned on the altar as a memorial offering. The rest was consumed by the priests. This was a song to be sung for the memorial offering.

I am confused, I must say, not by the offering and not by the sentiments of the psalm, but by the point of connection.

Of these words and emotions, Matthew Henry comments, "Nothing will disquiet the heart of a good man so much as the sense of God's anger. The way to keep the heart quiet, is to keep ourselves in the love of God. But a sense of guilt is too heavy to bear; and would sink men into despair and ruin, unless removed by the pardoning mercy of God."

So, what is a good man or woman to do?

He or she runs to God in worship -- whatever outlet of worship is available and thrusts the guilt and all the accompanying insecurity, despair, depression, feelings and reality of persecutions, and anything connected or perceived to be connected to sin before God.

The direction of the psalmist's life was toward God. The path was crooked and broken, but the direction was consistent.

He dealt honestly with his failures and his guilt and never grew callous or insensitive toward his flaws. Nor did he take God's mercy for granted or ever think, for a moment, that he could live without it.

"O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger,
nor discipline me in your wrath!
For your arrows have sunk into me,
and your hand has come down on me."
"There is no soundness in my flesh
because of your indignation;
there is no health in my bones
because of my sin.
For my iniquities have gone over my head;
like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me."
"My wounds stink and fester
because of my foolishness,
I am utterly bowed down and prostrate;
all the day I go about mourning.
For my sides are filled with burning,
and there is no soundness in my flesh.
I am feeble and crushed;
I groan because of the tumult of my heart."
"O Lord, all my longing is before you;
my sighing is not hidden from you.
My heart throbs; my strength fails me,
and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.
My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague,
and my nearest kin stand far off."
Those who seek my life lay their snares;
those who seek my hurt speak of ruin
and meditate treachery all day long.
"But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear,
like a mute man who does not open his mouth.
I have become like a man who does not hear,
and in whose mouth are no rebukes."
But for you, O LORD, do I wait;
it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
For I said, “Only let them not rejoice over me,
who boast against me when my foot slips!”
" For I am ready to fall,
and my pain is ever before me.
I confess my iniquity;
I am sorry for my sin.
But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty,
and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
Those who render me evil for good
accuse me because I follow after good."
"Do not forsake me, O LORD!
O my God, be not far from me!
Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation!"
-Psalm 38 ESV

 

 

Two Big Questions

Here is an example:

So What?

 

So what if this was not in the earliest versions of Mark we have? Most scholars acknowledge that as a reality.

 

But as an attachment, it made it to the canon and we ask, "Why?"

 

We always ask two questions about scripture:

 

Why? - That alerts us to the message we are intended to receive.

 

So what? - That guides us to the actions we are intended to take.

 

There! That was your hermeneutics lesson for today. Now, the scripture:

 

Mark 16:9-20 NRSV

 

Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went out and told those who had been with him, while they were mourning and weeping. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.

 

After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.

 

Later he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table; and he upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."

 

So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it.

A Conversational Chat with God

 

Psalm 25

New International Version

Of David.

 

In you, Lord my God,

I put my trust.

I trust in you;

do not let me be put to shame,

nor let my enemies triumph over me.

No one who hopes in you

will ever be put to shame,

but shame will come on those

who are treacherous without cause.

Show me your ways, Lord,

teach me your paths.

Guide me in your truth and teach me,

for you are God my Savior,

and my hope is in you all day long.

Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love,

for they are from of old.

Do not remember the sins of my youth

and my rebellious ways;

according to your love remember me,

for you, Lord, are good.

Good and upright is the Lord;

therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.

He guides the humble in what is right

and teaches them his way.

All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful

toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.

For the sake of your name, Lord,

forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

Who, then, are those who fear the Lord?

He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.

They will spend their days in prosperity,

and their descendants will inherit the land.

The Lord confides in those who fear him;

he makes his covenant known to them.

My eyes are ever on the Lord,

for only he will release my feet from the snare.

Turn to me and be gracious to me,

for I am lonely and afflicted.

Relieve the troubles of my heart

and free me from my anguish.

Look on my affliction and my distress

and take away all my sins.

See how numerous are my enemies

and how fiercely they hate me!

Guard my life and rescue me;

do not let me be put to shame,

for I take refuge in you.

May integrity and uprightness protect me,

because my hope, Lord, is in you.

Deliver Israel, O God, from all their troubles!

Just Like a Good Dad

Tender Love - Reflections on Psalm 103: 1, 13, and 15

Blessing God

“Bless the Lord, O my soul … and all that is within me …” Psalms 103:1

Audacity and capacity are issues that are triggered by this prayer as it is suggested to us. It is audacious to think that we could somehow bless God. Yet, He has given us the capacity to be a blessing to His heart.

We bless God when we worship Him. He delights in our praises. He enjoys our singing and our words of adoration. He looks beyond the superficial and relishes our heart devotion as we come to Him.

He is blessed by our love response as we receive His love and return it to Him in obedience, faith, and love for our fellow human beings.

We can bless God with our words, deeds, and emotions, but God is most blessed when our lives are completely engaged in love for Him – loving Him with heart, soul, mind, and strength and our neighbor as ourselves. He is blessed when we remind ourselves to bless Him and when we follow through with everything that is within us.

What is within you today? Not all of it is positive, but when you offer it to God, He is blessed because He can take it and transform it for His own purposes. Nor is everything within you negative. You cannot be the judge of that. All you can do is commit everything within you to His glory and allow Him to sort I out. It is His holy Name that must be honored, and His holiness is all that can make our lives holy and acceptable as offerings of worship.

In the process, He is blessed. And that is what counts.

Tender Love

"Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him." - Psalm 103:13

The love of God is a tender love.

It is a father’s love.

It is a patient love, understanding, compassionate, forgiving, and gracious.

The love of God for His children moves Him to desire what is best for us, what brings us closer to Him, and what develops in us the character that is in Him.

God’s love for us as His children is consistent, persistent, and generous.

He never fails us. He is always present and always true.

Like any father, He wants His children to grow and mature. He wants us to make good and wise choices and honor our family name. He offers us His support, guidance, and correction to that end.
God’s love is real. For that reason, it is sometimes a tough love, a love that can say “no” and mean it, but a love that delights in every opportunity to say, “YES!”

God, our Father, rejoices with us, weeps with us, and loves us even when we are unlovable.
That is because we are never unlovable to Him.

Mostly, God, our tender, loving Father carries us on His shoulders and lifts us so that we might become more, through Him, than we could ever imagine on our own.

Days as Grass

“As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.” – Psalm 103:15

For our season, whatever it may be, we flourish. Then comes the wind and we are gone. Soon, the very memory of our lives fades from the consciousness of our successors and we are thought of no more.

Such a thought might be deemed depressing were it the whole story.

The rest of the story teaches us that from everlasting to everlasting, God’s love is a constant toward us. His covenant people are never forgotten.

It goes on to tell us that God’s throne is never abandoned and that He rules over all.

He it is, according to Psalm 103, who forgives all our sin.

It is He who heals our diseases. Not one of them disappears apart from His wise intervention or creative genius.

He redeems our lives, crowns us love and compassion, satisfies, renews, and administers justice.

How comfortable it would be for us to remain as a grassy flowering meadow, but that is not the way of life. We come and go. Soon we will fade.

Our privilege and responsibility is to bloom in every place we are planted for as long as it is springtime in our lives. It is to be as inwardly beautiful for God as we can be for as many days as we can and to move through the seasons of life with grace and trust.

We may not always be green, but we shall always be loved.

Note on art: his image was originally posted to Flickr by Internet Archive Book Images at https://flickr.com/photos/126377022@N07/14595509117. It was reviewed on 8 October 2015 by FlickreviewR and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the No known copyright restrictions.

He Told You

He Told You

And they remembered his words. -Luke 24:8

Have you ever experienced the exhilaration of everything becoming clear and connected?

The disciples did not need new information to understand the resurrection; they needed the illumination that comes when God suddenly turns on the lights in our personal experience of His grace. They needed to reflect upon what they had seen, heard, and experienced in the light of all Jesus has said. In short, they needed to remember in the afterglow of the empty tomb.

Before the resurrection, all that Jesus had said and done had consisted of delightful and sometimes confusing fragments in their minds. Now, everything was cohesive and clear.

Easter PowerPoint with Music and Readings:

Download April 17 2022

 

Now He Is Risen

“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.” – I Corinthians 15:20

Now is Christ risen.

“Death in vain forbids Him rise.”

Now He lives, awakened from the dead, leading the procession of those who have slept.

“Christ hath opened Paradise.”

Now is Christ risen and those who have died in Him are alive in Him.

It is the holy now, the sacred moment, the dynamic present where Christ Jesus is alive and where we live also in Him. It is the glorious culmination of His purpose, the verification of His assurances, and the proclamation of His power.

Coming out of the grave, He is the first. He is the firstfruits from among sleepers, not as the God He was and is, but as man, “For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” (I Corinthians 5:21-22

He is representative humanity, inseparable from His divinity, and incorruptible as our link to eternity.

As William Gaither penned, “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.”

More than that, because He lives, death is utterly frustrated and thoroughly devastated in its ability to render us helpless and hopeless. Only life bears any relevance to those who trust in Him. Eternal life is now.

Now is Christ risen!

 

 

 

 

 

A Prayer for the Day After Violent News

Photo by Max Kleinen on Unsplash

And for days to come.

Father, in the light of all that has happened and is happening, in our world I am at loss. I want to say that I am shocked, dismayed, disgusted, indignant, sorrowful, grieving, broken, and horrified. What bothers me most is that I am not, not the way I think is appropriate, not enough to keep me from going about my business or considering my own trivial concerns.

Oh, I am all those things, but not to the degree that I was at the first words of so many other tragedies, travesties, and unspeakable events.

Why not? Lord, do not let me lose my capacity to be shocked.

Lord, grant that I will not establish some new "norm:" in my heart where I begin to accept the unacceptable as normal.

We want to be unshakable people, Oh God who cannot be moved. We want to be a people, and may we be a people, God of Strength, who cannot be terrorized by terror and terrorists. That is your promise again and again.

But, oh God of Compassion, Justice, and Truth, whose heart can be broken, who chose to be vulnerable in Jesus, who offered Yourself and emptied Yourself to walk with us and wept over the city, may we not lose our ability to be there with our neighbors and be touched by their pain, outraged by atrocity, and stunned by violence.

Our neighbors around the world, Dear God, our neighbors in Europe, Israel, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq, all over Africa, all over the world, our neighbors, are suffering violence, when that is too disturbing, we focus on the local and now, now, our local news is filled, daily with local violence.

And we come, Dear God, we come to a new equilibrium.

God, don't let us settle into such a pattern.

New York and Sacramento are our back yards. Ukraine is just down the street. The East is a short walk. Keep our emotions a bit fragile that we will have to cry out to You for peace. Keep us tender that we might always fall to our knees in prayer and hurt for those who are in pain and shock. Fill our hearts with love for our neighbors and love for our enemies so that we find it hard to imagine how a sweet little baby could be born into a world of wonder and grow into an instrument of violence.

We pray for those who might grow to accept such options as a means of redress of injustice perceived or real, or as a way of exorcising personal demons. We pray for divine and human intervention in their lives sufficient to turn around their thinking before it is too late. May we work to create just societies and peace on earth and may we never tolerate what is intolerable.

May we continue to reject violence in all forms and may we always hate, despise, and be adamantly opposed to the senseless taking of life.

Perplex us Oh God. Keep us perplexed because these things should not make sense and must not be accepted.

Why am I not more badly shaken and preoccupied? Why am I not desiring to be there in the thick of it bringing Your grace and love to the city?

Have I thrown up my hands in resignation?

No, but I am still bothered.

Why could I sleep so well? Well, maybe a few hours is not so well. Maybe I am shaken but a bit calloused. Maybe I am preoccupied.

Maybe this is just a new level of reception of such news the likes of which we keep hearing ... from schools and shopping centers and streets. Maybe we cannot live in a constant state of horror or indignation and maybe we are called to be present ... present to be, in whatever way we can be, part of the solution, part of the compassion, part of the intercession for our neighbors.

For our neighbors, I pray, Lord, God. Grant them shalom. Grant them shalom. Grant them shalom .... and healing and grace and mercy and perspective and courage and strength.

Thanks You for the helpers, for the brave and courageous helpers who arrived quickly and served when they did not know if the danger had passed.

Help folks to find some rest.

Shut us up when we start to pontificate and capitalize on these events, Father. Stop us from being "know-it-all"s. Dissolve our party lines. Fade our red-blue divides into obscurity. Fill us with Your love.

Let us be neither complacent nor terrorized.

Let us neither be settled nor disturbed.

Let us be neither indifferent nor obsessed.

Let us be neither detached nor co-dependent.

Let us neither be accepting of evil nor vengeful.

Let us not be tempted be consumed with anger nor overwhelmed by grief. We need the mind of Christ in these days. We need resolve and courage. We need wisdom. We need guidance.

We cannot fix everything or everybody and we cannot enact any policies or extract any justice that will make this right. Nothing can make this right, but You, Lord, can enter in and redirect the negative energies of those possessed by evil intentions to bring good and glory in some mysterious way, through some gentle touch, and with Your leading hand of grace.

I come to You, my Father, as a follower of Jesus, asking You for Your grace to follow Him into the dark places today with His mind in my mind, His heart in my heart, His Word on my lips, His love flowing through me, His tears in my eyes, His steadiness in my responses, His grace, Your grace, in everything I do or say. And I pray this for people everywhere who will meet hurting, broken, wounded, worried people and seek to bring them hope.

With much more on my heart to pray and continuing to pray, I pray these things in Jesus' Name. Amen.