To probe the world of the Spirit there will necessarily be a strong need to disband our casual obsession with making matters fit into our understanding. God is beyond the framework of human reason even when we are offering our sharpest mind-probing skill-sets.
Indeed, we are to know our Bibles. We are not to do so simply to accumulate facts; but rather to develop a very intrinsic relationship with the Son of God via the Holy Spirit. Not so oddly--yet, so very strangely for sure--such a mission could frustrate the tar out of a few of us who tote and quote our Bibles. We students will always have much learning and growing to do when it comes to walking with Father.
Truth is not concrete (physically) as in a mathematical equation or a favorite casserole recipe or...or even concrete. Truth is a grand shaker of man's mind moving us from carnal acquisition of facts to spiritual confidences of His grandest reality. I'm convinced that this will always be the mission of the Word of God; to undo one's stubborn conclusions in order to reveal the utmost potential of His involvement among us. This. Isn't. Easy.
If not careful, we will tend to look at the most remarkable (even absurd at times) revelations of God and His people only to conclude that, This was good for back then, but we've got the Bible now, as if we regard the wonder of the Word to be more Walt Disney-ish than Holy Spirit filled. Churches have replaced Bible wonder with narrow scriptural argumentation. Simultaneously, we have replaced sacrifice (in zones, understand) with entertainment. God did not give us the Cross and then ask us to hit like.
Whether one man, Naaman, was instructed to dip seven times in the Jordan to cleanse his leprosy or we are called to be baptized to rid us of our sins, there is nothing remotely practical about this. Common-sense just went out the window when the Dove of God landed. And...religious man has fought it ever since.
In our efforts to believe, may we have the bravery to enter into the wild zones of the spirituals where it is rather easy to be intimidated. The battle to believe is intense. Never give up learning of Jesus.
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Sunday, May 28, 2017
ARE WE OFFENDED OR OFFENDING?
People are just so strange. But, we must not forget that we each are people. This is crucial to being us for while we would like to believe that we are not like those others, we are all alike in some form and fashion. We have our strengths which are to be valued and our weaknesses which are to be admitted.
There is a constant among us that has gone on as long as time. We are perpetually being offended by someone(s). It's serious. It's damaging. It's painful. And, it's mind consuming at times.
There is one other constant among us. We are perpetually offending someone(s). It's serious. It's damaging. It's painful. And, it's mind consuming at times.
So we would all do well to get the picture. Romans 2:1-5 is clear that what we are critical of, we are guilty of. I've made this point before and don't intend to quit. This text insists that when we judge others we do the very same things ourselves. I don't particularly like it that God lumped me in with this one...but...He insists!
What this is supposed to do is to help us back off. Pull back the criticism. We are all (ALL) in on this warped scheme called daily living which seems to constantly have a bone to pick with some one(s) about some thing(s). Surely we are not always wrong in assessing others' errors. But the equal error is that we each have our own of which personal blindness to such often strikes. Yet, we intentionally choose to avoid all acknowledgement of it. We are smooth operators in building defenses while going on offense toward any other(s). In other words we are found to be dishonest and insincere when our concepts are loaded with the guilty they.
So might we be reminded, again, that any whom we determine to be enemies because they have failed us are, in strong reality, a mere reflection of who we are to a few others around us? Might we drop the facade of being better than another...any another? Might we get a better grip on our resemblance to the very person who causes our indignation.
This might be a relationship breakthrough of epic strength.
There is a constant among us that has gone on as long as time. We are perpetually being offended by someone(s). It's serious. It's damaging. It's painful. And, it's mind consuming at times.
There is one other constant among us. We are perpetually offending someone(s). It's serious. It's damaging. It's painful. And, it's mind consuming at times.
So we would all do well to get the picture. Romans 2:1-5 is clear that what we are critical of, we are guilty of. I've made this point before and don't intend to quit. This text insists that when we judge others we do the very same things ourselves. I don't particularly like it that God lumped me in with this one...but...He insists!
What this is supposed to do is to help us back off. Pull back the criticism. We are all (ALL) in on this warped scheme called daily living which seems to constantly have a bone to pick with some one(s) about some thing(s). Surely we are not always wrong in assessing others' errors. But the equal error is that we each have our own of which personal blindness to such often strikes. Yet, we intentionally choose to avoid all acknowledgement of it. We are smooth operators in building defenses while going on offense toward any other(s). In other words we are found to be dishonest and insincere when our concepts are loaded with the guilty they.
So might we be reminded, again, that any whom we determine to be enemies because they have failed us are, in strong reality, a mere reflection of who we are to a few others around us? Might we drop the facade of being better than another...any another? Might we get a better grip on our resemblance to the very person who causes our indignation.
This might be a relationship breakthrough of epic strength.
Friday, May 26, 2017
A SALUTE TO MY FRIEND: SCOTT THOMPSON
For the most of my readers, this post will carry little meaning. Nonetheless, I wish to give honor to a Tulsa man who has blessed my work...and my heart. Scott Thompson's final appearance on Channel 6's Ten O'clock News last night was an emotional finality capping his twenty-eight years at the anchoring helm.
The man has thousands of fans. His heart is gigantic for family and community. Being a first-class man, he does a first-class kind of work. Our connection would be our love for the St. Louis Cardinals.
It was Scott's news savvy that drew him to one of my jaunts to Arizona where the Cardinals and Cubs held a week-long Legends Camp. With a Tulsa camera man at the scene as well, Scott followed the camp's daily routine with the eagerness of a ten year old; just as I did. When the Cardinals gave away 20,000 copies of my book, Voice of Silver, Heart of Gold in 2003, it was Scott Thompson and his film crew from Channel 6 doing the story from Busch Stadium.
Scott, you are many things to many of your fans in the Tulsa surroundings. The trait I see strongly in you is your ability to connect to we common ones while being so well-known. Good job, my friend!!
The man has thousands of fans. His heart is gigantic for family and community. Being a first-class man, he does a first-class kind of work. Our connection would be our love for the St. Louis Cardinals.
It was Scott's news savvy that drew him to one of my jaunts to Arizona where the Cardinals and Cubs held a week-long Legends Camp. With a Tulsa camera man at the scene as well, Scott followed the camp's daily routine with the eagerness of a ten year old; just as I did. When the Cardinals gave away 20,000 copies of my book, Voice of Silver, Heart of Gold in 2003, it was Scott Thompson and his film crew from Channel 6 doing the story from Busch Stadium.
Scott, you are many things to many of your fans in the Tulsa surroundings. The trait I see strongly in you is your ability to connect to we common ones while being so well-known. Good job, my friend!!
Thursday, May 25, 2017
HAVE YOU EVER FOUND YOURSELF LOOKING FOR YOU?
I can't seem to find who I am; what I'm to be about.
I don't seem to be able to discover the real me.
It seems like such a struggle as I want to make a difference; but I don't seem to know who I am, what I'm to be about, nor where I am to go to find the real me.
Angst abides within the souls of very talented individuals. We want to be more than we are only to live in daily perplexity. I'm sympathetic for I was one. We probe. We push. We withdraw. We try, back away, and then take, yet, another shot at what we hope this time to be "it". Yet, fulfillment seem to avoid us. The desire, though, really is present. For many, however, it seems that Silver Spoon and sign of the Moon just didn't hit our personal path.
There might be a solution.
The authentic you has a drive to make a difference. You don't want to just go to work, go home, go to work, and go home again. During your daily routine, you hunger to do one thing; make a meaningful difference. You want your life to count. This is your clue. This IS what you want. So mark this down; if you are going to make a difference a difference is going to be necessary within you. Otherwise, you wouldn't be momentarily frustrated and empty, huh?
Jim Warner wrote in Aspirations of Greatness an important factor for all of us. As you increase the light on and love for all of your soul, you'll find the abyss is really a treasure mine, and the rejected tailings are the nuggets of your greatness, simply waiting to be rediscovered, loved, and deployed joyfully in service to your world. As you gain momentum, you'll find the abyss is really a treasure mine because your personal rejections are the nuggets of your greatness.
Okay, go ahead. Tackle your world another way. Avoid injury. Rebuke conflict. Ignore harsh reality as if it is the big waste of your time. And, by the way, go ahead and be miserable and make all around you equally so. Or....or we can embrace the abyss of problems to actually contain nuggets of great and profound treasure.
Rejection doesn't make us happy. It makes us productive. Disappointment will not feel very cheery. Yet, within it is that treasure mine of which Warner promotes. The reason we can't seem to find ourselves is that we keep looking for ourselves at the finish line when we have failed to suit up in the armor of being treated rudely and unfairly while in the race. We want things to go our way. And they are....especially when they aren't.
Don't believe me? Did God bring hope to the world through a Tea in the afternoon? Or wait, was it a public execution upon a Cross? Oh, yeah. That's....how we find meaningful life.
I don't seem to be able to discover the real me.
It seems like such a struggle as I want to make a difference; but I don't seem to know who I am, what I'm to be about, nor where I am to go to find the real me.
Angst abides within the souls of very talented individuals. We want to be more than we are only to live in daily perplexity. I'm sympathetic for I was one. We probe. We push. We withdraw. We try, back away, and then take, yet, another shot at what we hope this time to be "it". Yet, fulfillment seem to avoid us. The desire, though, really is present. For many, however, it seems that Silver Spoon and sign of the Moon just didn't hit our personal path.
There might be a solution.
The authentic you has a drive to make a difference. You don't want to just go to work, go home, go to work, and go home again. During your daily routine, you hunger to do one thing; make a meaningful difference. You want your life to count. This is your clue. This IS what you want. So mark this down; if you are going to make a difference a difference is going to be necessary within you. Otherwise, you wouldn't be momentarily frustrated and empty, huh?
Jim Warner wrote in Aspirations of Greatness an important factor for all of us. As you increase the light on and love for all of your soul, you'll find the abyss is really a treasure mine, and the rejected tailings are the nuggets of your greatness, simply waiting to be rediscovered, loved, and deployed joyfully in service to your world. As you gain momentum, you'll find the abyss is really a treasure mine because your personal rejections are the nuggets of your greatness.
Okay, go ahead. Tackle your world another way. Avoid injury. Rebuke conflict. Ignore harsh reality as if it is the big waste of your time. And, by the way, go ahead and be miserable and make all around you equally so. Or....or we can embrace the abyss of problems to actually contain nuggets of great and profound treasure.
Rejection doesn't make us happy. It makes us productive. Disappointment will not feel very cheery. Yet, within it is that treasure mine of which Warner promotes. The reason we can't seem to find ourselves is that we keep looking for ourselves at the finish line when we have failed to suit up in the armor of being treated rudely and unfairly while in the race. We want things to go our way. And they are....especially when they aren't.
Don't believe me? Did God bring hope to the world through a Tea in the afternoon? Or wait, was it a public execution upon a Cross? Oh, yeah. That's....how we find meaningful life.
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
WHY THE CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT STRUGGLES...AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT
Christianity is the pure dynamic to life. Where it thrives, it...well...it thrives. The very thread of Jesus impacting every level of humanity is astounding to this very day. It is robust with joy, adventure, and confident hope. And because this Life is so profound it is equally taken to task. It is an endangered movement. Sadly, the opposition is as strong within as it is outside of the believing camps.
Why would that be the case, you ask? The answer is both tedious and simple. It's as clear as the law kills and the Spirit gives life. Christians claim to abide by the latter while assuming to avoid the former. But this is just not true. Believers tend to slip unconsciously into spiritual equations or fundamental stabilizers that trip up the grand and glorious thrill of the movement of the Living God among us.
Why is it so difficult for us to grasp that God is spirit and not systemic rules of order? I offer my guestimation. Living by the Spirit requires our flexibility. To live by the rules allows us to control the check-list and thereby gain approval or non. To live in the flexibility of God is to be ready to adjust, to reconsider, to....to....to change our minds.
Here's the threat. While redirecting the minds of unbelievers toward God, we lock ours down with perpetual looking to the right and to the left to see if we are in sync--not with the Spirit, but--with fellow believers of our same systemic persuasion. The result? Christianity in its very mission is stuck when at its very core it is anticipated by the heavenlies to be the opposite. Freedom always makes the jailers nervous.
Do you study to prove what you already believe or do you also dig to discover what else there is to believe? We are to be about both. Yet, in too many homes I fear the Bible has been shelved as a mere proof of texts rather than a revealer of awe. The Spirit of God has eternal elasticity designed for our incredibly God-rebirthed (day by day by day) hearts. The wonder of it all is like looking over the Grand Canyon times a bazillion only to toss in forty-five oceans. This is what we are to experience....experience beyond knowing...Ephesians 3:19-21.
The Christian movement struggles when we participants learn something like twenty-five truths and set out to both promote and preserve them. On the other hand, it explodes with fascination when we hold those twenty-five truths dear without being threatened to learn the next 500,000 truths which perfectly align or demand readjustment of the earlier truths we felt we had captured.
If we don't get a grip on the smothering of our children by presenting law-keeping as the goal, the foreign religions are going to have a harvest in the next two decades. Loosen up and learn...of the Spirit of God...which will never fit into our tidy and uniformed religious proof-texts.
Why would that be the case, you ask? The answer is both tedious and simple. It's as clear as the law kills and the Spirit gives life. Christians claim to abide by the latter while assuming to avoid the former. But this is just not true. Believers tend to slip unconsciously into spiritual equations or fundamental stabilizers that trip up the grand and glorious thrill of the movement of the Living God among us.
Why is it so difficult for us to grasp that God is spirit and not systemic rules of order? I offer my guestimation. Living by the Spirit requires our flexibility. To live by the rules allows us to control the check-list and thereby gain approval or non. To live in the flexibility of God is to be ready to adjust, to reconsider, to....to....to change our minds.
Here's the threat. While redirecting the minds of unbelievers toward God, we lock ours down with perpetual looking to the right and to the left to see if we are in sync--not with the Spirit, but--with fellow believers of our same systemic persuasion. The result? Christianity in its very mission is stuck when at its very core it is anticipated by the heavenlies to be the opposite. Freedom always makes the jailers nervous.
Do you study to prove what you already believe or do you also dig to discover what else there is to believe? We are to be about both. Yet, in too many homes I fear the Bible has been shelved as a mere proof of texts rather than a revealer of awe. The Spirit of God has eternal elasticity designed for our incredibly God-rebirthed (day by day by day) hearts. The wonder of it all is like looking over the Grand Canyon times a bazillion only to toss in forty-five oceans. This is what we are to experience....experience beyond knowing...Ephesians 3:19-21.
The Christian movement struggles when we participants learn something like twenty-five truths and set out to both promote and preserve them. On the other hand, it explodes with fascination when we hold those twenty-five truths dear without being threatened to learn the next 500,000 truths which perfectly align or demand readjustment of the earlier truths we felt we had captured.
If we don't get a grip on the smothering of our children by presenting law-keeping as the goal, the foreign religions are going to have a harvest in the next two decades. Loosen up and learn...of the Spirit of God...which will never fit into our tidy and uniformed religious proof-texts.
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
THE UNUSUAL THREAD BEHIND EXCITING SUCCESS STORIES
I can't verify that what I'm about discuss can be statistically supported. Yet, there seems to be a strong thread among the many amazing stories which the world, indeed, loves to rehearse blow by struggling blow. These are called Success Stories.
Here's my wonder about them. It's the trying to estimate if they might actually just be true which cause them to be so very astonishing. Are the noted Success Stories treasured because each arose from the ashes of interference, interruption, and even failure? Is the reversal of the setting the thriller of it all? Would the "just can't be" becoming the "actually did happen" the dynamic that draws each of us into the land of marvel and appreciation? Of joy and elation?
I think so.
It's the story of Israel. A quite small by comparison country attacked by bully circumstances and moguls, little Israel pulled off the upsets...time after time...due to the very intentional backing of God. Young and unarmed David. Gigantic opponent Goliath. What. A. Success. Story.
And then there's that event where one who claimed to be the original son from Heaven. He tried and tried on occasion to assist the strugglers only to note his efforts denied by leaders in the community. He cared about the underdogs and ministered to them with unusual strength. Applauded? No, they killed him. The bigshots took him out...or so they assumed.
Appearing to be limp and dead, the Spirit awakened Jesus in that hollow tomb and the result? The greatest Success Story man has beheld. So it is with you...with me. Our stories are not dying because deadening circumstances, or even words, present themselves. Oh, no. The plot is merely thickening for another Success Story is coming soon!
Success Stories are seldom formed from success stories. No, they are created from what can't be...but did anyway...in even grander presentation. Yay God! Yay us who believe Him!
Your injury? Your disappointment? Your crushing moment? These and others are the elements of the thickening of the plot for such are the materials---the raw materials---from which Success Stories are developed. Hold on to your hat! Wonder. Is. Taking. Place. Now.
Here's my wonder about them. It's the trying to estimate if they might actually just be true which cause them to be so very astonishing. Are the noted Success Stories treasured because each arose from the ashes of interference, interruption, and even failure? Is the reversal of the setting the thriller of it all? Would the "just can't be" becoming the "actually did happen" the dynamic that draws each of us into the land of marvel and appreciation? Of joy and elation?
I think so.
It's the story of Israel. A quite small by comparison country attacked by bully circumstances and moguls, little Israel pulled off the upsets...time after time...due to the very intentional backing of God. Young and unarmed David. Gigantic opponent Goliath. What. A. Success. Story.
And then there's that event where one who claimed to be the original son from Heaven. He tried and tried on occasion to assist the strugglers only to note his efforts denied by leaders in the community. He cared about the underdogs and ministered to them with unusual strength. Applauded? No, they killed him. The bigshots took him out...or so they assumed.
Appearing to be limp and dead, the Spirit awakened Jesus in that hollow tomb and the result? The greatest Success Story man has beheld. So it is with you...with me. Our stories are not dying because deadening circumstances, or even words, present themselves. Oh, no. The plot is merely thickening for another Success Story is coming soon!
Success Stories are seldom formed from success stories. No, they are created from what can't be...but did anyway...in even grander presentation. Yay God! Yay us who believe Him!
Your injury? Your disappointment? Your crushing moment? These and others are the elements of the thickening of the plot for such are the materials---the raw materials---from which Success Stories are developed. Hold on to your hat! Wonder. Is. Taking. Place. Now.
Monday, May 22, 2017
Since you ARE going to raise your voice
Voices are heard throughout our day throughout our workplace throughout our world. Everywhere we turn: voices and more voices. Use yours.
Every caliber of personality has little trouble voicing his or her dislikes and disapproval. Yet, when it comes to speaking out about the good and the wonder all around it seems that silence befalls a large percentage.
I cheer you on today. If you know how to speak up in frustration, you can channel such courage into speaking up for the glory and the wonder and the sheer pleasure of people and all the good they do...and are.
Since you most likely ARE going to raise your voice today, how about speaking out about the great delight you find in those around you. I guarantee you that you will make their day.
Reach the world...a cubicle away...across the hall...or at your table. Reach the world with a message that every person needs to hear....how valued they are...in your heart.
Every caliber of personality has little trouble voicing his or her dislikes and disapproval. Yet, when it comes to speaking out about the good and the wonder all around it seems that silence befalls a large percentage.
I cheer you on today. If you know how to speak up in frustration, you can channel such courage into speaking up for the glory and the wonder and the sheer pleasure of people and all the good they do...and are.
Since you most likely ARE going to raise your voice today, how about speaking out about the great delight you find in those around you. I guarantee you that you will make their day.
Reach the world...a cubicle away...across the hall...or at your table. Reach the world with a message that every person needs to hear....how valued they are...in your heart.
Sunday, May 21, 2017
EIGHT (like in 8) SUNDAYS REMAINING
Eight Sundays from today will be the conclusion to my full-time ministry with the Memorial Drive family. It won't be my last day to get to be a part of this place. And, it won't be the final day of me serving others. Yet, as far as being on staff and working with a most wonderful team day in and day out, that will be a wrap on July 16.
So....how would such feel? It's packed with extremes. I'm ready to rest. A rather big question will be, however, who am I? The entire format has holes awaiting for God to fill them. In the meantime there is one more occasion to feel....confusingly lost?
So what's a man to do when he gets in his car and it's programmed to drive to 747 S. Memorial all by itself? I believe that I will get used to the idea and I fully intend to really like it...a...lot. It's the graduation exercises that have me buffaloed because, frankly, I've never been this old before. Shocking, I know.
Eight weeks from today (seems like the length of blink and a sneeze) I will try to speak before my people. I'm one of their men. We've been a team for four decades. I was never the boss. I never had it in me. My theme was for me to stay out of the way. My new goal during the transition will be the same. I must stay out of the way.
Therefore, how am I to approach the next eight weeks? With enormous delight! Who wouldn't have loved to get to preach at this place for one week? And, I did for forty years!
So....how would such feel? It's packed with extremes. I'm ready to rest. A rather big question will be, however, who am I? The entire format has holes awaiting for God to fill them. In the meantime there is one more occasion to feel....confusingly lost?
So what's a man to do when he gets in his car and it's programmed to drive to 747 S. Memorial all by itself? I believe that I will get used to the idea and I fully intend to really like it...a...lot. It's the graduation exercises that have me buffaloed because, frankly, I've never been this old before. Shocking, I know.
Eight weeks from today (seems like the length of blink and a sneeze) I will try to speak before my people. I'm one of their men. We've been a team for four decades. I was never the boss. I never had it in me. My theme was for me to stay out of the way. My new goal during the transition will be the same. I must stay out of the way.
Therefore, how am I to approach the next eight weeks? With enormous delight! Who wouldn't have loved to get to preach at this place for one week? And, I did for forty years!
Saturday, May 20, 2017
CLEAR THE MIND OF CLUTTER
Might we need to clean out the closet of our mind? Every day is a time that we need to take a load to the dump.
Be anxious for nothing...Philippians 4:6
Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things...Philippians 4:8
Be anxious for nothing. Seriously? How does one accomplish such a daily challenge? The solution is given immediately two verses later. It is found in the determination (our choice) of where we allow the mind to dwell.
I know of no one who doesn't have open wounds here and battle scars there. No. One. Yet, the victors are not those who escape hardship. No, the winners are the ones who determine where to let their minds roam. The secret to success is not in the adventure nor in the opportunity. The bottom line of inner peace is found in the very place we choose...we...choose...to do our harboring of thought.
The reason I pen such for you today is that I believe that wonderful, wonderful individuals have lost our wonder bit by bit. Great people have been reduced to the ashes of constant and nagging aggravation; frustrated with others and/or with self. We. All. Live. There. Yet, the Word calls us to "dwell"...set up camp and hold our ground...upon the things that are going right. Truthfully, there are many power items to be counted!
Clear the mind of clutter. Sweep it clean by focusing upon the many attributes of your day that others might even call miracles if they could experience them. Be grateful. Be aware. Be glad.
Be anxious for nothing...Philippians 4:6
Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things...Philippians 4:8
Be anxious for nothing. Seriously? How does one accomplish such a daily challenge? The solution is given immediately two verses later. It is found in the determination (our choice) of where we allow the mind to dwell.
I know of no one who doesn't have open wounds here and battle scars there. No. One. Yet, the victors are not those who escape hardship. No, the winners are the ones who determine where to let their minds roam. The secret to success is not in the adventure nor in the opportunity. The bottom line of inner peace is found in the very place we choose...we...choose...to do our harboring of thought.
The reason I pen such for you today is that I believe that wonderful, wonderful individuals have lost our wonder bit by bit. Great people have been reduced to the ashes of constant and nagging aggravation; frustrated with others and/or with self. We. All. Live. There. Yet, the Word calls us to "dwell"...set up camp and hold our ground...upon the things that are going right. Truthfully, there are many power items to be counted!
Clear the mind of clutter. Sweep it clean by focusing upon the many attributes of your day that others might even call miracles if they could experience them. Be grateful. Be aware. Be glad.
Friday, May 19, 2017
FOR YOU MARVIN FANS
I ran out to see Marvin and Dot Phillips this morning. Marvin has been on hospice for a bit (for quite awhile) and he seems to be getting stronger. Really.
What an encouragement he and Dot are to me. We've been close friends for over four decades. While at their house this morning, we might have laughed some of the time. Oh, it's just a thing we've been working on over the years.
What a great man and adorable woman!
What an encouragement he and Dot are to me. We've been close friends for over four decades. While at their house this morning, we might have laughed some of the time. Oh, it's just a thing we've been working on over the years.
What a great man and adorable woman!
Thursday, May 18, 2017
TRY NOT TO SHUT DOWN
Life has a lot of stress in it. It has very much awe; but even this is consistently coupled with interferences. Negotiating such hilly and winding roads enhanced by curves galore is a lifelong task. How many times we only mean to be serving efficiently to learn that we are not.
The temptation is so strong to just walk away from some things or some people.
Yet, we must not.
We all have days where our presence seems to be important to others and needed. And then there are those days that we can easily detect that we seem to be more of a hindrance. The former motivates us to try harder and reach farther. The latter, however, is vocal only to the inner spirit tempting us to remain quiet so that we neither interrupt nor interfere....nor get it wrong.
So I cheer you on, whoever is taking the heat, to not shut down. Raise your voice. Raise your heart. Raise your life. God is in us for personal remodel that we might become a New Creation day after day. Conflict hits...and it really hurts. However, we even use that as training so that we can minister with deeper understanding the next and the next...and the next...who have about had it with a neighbor or a stranger.
Try not to shut down. Refuse to be an emotional recluse. Jesus suffered and died and arose that we might really live. We are to suffer and die and bounce back, like him, that others may really live.
Yay! Us!
The temptation is so strong to just walk away from some things or some people.
Yet, we must not.
We all have days where our presence seems to be important to others and needed. And then there are those days that we can easily detect that we seem to be more of a hindrance. The former motivates us to try harder and reach farther. The latter, however, is vocal only to the inner spirit tempting us to remain quiet so that we neither interrupt nor interfere....nor get it wrong.
So I cheer you on, whoever is taking the heat, to not shut down. Raise your voice. Raise your heart. Raise your life. God is in us for personal remodel that we might become a New Creation day after day. Conflict hits...and it really hurts. However, we even use that as training so that we can minister with deeper understanding the next and the next...and the next...who have about had it with a neighbor or a stranger.
Try not to shut down. Refuse to be an emotional recluse. Jesus suffered and died and arose that we might really live. We are to suffer and die and bounce back, like him, that others may really live.
Yay! Us!
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
WHO CAPS OUR IMAGINATIONS?
The older we get the younger we are to become; so says II Corinthians 5:17. Weird don't you think? This theme truly fits into the "Born Again" mantra of starting life over... constantly...perpetually ...daily. We are to be new today and newer tomorrow. Might we wake up to this fact?
We ARE to be new. The church is to be the newest people on the planet. Yet, we struggle to reflect such because we have voluntarily subjected ourselves to routine, preference, and habit. And just why do these three have such firm persuasion? It is not because of the pull of God; nor His declarations and commands. No, it is because of the introduction of one vital element of life that happened in the Garden.
Fear.
Fear not only keeps us at bay and shuts us out from the True Garden Experience God intends. Being afraid is cunning to the extent that it shuttles us over to a conviction that caution and hesitancy are smart life coordinates. They. Are. Not.
Yes. Go ahead and voice your valid-seeming arguments. And I will volley that churchers are frozen in their tracks with little vision for winning a neighbor or reaching the world. Common sense has taken command of the ship while risk and absurdity are noted as....as risky and absurd. And, oh how we puff our chests in pride of our not being ridiculous.
And how many more decades will it take to awaken us to the truth...yes the truth...that we are losing our young by droves? How long will we convince ourselves that this playing church safe by never coloring outside of the lines has sent our young into the world's streets not knowing exactly what church is; but convinced that this isn't for them?
Yet, we gather back next week at our tidy spaces. We don't misspeak nor do we misstep. Our goal is to not misquote nor to misbelieve. We are frozen in keeping church the way...well, you know...the way church is. Yet, the church of the Bible is full of conflict of learning, loaded with nonsensical stances, all the while accomplishing the impossible; persuading the enemy about Jesus.
How do I know that this stress and struggle goes on? I experience it from the intimidating side of things in my own walk. I get afraid. Just trying to retire is driving me up a wall. So, I learn. I go to school in conflict. And I learn for the millionth time that Faith is my shield and the Fear is the Enemy's most glorious tactic.
So my message for you today is to dare you to step into zones of risk and intimidation by being more concerned about the welfare of others than the self-preservation of you. Go where you can't. Reach where you won't. Believe when you are scared. And love others; even when they don't seem like very nice people. Jesus not only said it...he did it.
Taking up a cross is not to be the rattling of church chatter. It is for any who dare to imagine what can be when there seems to be zero verification of profound potential. This. Is. Called. Faith.
Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day....II Corinthians 4:16.
We ARE to be new. The church is to be the newest people on the planet. Yet, we struggle to reflect such because we have voluntarily subjected ourselves to routine, preference, and habit. And just why do these three have such firm persuasion? It is not because of the pull of God; nor His declarations and commands. No, it is because of the introduction of one vital element of life that happened in the Garden.
Fear.
Fear not only keeps us at bay and shuts us out from the True Garden Experience God intends. Being afraid is cunning to the extent that it shuttles us over to a conviction that caution and hesitancy are smart life coordinates. They. Are. Not.
Yes. Go ahead and voice your valid-seeming arguments. And I will volley that churchers are frozen in their tracks with little vision for winning a neighbor or reaching the world. Common sense has taken command of the ship while risk and absurdity are noted as....as risky and absurd. And, oh how we puff our chests in pride of our not being ridiculous.
And how many more decades will it take to awaken us to the truth...yes the truth...that we are losing our young by droves? How long will we convince ourselves that this playing church safe by never coloring outside of the lines has sent our young into the world's streets not knowing exactly what church is; but convinced that this isn't for them?
Yet, we gather back next week at our tidy spaces. We don't misspeak nor do we misstep. Our goal is to not misquote nor to misbelieve. We are frozen in keeping church the way...well, you know...the way church is. Yet, the church of the Bible is full of conflict of learning, loaded with nonsensical stances, all the while accomplishing the impossible; persuading the enemy about Jesus.
How do I know that this stress and struggle goes on? I experience it from the intimidating side of things in my own walk. I get afraid. Just trying to retire is driving me up a wall. So, I learn. I go to school in conflict. And I learn for the millionth time that Faith is my shield and the Fear is the Enemy's most glorious tactic.
So my message for you today is to dare you to step into zones of risk and intimidation by being more concerned about the welfare of others than the self-preservation of you. Go where you can't. Reach where you won't. Believe when you are scared. And love others; even when they don't seem like very nice people. Jesus not only said it...he did it.
Taking up a cross is not to be the rattling of church chatter. It is for any who dare to imagine what can be when there seems to be zero verification of profound potential. This. Is. Called. Faith.
Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day....II Corinthians 4:16.
Friday, May 12, 2017
TAKE A GUESS
Take a guess at who said the following:
Every great spiritual teacher discusses the importance of being fully awake; of learning to live in the present moment. Not fixated on when things might get good in the future. Not mired in regret or defeat from something that happened in the past. But here. In this moment. In today.
Take a guess at who said this:
1. John O'Leary
2. Terry Rush
3. Kay Arthur
4. Bob Goff
5. Henri Nouwen
Answer: John O'Leary in his profound book written in 2016, ON FIRE. If you are looking for a powerful gift for graduates, this is one really good idea.
You. Are. Welcome.
Every great spiritual teacher discusses the importance of being fully awake; of learning to live in the present moment. Not fixated on when things might get good in the future. Not mired in regret or defeat from something that happened in the past. But here. In this moment. In today.
Take a guess at who said this:
1. John O'Leary
2. Terry Rush
3. Kay Arthur
4. Bob Goff
5. Henri Nouwen
Answer: John O'Leary in his profound book written in 2016, ON FIRE. If you are looking for a powerful gift for graduates, this is one really good idea.
You. Are. Welcome.
ONE DAY I'M GOING TO APPEAR ON WHEAL OF FORCHUN
I don't know for surtain. I'll either show up on Wheal of Forchun or maybe even on The Price is Write. It will happun.
I think I would like either; but I have a problem with one of them. I'm not very estimationalisticly inclind when it comes to guessing how much things cost. Due to that latter facter, I believe I leen more toward the spelling of wurds.
Yep, Wheal of Forchun....hear I come!! And, I will win ahsome stuff !! You no I will!!
Pat Sayjack and Vanna White will be impressed...oh how I can hope!! I can only imajine!!
I think I would like either; but I have a problem with one of them. I'm not very estimationalisticly inclind when it comes to guessing how much things cost. Due to that latter facter, I believe I leen more toward the spelling of wurds.
Yep, Wheal of Forchun....hear I come!! And, I will win ahsome stuff !! You no I will!!
Pat Sayjack and Vanna White will be impressed...oh how I can hope!! I can only imajine!!
Wednesday, May 10, 2017
DON'T FORGET YOUR "NOT ONLY THIS" BACKPACK AS YOU HEAD OUT
Life is a swirl sometimes. While we aren't alive without it (life), some seldom feel alive with it. The latter is a most serious tragedy. I watch too many walking, talking, breathing in and out, people who do many things...many things...except really live.
There seems to be one reason for such a deadening factor. There seems to be a denial, a refusal, to walk the slopes of struggling terrain. Smooth roads? Fresh-air walks? Ah, count us all in. But...but that is hardly life for there are no exceptions when it comes to facing a multiplicity of factors we frankly do not like.
Do not forgot to take your "not only this" backpack as you head out the door. You. Will. Need. It.
Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And NOT ONLY THIS, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us....Romans 5:1-5
Yes, indeed, because of the Holy Spirit and Him only, we are quite able to persevere with intentional (even expectational) hope. Our perplexities are resolved before they begin because the Holy Spirit is going to make a Yes out of Yes-moments and even a Yes out of No-moments. Friend, you don't buy this element at a store. Rather, you receive Him at baptism. Free Him up to do His work...within...you.
Obstacles and opposition are strewn along the way...our way. Sometimes these waters rage above flood level with intent to cause us to sink. Yet, we will not drown. No, rather via the Holy Spirit, we will learn to actually walk atop such intimidation and threat. Before faith, we are sunk. With faith, to the contrary, we arise because we have within our grasp our "not only this" Holy Spirit which....changes everything!
Rough day? Sometimes. Want to live in anxious frustration? Sterile disappointment? Not necessary. Faith, my friend, is not a religious step-child which begs for occasional attention as we go about doing our doing. No, it turns out that faith is the lead horse as it determines whether we think God can make something from nothing and whether He really could possibly give life to the dead...Roman 4:17.
There seems to be one reason for such a deadening factor. There seems to be a denial, a refusal, to walk the slopes of struggling terrain. Smooth roads? Fresh-air walks? Ah, count us all in. But...but that is hardly life for there are no exceptions when it comes to facing a multiplicity of factors we frankly do not like.
Do not forgot to take your "not only this" backpack as you head out the door. You. Will. Need. It.
Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And NOT ONLY THIS, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us....Romans 5:1-5
Yes, indeed, because of the Holy Spirit and Him only, we are quite able to persevere with intentional (even expectational) hope. Our perplexities are resolved before they begin because the Holy Spirit is going to make a Yes out of Yes-moments and even a Yes out of No-moments. Friend, you don't buy this element at a store. Rather, you receive Him at baptism. Free Him up to do His work...within...you.
Obstacles and opposition are strewn along the way...our way. Sometimes these waters rage above flood level with intent to cause us to sink. Yet, we will not drown. No, rather via the Holy Spirit, we will learn to actually walk atop such intimidation and threat. Before faith, we are sunk. With faith, to the contrary, we arise because we have within our grasp our "not only this" Holy Spirit which....changes everything!
Rough day? Sometimes. Want to live in anxious frustration? Sterile disappointment? Not necessary. Faith, my friend, is not a religious step-child which begs for occasional attention as we go about doing our doing. No, it turns out that faith is the lead horse as it determines whether we think God can make something from nothing and whether He really could possibly give life to the dead...Roman 4:17.
Tuesday, May 09, 2017
HUMILITY'S APEX
Humility is the way of Jesus. It is the trek of the Cross. It is the very mainstream highway to effective, productive living. And yet, it will always be our challenge.
The problem with humility is that it so tends to directly oppose what it is we want. Personal preference suffers enormously at the expense of yielding to what others wish for themselves...and for you.
We are called, among the many spiritual traits of the Kingdom life, to surrender what we like, need, want, and require. This, oddly, is often found to give way to another who very likely may be selfishly oriented...to the core. This tends to bug us (in others, not ourselves, though) for we feel that "they" should have their acts together by now. You might want to mark this down: (1) we don't have our acts together, and (2) none of us do.
So how are we to tolerate any whom we regard as lesser? We will need to, once again, (1) note how Jesus endures us; and then, (2) there just necessarily must be an awareness arise within each of us that we are not superior to any other individual. Jesus died on the Cross for each of us because none of us were enough. Truthfully, it wasn't even a close call.
Humility's apex is that we follow the footprint of Jesus by dying to ourselves and for others when we normally want things to be the way we want them so badly.
The problem with humility is that it so tends to directly oppose what it is we want. Personal preference suffers enormously at the expense of yielding to what others wish for themselves...and for you.
We are called, among the many spiritual traits of the Kingdom life, to surrender what we like, need, want, and require. This, oddly, is often found to give way to another who very likely may be selfishly oriented...to the core. This tends to bug us (in others, not ourselves, though) for we feel that "they" should have their acts together by now. You might want to mark this down: (1) we don't have our acts together, and (2) none of us do.
So how are we to tolerate any whom we regard as lesser? We will need to, once again, (1) note how Jesus endures us; and then, (2) there just necessarily must be an awareness arise within each of us that we are not superior to any other individual. Jesus died on the Cross for each of us because none of us were enough. Truthfully, it wasn't even a close call.
Humility's apex is that we follow the footprint of Jesus by dying to ourselves and for others when we normally want things to be the way we want them so badly.
Friday, May 05, 2017
DON'T CHUG TO A STOP
Jim Warner, author of Aspirations of Greatness, wrote, But when zeal turns to duty, and then to drudgery, we begin to question everything, floundering in the chop of nagging details or petty frustrations. In the trough of these swells clear answers are rare and we become easily discouraged. Fear and lethargy, triggered by an increasing fog of questioning and uncertainty, replace the decisiveness and direction possible earlier in calmer waters and under clearer skies.
When I read these comments, it struck me as to the many who hang on by these threads; duty, drudgery, lethargy, and then fog. Have you ever been to a tractor pull where all in competition start from the same light weight and then as they move forward the weights increase and eventually the tractor chugs to a stop? The unit that traveled the farthest under the increasing load wins.
That's how we can feel. The longer we live the heavier the burdens seem to mount. We wonder if we are about to chug to a stop.
That's how we CAN feel; but such isn't necessary.
The Kingdom of God has so many delightful twists and turns. One of my favorites is that we are actually to be newer today than yesterday. This isn't Sunday School talk. This is where-we-experience-life talk. Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. II Cor. 5:17
Of the many wonderful things Church is, growing newer day by day surely fascinates the tar out of me! What delight! What promise! What reality! What fantastic unexplanation?
I feel sympathetic to the masses who are engrossed in church who find no joy, no life, and no renewal to their personal existence. Sighing, these seem to have misplaced the joy and somehow inherited duty and then drudgery and then lethargy only to eventually live in some sort of grayed church fog.
On the contrary, may we awaken to the reality of church. We are not to live in some Preservation Movement; but rather from a perpetual New Birth. There is nothing on earth as defying of what has been nor of what is than the Kingdom Life of what can become...in the very next moment. May we arise to the very dream that Jesus has for us...that we might arise to live and really live...at every moment called NOW!
When I read these comments, it struck me as to the many who hang on by these threads; duty, drudgery, lethargy, and then fog. Have you ever been to a tractor pull where all in competition start from the same light weight and then as they move forward the weights increase and eventually the tractor chugs to a stop? The unit that traveled the farthest under the increasing load wins.
That's how we can feel. The longer we live the heavier the burdens seem to mount. We wonder if we are about to chug to a stop.
That's how we CAN feel; but such isn't necessary.
The Kingdom of God has so many delightful twists and turns. One of my favorites is that we are actually to be newer today than yesterday. This isn't Sunday School talk. This is where-we-experience-life talk. Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. II Cor. 5:17
Of the many wonderful things Church is, growing newer day by day surely fascinates the tar out of me! What delight! What promise! What reality! What fantastic unexplanation?
I feel sympathetic to the masses who are engrossed in church who find no joy, no life, and no renewal to their personal existence. Sighing, these seem to have misplaced the joy and somehow inherited duty and then drudgery and then lethargy only to eventually live in some sort of grayed church fog.
On the contrary, may we awaken to the reality of church. We are not to live in some Preservation Movement; but rather from a perpetual New Birth. There is nothing on earth as defying of what has been nor of what is than the Kingdom Life of what can become...in the very next moment. May we arise to the very dream that Jesus has for us...that we might arise to live and really live...at every moment called NOW!
Thursday, May 04, 2017
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