EVERYONE IS TRYING TO BE SO IMPORTANT THAT WE WILL ALL DIE IN INSIGNIFICANCE.

The kids in your neighbourhood matter to God...

Luke 9:45-48
They didn't get what Jesus was saying. It was like he was speaking a foreign language and they couldn't make heads or tails of it. But they were embarrassed to ask him what he meant.

They started arguing over which of them would be most famous. When Jesus realized how much this mattered to them, he brought a child to his side. "Whoever accepts this child as if the child were me, accepts me," he said. "And whoever accepts me, accepts the One who sent me. You become great by accepting, not asserting. Your spirit, not your size, makes the difference."

Walk your neighbourhood

Stay home in your community & be available to each other.
There is a journey to connection.
Stop in the name of love to talk to people on the sidewalk, at the park, while they do yard work.
Quit being the leader of the Kingdom of the Couches.

Luke 9:62
Jesus said, "No procrastination. No backward looks. You can't put God's kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day."

Comfortable yet?

Matthew 25 RESV
For I was hungry, while you had all you needed.
I was thirsty, but you drank bottled water.
I was a stranger, and you wanted me deported.
I needed clothes, but you needed more clothes.
I was sick, and you pointed out the behaviors that led to my sickness.
I was in prison, and you said I was getting what I deserved. (Richard E. Stearns Version)

O God, you have sown the seeds of love in my heart but I have not watered it with my tears — Lord forgive.

You have shown me hungry children and I have fed only my friends — Lord forgive.

You have shown me the homeless and I have cared only for my own home — Lord forgive.

You have shown me the naked but I have only clothed myself — Lord forgive.

You have shown me the wounded and I have been only concerned with my own pain — Lord forgive.

You have shown me the friendless and I have nurtured my own friendships — Lord forgive.

You have shown me the bereaved and I have sought out others to comfort me — Lord forgive.

You have shown me those who do not know your love and I have failed to share that which you have given me — Lord forgive and help me to obey. (Ethel Jenkins)

Simplify

Is it time to do some spring cleaning?

What do you want out of life?

May today there be peace within.
May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others.
May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content with yourself just the way you are.
Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.

Find the other followers in your neighbourhood...

"I was talking with a friend recently who said she had over 600 ‘friends’ on Facebook but didn’t know anyone in her neighborhood - what’s that about?” BBC Report, December 2009 (via Al Roxburgh)

Put the 'our' in neighbourhood!

How are you going to find each other?

“If there is any concept worth restoring to its original depth and evocative potential, it is the concept of hospitality. It is one of the richest biblical terms that can deepen and broaden our insight in our relationships to our fellow human beings.” HENRI NOUWEN

Why not have a party?!

Luke 5:27-39
After this he went out and saw a man named Levi at his work collecting taxes. Jesus said, "Come along with me." And he did—walked away from everything and went with him.

Levi gave a large dinner at his home for Jesus. Everybody was there, tax men and other disreputable characters as guests at the dinner. The Pharisees and their religion scholars came to his disciples greatly offended. "What is he doing eating and drinking with crooks and 'sinners'?"

Jesus heard about it and spoke up, "Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? I'm here inviting outsiders, not insiders—an invitation to a changed life, changed inside and out."

They asked him, "John's disciples are well-known for keeping fasts and saying prayers. Also the Pharisees. But you seem to spend most of your time at parties. Why?"

Jesus said, "When you're celebrating a wedding, you don't skimp on the cake and wine. You feast. Later you may need to pull in your belt, but this isn't the time. As long as the bride and groom are with you, you have a good time. When the groom is gone, the fasting can begin. No one throws cold water on a friendly bonfire. This is Kingdom Come!

"No one cuts up a fine silk scarf to patch old work clothes; you want fabrics that match. And you don't put wine in old, cracked bottles; you get strong, clean bottles for your fresh vintage wine. And no one who has ever tasted fine aged wine prefers unaged wine."

No boundaries?

Know boundaries!

To live in community is to discover and love the secret of what is unique in ourselves. This is how we become free. Then we no longer live according to the desires of others, or by an image of ourselves; we become free, free to love others as they are and not as we would like them to be. Jean Vanier

Boundaries allow us to give more to others, not less. Boundaries do not exclude the other; in fact, if you become a person with actual boundaries, you are better able to give to other people because you do not feel diminished by them. Giving is a joy because you want to give, and not because someone has manipulated you and you gave in.

Galatians 6:1-6
Live creatively, friends. If someone falls into sin, forgivingly restore him, saving your critical comments for yourself. You might be needing forgiveness before the day's out. Stoop down and reach out to those who are oppressed. Share their burdens, and so complete Christ's law. If you think you are too good for that, you are badly deceived.

Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself. Don't compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life.

Be very sure now, you who have been trained to a self-sufficient maturity, that you enter into a generous common life with those who have trained you, sharing all the good things that you have and experience.

prepare yourself to change the world

acts 10:38
Jesus went about doing good.

Somebody has to do something… and it is just incredibly pathetic that it has to be us. Jerry Garcia