Happy New Year!

Philippians 3:2-3
Steer clear of the barking dogs, those religious busybodies, all bark and no bite. All they're interested in is appearances—knife-happy circumcisers, I call them.

Exile

What I termed 'stranded' yesterday as a theme can also be referred to as 'exile'. This is how Dallas Willard puts it:

We have to follow a servant God, and make his kingdom, his way, our way. It means we give up our self-centered kingdom for God’s kingdom. Often we need to experience exile before we can give up our personal kingdoms for God’s kingdom. Exile is a formative experience because it is in exile that we allow our kingdoms to be torn down. When we acquaint ourselves with God’s kingdom, we find that the way of this kingdom is servanthood. To serve is to perform an act of love, but most people fail to serve because they have a sense of scarcity in their own lives. We can serve only out of abundance.

We learn in exile that God is enough, that his kingdom is sufficient and will never pass away. When we live as servants, we are servants with our whole lives; servanthood is not just a set of generous actions. When we die to our own kingdoms and to ourselves, fruit comes from strength that comes from life that comes from an inner source of vitality that comes from being a servant in God’s kingdom.

Jeremiah 29:7
Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.

Stay open to experiencing God as a loving companion...

Last night my van broke down on a busy freeway. It looked like my son would not only miss his hockey game but that we would also be hard pressed to get out of our predicament without a significant cost of time, money & a dose of hypothermia!!

Amazingly my sister-in-law drove by, recognized the van & was able to turn around & get my son to his game. Then a tow truck was fast-tracked & within 30 minutes I was on my way because the it wasn't a breakdown- I had run out of gas!

I later dreamt of having flown to a remote area of Africa yet had forgot my passport & realized that return to Canada was going to be very challenging indeed. I had also picked up some strange skin condition that was causing me much difficulty.

The theme of being stranded was very strong yet I realized the situation was not hopeless but that I had someone traveling with me who had said they would never leave or forsake me. I was stuck up the river without a paddle so to speak, yet it was strangely peaceful. One of God's wonderful reminders of life with Him.

Are you committed to living more of the moments of your life with God this next year?!

Philippians 4:4-7
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Which direction to go...

The New Year's resolution's are getting cranked up right now. Choosing a resolution is like choosing a road to travel on.

Most resolutions are abandoned after just a few days - the going gets too tough. Perhaps you'll stay on track with questions like this:

What are the opportunities for learning & growth today? What are the opportunities for serving others today?

When, where & how will I start my journey? Who will I involve for support, encouragement & acountability?

When I hit a bump, how will I go about adjusting to my new course? What do I have to do to maintain the growth?

Love what you do...

...and do what you love.

I almost think that Paul could have written that to the Philippian church. We often think we need to quit our job or move to another city to find something or someone we like. But most of the time it's right there before our eyes if we'll just learn our lesson & trust God...

Philippians 4:11-13
I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

1 Peter 5:5b-7
All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,

"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,
Where there is hatred, let me show love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy;

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. St. Francis

Meery Christmas!!

From my clan to yours!!

The Gap between Herod & Jesus...

Matthew 2:1-12
Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”

King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”

“In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote:

‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not least among the ruling cities of Judah, for a ruler will come from you who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’”

Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”

After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.

Wherever you find yourself spiritually right now, take some time to make a detour to see the Lord Jesus. The God of the Universe often shows up in very unexpected places & he most definitely is the key to wisdom...

aching for some bacon

You can get a large audience together for a strip-tease act, that is, to watch a girl undress on the stage. Now suppose you came to a country where you could fill a theatre by simply bringing a covered plate on to the stage and then slowly lifting the cover so as to let every one see, just before the lights went out, that it contained a mutton chop or a bit of bacon, would you not think that in that country something had gone wrong with the appetite for food? And would not anyone who had grown up in a different world think there was some equally queer about the state of the sex instinct among us? C.S. Lewis

WHO REALLY CARES?

Can I trust you?
Do you really care about me?
Do you really want to help me?
Can you actually help me?
Will you please help me?

So many people are asking these questions around Christmas time. The weight of relational struggles, past hurts & betrayals as well as the pace of life has left many a soul crushed & without hope.

Will you slow down enough to see these questions in the eyes of those you meet?

2 Corinthians 1:3-5
All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too.

Jesus Plus Nothing Equals Everything

What do you have to trust God with?

Philippians 3:8-11
Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God's righteousness.

I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.

On Apology...

I've been familiarizing myself with Dr. Aaron Lazare & his work on apologies this past week. Dr. Lazare is very insightful on the subject & raises many excellent points in his book, "On Apology."

I was also interested in what Bobby Knight had to say about Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari at Knight's induction into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame this past week.

"We've gotten into this situation where integrity is really lacking and that's why I'm glad I'm not coaching. You see we've got a coach at Kentucky who put two schools on probation and he's still coaching. I really don't understand that." Bobby Knight (referring to Calipari)

What I find most amusing is whether a person could have integrity without apologizing for the various transgressions they've committed. Just ask Tiger Woods that.

Here we have Knight critiquing Calipari's integrity (& believe me Calipari deserves it as you'll get a glimpse of that in a minute) despite the fact that he was not known for setting his mistakes right.

In the article Knight alludes to staying around at Indiana too long, that he was perhaps 'too strong-willed' to last there for life, but where does it say that being strong-willed is more foundational to integrity than apologizing when necessary?! Indeed being so strong-willed as to be unable to admit mistakes likely is the definition of pride!

Back to Calipari- while he was coaching the New Jersey Nets he criticized a local reporter named Dan Garcia, calling him a 'bleeping Mexican idiot.'

Calipari 'apologized' later saying,

"I would like to apologize to Dan Garcia for my ill-advised attempt at humor and insensitivity for the remark. In retrospect, I can understand how the remark could have been misinterpreted. I have apologized to him personally and in writing. In no way was my intent to be derogatory in a racial context, and I am sorry for any pain my remarks have caused."

'Ill advised attempt at humor'?! He swore at Garcia & insulted his ethnicity! 'Misinterpreted' remarks?! 'Not intended to be derogatory'?! Hello John. (I won't address the other issues that Bobby Knight brought up that caused two schools being put on probation while Calipari was at the helm. I don't think he's apologized for them either.)

All of this critique is easy to point to for some public figure (again see Tiger Woods example). Their dirty laundry sits out in the open waiting for us to go through it again & again over coffee with others or while we ponder life at the water cooler.

The harder task is when you & I dig deep into our own world & address our own apologies.

Are they non-existent because we're too strong-willed?

Are you overdue in making something right in your own relational world?

A true apology is among the most graceful and profound of all human exchanges. When it is sincere, it is not an end but a new beginning. Aaron Lazare

Here's to many new beginnings...

when God gives a gift He wraps it in a person.

Who are you especially thankful for?

Have you told them lately?!

Grace is a safe place.

Accept the invitation to stand in the presence of God.

It's not only what you read but HOW you read it.

The words printed on the pages of my Bible give witness to the living and active revelation of the God of creation and salvation, the God of love who became the Word made flesh in Jesus, and I had better not forget it.

If in my Bible reading I lose touch with this livingness, if I fail to listen to this living Jesus, submit to this sovereignty, and respond to this love, I become arrogant in my knowing and impersonal in my behavior. An enormous amount of damage is done in the name of Christian living by bad Bible reading. Caveat lector, let the reader beware. Eugene Peterson

listen up...

To listen is very hard, because it asks of us so much interior stability that we no longer need to prove ourselves by speeches, arguments, statements, or declarations. True listeners no longer have an inner need to make their presence known. They are free to receive, to welcome, to accept. Listening is much more than allowing another to talk while waiting for a chance to respond.

Listening is paying full attention to others and welcoming them into our very beings. The beauty of listening is that, those who are listened to start feeling accepted, start taking their words more seriously and discovering their own true selves. Listening is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite strangers to become friends, to get to know their inner selves more fully, and even to dare to be silent with you. Henri Nouwen

HOW ABOUT ADDING THIS TO YOUR PRAYER LIFE?

Ephesians 1:16-19
That's why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the followers of Jesus, I couldn't stop thanking God for you—every time I prayed, I'd think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!

Do you have a Christmas tradition that needs to be unlearned?

Happiness in the family is most likely to be found when we begin living the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Luke 2:10-11
I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is. Christ the Lord.

John 10:10
I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

Matthew 25:34-36
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

Crazy Love?!

WHAT IF...
Jesus was crazy. He came into the world
with the nutty idea that human beings could love one another...

Peace on earth, indeed! Maybe Jesus should have stayed home. He was wrong. We cannot love one another.
The best we can do is keep the levels of hatred
low enough so we don’t exterminate one another
before we all die ...

It was a great idea, of course. Too bad it didn’t work.

Still...
What if he wasn’t crazy?
What if he was right?
What if it is possible to love one another?
What if the lion can lie down with the lamb?
What if Arab and Jew, Protestant and Catholic,
black and white, young and old, male and female,
can love one another without fear, without hatred,
without death and destruction?

What if the crib scene is what the world is really
all about and everything else is phony?
What would it be like if Jesus knew the way
things really were?
What if life does triumph over death,
light over darkness,
good over evil,
love over hate,
comedy over tragedy...?

What if... Andrew Greeley

Change everything. Love & forgive.

I'm definitely certifiable then...

Bill Maher pretty much thinks that follwers of Jesus are nuts. His movie Religiosity highlights that fact rather painfully at times. Says Maher, "I think religion is a neurological disorder."

If that's the case then I'm ready to be institutionalized. My world has been so altered through my encounter with Jesus Christ & the subsequent years of learning to follow His ways that I could never go back. Nor would I even want to.

Far from thinking that God was a mean tyrant or that he wanted to ditch me (sorry Rev. Jim) I've discovered a God who so identifies with who I am & the road I've traveled that I want to help others discover that truth & guidance too.

Is God calling you to His divine purpose for your life this Christmas?

He who has this disease called Jesus will never be cured. Russian Proverb

The greatest answer to prayer is that I am brought into a perfect understanding with God, and that alters my view of actual things. Oswald Chambers

You have the right not to remain silent.

The coming of Jesus has changed everything. Those who have realized that fact of life have the opportunity to share it with others. Take the opportunities provided every day to show God's love in the flesh.

Matthew 5:14-16
"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.

What Have I Done?!

The name Tiger used to bring with it a sense of power, mystique, & greatness (fill in the superlative). Now it hastens us to think of failure, hypocrisy & humiliation (insert your own name here unless you're perfect - John 8:7).

What is Tiger to do? What can you & I do about our own 'transgressions'?

Ole Hallesby has said, "Helplessness becomes prayer the moment that you go to Jesus and speak candidly and confidently with him about your needs. This is to believe."

Until we hit rock bottom & get tired of trying to 'spin' our way out of our troubles we won't find forgiveness & inner peace. A Puritan named Thomas Watson wrote, "repentance is the vomiting of the soul".

Get the 'moral dry heaves' where you repent until there is no more. Begin the road back by letting the Father find you in your own mess. Don't worry about the mess of others.

Stand with God

Isaiah 50:4-7
The Master, God, has given me a well-taught tongue, so I know how to encourage tired people. He wakes me up in the morning, Wakes me up, opens my ears to listen as one ready to take orders.

The Master, God, opened my ears, and I didn't go back to sleep, didn’t pull the covers back over my head. I followed orders, stood there and took it while they beat me, held steady while they pulled out my beard, Didn’t dodge their insults, faced them as they spit in my face. And the Master, God, stays right there and helps me, so I'm not disgraced.

Therefore I set my face like flint, confident that I'll never regret this. My champion is right here. Let's take our stand together!

Choose God, not gold

This is the only science many people are interested in, even young kids!

It represents two big lies: 'Money will solve my problems', and 'success will make me happy.'

If I can't have it all, can I at least have some of yours?

I've always had a plan and being on a top-rated prime time television show was part of that plan. I want the best things that life has to offer me - the beautiful houses, the cars, the 10.000 thread count Egyptian sheets. What's more, I'm going to get them. I'm going to work my butt off and get everything I can. Eva Longoria

Earth provides enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed. Gandhi

“I do not like the envy in me. I would make it go away if I could. But I cannot stop envying by trying harder. Envy can only be healed when we live as one who has been chosen by God.” John Ortberg

When the chips are down...

Oh to really grasp what it means to believe Jesus is the Christ.

John 11:25-27
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

"Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."

Sometimes you get out of the lion's den, sometimes not...

Romans 15:30-33
I have one request, dear friends: Pray for me. Pray strenuously with and for me—to God the Father, through the power of our Master Jesus, through the love of the Spirit—that I will be delivered from the lions' den of unbelievers in Judea. Pray also that my relief offering to the Jerusalem believers will be accepted in the spirit in which it is given. Then, God willing, I'll be on my way to you with a light and eager heart, looking forward to being refreshed by your company. God's peace be with all of you. Oh, yes!

Feed your faith and your doubts will starve to death.

Philippians 4:6-9
Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

Lead Foot

Does success or failure affect how close you feel to God?
Does it make you press down the accelerator a little harder?

Does success or failure cause you to feel more or less holy?
Do you have to perform up to a standard to feel loved?

Do changes of success or failure in any way change how you see God?

Can you slow down enough to even answer these questions thoughtfully & prayerfully?!

Life is an adventure in forgiveness

Sometimes the 'Path of Most Resistance' is the Jesus Way.

Even nuts can grow!

At the NAIITS Symposium in Langley in early June Adrian Jacobs gave a passionate presentation about, "the Church of the Sacred Clowns." It is a church that would exude vulnerability, brokenness, & humility.

'In this church pretence is unwelcome; honest struggle happens instead. God is not afraid of anything human. He is alive & living with those who are alive with Him.'

It remined me of an acronym I first heard from Len Sweet about, NUTS - 'Never Underestimate The Spirit.' Christ followers are literally nuts!

Clowns are 'nuts' too, but when the Spirit is present it becomes sacred, redeemed, holy & humorous all at once. We can laugh at our humanity (& weep about it too!) & yet know that our failures & foibles are not the last word about life.

Matthew 5:3-12
"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

"You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.

"You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.

"You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.

"You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

"You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.

"You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom.

"Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.

I was regretting the past and fearing the future.
Suddenly my Lord was speaking.
"My name is I Am"
He paused. I waited. He continued.
"When you live in the past with its mistakes and regrets, it is hard. I am not there.
My name is not I WAS.
"When you live in the future with its problems and fears, it is hard.
My name is not I WILL BE.
"When you live in this moment it is not hard. I am here.
My name is I AM." Helen Mallicoat

Summer cruisin' - windows open, loud music...

If you want to know how stressed you are, look at your disposition when you drive. If you are always exceeding the speed limit, it reveals the lack of rest in your soul. That extra push on the accelerator is occurring continually on your heart throughout the day, not only when you are driving. Driving simply makes apparent the level of anxiety we have learned to live with. Francis Frangipane

Consider driving with a different agenda...

Go all in!

To watch the video.

The life of following Jesus is one of full surrender & abandonment to His ways. Then & only then will we find contentment no matter what comes our way.

We can't negotiate with Jesus about what He can have & what we can keep under our domain. Becoming His follower is a matter of giving up our life. It's either death & then resurrection or just plain death!

Lord Jesus, take from us now everything that would hinder the closest communion with God. Any wish or desire that might hamper us in prayer remove, we pray You. Any memory of either sorrow or care that might hinder the fixing of our affection wholly on our God, take it away now. What have we to do with idols any more? You have seen and observed us. You know where the difficulty lies. Help us against it, and may we now come boldly, not in the Holy place alone, but in the Holiest of all, where we should not dare to come if our great Lord had not torn the veil, sprinkled the mercy seat with His own blood, and asked us to enter. Charles Spurgeon

Philippians 4:11-13
Actually, I don't have a sense of needing anything personally. I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.

Soul cries...

To watch the video.

There are many ways we manifest 'Recognition Deficit Disorder' & spend much of our lives rectifying the wounds from the past that caused it. Ultimately it means we try to play God & right the wrongs that came our way instead of allowing His healing to bring us peace & then spread healing to others.

Life myths that both muffle (& magnify!) our soul cry:

To be significant I must be recognized for my service in a big way.
Career advancements are a sign of significance.
If I can succeed I’ll show you & them! (whoever ‘them’ are).

What is your soul crying out for?

Allow that cry to be met by Jesus alone through whatever means He provides.

Choose

Given God’s presence, what could happen that we couldn’t handle?

Isaiah 58:11-12
The Lord will guide you always: He will satisfy your needs in a sun scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age old foundations; You will be called repairer of broken walls, restorer of streets with dwellings.

Sweet baby James...

James 1:2-5; 5:13-16
Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought.

Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you've sinned, you'll be forgiven—healed inside and out.

Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.

love wins

The simple program of Christ for winning the whole world is to make each person He touches magnetic enough with love to draw others. Frank Laubach

1 Peter 4:8-11
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

BEAUTIFUL!

1 Peter 3:3-6
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. You are a daughter if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

Mal

Malachi 4:5-6
But also look ahead: I'm sending Elijah the prophet to clear the way for the Big Day of God—the decisive Judgment Day! He will convince parents to look after their children and children to look up to their parents.

Jesus offers a new life...

Colossians 3:12-17
So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

I will never be able to reduce life with God to a formula for the same reason I cannot reduce my marriage to a formula. It is a living growing relationship with another free being, very different from me and yet sharing much in common. What I discovered was that there are no shortcuts, no gimmicks, no easy ways to cultivate an intimacy with God and attain the resulting passion that should carry one through life’s journey. Gordon MacDonald

Do you have a B. A.?

Philippians 2:1-11
If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.

Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.

Getting dunked!

What comes into our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us. We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God. A.W. Tozer

The kids getting baptized today see Jesus as safe, much like the way children came to Him so many years ago in Galilee felt. The disciples were busy trying to manage Jesus' schedule, saying He had more important things to get to. We all know who He corrected back then...

Matthew 19:13-15
One day children were brought to Jesus in the hope that he would lay hands on them and pray over them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus intervened: "Let the children alone, don't prevent them from coming to me. God's kingdom is made up of people like these."

When Jesus Himself was baptized His Father said, "This is my Son in whom I am well pleased."

He trusted His Father; His Father loved Him. We too can trust the Father - he really loves us! He sent His son to show us. May we all embrace His love today... let's go down to the river & get dunked in His love...

If God doesn’t rule your little moments then God doesn’t rule you because that is where you live.

If the character of a life is not set by four or five big moments . . . but is set by 10,000 little moments, then every little moment of your life is important. Paul David Tripp

Colossians 3:15-17
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

This makes me an intrepid explorer! Thankfully I am assured as you can be too that God walks with us through these 'joyous seasons of discovery'! It's one of the many ways we get Fathered by God.

"You didn’t blow it; I asked you to do this. I am in this."

My what big churches you have...

Church growth is not greatly connected to spirituality. If you think about it, some of the godliest people in ministry have never been able to lead a church to any growth at all. That’s why I think you can learn methodology that would help you take steps to lead the church to more growth. Otherwise you would say the most spiritual men in our movement are those who have led the biggest churches, and I don’t think that’s true. Barry McMurtrie

2 Chronicles 16:9
For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

Romans 5:1-5
By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that's not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.

There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!

When all is said & done...

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
The last and final word is this:
Fear God.
Do what he tells you.

And that's it. Eventually God will bring everything that we do out into the open and judge it according to its hidden intent, whether it's good or evil.

Remember who you are & who God is

Exodus 33:14
God said, "My presence will go with you. I'll see the journey to the end."

Psalm 32:8
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.

Proverbs 3:4-7
Don't lose your grip on Love and Loyalty. Tie them around your neck; carve their initials on your heart. Earn a reputation for living well in God's eyes and the eyes of the people.

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track. Don't assume that you know it all. Run to God! Run from evil!

HOPE floats...

Let nothing trouble you, let nothing frighten you.
All things are passing; God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
He who possesses God lacks nothing:
God alone suffices. St. Therese

A Barren Environment

Philippians 4:8-14
Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

I'm glad in God, far happier than you would ever guess—happy that you're again showing such strong concern for me. Not that you ever quit praying and thinking about me. You just had no chance to show it. Actually, I don't have a sense of needing anything personally. I've learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I'm just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I've found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. I don't mean that your help didn't mean a lot to me—it did. It was a beautiful thing that you came alongside me in my troubles.

Is there a crack in your façade of, ‘my life is perfect’?

Choose to live a powerfully authentic life rather than projecting the typical “my-life-is-perfect” Christian façade.

Sometimes our our past invades our present. We get 'stuck and unrelational'.

This is how Fil Anderson described his own journey,

"To the casual onlooker, my life appeared quite good. But something was wrong inside me. My life had become a ghostly journey, as I maintained a deadly course with an incapacitated soul. I was obsessed with helping others have the kind of relationship with God that I had never known… My life was filled with doing things for God rather than pursuing intimacy with God...

I have been ripped apart by the relentlessly competing demands of my job and home, wife and children, friends and family who persistently ask for more than I’ve ever felt capable of giving. My hopes for the future have been haunted by the blunders in my past. My desperate longing to get my life right has been dogged by the nagging fear that it will never, ever happen, given the obvious fact that I am hopelessly flawed."

Mike Yaconelli addressed how the church can help us deal with our own failed realities,

"The church ought to be the one place where I'm so anxious to get there because I can stop the pretending. When you ask, "Mike, how are you?" I don't go "Praise the Lord," I say, "I'm in bad shape." And you go, "Okay, great. Tell me about it."

Pretending is the grease of non-relationships. Pretending is how you and I get through the day without ever having to know each other. When I walk in the room, you say to me, "How are you?" Well, you don't want to know. And, frankly, I don't want to tell you. So I just say "fine," and you go "fine." And off we go."

Ask God for courage to face your own failings and shortcomings. Give God permission to lead you to a group of people who will be there for you as you walk the journey out.

I will always have HOPE...

Psalm 71:14
As for me, I will always have HOPE...
I will praise you more and more.

Jesus has provided for us so that you & I can face the harsh realities of life in this broken world with hope and courage. It is not enough to believe in life after death, we believe & can know real hope of life before death. I believe in real hope of personal growth and change.

Even though you may want to move forward in your life, you may have one foot on the brakes. In order to be truly free, we must learn how to let go. Release the hurt. Release the fear. Refuse to cling onto old pain. When we hang onto the past it holds you back from a new and abundant life.

Is there anything in your life that you need to let go of?