"We may as well face it: the whole of spirituality among us is low. We have measured ourselves by ourselves until the incentive to seek higher plateaus in the things of the Spirit is all but gone...(we) have imitated the world, sought popular favor, manufactured delights to substitute for the joy of the Lord and produced a cheap and synthetic power to substitute for the power of the Holy Spirit."
---A.W. Tozer
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Other People...
In a few weeks at Merge we will be diving into a new series entitled "OTHER PEOPLE". It will wrap around some of Jesus' encounters with people the church were either largely ignoring or had condemned in such a way that people were living in a relational prison. While I have a few weeks to continue to fine tune some thoughts on this series I can't help but think of people we come across everyday we the church grossly ignore.
Our thoughts don't have to go far when it comes to thinking of some of these people (like the homeless or for that matter people who don't dress like us, talk like us, or think like us). But what is weighing on my heart lately is the people we are in biblical community with who are ignored. Maybe not on purpose, but they come into a gathering sit down, consume, leave all without getting much more than a smile and a shake.
There are people all around us who are living in a crowded world of isolation. They are longing for someone to notice them, to acknowledge them, to reach out and help them out of the muck they we weighed down in. Other people exist and because of that God has allowed us to be active in helping other people meet Him. This takes much less work than we tend to claim and is much more rewarding than we think.
Our job is to not fight the feelings to engage people whom we can serve with the love of God. We must be willing to embrace discomfort for the sake of The Gospel. I encourage you to go back and read through some of the encounters Jesus had with "Other People" and see if it doesn't motivate you to make a difference in your world.
Heart and Soul,
BAG
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Our thoughts don't have to go far when it comes to thinking of some of these people (like the homeless or for that matter people who don't dress like us, talk like us, or think like us). But what is weighing on my heart lately is the people we are in biblical community with who are ignored. Maybe not on purpose, but they come into a gathering sit down, consume, leave all without getting much more than a smile and a shake.
There are people all around us who are living in a crowded world of isolation. They are longing for someone to notice them, to acknowledge them, to reach out and help them out of the muck they we weighed down in. Other people exist and because of that God has allowed us to be active in helping other people meet Him. This takes much less work than we tend to claim and is much more rewarding than we think.
Our job is to not fight the feelings to engage people whom we can serve with the love of God. We must be willing to embrace discomfort for the sake of The Gospel. I encourage you to go back and read through some of the encounters Jesus had with "Other People" and see if it doesn't motivate you to make a difference in your world.
Heart and Soul,
BAG
<><
Monday, August 10, 2009
Audacious Prayers
Yesterday at Merge we were wrapping up our James series with coincidently the last passage of his letter (pause for a chuckle). His topic revovled mainly around attaching prayer to seasons of trouble and of joy. In the middle of it he illustrates the power of prayer through an ancient story involving Elijah and a drought on the land.
What I found interesting is that James says Elijah was a man just like us. Which I believe make most of us do a double take since we have never prayed a drought to come and go. I haven't met anyone who has actually prayed for fire to come down from the heavens. If you track with the life of Elijah you will see the incredible work of prayer and the powerful things that can be accomplished. But James says Elijah was a man just like us.
This thought occurred to me early last week when I was studying for the lesson. Maybe we don't think we can be like Elijah or maybe the reason we aren't praying "fire from heaven" prayers is that our whole lives we have been praying much too small. What if we started praying audacious prayers like seeing entire neighborhoods transformed by the Gospel? What if instead of praying for small things we can remedy with a little effort, we threw our faces on the ground, and rend our hearts and we ask God to do things that only He could do?
I think those are the kind of prayers that interested Elijah. What about you???
Heart and Soul,
BAG
<><
What I found interesting is that James says Elijah was a man just like us. Which I believe make most of us do a double take since we have never prayed a drought to come and go. I haven't met anyone who has actually prayed for fire to come down from the heavens. If you track with the life of Elijah you will see the incredible work of prayer and the powerful things that can be accomplished. But James says Elijah was a man just like us.
This thought occurred to me early last week when I was studying for the lesson. Maybe we don't think we can be like Elijah or maybe the reason we aren't praying "fire from heaven" prayers is that our whole lives we have been praying much too small. What if we started praying audacious prayers like seeing entire neighborhoods transformed by the Gospel? What if instead of praying for small things we can remedy with a little effort, we threw our faces on the ground, and rend our hearts and we ask God to do things that only He could do?
I think those are the kind of prayers that interested Elijah. What about you???
Heart and Soul,
BAG
<><
Monday, August 3, 2009
I Find This Very Suspicious...
Today I went grocery shopping for our family. Don't worry... Misty didn't leave me, it wasn't state mandated. This is just part of the system I want to create in our house, especially since Misty works so many hours at the Dayschool Center she is the Director of. She made me a list, I brushed my teeth, dressed myself and set off on this grand adventure to Wal-Mart.
One thing that I find terribly suspicious though is that whenever she does the shopping she always comes back saying they were all out of the snack foods that I like that she doesn't (Star Crunch, Nutty Bars, Little Debbie Waist Expansion Packet, etc.) While I was shopping I noticed they were stocked up full of my favorites. So what did I do???
I bought them while supplies last. Misty has yet to see all of the additions I made to the grocery list (which as it turns out is loaded full of sugar and pudding). I suppose I am writing this as proof that I went grocery shopping at least once in my life before Misty banned me from buying food every again.
Heart and Soul,|
BAG
<><
One thing that I find terribly suspicious though is that whenever she does the shopping she always comes back saying they were all out of the snack foods that I like that she doesn't (Star Crunch, Nutty Bars, Little Debbie Waist Expansion Packet, etc.) While I was shopping I noticed they were stocked up full of my favorites. So what did I do???
I bought them while supplies last. Misty has yet to see all of the additions I made to the grocery list (which as it turns out is loaded full of sugar and pudding). I suppose I am writing this as proof that I went grocery shopping at least once in my life before Misty banned me from buying food every again.
Heart and Soul,|
BAG
<><
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