“No one has ever heard, no one has paid attention, and no one has seen any god except you. You help those who wait for you. You greeted the one who gladly does right and remembers your ways. You showed your anger, because we've sinned. We've continued to sin for a long time. Can we still be saved? We've all become unclean, and all our righteous acts are like permanently stained rags. All of us shrivel like leaves, and our sins carry us away like the wind. No one calls on your name or tries to hold on to you. You have hidden your face from us. You have let us be ruined by our sins. But now, LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are our potter. We are the work of your hands. Don't be too angry, LORD. Don't remember our sin forever. Now look, we are all your people. Your holy cities have become a desert. Zion has become a desert. Jerusalem is a wasteland. Our holy and beautiful temple, where our ancestors praised you, has been burned to the ground. All that we valued has been ruined. Despite these things, LORD, will you hold back? Will you be silent and make us suffer more than we can bear?” (Isaiah 64:4-12 GW)
“No eye had ever seen such a God as Yahweh; one who so richly rewarded those who put their trust in him.” Albert Barnes says in reference to Isaiah’s writing, “In the Hebrew, the word rendered ‘O God,’ may be either in the accusative or vocative case, and the sense is, that Yahweh was a more glorious rewarder and protector than any of the gods which had ever been worshipped by the nations.”
Paul references this scripture in 1 Corinthians 2:9; “But as Scripture says: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him." (GW)
The Hebrew text and Septuagint do not have the phrase “no one has paid attention”, which in other translations is rendered “neither hath it entered into the heart of man,” and the other “no one has ever heard,” is repeated without emphasis; “nor perceived by the ear,” after, “never have heard”. The apocryphal books, Ascension of Esaiah and the Apocalypse of Elias have both phrases.
As we gather in our homes, I cannot help but wonder how secularized even the Christian celebration of the birth of our Savior has become, even within the boundaries of my own home. There is not, atheist or religious, any one who does not know what the ‘Christian’ meaning of this celebration is. Yet, we celebrate this birthday with frantic shopping, drink and song; acting as different people amid the snowy covered streets and decked halls. We have truly lost the entire ‘reason for the season’ amongst the ‘expectations’ of our cultural identity.
Yet, it is mankind that has received (whether taken or not) the invaluable gift that was born out upon a cross some thirty plus years later, in Jerusalem, at the desire of the very people who hoped for the Messiah promised in the sacred text. Some, like the apostles, received the doctrine of Christ as Divine and saw not a plain, boring history of a good man or awesome teacher but the deep and loving design of a Heavenly Father who was delivering on His promise. But it is the text in Isaiah that draws me this Christmas eve.
What was hidden from the sinful world of Christ’s time, seemingly plainly spoken in distant prophecies, was revealed during that time of Christ’s ministry on this world to the people of all ages, all nations and all cultures. That He was the Lord of glory, a title that no man (or woman) could ever honestly attain. But, do we truly believe it? Do we, all people…even myself…honor the birth of Christ with the weight and understanding now available to us? Or do we speak the very thoughts of those who knew Christ, “Isn’t he the carpenter’s son?” and nothing more?
I know some do; those have come into my life with an impact that is undeniably Christ inspired and God directed. With understanding and love that is beyond the human reasoning for its existence, they have given of themselves to a man who is struggling like so many others without reservation and cause; simply because the wisdom of God has directed them to do so, even though that man struggles with the weight of the trials set upon him; imperfectly and brokenly.
There are many things we, as children of God, would not do and would do if the understanding of the wisdom of God, the love of that Heavenly Father, was truly realized in the core of our beings.
Some mock the very idea that God, this all-powerful Being, would chose to deliver the ‘salvation of the world’ in the form of a human baby….to a poor family of modest origins in the cultural climate of a captive nation. That the wisdom of this Creator, work through the human form of Christ, would not impact the world with the undeniable power of His abilities but rather would cause His only Begotten Son to be born in such a manner as this. And yet, He did.
God, with an understanding that has been revealed to us throughout the ages, brought to the world the salvation that it needs because of the anger and sorrow caused by the original sin that has stained the landscape of our lives from the moment of expulsion from the Garden through the actions of our forbearers, Adam and Eve. But, this was only the beginning of the plan that God has for us, and only the start of the blessings that He will render to us if we will only partake, if we will only open the present presented to us thirty-three years later upon a cross of tremendous pain and sorrow. These things God has waiting for those who love and wait for Him to return……but do not wait until that return to be rendered. Waiting under the Tree of life, wrapped with pretty bows and garnished ribbons……
“If we were more consistent, more devoted to the Lord, and more zealous for His Kingdom and righteousness,” T.M. Moore, Principal of the Fellowship of Ailbe, says “then we would not be able to keep from calling for the repentance and renewal our generation of Christians sorely needs.”
Instead of trying to rewrite the Scriptures, to gain a human understanding of the Divine, it is those who take the Words of God, understood or shrouded in mystery, as fact; regardless of the harsh, anti-cultural way it appears that will realize those prettily wrapped presents under the Tree are in fact to be opened in the continual celebration of the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Lord and King of all Creation and kinsman to those who believe. And the biggest present of all, beautifully wrapped and proudly displayed as the centerpiece amidst the decorations, is yet to be gotten to………
To partake of those gifts is to partake of the suffering, the pain, that our Savior endured; in the birth as a human baby, the long life lived in that human form with the power of His Divinity, and His willful death of immense torture and pain for those who had denied His rightful title and those yet to be born. In our own lives, to pick up the rough cross of abused wood, coarse and painful in its embracing, and trod in the imprint of the steps of the One we claim to follow.
“I consider that what we suffer at this present time cannot be compared at all with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. All of creation waits with eager longing for God to reveal his children. For creation was condemned to lose its purpose, not of its own will, but because God willed it to be so. Yet there was the hope that creation itself would one day be set free from its slavery to decay and would share the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (Romans 8:18-21 GNB)
Like children all around the world who eagerly await the coming day, when those garishly wrapped presents in multicolored paper, adorned with ribbons and bows, and labeled with their names can be opened and the contents within revealed………we who know the Lord and His Father, feel the quickening in our hearts fired by the power and whispering of the Holy Spirit as the blessings of our Father are revealed amidst the pain and suffering of the current age. We spend our time in a constant state of alertness and expectation for that time when we will open the greatest present of all……….
The coming Kingdom of the One and True King to renewal all of creation once broken because of man’s sin and the redemption of all of His children.
Kind of makes that Playstation, the HD TV, that hard-sought gift or the needs of today pale by comparison, doesn’t it?
May you have a warm celebration gathered with families and friends this Christmas day. May the blessings of the Lord and King be wrapped around you as a warm, fuzzy blanket…giving warmth and love among the blowing storms of this life. And as we watch those we love and cherish open the presents, eat the food and bask in the reflection of our love; remembering those who are far away from home, those who have gone to their eternal reward and wait for us to join them and those who are broken and hurt in our community with job losses, financial strains and worldly worries; let us truly realize the celebration we partake of that day….and every day following.
Born to us this day, a child, promised and purposed to deliver to all of mankind the greatest gift of all……..
Eternal life
Wednesday, December 24
Saturday, December 20
Prayer
“For a child has been born to us, a son has been given to us. He shoulders responsibility and is called: Extraordinary Strategist, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His dominion will be vast and he will bring immeasurable prosperity. He will rule on David's throne and over David's kingdom, establishing it and strengthening it by promoting justice and fairness, from this time forward and forevermore. The LORD's intense devotion to his people will accomplish this.” (Isaiah 9:6-7 NET.)
I have been thinking of a way to express anew the miracle and the impact of the birth that we celebrate as Christians this 25th of December as Jesus Christ’s birthday. That God, in so much love, would cause a virgin to be pregnant with the very begotten Son to be born of woman, yet still fully God, is an event that still astounds me to this day.
I have spent a sleepless night; the trials and tribulations of this ending year have reached another milestone of heaviness and sorrow, for me….the person who is struggling to be a good steward of their finances, a good father, and a godly man. With all the strides I have made in the last few months by the blessings and encouragement of others, it seems impossibly unfair that a ‘random’ event that I had no way to avoid and no reason to suspect it’s coming would bring me right back to square one and the potential loss of every gain I have made.
It seems that I have been born to live on the cutting edge of impending doom and gloom. And yet, I am seizing hold of that promised peace and joy.
This Wednesday past, we were blanketed with a little taste of winter. About three to five inches of snow covered the ground as I departed my humble little apartment, as I have done since we moved here in September, from the little village of Holly enroute to my work in Allen Park, about an hour and fifteen minute journey. Not three miles from my home, I saw the headlights of a car that had slid off the road into a yard.
As I slowed down to see if the driver was in need of assistance, my car was rocked and lifted a few inches off the ground. I stopped a few feet further and retraced my route. Lying off to the side, now, was a large landscaping rock which had been apparently thrown into the roadway by the car that was now idling on the banked lawn of a home. I discovered another rock, which I had apparently missed and put both of them well off the road so that another vehicle wouldn’t hit them as I had. Checking with the driver, and getting a “I’m okay”, I got back into my vehicle and said a quick prayer of thanks that the driver was okay, that my car seemed to be okay, and that I hadn’t had worse happen that just a little ‘scare’ thrown my way.
The car seemed to be okay and drove normally all the way to work. When I got to my job, I checked it over quickly and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. I drove home that night and to work the following day without any issues. I had indeed been blessed.
The blessings that have abound in my life since the life-altering events that had destroyed the world I once knew; the separation and impending divorce from my wife, the failure of one vehicle, the engine destruction of its replacement, the financial stresses and worries, the decision to let my daughter stay with her birth mother –separating the two children because of the impact the havoc of having to move twice since the separation, my son’s sorrow and increasing special needs, and the self-destruction of the industry that my job is a part of (automotive) that seemed to make more real the yearly worry of not having a job come the new year…….throughout these sorrowful and painful events, God showed through the working of His servants that He had me, my children, my ex-wife, and all the futures of each in the palm of His hand.
Facing the impossibility of moving; no money, no car, the inability to stay where I was, no prospect for a place to move to and no reason to suspect any of that would change, I prayed and asked my brothers and sisters in Christ to pray also. A woman travelled to my work, giving me a card filled with 10 $100 bills, which gave me enough to buy the car that I mentioned, because the owner accepted my request that he take a substantial cut in his asking price. A sister in Christ, who in the past gave me the funds to attend the IFOC Chaplaincy program, sent $200 dollars to help. The scrap yard who gave me just enough for the vehicle with the blown engine, $300.00, and a brother who gave me another $400.00 and helped me load the trailer with all my possessions. All these blessings worked, along with God giving me a landlord who would rent to me, the ability to move my son and I to Holly to a two bedroom apartment of fairly decent accommodations. God showed in a powerful and impacting way that I was His child through the blessings of others.
A brother heard of my need for clothing for my son and a group went out and purchased new clothes for him (telling me that they were used, hand-me downs from his son until I picked them up and discovered otherwise). Another brother, who two years ago I attending a life-changing event called a men’s story weekend through the Awakened Hearts ministry and I hadn’t seen since, blessed me with a month’s worth of rent for December.
As I have written my blog, and the time grew closer to the celebration of Christmas; I have spoken of these blessings and my learning to be blessed by the blessings of God through the work of others. I was not worried about presents under the tree for myself, because the presents had been given already…..one of my biggest beefs of the “Christmas season” is that we act differently at this time of year when Christ would rather have us bless others with the feelings, the gifts, and the fellowship common to this season the entire year……and I was happy to focus on the true meaning of the season celebration; the beginning of the redemption of mankind and the prophesied coming of the Messiah.
Coming home from work Thursday, it seemed the remark from a brother came into reality. He said, after an event that seemed random and impossible, said that I was the unluckiest person he knew. I started my travel home from my job and about a half-hour into it, my car started acting like it was in trouble. Grinding came from the transmission and then went away. I could shift and stop with no problem and the clutch seemed to work without issue, so I continued home. When I got there, the grinding was back.
I decided, with the impending winter storm that was to dump 7-10 inches on the ground and this problem, that I would take Friday off of work and take the car to the shop to have the transmission checked. I prayed for guidance and for mercy in this problem and contently went to sleep that night feeling assured that all would work out.
The following morning, with school cancelled for a snow day, my son and I went out to go to the repair shop two miles from home to have the car looked at. A quarter mile into the journey, the car bucked and stopped. It wouldn’t move and I was smack dab in the middle of a busy street….in a snow storm….
A friend came and pushed me out of the road, where I had a tow truck sent by the officers of the Holly Police who stopped to render assistance. We travelled to the repair facility and arranged to have the car looked at. Me and my son went home, helped dig out our neighbor on the ground floor and settled in to spend some time together.
I sent a prayer request out to the campus pastor and lead pastor of my new church, The River, here in Holly and cooked dinner for me and my son….well, my son cooked with a nervous father standing over him….. I answered the offer of a breakfast fellowship with a brother in Christ in the ministry called M3 and spent the day with my son………
And then I got the call from the repair facility. It would take 1780, minimum, to fix my vehicle because the rock that I had hit on Wednesday had hit the exposed transmission case and cracked it. All the fluid had leaked out over the next day and the clutch was ‘smoked’. If, once they got into the repair, there were other parts needed the price would, of course, go up. I have exactly $0 for such a repair.
It has been a depressing yesterday for me, sick with a coming cold and stressed about how I am going to keep a job that I don’t have the ability to get to anymore; the loss of at least three unpaid days because I could work Friday and will miss both Monday and Tuesday before the layoff for the end of the year takes effect. I have spent the night tossing and turning, praying and pondering, and have felt the need to write down this prayer request to send to those faithful and powerful warriors of our Almighty Lord, Savior, and King who’s birth we gather on the 25th of December to celebrate with family, friends, and our brethren of the faith.
Because of the actions of my son, Casey. Because of the words of wisdom that he spoke with compassion and defying belief yesterday as I worried and fretted about this dilemma.
“Don’t worry, Daddy, Jesus will save us.”
I told him that, while Jesus would help us in this situation, the outcome may be different from our expectations. But I realized in the dawning of this new day, that God had already given me the assurance once more that He does indeed have me and my son, my daughter and all of us firmly within the plan of His salvation for all of His fallen and broken children. Whatever the outcome of this latest crisis in the life of His servant; whether I am homeless, jobless, carless……I am indeed saved.
I send this to you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, to speak what God has spoken to my heart this day……….
In the coming week, we gather together with loved ones, serve our less fortunate brethren in various ways, fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ or reach out to those in need; and celebrate the birth of a baby that was wrapped in swaddling clothing, proclaimed through the heavenly sound of an angelic host, and witnessed by the lowly shepherds as he lay in a manager amidst the sounds of the livestock he displaced; amidst the discarded wrapping paper and the joyful sounds of our loved ones reflecting upon the heartfelt gifts we have given them…..let us remember the reason we gather, whose birthday we honor and remember. Despite the economic worries, the president-elect’s promised agenda, and the daily struggle that all of us, not just me, face; losing homes, jobs, livelihoods.
Because God gave us His only Begotten Son, who became flesh for the salvation of all mankind…..through the human experience of birth, life and death……and because this Son of God, this King, and this Messiah will come again to permanently establish the Kingdom of His Father upon the renewed creation with the sons and daughters redeemed by His blood.
Please pray this day that God will move in His way; no only in my life, but the lives of your neighbors, family, and friends. That His hand will be felt in an undeniable way to those who still don’t know Him and the reason we celebrate Christmas. That He will renew within those who know Him the joyful powerful impact and blessing that came in the form of a baby boy to the Virgin Mary and her husband Joseph in a little town of Bethlehem…
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty King, Messiah…….
“You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
I would ask the faithful to lift those in need, not only me and this need, up to the Almighty, that His blessing in this moment will not just impact me but bring into realization for those who need it of the love, mercy, and joy that He holds for those who will just partake of the salvation gift born on this Christmas day so long ago.
I pray that the coming celebration of the birth of our Savior is renewed within each of us; a child in swaddling clothing, of poor beginnings, who was the One who would save the world through His sacrifice upon the Cross of wood. I pray that each and every one of us facing the uncertain future of manmade designs would find the peace that comes from the assurance that our future is written in the Book of Life, and our names will be called by the Savior at the time of His Father’s choosing. I pray for peaceful fellowship, blessed relationship, and a joyful gathering on Christmas Day.
Thank you, my brothers and sisters in Christ.
In joyful proclamation of the birth of our Savior,
Jim Hutson
I have been thinking of a way to express anew the miracle and the impact of the birth that we celebrate as Christians this 25th of December as Jesus Christ’s birthday. That God, in so much love, would cause a virgin to be pregnant with the very begotten Son to be born of woman, yet still fully God, is an event that still astounds me to this day.
I have spent a sleepless night; the trials and tribulations of this ending year have reached another milestone of heaviness and sorrow, for me….the person who is struggling to be a good steward of their finances, a good father, and a godly man. With all the strides I have made in the last few months by the blessings and encouragement of others, it seems impossibly unfair that a ‘random’ event that I had no way to avoid and no reason to suspect it’s coming would bring me right back to square one and the potential loss of every gain I have made.
It seems that I have been born to live on the cutting edge of impending doom and gloom. And yet, I am seizing hold of that promised peace and joy.
This Wednesday past, we were blanketed with a little taste of winter. About three to five inches of snow covered the ground as I departed my humble little apartment, as I have done since we moved here in September, from the little village of Holly enroute to my work in Allen Park, about an hour and fifteen minute journey. Not three miles from my home, I saw the headlights of a car that had slid off the road into a yard.
As I slowed down to see if the driver was in need of assistance, my car was rocked and lifted a few inches off the ground. I stopped a few feet further and retraced my route. Lying off to the side, now, was a large landscaping rock which had been apparently thrown into the roadway by the car that was now idling on the banked lawn of a home. I discovered another rock, which I had apparently missed and put both of them well off the road so that another vehicle wouldn’t hit them as I had. Checking with the driver, and getting a “I’m okay”, I got back into my vehicle and said a quick prayer of thanks that the driver was okay, that my car seemed to be okay, and that I hadn’t had worse happen that just a little ‘scare’ thrown my way.
The car seemed to be okay and drove normally all the way to work. When I got to my job, I checked it over quickly and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. I drove home that night and to work the following day without any issues. I had indeed been blessed.
The blessings that have abound in my life since the life-altering events that had destroyed the world I once knew; the separation and impending divorce from my wife, the failure of one vehicle, the engine destruction of its replacement, the financial stresses and worries, the decision to let my daughter stay with her birth mother –separating the two children because of the impact the havoc of having to move twice since the separation, my son’s sorrow and increasing special needs, and the self-destruction of the industry that my job is a part of (automotive) that seemed to make more real the yearly worry of not having a job come the new year…….throughout these sorrowful and painful events, God showed through the working of His servants that He had me, my children, my ex-wife, and all the futures of each in the palm of His hand.
Facing the impossibility of moving; no money, no car, the inability to stay where I was, no prospect for a place to move to and no reason to suspect any of that would change, I prayed and asked my brothers and sisters in Christ to pray also. A woman travelled to my work, giving me a card filled with 10 $100 bills, which gave me enough to buy the car that I mentioned, because the owner accepted my request that he take a substantial cut in his asking price. A sister in Christ, who in the past gave me the funds to attend the IFOC Chaplaincy program, sent $200 dollars to help. The scrap yard who gave me just enough for the vehicle with the blown engine, $300.00, and a brother who gave me another $400.00 and helped me load the trailer with all my possessions. All these blessings worked, along with God giving me a landlord who would rent to me, the ability to move my son and I to Holly to a two bedroom apartment of fairly decent accommodations. God showed in a powerful and impacting way that I was His child through the blessings of others.
A brother heard of my need for clothing for my son and a group went out and purchased new clothes for him (telling me that they were used, hand-me downs from his son until I picked them up and discovered otherwise). Another brother, who two years ago I attending a life-changing event called a men’s story weekend through the Awakened Hearts ministry and I hadn’t seen since, blessed me with a month’s worth of rent for December.
As I have written my blog, and the time grew closer to the celebration of Christmas; I have spoken of these blessings and my learning to be blessed by the blessings of God through the work of others. I was not worried about presents under the tree for myself, because the presents had been given already…..one of my biggest beefs of the “Christmas season” is that we act differently at this time of year when Christ would rather have us bless others with the feelings, the gifts, and the fellowship common to this season the entire year……and I was happy to focus on the true meaning of the season celebration; the beginning of the redemption of mankind and the prophesied coming of the Messiah.
Coming home from work Thursday, it seemed the remark from a brother came into reality. He said, after an event that seemed random and impossible, said that I was the unluckiest person he knew. I started my travel home from my job and about a half-hour into it, my car started acting like it was in trouble. Grinding came from the transmission and then went away. I could shift and stop with no problem and the clutch seemed to work without issue, so I continued home. When I got there, the grinding was back.
I decided, with the impending winter storm that was to dump 7-10 inches on the ground and this problem, that I would take Friday off of work and take the car to the shop to have the transmission checked. I prayed for guidance and for mercy in this problem and contently went to sleep that night feeling assured that all would work out.
The following morning, with school cancelled for a snow day, my son and I went out to go to the repair shop two miles from home to have the car looked at. A quarter mile into the journey, the car bucked and stopped. It wouldn’t move and I was smack dab in the middle of a busy street….in a snow storm….
A friend came and pushed me out of the road, where I had a tow truck sent by the officers of the Holly Police who stopped to render assistance. We travelled to the repair facility and arranged to have the car looked at. Me and my son went home, helped dig out our neighbor on the ground floor and settled in to spend some time together.
I sent a prayer request out to the campus pastor and lead pastor of my new church, The River, here in Holly and cooked dinner for me and my son….well, my son cooked with a nervous father standing over him….. I answered the offer of a breakfast fellowship with a brother in Christ in the ministry called M3 and spent the day with my son………
And then I got the call from the repair facility. It would take 1780, minimum, to fix my vehicle because the rock that I had hit on Wednesday had hit the exposed transmission case and cracked it. All the fluid had leaked out over the next day and the clutch was ‘smoked’. If, once they got into the repair, there were other parts needed the price would, of course, go up. I have exactly $0 for such a repair.
It has been a depressing yesterday for me, sick with a coming cold and stressed about how I am going to keep a job that I don’t have the ability to get to anymore; the loss of at least three unpaid days because I could work Friday and will miss both Monday and Tuesday before the layoff for the end of the year takes effect. I have spent the night tossing and turning, praying and pondering, and have felt the need to write down this prayer request to send to those faithful and powerful warriors of our Almighty Lord, Savior, and King who’s birth we gather on the 25th of December to celebrate with family, friends, and our brethren of the faith.
Because of the actions of my son, Casey. Because of the words of wisdom that he spoke with compassion and defying belief yesterday as I worried and fretted about this dilemma.
“Don’t worry, Daddy, Jesus will save us.”
I told him that, while Jesus would help us in this situation, the outcome may be different from our expectations. But I realized in the dawning of this new day, that God had already given me the assurance once more that He does indeed have me and my son, my daughter and all of us firmly within the plan of His salvation for all of His fallen and broken children. Whatever the outcome of this latest crisis in the life of His servant; whether I am homeless, jobless, carless……I am indeed saved.
I send this to you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, to speak what God has spoken to my heart this day……….
In the coming week, we gather together with loved ones, serve our less fortunate brethren in various ways, fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ or reach out to those in need; and celebrate the birth of a baby that was wrapped in swaddling clothing, proclaimed through the heavenly sound of an angelic host, and witnessed by the lowly shepherds as he lay in a manager amidst the sounds of the livestock he displaced; amidst the discarded wrapping paper and the joyful sounds of our loved ones reflecting upon the heartfelt gifts we have given them…..let us remember the reason we gather, whose birthday we honor and remember. Despite the economic worries, the president-elect’s promised agenda, and the daily struggle that all of us, not just me, face; losing homes, jobs, livelihoods.
Because God gave us His only Begotten Son, who became flesh for the salvation of all mankind…..through the human experience of birth, life and death……and because this Son of God, this King, and this Messiah will come again to permanently establish the Kingdom of His Father upon the renewed creation with the sons and daughters redeemed by His blood.
Please pray this day that God will move in His way; no only in my life, but the lives of your neighbors, family, and friends. That His hand will be felt in an undeniable way to those who still don’t know Him and the reason we celebrate Christmas. That He will renew within those who know Him the joyful powerful impact and blessing that came in the form of a baby boy to the Virgin Mary and her husband Joseph in a little town of Bethlehem…
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty King, Messiah…….
“You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
I would ask the faithful to lift those in need, not only me and this need, up to the Almighty, that His blessing in this moment will not just impact me but bring into realization for those who need it of the love, mercy, and joy that He holds for those who will just partake of the salvation gift born on this Christmas day so long ago.
I pray that the coming celebration of the birth of our Savior is renewed within each of us; a child in swaddling clothing, of poor beginnings, who was the One who would save the world through His sacrifice upon the Cross of wood. I pray that each and every one of us facing the uncertain future of manmade designs would find the peace that comes from the assurance that our future is written in the Book of Life, and our names will be called by the Savior at the time of His Father’s choosing. I pray for peaceful fellowship, blessed relationship, and a joyful gathering on Christmas Day.
Thank you, my brothers and sisters in Christ.
In joyful proclamation of the birth of our Savior,
Jim Hutson
Tuesday, December 16
Christmas broodings......
"Even though an army sets up camp against me, my heart will not be afraid. Even though a war breaks out against me, I will still have confidence [in the LORD]. I have asked one thing from the LORD. This I will seek: to remain in the LORD's house all the days of my life in order to gaze at the LORD's beauty and to search for an answer in his temple." Psalms 27:3-4 (GWT)
It is so easy to look around our world and despair. There is nothing in the world that seems to bode good will and everywhere we look there is only fear and confusion. The duality of our nature; the human side worrying and stressing about the reality of a fallen, broken creation and the Christian side, matured in the realization that true peace is obtainable even in the ferociousity of the storms that ravage this world because of who's we are......and the event we celebrate this coming 25th of December. The birth of our salvation in the manger of Bethlehem, right underneath the corrupted human government of Herod.
It is a reality we are facing – the economic outlook grows gloomy and dismal with each passing day. Many Americans are looking to a human savior, in the form of our President-elect Barack Obama, to save us from the entitlement lifestyle that we have lived....far from our true American roots that our forefathers envisioned and set to paper years ago. Even in the form of the faith, we have moved far beyond the unbelievable gratitude and awesome experience of mercy for a gift that none of us deserve and none of us could obtain on our own to a 'God delivering on His promises' faith that emboldens us to an expectant entitlement of the many blessings that we find in the Bible. All we need to do is name it and claim it.
With the Government spending billions of dollars to 'bail out' the economic crisis, we find out the true nature of most Americans today. Instead of dropping to our knees in supplication and appreciation for the coming celebration of the birth of the WORD made flesh, we rush out to the stores in search of the big bargains and super deals.....we shop, shop, shop using credit cards for money we do not have, dealing with the created traffic jams of vehicles and humanity because WE deserve that deal armed with our to-do-lists and who-to-buy-for lists while making sure that we schedule the most convenient service (we pick between three to five) at our church. We get caught up in the production; after all, the CEOs who come (Christmas and Easter Only) come not for the value of the show but the entertainment quality of the Christmas story. We fret about how much to spend on each person, some of us wondering if we should spend any at all since the looming possibility of being unemployed in the new year overshadows the Christmas spirit.
Years ago, in my youth, I was one of those CEOs (by my mother's insistence). We gathered at the local church, Dunning Park Chapel in Redford Michigan, for the Christmas celebration. I remember the Pastor standing off to one side, reading the Christmas story from the Gospels as the young children 'acted' it out on the stage behind him. In less than an hour, it was over. But there has never been a more impactful Christmas 'production' that I've seen since. The children in the background weren't the focus....it was the retelling of the beginning of the plan to redeem mankind from sin. In two thousand years, that story hasn't changed, but the elaborate glitter of human involvement has.
The innocence of that youthful experience has been lost, by all of us. I guess that is why I don't like the 'holiday' season, not because of what happened but because what I have lost in the hustle and bustle of the searching for the 'perfect' gift for those I love and the 'peace and goodwill' expressions that only happen once a year at this time. We expect the stores we shop at to use the proper titles for the season, "Merry Christmas" instead of 'Happy Holidays". We argue against the growing trend to be 'inclusive' by our village, city, county, state, and federal governing bodies with the additions of the Star and Crescent, the Atheists statements, and so on. We create committees and argue about the best way to 'produce' an culturally sensitive, welcoming to all kind of play that will fill our pews and chairs in the main sanctuaries of our churches. We brood over the money we spend, bouncing back and forth from giving to missions or buying simpler gifts for our loved ones. We create the illusion of joy and peace that lies empty and unbelievable in the morning light.
In the midst of the hustle and bustle of a census demanded by the Roman Empire and the national celebration of Passover, a family journeyed to Bethlehem to meet the demands of the governing body to be counted. Mary, pregnant with Christ, went with her husband Joseph to his home city. In the self-centered environment of to-do-lists, shopping for the meal to be prepared, and the stress of being counted, our salvation was bore on a donkey quietly into the small village, only to find room in the stable cave with a bed to be made from a feeding trough for the WORD made flesh. The magi began their journey to visit this King, whose birth was displayed by a star high in the night sky. Shepherds, tending their flocks in the alienated world they lived in, were rocked by the heavenly choir that proclaimed our Savior's birth to such lowly men. Upon fine linen and enclosed within warm walls was not this baby born, but among the animals and cold of the night air. Attended by only His earthly father and mother.
Hearts despairing over their plight in the economics of the times, children going hungry, families bearing the celebrations with illnesses or deaths of loved ones, the poor still poor and the rich still rich swirled around the 'royal' family of peasant beginnings. Did Mary know what the child she carried would do? Did Joseph's thoughts center around just how he would raise the promised Messiah? They didn't make demands of their status in any of the places they stopped at in search of a room. They didn't claim privilege because of the honor they were given. No one whispered as they passed on their way to that luxurious cave filled with animals of their 'royalness' or the importance of the child the woman bore.
Joseph's thoughts past the birth of this child the angel told him was the Messiah, Immanuel (God is with us), probably wandered to the pressing concerns that assaulted his mind; lodging for his young family, the census, and the host of fatherly and husbandly duties that he faced. The bills still had to be paid and work had to be done. Evidence shows us that the family stayed in Bethlehem for at least two years, possibly with the intention of staying longer, so Joseph would have been looking to start his business anew in a new city.
The nation that waited with desperation and hope for the coming of the promised Messiah went about their lives with no clue that in their midst was the one they waited for. They continued with their joys, their sorrows, their worries, and their planned attendance at the synagogues for worship services. Families gathered together to celebrate the Passover and to be counted, friends met with friends, and hearts ebbed and flowed with the emotions of love, hatred, peace, joy, sorrow, and expectation.
I wonder how many future believers resided close to the Promised Messiah when He was born what their thoughts and dreams were as the WORD made flesh took His first breath of this broken world's air and His new ears were assaulted with the sounds of animals restless around Him, His nose filled with the fragrance of the stable smells. I wonder if they looked back thirty-three years later, as that baby boy's arms were stretched out painfully to be nailed upon a cross of wood by iron spikes, and thought of that night past when their salvation was born upon this earth. How they missed the biggest event of their lives and how that baby's life was ended.
I can remember the worry, the joy, and the fretting that I felt when my son Casey was born premature. I can remember the long wait for my daughter Sara to be born in the birth room of another hospital a year+ later. I can look back in my life and see those personal events that caused a course change, for good or bad, and realize in hindsight how important those things were, though at the time they seemed just another part of the life I live. I can see God's hand moving in my past even when I rallied against Him and shunned His hand. I wonder if the children that grew up with Christ looked back upon those childish incidents of ridicule or scorn that all children seem to visit upon each other at one time or another…..I wonder if their shame was amplified by their hindsight.
We have the blessing of being able to live our lives peacefully - in the midst of chaos - and find joy in the midst of tears. We know that our Savior lives, that from the beginning of our physical birth that He was knocking at the door to our hearts and asking to be allowed in. Our ability to live lives of expectation in the face of despair and fear is due to our amazing God, who provisioned for us before we were even born to find our way back to Him, to be in relationship with Him. He shows us His amazing mercy, joy, and peace in the pages of the Bible illuminating His kingdom through His word, His Holy Spirit, and in a birth that took place a day 2,000 plus years ago.
As we gather with our family this Christmas morning, amid the gift wrapping paper discarded in heaps upon the living room floor and the excited content voices of our friends, family, and children who play with the physical representations of happiness and joy…….let's stop and listen.
In our hearts we'll hear the moo of the cow, the brisk neighing of the donkey, and the sigh of a mother cradling a baby in her arms. In our mind's eye, let us take in the smells and the quietness of this moment in time with this family who were chosen to bring God's promise into the reality of this world.
And let us give thanks to our Heavenly Father, who loves us so much that He allowed the WORD to become flesh, fully God and fully Man, to usher the beginning of the redemption of mankind and the end of the evil one's reign upon the broken creation.
And feel in the heart of hearts which the Spirit resides that glorious and thunderous joy of the assembled Angels as they praised the birth of our Savior.
"Behold! Unto you this day a child is born………"
A story who's power will never be lost and whose impact upon the world has never dimmed. The power of my God displayed in a poor, working stable in the mundane life of humanity where the painful process of redeeming mankind from their sins began with the newborn cry of the Promised King whom God sent because of His love.
Freedom is a prayer away because of that birth.
Let us remember that beauty and that love that upon that day in Bethlehem was born to us a Savior by name......
No matter what the culture says,
Or what society may display upon the lawns of governments.
It is so easy to look around our world and despair. There is nothing in the world that seems to bode good will and everywhere we look there is only fear and confusion. The duality of our nature; the human side worrying and stressing about the reality of a fallen, broken creation and the Christian side, matured in the realization that true peace is obtainable even in the ferociousity of the storms that ravage this world because of who's we are......and the event we celebrate this coming 25th of December. The birth of our salvation in the manger of Bethlehem, right underneath the corrupted human government of Herod.
It is a reality we are facing – the economic outlook grows gloomy and dismal with each passing day. Many Americans are looking to a human savior, in the form of our President-elect Barack Obama, to save us from the entitlement lifestyle that we have lived....far from our true American roots that our forefathers envisioned and set to paper years ago. Even in the form of the faith, we have moved far beyond the unbelievable gratitude and awesome experience of mercy for a gift that none of us deserve and none of us could obtain on our own to a 'God delivering on His promises' faith that emboldens us to an expectant entitlement of the many blessings that we find in the Bible. All we need to do is name it and claim it.
With the Government spending billions of dollars to 'bail out' the economic crisis, we find out the true nature of most Americans today. Instead of dropping to our knees in supplication and appreciation for the coming celebration of the birth of the WORD made flesh, we rush out to the stores in search of the big bargains and super deals.....we shop, shop, shop using credit cards for money we do not have, dealing with the created traffic jams of vehicles and humanity because WE deserve that deal armed with our to-do-lists and who-to-buy-for lists while making sure that we schedule the most convenient service (we pick between three to five) at our church. We get caught up in the production; after all, the CEOs who come (Christmas and Easter Only) come not for the value of the show but the entertainment quality of the Christmas story. We fret about how much to spend on each person, some of us wondering if we should spend any at all since the looming possibility of being unemployed in the new year overshadows the Christmas spirit.
Years ago, in my youth, I was one of those CEOs (by my mother's insistence). We gathered at the local church, Dunning Park Chapel in Redford Michigan, for the Christmas celebration. I remember the Pastor standing off to one side, reading the Christmas story from the Gospels as the young children 'acted' it out on the stage behind him. In less than an hour, it was over. But there has never been a more impactful Christmas 'production' that I've seen since. The children in the background weren't the focus....it was the retelling of the beginning of the plan to redeem mankind from sin. In two thousand years, that story hasn't changed, but the elaborate glitter of human involvement has.
The innocence of that youthful experience has been lost, by all of us. I guess that is why I don't like the 'holiday' season, not because of what happened but because what I have lost in the hustle and bustle of the searching for the 'perfect' gift for those I love and the 'peace and goodwill' expressions that only happen once a year at this time. We expect the stores we shop at to use the proper titles for the season, "Merry Christmas" instead of 'Happy Holidays". We argue against the growing trend to be 'inclusive' by our village, city, county, state, and federal governing bodies with the additions of the Star and Crescent, the Atheists statements, and so on. We create committees and argue about the best way to 'produce' an culturally sensitive, welcoming to all kind of play that will fill our pews and chairs in the main sanctuaries of our churches. We brood over the money we spend, bouncing back and forth from giving to missions or buying simpler gifts for our loved ones. We create the illusion of joy and peace that lies empty and unbelievable in the morning light.
In the midst of the hustle and bustle of a census demanded by the Roman Empire and the national celebration of Passover, a family journeyed to Bethlehem to meet the demands of the governing body to be counted. Mary, pregnant with Christ, went with her husband Joseph to his home city. In the self-centered environment of to-do-lists, shopping for the meal to be prepared, and the stress of being counted, our salvation was bore on a donkey quietly into the small village, only to find room in the stable cave with a bed to be made from a feeding trough for the WORD made flesh. The magi began their journey to visit this King, whose birth was displayed by a star high in the night sky. Shepherds, tending their flocks in the alienated world they lived in, were rocked by the heavenly choir that proclaimed our Savior's birth to such lowly men. Upon fine linen and enclosed within warm walls was not this baby born, but among the animals and cold of the night air. Attended by only His earthly father and mother.
Hearts despairing over their plight in the economics of the times, children going hungry, families bearing the celebrations with illnesses or deaths of loved ones, the poor still poor and the rich still rich swirled around the 'royal' family of peasant beginnings. Did Mary know what the child she carried would do? Did Joseph's thoughts center around just how he would raise the promised Messiah? They didn't make demands of their status in any of the places they stopped at in search of a room. They didn't claim privilege because of the honor they were given. No one whispered as they passed on their way to that luxurious cave filled with animals of their 'royalness' or the importance of the child the woman bore.
Joseph's thoughts past the birth of this child the angel told him was the Messiah, Immanuel (God is with us), probably wandered to the pressing concerns that assaulted his mind; lodging for his young family, the census, and the host of fatherly and husbandly duties that he faced. The bills still had to be paid and work had to be done. Evidence shows us that the family stayed in Bethlehem for at least two years, possibly with the intention of staying longer, so Joseph would have been looking to start his business anew in a new city.
The nation that waited with desperation and hope for the coming of the promised Messiah went about their lives with no clue that in their midst was the one they waited for. They continued with their joys, their sorrows, their worries, and their planned attendance at the synagogues for worship services. Families gathered together to celebrate the Passover and to be counted, friends met with friends, and hearts ebbed and flowed with the emotions of love, hatred, peace, joy, sorrow, and expectation.
I wonder how many future believers resided close to the Promised Messiah when He was born what their thoughts and dreams were as the WORD made flesh took His first breath of this broken world's air and His new ears were assaulted with the sounds of animals restless around Him, His nose filled with the fragrance of the stable smells. I wonder if they looked back thirty-three years later, as that baby boy's arms were stretched out painfully to be nailed upon a cross of wood by iron spikes, and thought of that night past when their salvation was born upon this earth. How they missed the biggest event of their lives and how that baby's life was ended.
I can remember the worry, the joy, and the fretting that I felt when my son Casey was born premature. I can remember the long wait for my daughter Sara to be born in the birth room of another hospital a year+ later. I can look back in my life and see those personal events that caused a course change, for good or bad, and realize in hindsight how important those things were, though at the time they seemed just another part of the life I live. I can see God's hand moving in my past even when I rallied against Him and shunned His hand. I wonder if the children that grew up with Christ looked back upon those childish incidents of ridicule or scorn that all children seem to visit upon each other at one time or another…..I wonder if their shame was amplified by their hindsight.
We have the blessing of being able to live our lives peacefully - in the midst of chaos - and find joy in the midst of tears. We know that our Savior lives, that from the beginning of our physical birth that He was knocking at the door to our hearts and asking to be allowed in. Our ability to live lives of expectation in the face of despair and fear is due to our amazing God, who provisioned for us before we were even born to find our way back to Him, to be in relationship with Him. He shows us His amazing mercy, joy, and peace in the pages of the Bible illuminating His kingdom through His word, His Holy Spirit, and in a birth that took place a day 2,000 plus years ago.
As we gather with our family this Christmas morning, amid the gift wrapping paper discarded in heaps upon the living room floor and the excited content voices of our friends, family, and children who play with the physical representations of happiness and joy…….let's stop and listen.
In our hearts we'll hear the moo of the cow, the brisk neighing of the donkey, and the sigh of a mother cradling a baby in her arms. In our mind's eye, let us take in the smells and the quietness of this moment in time with this family who were chosen to bring God's promise into the reality of this world.
And let us give thanks to our Heavenly Father, who loves us so much that He allowed the WORD to become flesh, fully God and fully Man, to usher the beginning of the redemption of mankind and the end of the evil one's reign upon the broken creation.
And feel in the heart of hearts which the Spirit resides that glorious and thunderous joy of the assembled Angels as they praised the birth of our Savior.
"Behold! Unto you this day a child is born………"
A story who's power will never be lost and whose impact upon the world has never dimmed. The power of my God displayed in a poor, working stable in the mundane life of humanity where the painful process of redeeming mankind from their sins began with the newborn cry of the Promised King whom God sent because of His love.
Freedom is a prayer away because of that birth.
Let us remember that beauty and that love that upon that day in Bethlehem was born to us a Savior by name......
No matter what the culture says,
Or what society may display upon the lawns of governments.
Wednesday, December 10
Simple.....
"Yet, in order to teach others in church, I would rather say five words that can be understood than ten thousand words in another language." 1 Corinthians 14:19 GWT
Recently a brother in Christ, with whom I have been in fellowship with for a few years now, posted a comment on www.outofthewild.ning.com (Out of the Wild), a men's online ministry we belong to. His title was; This is my church. An awesome expression of how the church should be, in his mind, and how Christians within the walls of the church should act, down to a soul level.
I wrote this in reply, for I believe that the church is too cultural, too secular, and too much an enclosed community of the 'haves' (those who are in connection with leadership, well known and though of in the church, etc.) and the 'who?' (the rest of us). Church isn't where sin is exposed, per se, but where a fallen brother or sister can come for salvation, redemption, and overcoming through the support, edification, accountability, and love of those who are just as burdened, just as broken.
I posted:
This is my church. It is composed of people who stand as representations of the various stages of my faith; some greater, some lesser, some even with me. It is friendly in excess of friendliness, emboding true friendship as set forth by Barnabas....believing despite reason, loving beyond simplisticity. It has set its hand to greater things, mourning the failure of the goal and picking itself up to renew the drive towards it again. It is generous beyond borders, walls, and ideologies, seeking only to be a source of hope and companionship in life's trials for all the lost and torn in the darkness of the night. It is filled with impatient people, for sitting down is not the mission field, but a rest stop, and they are eager to be about the harvest. It is loyal, loving, and faithful as the bride waiting its bridegroom to come and knowing He will.
My church has no walls, no chairs, no tithing plates. My church is noisy, broken, and bruised by the battering of life. My church is full of imperfect, struggling, and desperate people. My church is the world. My people, those lost in the darkness. I will be a source of its light.
But, in the church of today, such is not the case.....the world has overtaken the church and there are too many 'famous' and 'well-articulated' preachers talking gibberish and false doctrines who are gaining converts even among the faithful. Books abound couched in biblical terminology that expouse an all-too-human concept of God, Christ, and Faith. It seems that someone out there is putting a new book on the shelves daily expressing some view that has never been seen before and we are just nodding our heads.
God's truth hasn't changed in two-thousand plus years! The ultimate copyright!
Those who preach a doctrine subtly oppose the 'traditional' biblical text, reaching slowly into the mystical and intellectual to draw those who are not so gifted into accepting distortions of the Truth because they have no smooth sounding language to give back.
The Biblical text is simple, mankind has made it complex.
My son, who is cognitively-impaired, has the best concept of God that I have ever heard, and with the complexities of biblical text is the simpliest. God is God and I am not.
Christ came to the earth, born of a virgin, in the town of Bethlehem, lived with us for 33 years or so before He faced the purpose to which He came; to be a perfect sacrifice upon the Cross for the sins of all mankind. He died upon that cross of wood and rose again after three days, and ascended to the right-hand of His Father. He is coming again. To partake of the salvation gift, you have to believe in these things.
God will work on helping you understand the rest, through the guidance and prompting of the Holy Spirit, the counselor left to the Apostles and us until Christ's return.
We celebrate the beginning of this salvation gift on December 25th, not because He was born upon that day nor because the Biblical text calls us to remember it, but because it happened as it says in the scriptures.....this process of redeeming all of Mankind with the blood of a perfect lamb.
"Scripture truth, plainly and duly taught, has a wonderful power to awaken the conscience and touch the heart." Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
Merry Christ-mas to you and yours this celebration season.
Recently a brother in Christ, with whom I have been in fellowship with for a few years now, posted a comment on www.outofthewild.ning.com (Out of the Wild), a men's online ministry we belong to. His title was; This is my church. An awesome expression of how the church should be, in his mind, and how Christians within the walls of the church should act, down to a soul level.
I wrote this in reply, for I believe that the church is too cultural, too secular, and too much an enclosed community of the 'haves' (those who are in connection with leadership, well known and though of in the church, etc.) and the 'who?' (the rest of us). Church isn't where sin is exposed, per se, but where a fallen brother or sister can come for salvation, redemption, and overcoming through the support, edification, accountability, and love of those who are just as burdened, just as broken.
I posted:
This is my church. It is composed of people who stand as representations of the various stages of my faith; some greater, some lesser, some even with me. It is friendly in excess of friendliness, emboding true friendship as set forth by Barnabas....believing despite reason, loving beyond simplisticity. It has set its hand to greater things, mourning the failure of the goal and picking itself up to renew the drive towards it again. It is generous beyond borders, walls, and ideologies, seeking only to be a source of hope and companionship in life's trials for all the lost and torn in the darkness of the night. It is filled with impatient people, for sitting down is not the mission field, but a rest stop, and they are eager to be about the harvest. It is loyal, loving, and faithful as the bride waiting its bridegroom to come and knowing He will.
My church has no walls, no chairs, no tithing plates. My church is noisy, broken, and bruised by the battering of life. My church is full of imperfect, struggling, and desperate people. My church is the world. My people, those lost in the darkness. I will be a source of its light.
But, in the church of today, such is not the case.....the world has overtaken the church and there are too many 'famous' and 'well-articulated' preachers talking gibberish and false doctrines who are gaining converts even among the faithful. Books abound couched in biblical terminology that expouse an all-too-human concept of God, Christ, and Faith. It seems that someone out there is putting a new book on the shelves daily expressing some view that has never been seen before and we are just nodding our heads.
God's truth hasn't changed in two-thousand plus years! The ultimate copyright!
Those who preach a doctrine subtly oppose the 'traditional' biblical text, reaching slowly into the mystical and intellectual to draw those who are not so gifted into accepting distortions of the Truth because they have no smooth sounding language to give back.
The Biblical text is simple, mankind has made it complex.
My son, who is cognitively-impaired, has the best concept of God that I have ever heard, and with the complexities of biblical text is the simpliest. God is God and I am not.
Christ came to the earth, born of a virgin, in the town of Bethlehem, lived with us for 33 years or so before He faced the purpose to which He came; to be a perfect sacrifice upon the Cross for the sins of all mankind. He died upon that cross of wood and rose again after three days, and ascended to the right-hand of His Father. He is coming again. To partake of the salvation gift, you have to believe in these things.
God will work on helping you understand the rest, through the guidance and prompting of the Holy Spirit, the counselor left to the Apostles and us until Christ's return.
We celebrate the beginning of this salvation gift on December 25th, not because He was born upon that day nor because the Biblical text calls us to remember it, but because it happened as it says in the scriptures.....this process of redeeming all of Mankind with the blood of a perfect lamb.
"Scripture truth, plainly and duly taught, has a wonderful power to awaken the conscience and touch the heart." Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
Merry Christ-mas to you and yours this celebration season.
Tuesday, December 9
A prayer for the season from my friend Garry
A regular email I get, called Men's prayers, from the ministry of Men2men...www.men2menministries.blogspot.com....and my friend Garry, hits the hopes of the season for all of us Christians......
I decided to repost it here.
Father, We are entering what will be for some a very hectic, chaotic time of the year. Pastors busy with numerous projects and visits, music directors working out the final details of the music they have been practicing for the past two months or so, school teachers busy trying to keep a lid on things as their students know Christmas vacation is only one or two more weeks away, and they are just as excited about the days off as their teachers are. Many workers fretting about whether their job will still be there because of the state of the economy and the possibility of their jobs down sizing or moving out of the country. Busy, busy, busy with little time to stop and think about what this time of year is really all about.
But Lord, as we read the story of Christ's birth we see that things were a little hectic the night our Savior was born too. Mary and Joseph barely made it to the manger before he made His entrance into the world. Angels waking up sleeping shepherds and scaring them half out of their wits to announce the birth of the Savior; Then the shepherds trekking their way to Bethlehem to see this Wonder of wonders. I can only imagine how their boisterously loud voices shattered the quiet sleeping quarters of the Savior as they crowded inside the manger to get as close as they could to the child that was the subject of the angel's songs. And as each Shepherd inched his way closer to the child in the makeshift hospital room, what did they see? A sleeping baby, resting in the arms of his adoring mother. The Prince of Peace sleeping peacefully as the world He came to save was oblivious to His entrance and was spinning out of control. And suddenly, the peace that was proclaimed by the angels came over the shepherds, for they were seeing, before their very eyes, just as the angels had announced, the Savior, who was Messiah, the Lord most high.
Help us Lord, to make ourselves look for a few moments of quiet peace so that we can reflect upon the true meaning of this time of year. Help us not to get so involved that we forget to celebrate in our hearts what Christ's birth has come to mean in our lives. This Child of Christmas did not remain in the cradle. He eventually went to the grave to save us all from our wretched sins. If we believe in this blessed truth, we are no longer at war with the Father, but we have entered into his eternal peace. Thank you for the peace of Christmas that I have in me even now as I write. I love You Father.
Amen.
I decided to repost it here.
Father, We are entering what will be for some a very hectic, chaotic time of the year. Pastors busy with numerous projects and visits, music directors working out the final details of the music they have been practicing for the past two months or so, school teachers busy trying to keep a lid on things as their students know Christmas vacation is only one or two more weeks away, and they are just as excited about the days off as their teachers are. Many workers fretting about whether their job will still be there because of the state of the economy and the possibility of their jobs down sizing or moving out of the country. Busy, busy, busy with little time to stop and think about what this time of year is really all about.
But Lord, as we read the story of Christ's birth we see that things were a little hectic the night our Savior was born too. Mary and Joseph barely made it to the manger before he made His entrance into the world. Angels waking up sleeping shepherds and scaring them half out of their wits to announce the birth of the Savior; Then the shepherds trekking their way to Bethlehem to see this Wonder of wonders. I can only imagine how their boisterously loud voices shattered the quiet sleeping quarters of the Savior as they crowded inside the manger to get as close as they could to the child that was the subject of the angel's songs. And as each Shepherd inched his way closer to the child in the makeshift hospital room, what did they see? A sleeping baby, resting in the arms of his adoring mother. The Prince of Peace sleeping peacefully as the world He came to save was oblivious to His entrance and was spinning out of control. And suddenly, the peace that was proclaimed by the angels came over the shepherds, for they were seeing, before their very eyes, just as the angels had announced, the Savior, who was Messiah, the Lord most high.
Help us Lord, to make ourselves look for a few moments of quiet peace so that we can reflect upon the true meaning of this time of year. Help us not to get so involved that we forget to celebrate in our hearts what Christ's birth has come to mean in our lives. This Child of Christmas did not remain in the cradle. He eventually went to the grave to save us all from our wretched sins. If we believe in this blessed truth, we are no longer at war with the Father, but we have entered into his eternal peace. Thank you for the peace of Christmas that I have in me even now as I write. I love You Father.
Amen.
The harshness of another's words....
"Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;.....Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you.......For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty." 2 Peter 1:5-10, 12, 16 (NASB)
In this increasingly information-saturated culture, a curious thing has happened....far from the logical assumption that with such availability of research material, fact-checking, and exacting definitions in the world today, many just read what they see and deem it fully truthful, fully correct. Much like Newsweek's article on how the Bible doesn't condemn homosexuality or same-sex marriage because it doesn't specifically say marriage is between one man and one woman.
But Obama's promises and Newsweek's errors aren't the focus of my blog today. The guest speaker at The River last Sunday, the chaplain for the Detroit Tigers and President/Founder of SCORE ministries, Jeff Totten spoke of part of it in his sermon regarding the example that Christ left us to follow; we're to be a copy of the original...not a copy of a copy of a copy.....so on.
Chaplain Totten showed the congregation a copy of a copy (to the 40th degree) and how it was unrecognizable from the original. Totten's point was direct and simplistic....we are to follow Christ's example and be a mirror copy of Him, not our mentors, leaders, and those who seem spiritually powerful.......and we won't ever fully be capable of obtaining such exacting copied perfection, but we are still called to press on to that goal.
But one of the verses Totten referenced in his sermon was the one that hit the most, 1 Peter 2:22b "and no deceit was found in his mouth."
It has been difficult lately, with the decisions that have been forced upon me by the actions of others. I have done what I felt was right, counseled by those I trust to give me the real deal on what the best of choices may be. Yet, in my efforts to be more Christ-like in my love of others, I am being wounded on a regular basis with deep, penetrating stabs.
I have been called "a bad seed", "a bad parent", "a sick, sick man", and jeering questions have been articulated about my faith, being a Christian and being in pursuit of being a 'man of God'. Not terms I have applied to myself, except the label of Christian, but still goals that I pursue in my relationship with God.
I have been told I am bent on revenge for the decisions made in response to another's actions. I have been told that I am hurting those in my care by my callousness and insensitivity.
My walk has slowed to a painful crawl, because of the vicious and unfounded words of another. Peter's second letter has been a source of accountability for me and a peace as I face those who would apply humanistic standards to the situation they are involved in with me. It is because I belong to a group of men faithful in their pursuit of masculinity as created by God that I can look at these sources of attack and feel sorrow even as I bleed from the wounding.
They speak from their own wounded past and they want comfort in the times such as these, so they speak hateful and spiteful words despite subscribing to the very tenements of faith that I do. It is why I speak so forcefully against the watering down, the emergence gospel that is preached in churches across this land. It is why I sorrow over the increased humanization of the spiritual Truth.
Because there is no comfort in a creation of man, only the creation of God. Until we, as Christians and as humans, live up to the process that Peter taught us, we will use love to wound and words to despise even those in our congregational families.
Faith unites the family of God, as even the weakest works as does the stronger towards the common goals as exemplified by Christ and recorded by His Twelve. It matters not whether we are the strongest among the brethren in our faith, for we are all justified, purified, and made righteous by our belief in Jesus Christ, not the strength of our faith. In Christ, the future dwells; the pardon, peace, grace, knowledge, and the deeper understanding of biblical truths that have remained the same throughout the whole of creation.
The hope that defies our fragile human creation in such 'charismatics' as President-elect Barrack Obama who has promised to lead this nation into the future. A future that holds only the human creation of peace, grace, and knowledge and nothing of the eternal pardon and a deeper understanding through the counsel of the Holy Spirit of the Biblical text.
Even such a young and charismatic leader as Obama cannot do what only God can do.
God placed the responsibility upon our shoulders to seek out a deeper understanding of biblical truths. It is those truths, engraved upon our hearts, that will allow us to walk into those relationships that wound us deeply and come out on the other side wounded, but alive. It is our desire to love the sinner, not the sin, that is tested in times such as those and it is our actions, even when questioned hatefully and spitefully by those we face, that will tell whether we are true followers of Christ, true seekers to be biblical men and women of God, or a sham which will be spit from the mouth of our Lord and Savior upon His return.
Deceitful words, spoken in anger, can wound deeper than truthful words spoke in love. The truth can only hurt if the person doesn't want to hear it.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." - Hebrews 12:1-3
We are given a race to run, and a prize to obtain. Christ ran it already, so all we have to do is keep our eyes focused upon Him to know the path to take. Too often, though, we look down at our feet and stumble. He endured suffering from sinful men, who took the message of love and eternal salvation, and distorted it as He walked upon the earth. He looked to the joy beyond, the salvation of His people, as a prize worthy of the opposition, the Cross, and the shame that it bore.
When faced with the words of another, spoken in anger and spite, look to the One who endured such for your sake and you will know why you must remain steadfast and firm in the truth of love.
In this increasingly information-saturated culture, a curious thing has happened....far from the logical assumption that with such availability of research material, fact-checking, and exacting definitions in the world today, many just read what they see and deem it fully truthful, fully correct. Much like Newsweek's article on how the Bible doesn't condemn homosexuality or same-sex marriage because it doesn't specifically say marriage is between one man and one woman.
But Obama's promises and Newsweek's errors aren't the focus of my blog today. The guest speaker at The River last Sunday, the chaplain for the Detroit Tigers and President/Founder of SCORE ministries, Jeff Totten spoke of part of it in his sermon regarding the example that Christ left us to follow; we're to be a copy of the original...not a copy of a copy of a copy.....so on.
Chaplain Totten showed the congregation a copy of a copy (to the 40th degree) and how it was unrecognizable from the original. Totten's point was direct and simplistic....we are to follow Christ's example and be a mirror copy of Him, not our mentors, leaders, and those who seem spiritually powerful.......and we won't ever fully be capable of obtaining such exacting copied perfection, but we are still called to press on to that goal.
But one of the verses Totten referenced in his sermon was the one that hit the most, 1 Peter 2:22b "and no deceit was found in his mouth."
It has been difficult lately, with the decisions that have been forced upon me by the actions of others. I have done what I felt was right, counseled by those I trust to give me the real deal on what the best of choices may be. Yet, in my efforts to be more Christ-like in my love of others, I am being wounded on a regular basis with deep, penetrating stabs.
I have been called "a bad seed", "a bad parent", "a sick, sick man", and jeering questions have been articulated about my faith, being a Christian and being in pursuit of being a 'man of God'. Not terms I have applied to myself, except the label of Christian, but still goals that I pursue in my relationship with God.
I have been told I am bent on revenge for the decisions made in response to another's actions. I have been told that I am hurting those in my care by my callousness and insensitivity.
My walk has slowed to a painful crawl, because of the vicious and unfounded words of another. Peter's second letter has been a source of accountability for me and a peace as I face those who would apply humanistic standards to the situation they are involved in with me. It is because I belong to a group of men faithful in their pursuit of masculinity as created by God that I can look at these sources of attack and feel sorrow even as I bleed from the wounding.
They speak from their own wounded past and they want comfort in the times such as these, so they speak hateful and spiteful words despite subscribing to the very tenements of faith that I do. It is why I speak so forcefully against the watering down, the emergence gospel that is preached in churches across this land. It is why I sorrow over the increased humanization of the spiritual Truth.
Because there is no comfort in a creation of man, only the creation of God. Until we, as Christians and as humans, live up to the process that Peter taught us, we will use love to wound and words to despise even those in our congregational families.
Faith unites the family of God, as even the weakest works as does the stronger towards the common goals as exemplified by Christ and recorded by His Twelve. It matters not whether we are the strongest among the brethren in our faith, for we are all justified, purified, and made righteous by our belief in Jesus Christ, not the strength of our faith. In Christ, the future dwells; the pardon, peace, grace, knowledge, and the deeper understanding of biblical truths that have remained the same throughout the whole of creation.
The hope that defies our fragile human creation in such 'charismatics' as President-elect Barrack Obama who has promised to lead this nation into the future. A future that holds only the human creation of peace, grace, and knowledge and nothing of the eternal pardon and a deeper understanding through the counsel of the Holy Spirit of the Biblical text.
Even such a young and charismatic leader as Obama cannot do what only God can do.
God placed the responsibility upon our shoulders to seek out a deeper understanding of biblical truths. It is those truths, engraved upon our hearts, that will allow us to walk into those relationships that wound us deeply and come out on the other side wounded, but alive. It is our desire to love the sinner, not the sin, that is tested in times such as those and it is our actions, even when questioned hatefully and spitefully by those we face, that will tell whether we are true followers of Christ, true seekers to be biblical men and women of God, or a sham which will be spit from the mouth of our Lord and Savior upon His return.
Deceitful words, spoken in anger, can wound deeper than truthful words spoke in love. The truth can only hurt if the person doesn't want to hear it.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." - Hebrews 12:1-3
We are given a race to run, and a prize to obtain. Christ ran it already, so all we have to do is keep our eyes focused upon Him to know the path to take. Too often, though, we look down at our feet and stumble. He endured suffering from sinful men, who took the message of love and eternal salvation, and distorted it as He walked upon the earth. He looked to the joy beyond, the salvation of His people, as a prize worthy of the opposition, the Cross, and the shame that it bore.
When faced with the words of another, spoken in anger and spite, look to the One who endured such for your sake and you will know why you must remain steadfast and firm in the truth of love.
Friday, December 5
Pray.....the right way and for the right reasons
"For this reason I say to you, Whatever you make a request for in prayer, have faith that it has been given to you, and you will have it." Mark 11:24(BBE)
Some might take this to mean that we need to beg and plead with desperation before God will fulfill our prayers or that we are to demandly require our God to be a ATM in regards to our blessings and fulfillment of healing, wealth, or other 'prosperity'. I don't think so.
Charles Spurgeon wrote "Prayer pulls the rope below and the great bell rings above in the ears of God. Some scarcely stir the bell, for they pray so languidly. Others give but an occasional pluck at the rope. But he who wins with heaven is the man who grasps the rope boldly and pulls continuously, with all his might."
I believe that we must pray as Jesus taught us in the biblical text; acknowledging God's power, glory, and mercy.....and our desire to work His will upon this earth. Our supplications for fulfillment of healing, wealth, or direction have to be subjected (as Christ did in the garden) to the will of the Father and not an expectation of our own.
God loves us, is faithful, and will bring the answer and cause the work to be done in such light....we need to understand that the answer may not be what our human expectations are.......for God is far more superior, non-linear, and powerful than we are. He knows what is best, we just need to expect that best....whatever form it takes.
Christ taught us to pray in faith, because faith in God is a powerful and mighty thing. It is our justification, our purification, and our pardon for the atroticies that our sins have reaped upon the whole of God's creation. It is not a good thing, being the corrupted and broken humanity we are, that we can submit under the understanding of His will our needs, wants, and supplications for His consideration and dealing?
God wants nothing but the best for us, that is why He created us the way He did. He has started a good work in each and every one of us; formed biblically for the glory of the I AM. But, if we make our requests in light of our own desires, where is that subjection of will? The good work He started cannot continue unless we allow Him to do His work within, through, and for us.
Pull the rope boldly and continuously, calling God to work His will on His people!
Some might take this to mean that we need to beg and plead with desperation before God will fulfill our prayers or that we are to demandly require our God to be a ATM in regards to our blessings and fulfillment of healing, wealth, or other 'prosperity'. I don't think so.
Charles Spurgeon wrote "Prayer pulls the rope below and the great bell rings above in the ears of God. Some scarcely stir the bell, for they pray so languidly. Others give but an occasional pluck at the rope. But he who wins with heaven is the man who grasps the rope boldly and pulls continuously, with all his might."
I believe that we must pray as Jesus taught us in the biblical text; acknowledging God's power, glory, and mercy.....and our desire to work His will upon this earth. Our supplications for fulfillment of healing, wealth, or direction have to be subjected (as Christ did in the garden) to the will of the Father and not an expectation of our own.
God loves us, is faithful, and will bring the answer and cause the work to be done in such light....we need to understand that the answer may not be what our human expectations are.......for God is far more superior, non-linear, and powerful than we are. He knows what is best, we just need to expect that best....whatever form it takes.
Christ taught us to pray in faith, because faith in God is a powerful and mighty thing. It is our justification, our purification, and our pardon for the atroticies that our sins have reaped upon the whole of God's creation. It is not a good thing, being the corrupted and broken humanity we are, that we can submit under the understanding of His will our needs, wants, and supplications for His consideration and dealing?
God wants nothing but the best for us, that is why He created us the way He did. He has started a good work in each and every one of us; formed biblically for the glory of the I AM. But, if we make our requests in light of our own desires, where is that subjection of will? The good work He started cannot continue unless we allow Him to do His work within, through, and for us.
Pull the rope boldly and continuously, calling God to work His will on His people!
Thursday, December 4
A different kind of Christmas poem......emailed to me....worth a reposting!
The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
" So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."
PLEASE, would you do me the kind favor of sending this to as many
people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to our
U.S service men and women for our being able to celebrate these
festivities. Let's try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people
stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.
LCDR Jeff Giles, SC, USN
30th Naval Construction Regiment
OIC, Logistics Cell One
Al Taqqadum, Iraq
Cave dwelling.......
"So David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father’s household heard of it, they went down there to him. Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Now there were about four hundred men with him." 1 Samuel 22:1-2 NASB
A brother (or a sister) is one born for adversity. You see them, those people who seem to flow easily in and out of the relationships forged by the fire of this broken world. They are the ones who will drive all night to help another brother or sister out, stand beside them when they are broken by the battles fought --regardless of whether they are won or lost and pick the other up, steadying them until they are standing once again. They lament the falling into sinfulness, stand in that gap and beckon the return, and rejoice with full celebration when another weary warrior is once again made whole through the blood of the Lamb.
Even in isolation, those who follow the one, true King find those they are meant to journey with, fight alongside, and edify. Without the brothers and sisters so engaged, our caves become our deathbeds instead of our rebirth in God's purpose.
A lot of the text I am seeing in recent days speaks of major amounts of time invested in these figures who followed God's purpose for them…..Paul in Tarsus for 16 years, Moses as a exile for 40 years, and David….living in a cave for 10 years……….
David, who in his youth, was too unimportant enough to be counted among the sons when the call went out for a King to lead Israel. Who was not big enough to wear a full warrior's armor and showed himself to be mightier than the strongest warrior in shepherd's clothing; carrying only a sling and stones. Who felt himself insignificant to be 'son-in-law' to King Saul.
But, to David, the cave he would spend ten years in , the cave of Adullam, would be a tomb, a prison not of his making, and a symbol of man's rejection.
"When the wicked rise to power, people go into hiding; but when the wicked perish, the righteous thrive". Proverbs 28:28
Leadership which leads from corrupt values is to be feared and resisted, in proper fashion. Evil leaders have justified horrendous crimes upon those they lead, citing the betterment of mankind; committing genocide, murder, torture, theft and hundreds more atrocities for the sake of 'their' vision of society.
Saul, fearful of David's popularity and obvious spiritual connection to God, seeks to destroy him and even justifies the slaughter of an entire city of priests accused of helping David. David ran, hiding in a cave that caused him to bend in two just to walk around it.
The cave of Adullam was to become a sculpting place for David, for when the world was stripped away, he directed his attention to God. This is where most theologians believe David learned to pray:
I cry aloud with my voice to the LORD; I make supplication with my voice to the LORD.
I pour out my complaint before Him; Look to the right and see;
For there is no one who regards me; No one cares for my soul.
I cried out to Thee, O LORD; I said, 'You are my refuge, My portion in the land of the living.
Give heed to my cry, For I am brought very low;
Bring my soul out of prison. (Selections from Ps 142)
It was there David died to the dependence of human recognition, relating only to God as the source of his needs, wants, complaints, and praise. The magnificient psalms that speak to each on of our hearts were borne there, from the rejection and emtombment of David. It was both a shelter from the world, a sanctuary with God, and a tomb where the spiritual death of David seems to have been made complete. And the future king of Israel and a man of God was born.
Under the umbrella of an intense relationship with God; David, the famed slayer of Goliath would begin his 'purpose' in the darkness of a cave. Abandoned by those who basked in the glory of his triumph and favor, he would begin his training in the pursuit of 'being a man after God's own heart,' and the greatest of Israel's kings.
But, even with the death of reliance upon the adolation of humanity, David would find his greatest strength and connection with God through those who would truly follow Him. Connected with God, spiritually alive through the pouring out of his heart into the chalice of God's grace, David became a drawing fragrance.....drawing those who sought the truth even when the greatest army on the planet couldn't find this solitary man in a cave.
'Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter of soul' were drawn to him, 'gathered', at a time when Saul himself was seeking David, with military might, spies, and whatever other resources he had available...the whole of the kingdom was devoted to finding David and destroying him. Those who were drawn by the Spirit found him without difficulty. David's relationship with God, his intense spiritual awakening, drew those who sought the same.
"Now three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam, while the army of the Philistines was camping in the valley of Rephaim. And David was then in the stronghold, while the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. And David had a craving and said, "Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!" So the three broke through the camp of the Philistines, and drew water from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David; nevertheless David would not drink it, but poured it out to the LORD; and he said, "Far be it from me before my God that I should do this! Shall I drink the blood of these men who went at the risk of their lives? For at the risk of their lives they brought it." Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did." (1 Chron 11:15-19)
And this 'rabble and rejects' of the world were far more than met the eye. As David discovered, even the broken and battered of the world can be far greater than they seem with one simple, uncorrupted ingredient. Love. The men who gathered around David in his cave lived in such a relationship with him that the mere human sigh for a remembered treasure was enough to send them against impossible odds to deliver it to him. What great teaching and love was learned there in that cave!
But David, rather than bestowing such verbage upon these three for the graciousness of their gift, he returned it to God. Moved by a humility and fear born of his cave experiences, he turned their gift into an offering to God. moved to holy fear by their love and devotion, David turned their action into an offering of God.
The seemingly insignificant sigh of a wish sent three mighty men out of the cave seeking to fulfill it. Passionate and lovingly, they risked their very lives to bring the water back to their 'captain'. Could this be a reference to what Christ was talking about in Mark 9:41, "Whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward"?
It matters not what the objective is, so long as it is reflective of the holy love that Christ showed us upon a cross, giving his own life so that others may live.
A brother of mine spoke of David and the cave experience; of how men gathered around David in his isolation and were in intense relationship with him.
Drawn by the fragrance of his spiritual relationship with God.
He had went out and purchased a winter coat for my son.....for he didn't have one in the clothes that his son had outgrown. A brother who is at the forefront of the economic crisis, using his talents and skills to manage the finances of others.....watching them disappear through no fault of his own.
A brother who had felt the silence of God recently in his journey and realized through the realistic fear of the economic times a holy fear.....which brought him back into that intense relationship with God.
He spoke of how brothers who knew me were gathering around me in my time of cave 'dwelling' and moving in relationship with me because they see the proof of faith in my struggles, sorrows, and passions. Much like another brother, who blessed me and my son with clothing that he was in sore need of....not used, hand-me-down clothing that would have been an easy blessing....but the purchase of new clothes, real nice clothes, that would bless beyond the simpleness of the giving; this brother went out, not only purchasing a jacket for my son, but through the engagement of a young man of the same age, taking an extra step to ensure that not only would the jacket be a good jacket, but would be one that an eleven year old boy would be proud to wear.
A 'sigh' of a need.....and the hope of an available used jacket.....sent this brother out to fulfill that hope. He said, "It was something I could do."
I wonder if the three mighty men, when they concocted this journey to the well, thought the same thing. Such a simple request....and we can deliver it. The movement of the faithful, impassioned with the true fragrance of holy relationship with others, can make the most impossible task a simple movement in love.
It is in that cave I have gone, after a wilderness experience that I felt would lead me into the realized purpose that God called me to four and a half years ago. I didn't realize that I had changed one experience for another until I smacked into that cave wall. In the echoing silence, alone with my faith and my passions, God has began to draw me deeper....into a more intense relationship with Him.
And, as the beginning of the celebration of Christ's birth upon this earth comes closer, I find in the rejection and loneliness I have faced until recently a devotion borne out of painful experiences that has drawn me closer to God and the edification of my brothers who have seen that journey deepen.
God has shown me, in this intensity of relationship with Him, that He has been in control the entirety of my life; from birth to now and will be in the future. In my grumblings of this cave imprisonment, in a dark, dreary and depressing place in this journey, I have found God waiting; showing me His promise of care through the actions of others in financial crisis, the love of others in the giving of themselves, and the strength that a wise elder spoke to me almost two years ago that resides in the very weakness I once shunned.
God is a source of blessing, and a source of burdens as well…..Isa 45:7; Psa 37:23, and Romans 8:29. He brings us to a point of choosing; borne of painful circumstances, will we chose the reality of a cave or the illusion of a castle?
In that moment in my life when I was at the absolute bottom; hurting, broken, defeated and frustrated, the only place I could find to rest my head and the heads of those who depend on me was a 'cave', unslavish in its indemnities and comforts, the lesson was taught….and difficulty learned…..that sorrows, failures, and difficulties are to be our lot in this earthly life…..(Job 14:1, 5:7; John 16:33; Eccl 2:17, 23)
And it is not through the illusionary support of family, friends, finances, fame, pride, flesh, or a promised future that we can lean upon. Such things are temporary at best, strong only in illusion at worst, and totally contrary to where God wants us to be. In a place of absolute bottom, where such illusionary things cannot live, we find God waiting, to develop us into the people God wants us to be. (Hebrews 12:5-13)
And in that quiet darkness, with the illusionary unable to find comfort and the reality crushing upon the shoulders of the cave dweller, God begins His work. In the stress of the hardships of cave living, character, revelation of the calling, and the source of our commitment to faithful execution of God's will. It is not the storms that define us, but the way our weathering of the storms shows us our defined faith.
God has a way of putting people around us who can serve as encouragers in our lives, if we will only stop and avail ourselves of them. Through words, deeds, or just relational involvement, such people see the potential that God has given to those they touch and they are a source of comfort in the darkness of the cave, where the outside world is hidden from view. They are the source of 'helping our disbelief', providing holy insight into our blindness in the cave.
Though we are impulsive and impetuous, God is never in a hurry; "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him" (Ps. 37:7). It is in this cave experience I have learned that….
And, in losing all source of my own disillusionment, I have found true fellowship, relationship and comfort in the steadying arms of my brothers and sisters of the Brethren…the family of God.
http://www.sermonnotebook.org/old%20testament/1%20Sam%2022_1-4.htm
http://www.pbcc.org/sermons/morgan/915.html
http://www.pbministries.org/books/pink/David/Vol1/david1_10.htm
A brother (or a sister) is one born for adversity. You see them, those people who seem to flow easily in and out of the relationships forged by the fire of this broken world. They are the ones who will drive all night to help another brother or sister out, stand beside them when they are broken by the battles fought --regardless of whether they are won or lost and pick the other up, steadying them until they are standing once again. They lament the falling into sinfulness, stand in that gap and beckon the return, and rejoice with full celebration when another weary warrior is once again made whole through the blood of the Lamb.
Even in isolation, those who follow the one, true King find those they are meant to journey with, fight alongside, and edify. Without the brothers and sisters so engaged, our caves become our deathbeds instead of our rebirth in God's purpose.
A lot of the text I am seeing in recent days speaks of major amounts of time invested in these figures who followed God's purpose for them…..Paul in Tarsus for 16 years, Moses as a exile for 40 years, and David….living in a cave for 10 years……….
David, who in his youth, was too unimportant enough to be counted among the sons when the call went out for a King to lead Israel. Who was not big enough to wear a full warrior's armor and showed himself to be mightier than the strongest warrior in shepherd's clothing; carrying only a sling and stones. Who felt himself insignificant to be 'son-in-law' to King Saul.
But, to David, the cave he would spend ten years in , the cave of Adullam, would be a tomb, a prison not of his making, and a symbol of man's rejection.
"When the wicked rise to power, people go into hiding; but when the wicked perish, the righteous thrive". Proverbs 28:28
Leadership which leads from corrupt values is to be feared and resisted, in proper fashion. Evil leaders have justified horrendous crimes upon those they lead, citing the betterment of mankind; committing genocide, murder, torture, theft and hundreds more atrocities for the sake of 'their' vision of society.
Saul, fearful of David's popularity and obvious spiritual connection to God, seeks to destroy him and even justifies the slaughter of an entire city of priests accused of helping David. David ran, hiding in a cave that caused him to bend in two just to walk around it.
The cave of Adullam was to become a sculpting place for David, for when the world was stripped away, he directed his attention to God. This is where most theologians believe David learned to pray:
I cry aloud with my voice to the LORD; I make supplication with my voice to the LORD.
I pour out my complaint before Him; Look to the right and see;
For there is no one who regards me; No one cares for my soul.
I cried out to Thee, O LORD; I said, 'You are my refuge, My portion in the land of the living.
Give heed to my cry, For I am brought very low;
Bring my soul out of prison. (Selections from Ps 142)
It was there David died to the dependence of human recognition, relating only to God as the source of his needs, wants, complaints, and praise. The magnificient psalms that speak to each on of our hearts were borne there, from the rejection and emtombment of David. It was both a shelter from the world, a sanctuary with God, and a tomb where the spiritual death of David seems to have been made complete. And the future king of Israel and a man of God was born.
Under the umbrella of an intense relationship with God; David, the famed slayer of Goliath would begin his 'purpose' in the darkness of a cave. Abandoned by those who basked in the glory of his triumph and favor, he would begin his training in the pursuit of 'being a man after God's own heart,' and the greatest of Israel's kings.
But, even with the death of reliance upon the adolation of humanity, David would find his greatest strength and connection with God through those who would truly follow Him. Connected with God, spiritually alive through the pouring out of his heart into the chalice of God's grace, David became a drawing fragrance.....drawing those who sought the truth even when the greatest army on the planet couldn't find this solitary man in a cave.
'Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter of soul' were drawn to him, 'gathered', at a time when Saul himself was seeking David, with military might, spies, and whatever other resources he had available...the whole of the kingdom was devoted to finding David and destroying him. Those who were drawn by the Spirit found him without difficulty. David's relationship with God, his intense spiritual awakening, drew those who sought the same.
"Now three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam, while the army of the Philistines was camping in the valley of Rephaim. And David was then in the stronghold, while the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. And David had a craving and said, "Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!" So the three broke through the camp of the Philistines, and drew water from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David; nevertheless David would not drink it, but poured it out to the LORD; and he said, "Far be it from me before my God that I should do this! Shall I drink the blood of these men who went at the risk of their lives? For at the risk of their lives they brought it." Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did." (1 Chron 11:15-19)
And this 'rabble and rejects' of the world were far more than met the eye. As David discovered, even the broken and battered of the world can be far greater than they seem with one simple, uncorrupted ingredient. Love. The men who gathered around David in his cave lived in such a relationship with him that the mere human sigh for a remembered treasure was enough to send them against impossible odds to deliver it to him. What great teaching and love was learned there in that cave!
But David, rather than bestowing such verbage upon these three for the graciousness of their gift, he returned it to God. Moved by a humility and fear born of his cave experiences, he turned their gift into an offering to God. moved to holy fear by their love and devotion, David turned their action into an offering of God.
The seemingly insignificant sigh of a wish sent three mighty men out of the cave seeking to fulfill it. Passionate and lovingly, they risked their very lives to bring the water back to their 'captain'. Could this be a reference to what Christ was talking about in Mark 9:41, "Whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward"?
It matters not what the objective is, so long as it is reflective of the holy love that Christ showed us upon a cross, giving his own life so that others may live.
A brother of mine spoke of David and the cave experience; of how men gathered around David in his isolation and were in intense relationship with him.
Drawn by the fragrance of his spiritual relationship with God.
He had went out and purchased a winter coat for my son.....for he didn't have one in the clothes that his son had outgrown. A brother who is at the forefront of the economic crisis, using his talents and skills to manage the finances of others.....watching them disappear through no fault of his own.
A brother who had felt the silence of God recently in his journey and realized through the realistic fear of the economic times a holy fear.....which brought him back into that intense relationship with God.
He spoke of how brothers who knew me were gathering around me in my time of cave 'dwelling' and moving in relationship with me because they see the proof of faith in my struggles, sorrows, and passions. Much like another brother, who blessed me and my son with clothing that he was in sore need of....not used, hand-me-down clothing that would have been an easy blessing....but the purchase of new clothes, real nice clothes, that would bless beyond the simpleness of the giving; this brother went out, not only purchasing a jacket for my son, but through the engagement of a young man of the same age, taking an extra step to ensure that not only would the jacket be a good jacket, but would be one that an eleven year old boy would be proud to wear.
A 'sigh' of a need.....and the hope of an available used jacket.....sent this brother out to fulfill that hope. He said, "It was something I could do."
I wonder if the three mighty men, when they concocted this journey to the well, thought the same thing. Such a simple request....and we can deliver it. The movement of the faithful, impassioned with the true fragrance of holy relationship with others, can make the most impossible task a simple movement in love.
It is in that cave I have gone, after a wilderness experience that I felt would lead me into the realized purpose that God called me to four and a half years ago. I didn't realize that I had changed one experience for another until I smacked into that cave wall. In the echoing silence, alone with my faith and my passions, God has began to draw me deeper....into a more intense relationship with Him.
And, as the beginning of the celebration of Christ's birth upon this earth comes closer, I find in the rejection and loneliness I have faced until recently a devotion borne out of painful experiences that has drawn me closer to God and the edification of my brothers who have seen that journey deepen.
God has shown me, in this intensity of relationship with Him, that He has been in control the entirety of my life; from birth to now and will be in the future. In my grumblings of this cave imprisonment, in a dark, dreary and depressing place in this journey, I have found God waiting; showing me His promise of care through the actions of others in financial crisis, the love of others in the giving of themselves, and the strength that a wise elder spoke to me almost two years ago that resides in the very weakness I once shunned.
God is a source of blessing, and a source of burdens as well…..Isa 45:7; Psa 37:23, and Romans 8:29. He brings us to a point of choosing; borne of painful circumstances, will we chose the reality of a cave or the illusion of a castle?
In that moment in my life when I was at the absolute bottom; hurting, broken, defeated and frustrated, the only place I could find to rest my head and the heads of those who depend on me was a 'cave', unslavish in its indemnities and comforts, the lesson was taught….and difficulty learned…..that sorrows, failures, and difficulties are to be our lot in this earthly life…..(Job 14:1, 5:7; John 16:33; Eccl 2:17, 23)
And it is not through the illusionary support of family, friends, finances, fame, pride, flesh, or a promised future that we can lean upon. Such things are temporary at best, strong only in illusion at worst, and totally contrary to where God wants us to be. In a place of absolute bottom, where such illusionary things cannot live, we find God waiting, to develop us into the people God wants us to be. (Hebrews 12:5-13)
And in that quiet darkness, with the illusionary unable to find comfort and the reality crushing upon the shoulders of the cave dweller, God begins His work. In the stress of the hardships of cave living, character, revelation of the calling, and the source of our commitment to faithful execution of God's will. It is not the storms that define us, but the way our weathering of the storms shows us our defined faith.
God has a way of putting people around us who can serve as encouragers in our lives, if we will only stop and avail ourselves of them. Through words, deeds, or just relational involvement, such people see the potential that God has given to those they touch and they are a source of comfort in the darkness of the cave, where the outside world is hidden from view. They are the source of 'helping our disbelief', providing holy insight into our blindness in the cave.
Though we are impulsive and impetuous, God is never in a hurry; "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him" (Ps. 37:7). It is in this cave experience I have learned that….
And, in losing all source of my own disillusionment, I have found true fellowship, relationship and comfort in the steadying arms of my brothers and sisters of the Brethren…the family of God.
http://www.sermonnotebook.org/old%20testament/1%20Sam%2022_1-4.htm
http://www.pbcc.org/sermons/morgan/915.html
http://www.pbministries.org/books/pink/David/Vol1/david1_10.htm
Monday, December 1
Mourning the Bridegroom........
"Jesus said to them, 'The wedding guests can't mourn as long as the groom is with them, can they? But the time will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.'" Matthew 9:15 (GWT)
The season is upon us once again, the forty-first since I was born to Ronald L. Hutson and Sharon L. Nitchie in the city of Farmington, Michigan. It is amazing, I was thinking last night as I shoveled the two-three inches of snow from my driveway, how the further we get away from the actual historical events of Christ the more humanistic and universal the celebrations, journey, and belief systems become. It is as if we, as a people, have decided that since Christ hasn't come back again, we've got to make our own interpretations to see us through the possibility that it was all a joke.
Christ told us that times would come where following Him would be punishable and against the grain of the world. In an effort to make 'Christianity' less intolerant, it seems that we've gutted the whole of the faith so that not one would be offended. It is easy, in modern times, to find that doctrinal belief, religious movement, or even justified false religions to follow. Everything is custom-made for our faithful pleasure.
Christ never promised that the clash of church and the world would be a pleasurable experience. In fact, He said it would separate those who truly know Him from those who would give Him lip service only. What works to get 'em in the doors of the church is what the flavor of the day is. We'll only reach out in the community and help them pay for the outreach program participation only after we have secured the million-dollar mortgage for the building of our permanent home. If the 'holy' books say "Death to the infidels' (meaning anyone not of your religion), well…..that's not the right interpretation…..we're a peaceful religion. We need that newer car, instead of doing the used ten-year old one, and hey, we still tithe….the required 10%.
There is less discipleship going on in the church today and more of funding the programs we have in the churches so that we can sit on our comfy chairs in the air-conditioned buildings and sing lovely hymns of service, dedication, and peace. Yet, the very members of the congregation who are making it to the 'gathering' in a 'wing-n-a-prayer' car are overlooked until they sit down….their clothes, not so new…..their bibles, not so gaudy…..ignored if and when we greet them. There are no serious "How are you doing?" only the superficial requests that 'everything is okay, and if it isn't…..well, we've specialists to pray for you at the altar."
"Be miserable, mourn, and cry. Turn your laughter into mourning and your joy into gloom. Humble yourselves in the Lord's presence. Then he will give you a high position." James 4:9-10 (GWT)
We have forgotten in the church of today of service. Tradition, formed for the solace of the whole of humanity, is the cornerstone of the faithful, to attract the faithless. Worldly, flesh-born, sinful desires and affections that plague us in our walk on this earth are dismissed as a lack of faith, a lack of purity, and wholly lack of faith. We abuse and misuse the mercies given, the blessings offered, and the word of God to reflect upon our desire for the easy roads, the prosperity that has been promised us…in our interpretation of the Word. We seek the things of this world and label it under God's desires, when it is simply our humanity groaning under the weight of the fallen.
"A man may have a large portion in things of this life, and yet be kept in the love of God; but he who sets his heart upon the world," Matthew Henry remarks, "who will conform to it rather than lose its friendship, is an enemy to God." God is against the world, and any who seek to be on friendly terms with the world cohorts with the enemy and must be opposed to God's plan. We are to 'not of this world', and yet combat against our human nature to be violent in our opposition.
The only way that we can achieve such lofty goals is to submit. Submit to God everything; our government, our families, our loves, and our life. Our will, so rebellious and sinful, is brought by the willful subjugation of our thoughts, deeds, and words to the power and authority of the Holy Spirit. It is then that we realize that in the sorrow of our days, the miserable existence of our lives, and the mournful gloom that begets our continuous battle against the fleshly things are simply the standard by which we know we walk a path towards God and not away from Him.
We realize our misery and God answers our realization. He is ready to do good for us, so long as our happiness and joy do not rely upon the nature of the world, the conditions of our lives, and the consequences of others. We stop seeking our own agenda and find God's ready to fill the gap.
Gone are the needs of a fancy home, a nice car, and the convenience of the 10% tithe. We weep over the sins we commit, saved sinners we are, because of our linear understandings. We begin to live the life intended, still sorrowful, still sinful, still meaningless……with the eternal hope that all this will someday end because of the Bridegroom's return. We mourn, not for what we do not know, but because we remember the Bridegroom who had to leave.
When we realize our failings, we bring ourselves to a place where God can be God and comfort our mournful spirits and bring us closer to Him and His vision of who we are in His kingdom. We don't seek promise but humbly submit ourselves to a God who offered us His Son for our sins, to which we are unworthy of, and find in His eyes the glory we once thought was so important from man.
Then we can see the great power of our God, moving in finances, health, and relationships….because we realize we cannot do it alone. We stop grasping and start releasing. And there, in the midst of nothing, we will attract those who are still lost in the darkness of this world.
That is the 'change' we need.
The season is upon us once again, the forty-first since I was born to Ronald L. Hutson and Sharon L. Nitchie in the city of Farmington, Michigan. It is amazing, I was thinking last night as I shoveled the two-three inches of snow from my driveway, how the further we get away from the actual historical events of Christ the more humanistic and universal the celebrations, journey, and belief systems become. It is as if we, as a people, have decided that since Christ hasn't come back again, we've got to make our own interpretations to see us through the possibility that it was all a joke.
Christ told us that times would come where following Him would be punishable and against the grain of the world. In an effort to make 'Christianity' less intolerant, it seems that we've gutted the whole of the faith so that not one would be offended. It is easy, in modern times, to find that doctrinal belief, religious movement, or even justified false religions to follow. Everything is custom-made for our faithful pleasure.
Christ never promised that the clash of church and the world would be a pleasurable experience. In fact, He said it would separate those who truly know Him from those who would give Him lip service only. What works to get 'em in the doors of the church is what the flavor of the day is. We'll only reach out in the community and help them pay for the outreach program participation only after we have secured the million-dollar mortgage for the building of our permanent home. If the 'holy' books say "Death to the infidels' (meaning anyone not of your religion), well…..that's not the right interpretation…..we're a peaceful religion. We need that newer car, instead of doing the used ten-year old one, and hey, we still tithe….the required 10%.
There is less discipleship going on in the church today and more of funding the programs we have in the churches so that we can sit on our comfy chairs in the air-conditioned buildings and sing lovely hymns of service, dedication, and peace. Yet, the very members of the congregation who are making it to the 'gathering' in a 'wing-n-a-prayer' car are overlooked until they sit down….their clothes, not so new…..their bibles, not so gaudy…..ignored if and when we greet them. There are no serious "How are you doing?" only the superficial requests that 'everything is okay, and if it isn't…..well, we've specialists to pray for you at the altar."
"Be miserable, mourn, and cry. Turn your laughter into mourning and your joy into gloom. Humble yourselves in the Lord's presence. Then he will give you a high position." James 4:9-10 (GWT)
We have forgotten in the church of today of service. Tradition, formed for the solace of the whole of humanity, is the cornerstone of the faithful, to attract the faithless. Worldly, flesh-born, sinful desires and affections that plague us in our walk on this earth are dismissed as a lack of faith, a lack of purity, and wholly lack of faith. We abuse and misuse the mercies given, the blessings offered, and the word of God to reflect upon our desire for the easy roads, the prosperity that has been promised us…in our interpretation of the Word. We seek the things of this world and label it under God's desires, when it is simply our humanity groaning under the weight of the fallen.
"A man may have a large portion in things of this life, and yet be kept in the love of God; but he who sets his heart upon the world," Matthew Henry remarks, "who will conform to it rather than lose its friendship, is an enemy to God." God is against the world, and any who seek to be on friendly terms with the world cohorts with the enemy and must be opposed to God's plan. We are to 'not of this world', and yet combat against our human nature to be violent in our opposition.
The only way that we can achieve such lofty goals is to submit. Submit to God everything; our government, our families, our loves, and our life. Our will, so rebellious and sinful, is brought by the willful subjugation of our thoughts, deeds, and words to the power and authority of the Holy Spirit. It is then that we realize that in the sorrow of our days, the miserable existence of our lives, and the mournful gloom that begets our continuous battle against the fleshly things are simply the standard by which we know we walk a path towards God and not away from Him.
We realize our misery and God answers our realization. He is ready to do good for us, so long as our happiness and joy do not rely upon the nature of the world, the conditions of our lives, and the consequences of others. We stop seeking our own agenda and find God's ready to fill the gap.
Gone are the needs of a fancy home, a nice car, and the convenience of the 10% tithe. We weep over the sins we commit, saved sinners we are, because of our linear understandings. We begin to live the life intended, still sorrowful, still sinful, still meaningless……with the eternal hope that all this will someday end because of the Bridegroom's return. We mourn, not for what we do not know, but because we remember the Bridegroom who had to leave.
When we realize our failings, we bring ourselves to a place where God can be God and comfort our mournful spirits and bring us closer to Him and His vision of who we are in His kingdom. We don't seek promise but humbly submit ourselves to a God who offered us His Son for our sins, to which we are unworthy of, and find in His eyes the glory we once thought was so important from man.
Then we can see the great power of our God, moving in finances, health, and relationships….because we realize we cannot do it alone. We stop grasping and start releasing. And there, in the midst of nothing, we will attract those who are still lost in the darkness of this world.
That is the 'change' we need.
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