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Posts Tagged ‘way of Jesus’

Words of Advent : Hope

Posted in Advent, Words of Advent, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on December 1, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Hope Floats by Lori McNee

Hope Floats by Lori McNee

For the first Sunday of Advent, churches all over the world are lighting a single candle and speaking of HOPE: essentially the hope is of Christ whose coming has been promised and whose coming, we know, did happen. But then, if that Christ came, what is our hope today? Merely for His coming again or something else?

For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? Romans 8:24 [NIV]

“The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”– Isaiah 7:14). Matthew 1:23

Today and tonight, our church also began this Advent season with a cry for hope but with much more power. Jess Bousa announced “It is time for us to stop thinking of the Christmas story as a baby shower.” Yes, it’s sweet that Jesus is depicted as coming among the poor, entertained by mild cows and sheep, and witnessed by the outcast shepherds of the day. But what of the other point? That God sent Spirit into a human woman to create a Savior, someone who could both live and die for us, fully human and fully God, sacrificing all, in order to deposit the Holy Spirit into each one of us : Emmanuel, God with us (in us).

So, if we have Emmanuel. Tonight, one of our worship leaders, Dale Woodring, shared: “If we have Christmas inside us every day and every month, then there is no need to fear holiday commercialism or misplaced focus, God is bigger than all that. God is not worried about the point of Christmas being missed because we have Emmanuel inside of us.”

We don’t have to hope for Emmanuel, if we have accepted the truth of the work of Christ to re-establish our relationship with God, then the Spirit is within us.

So, what dHopeo we hope for? Manifestation of Emmanuel in us. We hope for an explosion of a unified Spirit in humans, the ultimate human who lives and breathes and walks in the power of grace and mercy and love, fully trusting the Presence within, accepting the ongoing paradox of a life in Christ, for to live, truly live, is Christ [Philippians 1:21].

Hope is a word of confidence, an expectation of a good result, with or without evidence, hope remains. Hope is active, not passive. Hope can be regenerated. Hope loves. Hope sees. Hope is born in Emmanuel.

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Praying the Psalms

Posted in Praying the Psalms, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 4, 2013| 2 Comments »

I have been contemplating today how I will continue my path. I have just completed creating a six-week study of the Book of Ephesians in Bible lesson/question format; and as a result, I knew I wanted to spend some time in prayer and perhaps study prayer along the way, but how? I prefer grounding any of my efforts in scripture, no matter how far afield I may go along the way. The most logical place to start appeared to be the Psalms.

I didn’t want to simply start at Psalm 1 and plow through them one by one; instead I wanted the selections to more closely reflect my state of being that day or week. As a result, I have discovered a number of web sites that lay out the psalms by the church calendar (Book of Common Prayer Psalter), by topics, and by summary statements. I will begin with these, looking for revelation and, hopefully, an inner journey that will manifest in a more joyful, peaceful, and moderated outer life.

It is the Spirit I am pursuing in prayer. It is the Presence. It is an intimacy I believe is attainable; a listening place where direction is palpable and rooted in the holiness of God in Christ’s Spirit.

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Who is Worthy? Who is Able?

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on January 29, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Most exegesis accedes that the “Lion of Judah” represents the Christ. And it is that One who is worthy . . . and able . . . to change the course of civilization in general and more specifically, to change my life.

Revelation 5:4-5a
I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able . . .

Who is worthy in my sphere of friends, family, and colleagues to impact my life? Who has earned the right to speak into my choices, to redirect my path, to open my eyes?

There are people who took on influential roles and circumstances. My mother, by default, spoke into my life as I was growing up. She was able. My older brother, also, by proximity and sheer force of will, taught me lessons whether I wanted to learn them or not. Boyfriends and husbands carved out sections of my heart, by will or by relentless time. I learned through the silences of loss like my father’s death when I was nine, or the loneliness of being a latchkey kid, or the bitter and repetitive mistakes that led me down roads I regretted again and again. These people and experiences were “able” to bear upon my life. But who actually earned a place?

Here is the role of God, the mission of Christ, the engagement of the indwelling Spirit. God, by sovereignty is worthy; Christ by personal sacrifice is worthy; Spirit by faithful presence is worthy.

If these do not exist in my life, then where is my confidence? Human is fallible. All of us. When we trust people, we must understand that trust is given and received within the limits of human experience and faith. But it is elusive, at best. It is unreliable, no matter how hard we “try.”

The whole point is to trust God, not human, to trust the Christ, not leaders, to trust the Holy Spirit, not tradition. Freedom and forgiveness are possible and more easily extended to others when my expectation is solely on the One who is able and worthy to exist in our midst.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory . . . ” [Ephesians 3:20-21a]

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Spirit Talk

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 22, 2011| Leave a Comment »

It’s so much easier to speak of the spirit world in different contexts, fantasy for instance. In those circles, it’s the norm to speak of spirits, magic, miracles, powers, spiritual enemies and spiritual good guys. But we have lost our ability in this age to speak of the Spirit World.

I John 4:4
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

Despite the fact that numerous references are made to this spirit world in scripture; I am particularly thinking of Ephesians 6:12 as a good example, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms,” we hesitate to claim it as our own. It’s all woohoo stuff! And so, most folks shrug off spirit talk.

But I cannot. The epistle of I John speaks at length about spirit relationships: our own spirits, those of the “anti-christ” opposed to all Christ spirit, the spirits of the world, the spirits of believers, and the spirits of God followers. This is the unseen world and yet, more and more, I do believe it is the most important part of our existence.

We are multi-dimensional for a reason. And there are enough people, even in modern times, who have had significant experiences with Spirit that it seems foolish to disregard this aspect of our humanity, our spirituality, our essence.

I guess the big question is in the tension that arises when we refer to “good” and “evil” spirits. And I understand that hesitancy, but there is simply too much evidence to deny them. For me, the truth of evil places human depravity at the feet of its source: the realm within.

Do we really think that the battles we carry on in the flesh will change the spirit? Will our wars block the power of evil’s presence and influence? Will our gun laws prevent their distribution on the streets of our cities? Will our capture of kilos of cocaine prevent the fields of poppies from being grown again?

We are back to the single word that explains the Way of the Spirit realm: paradox. It’s not the very reasonable approaches to problems of our world that will change it, but the opposite. If not, if it’s all Pollyanna, then why did Jesus bother to say any of it? I know things are bad now, but things were bad then too: almost everyone was poor or under the iron fist of a dictator or slave owner, violence was the norm and so was hunger. There was no “upward mobility,” there was no middle class. Back then, it wasn’t just the 99% but 99.9% of the people who suffered under human indignity and loss.

They had good reason to look and wait for a revolution. Instead, Jesus proclaimed a victory for the interior life as the starting point for change. Do we follow? Do we believe?

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Pledge of a Clear Conscience

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on September 16, 2011| 5 Comments »

Water baptism is controversial among various denominations, from dunking to sprinkling, from adults to infants, required or not required, and so on. But, according to Peter, it can be symbolic, it can be a moment in time when the person says, “Yes, from this day forth . . . ”

I Peter 1:21a
. . . and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God.

I suppose then, if parents want to mark a day for their babies (at Christenings and dedications and such), is that a bad thing? Does the infant have an unclear conscience, not really. Is the day meaningful for the child, no. But it can be important for the parents on behalf of the child and whatever has gone before that child’s birth. Perhaps they need to mark a moment in time to let go of former circumstances or negative thoughts about the child, this bundle of life that has changed their lives forever. Perhaps they need to make a pledge that day, to move forward and not look back. I like the idea although I doubt it’s a concept shared with young parents. Wish it were.

Now, as to adults and baptism . . .

When I made the decision, some thirty years ago, to become a follower of Christ, I was “all in” except for the church thing. It took me several months before I could go through any of those motions or rituals. My childhood experiences with people of the church and its liturgies had been discouraging. Eventually, I did attend a church in Manhattan, an anachronism to say the least (beehive hairdo’s, long black dresses on the women, knee thumping gospel, etc.). But after some weekly exposure to the Pentecostal teaching, I was drawn to being water baptized as an adult.

Even then, with little understanding of Christian norms, I knew it was a symbol; it was a personal gesture; it was an act of submission to God; it was an agreement between us; it was my pledge to let go of everything that had gone before and to move forward with God and Christ. It was a “yes.”

Do I believe I could be a Christ follower without the dunking pool? I do. Did it seem odd and a little ridiculous at the time? It did. Was I self-conscious of its process? I was.

But I am not sorry I did it. And in a way, I’m thinking water baptism should be considered as an act that can be done more often, much like communion, as an expression of intent, an agreement, a promise.

This, too, then is a “start-over.” It makes a lot more sense when we re-examine the baptisms that John the Baptist ran before Jesus had even started his ministry. It was a gesture of hope back then too.

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Rid Yourself of . . .

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 28, 2011| Leave a Comment »

This one is right up there with “be holy!” Peter does not mince words. At least in a couple of other translations, rid yourself of such and such is written as “lay aside” or “be done with,” but in any case, this one is on me.


I Peter 2:1-2a
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk . . .

Like any plan to change, it’s important to understand the malady. Drunks can’t stop drinking until they know it’s a problem and so forth. I have to look with honesty, are these corrupting attributes part of my life?

Malice is pretty harsh stuff: a spiteful, intentional desire to do someone harm. The gentrified version of this would be deliberate “payback.” Another version of malice might be keeping a simple list of wrongdoings and justifying some other action because of that list. He owes me, as it were. So, I don’t hate anyone and I’m not by nature one who seeks to do harm, but I have kept a few lists hidden in my heart.

Holy Spirit, I give you permission to clean out those lists: reboot my system.

Deceit is a little less malicious but more roundabout in its application. It’s a lie, even a white lie, told on purpose to misrepresent a situation. It can be an exaggeration or a minimization. In any case, it’s a type of hiding. I justify this behavior by saying the truth will just cause more trouble. My kids have pretty much given me the same lame excuse. This needs to stop.

Holy Spirit, I give you permission to open the vault of my subterfuges. Just, please, don’t let ’em out all at once.

Hypocrisy is a form of acting. I really don’t want to admit publicly that I’m a hypocrite, who does? But I am a good actress and that ability crosses over into daily life, I know it does, without even thinking about it. I want people to like me. But I have made this mistake in relationships too often, trying to be someone I am not because I don’t want to rock the boat.

Holy Spirit, keep me authentic through transparency of heart.

Envy is rooted in American culture and we need some intense weeding here. It came to us under the guise of the American Dream but instead has fueled advertising into making us all want what we do not have. Discontentment with what is has become the norm as though it’s the foundation to ambition. I’ve gotten sucked in more than once: it’s the basic reason for my debt.

Holy Spirit, teach me to be content without sacrificing excellence.

Slander is my worst enemy and my best friend. It’s just a stronger word for gossip. It’s those times I put down someone else to make myself feel better. It’s those times I complain about someone else to gather a personal posse to be on my side. It’s those things I’ve said about other people that would be devastating if they were standing behind me. Oh yeah.

Holy Spirit, hold my tongue, keep me mindful of my words.

Peter says the solution to all of this is craving [thirsting, desiring eagerly] the pure “milk of the Holy Spirit.” This picture is the child at a women’s breast, where only the one can satisfy, with no intermediaries.

Do I crave the presence and intervention of the Holy Spirit? Do I crave the Christ, appropriating daily what was given to me by the sacrifice of the God-Man? Do I eat fruit instead of ice cream?

I am still free to choose.

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Be Holy

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 24, 2011| 1 Comment »

Oh sure, be holy. That directive is right up there with “be skinny” or “be successful.” These states of being take a lot of work and commitment. I’m pretty sure holiness is no cakewalk either.

I Peter 1:15-16
But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy. [Leviticus 11:44]”

I understand there’s a lot of grace involved in holiness (certainly a lot more than I have ever found in exercise or dieting). And yet, there are disciplines that must be part of the equation. If we just model holiness after Christ, there are keys to follow: sacrificial living, prayer, purity, authenticity, transparency, study, relationships with God and others, and paradoxical behaviors (as I’ve mentioned many times before).

We don’t come to these things naturally. Practice.

If I could just pick any one of these processes and focus on it, I’m pretty sure I would make more progress. But, unfortunately, I bounce around from one big idea to another, one practice to another. It’s an A.D.D. kind of thing. It’s a “Jill of all trades” kind of thing. For those of you familiar with the enneagram, it’s a “seven” kind of thing.

On the refrigerator, a well meaning friend posted a magnetic plaque that reads: “From your lips right to your hips.” Would it help me to put a little reminder on my computer: “Holiness begins with mindfulness and is watered with grace.”

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