a Franciscan Benediction

"May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart (deep in God's truths).

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and help turn their pain into joy.

And may God Bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done."

I've appreciated this benediction for several years. I appreciate it even more when accompanied with the realization that the Holy Spirit's work in me allows for the living, working, comforting and doing needed to live in such a manner.

"The Spirit of Truth...will guide you into all truth....he will speak only what he hears,... He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you." John 16:12-15

"The Spirit helps us in our weakness. ....the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." Romans 8:26

Back to my questions from 2 postings ago:

• Are you hearing the voice of God?
  
• Are you responding to that voice?
  
• If not, why not?

Evil all around

Einstein is reputed to have said something like this. "Evil does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold; these are words man has created to describe the absence of light and heat. Evil is the word man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

So, what part of your life is dark? cold? evil?

What part of your life is lacking the presence of God?

Could it be that God has turned His face from some part of your soul? In His turning you are living in darkness, coldness, and some form of evil. It may appear that this darkness, coldness, loneliness, sadness, wrongness is the result of some other person's wrong behavior toward you. The question may need to be addressed - how are you responding to the issue/relationship that is causing the pain?

Answers to these questions - processes that result as we attempt to live in LIGHT, HEAT, LOVE - are the same processes that we call discipleship, spiritual formation, and the salvation of our soul.

Is there some part of your life in which you're ready to more deeply pursue God and His ways? I pray an eagerness, a burning passion for you in this pursuit.

WHO CARES??

Do you know we ALL have the talent to hear and respond to God b/c we're created with eternity in our hearts and in God's image?

The question is - Who Cares?

Really.....do we CARE that we have this ability? Do we cultivate it?

Why don't we walk in this talent? Why is it so hard to hear and respond to God?

This time after Easter, Pentecost, - the 50 days from Easter to the remembrance of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles & followers of Jesus - is a great time to think about and reflect upon our readiness and willingness to hear and respond to God.

Are you 'tuned in' to hear God's voice?

....here's how you can tell: are you walking in known sin? Are you harboring negative feelings that are clogging your ears & heart?

...really, do you CARE that you have the ability to hear & respond to God? Are you willing to sacrifice some of 'self' so you can better 'tune-in' to God?

Ask God to tell you what needs to be given up, given over, stopped or started in your life for you to hear Him better. I'm 'bettin' that some 'answers' will come into your head. If these thoughts require changes in you and they glorify God, it just might be that you're hearing God.

Now, what are you going to do with what you hear?

DO WE?!

Key #12 = We serve and befriend our neighbors and invite them to know Christ.

Key #13 = We are attentive and responsive to suffering and injustice in the world.

Key #14 - We are informed, interested, and involved in the world Kingdom movement.

How do these keys look in our lives?... I mean the real nitty-gritty of it?

When is the LAST time you befriended a 'neighbor' and/or talked with them about Christ?

What are each of us doing to help right injustices of the world? Could it be a 'small' as being a better steward of natural resources: water, electricity, gasoline, wood, non-biodegradable 'stuff'. Could it help if I stop purchasing things made in parts of the world that use child-labor? There are many small ways we can be part of responding to suffering in addition to the prayer and money we may offer.

What is the world Kingdom movement? SAFMC does a remarkable job of oversees missionary and ministry support. Is there a next-step of involvement?

There is a constant need to check ourselves - our spiritual growth that shows in concrete, life-changing ways.

How are you (& thus your lifestyle) being transformed into the image of Christ?

Discontinuous Change

Key #10 “We steward our time, talents, and money for Kingdom purpose”

Key #11 “We exercise our unique, God-given gifts by serving the Body of Christ in at least one ministry.”

Pastor Mark has been preaching about stewardship since January. These keys speak to the same issue: as followers of Christ, we must reach out to others by using what God has given us.

Why is this Important?

· B/c we live in a world of discontinuous change – change which is disruptive and unanticipated

· In discontinuous change:

- working harder with one’s habitual skills and ways of working does not address the challenges being faced

- an unpredictable environment means new tools are needed

- there is no getting back to ‘normal’ as we have known it. We must create a ‘new normal’.

As I talk with ever more people I hear a similar theme: God is challenging us to sacrificially find common ground with non-Christians in an effort to form relationship with them. Relationships that help us live, love, serve, and teach the way Jesus did.

I’m eager to participate in what God is doing. I wonder what it might look like if we pooled our talents in an effort to more missionally and purposefully reach into Parma, Concord and Jackson with the love and Truths of Jesus.

Did you know that discontinuous change is dominant in periods of history that transform a culture forever, tipping it over into something new? Have you considered that God has placed you right where you are ‘for such a time as this’?

What Kingdom purpose has God placed on your heart? How can you use your talents, time, and money to live out that purpose within the church or within the larger community?

Next generation // servant-leaders

Hmm....interesting.
Key #8 says: "We model and cultivate Kingdom character and values for the next generation".
Key # 9: "Men assume their God-given role as servant leaders".

See the bible verses to the right that support these keys. Great verses! Good keys as based on those verses.

BUT....my eyes and heart focus on different phrases of the keys than those emphasized by the verses. Instead of thinking of children and fathers/husbands, I see 'next generation Christians' - our spiritual children & grandchildren. Do you have any?
I also see 'servant-leader' - a possible description of my relationship to these next-generation Christians. Do you see yourself as a servant-leader?

My heart is ever more pulled toward reaching out beyond the walls of SAFMC. The bolded words speak to this pull - this desire. I believe that as we deepen our relationship & intimacy with Jesus as Lord (i.e. become stronger disciples of Christ), we will be unable to resist this pull to reach out to a new generation of Christians through being servant-leaders.
The questions now become:

• In what venue can we form relationship with a next generation Christian?
• How can we be a servant-leader while modeling the love of the Lord to these next-generation Christians?

I have a couple of ideas floating in my head and heart on how we, as a church, might do this:

• offer workshops on finances, job searching, parenting, marriage, anger management, health issues, etc.etc. These workshops would be free to the community. At the conclusion of the workshops, information can be available for further help in these areas via church ministries.
• take these workshops into different locations closer to the 'next generation' we are trying to reach rather than having them come to the church
• up our involvement with the weatherization effort that already exists in the community
• as individuals, offer servant-leadership through volunteering in the schools, library or other public locations in which we can make a difference
• as a Community Group choose a venue in which we can reach out to the next generation Christians around us
  

Via the comment section below, would you consider sharing some of your ideas of how we, as a church, can better reach the next generation of Christians in the Jackson, Parma, and Concord areas ... ane how we can more effectively be servant/leaders while glorifying God's name?

Love & Grace

Worship - Grow - Connect - Serve - Go

Connect- We were made for community; we were created to connect with others.

"Above all, love each other deeply" 1 Peter 4:8

Key #6 - We practice love and grace.
Key #7 - We honor and protect the covenant of marriage.

Key #6 makes me think of missions month here at SAFMC. The concept of finding and reaching out to others through some common ground grows more tangible for me each week. I'm challenging my self - and you - to find the common ground that exists with neighbors, co-workers, parents of our children's friends, or others loosely connected to our lives. Is there a potential common ground that can be fostered so as to develop a relationship with someone who does not yet know Jesus as Savior & Lord? Without some common ground, how can I extend biblical love and grace to them? Are we praying for these people? Are we asking God to show us ways to practice love and grace in our contacts with them?


Key #7 can, in some ways, be connected to key #6. If I am not practicing love and grace in my most intimate of relationships, how can I honestly do so with others? By practicing love and grace within the marriage, I will most definitely be honoring and protecting the covenant of marriage. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 is one of the most specific guidelines I can use to check how well I am loving and extending grace. When is the last time you gave yourself a 'check-up' in the area of love & grace, and in honoring and protecting your marriage covenant?