Begin

Take the first step. Draw the first line. Put in the application. Find out the steps and do the first one. Put a little in savings to get what you need. Get a garbage bag and just start cleaning up the mess one piece at a time.

Sometimes I want to draw but I don't know how to start so I just draw a line and then another line. Often, but not always, it turns into something. I might end up discarding that page but it gets me started.

"[Let your] conversation [be] without covetousness; [and be] content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord [is] my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." - Hebrews 13:5-6 KJV

Some look at this passage and think, 'I shouldn't want things.' but looking at it today I see, 'I need to stop talking about wanting things and take the first steps with God!'

This is the contentment that comes from practicing God's presence and not being paralyzed by the fear of losing the illusion of control over what we seem to have.  

The things we want are bought with a currency... it just isn't money. It is faith that with God all things are possible if we are willing to leave our comfort zone and go with Him into the next thing.

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Go Boldly

"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." - Hebrews 4:16 ESV

Where is this throne? Are we just speaking words into the air and mentally directing them at God or is it more than that?

"In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!" And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for." And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here I am! Send me."" - Isaiah 6:1-8 ESV

"Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, "Sit here, while I go over there and pray." And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me." And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will." And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, "So, could you not watch with me one hour?" - Matthew 26:36-40 ESV

Will we sleep or will we go? I say this throne is just a few steps away but those steps are impossible for the natural self-oriented person to take. We must go or be taken past our self centeredness to get there. 

Boldness is a prerequisite and boldness means there are no barriers. No guilt. No shame. No sense of unworthiness. Only Jesus can produce that in us. When we are 'hidden' in Him we can come boldly and we have access.

Some say we must go like small children running into a room and sitting on their father's lap. It is a good picture but I think we must deal with this King like an adult and not a child. We are his children but we are adult children with real adult issues that need His influence to be resolved.

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Stay Sensitive To Pain And Loss

"You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk." - Exodus 23:19b ESV

The does not say, 'Don't eat young goats.'

It also doesn't say, 'Don't use milk for cooking.'

This is a nuanced commandment that became oversimplified in tradition. It is talking about sensitivity to suffering and having a hard heart that just uses things and people indiscriminately. 

Our life is going to cause suffering in others. That is an inescapable reality we must face but we still want to minimize that suffering and deal compassionately in life instead of just gobbling things up indiscriminately because we have 'a good recipe'. The context is this... which I think is striking.

"You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord GOD. You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the fat of my feast remain until the morning. The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk." - Exodus 23:16-19 ESV

Interesting. In a way I think God is saying, 'I know doing these things is going to be inconvenient for you but do it anyway and be sensitive about what you do and who you hurt.'

The goat doesn't know or care but what you know and care about is what God is interested in.

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There In Our Midst

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." - Matthew 18:20 KJV

Yesterday I was at Starbucks with a few brothers in Christ who I often evangelize with. One of them had been a missionary in Australia for a few years. He told us a story about a man in one of the Churchs there that had a chalk ministry. He didn't speak well because of years of working in harsh conditions. This man went all around the city he lived in and wrote 'ETERNITY' down on the side walks. A news agency went looking for who was doing this and when they found him they did a big 'write up' on his life.

We had never heard this particular story and of course in my mind I starting thinking about present day applications. Could this, or something like it, be done in my city? How would that work?

The missionary gets a video call from Australia. He is thrilled to talk to the man and so are we. This man was there for some of the other stories we had heard many times.

Then the man says something like, 'I think I'm going to start a chalk ministry. Remember old so and so and how he used to write on the side walks? I think I may start doing that here.' We all explode in 'Wows' and tell him that we just heard that story for the first time twenty minutes before he called.

God is there when we meet. He Is letting us in on secret things in interesting ways.

We all knew that was God. If His 'name' (identity, character, nature, etc...) are why we are together He Is there also. He gives us answers to questions we have not formed yet in our minds. The communication of the Word of God clarifies our individual and 'corporate' (group) relationships with Him. Prayers uttered in those settings have the context of Christ being there listening and participating in the group dynamic.

I might say to one of the guys there, 'Would you look at my car before we leave? I need your input.' and he would say yes or no but likely yes.

We say to God, 'Would you heal my sister before we leave?' and He might just say yes. Yes and Amen. He Is right there.

"Can two walk together without agreeing to meet? " - Amos 3:3 CSB

We agreed to meet in Jesus' name and He showed up. Thank you God.

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Are They A Soul Winner?

"As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." - 2 Timothy 4:5 ESV

I see a finger pointing right at me in this passage.

"I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." - 2 Timothy 4:1-5 ESV

A teacher who teaches but doesn't evangelize isn't worth very much. You may say, 'That isn't their ministry'... perhaps but if that is so I don't need to be their student. They may be able to teach you some things but they can't teach you the things that will allow you to 'fulfill your ministry'.

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." - 1 Corinthians 13:1 ESV

The internet isn't the place to find this out. Going out on the street with the person is where you will see this. Watching them greet people at the door and loving them is where you will see this. 

I often hear these quotes that sound good but I wonder... 'Is this person a soul winner or just a page turner?'... until I get that question answered I take it all 'with a grain of salt.'

I don't think any of us need two dozen teachers... just a few who win souls.

If I stop evangelizing stop listening to me. It will just be past tense and theoretical. I hope to win the nurse to Christ who is wiping the sweat off my brow on my deathbed. If that changes read someone else's posts that has that mindset.

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A Good Weekend

This weekend was so interesting...

There were some truly frustrating times... traffic... I missed a memorial service for a person I care deeply for... I got there so late that everyone was gone and I had to ask the security guard to unlock a door so I could use the restroom.... then back out into angry drivers... not feeling well... several demoralizing things like that... 

Then there were also some sublime times that were just so good... Church today... worship... eating pieces of a roasting pig while celebrating someone's birthday... two people in fact... simple times of just giving a person a hug and meeting her grandbaby... kind exchanges with strangers on the boardwalk with a group out evangelizing... singing a hymn off-key as we walked back to our car in the cool air with the sun shining on the Chesapeake bay right there... sitting out in front of Starbucks with Terry Therres and other men whose shoes I am not worthy to tie... relaxing enjoying the coffee and company while wondering at the nearness of Christ's return... 

I was at a meeting at a Panera bread and few us us were speaking about the Bible and a woman with her husband came up to us to ask what Church we attended because she overheard us... She wanted to go where we go because of things we said... I am so humbled and broken by that.

Life is hard but good. To learn, live, repent and then rejoice that I am forgiven. To love. To be humiliated because I need my dirty feet washed again but to also rejoice that I can tell people that the King of Glory is willing to wash their feet if they will just come to Him.

To Love and be loved. I am so grateful.

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Rereading Romans Chapter 12

Reading Romans 12 over and over again.

Wow.

"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head."

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." - Romans 12:1-21 ESV

I see the first and last verse in this chapter as bookend. They hold the sandwich together. Both ideas need to be kept in mind in order to even attempt to pick any of this up. Bitterness and comparison can happen if we try to do any of this with out those two concepts in mind.

These two ideas:

- We worship God through 'presenting our bodies for action'.

- Evil seeks to overcome us and others. This worship can overcome evil in the world. 

I see an order here. Right after 'mind renewal' is having the humility to be a part of a group of people joined in this common cause. Then he speaks of conduct done among those people. Then conduct done to everyone else. Lastly, he speaks of love for ones enemies. Each thing orients us for the next thing. 

Oh God... renew us in our thinking today. As we re-read this chapter give us creativity in allying it. We fix our eyes on Jesus. This chapter is a description of His ministry. We want to live as an extension of that. Jesus is our Shepard. He leads us as overcomers into victory over darkness. Thank you God. Thank You. Thank You.  

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