strangers on this road we are all

To whom are you a stranger? To whom are you called to be the welcoming arms of Christ?

From Dictionary.com:


1. a person with whom one has had no personal acquaintance: He is a perfect stranger to me.
2. a newcomer in a place or locality: a stranger in town.
3. an outsider: They want no strangers in on the club meetings.
4. a person who is unacquainted with or unaccustomed to something (usually fol. by to): He is no stranger to poverty.
5. a person who is not a member of the family, group, community, or the like, as a visitor or guest: Our town shows hospitality to strangers.
6. Law. one not privy or party to an act, proceeding, etc.


From Jesus as remembered in Matthew chapter 25:

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’


From Mary Elizabeth Coleridge:

Christmas Eve I saw a stable, low and very bare, A little child in a manger. The oxen knew Him, had Him in their care, To men He was a stranger, The safety of the world was lying there, And the world's danger...

From Golden Smog:

Strangers on this road we are all...we are not two we are one.

shining brightly

Worth the seven minutes of your life to watch this video through to the end and consider the way that God has called you to be a blessing to the world.

idol worship or is this jesus' house?

From the song, "Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication..."

But 2004 years later we do.

Jesus will not be held captive by death, disbelief, the stone outside the tomb, the walls of an inward focussed church, the mistakes of a misguided outwardly focussed church, your heart, my heart, your brokenness, my brokenness, those who think they know him best, those who wish he was dead, those who know him but don't want to share him with others, those who want to believe but can't, those who want to use him for personal gain, those who think that religion is evil, those who think that those who think that religion is evil are evil, or anyone else. He is loose in the world and will not be bound.

This world is HIS HOUSE!

american idol bends a knee to Jesus

First Kid Rock.

Now Jesus finds his way onto American Idol for two weeks in a row.

What's next?

Isaiah 43:18-19

Invisible Children

I saw a T-shirt today for Invisible Children. Had no idea what it was about. I typed these two words into a box on a computer screen called Google.

I found three young adults from San Diego who made a movie that started a movement.

Or did they join a movement?

An ancient movement.

Of God.

"as you have done it to the least of these you have done it to me"


God, as spoken by Jesus Christ

recorded by Matthew

inspired by God's Holy Spirit

hoops, hope, and HIV

Mark 10:13-16

And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.


Kid’s with AIDS.

Kid’s with a heart to help.

Kid’s with an amazing God.

how can i keep from singing his praise

*dying as those who WILL BE SAVED

Acts 15:8-11

And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit
just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.

So we can add a third tense to our paradox of understanding salvation. We will be saved. We live in hope that when we breathe our last, and though we dodge the thought- we certainly will meet death; we hope that God will save us from death.

So here we are

knowing-- we have been saved through faith
living-- a life of transformation as we are being saved through faith
hoping-- that we will be saved from death through faith

great grandmas, guns, and the gospel

The power of the Word to change situations and change lives is absolutley amazing!

*paradox, fear, trembling, and real living as those who ARE BEING SAVED

I Cor 1:18-25


For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.


Living as those who have been saved plunges us headlong into the mystery of paradoxical living. How is it that we can be saved by God’s own doing but still find ourselves in a world (and often a life) that seems so broken? Does this world really look like it has been saved? Do I really look like I have been saved? It must be that either I am not saved, or the whole Christ saving the world thing is a cruel joke?

The scripture above speaks of those who have heard (and proclaim) the gospel as people who are in the process of being saved. That, which has been done to us, and for us, in Christ, sets us free on a journey of Spirit-led determined discovery, eye opening experience, and transformational living. Through what Christ has done, we enter into a life of becoming and being.

As we live this paradoxical existence of having been saved (in past tense) and being saved (in the present tense), the Apostle Paul tells us that we are to work out or salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2).

And all the while we stake our lives on the absurdity that God would allow himself to be mocked, tortured, and crucified by humanity. “Foolishness, certainly an all powerful God would never allow that to happen” the wise say. “Oh but in the end Jesus will have the last laugh and plunge the last sword” the devout rage.

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

real living

with fear and trembling

for all

of

us

* dancing and skipping as those who HAVE BEEN SAVED

Ephesians 2:4-10

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

On this side of the empty tomb we are assured that we have been saved. Our salvation is a COMPLETED ACT in Christ. Through faith, we lay claim that our salvation is an accomplished act that was completed solely by Christ in his work on the cross. Scripture like the one above attest to God’s action and our passivity in this accomplishment.

But it is at this juncture that our passivity comes to an end and our activity becomes pointed and passionate. God’s action on our behalf comes with a purpose, that we should reflect God’s love in good works that have been prepared in advance for us to carry out. It is for this purpose that we have been created. This translation invites us to “walk” in these good works.

I don’t think God would be offended. I think it would be okay if we danced, and ran, and hopped, and skipped in these good works instead?

barabbas

Barabbas is a fictional novel written by Par Lagerkvist about the life of Barabbas (the actual person for whom Jesus died) after the resurrection. The book won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1951 and is really a parable about the life that is lived by those for whom Christ died. In the end, Barabbas, by a twist of fate and his own doing, finds himself crucified with a group of Christians:

“And so they were led out to be crucified. They were chained together in pairs, and, as they were not an even number, Barabbas came last in the procession, not chained to anyone. It just turned out like that. In this way, too, it happened that he hung furthest out in the rows of crosses.

A large crowd had collected, and it was a long time before it was all over. But the crucified spoke consolingly and hopefully to each other the whole time. To Barabbas nobody spoke.

When dusk fell the spectators had already gone home, tired of standing there any longer. And besides, by that time the crucified were all dead.

Only Barabbas was left hanging there alone, still alive. When he felt death approaching, that which he had always been so afraid of, he said out into the darkness, as though he were speaking to it:

---To thee I deliver up my soul.

And then he gave up the ghost.”

he is risen

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” 8 And they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

death on a friday afternoon

“Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34

“This day you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43

“Woman, behold your son.” John 19:26-27

”My God, my God, why have your forsaken me?” Mark 15:34; Matthew 27:46

“I thirst.” John 19:28

“It is finished.” John 19:30

“Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit.” Luke 23:46

footwashing

We call this evening Maundy Thursday which is rooted in the new mandate that Jesus gives us to love one another in John chapter 13. Click here to visit Wiki for a pretty good summary of the history of Maundy Thursday.

This evening we also remember Jesus and the manner in which he washed his disciple's feet as an example of service and love. Click here to visit a website with some amazing artwork depicting Jesus and his footwashing.

they can be like a sun

They can be like the sun, words.

They can do for the heart

what light can

for a field.




St John of the Cross
1542-1591

mission outposts

One thing that I love about Catholic churches, particularly in Arizona, California, and Mexico, is the way that these buildings sit with their doors wide open, welcoming any and all who happen by. There is something very spiritual about walking into a centuries old mission church that has been an outpost for Christ’s message of love and redemption for so long. Click here to see the amazing history of this outpost for Christ that has celebrated over 400 Easters!

living as the saved

As we move into holy week and consider our Lenten journey, we turn to think about our own lives in relation to the work of Christ- giving his life in order that we may have a life of freedom. What kind of life are we living? When we look back at life’s end, will we be able to tell each other we have lived a good life that is worthy of the one who died in order that we may live?

This scene from Saving Private Ryan depicts Ryan as he visits the grave of one of the men who has given his life in Ryan’s stead. Ryan’s entire life has been lived in relation to this man who has died in his place.

peter mayer: holy now

This is an absolutely amazing song.

what would jesus do with a hummer?

This series of videos is pretty good humor as we look at ourselves as the church.