Blood Donation

In her book Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, Anne Lamott recounts a story told by Jack Kornfield of the Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, CA. it’s about an eight-year-old boy whose younger sister was dying of leukemia. He was told that without a blood transfusion she would die. His parents explained to him that his blood was probably compatible with hers and, if so, he would be the blood donor. They asked him if they could test his blood. He said, “Sure.” They did and learned it was a good match. They asked if he would donate to his sister a pint of his blood because it could be her only chance of living. He said he would have to think about it overnight. The next day he went to his parents and said he was willing to donate the blood. So they took him to the hospital where he was placed on a gurney beside his six-year-old sister. Both of them were hooked up to IV’s. A nurse withdrew a pint of blood from the boy, which was then eventually transferred to his sister’s IV. The boy lay on his gurney in silence while the blood dripped into his sister, until the doctor came over to see how he was doing. Then the boy opened his eyes and asked, “How soon until I start to die?”

Everything Starts New?

Illustration for our new life in Christ, Romans Ch 6.

 

https://www.gocomics.com/culdesac/2007/12/31

Purified in the Presence of God

The world is perishing for lack of the knowledge of God and the Church is famishing for want of His Presence. The instant cure of most of our religious ills would be to enter the Presence in spiritual experience, to become suddenly aware that we are in God and that God is in us. This would lift us out of our pitiful narrowness and cause our hearts to be enlarged. This would burn away the impurities from our lives as the bugs and fungi were burned away by the fire that dwelt in the bush.

from The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer

Crucified with Christ

There must be a work of God in destruction before we are free. We must invite the cross to do its deadly work within us. We must bring our self-sins to the cross for judgment. We must prepare ourselves for an ordeal of suffering in some measure like that through which our Saviour passed when He suffered under Pontius Pilate.

from The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer

Quickened to Life

That a saving work must first be done in the heart is taken for granted here. The spiritual faculties of the unregenerate man lie asleep in his nature, unused and for every purpose dead; that is the stroke which has fallen upon us by sin. They may be quickened to active life again by the operation of the Holy Spirit in regeneration; that is one of the immeasurable benefits which come to us through Christ's atoning work on the cross.

from The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer

Illustration: Commitment

from The Newsletter of Preaching Magazine | April 27, 2023

A nurse shared this story of faithfulness: It was a busy morning, approximately 8:30 am, when an elderly gentleman, in his 80’s, arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He stated that he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00 am. I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him.

I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound. On exam, it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound.

While taking care of his wound, we began to engage in conversation. I asked him if he had a doctor’s appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife. I then inquired as to her health. He told me that she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer Disease.

As we talked, and I finished dressing his wound, I asked if she would be worried if he was a bit late. He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now. I was surprised, and asked him. “And you still go every morning, even though she doesn’t know who you are?”

He smiled as he patted my hand and said. “She doesn’t know me, but I still know who she is.”

God Who Dwells in an Unapproachable Light

by Francis Chan, Letters to the Church p.34-35: 

Sacred Mystery

There is no greater honor on earth than to be part of God’s Church. 

When was the last time you were awestruck by the fact that you are part of Christ’s body? Have you ever marveled at this privilege?

“For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.”  Ephesians 5:29-30

Every believer needs to stare at those verses long enough to be stunned. I mean really stunned. Paul referred to it as a profound mystery.  If achievement is your idol, you won’t make time for mystery. You will rush to the next sentence so you can finish this book rather than meditate on the miracle that you are a human being who is currently joined to God “who dwells in unapproachable light” (1 Tim. 6:16). 

“This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.”  Ephesians 5:32

Slow down long enough to marvel. 

The sun is ninety-three million miles away, and you are unable to stare at it. You obviously can’t touch the sun and live, so how is it possible that we are currently attached to the One who shines brighter than the sun?  High angels cover themselves with their wings in His presence (Isa. 6:2), yet you are a member of His body.  Why would Someone so extraordinary choose to care for you like His own arm? 

Please tell me you didn’t just keep reading.  Please tell me you paused for even a minute to worship. You can’t be that busy.  It’s no wonder we aren’t known as those who “rejoice with joy that is inexpressible” (1 Peter 1:8).  We don’t make time to mediate on His mysteries. 

Bonhoeffer’s final Christmas letter to fiancée Maria von Wedemeyer, December 19, 1944

Written while held in a Nazi concentration camp:

I have had the experience over and over again that the quieter it is around me, the clearer do I feel the connection to you.  It is as though in solitude the soul develops senses which we hardly know in everyday life.  Therefore I have not felt lonely or abandoned for one moment.  You, the parents, all of you, the friends and students of mine at the front, all are constantly present to me . . . Therefore you must not think me unhappy.  What is happiness and unhappiness?  It depends so little on the circumstances; it depends really only on that which happens inside a person. 

From God is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas, Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Imagination and Prayer

    Imagination often opens the door to faith. If God shows us a shattered marriage whole or a sick person well, it helps us to believe that it will be so.  Children instantly understand these things and respond well to praying with the imagination. I was once called to a home to pray for a seriously ill baby girl. Her four-year-old brother was in the room, and so I told him I needed his help to pray for his baby sister.  He was delighted, and so was I since I know that children can often pray with unusual effectiveness.  He climbed up into the chair beside me. “Let’s play a little game,” I said. “Since we know that Jesus is always with us, let’s imagine that he is sitting over in the chair across from us. He is waiting patiently for us to center our attention on him. When we see him, we start thinking more about his love then how sick Julie is.  He smiles, gets up, and comes over to us. Then, let’s both put our hands on Julie, and when we do, Jesus will put his hands on top of ours.  We’ll watch the light from Jesus flow into your little sister and make her well.  Let’s watch the healing power of Christ fight with the bad germs until they are gone.  Okay?”  Seriously, the little one nodded.  Together, we prayed in this childlike way and then thanked the Lord that what we had prayed was the way it was going to be.  Now, I do not know exactly what happened, nor how it was accomplished, but I do know that the next morning Julie was perfectly well. 

Let me insert a word of caution at this point.  We are not trying to conjure up something in our imagination that is not so. Nor are we trying to manipulate God and tell him what to do.  Quite the opposite.  We are asking God to tell us what to do.  God is the ground of our beseeching, as Juliana of Norwich put it, and we are utterly dependent upon him.  Our prayer is to be like a reflex action to God’s prior initiative upon the heart.  The ideas, the pictures, the words are of no avail unless they proceed from the Holy Spirit who, as you know, is interceding for us “with sighs too deep for words” (Rom. 8:26). 

Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline p. 41-42

Seeing Sin as the Norm

". . . evangelical Christians (in particular) might be guilty of seeing sin as so deeply entrenched in human  life that it somehow becomes the norm. It is, it seems, all too easy when faced with sin in the life of a Christian to hear, “Well, she’s only human, after all,” as if to be human is to be sinful! It is, alas, even  easier to say such things—especially when the sinner in question is the one whom we see in the mirror!"

-- McCall, Against God and Nature

God's Perspective on Our Lives

 This comic strip suggested God's perspective on us, His ability to view our lifespan as a whole, because He is outside time and omnipresent.

Where Can We Find Healing?

 Through Eucharist, we receive healing and are enabled to aid in the healing of others. Sozo, the root of the Greek word used in the New Testament for healing, is also translated as salvation and wholeness. Much of this healing is spiritual, but it also includes the healing of our thoughts and emotions, of our minds and bodies, of our attitudes and relationships. The grace received at the Table of the Lord can make us whole. As those who are being saved, we seek to bring healing to a broken world. The United Methodist Book of Worship describes this well: “Spiritual healing is God’s work of offering persons balance, harmony, and wholeness of body, mind, spirit, and relationships through confession, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Through such healing, God works to bring about reconciliation between God and humanity, among individuals and communities, within each person, and between humanity and the rest of creation” (page 613). Holy Communion can be a powerful aspect of the services of healing provided in the Book of Worship (pages 615–623). 

from This Holy Mystery: A United Methodist Understanding of Holy Communion p. 10

The Potter

 “The world is not spinning out of control...it’s just on a potter’s wheel.”  -Jessica LaGrone

(quoted by Maxie Dunnam on Facebook)

Joy as Well as Sorrow!

 "As I began looking for a church home in my new town, however, every sermon I heard was about how Christ comforts us in our troubles and the church is there for us in our sorrows. I knew that, but I also wanted to hear the message that the church cared about my happiness. It was frustrating to want to share joy when all I encountered was sympathy. When one pastor happened to mention that God cares about our joy as well as our sorrows, I returned to that church." 

-Thomas Blanton, Upper Room, Wed. May 11th A.D. 2022

Blanton here reminds me not to be too narrowly focused in my sermons. If I'm preaching about sympathy in sorrow, I should look for an opportunity to mention sharing in others joys as well. 

God's Hand at Work

" 'God, where are you?' I was 22 when I first asked this question. A horrific car crash had left me with a ten percent chance of survival, yet miraculously I am still here. Now in my sixties, I am finding it easier to see God’s work in my life.

I grew up in a Christian household, made a profession of faith at age 12, and have been a Christian since. When I was young, I mistakenly believed that being Christian should give me protection from suffering. But this is simply not true. It was not true for Christ, nor is it true for his followers.

Looking at my life that has included multiple surgeries and physical maladies, an onlooker might mistakenly assume that God was far removed from me. But that would be a mistake. I saw God’s hand at work when surgeons changed their minds at the last minute, when treatment plans were altered, and when surgery revealed results dramatically different from x-rays. God was present in the support of friends and family who prayed and offered words of encouragement. God was there all along."

by Dean Gammons, Upper Room, Monday, May 9th A.D. 2022

Polarized Squabbling

 

https://www.gocomics.com/peanuts/1960/10/29

forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead Philippians 3:12-14

 

https://www.gocomics.com/culdesac/2007/11/07

“Forget the former things;
    do not dwell on the past. Isaiah 43:18

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.   Philippians 3:12-14

"Not on Your Life!"

Charles Blondin, whose real name was Jean François Gravelet, was a French acrobat who first walked a tightrope 1100 feet across Niagara Falls in 1859. He performed this feat many more times. More than once he walked across the falls while carrying his manager, Harry Colcord, on his back. After one such trip he said to a man in the crowd, “Do you believe I could do that with you?” 

The man answered, “Yes, I’ve just seen you do it.” 

“Well, then,” Blondin said, “Hop on and I’ll carry you across.” 

But the man replied, “Not on your life.” 

Saving faith goes beyond mere mental assent that affirms certain statements as true. Faith must also involve the consent of our will. We must trust in Christ.

from High Calling, published by the Francis Asbury Society, March - April issue 2022

What Abraham Could Not Hear

(as preserved by Dennis Kinlaw)

Henry Clay Morrison used to describe this scene in a powerful way. He would say:

I thought I heard a conversation on Mount Moriah. It wasn’t between Abraham and Isaac, it was between the first Person of the Trinity and the second Person of the Trinity. The second Person of the Blessed Trinity said to the first of the Blessed Trinity. “Father, this is not the last time we’re coming to this mountaintop, is it?”

And the Father said to the eternal Son, “No, Son, this is not the last time we’re coming to this mountaintop. It will be about two thousand years and we’ll be back here.”

“Father, when we come back the next time, it won’t be one of them on this altar, will it?”

The eternal Father replied, “No, Son, when we come back the next time, it won’t be one of them on this altar; it will be one of us.”

“It will be me, won’t it?”

And the Father said, “Son, yes, it will be you.”

The eternal Son looked into the face of the eternal Father and he said, “Father, when we come back the next time, and it’s me on that altar, and the knife’s raised or the spear is raised, and they’re ready to push it in, are you going to say, ‘Don’t touch the lad’?”

“No Son. We never ask them to do in symbol what we are not willing to do in reality.”

Authentic Christian Experience

“Authentic Christian experience is not playing praise music on your car radio or placing your body in a pew to listen to a sermon. Authentic Christian experience is the process of establishing provenance, of growing into Christ. The world is not impressed that people attend church on Sunday morning. If anything, such a habit is viewed as a quaint waste of time. But imagine if every Christian in the world were living as a little Christ. Such provenance is not just a passionate transforming experience for the Christian; it’s also a tantalizing expression of the gospel to the outside world. Starbucks opens stores on the opposite street corners because of the draw of passion and authentic experience. But what is the draw of Christian faith if that faith is not practiced and experienced?”—Leonard Sweet, The Gospel According to Starbucks, 2007

 Leonard Sweet's Rapture Story

"Growing up as a kid, we were pre-Trib. So every night I prayed, “Now I lay me down to sleep I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If He should come before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” That was my prayer. His coming was more real to me than anything else. “Come Jesus,” was how we ended off our family prayer in the evening. So we were talking about His return any minute to save us from what was coming.

I was the oldest, two younger brothers, all year apart. When I got home from school, my mother was not there and my brothers would dribble in after me. That was really a concern when she wasn't there if there was no note. We knew when Jesus came back he would take mother.  I was uncertain whether I would go or not.  I knew my brothers were not going 'cause I knew things about them.

If it became over 20 minutes that mother wasn't there and I didn’t know where she was, I began to panic. I could give it 30 minutes, but I had to have some relief 'cause I would really break out in a sweat.  The problem was I wasn't sure about my father if he was going. My mother didn't know this but he went to some movies, and we couldn't go to movies in our tribe. And so I wasn’t sure dad was going and did not want you to call him at work. Mother always took care of Dad. And if mother had gone up in the cloud and we were left, I figured I had figured I had to take care of Dad too because I was the oldest. And I knew it take care my brother.  So I was really sweating!

I had one friend that I could call 663-0180. We had to use those old rotary phones and so it took a long while.  Her name was Ruth and when she answered the phone, I hung up. ‘Cause I knew Ruth was going. I knew Ruth was going. So I've always had a tender spot in my heart for hang ups. You never know why people may be calling and hanging up on you.

But if she didn't answer and I couldn’t get anybody there, it was it was just paralyzing. One time I waited about an hour, mother hadn’t come home. I was having to take care of my brothers.  I figured, OK, it come. I'm gonna have to be responsible here. I had saved $14.00 my brothers and I had earned from doing some revivals with my mother. It was for a new suit. I figured, OK,  it's time to take it as seriously.  Jesus came back and I've been left. I'm going to have to start taking care of the family. So me and my brothers walked down to the corner store at the bottom of the hill. I bought some food for the dogs and of course the food I thought to buy were chocolate chip cookies. The dogs would like that, right? So I got dog food which was really snacks for us. When Mom finally got home, she was not happy with my spending the whole $14.00 on basically snacks that I justified, Well, somebody’s got take care of the dogs. The dogs have to eat something.

This was the highly charged atmosphere I grew up in."

transcribed from "Are You Rapture Ready?" YouTube video at https://youtu.be/osSqcFQXcEE

Korean Christmas carol promotion draws ire from Buddhists

Leonard Sweet commented on this news story saying, "I love that idea of Christmas Carols as deadly weapons. The New Testament, T.N.T, the story of Jesus's birth is the greatest stick of dynamite, blows your past into smithereens and starts a whole new life, and create a whole new world. It is a deadly weapon for that which oppresses us and suppresses us and keeps us from lifting up our eyes and looking up." https://youtu.be/QTltWCz0yU4

A state-sponsored campaign to promote Christmas carols as a way of stimulating festive spirit among South Koreans has triggered a strong backlash from Buddhist groups in the East Asian nation.

The criticism came as the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism paired up with Seoul Catholic Archdiocese, the National Council of Churches in Korea and the United Christian Churches of Korea as well as music services providers to promote Christmas carols throughout December.

The ministry has reportedly allocated a budget of 1 billion won (US$850,000) for the campaign to encourage public gathering places such as coffee shops, restaurants and retail outlets to play more Christmas carols, reported the Korea Times.

Popular South Korean radio stations including KBS, MBC and SBS will play more Christmas carols than before, while music service providers will distribute free coupons so that more people can enjoy festive songs.

The Korea Music Copyright Association is also providing 22 popular carols for free on its website.

Aggrieved over the campaign, the Association of Korean Buddhist Orders announced on Dec. 2 that it had filed a lawsuit for an injunction to stop the government using its budget for the carol campaign.

If the songs, which some people are uncomfortable about, are played continuously through the media, it turns into a deadly weapon

Earlier, on Dec. 1, South Korea’s largest Buddhist sect, the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, issued a statement to express shock at the government’s official promotion of Christmas carols.

"The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which should be fair and impartial in policies regarding religion, is leading a Christian missionary project on the pretense of comforting people," the group said.

"If the songs, which some people are uncomfortable about, are played continuously through the media, it turns into a deadly weapon, and is nothing more than pollution for those people." 

Christmas carols have become less visible in public places in South Korea in recent times, mostly for economic reasons, the Korea Times report noted.

Under South Korea’s copyright law, some businesses such as coffee shops, gyms, retail outlets and department stores are subject to paying royalties if their shop area is 50 square meters or more. Fees for musical services are also rising.

Media reports say many Koreans complain that amid the gradual disappearance of Christmas carols from public places “Christmas doesn't feel like Christmas anymore.”

In response to Buddhist opposition, the Culture Ministry said it was not supporting a specific religion but intends to promote festive spirit during the year-end season.

About 56 percent of an estimated 58 million South Koreans have no religion, 20 percent are Protestant, 8 percent are Catholic and 15.5 percent are Buddhist, according to government records.

South Korean President Timothy Moon Jae-in is the second Catholic head of state after Kim Dae-jung.

 from UCA News  Korean Christmas carol promotion draws ire from Buddhists - UCA News

“The comfort of the Holy Spirit is often like a kick up the backside!”

The above section of the Bayeux Tapestry shows Bishop Odo, who had come across with the Norman forces to England with their invasion fleet. Above him it says, in Latin, Bishop Odo comforts the troops! Look closely and you will see his comfort it a raised mace about to strike his own forces. What happened in the battle of Hastings was that Harold’s English forces had the higher ground and used that advantage for all it was worth. The Norman’s were famed for their cavalry and so William sent the cavalry forth to try and gain an advantage, and turn the tide of the battle. To his dismay the cavalry were forced back and began to run back down the hill away from the English. Now enter Bishop Odo into the story. On seeing the Norman Cavalry retreat he charges forward on his horse and uses his Bishop’s mace to force the cavalry back up the hill by striking the horses rumps with that mace! His actions worked and the next cavalry charge alongside a volley of arrows from the archers started to win the day and bring about the ultimate victory for the Normans. Its a spectacular image and shows a different idea of “comfort” to that which we are used to. We often think of that term as a nice soft place to fall, or a soft, smooth material. Not a smack on the rump by a blunt heavy object!

This story was relayed to me from a pulpit in 1992 by a vicar who was announcing to the congregation that after many years he was about to move on. He told them that whilst he could stay in the parish, where he indeed felt in his comfort zone, the Holy Spirit’s comfort, much like the mace of Bishop Odo, had kicked him up the backside and forced him to realise it was time to move on. He then pointed to the bible to emphasise that this was often how the Holy Spirit works. In Psalm 23 the psalmist writes “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and you staff, they comfort me.” (Psalm 23 v4). Think about a rod and a staff and you will realise that these are not cosy cushions or soft things, they are rugged and hard and used to push animals around and prod them when they go the wrong way. So can be the comfort of the Holy Spirit.

At the same time as the vicar was telling us that the Holy Spirit prompting him to move, almost against his will, so I was being prompted to act too. For about 6 months God had been prompting me to respond to my call to the priesthood. A call I kept acknowledging and then ignoring thinking “if this is of God then this will have to happen…” and as soon as that did happen (whatever obstacle or experience I was wanting to happen) then I’d put up another barrier. In fact after hearing this sermon and knowing God was speaking to me to act, I sat on things for a further 4 months. But the Holy Spirit would not let me go, His comfort left me very uncomfortable as if a Bishop’s mace or a shepherds crook was bashing into me! Those images have never left me and I have often felt promptings that are like that when I have been too stuck in my ways or in what I am doing.

So, as we await the feast of Pentecost let us be attentive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, let us strive to hear what God is saying to us, where he want’s us to be or go or to do. Be sure that if we ignore Him he will let us know in no uncertain terms. Let us find no rest until we find our rest in God.

from “The comfort of the Holy Spirit is often like a kick up the backside!” – Site Title (wordpress.com)
by caterwaulingcanon
I am the Vicar of Frodingham and New Brumby in Scunthorpe. All things I blog about are my own opinions and thoughts. View more posts

D.L. Moody ~ From “The Prodigal Son” in The Gospel Awakening

There was a young man went off to California, and he left a kind, praying father. He went to the Pacific coast; and the first letter to his father brought the tidings that he was in bad company. The next letter told he had gone on from bad to worse; and every time he heard from that dear boy he heard how he was going on in sin. At last one of the neighbors was going out to California, and the father said to him: “When you get there hunt up my boy, and tell him one thing—that his father loves him still. Tell him my love is unchanged. Tell him I never loved him more than I do at the present time; and if he will come home, I will forgive him all.” The man, when he got to California, had hard work to find the boy; but one night, past midnight, he found him in one of the lowest dens in California. He got him out, and he said to him: “I have news from home for you. I have come from New England, and just before I left I met your father; and he told me, if I found you, to tell you that he loved you as much as ever, and he wants you to come home.” The young prodigal said: “Did my father tell you to tell me he loved me still? I do not understand that.” “But,” says the man, “it is true.” That broke the man’s heart, and he started back to his father. I bring the message to you that God loves you still. I say to every sinner in Philadelphia, I do not care how vile you are in the sight of your fellowmen, I want to tell you upon the authority of God’s word, that the Lord Jesus loves you, and loves you still.

William McPherson--the man who read the Bible with his tongue

   I. How much do you value a Bible?

      A. This man made an effort.

William McPherson was severely injured when a charge of dynamite exploded in front of his face. Although he survived the blast, he lost both hands, both eyes, and the feeling in parts of his face. He was a new Christian and he realized how much the Bible meant to him. He needed its strength now more than ever, but he couldn't read it. William heard that a woman in Britain had learned to read Braille with her lips, so he ordered portions of the Bible in Braille. When it arrived, he was dismayed to discover that the explosion had deadened the nerves in his lips so that no sense of touch remained. But then he found his tongue was able to feel the raised dots. Although the metal left his lips and tongue bleeding and very sore, he prayed to God to help him continue to learn just one letter of the alphabet.  A teacher was able to help him learn the Moon Type system of Braille, which uses simplified figures instead of dots. In the 65 years that followed, this Kansas City man read the Bible through four times with his tongue. How much effort do you put into reading God's Word?

from Holwick's 1500+ Sermon Archive

The Problem: Jeff's Story - quoted from Robert Marshall's dissertation

Jeff, a neighbor, responded to the invitation to attend church with a resounding, “Not only NO, but…” His wife, Pat, interrupted his outburst by loudly clearing her throat. Jeff continued in a calmer voice. “I attended that church for nearly three years. I liked the worship services. I could understand the pastor. His sermons challenged me. Often he’d say, at the end of the service, ‘Many of you will walk out those doors of amnesia at the back of the church. I call them doors of amnesia because many of you will forget just about everything that I have said this morning. Your lives will not be any more conformed to Jesus’ teaching this coming week than they were last week.’” Jeff continued, “I emailed him one time about that statement. I complimented him on his boldness and asked why he didn’t do something about those ‘amnesia doors’? His assistant emailed back and recommended we join a Life Group.” 

“We tried belonging. We really tried. We needed something. We were transplants. Family and friends, the church we both grew up in, were all back East. We were lonely. And honestly, our marriage was gruesome. But most of the groups we wanted to join were closed to newcomers or focused on subjects we were not interested in. In our desperation, we did get involved with one group for a while. What a waste of time! Truthfully, Pat and I got really good at ‘faking it,’ you know, being dishonest. Even though we were fighting all the time, at our group meetings we acted like things were sunny. To me, it felt like that’s what our group expected of its members. No one there seemed to have any problems. I sure was not going to be the only one with a problem. Yes, they all talked about honesty and accountability and transparency, but I never saw it. Anyway, we never felt like we fit into either that group or the church.” 

“You know what helped the most? My VFW. I felt welcomed. I felt like I belonged. They didn’t judge me because I was from another part of the country or that our marriage was falling apart. They were honest with me and expected the same. My VFW buddies would not let me wear my ‘saint’ disguise. If not for them, Pat and I would be divorced. Do you know how comforting it is when someone asks how you are doing and you don’t have to mentally evaluate your response through some church language filter? Isn’t it sad! You go to church and lie so others think you’ve got your act together. Do you remember the story of the flea that eventually limited his jumping height because of the glass lid on the container he was in? After hitting his head so often he quit jumping so high. That church and the small group made me feel like that flea. No, I don’t want anything to do with that church or any church.”

from dissertation "Spiritual Renovation through Accountability: A Contemporary Look at John Wesley's Class Meeting and his Admonition to Watch over one Another in Love" by Robert Marshall, George Fox University

Orphans in India

Sonali, 14 year old, caretaker to younger siblings. She cooks for them, feeds them, and rocks them to sleep as her mother would.

“My mother kept us safe like an umbrella does, from the heat and rain of life,” said Sonali, holding back tears. “I imagine her being close to me. That’s what keeps me going.”

Sonali and her siblings are among more than 3,000 Indian children who have been orphaned during the pandemic, according to state governments.

They had come to deliver an “orphan pension” to the children, enough money to last for the summer. Bank accounts were opened in their names. The officials dropped off large bags of rice. 

Saucer-eyed, Sonali listened carefully as they rattled off a list of instructions for using her bank account. Her siblings — Jagabalia, 8, and Bhabana, 5 — looked on listlessly, clutching their sister’s blue dress.

By Suhasini Raj, New York Times, July 10, 2021

Real Confession

There is a big difference between saying, “I’m sorry if I hurt you,” and saying, “I’m sorry I hurt you. I realize now that it was my insecurity that produced such bad behavior. I have really prayed about this, and I believe God is showing me how I can avoid doing that again. Will you forgive me?” Confession at this level is so countercultural for so many reasons that it is hard to know how to begin to talk about it; however, to stop short of confession is to stop short of the deepest levels of transformation.

Barton, R.Ruth. Sacred Rhythms : Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation. IVP Books, 2006.

For Love

 I once knew a woman . . . she asked her son to shine her shoes

She put a quarter in each one . . . cause she thought that was his due

But he returned the money . . . and when she asked him why that was

He said, “Mom, I’m old enough to know by now . . .

You just do some things  . . . for love”

 

song lyrics “You Give it All Your Heart” by Bill Mallonee

Prayer of Self-emptying

The story is told of a learned professor who went to visit an old monk who was famous for his wisdom. The monk graciously welcomed him into his temple and offered him a seat on a cushion. No sooner had the professor sat down than he launched into a long, wordy account of his own accomplishments, his own knowledge, his own theories and opinions. The monk listened quietly for awhile and then asked politely, “Would you like some tea?” 

The professor nodded, smiled and kept right on talking. The monk handed him a teacup and began pouring tea from a large pot. The tea rose to the brim of the cup, but the monk kept right on pouring while the professor kept right on talking. Finally the professor noticed what was going on, leaped to his feet and demanded, “What are you doing? Can’t you see that the cup is overflowing?” To which the monk replied, “This cup is like your mind. It can’t take in anything new because it’s already full.”

Eventually, when we stop the flow of our own words, another gift comes to us, quietly and imperceptibly at first: we find ourselves resting in prayer. Rather than working so hard to put everything into words, we rest from the noise and stimulation that are so characteristic of life in our culture. We rest our overactive, hardworking mind from the need to put everything into words. We rest from clinging, grasping and trying to figure everything out. The soul returns to its most natural state in God. In returning and rest you will be saved.

Barton, R.Ruth. Sacred Rhythms : Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation. IVP Books, 2006.

In Solitude We Allow God to Help Us

 It reminds me of a story about a priest who observed a woman sitting in the empty church with her head in her hands. An hour passed, then two. She was still there. Judging her to be a soul in distress and eager to be of assistance, at last the priest approached the woman and said, “Is there any way I can be of help?” “No thank you, Father,” she said, “I’ve been getting all the help I need until you interrupted!” In solitude we allow God to help us.

Barton, R.Ruth. Sacred Rhythms : Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation. IVP Books, 2006.

Father God

 I read about a small boy who was consistently late coming home from school. His parents warned him one day that he must be home on time that afternoon, but nevertheless he arrived later than ever. His mother met him at the door and said nothing.

At dinner that night, the boy looked at his plate. There was a slice of bread and a glass of water. He looked at his father’s full plate and then at his father, but his father remained silent. The boy was crushed.

The father waited for the full impact to sink in, then quietly took the boy’s plate and placed it in front of himself. He took his own plate of meat and potatoes, put it in front of the boy, and smiled at his son. When that boy grew to be a man, he said, “All my life I’ve known what God is like by what my father did that night.”

J. Allan Peterson

https://bible.org/illustration/father-god

Love Without Coercion

 My wife and I waited 15 years for a child that never came by the natural way. However we were approached one day with a lead of a child not yet born. I remember standing in front of the judge on our day of adoption. He pointed his finger and asked of me, “Is anyone coercing you to adopt this little boy?” After we had assured him that we were doing so out of love for our son, he made this statement. “From today on, he is your son. He may disappoint you, even grieve you but he is your son. Everything you own one day will be his and he will bear your name.” Then he looked to the clerk and gave this command. “So order a change in this child’s birth certificate and may it reflect that these are the parents of this child.”

It was then that I realized that my Heavenly Father loved me so much that, without coercion, He loved me and gave His all to me. On that day, He changed my name and I gladly bear His name and His image.

Gerald Penix

https://bible.org/illustration/love-without-coercion

Van Wreck

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/national/2021/06/23/its-a-family-wreck-shatters-lifes-work-at-girls-home/

'It's a family': Wreck shatters life's work at girls' home

The Alabama Sheriff's Girls Ranch CEO Michael Smith talks to CNN Sunday, June 20, 2021, in Camp Hill, Ala. Smith was discussing the loss of eight children, a number of whom attended the ranch, in an accident on Interstate 65 Saturday, June 19, 2021, during severe weather that blanketed Alabama and caused major flooding. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt)

Copyright 2021, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

CAMP HILL, Ala. – Caring for abused and neglected girls is Candice Gulley’s life work, and that's what she was doing when she helped load vans from an Alabama children’s home for a trip to the beach. The kids walked on the sand, ate seafood and threw an early, dinosaur-themed fourth birthday party for her son, Ben, during a week on the coast.

With Gulley behind the wheel of a van headed back to the home as Tropical Storm Claudette blew through the South, the trip ended in a cataclysmic crash. The van was caught in a chain-reaction wreck on a rain-slick interstate that involved 17 vehicles, seven of which caught fire — some reduced to twisted, burned-out hulks. Two of Gulley's own children and two nephews were among the 10 dead.

The lone survivor in her van, Gulley was recovering from her physical injuries Tuesday, which would have been Ben’s birthday. One relative made an appeal on social media for people to pray for Gulley; another posted a video of the little boy as a tribute.

Gulley said last month that she had a tough childhood which left her “clinging to God” after her father's suicide when she was just 8, but the added emotional trauma of the crash is hard to fathom.

Social work is a notoriously tough job, but Gulley relished the challenge at the Tallapoosa County Girls Ranch, a Christian-based group home where she and her husband, Tommy, began working and living a decade ago after years in youth ministry in Mobile, their hometown.

“They are like my second parents,” former ranch resident Therese Meshall Crawford said Wednesday of the couple, who were her house parents a decade ago. “The best way to explain Candice and Tommy is they are the most open-hearted people ever. Candice, she will do anything for you."

Crawford, 26, said she knew the Gulley's two children who were killed in the crash for much of their lives.

“It broke my heart. I cried for hours. I still cry, " Crawford, now a mother herself and an aspiring nurse.

Gulley has a “God-given ability to relate to children in a positive way,” said Jerry Ferguson, a pastor who worked with the ranches for 30 years and hired the Gulleys as house parents.

“She was genuine. She had the ability to relate to children at their level, that was very important," Ferguson said

Often known as “mom and pop” to the girls, the couple would play games with their charges, take them on trips and horse rides, all while pushing them to excel in school and showing unconditional love and support, he recalled. For some of the girls, he said, it was the first taste of a supportive family life.

"Lots of our kids were in situations where the people who were supposed to love them the most did the most harm to them,” Ferguson said.

In a Facebook live interview in May, Gulley described both her own life and the ranch, which she said is different from other foster care operations.

"Really, I think what sets us apart is it’s a family. Kids come and they go, but once they set roots down at the ranch, we’re your family,” Gulley said. In a way, the beach trip was like a family vacation: girls from troubled homes who often come to consider one another sisters traveling with stand-in parents.

The wreck killed Gulley’s 16-year-old daughter, Isabella, and 3-year-old Ben. Her two nephews, 12-year-old Josiah Dunnavant and 8-year-old Nicholas Dunnavant, who lived near Mobile, also were killed.

"They were just all sweet loving children,” Candice Gulley's aunt, Desiree Bishop, told FOX10.

“It’s a high price to pay. It just comes in waves of grief, just waves of grief,” she said.

Authorities haven’t said what caused the wreck, which also killed four ranch residents who’ve not been publicly identified, as well as Cody Fox of Tennessee and his 9-month-old daughter, Ariana. But witnesses said the road was wet because of Claudette, and authorities said vehicles may have hydroplaned.

Someone pulled Gulley out of the wreckage on Interstate 65, but no one else in the van could be saved. She was hospitalized afterward.

Gulley, who has five children including a daughter adopted from the ranch, took over as director in 2019 after her predecessor departed for another position. She’d previously worked as a house parent, serving as a fill-in mom and mentor to girls who arrived at the home because of abandonment, abuse or neglect.

Sometimes families are too broke to care for a child; other times a girl must be removed from her home because of drug abuse by parents, said Michael Smith, chief executive of Alabama Youth Homes. But Gulley is there for them all, helping teach the importance of well-done chores and finished schoolwork while sharing her own steadying faith in God.

As director, she oversees ranch management, staff and helps with fundraising.

“We create an environment that has structure, that has stability,” she said in the Facebook interview.

After missing out on events including annual beach trips because of the pandemic, the girls and ranch workers looked forward to the break at the coast, Smith said. They all packed into two vans and loaded a trailer with suitcases for the trip to Gulf Shores, where Smith said he met the group for lunch four days before the crash.

“They get to pick the place they want to go out eat,” he said. “We had a really good time. The girls had a ball.”

The crash sent shockwaves through Camp Hill and Reeltown, the rural communities closest to the home located on a two-lane road about 60 miles (97 kilometers) northeast of Montgomery.

Terrie Webster, who works at a store near the ranch, said a woman she knows who works as a house parent at the home would have been on the van if not for a late change of plans. Webster said she can't begin to understand the pain caused by the wreck.

“It’s awful. I can’t even imagine,” Webster said.

Tallapoosa County Sheriff Jimmy Abbett, who worked with Gulley over her nearly 11 years at the ranch, said Gulley always worries about her girls and their accomplishments are her proudest moments.

“Words can’t express what she is going through,” he said. “Knowing Candice like I do, she is worried about the girls and the ranch, too.”

___

Chandler reported from Montgomery, Alabama.

Power of the Appointment Book

“Early in my ministry I discovered the power of the appointment book for setting apart time for our family. If a church committee proposed meeting on a given night, or if someone called asking if they could see me at a certain time, I would say, 'Let me check my appointment book.' After doing so, if I simply said, 'I’m sorry, we can’t meet then; I already have an appointment,' they accepted it without question. It was as if what was in my appointment book was sacrosanct, something they dared not question or intrude upon. Having learned about the power of the appointment book (for you it may be a Palm Pilot), I began to use it to my advantage by writing down regular appointments with my family in it. This simple practice helped me protect my time with the family and make it a priority.”

quotation from p.51 Ministry in the image of God : the trinitarian shape of Christian service / by Seamands, Stephen A., 1949-

You Are Only Truly You in Relationship to Others

"But make no mistake. Moving churches in the West toward a trinitarian model of church life will involve a major paradigm shift away from our pervasive individualistic ways of thinking. Many Christians have bought into the cultural notion that religion is an individual, private matter and assume they can believe without belonging. We have to say to them, 'When you believed in Christ, whether you were aware of it or not, you entered into the fellowship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and  the fellowship of every other Christian who is a part of that triune fellowship. Now you belong to everyone else who belongs. Your faith may be individual, but it’s not personal except in relationship. In fact, you are only truly you in relationship to others.' When we insist they are connected and call them to concrete relationships and practices that reflect their connectedness, we should expect resistance. Though people long for community, many are unwilling to count the cost necessary for it."

quotation from p.39-40 Ministry in the image of God : the trinitarian shape of Christian service / by Seamands, Stephen A., 1949-

Come to the Edge

“Come to the edge,” Jesus said. 

“No,” I said, “I’m afraid.” 

“Come to the edge,” he said. 

“No,” I said, “I’m afraid. 

“Come to the edge,” Jesus said. 

So I came to the edge, and he pushed me. 

And together, we flew!

quoted in Ministry in the image of God : the trinitarian shape of Christian service / by Seamands, Stephen A., 1949-

Wesley Outside of His Comfort Zone

quotation from Ministry in the image of God : the trinitarian shape of Christian service / by Seamands, Stephen A., 1949-

Soon he was preaching in the open air all over England. And that’s what [John Wesley] did for the next fifty years, traveling some 225,000 miles on horseback, preaching 40,000 sermons, winning perhaps as many as 144,000 converts and establishing a vast network of Methodist societies within the Anglican Church. Yet . . .[he] never became fully comfortable with field preaching. As late as 1772 he admitted, “To this day field preaching is a cross to me.”

Be Not Frogs, but Become "Retoold Lizards"

Quotation from p. 169 in Ministry in the image of God : the trinitarian shape of Christian service / by Seamands, Stephen A., 1949-  

In 1989, at the Lausanne II Congress on World Evangelization in Manila, Lee Yih, a businessman from Hong Kong, contrasted how frogs and lizards acquire food. “The frog just sits and waits and lets the food come to him. As soon as an insect gets close enough, all a frog has to do is stick out its tongue and get it. If a lizard behaved in the same way, it would soon starve. It can’t afford to sit and wait. It has to go out into the world where the food can be found and hunt.” Yih went on to suggest that many full-time Christian workers are like frogs. They go off to Bible school or seminary, get a degree, become a pastor or join a staff at a church, and they expect that somehow the people around them will know that they are in the business of meeting spiritual needs. Soon their froglike habit of waiting for others to come to them becomes deeply ingrained. 

Several years ago, guest lecturer Donna Hailson challenged the students at our seminary not to allow this to happen to them: “We can’t just sit in our cozy little God boxes waiting for the world to beat a path to our doors,” she insisted. “To reach the world, the Church has to break out of walls, go out of doors and lead people to the path—the narrow path that leads to life.” Given the increasingly post-Christian environment of North America, she challenged those whose training and experience have taught them to be ministerial frogs to become “retooled lizards.”

‘Melted Ice Cream’ Grace

OBSERVATION FROM A SEMINARY STUDENT

(By Dr. Bill Bouknight - 2012, Confessing Movement Newsletter)

Recently I had the privilege of speaking at a United Methodist seminary. My subject was: “Five Truths about Evangelism that I wish I had learned in Seminary.” Those five truths are the following:

• All people can be divided into two categories: lost and found, and some of the lost are in every congregation.

• The Word of God is the only real authority we have.

• Until a person faces his sin, he/she cannot really comprehend or receive the grace of God.

• The Gospel always has a cross at its center.

• A Bible-based, Spirit-filled sermon has enormous, mysterious power.

A few days later I received a letter from a seminary student who was in that audience. Here are a few of his comments:

“I regret to say that today was the first time in my seminary experience that words like ‘sin,’ ‘Hell,’ and ‘the lost’ have been employed. As a consequence, I think we have celebrated grace that a favorite pastor of mine termed ‘melted ice cream.’

In short, today was the first time since I have been at seminary that the Gospel of Christ was acknowledged unapologetically, and for that I am most grateful.”

I am curious if other seminary students at United Methodist seminaries are having similar experiences. Are you being taught the cross-centered Gospel or some other version? John Wesley listed the following as essential doctrines of the Christian faith: original sin, the atonement of Christ, justification by faith, the Holy Spirit, the new birth, Christian assurance, and holiness. Are you being taught those doctrines? Please email your reaction to me at bgbouknight@aol.com I promise to keep your names confidential.

To Join the Dance You Must Get Close

"The whole dance, or drama, or pattern of this three-Personal life is to be played out in each one of us; or (putting it the other way round) each one of us has got to enter that pattern, take his place in the dance. Good things as well as bad, you know, are caught by a kind of infection. If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire; if you want to be wet you must get into the water. If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them. If you are close to it, the spray will wet you: if you are not, you will remain dry."

C.S. Lewis

as quoted in Ministry in the image of God : the trinitarian shape of Christian service / by Seamands, Stephen A., 1949-

Who Did God Love before Creation?

"All sorts of people are fond of repeating the Christian statement that “God is love.” But they seem not to notice that the words “God is love” have no real meaning unless God contains at least two Persons. Love is something that one person has for another person. If God was a single person, then before the world was made, He was not love. [Christians] believe that the living, dynamic activity of love has been going on in God forever and has created everything else."

C.S. Lewis

quoted in Ministry in the image of God : the trinitarian shape of Christian service /  by Seamands, Stephen A., 1949-

God's Indwelling

"The whole of our consciousness is meant to be interpenetrated with the consciousness of His indwelling life and mind and will and love, even as the air in summer is transfused with sunshine." 

J. SIDLOW BAXTER

quoted in Ministry in the image of God : the trinitarian shape of Christian service / by Seamands, Stephen A., 1949-

Good Works in Secret

Robert E. Boertien (Oregon, USA) writes (in an Upper Room devotional):

"I volunteer with an organization that provides meals to people in need. One day when I delivered a meal to Tom, I noticed a repairman approaching the home next door.

I learned that Tom had secretly paid to have his neighbor’s broken hot water heater replaced, knowing they were unemployed, had young children, and had no funds to cover such a cost. I asked Tom why he didn’t tell the family about his generous act, and he replied, “Because I want the credit to go to the Lord, not me.”

Tom has a variety of health issues and lives with few amenities. He has a strong and abiding faith in Jesus Christ. For me, Tom’s kind act and humility are perfect examples of what it means to be a Christian."

November 30, 2020: https://www.upperroom.org/devotionals/en-2020-11-30