10 recent blog posts
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grace before you, mercy behind you
Posted 6 hours ago
Go before me with your grace; follow me with your mercy.
Grace heals the paralytic.
GRACE: Pick up your mat and walk.
YOU: But I’ve never walked before.
GRACE: It doesn’t matter. You can now. Besides, even if you stumble, there is no failure I cannot ennoble. I dignify indecency, impropriety, foolishness and all manner of crudeness, rascality, and recklessness. I can redeem anyone whether scoundrel, pirate, or paralytic. Now just walk and don’t worry about how you look, heel-toe or toe-heel; put your feet on the ground and take your first step because there’s a magnificent place I want to show you.
Sometime later, the paralytic can be found walking towards her goal. She’s about 1/100th of the way there. Still a long way to go; she’s only just begun. And she trips over a pornographic magazine. She picks it up and wastes a bunch of time. While looking at it, she doesn’t realize she’s gotten turned around in the road. She starts walking the other way. Still looking at it, she bumps into someone. She looks up and sees another face. It’s Mercy, Grace’s fraternal twin brother. He says, “What are you doing?”
You stammer. He knows what you’re doing. You cry. You realize you’ve gotten turned around. You plead forgiveness. He grants it. Mercy puts you right. And Grace calls to you again.
You continue on the road. Later, you will be tempted to buy a car, hoping there’s a shortcut to get you there faster; but Grace reminds you: this is only ...
lambs just bleat
Posted 30 hours ago
We pray more by showing our need to the merciful shepherd than by any beseeching. Lord, see my need.
We get distracted by things we don’t need. We have many prayers to make, many requests. There seems to be very little time to bring to God all we’d like to say.
We often have to choose between praise, adoration, thanksgiving and supplication in our times of prayer. There is so little time to accomplish all four in one sitting.
Keeping a prayer journal doesn't seem to help, either. We maintain it for a season and then it ends up in the bottom of our sock drawer, somehow still collecting dust though covered in cotton. Maybe this is because we are left feeling like we’re composing the Book of Life in which millions of names are written in blood. There is no way to keep up with it all; we’re not God.
That’s right. You’re not God. He is. And he sees. And he is the author of simplicity. He thunk it, he did. Whew! Thank God. (“You’re welcome,” he replies.)
As the God of simplicity he would have you come to him with one thing, just one. What is it today? Do you need joy? Just ask, simply. Are you tired? Tell him; he’ll even let you fall asleep in the middle of telling him. Imagine that! Have you been misunderstood by someone? He knows and he understands; just bring him your need. Do you just want to sing a hymn that was dear ...
shout or kneel
Posted 2 days ago
I pray today with a loud voice for love is great; and I pray today on my knees for truth is simple.
Jesus’ last prayer on the cross was spoken with a loud voice: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”
Prayer needn’t always be loud, but nor should it always be quiet; there is a time for everything. Great acts of love correspond to great prayers and the greatest act of love corresponds to the greatest prayer. In such moments, loud voices seem fitting; even nature prays at varied levels.
Understood rightly, God’s love has the power to knock you flat on your back, or drive you to your knees. Either way, it’s possible to find your voice by having your breath taken away.
This is just my imagination running wild, but I imagine that in heaven we’ll shout first and kneel later. The noise made by spectators at a sporting event witnessing the home team score the winning point within the closing 8 seconds of a championship game does not compare to the noise that shall fill heaven when the great throng is gathered before the throne shouting their lungs out for joy. Faces will be red with exuberance. When our voices have become hoarse, we will all stop and look at each other full-faced. Then we’ll know: it’s time to kneel and shut up. Maybe some will fall to their knees even before the shouting stops. Maybe they’ll be unable to stand. They will not kneel for propriety’s sake; ...
7 Quick Takes Friday #3
Posted 3 days ago
#1Lent has been a harder season for me this year than in the past 3 years. Being off facebook has made me feel disconnected in an uncomfortable way, not in a peaceful, quiet way. I think it probably has most to do with being in transition. I feel a bit aimless.
However, I know that the difficulty makes it worth it, so I am struggling to embrace the discomfort and using it to grow.
#2
That said, my friend and coworker Amy and I decided to keep each other accountable so that we could get on fb once a week during staff meeting for a short period of time. We actually use fb quite a bit for "work" (events being planned and held, new people at our church looking to get connected etc.) so this seemed like a good way to do it. #3More than once this week, as I read the news about yet another earthquake, I thought about Jesus saying this in Luke 21:
10-11He went on, "Nation will fight nation and ruler fight ruler, over and over. Huge earthquakes will occur in various places. There will be famines. You'll think at times that the very sky is falling. #4 We're having another cold wave. It was snowing a little bit on the way back from dropping the kids off at school this week. I am longing for spring; I need to do something in the way of exercise. It would be great to at least be able ...
the infinite poet makes poems of infinite variety
Posted 3 days ago
God, you created me and I became wretched,but you are merciful and I became your workmanship.
God is a poet. The prophets attest to this. We are his creation; therefore, we are his poems. The infinite poet makes poems of infinite variety. This means that life should never get boring. If it does, it is not the poet’s fault. It is because the critics have edited the poem with no mercy, stripping the poem of its original vitality. They think the poem is not good enough; that is a lie.
Poems become wretched pieces of art in the hands of too many critics. A poem should be regarded with silent respect and appreciated for its unique, intrinsic grace and beauty.
We have learned to critique and judge from the chief judger. His title is Accuser. The Accuser marred the mark of God in us. But God, in his mercy, is able to refashion his work of art into something even more beautiful than before. God has the authority to do this because he is, after all, the original author. He is more than our Maker, he is the great Re-maker.
When the apostle Paul reminds us that we are God’s workmanship, he used the word from which our word “poem” is derived. He goes on to remind us that God did not just randomly jot words on a page; no, he planned out the special message he wanted to say beforehand and arranged the phrases and rhymes in singular ways. He knows each ...
Holy Experience
Posted 4 days ago
I recently discovered a new blog that has been speaking to my heart so I thought I would share it with you. I have only begun to explore it, but I have been moved and inspired in many ways already. I hope you enjoy it too!
patience, simpleness and kindness
Posted 4 days ago
Grant me the solidity of patience, the purity of simpleness and the color of kindness.
Nothing can shake the person who is content to wait; they are immovable. Let us imitate the apostle Paul who learned the secret of contentment in any and every situation. Patience and contentment coincide. Since comparison is the death of contentment, don’t compare yourself to another; simply wait patiently for what God has in store for you. Rest assured, it is good.
Have you ever noticed how sin complicates things? If dishonesty is my sin, then I have to worry about covering my tracks. After awhile, I lose track of my tracks. Full-faced honesty is simpler and better, is it not? If lust is my sin, I get confused about where or to whom I should direct my affections and thoughts. Lust is oh-so-complicated. It is easier on my soul to recollect the simple, unadulterated love of One. If envy is my sin, my desires are scattered every-which-way. There will always be something more to envy, even if I acquire the object of my initial greed. It is easier on your soul to avoid that path in the first place. Purity is simple and simplicity is pure.
What color is kindness to you? To me, it is anything but drab. It feels warm and tastes sweet, but not too sweet. (Does color have a flavor? It does to me.) Kindness is a sincere, deep and authentic color. It is not a color that can be mixed by ...
Hysteria and putting the devil on notice
Posted 5 days ago
365days-day141-My Giggle Broke, originally uploaded by daradactyl.
Troy and I crawled into bed with our fleece Natura blankets like overtired toddlers who just wanted some comfort. As we processed everything we are dealing with right now, both in ministry, and in our own transition, we started to giggle helplessly. It all seemed just a bit ludicrous :) So we giggled a bit and then felt better.
"What if we waited too long for my green card and they won't let me in the country? I'll have to fly to Canada and wait there." More giggling.
"It's because Satan doesn't want us to finish well" I said. "He wants us to leave Madrid with our tails between our legs."
That made us both a little bit fiery.
So then, we are putting the devil on notice. He can darn well expect a lot of interference from us.
We will not go quietly into the night.
So there!
there will always be leftovers
Posted 5 days ago
God, let your super-abundance overflow and flood into my abundant ills.
Let us begin with his love, because his love was there for you before your beginning. And let us keep contemplating his love, for throughout the course of your life, come what may, his love endures. And when death comes, his love will conquer, for you will be raised. His love precedes your birth and exceeds your death. It is more abundant than the ills, physical or spiritual, that plague you.
Yes, my ills are many. We all have a form of consumption; our spiritual bodies have almost eaten themselves alive.
But the Healer is bread from heaven. Starvation will not have the final word. With but a little piece, he can feed you for a lifetime. 5,000 people were fed with just 5 loaves and there were 12 baskets leftover.
The apostle Paul was a murderer and he was forgiven. He speaks of God’s leftover love in his letter to the Ephesians. The leftovers appear there as the word “lavished”. God “lavished” his love on us. His forgiveness, his redemption, is lavish; it is overflowing, extravagant, over-the-top, super-abundant. There will always be leftovers.
He does not charge you for a small crust of toast; he buys you a bakery and gives you a lifetime supply of ingredients to boot. His gift is lavish and your contribution is nothing.
Whatever your ill, whatever your sin, do not fear; his grace easily blows it all away like a strong wind blows away light chaff. Have ...
Tether
Posted 6 days ago
TETHERED, originally uploaded by evankok.
Sometimes
When I lay me down to sleep
The buffeting winds
of the day
have me teetering
on the edge
Your arm,
strong around my waist
keeps me
from falling off
I grasp this tender tether
with clutching fingers
knowing that with you
holding on
I won't
fall off.
For Troy
