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Hysteria and putting the devil on notice
Posted 5 hours 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 11 hours 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 32 hours 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
sufficiency and blessedness
Posted 35 hours ago
Lord, your blessedness is sufficient and your sufficiency is blessed.
He is eternally giving; we are but receivers. To say he is eternally self-emptying is to say he always gives.
What does he give? Love. It is the only thing he has to give but it is everything. It must be love because love empties itself for the sake of another. Because it is love he gives, it is also eternal happiness. It is not temporal happiness. It could not be, because his happiness springs from his eternal nature. This lasting happiness is better called joy, but it may also be called blessedness.
God’s blessedness is like a river. It is forever flowing, forever emptying, but never running out. It is not shallow; it is deep. It is not narrow; it is wide. It is long and life-giving. This is God’s blessedness and it is enough.
God himself is enough. Teresa de Avila says, “Whom God possesses in nothing is wanting. Alone God suffices.” He is able to forgive every time you sin. He is able to provide for you. He sees you when no one else sees you. He can give you strength when you feel like giving up. He can give you wisdom when you just don’t know. He is sufficient.
You don’t have to worry now, because he is sufficient. To lay down worry is to pick up joy. To see first-hand that God is sufficient is to be glad again.
His glad giving is enough for you and his ability to ...
Drama, Drama, Drama
Posted 44 hours ago
50th Woking Drama Festival 2008, originally uploaded by PTMoore.I am ready for a break from drama. Understand, I am married to a thespian (and in our son he has a mini-me) so drama comes daily.
But oh, the drama that comes with ministry; I am ready for a break.
The drama that comes from people saying things they shouldn't.
The drama that comes from people not saying things they should.
Snits, spats, snarks, snides, suspicions.
When the buck stops with you, you are a drama magnet. Everyone's drama,uniquely theirs, becomes collectively yours.
Zipadeedodah!
Hero
Posted 2 days ago
.flickr-caption { font-size: 0.9em; color:#666; margin-top: 0px; } 
Photo by Jeffrey Beall.
I set down the suitcase and took the envelope out of my back pocket. On the front was handwritten, "Room #526."
I was studying the arrow signs pointing down two long carpeted hallways when April and Alleke rolled up next to me with their suitcases.
"Oh no," April said.
"What?" I asked.
"They have a pool," April said, underlining the word piscina on the sign with her finger.
"Isn't that a good thing?" I asked, nodding at Alleke.
April sighed. "I forgot our swimming suits," she said.
Alleke, who had not heard a single word about a swimming pool until this point and had been elated about spending a weekend at "the hotel in Portugal," was now in ruins. She had just endured eight hours in a car confined to a car seat, and as tired as she was, her mom had given her the worst possible news a kid could suffer: the hotel had a pool, but she had no swimming suit.
April and I cringed as Alleke covered her face with her hands and her shoulders shook as she wept quietly.
I couldn't bear to see Alleke so disappointed, and as her father, at times like this I felt the incredible need to be her hero. Especially in situations where Alleke thought all hope was lost and she was ready to give up, I had to find a way to make the impossible possible.
"We'll find you a swimming suit," I said to Alleke. And so ...
tears of joy
Posted 2 days ago
Lord, thank you for changing my tears; once they were wrung from a heart broken and self-tormenting, but now they flow from a heart exulting.
Either way, there shall be tears. Sadness and mourning shall flee away, but tears will not utterly vanish. In God, there shall be joy; therefore, there shall be tears of joy.
And, yes: he will wipe our tears from our eyes but that does not mean our eyes shall stop their tears altogether; it only means he will eternally wipe them when they come in eternity. He is, after all, the Eternal One; and we are, after all, destined for eternity.
Full worship shall be our business for all eternity. Day and night, the refrain shall ring: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.” We will lay our crowns at his feet and say, “You are worthy. You are worthy to break the seal of the scroll. No one else was able to do it, but You were. Worthy is the lamb that was slain.” These shall be our songs. I do not see how we could sing such words without weeping. Yes, there shall be weeping.
The chief difference between our experience of eternity in the present and our experience of eternity in the after-life is that in the after-life we will not be ashamed or embarrassed to weep. Here, weeping is stigmatized. Perhaps it has acquired this stigma because weeping puts one in a position of vulnerability ...
the pressed honeycomb
Posted 3 days ago
You are my honeycomb; when you were pressed, rich and joyous drops were distilled.
On the threshold of his arrest, Jesus went to a garden to pray. His disciples went with him. Once he got there, he asked three special friends to keep vigil with him. They had just shared a meal, a big meal. They were exhausted. It was late. His friends fell asleep.
Jesus was too anguished to sleep. In fact, he was filled with such stress that his sweat became like drops of blood. His life was literally draining right out of him.
The place was called Gethsemane Garden. “Gethsemane” means “olive press”. This was a place where olives were pressed to make oil.
The text that relates the story of this night-watch, tells us that Jesus was literally “surrounded by” grief and his soul was “pressed upon” by grief. Just as the olives, when pressed, produced drops of oil, so the Anointed One produced drops of life when pressed.
As he hung on the cross, he began to thirst. They gave him some drops of wine vinegar, a sour substance.
When we taste Jesus by faith, his oil and blood-wine do not taste strong and bitter. They are like honey from a honeycomb, sweet to our soul. What could brighten one’s spirits more than a second chance at life? Sweet, sweet mercy; rich, thick forgiveness.
God leads us to a land that has vines, olive oil and honey. -Deuteronomy 8:8 
Love on a plate
Posted 4 days ago
Fried Egg, originally uploaded by hypomaniq.
In an attempt to eat less carbs, most mornings we eat eggs. Troy makes awesome fried eggs, without fail and without complaint.
That's love!
freed by God's goodness
Posted 4 days ago
Lord, you delight rather to free by your goodness those whom by justice you were able to condemn—-thank you.
Cur Deus Homo? “Why did God become Man?” This great theological question was first asked in Latin. That shows how old it is. :-)
In the second century, Irenaeus considered this question. He said God became Man to defeat the devil. We looked at that earlier. (See the “Second Adam” prayer and its accompanying thoughts if you’d like to refresh your memory.)
About 950 years after that, Anselm agreed with this and added another idea when he wrote a treatise called Cur Deus Homo? He explained that God became Man because he is both just and merciful. God, in his justice, pronounced a death penalty over sin. Before we think this too harsh, however, remember this penalty is only natural: death is the only thing evil can produce since evil is never found in the God of life. God, also in his justice, required that the offenders themselves pay this penalty. It’s a hopeless situation.
But God, in his mercy, saw that the trespassers were unable to pay the penalty because the debt was infinite and humans are finite. So, God, in his mercy became one of us. Now that God was Man, the only one who could pay the debt (because he is infinite) became the only one who should pay the debt (because humans owed it).
When God became Man, God satisfied both his justice and his mercy with one act. ...
