tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44336692158245396532024-03-05T08:41:38.880-08:00wonderWingsWhen we open ourselves to wonder, God can speak...gmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.comBlogger221125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433669215824539653.post-6292879250567808502016-11-03T08:10:00.001-07:002016-11-03T08:10:41.869-07:00test thisBlog recovery effortgmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433669215824539653.post-90807895449377426472012-11-27T16:34:00.000-08:002012-11-28T10:52:15.373-08:00Tis the Season!
In his recent blog entry, Steve Bell commented:
I certainly resonate with Randy's concern, but the inherent tension is precisely the point. Exactly what kind of King is it who, volunteering obscurity, condescends (with passion) to walk among the lowly, sharing their burdens and humiliations, and ultimately bearing them away in his own death? What gmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433669215824539653.post-24146151522672667342012-05-24T13:44:00.001-07:002012-05-24T13:53:50.949-07:00Jesus Mixed the MudJohn 9:14 (AMP)Now it was on the Sabbath day that Jesus mixed the mud and opened the man's eyes.I've often wondered why Jesus resorted to this mixing of mud to heal a man's sight. Jesus cures others without using devices like this. Verse 19 makes the point that it happened on the Sabbath and I think this is an important clue. Jesus seems to be adding emphasis to the fact that he is "doing work"gmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433669215824539653.post-11433575299778938002012-04-12T07:03:00.001-07:002012-04-12T07:08:03.807-07:00Doctrines or Love?We can choose to center our relationshipWith GodOn correct doctrines, or loveIf we focus on correct doctrinesWe will see nothing but our differencesAnd we will become a churchOf divisions, rancor and even hateIf however, we focus on loveWe will become a unified churchThat will change the worldFor good.gmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433669215824539653.post-14435263927894964352012-04-06T13:58:00.002-07:002012-04-06T14:04:11.308-07:00By His StripesFriday thoughts on crucifixion, wrath and justice...
It is human hatred, violence, and sinfulnessThat is purged by Jesus' stripes.God 'forsakes' Jesus into the hands of man! - "Do to him as you will... break him if you can..."
This is not a need for vengeance by GodNor the blood lust of God being appeasedBut rather the sinful bloodlust of humansWhich is finally satiated. *
Walking on water gmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433669215824539653.post-37016140711012150812012-03-24T18:39:00.001-07:002012-03-24T18:39:53.331-07:00A Highlight and NoteSilence is the only language spacious enough to include everything and to keep us from slipping back into dualistic judgments and divisive words.Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life by Richard Rohr- Posted using BlogPress from my iPadgmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433669215824539653.post-84833091984387236542012-03-24T18:10:00.001-07:002012-03-24T18:10:12.197-07:00Boing!From: Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life"In the second half of life, people have less power to infatuate you, but they also have much less power to control you or hurt you. It is the freedom of the second half not to need. Both the ecstatic mirroring of my youth and the mature and honest mirroring of my adulthood have held up what I needed to see and could see at the time; gmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433669215824539653.post-62526696844327577152012-01-22T16:54:00.000-08:002012-01-22T17:00:32.365-08:00When blogs over lap...(Sometimes my faith-related blog can't help but intertwine with my aviation-related one. Today's such a day ...)
This video is an especially good reminder that computers do not fly aircraft. Computers can of course, be used to guide an aircraft along a pre-programmed pathway that was selected and authorized by a human being, provided the computer's progress is continually monitored and gmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433669215824539653.post-45491670779696802792012-01-18T08:17:00.001-08:002012-01-18T08:17:22.350-08:00Psalm 6:1 (NLT)O Lord, don't rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your rage.The image of God rebuking us in anger is common in the Old Testament. This has caused people to think of the OT God as an "angry old man," and we can have difficulty reconciling that image with Jesus who began his ministry with these words: (Matthew 12:20)"He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickeringgmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433669215824539653.post-17636769861179131242012-01-04T07:38:00.001-08:002012-01-04T07:54:43.723-08:00The Trouble With Psalms
Psalm 5:10 (NLT)
Drive them away because of their many sins,[ ] for they have rebelled against you.
Some of the worst attitudes and confused points of view that sometimes arise in Christians are expressed in this Psalm. That's the trouble with Psalms. When followers of Jesus read these ancient songs and poems, without fully appreciating the great reversals Christ made to our view of who is agmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433669215824539653.post-32783718891196124312012-01-03T08:48:00.001-08:002012-01-03T09:12:56.903-08:00O God who declares me innocent...The earliest Christians taught that Jesus was the Christ, using the OT scriptures, which are replete with prophecies about Messiah (Hebrew)/ Christ (Greek). It's fascinating how many messianic references are obvious only after Jesus' ministry and crucifixion/resurrection.
This opening verse of Psalms 4 is like that. Imagine the "aha!" moment Jesus' disciples must have experienced, when they gmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433669215824539653.post-10669900157795801472011-12-19T05:55:00.001-08:002011-12-19T05:55:59.060-08:00Know The EnemyA Christ-follower reading the Psalms has to contend with Jesus' command in Matthew 5:44-48 (NLT) "But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. If you love only those who love you, what reward is gmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433669215824539653.post-3557272584660371652011-12-15T07:39:00.001-08:002011-12-15T07:39:16.618-08:00Visions of an Angry GodPsalm 2:1Why are the nations so angry? ... Wars are continually waged throughout history by nations. Why?Psalm 2:3 (NLT)"Let us break their chains," they cry, "and free ourselves from slavery to God."... Ultimately it seems that war is really a rejection of God's supremacy and authority.Psalm 2:12 (NLT)Submit to God's royal son, or he will become angry, and you will be destroyed in the midst of gmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433669215824539653.post-48972607320132385412011-12-05T10:14:00.001-08:002011-12-05T10:14:51.119-08:00Psalms read through the Lens of Jesus ChristPsalm 1For Christians the Old Testament becomes an entirely different book because we are required (and enabled) to read it through a new lens. This is seen immediately in the first Psalm. At first glance it is a poem about the great chasm that exists between "the wicked," and "the righteous." The original readers would interpret it as a warning to make sure we are on the right side of the line,gmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433669215824539653.post-72321914097015305002011-08-14T07:32:00.001-07:002011-08-14T07:32:23.095-07:00If death is the end...Ecclesiastes 2:15-16 (NLT)... So I said to myself, "Since I will end up the same as the fool, what's the value of all my wisdom? This is all so meaningless!" [16] For the wise and the foolish both die. The wise will not be remembered any longer than the fool. In the days to come, both will be forgotten...."- Apart from a transendent worldview, that includes some sort of life after death, all our gmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433669215824539653.post-2584138258413439982011-08-07T18:18:00.001-07:002011-08-07T18:18:00.584-07:00Nothing New...Ecclesiastes 1:10-11 (NLT)Sometimes people say, "Here is something new!" But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new. We don't remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now."-- In keeping with the economic and social turmoil of last week, and looking ahead to another week that promises more of the same, I wonder if it might be a gmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433669215824539653.post-89590814054854835442011-08-05T09:49:00.001-07:002011-08-05T09:49:06.450-07:00Hard TimesIf we live in a culture of entitlement and self-indulgence, then hardships are devalued, useless and even an affront to what we believe the universe "owes" us. Hard times are only negative.By contrast, if we live within a context of service and self-sacrifice, hard times, when they inevitably arrive, become opportunities for growth, strengthening of character and deeply positive experiences.-- gmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433669215824539653.post-19753570334736754322011-07-16T12:21:00.000-07:002011-07-16T12:21:16.678-07:00Repentance comes in stages and when least expected...That word "repentance" doesn't mean to merely be sorry for what we've done. Rather, it refers to a lifelong process of turning away from previous choices and beliefs and ideas towards a new way of living that we have come to believe is truer and better. A holy way if you will.
That word "holy" also carries many misapprehensions.
Holy is not intended to convey a snobbish, gmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433669215824539653.post-37540790017039124812011-07-08T07:17:00.001-07:002011-07-08T07:17:20.162-07:00Cart Before The Horse...3 John 1:11 (NLT)... Remember that those who do good prove that they are God's children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God.Our actions never win our salvation... We cannot "do" our way into eternal life. But our choices in life reveal who we have chosen to follow.-- gmc --gmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433669215824539653.post-9207881962691815182011-06-30T06:34:00.001-07:002011-06-30T06:34:18.389-07:00Lovers In A Dangerous Time2 John 1:1 (NLT)This letter is from John, the elder. I am writing to the chosen lady and to her children, ...An alternate translation of this phrase: " the chosen lady and to her children, ..." is: "the church God has chosen and its members."This coded language is used throughout this short letter, so I suspect it is written to a church meeting secretly under dangerous circumstances. If the gmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433669215824539653.post-9523544639653785132011-06-24T07:13:00.001-07:002011-06-29T11:54:06.214-07:00Know Thyself
1 John 5:1 (NLT)
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. ...
- It's a popular turn of speech to refer to humans as a children of God, which is true in the sense that the life within all of us originates from the CreatorSource - aka God. What I think John is saying here is that when we believe that Jesus is the messiah, and come to understand what that means gmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433669215824539653.post-41845781982059124062011-06-19T05:16:00.001-07:002011-06-19T05:16:43.723-07:00God Is Love1 John 4:16,19 (NLT)We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. [19] We love each other because he loved us first.- This chapter on God-as-Love and our relationship with God and one-another because of Love, is one of the most profound passages in the bible. If we can deeply understand just this gmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433669215824539653.post-49901932892199953132011-06-17T04:59:00.001-07:002011-06-17T04:59:48.584-07:00Actions Speak...1 John 3:17-18 (NLT)If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion-how can God's love be in that person? [18] Dear children, let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.gmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433669215824539653.post-79101752195300397572011-06-11T03:50:00.001-07:002011-06-11T03:50:35.522-07:00See God1 John 1:2 (NLT)This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. ...- I try to imagine what it must have been like... To hold Jesus by the hand, look into his eyes and to know that I am looking into the eyes of God. Staring into the source of my life, holding onto his infinite form as he expresses himself into existence as flesh and blood. To see God and be fully seen... Wow.gmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4433669215824539653.post-75216454722101550782011-06-06T07:40:00.001-07:002011-06-06T07:40:08.070-07:00The Bottom Line2 Peter 3:18 (NLT)Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. ...After dealing with certain issues surrounding the question of Christ's return, Peter returns to the bottom line for believers. It is the one thing, the only thing that any of us can do anything about - growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.gmchttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.com0