tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51010207194739939352024-03-12T17:53:00.838-07:00The Chaotic Kenoticjcubsdadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441530898226119655noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5101020719473993935.post-91848429815740639132019-03-10T10:50:00.000-07:002019-03-10T10:50:10.867-07:00The Mimicry of Christ<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Finally beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is
just, Whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there
is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, thing about these
things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard
and see in me, and the God of peace will be with you.”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Philippians 4: 8-9 (NRSV)<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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Mimicry is the basis of who we are. As children we mimic the
behaviors of those around us. We learn our place in the world by seeing others
and imagining ourselves doing what they are doing. We see the actions they do
leading to a desirable response, and thus we imitate. Think of a small child
who wants something from mom. He see’s his older sibling ask mom for something
and usually he gets it. The child then learns to ask, as the older sibling did,
for something he wishes to have. This plays out hundreds of times in a day in
our lives, even as adults. It is so ingrained in who we are that we do not even
realize we are mimicking anyone or anything, unless we walk in deep awareness
of it. This is one of the reasons that Paul is telling the Philippians to keep meditating
on the good things of the world. The things that espouse truth, beauty, love,
joy – all the desirable things. If we meditate on things that are not honorable,
the fruit of our mind and heart, over time, will be things of ill repute. This
may be an oversimplification, but for the point we just need to remember the
old adage “garbage in, garbage out.” That which we meditate on creates that
which we are made of and the fruits that we feast upon. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Once we mimic what we see enough we begin to cooperate with
it more fully. We learn the social situations and the way to manipulate
outcomes in order for the best solution for us to be presented. The rules of
the game, unwritten, have been socially ensconced into how we go about our
lives. While we are cooperating with the rules of the game, we are not changing
any rules of the game, we are simply consuming that which is presented, and
using it to our social goals. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As we mature and gain more social stature, we begin to
co-create reality. We are now the mom or dad mentioned above deciding what the
rules of the game are. I can decide to block the requests of my children and
deny them the “game”, or I can acquiesce and allow them to accomplish what they
desire. This is where it gets interesting, because minus deep awareness of it
we often do not realize how much we create or destroy the rules of mimicry. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Television and media have hijacked our creativity and alienated
us from the understanding that we are creators with Christ. He gave us the
ability to change that which we see do and feel. We need not be passive
observers and consumers in other people’s worlds. He wants us to become
creators, creators of truth, beauty, love. This is why The Apostle Paul admonishes
The Philippian church to think upon these things. The more they think upon
them, the more they create good things and engage in creativity. God is Love,
and He created as a natural outworking of that love. The more that we mimic Him and
those things that are outworking’s of His love for us, the more we are able to
cooperate lovingly with Him, and become creators of love as well. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As a spiritual exercise I try and speak affirmations over
myself on a regular basis. It is a little strange sometimes, but saying <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I am</b> strong, or <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">I am</b> wise, and stating it out loud I begin to create the reality
that I am looking to see. Often times though my ego, the voice of the enemy,
cranks up and says “You are not” and this implies lack. I lack nothing because
Christ provides for it all. Jesus the Christ made the way. Psalm 34:10 states <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“the young lions suffer want and hunger; but
those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.”</i> (ESV) I intentionally ask as a
retort to the feeling I am not a simple question – “Who says?” Who says I am
lacking, who says I do not have this ability or that? The answer often reveals
in me who or what I have let become an idol in my life. Television and the
advertisements it has create a constant sense of lack in us. No matter how many
things you have, it creates discontent and demands more. For me, and many many
others, television is an idol. Apply this to anyone and anything. Who are you making
an idol of? Often times I find myself hanging on the affirmations, or lack of
affirmations, from a person I give spiritual authority to. This is a good
indication of making an idol of someone, and this is where we need to be careful.
We are to listen to each other and prefer one another in love, but we need to
be careful we have not created wolves in sheep’s clothing. Many times wolves do
not even know they are wolves, that is until something happens and spiritual
detriment for themselves, and those they shepherd is a result. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When we meditate on something, and we always will by our
very nature, we create it. The more we meditate on the good and the beautiful
and the holy things of the world, of which there are so very many, we will
become creators of these things. We are not broken, we are not lacking in
ability to create, we are not lacking because of “original sin” or any other
doctrine of man that says you lack. You do not lack, you do not need others to
create for you. You can create, you can believe, you can become because Jesus
the Christ made a way for you to do so. All you need to do is receive (mimic),
acknowledge (cooperate) and then create in our co-creator capacities with our
Father God. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Be mindful of what you see and hear, be grateful for the
words and actions done that created who you are today. Be woeful of giving to
much authority to those who wield it, and walk in the authority you are given.
Mimic that which is provided by God, the good and beautiful, and go and create.
The world is waiting, create truth, beauty, love. <o:p></o:p></div>
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~Selah<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />jcubsdadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441530898226119655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5101020719473993935.post-29982247710138620182018-11-17T06:40:00.000-08:002018-11-17T06:41:32.114-08:00A Moment With The Holy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well, once again the holiday season is ramping up and I can feel the urgency of the season pressing in on me. If you are like me, I start to have a harder and harder time slowing down enough to listen and abide in my creators love. There is always an urgent now calling me forward out of the well worn groves of my routines I have during the rest of the year.<br />
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A few days ago I was at work in the lunchroom where we have a very large flat screen television that is always tuned into a national news station. On this day I saw a whole segment on the border wall in Mexico and the pictures were all of men and women climbing over the border wall. The rhetoric was angry, the information scroll on the bottom of the screen was full of angry tweets, and honestly the whole story was geared towards one thing - making me angry. Instead of feeling a seasonal hope and sitting and enjoying a co-workers company, I was forced to see and hear an assault on my senses.<br />
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A few minutes after sitting down with my food and watching this go on, I became aware of a 4 year old little boy and his baby brother sitting by themselves right behind me while mom and dad were just a few feet away getting food for the family. All of a sudden, in a bid to soothe his younger brother, the 4 year old starting singing "I love Jesus, Jesus love me" over and over again in the innocent meter and rhythm that a child his age would know. I felt the spirit quicken in me and tell me to slow down and listen. As all this anger was being pushed at me and all this agenda I was being forced to take in was flying at me a mile a minute. But a small child reminded me of Jesus love, and that even if I am angry at what is happening at the border, or I am not, Jesus loves those involved, and He has the cares covered.<br />
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The crazy thing that happened in that lunchroom is that I am pretty sure it fell utterly silent for a few seconds with the exception of the child singing. I may have just entered my own little zone of pause and it really did not happen that way, but it was very fascinating to feel the spirit slow things down and make room for the voice of a small child.<br />
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As the holiday season speeds up I have decided to embrace the uncomfortable, to get out of well worn patterns of life and maybe be just a little more observant of the things around me. God is orchestrating little life lessons and messages all around us every-single-day. I know this in my head, but sometimes the heart knowledge does not come so quickly. Sometimes we all need a voice of a little child to point us back to the heart of the matter, and that heart is the heart of our Father God.<br />
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~Selahjcubsdadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441530898226119655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5101020719473993935.post-33122400680643999332017-09-13T07:45:00.000-07:002017-09-13T07:45:49.916-07:00My Perfect Imperfection<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I want to introduce you to one of my favorite items, his name is Captain. I will think of a better name, but this will do. I make daily offerings to him, and he responds in kind by faithfully holding onto the nectar I provide. It is a symbiotic relationship, we enjoy our mornings together quite a bit. </div>
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Captain came to me a few years ago when I walked by a pottery shop and saw him and knew we would be best friends. He was not cheap, but he has proven time and time again a faithful companion. He is hand made and as tough as a pirate should be. In two years he has not changed a bit. One day my grandchildren may inherit him if I continue to be good to him. </div>
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The thing about the Captain, is that as perfect as he is for me, he is imperfect. Like all hand made items you can see along the inner rim that his base is not perfectly round, his handle is a little bit weak, but his pirate stare has not changed in all the time I have had him. He continues to look back at me with that one eye as if to remind me that I must make daily sacrifice to his gnarled and awesome soul. </div>
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As I sat with him today God opened a thought to me about imperfection. He reminded me that nothing in this world is perfect, and nothing worth keeping is ever going to have absolute perfection. We can and should see the imperfections as a gift, not a curse. (Sorry captain, no curses and invectives towards my soul today) </div>
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I have been watching a church I know bust open at the seems over doctrinal statements and creeds. It is as if, overnight, some people who have an alternative vision for what following Christ looks like have cracked the cup of their church. I am sad to see this because the church is, and always will be, the open vessel of grace to be poured out on the world and the people of the world. I am also glad to see this, because the words of prophets are never going to be easy. The words of the prophets speak life to the dead, and crack open the vessels of death that are thrusting themselves upon the rocks of the world. </div>
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What if we saw imperfections not as flaws or opportunities, but as the mark of a creator who knew what he was doing, and still does? The captain and I have a long history together and I can imagine that the creator sitting at the pottery wheel imagining what he would one day look like had the same vision for him. The creator created him, even if he does not pass a microscopic examination of his imperfections. For me, he is perfect. </div>
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Every man woman and child that enters this life has an inherent imperfection. You can call it the flesh, or the culture, or the way they were brought up. It all means the same thing, glorious imperfections. It is because of the imperfections that I see in the cup that I can see the work of the creator building upon the pottery wheel. It is because of this that I can see the creator. I may not know his name, where exactly he was when he built it, but he built it with being used as the end goal. He was never meant to sit on a shelf somewhere sneering at those who pass by. He was meant to be used, enjoyed, and cherished. It was also built so that when the molding was done it could pass through a fire for hours upon hours and come out not destroyed, but rather imbued with the soul of the person who created it. </div>
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As I sit with my captain and consume the nectar he offers back to me, I realize that it is better than when I poured it in. The glorious thing about the coffee I make is that as it sits, the beans that I carefully hand selected continue to release the oils and the substances that make the coffee so powerful for me. It continues to imbue the flavors and aromas that make it so darn tempting and enjoyable. All this is present in this perfectly imperfect vessel. </div>
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Imperfection is the mark of the creator. Imperfection means that you are hand woven and hand delivered into a world that while imperfect, holds perfection in it's hands and makes certain that the thing which it holds ages and creates a thing of absolute beauty. You are the wine in the chalice of God's design. </div>
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As a society we look for perfection. We are actually imbued with the drive in our souls and minds to see perfection and to strive to attain it. The often annoying thing that happens though is we strive for perfection and look at that which is not symmetrical and perfect and say "this is flawed" and then toss it to the side. We need to stop looking at imperfections as problems, and start looking at them as places that remind us that God made us on the lathe of his choosing, and that the fire we can and will go through does not create an imperfect thing - it creates a beautiful thing of worth that will endure and continue to provide substance for generations to come. </div>
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My challenge to myself, and to anyone who listens to me is to see the imperfections as a sign you are created, not that you are flawed. As we realize this and we work together for the kingdom we can see the flaws as places of God's design as we work towards the perfection we are spiritually attuned to seek. </div>
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May this bring peace to the house, may this bring joy to the broken, and may this bring courage to those who see themselves as imperfect and thus not able to see God. Do not worry, God sees you. God knows you, and he is head over heels in love with what you are, who you are, and what you are going to become. You are HIS creation and you are part of HIS story being written in the cosmos. You are God's victory lap. </div>
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~Selah</div>
jcubsdadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441530898226119655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5101020719473993935.post-82856665906771029902017-07-11T07:38:00.002-07:002017-07-11T07:38:11.052-07:00The Well-Worn Path<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
Lock step motion, moving
down the path</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Never looking
sideways, to the rear or ahead<o:p></o:p></div>
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Always moving
forward, never ever last<o:p></o:p></div>
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See the guy in front
of you blocking your path<o:p></o:p></div>
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Speed right on over
him, never ever look back<o:p></o:p></div>
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Want to get ahead in
life – well here is the path<o:p></o:p></div>
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You an individual can
be at the head of the class<o:p></o:p></div>
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Follow the well-formed
road, never ever off path<o:p></o:p></div>
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Forward always
forward, never ever look back<o:p></o:p></div>
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You are an individual,
this we decree<o:p></o:p></div>
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Go and get your
degree, your car and your life<o:p></o:p></div>
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Follow the well-worn
path, this we decree<o:p></o:p></div>
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You are an
individual, because that’s what we sure see<o:p></o:p></div>
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But never ever ever
do you get off the path<o:p></o:p></div>
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The well-worn path to
living happily<o:p></o:p></div>
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Others have tried it,
that is for sure<o:p></o:p></div>
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The road less
traveled is a gravel road to hell<o:p></o:p></div>
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Why would you want to
go down that nasty way?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here is a well-worn
path, the path to victory!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Hearing that still
small voice, the one saying follow me?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Come meet our doctor,
the one to share your victory. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Come meet our scientist
who will show you the way<o:p></o:p></div>
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Come meet our
teachers, the ones who will mold your way<o:p></o:p></div>
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Always an individual,
always free<o:p></o:p></div>
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As long as you listen
when we say <o:p></o:p></div>
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“Come follow me”<o:p></o:p></div>
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~Carl Holmes<o:p></o:p></div>
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jcubsdadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441530898226119655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5101020719473993935.post-31154348104842834082017-06-06T14:23:00.000-07:002017-06-06T14:23:32.286-07:00Defining My Why<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>Defining My Why</b></div>
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When I speak with someone and we are working through a
scripture together or some other concept, I am well known for reminding people
that the most engaging, as well as prophetic question you can ask of what you
are reading or doing is “why?” I am being serious. No other question can define
the text or the discussion more directly. If you do not know the why of the
situation, the who what when and where loose context. When you lose context you
open up multiple interpretations. This is not always bad. However, most of the
times you need to understand the why in order to best operate in the present
moment, or to engage in what you are reading or learning. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I have been reading Simon Sinek’s book <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Start-Why-Leaders-Inspire-Everyone-ebook/dp/B002Q6XUE4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1496781442&sr=8-1&keywords=start+with+why"><i>Start With Why</i></a><i> </i>and he has some very insightful looks into organizations that
start out by defining their why. Why do they exist? Why do they prosper? Why do
they have so many early adopters who push the business further? I find this a
fascinating concept and one that I think needs elaborated on further in another
post. I want to take it into a personal place for a moment. As I was reading
this morning I heard God ask “Have you defined your why?” I was startled for a
moment at hearing it so clearly, and honestly I can say I have not. Not
recently anyway. I had a personal mission statement for a time and I still take
it out once in a while and ask myself tough questions, but it does not really
get to the heart of who I am and why I am who I am. Here is a few things about
me that I think most people who know me know, but some of it will be a
surprise. This is me working to define my why and refine the thoughts a little
bit further. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]-->1)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->I exist in this time and space in order to
champion the cause of those who are left on the margins and who are cast aside
by economic and religious injustice. I especially resonate with those who are
outcast and set aside not by themselves, but by systemic and unrelenting
pressure from religious and governmental pressures. Those who are told conform,
reform and be reborn. This is where I am passionate, this is where I live. <o:p></o:p></div>
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</span><!--[endif]-->Every book I read or scripture I exposit has
this question in mind “Who is this marginalizing?” Most people hate this
question because it can bring about uncomfortable feelings and conversations
with one self. The entire Bible testifies to the goodness of God. Everything
God has done, especially the sending of His son, was to upend the systemic you
are in/you are out mentality and the spiritual poverty it brings. <a href="http://biblehub.com/1_john/4-12.htm">I John 4:12</a> “<i>No one has ever seen God; but if we love one
another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” </i>(NIV) We are
ambassadors of love. Where love is, so exists Christ. <o:p></o:p></div>
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</span><!--[endif]-->I exist in the here and now to sometimes (maybe
oftentimes even) be the burr in the saddle of the establishment. We as a
religion, as a society, are diseased and are ensconced in the duality of life.
Rich/poor, Good/bad etcetera. This is killing our society and I say enough. The
Apostle Paul reminds the church at Ephesus in <a href="http://www.biblestudytools.com/ephesians/4-3.html">Ephesians</a> to <i>“Make every effort to keep the unity of the
Spirit through the bond of peace.” </i>Again and again the Bible makes peace
the priority. I struggle in keeping bonds of peace when all I want to do is go
to war on behalf of the marginalized. I may not be able to go to war, but I do
have a voice and I will use it passionately and persuasively on behalf of those
who have been nullified by the current system. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Some of you know my current vocation. This has nothing to do
with who I work for, and everything to do with it. What we do is awesome, but
it is very limited on scope and direction. I aim higher and bigger. I want to
see God’s love plastered everywhere. I believe my soul will not be at rest
until I know it is done. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Some push around the label liberal when they think of me.
That is fine, but it is just a label. Labels create duality, and it is the
duality mindset that is oppressing so many millions, if not billions of people.
What will it take for us to speak in a unified manner? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Organized religion will never answer fully for nor
completely be able to beat the duality mindset. As long as there are
organizations to maintain and a disembodied other out there that the
organization must rally against in order to create unity, the point is being
missed entirely. The answer is that each one of us makes the determination for
ourselves, and we all set about radically and openly engaging with the idea
that none is better than the other, money is not the object, religion only
really divides – and that ALL people, ALL nations can and should pursue the love
of the creator in any way they know how. We should get out of the way of our
neighbors, and instead watch, love and learn. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I have a whole lot of work to do – a lifetime of work to do
on this. I will fail, but there is grace in the journey. Will you go on the
journey as well? Will you deem love worth working for? Will you begin to ask
yourself the why in everything you do or say? It will take time, it will take
honesty, and it will take courage that is rarely seen. But it is time. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><i>I exist to raise the vibration of
the cosmos with love. Love of God, love for myself, and love for all. Nothing
else will do. <o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
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~Selah<o:p></o:p></div>
jcubsdadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441530898226119655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5101020719473993935.post-46483930056011781672017-05-24T07:07:00.000-07:002017-05-24T07:07:10.193-07:00Peace Be With You<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i>“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one
body you were called to peace. And be thankful.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i> Let the message of Christ dwell
among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through
psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit,<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i> singing to God with gratitude in
your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the
name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” <a href="http://www.biblestudytools.com/colossians/3.html">Colossians 3:15-17 NIV</a><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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As followers of the way we are called to peace. Radical and
obedient peace. I find this extremely difficult because along with peace one
can easily extrapolate that rest is part of this as a byproduct of peace. I
will go as far as to say that peace and rest go hand in hand and you really
cannot have one without the other. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We often hear people talking about the hard-fought peace.
Men went to war and died for peace. We put our resources and lives on the line
for peace, we fight for it. This is the peace of the world. Jesus states in <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+14:27">John 14:27</a> “Peace
I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give as the world gives. Do
not let your hearts be troubled, do not be afraid.” A heart that is at peace is
a heart that rests. A heart that is at rest is a heart that can be thankful. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Gratitude comes up two different times in this short passage
in Colossians and I believe it is the lynchpin for this section of scripture. A
heart that aims at gratitude is a heart that can be at peace because it knows
that God is the author and the giver of all that is. Rest is then a logical
outcome of realizing that all that you have is from God and that we need not
fight for it – we must only receive it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I have been struggling with resting lately. Everything in
the world tells us to fight. Politics, religion, education, our daily commute <i>ad
infinitum. </i>This is birthed in the old man mindset of duality. Right
vs. wrong, good vs. evil, Christian against heathen etcetera. Duality of mind
is a divided mind, and we are reminded in Colossians to put on the mind of
Christ. Christ prayed in John 17 that we may be unified as He is unified with
the father. How does one walk in unity? Peace. Walk in the bonds of peace. <o:p></o:p></div>
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History is replete with war. One nation bombs another, the
other retaliates with a bigger bomb, the other gets allies with bigger bombs
and the cycle is endless. This is true of any cycle, war is just a big example.
But, what if one of the parties says ENOUGH ALREADY, we are not going to
retaliate. What then? Will the other nation continue? Possibly. Over time
though what happens when one does not fight back? The eventual outcome is
peace. <o:p></o:p></div>
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God is so big on peace and rest because it puts us in a
place to receive our security not from living in the biggest house, or the
biggest nation, but from Him. As I write this God is showing me so many places
that I still do not rest in him. I know not what to do except to “count my
blessings, name them one-by-one. Stop and let me see what the Lord has done.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Gratitude truly is an attitude. It is one that must be
cultivated like any attitude. Amid the suck, find something to be thankful for.
At the top of the mountain, find something to be thankful for. Do it again and
again and the peace that passes all understanding and the rest that comes in
that will be in your heart. <o:p></o:p></div>
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~Selah<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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jcubsdadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441530898226119655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5101020719473993935.post-81326391173388676712017-05-14T17:20:00.000-07:002017-05-14T17:20:29.749-07:00On Toasters and Trampolines<div align="center" class="Publishwithline" style="text-align: center;">
On Toasters and
Trampolines<o:p></o:p><w:sdtpr></w:sdtpr></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us take a moment
and let our imaginations take the forefront. I want you to close your eyes and
try and do what I am about to ask you. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Imagine you have been asked to host a family that is new to
America in your home. You jump at the chance to build a cross cultural
relationship with the ones coming to stay with you. You do all your homework,
you clean the house and make it as nice as possible and the day finally arrives
for you to meet this new family. You bring them home and help them settle into
their new room, you work on language and all the other things you need to do,
but you never stop to ask yourself one question; “Who are these individuals?”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Imagine this family is from a small tribe in Africa and they
are now refugees. Do you know anything about their culture? Do you expect them
to know your culture? Imagine coming home one day and seeing the children with
the toaster in the back yard and putting it on a trampoline just to see it
bounce. The children have no reference point for understanding what a toaster
does, or why a trampoline can be so much fun. I encourage you to imagine
explaining what a toaster is for to the mother of the family. 1) Take a slice
of bread. But what is bread? They made only small cakes of corn for their
meals. 2) Plug the toaster in. What does plugging a toaster in mean? Why is
that essential? 3) Let the toaster burn the bread until it is golden brown. Why
do you allow a potential fire in your home every day? Stay along these lines of
thinking and take it as far as you can go with it. The cultural understandings
and underpinnings of our culture are so assumed and so engrained in us that it
is just about impossible to understand them all and how they impact you. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The rules and social norms of a culture are learned not in a
day, but over a lifetime. From the time we are born until the time we die,
humans mimic other humans. <a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a>We spend countless hours
watching other humans doing human things and deciding for ourselves if that is
good or not. Children mimic those around them and learn the rules of the
playground so to speak from those who are around them. Every person ever born is
a product of culture. (For an excellent book on this I recommend Andy Crouch’s
book <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://smile.amazon.com/Culture-Making-Recovering-Creative-Calling-ebook/dp/B001IDYIMY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494805305&sr=8-1&keywords=culture+making+andy+crouch"><span style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Culture Making</span></a></i>)
Learning the rules of a culture gives you power and autonomy over yourself. As
you grow you learn to abide by, or buck the social norms you learned in order
to get what you want. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When we approach The Bible, or any book really, the first
understanding we must have of what we read is that it is a product of a
culture. There is so much benefit to reading books from different cultures.
There are so many good books out there that are like a mission trip to a
different culture all in the palm of your hand. If you read the book without at
least an understanding that the cultural assumptions of the author are going to
be different you will find yourself reading a confusing jumble of words. But if
you take your time to read and research as you become bewildered you will find
the payoff to be immense. The Bible is a product of many many cultures over
many thousands of years. Most of the cultures are now completely extinct, and
those that are still here are mere echoes of what they were. <o:p></o:p></div>
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A wonderful teacher in the church on cross cultural communication
is a man by the name of Vigo Sogaard. He summarizes five relationships that
need to be defined to begin understanding a culture. This is by no means all
inclusive, but it shows some of the challenges we have when it comes to
cultural communication of values. We must define the relationship of the individuals
of a culture to God, to self, and to others, with creation and with the church.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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I am not trying to write an academic paper, but I want to
encourage you to think of some of these things as you read scripture. When you
read those Old Testament stories that make you scratch your head and think that
God must be crazy and that the words must be translated incorrectly. How might
our approach to scripture change if we willingly do a little bit of work to
understand the cultural assumptions of the people writing the scripture? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Most Bibles have a page of two at the beginning of each book
that orients you to the people who wrote the book and about when it took place.
I encourage you to start there. If it picks your brain and you want to know
more a good Google search of the information presented will give you a bigger
overview of the times and places of the words being spoken. <o:p></o:p></div>
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All this to say, please do not read a bible verse and assume
that it explicitly backs you up and that you are right. It is an act of
humility to dig in into the scripture and let it form you instead of forming
the scripture to suit you. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Confirmation bias is <span style="background: white; color: #222222;">the
tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one's existing beliefs or
theories.</span> <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=define+confirmation+bias&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS742US742&oq=define+confirmation+bias&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j0l5.5360j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8">(Source)</a>
Confirmation Bias is a heck of a drug as well. It rewards the pleasure centers
of our brain when we feel we have been shown to be right. Like any drug, we
work harder and harder to get more and more of it. It is a cycle that can be
spiritually deadly. It is also incredibly divisive and destructive as the more
and more you think you are right, the more and more you manufacture divisions
and people and things to hate in order to be proven correct. Reading scripture
slowly and in a culturally aware manner is an act of resistance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As we mature as followers of The Way, if we are going to be impacted in
our reading of scripture, as well as our engagement with people of other
cultures, we must walk in deep and abiding awareness of the mystery of each
culture and how they come to see and know God. We must walk with humility and
do our best to drop cultural blinders in order to understand and to enter into
their world. To commune with our brothers and sisters from the past in the
Bible and then to commune with our neighbors across the street. Humility and
patience are hallmarks of the multicultural life of a Christian. We all have
work to do in this area. God is good though, and His throne of grace extends
over the entire universe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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~Selah<o:p></o:p></div>
jcubsdadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441530898226119655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5101020719473993935.post-55064575875656037032017-05-10T06:31:00.000-07:002017-05-10T06:31:00.539-07:00When That Which Calls You Wounds You<div align="center" class="Publishwithline" style="text-align: center;">
When That
Which Calls You Wounds You<o:p></o:p><w:sdtpr></w:sdtpr></div>
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<o:p> </o:p><i style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James+1">James 1:2-4</a>
(NRSV)</i></div>
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God is a God of promises. How many times have we heard that?
How many of us can rest in it truly? I am the guy who when you tell me that
will look for the proviso’s and the asterisks in the contract. Thank God, he is
covenantal, not contractual. <o:p></o:p></div>
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What is less popular to say is that God will answer those
promises in His time. If you are like me, I want it to be in my time. I am <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chronos</i> time – linear and if this then
this will happen. God is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Kairos </i>time,
He promised, and He will deliver. However, it will likely be in a manner we do
not expect. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In 2005 God gave me a promise that I have held onto. I have
worked towards it, laid a firm foundation, examined and re-examined my
character and my heart and my life in preparation. But if I had my way, in 2005
that promise would have been fulfilled right then and there and I would be that
which God has called me to be. The suck part of that is, I would not have the
character needed to do that which he has said I would do. I would be a burned-up
pile of rubble on the Roman road to their vision of progress. I would not even
be a cog in a wheel on the stage coach using the road to progress. I would be a
pile of ash the local farmers were using to fertilize the fields to empress the
emperor as he rode by. Burned up, useless, a no-one.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The above scripture was given by James to the remnant of
Israel that somehow survived the sacking of Jerusalem. In 70 A.D., the Romans
had enough of the subversives and decided to be done with them. They did a
remarkably precise job in breaking them down and demoralizing them to the point
that some of those who survived just walked off a cliff to not need to deal
with the consequences of Rome’s actions. And yet, here is James telling them to
consider it to be joy. I would be reading this thinking James got himself some
good reefer and was being ridiculous. Except, he was not. He was reminding them
to endure, and the best way to endure is with joy in your heart. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Joy is an elusive concept because only you can decide for
you if you are joyful. Only you can look at your life and say, “this is joy” –
no one can or will define it for you. Joy is a slippery thing, and often the
moment we say we have it, it gets slippery and tries to leave. We must continually
and actively cultivate the heart of joy and gratitude. How do you cultivate joy
while embracing the suck? I am not sure. I think contemplating eternity helps
though. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I love reading about all the new discoveries we are finding
in our galaxy. It is incredible to see what we are beginning to see and just
begin to comprehend about the universe and our place in it. What I am learning
more and more is just how old and how beautiful our universe is. God’s
handiwork on display as the psalmist puts it. For me, this calms my soul.
Knowing that God of the universe who has been creating for an eternity that we
cannot even truly comprehend, made a covenant with me. Not a contract, no
proviso’s, a covenant. God is for me always, and he will allow the pain to
develop a covenantal Carl. One who will hold onto Him and His words, even when
it does not make sense. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Israel has seen God’s faithfulness amid so much pain. Israel
is still so much of God’s pleasure and He is creating a lover for Himself in
them – but also in us. How cool is that? We are being shaped, molded, prodded,
begged o change in character to be that which we are designed to be, all by the
God of eternity. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I could go on and on, but I have an appointment under the
stars with my creator. Want to come join me? Let us search His innumerable and incalculable
universe together and talk about God’s promises to us. <o:p></o:p></div>
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~Selah<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><o:p></o:p></div>
jcubsdadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441530898226119655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5101020719473993935.post-71184083093936478872017-05-06T07:34:00.000-07:002017-05-06T07:34:26.563-07:00<div class="Publishwithline" style="text-align: center;">
<b>The Goodness of God</b><o:p></o:p><w:sdtpr></w:sdtpr></div>
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<i>“Original blessing is
simply what happens when God steadfastly decides to be in relationship with us. </i><i>That relationship
bestows goodness upon us, and also within us. We are steadfastly</i></div>
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<i>And benevolently
tethered to God”</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Danielle Schroyer in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Original Blessing: Putting Sin in Its
Rightful Place<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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I have been adrift in the theological world as of late,
allowing my mind to wander where God would have it to go and letting The Spirit
speak to me in ways that it wishes. It is hard for me to do sometimes, it is a
very contemplative exercise. I love and hate it. But God has met me
every-single-time in some very unexpected ways. One thing that keeps coming to
the forefront of my thoughts and prayers is the idea of Gods goodness and
mercy. We talk about them all the time, but do we meditate on them much? Do we
let that sink in? <o:p></o:p></div>
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The goodness of God is evident everywhere and all the time. <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+2:3-4">Romans 2:4</a>
states that it is God’s goodness (or kindness in some translations) that leads
men unto repentance. God is good, and His goodness is what fulfills me every
day, but can be a total terror for others. Goodness, like grace, abounds
everywhere and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">for everyone. </i>I did
not make a grammatical error there, it is for everyone. Let that sink in….<o:p></o:p></div>
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When God hovered over the firmament in Genesis and was
surveying all that He created He said, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“it
was very good…” </i><a href="http://biblehub.com/genesis/1-31.htm">Genesis 1:31
(NIV)</a> God did not look at his creation and say aww nuts, fleas? I made
fleas? He looked at them and declared they were good, just as He looks and you
and I and declares we are good. <o:p></o:p></div>
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God’s relationship to His people and His creation did not
change the moment we ate of the apple at the tree. The way man knew and related
to God changed. God’s goodness did not stop in the garden, it continued, and
continues to this day. What has changed is the way that we see God. Instead of
seeing His benevolence and taking part in it freely, we see ourselves as flawed
and unable to partake of His mercy and grace and love. Nothing could be further
from the truth, He is still wooing us into a divine dance with Him. All we need
to do is stop and listen to the rhythm and join in as he comes around the dance
floor, and He is always dancing. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When I was in the 6<sup>th</sup> grade, I went to my first
school dance. As a young and hormone ridden kid (I would tell you I was a man
back then because I had a deep voice) I had someone in mind to ask to dance. I
was so nervous that I went into the bathroom and almost threw up. I begged a
breath mint off a teacher to not offend the one I had set mine eyes upon. Once
my head was clear, my resolve steady, and my breath as fresh as it would be – I
dove in. I asked Darcy, the young woman I had been on the hunt for, to dance. I
never was so nervous up to that point in my short life. I had imagined her
answer from the moment I decided to ask her. She was going to say yes, tell me
she had been waiting all night for me to ask, and we were going to be steady
from that night into eternity. Instead I got the firm NO, a giggle, and a look
from her friend that told me I was shopping in the upscale neighborhood, and I
was a trailer park boy. I was crushed. How could she not want to be seen with
me, a newly formed man well ahead of the pack in puberty?<o:p></o:p></div>
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I tell this story because the dance we are invited to with
God is like the awkward first school dance. God is that kid who gets on the
dance floor and just has a good time. He does not look to another to validate
that he is cool and that he is the best dancer, he-just-dances. He sets the tone
for the rest of the night. As he dances a young woman may come along and step
into his rhythm, and then another, and then another. Those who are too shy to
immediately ask a girl to dance get in there and the dance continues. Maybe you
line dance, maybe you do The Electric Slide, maybe you just shake your butt and
have a good time. The point is, the prime mover, that first person starts the
whole thing. That first person is the goodness of God. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He makes it okay to step onto the dance floor,
and he woo's you to join in the goodness. But He is a gentleman and He will not
make you join the dance. However He will overwhelm you with the sense of joy and
love and grace. You can sit on the outskirts of the dance floor, nurse your
punch until you are so hopped up with sugar that you brain is about to bounce
out of your ears, and you can even leave. But the joy of the dance, started by
that one kid who had the guts to dance, will still beckon you. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So often we all sit on the side of the dance floor and
recount all the reasons that we cannot or should not be a part of the dance. We
list our sins, our faults, our responsibilities that keep us from partaking in
the divine dance. We give every reason, all-the-while seething with jealousy
for that one kid that started the rave. What we should remember is that the kid
who started the dance does not care what is going on in your life, he just
wants to dance. Dancing is more fun with others, and he wants you to join. This
is why God created us, to be co-creators of love, goodness, kindness, mercy and
grace. When we decide to dance, those problems, worries and barriers tend to melt away. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Now get out there and dance in the goodness of God. GO, STOP
READING THIS – DANCE you freak, DANCE!<o:p></o:p></div>
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-Selah<a href="https://draft.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><o:p></o:p></div>
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jcubsdadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441530898226119655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5101020719473993935.post-30936514885821483962017-03-12T15:25:00.001-07:002017-03-12T15:25:51.118-07:00Is it a Journey, or an Immigration?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have been thinking about the Jews as they walked toward Jerusalem and the temple a lot, and I really wonder what the mindset of a pilgrim would have been like. Was the trip to the temple an act of devotion? Or, was it an act of obedience that had to be sweated through and done because it is just "what we do?"<br />
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Most of the people travelling to Jerusalem would have been on foot. Those who were lucky enough to have livestock they could ride such as donkeys were the few. Even if a person of moderate wealth had livestock, it is likely the livestock was press-ganged into service on the homestead and could not be taken away for the journey. Sore feet and cranky dispositions would have likely been the biggest battle. Reciting the Psalms of Ascent was likely a way of fighting of fatigue, as well as focusing the mind and spirit during those times it would be easy to fall prey to bad attitude.<br />
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We love to think of life as a journey like the journey the Jews would take to the temple. So often though a journey is defined by a time frame. Can you imagine leaving for the temple and telling your family and friends that were not going that you would be going and not having any idea of when you will return? Most people would have at least a good idea of when they could get home. I cannot imagine leaving the house and telling my bride that I will be back whenever. I usually can give a close approximation of time. But here is the thing, our spiritual lives are an immigration. An immigration is different because you leave your place of comfort in hope of reaching a better place. The ticket you buy is a one way ticket with a general direction and no planned return. You intend to settle and begin conducting your affairs in a new place.<br />
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If we view our lives as believers as an immigration and not a journey, what would change in us? What would be the defining characteristics of our Christian lives? Immigration instead of journeying is permanent and as such a few things will be needed.<br />
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<b>1) All of your essentials.</b> You may get rid of many different things and cut down your supplies, but ultimately you are taking everything without plan to return.<br />
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<b>2) Your family. </b>In view of it being a permanent move, one cannot leave family behind.<br />
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<b>3) Your ability to adapt. </b>When you migrate you will be in a new culture, a new place, and often a whole new set of cultural assumptions and priorities. You must be willing and able to adapt.<br />
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These are just 3 of many things, but this sounds a lot like the Christian life does it not? While we are living in a culture, we live as aliens (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/Hebrews%2011%3A13">Heb 11:13</a>) with allegiance to the culture and country we are raised in, but with the ultimate allegiance to Jesus of Nazareth. While we are on this earth we are not journeying with the plan to return home (or to our old ways) - instead we look with faith at that which is ahead of us and never looking back. We live a life as an alien, we have left home and are on a Christian journey towards that which lays before us in faith.<br />
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When you are Immigrating it is so very easy to want to hold onto those things that defined you as a person before. Culture infers status and symbolism of importance. To leave your culture is to leave behind all that is familiar. In order to truly thrive in a new culture you must leave much of what you know behind. You may carry the wisdom of your elders and culture with you, but in order to adapt to a new culture you must be willing to leave much of it behind.<br />
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Jews who were travelling on a journey to the temple traveled with hope. They looked forward to the revelation of God and to being with God and one another on the journey. Hope was imbued in everything they did. They were "forward looking in their faith" as the book of Hebrews states. As Christians, can we follow their lead and have a forward looking faith? Can we look with optimism at the road before us with faithful knowledge that the road will eventually lead to the feet of the Temple?<br />
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I do not say this to be political, but if you are a Christian, you are an immigrant. You have one foot in the culture of today and are working in it as an exemplar of hard work, but you live with the understanding that your ultimate destination lies not in this culture or this world - it is greater, and oh so very worth the journey.<br />
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~Selah<br />
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<br />jcubsdadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441530898226119655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5101020719473993935.post-79564926818402974682017-03-08T06:57:00.000-08:002017-03-08T06:58:36.141-08:00Psalm of Ascent #2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>"O LORD, my heart is not lifted up. </i></div>
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<i>my eyes are not raised to high;</i></div>
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<i>I do not occupy myself with things to great and </i></div>
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<i>to marvelous for me. </i></div>
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<i>But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned</i></div>
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<i>child with it's mother; like a weaned child is my soul</i></div>
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<i>within me. </i></div>
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<i>O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore."</i></div>
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Psalm 131 is a short but poignant reflection on the God of Israel. I can imagine a traveler on his way to Jerusalem beginning to work out the internal heart workings of worship and starting to address the humility needed in order to enter the temple properly and with respect. It is hard to genuflect if your heart is not in the right place. We are all great at lip service, most of us not always so great at having a heart to match the lip service. </div>
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"My heart is not lifted up nor are my eyes raised to high." This is the pilgrim examining his heart and making sure he is not to proud of himself, nor that he feels he can look high and see and speak for God. He is preparing to hear God and praying the Psalm like it is a Psalm of examine. Stop and close your eyes for a minute and enter into the Psalmist shoes. You are dusty, dirty, tired and hungry. You likely have walked for days, or are preparing to walk for days. You are blistered, sore, yet fulfilled and energized by the thousands of pilgrims you are on the road with going where you are going. There are no strangers on this path, only fellow friends and pilgrims. </div>
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"I do not occupy myself with things to great and marvelous for me." I cannot but think of the pilgrim clearing his mind and focusing only on that which is before him - a long road and the big unknown. The future is to great and marvelous, the past is already done. How often do we bind ourselves up with thoughts of the past holding us back, and the thought of an unknown future keeping us in fear? The Psalmist knows the long road can lead to much introspection, as it rightfully should. But he is clearing his mind of those things that so easily bind. He is calming his soul. </div>
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<a name='more'></a>"Like a weaned child is my soul within me" I love this thought. The pilgrim here, in my interpretation, is saying he needs his mom (God), but he does not need him for his every last sustenance. He needs his love and protection, but he is able to get along without the easy source of sustenance of a mothers breast. He is growing and beginning to understand the world around him, but he still needs the protection of his mother (God). When we first become toddlers and are able to be separate from mom, mom still is never far away to pick us up when we fall, and to teach us the boundaries that are there for a reason.<br />
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All this is to say - Hope is in God. He wraps up his meditation reminding himself to hope in God. The term Israel is defined as one who wrestles with God. It was the name given to Jacob when he wrestled with the angel for his blessing. O he who wrestles with God, hope in the LORD from here and forevermore. </div>
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As we continue on as pilgrims in God's kingdom we must not be afraid to wrestle - but wrestle with the understanding that the God we serve is our final hope, and our hope is not misplaced in Him. We must be willing to do so humbly, and with an open mind to be taught and corrected. Correction does not always need to be forceful, but it might be. Will we open ourselves to the correction God gives and humbly accept? Will we wrestle with it and allow God to use the wrestling to teach us? Or, will we run as far as we can from it? </div>
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The Dread Pirate Roberts in <i>The Princess Bride </i>is notable for saying <i>"Life is pain" </i>and he is not wrong. But can we allow the pain to transform us? We are all pilgrims on the road of life everlasting. What marks a spiritual person is their ability to incorporate pain and to learn from it. </div>
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May you have peace and humility as you wrestle with God. May you have hope, may you have friends to walk the journey with, and may your soul find deep and meaningful rest in it all. </div>
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~Selah</div>
jcubsdadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441530898226119655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5101020719473993935.post-88644433968460422162017-03-06T12:32:00.000-08:002017-03-06T12:32:16.590-08:00Psalms of Ascent<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I start this with an admission - I do not regularly participate in lent. I admire those who make a habit of it, and in time I may join. I just lack the intestinal fortitude to do so. However, I love the journey idea of lent. We are all on a journey, even if we do not acknowledge it as so. We are all growing and changing, with or without purposeful intent. </div>
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Some of my favorite Psalms are in the Psalms of ascent. While scholars and teachers often vary in their views of what the Psalms purpose was for, most can agree that they were Psalms that were recited as Jews were travelling towards Jerusalem and the temple to worship. Psalm 130 starts:</div>
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<i>"Out of the depths I cry to you; Lord. Lord hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy." </i>While we have no empirical proof that these Psalms were recited in the order we have them in our Bible, I cannot think of a better way to start a meditation. I cannot imagine a better way to start lent for that matter. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. Out of the depths I cry...</div>
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As we pray, do we often ask God to listen? It is not that he would not be listening to us, but if you are like me I am afraid to get in the face of God and say "Be attentive and give me mercy". We have this notion that God is not pleased if we get in His face now and again. God actually favors those who are impetuous at times. Look at Jacob when he wrestled with God. Look at Moses when he said he would fast and pray until God remembered His blessing to Israel. One of my favorite stories in the New Testament is when the Samaritan woman was at the feet of Jesus and she boldly reminds God that even the dogs in the house of his master have enough food to eat. How bold these, and so many others were. The God we serve is not often delighted in the demure and dilettante. </div>
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Impetuousness is an offense - if you are the one in power. Part of having power is having control. The impetuous person, when in pursuit of God, seeks to cut through the red tape and the pomp and the circumstance. To be impetuous in the house of God may offend the holders of power, but not the one seeking to commune with and have a relationship with He who gives that power. </div>
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As we journey - Lenten or otherwise, boldness is a virtue in the eyes of He who sees you always. To seek His blessings and to bypass the gatekeepers who wish to keep it for themselves is an act of courage. Courage driven by the fact that "with you there is forgiveness Lord" (vs. 4) We can serve Him with reverence. We can approach Him ourselves. </div>
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So often the voice in my head says "I cannot do..." or "God would not..." and I defeat myself before I even begin. Some of this is learned response from the authorities we have, and have had in our lives. What if we begin our prayer each day, our journey each day, with a healthy dose of impetuous strength before God? What would He say? </div>
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So many thoughts...</div>
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~Selah </div>
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jcubsdadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441530898226119655noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5101020719473993935.post-29243617984282135652016-04-09T03:33:00.001-07:002016-04-09T03:33:58.814-07:00Lions and Tigers and Bears, AMEN!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMaJbwBf9g-_PDL-F-hn9mC-phIyKUmqlHsga253EXWgGNtz__tZm4aVkOaSFeUvffp1C75lLFqsIZbxn3rlP-IwVpIV-72CjWZt4IFSrHFFbv0B6WEgl87PZuoMNQHN1iKPkTAvolwb8/s1600/wizofoz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMaJbwBf9g-_PDL-F-hn9mC-phIyKUmqlHsga253EXWgGNtz__tZm4aVkOaSFeUvffp1C75lLFqsIZbxn3rlP-IwVpIV-72CjWZt4IFSrHFFbv0B6WEgl87PZuoMNQHN1iKPkTAvolwb8/s320/wizofoz.jpg" width="320" /></a>It is an act of courage to get up every morning and to face each day that we are given. We get up and we step out our door into our life which feel we control. We have a well ordered commute to work, we have regulated and mastered the environment of the car we drive, we know where all the usual traffic hang ups and pot holes are, we even can predict what music will play on our favorite radio station. It is only when something happens that is unpredictable that we get jarred out of our world of complacency, and into the world of grace. All of a sudden we go to step from one stone to the next while crossing the river of life, and our feet are taken out from under us. We do not like the bumps on the head and the gushing wounds that come from miss-stepping and falling.<br />
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We have a dislike and a distrust of anything that causes us to fear. Our monkey mind goes into full survival mode when we are in fear. This has served us well biologically speaking. We know when something causes our hearts to race and our mind to sharpen that it is for good reason, and we usually obey that biological cocktail that is telling us to get-the-hell out of here. This is all well and good, but it has done us no good spiritually. We were never meant to live in fear, but nor were we meant to live in dull and insipid complacency either.<br />
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Psalms 104 is quickly becoming one of my favorite passages of scripture. The verses are clear, the breadth of the pros is immense, and it all comes back to summation with "Praise the LORD, my soul. Praise the LORD." (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20104">NIV Psalm 104:35</a>) The entire chapter is about wonder, and the immensity of what God has, and what God does. For me, the key to breaking the back of fear, as well as to beating back the complacency and spiritual torpor that so easily besets my soul, is to live in wonder. To live in soul enlivening, heart stopping wonder of all the things around me.<br />
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"The LORD wraps himself in light as with a garment. He stretches out the heavens like a tent and lays the beams of his upper chambers on the water. He makes the clouds his chariot and rides on the wings of the wind." (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20104">NIV Psalm 104: 2-3</a>) How awesome to contemplate, how Brobdingnagian is God because of what he can do. His cosmos, his creation, is where he resides. You are his creation, and he resides with you while in his creation. He provides "wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts" (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20104">NIV Psalm 104:15</a>) God is not only your provider of daily bread, he provides in liberality.<br />
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"Wine that gladdens human hearts." He provides things that bring us joy. As we live in joy, God is enjoying our joy. God is lifted up when we experience joy.<br />
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"Oil to make their faces shine." He provides us with things that bring dignity to our day. Oil for the face means basically that he is providing make up for the day so that we may look clean, feel clean, and be clean.<br />
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"Bread that sustains their hearts." He feeds his people with liberality and abundance. He makes the earth bring forth all good things for his creation. We are the crown of his creation, we are given the means to meet our needs, and the needs of animals and so much more.<br />
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When I am staring down the metaphorical (I hope) lion of the day I can rest and remember the goodness and the sweetness of God. I can rest in his provision and his completeness. I can be still and know that this world is created, and managed, by He who knows me best. I can look in the eyes of the lion and say peace, be still.<br />
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I encourage you to spend a few minutes in quiet wonder. Sit and watch the stars, sit and stare at a rock, whatever it may take. Do not go with an agenda, just let your mind rest in silence and allow quiet to draw near. Allow your spirit to wander and wonder about the origin of what you are looking at. Allow your mind to ask questions. Put your phone away and do not let the internet give you the answer...I am serious. Sit with the questions that come, allow God to let awe and wonder have it's rightful place in your heart and mind. This takes practice, this takes patience. Allow God the time, and release your agenda. I once found Jesus while staring at a pine cone. It was a powerful experience for me. I could throw that pine cone at any lion raging in my heart and instantly it would be tamed. I dare you to find God in his creation. I dare you to give him the time.<br />
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~Selah <br />
jcubsdadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441530898226119655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5101020719473993935.post-4144305943785623312016-02-20T05:44:00.000-08:002016-02-20T05:44:35.413-08:00To sit with wonder...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b style="font-size: x-large;">A </b>good story allows us to explore the intricacies and nuances of good - and of evil. The best stories ever told or written down are the ones that have us at the end of the movie or the book not with a fully resolved story line and a good always wins belief. The best stories are the ones where you come out and see both sides, and have mercy for the "good guy" and for the "bad guy". Stories tell a lot about the mind and heart of a person, and of a culture.<br />
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<b style="font-size: x-large;">It </b>is my firm belief that our western culture that is driven by facts and science and "empirical evidence" (whatever that is) is quickly eschewing these things, and turning towards the wisdom of story and story telling. It is not as if we are saying math is wrong, engineering is wrong and so forth, but we are learning to not put so much faith in them so as to say that they have all the answers to everything in life. Scientists have been working for years on quantum physics, the science of energy and of smaller things, and realizing that the smaller world just does not conform to, nor confirm, the findings of physics on a large scale. Some physicists who have tried to reconcile the two fields have been driven to fits of despair and rage - some have even gone to the mad house.<br />
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<b style="font-size: x-large;">Science </b>reveals mystery, stories reveal mystery, religion - in all its forms - reveals mystery. The way we have all grown up in the west is to believe that if something is a mystery it <i>must, at all costs </i>be deciphered. We just cannot abide with something being unknowable. What we do not realize, to our own detriment, is that mystery is what creates wonder within the heart and mind. Socrates is well known for saying "wisdom begins with wonder" and I believe he is very right. So to become wise is to acknowledge that there are some things that we do not really know, and then to be okay with it.<br />
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<b style="font-size: x-large;">Mythology </b>and folklore are birthed out of man's inability to make what seems incoherent into a coherent system. Man has always felt the need to find some order to his cosmos and some peace among the wreckage of his sometimes very, very unfortunate life. Myths, even today, are the ways we come to grips with evil, with relationships, with - love. How can the creator that I believe to exist also express his love to me among all this turmoil? He (or she) expresses himself through the stories of redemption, absolution and restoration that we write for ourselves over generations. He becomes that which we strive for - for a better life and a fundamental knowledge that all is, or will be, right with the world.<br />
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<b style="font-size: x-large;">Christianity </b>needs to come back to the roots of telling a story, a story of redemption. All our attempts at scientifically proving God, or scientifically proving that the stories of the patriarchs and the stories of Genesis must be absolutely scientifically accurate in every way are making us look the fool. The written word of God that we have today is a collection of stories told orally for generations. This does not make it less efficacious, this makes it all the more wonderful. As the world became more complex, and as wars and land grabs raged on and on, the story of God remained. The simple story of a God who set aside a nation so that they could be agents of hope and reconciliation for the world, how AWESOME is that! The story is still being written, the ink on the parchment is not yet dry. God is working to express himself through the stories of his people even today. While we use the bible to help us make sense of how God worked and is working, we aught not nail ourselves to one way of thinking and expect that it is exactly how God will work tomorrow. God is a living and dynamic and - dare I say - growing entity! His Holy Spirit is active everywhere, but we must be willing to say that some of what is being done is still a mystery. While the veil of the temple was torn, the veil was still there covering some of it. God, in his infinite mercy, has allowed us to still have mystery in our lives so that we will continue to pursue him, and continue to live in awe struck wonder at his feet.<br />
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<b style="font-size: x-large;">My </b>hope is to get out from under my own feet and get at the feet of Jesus. I long to sit at his feet as he tells the parable of the lost sheep, or of the prodigal son. I long to listen to the words of Jesus as he blesses the people he is with. I long to sit at the feet of a masterful storyteller who can weave the known, and the not so well known, into a new paradigm. Can we, the church, begin to focus on the story, and not the facts? Can we abide with mystery? Can we sit with mystery and not master it, rather let it beckon us to engagement? I think we can, and I think we must if we are to become a people that grows into the next generation, and who reaches out and disciples an entire generation of people.<br />
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~Selahjcubsdadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441530898226119655noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5101020719473993935.post-47933204867315599072016-02-15T19:02:00.000-08:002016-02-15T19:09:06.200-08:00I AM that I AM...<div style="background-color: white; color: #505050; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding-left: 1em; text-align: center; text-indent: -1em;">
<i>When despair for the world grows in me</i></div>
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<i>and I wake in the night at the least sound</i></div>
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<i>in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,</i></div>
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<i>I go and lie down where the wood drake</i></div>
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<i>rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.</i></div>
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<i>I come into the peace of wild things</i></div>
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<i>who do not tax their lives with forethought</i></div>
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<i>of grief. I come into the presence of still water.</i></div>
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<i>And I feel above me the day-blind stars</i></div>
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<i>waiting with their light. For a time</i></div>
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<i>I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.</i></div>
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<i><a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/wendell-berry">-Wendell Berry</a></i></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia";"> old man of anxiety has been showing his wrinkled and pockmarked face lately. For no apparent reason, at no apparently special time he tries to come for a visit lately. As much as I purge my thoughts, as much as I pray, as much as I know that it is my brain in overdrive, it-is-relentless. While my center is fully on the face of Christ and on the goodness there in, life gets in the way sometimes. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>I</b></span><span style="font-family: "georgia";"> love the somewhat enigmatic statement that God makes to Moses when he inquires about who to say sent him. "I am that I am" is God's response. Moses, who undoubtedly was experiencing a moment on the threshold of anxiety and stress asked God for who He was. God answered. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia";"> often we get so caught up in the feeling that God is so high up there, so far from us that we dare not approach him. We dare not ask him anything because we are not worthy in our own estimation. Jesus came and reordered our universe so that we can indeed sit at the feet of Father God and ask him "Who are you", or better "Who am I Lord?"</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When</span></b><span style="font-family: "georgia";"> we approach God and come with our backs burdened and our neck kinked from the heavy labor of life, He reminds us to rest. Not just rest for rejuvenation, rest for rests sake. God created the universe, God created the Earth, and God saw fit to create you, his one in billions, unique in all your quirks and eccentricities. Rest in the goodness of God. </span></div>
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God's I AM statements always get me because they are so good. Here they are;</div>
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1) <b>I AM </b>the <b>bread </b>of <b>life </b>(John 6:35). This is sustenance and care for our daily need. </div>
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2) <b>I AM </b>the <b>light </b>of the <b>world </b>(John 8:12). This is direction for our feet and for our thoughts and actions. </div>
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3) <b>I AM </b>the good <b>shepherd </b>(John 10:11). A shepherd provides discipline and correction to his flock, as well as provides nourishment and sustenance. </div>
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4) <b>I AM </b>the <b>resurrection </b>and the <b>life. </b>(John 11:25) God is the prime source, and Jesus is the path, to life with God. His life and death and resurrection provide the "blessed assurance, Jesus is mine" as the old hymn goes. </div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Anxiety</b></span><span style="font-family: "georgia";"> will always come, and it will always go. Anxiety is time bound and specific, the Love of Christ eternal and for everything. Those things that cast anxiety on my soul today will provide strength for tomorrow. All that God allows to happen will grow, strengthen and develop you. God does not promise us happiness on earth, instead He promises wholeness (or holiness) </span></div>
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~Selah </div>
jcubsdadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441530898226119655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5101020719473993935.post-67104070468377702162015-10-14T09:07:00.000-07:002015-10-14T09:07:58.670-07:00On Learning<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 22.0pt;">I</span> have
been doing a lot of reading and receiving of information as of late. I have
always loved to read, but God has been leading me down some interesting paths
of reading lately. I have been confused though because I am one who likes to
know that everything I am reading and doing is coming into a coherent pattern
or way of belief. I am okay with reading in a scatter-shot manner if God wishes
me to, but only if I get to define what that will mean. I know it is backwards;
but there it is. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 22.0pt;">As </span>I
continue down this journey of reading and following the rabbit trail that is
before me, I feel as if God is preparing me to enter into the blogging
community in a more intentional manner. Many of you know my former blog and
what I once wrote. It was very formative for me spiritually, and for making me
a writer. However, having gone back to graduate school and facing a personal
spiritual journey that has taken me down some steep terrain knocked the wind
out of the sails and I just have not gotten back to what I was doing. My ship
now has a deeper rudder, the draft is shallow and the wind is picking up. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 22.0pt;">The </span>thing
about my kind of writer’s life that is so maddening, yet engaging, is that
nothing really is off limits for observation. I remember angry e-mails from
readers telling me to “focus your thoughts” and “I cannot follow you because I cannot
figure out your mind”. I am a philosopher, theologian, teacher, preacher and
all around provocateur, and I intend to keep it that way. In this I may have
more of a journalistic mind, but I do not want to write what is necessarily
popular, or even right. My desire is to provoke thought, engage with that
thought, and bring it out into the world and see how it plays out. I want to
live in the tension of this life, this modern, post-modern, crazy-ass life. It
will surely have the up’s and the downs, it will surely be boring, and once in a
while fascinating. If it brings transformation, I have reached what I hope to
do. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Baskerville Old Face",serif; font-size: 22.0pt;">My </span>hope
in all of this is to bring coherence to my worldview, and hopefully be able to
bring you along in that quest. I will try to post a few times a week. It may be
simple links to good writing I have found, or it may be something more deep and
personal. What it will be is a journey, and often times it is the journey that
tells us the most about the destination we seek. Once we land at the location
we seek we will hopefully be wiser and stronger than we were before. So let us
begin as all good stories do. Once upon a time…<o:p></o:p></div>
jcubsdadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441530898226119655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5101020719473993935.post-43942346313758126402015-01-14T03:56:00.000-08:002015-01-14T03:56:42.096-08:00Meaning and Chaos...It is a wonderful thing to be born, to see a life begin. I have had the pleasure of being with friends as new life has sprung forth, and I have seen life come to an end in dignified and honorable ways. <div>
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Life, as it begins, is story telling. How much do we celebrate as a little one begins to take these random sounds and tidbits of information and transform them into syllables. Da, Ma, La...the list goes on, each one a little celebration of life, and the meaning that is being expressed by the little one gets more vehement and packed with meaning. Soon, the syllables turn to short words, then the short words to longer ones, the longer ones into sentences and so forth. Thus the world finds expression in the mind, heart and tongue of a precious, precocious and curious child. </div>
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We have had a birth in our family today. I am now an Uncle for a beautiful young man whom I cannot wait to meet. I have prayed for his mom and I rejoiced as I got the call that all was well. Over the coming weeks and months he will begin to place meaning on things, and find his way forward. What will that way forward be?</div>
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I am watching as another person's life on this world <a href="http://www.mundanefaithfulness.com/">comes to a close</a>. One could easily say that it is tragic that her life is ending just as her kids life is beginning. I am sure that at times she might agree. But, she knows that her life is not her own, and that life is given, and life is taken away. I have also just been told a relative whom I adore is loosing his life by small degrees. Each day a new memory or function faces the reality that it could be lost. He is learning what we all should be living now that all is a gift, all is grace. Life is grace, not race. </div>
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We spend so much time as humans trying to define what our world looks like. From the beginning we look at the world as a subject to be mastered. We look to ourselves, and other flawed humans to find meaning for those first syllables as we place them into words. We consider the world subjectively. God does not ask us to look at the world this way, He asks us to look at the world reflectively. The world we live in, the life we live, the people we meet are all reflections of our creator. Some people would say we are a pale reflection because we are "fallen". While this is true and worthy of discussion, I believe the reflection of the creator shines brighter than the sun in all of us. His presence and glory is felt in waking up in the morning, in going to bed at night. His presence is felt in the warm embrace of a sleepy puppy, or watching the sun rise over the mountains. He is felt, and reflected back to us, in <i>every day life</i>. </div>
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Our life is a masterful story. We can choose to let our story tell of a subjective life...or we can allow our story to reflect the master weaver whom we love, and who loves us in such a fashion we can never fully fathom. As our life is weaved and our story is told, we impact the lives of others. We cannot life in this world and have no impact. What we say and what we do is one more piece of fiber for the life of another. </div>
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Life is a seamless garment of praise. Where one life ends, another life begins. As one saint closes her eyes for a final time, a baby opens his for the first. Our role in life is to shepherd this great gift of life, and live with <i>eyes wide open</i> to the reflection of the Glory of God and His deep, passionate, love for His children. As Christians, our role in this world is not to build a church building and bid people come. Our role, is to be stewards and shepherds of the mystery that we call life. As life comes into the world we rejoice, and as a life leaves this world only to open their eyes into the life of eternity, we rejoice. The Christian life is a witness to hope and love. There are no other concepts, no other ideas worth even contemplating if we do not have these two things. </div>
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~Selah</div>
jcubsdadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441530898226119655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5101020719473993935.post-34188845554387328512014-08-07T06:17:00.001-07:002014-08-07T06:17:44.591-07:00I am not O.K...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Moving sucks. There is no platitude or word that will make it easier to say, it just does. Amy and I have been moving from our apartment of six years to a home of our own. While home ownership is wonderful, moving the tchotchke and minutia of life is not fun.<br />
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I had brain surgery in this apartment. I lost something in this apartment, a part of my memory. I usually get around this, and it has gotten me out of many awkward conversations that begin "do you remember me..." It is a convenient excuse at times, and royal pain-in-the-ass many other times.<br />
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Last night I was going through some blankets and came across a children's blanket that was my son's at one time. It looked like one of the many pieces my mother could have made him and I asked my wife if it was indeed one of those items. It was not. The visible "what the hell" look on her face instantly led me to realize that this was one of those moments where my memory failed me miserably. Apparently I bought the blanket, and had it customized just for Jacob while in India in 2005. As hard as I have tried, I remember nothing about it.<br />
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Something that I have learned over the years, all-be-it painfully, is to admit that I am not O.K. all the time. I want to say I am O.K, I want to give you a trite platitude about "God knows" when I come across one of those moments where I loose track of my memory, but I will not. Life is to short for platitudes. I am hurting today. I mourn the loss of memory, I mourn the loss of some of my best times of life. I treasure what I have all the more, but I mourn none the less.<br />
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I have friends who would love to loose memories of certain pains in their life. Past decisions with present consequences, future plans sabotaged by the way they think today...the list is endless. Memory is a wonderful, yet vicious bitch. If this is a gift God, give me more, or less, depending on the day I suppose.<br />
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Moving to a space to call our own has been a wonderful experience. I had fun this last weekend showing it off to some good friends down from Denver. I even have enjoyed doing the little fix up things and learning from another friend how to do things around the house. But this part stinks, the part where every last thing I own has a memory ensconced within it. I may have bought it at a flea market on a sunny day, or gone across the world and brought it home...but it is memory; my memory.<br />
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I have been learning to spiritually try and live in the moment. This present moment, unencumbered by thoughts of the past, unencumbered by anxiety and fear of tomorrow. All I have is this moment, and it is a beautiful and holy moment. I guess lacking some of my memories is a good thing, but I do not think of it as such. I have to rest and realize that I am a child of a God who gives all good things, who works continually for the good of His creation and as a part of His creation it means He is crazy in love with me.<br />
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<i>~Solo Deo Gloria</i>jcubsdadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441530898226119655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5101020719473993935.post-33391266404598391212014-01-25T09:14:00.001-08:002014-01-25T09:17:27.453-08:00On the art of being presentGod has been teaching me a lot about being in the moment lately. I am one who loves to think ahead and envision big thoughts, and I like to think that I reflect on my past to glean in the fields of wisdom and knowledge that the past bring. Both of these add value and depth to our lives not just as Christians, but as humans. However, so often I loose what is in the moment for that which I am thinking about my future.<br />
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Jacob and I watched <i>After Earth </i>last night. While the movie was mediocre, there is a message that resonates throughout the movie. The message is "be in the moment". In the movie (small plot line spoiler), aliens attack humans. They are attracted only to one thing, the pheromone they secrete when they are in fear. Without it, the monsters cannot see their prey (you). The way to avoid being seen is to calm your fear. The way you calm your fear is to work on being in the present moment. To be in the flow around you, to rest in the moment and be fully and completely engaged in that moment only. I think this is a valuable lesson for us today.<br />
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<i><span style="color: red;">“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today." Matt 6:34 (NRSV)</span></i></div>
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Fear, fear of the past, fear of the future; clouds our ability to be in the flow of The Holy Spirit in our day to day lives. We get bound up with what if and how come and could it be. Instead we need to cultivate the moment we are inhabiting and be present for everyone we meet, and be listening and discerning for the voice of God in our day to day. God is everywhere, and He is always speaking, it is only up to us to listen.<br />
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Two different times over the last month my family and I have gone to the local YMCA to go swimming. We love our time in the water together. It ends up just being a little swimming and a lot of play. Exercise <i>and </i>play together? Count me in. But these two times we entered the water there has been a young man named Gabriel playing basketball in the water by himself. He is in the 5th grade, and he believes that he can do the N.B.A. a service by growing up and playing for them. The problem is, he is always alone.<br />
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Both times he has been there, God has given me a little nudge to just spend a few minutes with him. All I do it throw the ball at the net, and let him block it. He always exclaims <i>"Not in my house" </i>as he relishes his victory by blocking my shot. He genuinely enjoys it. It is apparent to me that Gabriel does not have much, if any, fatherly affection in his life. All I have to do is spend a few minutes with him and tell him how cool he is for blocking my shots. Words of affirmation spoken in the moment can yield eternal rewards.<br />
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I do not know Gabriel's story, I may see him again, I may not. But I do know that if I was burdening my mind with forethought and fear of tomorrow, I would have missed the opportunity to speak into the life of an affirmation hungry young man.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16.25px;"><i><span style="color: red; font-family: inherit;">"This is the day which the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24) NRSV</span></i></span></div>
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My challenge is to live in the moment, the flow as it were, and rejoice. Tomorrow is not guaranteed, the past is prone to poor memory and all we have is the now. God who was faithful in the past is faithful now, and odds are he will be in the future as well. Rest and rejoice...</div>
jcubsdadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441530898226119655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5101020719473993935.post-35913229233776489952014-01-15T05:22:00.000-08:002014-01-15T05:22:20.990-08:00Life in Three Parts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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"I am the Alpha and the Omega says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come,</div>
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<u style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">the Almighty</u> (Rev 1:8 Emph mine)</div>
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God is fundamentally triune in nature. We hear about it all the time. The mystery of the Trinity, God of past present and future and so on and so forth. Many revolutions have been started and much blood spilled over <i>properly</i> defining what the Trinity is. In Church History we look at some of the most internecine debates and differences and how they caused death and destruction. History at it's finest. </div>
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I recently started reading through a book called <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Knowing-Triune-Story-Michael-Lindvall/dp/1571531491">Knowing God's Triune Story</a> </i>and I was impressed with the idea of God in three movements. In this case, The God who was, the God who is, and the God who is to come. He likens the idea to ourselves and our past, our present, and our future. </div>
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The first movement is the movement of the right now. Me, in this place, writing this blog. You, reading this blog, drinking your coffee. In the now we are present and engaged and living this fleeting moment with the help of The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps us to integrate the past into our moment with optimism for the future, but without flying off the rails. We are gaining experience, but we are "in the flow' of God's call on our time. </div>
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The second movement is the movement of story, or the movement of our past. This is our recorded history, our oral history, our re-telling (or not retelling) of the past. This is God. God is the faithful God of our past, and he is working in the present through the working of his Spirit. He is defining who we are at every moment because we are both wrestling with, and yielding to, our past. This past profoundly affects the way we see the present, and shapes the way we look into the future. Sometimes I think of all the life on this planet we should be pitied the most. We are given the gift of learning from our past, integrating it into our moment, but then using it to project our actual, or hoped for future. Unlike animals who are not given much gift in the way of forethought, we are. We do not operate on instinct near as much as animals and it is a blessing, except for when it is a curse. </div>
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The final movement is abstraction, or the ability to look ahead. This is where Jesus is. We look ahead to the return of Jesus, we look ahead to what is changing in our lives, we look ahead because where Jesus is, there is hope. We are a people of hope and optimism. You can say we are not by looking at the fringes of society and deciding that we are a doomed species. If this is the case, then why do we get together at the end of each year and cast a vision for a better and brighter future for ourselves? Why, when polled, does the population generally feel that the future is indeed going to be better? Jesus fulfills our longing for relationship and wholeness into the future. </div>
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We write a lot of theology and philosophy based on a static God who is revealed in the pages of the Bible. This is not bad, to a point. However, when we reach the ultimate conclusion that God of the past is just that, the past, and that we are all doomed to a sin filled future, we loose the battle for hearts and minds. We loose the battle for love. Fundamentally the fabric of the cosmos is love. Love that is eternal, optimistic, grounded in mystery and fulfilled in our time and space. </div>
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My goal, as hard as it is for myself, is to live more in the now and the wow. When I can let go of old wine skins and embrace the new wine that is pouring eternally over my heart and soul from a creator who is so in love with me and who has no grudge with me what-so-ever, I am free. Indeed I have had only a few transcendent moments in my life where I can truly say I touched that eternal fountain unafraid. But, when I do, the refreshing out pouring of the Holy Spirit is clean and leaves my mind so aloft in the cosmos that it takes days to come down. It is a great feeling. </div>
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It is a challenge not to cast of the old and declare it of no value. There is value, absolute unequivocal value in learning from the past. However, memory is finite, ulterior motives always are at play, and until we can truly grasp the interplay of the spirit in the now with the history of our past, we will fall short. We will never fully come to rest in the fountains of now, and into the future. The interplay is complex, but it is so worth working towards. </div>
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Last week I had the pleasure of seeing Phyllis Tickle give her last public address. She is retiring from public life and I was honored to be there. She spent 20 minutes telling us one very important thing. The Spirit is on the move, and He is looking for fresh expressions and a place to grow. I truly believe He is moving to unify churches, beliefs, and people into one organism, one new and exiting organism. This organism will be...the church!</div>
jcubsdadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441530898226119655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5101020719473993935.post-6685791881955725812013-07-06T06:10:00.001-07:002013-07-06T06:10:18.586-07:00Screwtape and C.S. Lewis. A Conversation. <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> There is perhaps no more beloved Christian author than
C.S. Lewis. His ability to speak to the average man is astonishing. He has
intellectual capability to go head to head with the most elite and erudite, yet
his conversation style was approachable and even loveable. I truly believe
Lewis knew no enemy because of the way he spoke to Christian, atheist, Deist,
Philosopher; it did not matter the persuasion they were of because he was
confident that a social interaction where both sides would remain open minded
and conversational would lead to the feet of Christ. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> One of his best and most revered fictional works is <i>The Screwtape Letters.</i> I believe this
book delineates<i> </i>today, just as much
as it did 60 years ago, the craftiness of our enemy. C.S. Lewis’s <i>magnum opus </i>of non-fiction is <i>Mere Christianity </i>where hearts are laid
bare. I believe these two works are similar and worth comparison because both
are hearts laid bare. The heart of man; and the heart of our soul’s enemy, the
devil. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> An argument could be made that C.S. Lewis is a product of
the time in which he lived. We know that “World War II brought many things to
the United Kingdom; a one was a new openness to religion. The complacency
toward organized religion, often found in the time of peace, was shattered, as
were the foundations of many lives.” <w:sdt citation="t" id="1773200268"><!--[if supportFields]><span
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style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>CITATION She99 \l 1033 <span
style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]-->(Shepherd's Notes Christian Classics, 1999)<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt> A secular reader of
his work would undoubtedly point this out as a fact, and it is that; a fact.
However, Lewis struck a nerve because in an intellectually honest household,
most members would have told you back then that they knew the world war was
really an outworking of the bigger problem. That problem is the war within
ourselves. The world was horrified at the atrocities of Hitler and his evil.
However, each person was coming to grips with the fact that given the right
tools and environment that they might also do such cruel and inhumane things. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> In <i>Screwtape
Letters </i>we see Screwtape telling his nephew how to control the human he has
been given charge over. He is reminding Wormwood, his nephew, to “Keep his mind
on the inner life. He thinks his conversion is something <i>inside </i>him…Keep his mind off the most elementary duties by
directing it to the most advanced and spiritual ones.”<w:sdt citation="t" id="336506109"><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span>
CITATION CSL96 \l 1033 <span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> (Lewis, 1996)<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt> Screwtape is
employing to his advantage the fact that in our own minds we are all geniuses.
We spend so much time in our own head growing and learning that we justify our
own actions to ourselves, but not often to those outside our mind. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> Lewis starts out in <i>Mere
Christianity </i>by discussing the law of nature. I am going to call it the law
of human nature so it does not get confused with discussions of nature and
science. He points out from the beginning that we all call upon some higher
law, especially when it is advantageous to defend that which was in our heads and
is played out in public. Lewis says of the man who transgresses a social norm
or an unwritten rule “Nearly always he tries to make out that what he has been
doing does not really go against the standard, or that if it does there is some
special excuse. He pretends there is some special reason in this particular
case…” <w:sdt citation="t" id="-487939426"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>CITATION CSL52 \l 1033 <span
style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]-->(Lewis, Mere Christianity, 1952)<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt> what I observe of
Screwtape and his advice to Wormwood is that it almost always comes back to this
one fundamental law of nature and of fair play. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> Screwtape takes great pains to remind Wormwood to work on
the feelings of the individual he is charge of. His advice, succinctly put is
“Keep them watching their own minds and trying to produce <i>feelings </i>there by the action of their own wills. When they meant to
ask Him for charity, let them, instead, start trying to manufacture charitable
feelings for themselves and not notice that this is what they are doing.” <w:sdt citation="t" id="1129283917"><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-begin'></span><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>CITATION CSL96 \l
1033 <span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]-->(Lewis, Screwtape Letters, 1996)<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt> Screwtape knows the
fickleness of feelings and how they come and go based not just on our life
circumstances, but on how we physically feel, what we ate for lunch and if the
birds outside are chirping to loud or not-at-all. In <i>Mere Christianity, </i>Lewis takes great pains to show that God is God
in all circumstances whether we feel Him or not. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> Lewis goes on in <i>Mere
Christianity </i>to talk about the feeling of love. He says when speaking of
love “You cannot make it the basis of a whole life. It is a noble feeling, but
it is still a feeling. Now no feeling can be relied on to last in its full
intensity, or even to last at all. Knowledge can last, principles can last,
habits can last; but feelings come and go.”<w:sdt citation="t" id="-2001796366"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span> CITATION CSL52 \l 1033 <span
style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> (Lewis, Mere Christianity, 1952)<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt> An outside observer
of Lewis might say that he is being negative towards love because he has not
yet experienced the <i>Eros </i>love, the
love between a wife and a husband. I believe what he is pointing out here is
that feelings are a bad basis for service. If I got up and prayed only on the
days I felt good, felt loved and got a good night of sleep, I would not pray
very much. If, by habit, I get up in the morning and get on my knees and spend
even a few moments before God, it is a habit and it is not based on feelings
and fleeting things. Screwtape, being eternal (until God decides otherwise) has
seen feelings and emotions and uses them to muddy the waters of the Christian
life. He also knows that the most virtue filled lives in history can almost
always be traced back to the formation of good habits early in life. I believe
Lewis is a testament to this fact just as much as any other historical figure
of note. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> I mentioned in the introduction the way Lewis can
converse with people of so many different persuasions, religious or otherwise.
In my research I found an interesting article written by a humanist. It is he
says “Scholars tell us that religion (or irreligion) is more often a matter of
the heart than of the head; this is why religious beliefs are usually not amenable
to rational argument. Yet Lewis, to his credit, isn't content to rest with the
"convictions" of the heart, which can be dangerously wayward without
the guiding rudder of reason. Instead, he takes a thoroughly rationalist
approach to religion, arguing that "the weight of the evidence" for
mere Christianity-Christianity's core doctrines-is on the side of the
Christian.”<w:sdt citation="t" id="-778949727"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span> CITATION And03 \l 1033 <span
style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> (Johnson, 2003)<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt> One of the reasons I
believe that the work of C.S. Lewis has endured so long is that it avails
itself of knowledge of the holy and not just feelings of the holy. We may, at
times, appeal to feelings and how we “feel God”; we are made to have feelings
by an emotive God. However, they are only meant to be a piece of the picture of
who we are in relation to our God. Screwtape echoes this when he tells Wormwood
“It is only in so far as they reach the Will and are, there embodied in habits
that the virtues are really fatal to us.”<w:sdt citation="t" id="-337226460"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span> CITATION CSL52 \l 1033 <span
style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> (Lewis, Mere Christianity, 1952)<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> Another issue that takes up much of Screwtapes thoughts
is that of eternity. We are eternal beings. Lewis makes it clear; on several
occasions that eternity is worth contemplation and action. Screwtape hates this
because when we truly contemplate our structure as eternal beings, we usually
come to humility of mind and heart, and that is where God can begin. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> “The humans live in time but our Enemy destines them to
eternity. He therefore, I believe, wants them to attend chiefly to two things,
to eternity itself, and to that point of time which they call the Present. For
the Present is the point at which time touches eternity.”<w:sdt citation="t" id="1074088328"><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span>
CITATION CSL96 \l 1033 <span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> (Lewis,
Screwtape Letters, 1996)<!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt> This echoes the Biblical statement in
Ecclesiastes 3:11 that says “He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet
no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”(NIV) When we
contemplate eternity, we contemplate the divine mind. We will never fully
understand the mind of God. Some people have said that since we cannot, we
should not even try. While I applaud their humility and honesty in the matter,
I do not endorse this idea what-so-ever. God put eternity in our heart and mind
so that we will spend time living the virtuous life of humility before the
maker of the universe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> Towards the end of <i>Mere
Christianity </i>Lewis succinctly sums up what his book has been about. “Give
up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save
it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favourite wishes every day and
death of your whole body in the end; submit with every fiber of your being, and
you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given
away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised
from the dead.”<w:sdt citation="t" id="2055576887"><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-begin'></span> CITATION CSL52 \l 1033 <span
style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]--> (Lewis, Mere Christianity, 1952)<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> Screwtape is a wise and cunning serpent. He knows that
man likes to take credit for that which he has. He points out “all the time the
joke is that the word “Mine” in its fully possessive sense cannot be uttered by
a human being about anything. In the long run either Our Father of the Enemy will
say “Mine” of each thing that exists, and specially of each man.” <w:sdt citation="t" id="748777068"><!--[if supportFields]><span style='mso-element:
field-begin'></span><span style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>CITATION CSL96 \l
1033 <span style='mso-element:field-separator'></span><![endif]-->(Lewis, Screwtape Letters, 1996)<!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--></w:sdt><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"> In both of these books there is illustrated the daily
battle each person has against the flesh and blood and principalities of this
world. <i>Screwtape Letters </i>shows, in a
most fanciful way, the actions that Satan would love to take, and does take, to
take us off course in our Christian life. As great as the book is, it is just a
scratch on the surface of what Satan can, and does, do. <i>Mere Christianity </i>is a hope filled call to the believer, and to the
non-believer, that the Christian life is possible, and it is worth the effort to
pursue it. This paper is just a scratch at the surface of a few basic ideas
that are presented, in contrast, in both books. It is proof though, that no
matter what your proclivity in reading is, Lewis is readable by all. As one who
is comfortable in the world of fiction and non-fiction I see great parallels
shared in both books. I hope that it encourages you to dig in deeper into the
writing and thinking of the most imaginative man, C.S. Lewis. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
jcubsdadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441530898226119655noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5101020719473993935.post-38110519419361613112013-06-29T18:50:00.000-07:002013-06-29T18:54:14.766-07:00Kenotic Rhythm<h2>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">As some of you may know I have been on a blogging hiatus for some time. My previous domain at Thoughts of a Gyrovague no longer is in existence. I was paying for it and not using it. I let it go. It was a painful decision because I am certain God has a plan for me, and some of that plan entails writing.</span></span></div>
</div>
</h2>
Letting go and not writing for a time has been an act of obedience, and an act of self emptying. While on hiatus I began to come across the words Kenotic Rhythm. I cannot put my finger on where I first saw it, but it has stuck for some time. It is where this blog derives its namesake. The daily ingress and egress of life and allowing it to be recklessly abandoned unto God is how I would define it. It has several different nuances based on what religious tradition you are reading from.<br />
<br />
At this point in my life I am still holding down a full time job that requires much of my communication abilities, as well as attending graduate school at <a href="http://www.hiu.edu/">Hope International University</a>. I am also full time dad to a growing teenager and husband of 14 years to Amy. This being said I am not sure how often I will post here.<br />
<br />
It has been a welcome experience the last few weeks to start thinking about a subject and then feel the familiar tinge of excitement when in the back of my mind I begin to think "I should blog about that". I have not had that feeling for awhile. This will be a place of spiritual insights as I come across them, and a small window into the life I live. I hope you will be challenged by what you read, and I hope you will visit this place often.<br />
<br />
~Selah<br />
<br />jcubsdadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08441530898226119655noreply@blogger.com0