Kingdom Pic #3

Well over that past week I have been working at the Mart in Atlanta helping my mother in law move her showroom. Over those days I ran into these two working on the docks. This is Cynthia and Lamar.... As I ran into these two and many more like them I was reminded of something.

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

-Galatians 3:2

So many times we walk through this world with only one concern...ME! There are so many good people all around us who have a story to share, a need that needs to be met, or even just a simple smile. Yea, I work in the church and so many times I get trapped behind the four walls. Let none of us get to a place that life is just about us...whether the "us" is the church or ourselves. We are all one in Christ!

By the way Cynthia and Lamar probably thought I was a little crazy...but the both have a love for the Lord as I do. And that, I would have not known if I hadn't stopped to visit with these two...my brother and sister in christ, just for a moment.

Kingdom Pic #2

Matthew 19:13-14

13 Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them.
14 Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

For some reason I remember this little girl more than all the others during my recent trip to Nicaragua. Maybe its the innocence in her eyes or maybe she just reminded me of my own little princess back at home. Children are such a reminder of the central message that Jesus preached....children! Whether it was literal children or the fact that we are to come to him with a childlike faith, he often uttered the word..."child." So, for today act childish....and you will see God smiling down on you too!

Kingdom Pic #1

I am going to start a series around the kingdom as I experience it everyday. The Kingdom of God is all around us, but we fail to see it or experience it bc we are so wrapped up in ourselves.

So here we are at Kingdom Pic #1



My first pics will probably be from my recent trip to Nicaragua. This one speaks loudly about the heart of the kingdom. I was standing on the edge of a soccer field where some of our guys were playing the locals in a pick-up game. The field was ligned with trash and many of the locals came out to view the Americanos attempt to play soccer. In the midst of the dirty roads, the sub-standard living conditions and poverty this rainbow appeared. In that moment I fealt the presence of God on tha soccer field. I forgot about the trash, heat and my desire for a Md's quarter pounder. I saw the wonder of God filling this valley on his children both Nicaraguan and American. Just a few moments later another rainbow appeared beside the first....just a confirmation of God's covenant to us....his people.

"Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."
-Genesis 9:16

chill out

Well, I am sitting in the ski lodge way up here in WV while all of my kids are freezing their tails off on the slopes. You may think I feel guilty for that, but you would be so totally wrong. It actually is medicinal for me to sit here sipping my Nicaraguan coffee with a good book. It has reminded me of how very seldom I slow down enough to enjoy life. I say that I do, and yea am successful at times, but most of the time am a great failure at recharging the batteries. Ministry is tough, but so is teaching school, being a banker, a stay at home mom and yea even those serving you at McD's. Life is so busy for practically all who are striving to make this thing call life better and we all should take time to slow down just a bit. I have found this weekend more rest for my soul than I have in a long time. You got it, I am in WV with 64 students and leaders and yet I have found quietness for my body, spirit and mind. It really isn't a difficult thing to do, but until we are forced into a place where we have to slow down, generally we don't. You see, we are stuck in nowheresville, WV and I don't have a choice but to chill. I mean, I don't desire a broken skull, so I don't ski. So my options are limited to watching all day or chillin' out by the fire with my java (while my friend JJ is working his butt off in C-town). Anyway.......s....l........o.............w................d....................o.....................w........................n. Enjoy your kids, your wife, a good book or even an unexpected snooze in the lazy boy as often and frequently as you can.

Enough Said

Pay the Price and You Will See My Glory

I can remember almost a year ago receiving this word from the Lord. It wasn't a thunderous voice banging out of the clouds, but the weight of these words have given me many restless nights. Since I first heard these words my life has been turned upside down. I know now that it is because the enemy knows the impending results if I will just heed this message. You know, all of us want to see God's glory. We want to see him work in our lives and in the world in miraculous and awesome ways. What we have a hard time with is "Paying the Price."

And, what does that exactly mean anyway?

Luke 9:23 tell us, "Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."

This doesn't mean to hang that pretty golden cross your grandmother gave you around your neck as your heading out the door either. The cross we are to tote around is heavy and cumbersome. It is not easy to carry and many will wonder why you even try because the weight is so heavy.

You see, the cost is tied up in walking the path of a true disciple. Not one of the panzy wamzy guys who walks around with a spit shined head who has a plastic smile and soft handshake. I mean a disciple who will crawl through the ditches in God's kingdom in search for a nugget that has fallen from the master's table. One who will rise early and go to bed late in order to dine with the Father. A man who knows that he serves an awesome king in a now kingdom and the fate of many outside the kingdom walls depends on him.

The first way we pay the price is simply walking out a journey of true discipleship. Walking with Christ everyday as if it were the last. Taking every opportunity to know him, serve him and point others to him.

In what ways do you think we are faithful/unfaithful as disciples. Your story may be the encouragement that someone else may need.

A Dangerous Gospel

I don't know what this will end up being, probably because I am mad. I mean real mad at the moment. Have you ever been that way? You see something that just really chaps you "lips" and you just can't get over it. Anyway, there's really nothing wrong with anger as long as it doesn't lead to sin. Jesus himself even got angry when people disrespected the house of God. I mean he tore the place up, turning over tables and physically beating men with a whip. You know, that's how I feel today!

I'm not angry at the water problems in Kenya, the homelessness in Atlanta or even that I had to spend $130 on my "stray" cat yesterday. Even though all of these bother me, they are not the cause for my unsettled spirit this morning.

I AM ANGRY AT THE CHURCH!!!!!!!!

I am angry because we operate without vision and passion. We suppose that the Gospel is safe and that our environments are supposed to follow suit. We are a safe place for safe people and any compromise to that plan sends us into survival mode. We supply children with coloring pages, youth with ski trips, college kids a covered dish, and adults get the very best part....meaningless worship and shallow messages. I dont' know why this is bothering me more today than yesterday, but it is. Maybe it's because of the study I have been doing every morning about the Kingdom of Heaven.

Matthew 11:12 says that "From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing..."

The kingdom of heaven is a force to be reckoned with and it is advancing throughout human history. But we find ourselves like those teacher of the law in Jesus' day. He said to them in Matthew 15 "You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men."

I am just weary of working the harvest fields for church membership and another prospective tither. Jesus would have us havest souls and not numbers then he would actually have us walk with them on a discipleshp process that finds them victorious in their faith. But, that's a little to dangerous you see. That kind of radical Christianity calls us to stick out a little to much. It makes us appear as if our faith is more important than who wins the ballgame on Friday night.

This kind of barbaric faith resulted in the death of Jesus and all of his disciples.

WHAT HAS IT COST YOU?

Matthew 5:10-16, 8:18-22, 9:35-38, 19:16-26

PG