a shared opinion from rachel held evans

i don't do this a lot
perhaps i need to more ...

the article that follows
is another voice in the call fro change

often i am vilified
and vilify myself
for being too critical
too calling-out people
too passionate in my desire for change ...

and then i am reminded by an article like this
that we are more than me

thank God

enjoy the read ...



http://reknew.org/2013/07/rachel-held-evans-on-what-drives-millennials-and-others-away-from-church/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rachel-held-evans-on-what-drives-millennials-and-others-away-from-church

book recommendation

i highly recommend the following book ...

it is a current review
of the different theological positions
on 17 main 'evangelical' issues
(eg. The Lord's Supper debate: the spiritual presence view, and the memorial view)

it is fairly presented
the authors acting as defendants for each side of the issue, no evident bias

it is an excellent work
worthy of your attention
(you can choose the chapters/issues you want to explore)

very good for small group type study

peace


http://www.amazon.com/Across-Spectrum-Understanding-Evangelical-Theology/dp/080103793X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375234302&sr=1-1&keywords=across+the+spectrum

misc.

http://reknew.org/2013/07/conference-faith-doubt-the-idol-of-certainty/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=conference-faith-doubt-the-idol-of-certainty

this is kinda what i've been trying to get at in some of my posts
'cept he does a much better job
in so many fewer words
even in an ad.

ad hoc bday stuff

i'm sure there are 'better' ways to spend a few hours 'off' on a birthday
i guess it depends on who you are ...
i want to read
i read 1 fiction book a year
this is it
and enjoy some good coffee
maybe a brownie ...

but i pause
to post this

i've turned a corner in life
crested a hill
and occasionally i lay down the pack
and the staff
usually on some exceptionally beautiful outcropping
overlooking something gazeworthy
rest my legs on my bestbud's furry side
and reflect
and maybe dream
of what it might be like ...

a good friend
who likes to pose cut-to-the-quick questions
asked me some time ago
if i could do whatever it was i wanted to
without regard for the $ cost of it
what would it be ....

that'll pause you right there
dead in your teacks
that slices deep ...
the offthecuff responses
about travelling and fine cars and fast bikes
wine women and song
diving the great barrier reef
touring the amazon
immediately get trashed
asin blah-blah-blah
and you get real
cause it's a real question
about the real me

i ask my God regularly
for more life
and the energy necessary
to accomplish something
for him
before it's too late
too dreadfully late

not the kind of something
that shouts out
or makes a big splash
that brings accolade

the kind of something
that makes him smile
maybe jump up and clap his hands excitedly
in glee
pleased
excited
thrilled even

i don't remember the details of my answer to my friend
i can only hope it wasn't drivel

i think
my answer would be
now
learning to love people
one at a time
getting past the visual
and the judgements that flow
and loving
pure like
straight out love
unimpeded by this or that
unhindered ...
undone
kinda like how Jesus
was undone in love for me
undid his glory
and laid it all out
bare
naked
no fluff

i think that would have been my answer
if i could substitute for whatever it was i said then

i'm not any spring chicken
i been around the block a time or 2
and i have enough sense to know
the next stroll
could be my last

may this stroll
last or not
be worthy of
'welcome, friend'
a hug
and maybe a smoochie

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lord God

you had such incredible intentions
for us humans
and we flubbed it
badly
screwed it all up

it cost you everything
your very life
in the undoing of it

and the undoing is in process

i want to contribute to that
with whatever i have left
all of it

for you

in Jesus' name

balance ./_ .

in the pursuit of balance ...

there was a time when i was locked-in
to a particular theothink

it was important to me
to study and defend it ...
like it was Scripture or something

and then my personal Fall happened
and i deemed all but Jesus, God and raw Scripture
to be worthy of question ...
all i had learned
all i had taught myself ...

i'm re-learning
re-scripturiing
re-thinking
... = new theothink

on this journey
i so need to be balanced

sometimes i question my self ...
are you on the rebound?
are you swinging too far?
have you wandered too long?
... are you escaping ..?

and then the years kick in
and my life experiences with self
and i know
that this is as necessary as being born again
virtually

because if i am not in this with my heart
and if my theothink and my heart are at odds
then i'm doomed to personal failure
and bring personal failure to the kingdom
and i beeeeeeen there and doooooooone that ...

no more

i have the mind of Messiah
i have the witness of the Spirit
i have the scriptures
and insomuch as what i 'believe'
is winessed-to
by scripture
by the Spirit
and looks like Jesus
then i need no other authority

point is
i've come to 'see'
that there are a bundle of things
a whole bunch of 'em
that don't mean a hill-o-beans
if the core issues are off-balance ...
and not much more when they aren't ...

i want to be
of a mindset
that encourages me
to be bold
in listening
to
other
viewpoints

this is the way of christian community
a way that espouses
unity
a way that recognizes
we are still in the looking-glass stage
and perfection has not come
as yet
a way that is willing
to discuss, fairly
to listen, wholeheartedly
to speak, respectfully
to always be looking for reconciliation
always
always
under the cross
in the shadow of the cross
at the foot of
in light of
under the overspreading shadow
of the cross of Lord Jesus
lord of both sides

in him we live and move and have our being

if my desire is to stand on my truth
affirm my truth
establish and foster and distribute
my truth
then i am of all men most pitiable
for i have just sidelined the other half of christianity
for a questionable doctrine
or practice
a different view ...
  and like i said
  all but the core
  are up for loving discussion

how un-loving is that
and that is a core issue ...
least in my bible
.... is it in yours?

i'm just sayin'
i done
unless you cross into no-mans-land
on the core issues
  of which there are precious few
  many fewer than i was willing to allow
then we can talk
we can parlay
we can discuss
peacefully
respectfully

selah .~

a life-example applies ...
but before i go there ...............

i have often told my self to shutup
because what you say now
could damage
a friendship ...

i get that
i been getting that
and while i surely have no desire to do any such thing ...
if i blog
and i blog my heart
and my friend is offended
then are we not back at square 1   ? ? ..

and am i to be so cognizant of every friend's definition
that i can't go anywhere that crosses their lines ? ? ..

i want to be your friend
please don't be angry with me because i don't sit where you do
walk where you trod
... yet

shalom ...

life-example ..
i spoke with a friend recently
who was quite passionate
about some issues
a few of which we discussed

i listened
for the most part
asked a couple questions
to encourage more discussion
because i wanted to understand their pointofview
i wanted to hear where they were coming from
in their heart

that's how much i respect my friend
and i'm not just saying that
i respect their pointofview a lot
i love listening to their wisdom

but
i have to
develop
my
own

that's the point ...
we can be different
and yet be family
we can be diverse
and be loving
we can disagree
and still be
one
body

that's my brother

now
since i listened
genuinely
and he is aware of that
if when we meet again
i speak my pointofview
i hope he will entertain me
...

as i walk now on the waning side of noon-sun
i realize
what what was important to me in the morning of life
is no longer as important in the evening

selah .~

one of the things i came away from that conversation with is
a determination to re-immerse my self
in the scriptures
to balance my openness
with an ever increasing
ever widening
re-reading
to allow my self the balance
that comes from an acceptance
that understanding develops
as i grow
always
it is not fixed
i know that
because i don't understand things
the same way i did before
because i am finite

and my faith is absolutely uninjured by that
nay
it's stronger

at the same time
i keep listening
to the 'other' side
so that my eyes are open
to all my brothers
not just the ones
in this camp
or that
on any particular issue

balance

do not be afraid ...

God is not offended by my struggle
in fact as i said in another post
he is delighted
clapping his hands in glee
because
i am
diligently
seeking
him

i have to
all else is vanity ....


selah ...

moved on . . .. . still moving .. .

the very last thing he ever thought he'd be labelled
is heretic
or deserter

he had given himself to the cause of Christ
and he was a staunch defender
of the doctrines
and the dogma

old friends have distanced themselves

outlaw

rebel

wandering

wanderer

looking for centre
for balance
for peace
and love

selah .~


a pharisee is a pharisee ...

once he got past the denial
once that realization hit him
like waking to sunlight
from some inescapable nightdream

he walked ...
he knew there was no going back

everything was new
a wilderness to be crossed
a channel swum
a journey made
to ... who knows?

this was new territory
old things had passed away
everything was as new
everything was to be deconstructed
reconsidered
reabsorbed
reslept-on

and it didn't really matter how long it took
this was new life
journeying
to
wherever it led

the journey's on
been on
will be on
for some time
i imagine

i'm in no hurry

selah   .~

get away from the abuse ..

http://michaelcogdill.wordpress.com/2013/07/11/untwisting-normal-the-power-of-divorcing-my-father/

a friend posted this on their FB page
i read it

it is a brilliant statement
of the damage that can be, and often is, done
by staying in an abusive relationship ...
regardless of what the 'church' says

sorry. but that's the truth

read, friend

spirit-reading ... .

i believe the Bible
is the words of God
they are his idea
... it was his idea

that means that if i have any connection to God
am a christian
and want to have an effect for him
i should be reading his book
his thoughts
his mind

regularly

like it was food
bread even
water
living water
air
breath
spirit

that's one of the places i get life
i go there for life
for growth
for wisdom
for maturity into the very image of Jesus

God wrote it
had it written

and the average person
can surely get much from it
it's written in his language
and for the most part anyway
is readily understandable ...
at one level

but there's another level
a place where the spirit takes over
and my eyes are opened
by the Spirit

that's the place we encounter another wisdom
designed to be spiritually discerned

thus the psalmist's prayer ...
Lord, open my eyes
to gaze on wonderful things in your scriptures ...

that's it
there it is

go there

we have the Spirit
and the Spirit is
the author

so that when i turn my spirit
over to his Spirit
i am in sync
in tune
available to learn
spiritual truths

and that's a privilege
to be at one with God
and have him open his word
to me ....

don't you think?


shalom

forgetful me

most of us think a poor memory is a bad thing ...

i'm not so sure

i have a poor memory
i don't remember all the detaily things my friends remember
and my family
things that happened long ago
some far away ...

in another galaxy

i surrender remember
whether selectively
or the ol' brain just don't fire on all four cylinders any more

whether it was the repeated head-slapping in school
or the head-collision with a moving fishing boat
or the too-often head-meetings with steering wheels and windshields
or that looooong fall head-first towards a concrete floor
almost dead i suppose
if we had collided
the almost that left me brain-shocked for days

any one
or any combination

...

maybe i simply wanted to forget
maybe i taught myself to forget
maybe the cancerous stresses of life
active for too long
took a toll on the good ol' brain

but
like i say
it may have enough pluses to make it worthwhile
not so much of a bad thing

take a familiar topic like christianity as a for-example
... .. . .. .

i learned a lot about christianity
since i was a boy

i studied it a lot
as a young man
and i limited my self
to a particular brand
theology of a specific type
molded in the crucible of the fundamnentalist coming-out
of the 70's and 80's ...
in the very crucible

and i locked that in
i drew lines
took sides
took opposing sides
cut off
cut out
cut up
the opposers

and then a couple things went down
that took me down
to the depths
.........

selah


when i managed to crawl away
i was soul-seared
as in burned
i was almost in a daze

there was a fight
to get back to reality
to regain some foothold on life

and then came the revolution
the rebellion

i challenged everything i had ever learned of christianity
everything i 'knew' of the bible
very few things were excluded
... that's not an easy thing to do

you have to
break down
all
the walls
to the
box
you live in

i
lived in

it was a massive endeavour
it took boldness
and in-your-faceness ...
for someone like me
it was a complete makeover
erupting from the dread of death
literally

i came out
scathed
scarred
bruised
broken
drunken
almost damaged beyond recovery

it's tough stuff
to dump all you've come to see yourself as
all you used to describe yourself as
all you used to esteem yourself as

and
start
again

from
scratch

methinks my poor memory helps that

selah ..... .. . . . .

as a friend said
it's so much harder to undo the wrong christian theologies
than to approach people who have none

he's right
it's a whole lot harder

we build our selves on our theologies
if we're serious at all about it
and we (should) reflect what we believe ...
and to the extent that locks-in
the undoing and redoing of it
is a weighty ordeal

sometimes
you have to
go
down
to the depths
and fight
to get out
alive

...

some don't make it
i'm sure
the disentangling is too much
and they run
they give it all up
throw in the towel
curse the day

....

i'm glad
sometimes
my memory isn't that good

it allows me
hope
hope that i can change
that real life isn't really what i made it out to be
hope that the God i thought i knew
is much more loving
gracious
merciful
understanding
... not so full of sharp edges
not so gavel-y
leaving room for weak tired bruised wayward children
like
me

fact is
the more i review scripture
the more i reframe God accordingly
the more i embrace the God
who is quite unlike the god i thought i served
the more i dump the theology
and refresh the scripture
the more i reflect on Jesus
...
well, the more i see that God ...
in all that adjectival beauty
embracing me
holding me
upholding me
in love
... lost child

this is the God i serve
choose to serve ...
not 'choose' as in i-make-him-into-what-i-want choose
but choose as in choose him
over my theologies
over my submission
to religion
to denominational bondage
to particularistic christianity
that draws lines
and cuts
rather than erases lines
and heals
restores

i choose him
he chooses me

and onward i trod
headed in that direction
limping a bit
but hopeful
faith-full
trying to be love-full

allthewhile
creating
new
memories

peace ....

american christendom ...

i may have said some of this already
it doesn't matter really
things come out as they get my attention

and this gets my goat ... sorry, my attention

i listened to one local dude
in a public spot
re-enacting his pieced-together bits of sermon-speak
and his 10 or so listeners
responding kindly to his 'touch-your-neighbor' and 'somebody say' ...
which, of course, he learned on tv
christian tv
momentarily dabbing at his brow with a handkerchief
for effect ...
for effect

it was a sad spectacle

jesus wept

my heart sank
really, it did

and then minutes later
i met a young person
and we talked briefly on church
and he commented on feeling boxed-in
and that God was boxed in
and he stopped going
and seemed to have given up looking

and i think of how we have
made mockery out of christianity

reduced it to worldly endeavours
degraded it to corporate methodology
dethroned it into pop culture
defanged it
and now it's a wounded
dark-circles-under-the-eyes
atrophied
semblance of it's former self
limping along ...
limping

and we think it's great!
this is the way it's supposed to be
this is christianity
in the intellectualized technologically-advanced 'now'
yippeeeeeeee!
..... .. .

jesus weeps

selah


it is a sad fact of life that
as the US brand of christendom goes
so does the majority of world christendom
and the more we extend communications and in-touchness in its various forms
the greater the effect

and the world is the worse off for it

america and christianity
have unfortunately been seemingly inseparably linked
in the eyes of the world

you're in Yantuk
and tbn appears on the tele
and behold! christinaity
as it is ...
as it is    
meant to be??????

no
please
i beg
i entreat you
i beseech you
no
a thousand million times
no!

that is not it
that's not christianity
please don't think that
really
i'm dead serious

helllooooooooooooo .......
can you hear me??
that is NOT christianity

selah . . .  . . .. .


it's a good thing
that God is longsuffering
veeeeeeeeeeery looooooongsuffering, ya?

imagine him
sitting there
or maybe walking around
hands entwined behind his back
looking on in wonder
scratching his head
shaking his head in disappointment
in unbelief
as his kingdom
is morphed by greedy self-indulgent leaders
and religious freaks

can you?
imagine that?

why not?
you think God can't feel?
or you doubt my take on christianity today?

as i blog
and spew forth my diatribe
i am one among many
(i'm convinced of it)
who are pushing back
shoulder locked-in against the avalanche ...
the swift and deadly downslide
of biblical knowledge
and a desire to know God
really know God
as in 'God rewards those who seek him diligently'

much of the foundation is already damaged
and there are serious cracks
running all the way up

and people are walking away
losing hope in the crumbling structure
that is christianity

and then i look over my shoulder
there
down a ways
i can see another
back up against the wall
looking my way

and look!
further on
there are others
and over there
on my left
more!
more!

ha!
wow!

there are others

we will not give in
we will not walk away
we will hold this wall
and pushback
push it waaaaayyy back

'cause there's that
and there's jesus
and we want jesus

and those backs disappearing into the distance
want so desperately
to have a real christianity
with real people
that breeds real people
in the image of a real God

and those over there
looking on
to see what's happening to this mud-splattered morass
may well be encouraged
to relook and rethink
if they see we are making headway
with the pushback

they may even
join us
put their shoulder to the wall
and pushback
too

wouldn't that be something?

so touch your neighbor
and say "look, i see jesus smiling" '

that's why i blog


shalom .. .

how can i not?

we talk about freedom ...

none of us are free

i'm fed up
fed up with human trafficking
with humans tortured
and raped
over and over
until they are no more use
and they are killed
like a horse with a broken leg

i'm fed up
with discussions over abortion
and when life begins
and the woman's right over her body
... who made you god

i'm fed up with hunger
and thirst
and poverty
people wasting away
for lack of food?????

i'm fed up

i'm fed up
with pretending we're ok
because we live here
or there
and we're free

noone is free

we're all slaves
trafficked
abused
lied to
manipulated

there is no freedom

where are the journalists
real ones
that give their lives to unmasking the evils
for the sake of children in sex slavery

where is the money
and the power
and the resources

where are they

all the posturing
and pretense
of the big gun nations
who know
and then turn their attention
elsewhere
for the sake of politics

slaves don't matter much

oh there are voices here and there
but for the most part
they are ignored
small fry

where is goodness in all this
where the 'right'
the 'morality'
the determination to unveil corruption
and move the money
into the hurting
to rescue
and feed
and free
and liberate
from the evil

i am fed up

does my ranting accomplish anything
probably nothing
nothing until
i
do
something

i must

how can i sit and know all this is happening
and not be moved
and not be angered
and not be enraged

i am

i can do something
even if it's just a small something
i can
and i will
i intend to
i'm moving in that direction
i'm heading there

somebody has to
save that girl
feed that old man
give a blanket to that woman there
a hoodie to that one
find out where that child is from
why is she here
living on the street

i got to
i fail
flatout fail
as a human
if i don't

as a christian
i am a shame
a shambles
a joke
worse
a scar on the very face of jesus
if i can
and i don't

i want to be the (despised) samaritan
not the levite
not the priest

i want to be mother teresa
nelson mandela
mahatma gandhi
mlk

i want to be somebody
that goes down fighting
... that's the fight i want
bring it on
bring it on

let me in
i'm in

i can't save the world

i can
maybe
save 1

maybe

and maybe
another

maybe

have to

how can i not ...

they
are
not
free

and
neither
am
i

none of us will ever be
until jesus rights it
reconciles
renews

until then
i am not free

i give my life
to doing something
some little thing
to turn this
to sandbag against the swell
to undo some of it
to liberate
to restore
some semblance of humanity

to that piece of meat
to that girl
to that starving baby

i have to take this anger
and morph it
repent
and renew
and vision

repent for the slight
childish
immature
wasteful
greedy
comfort-seeking
lackadaisical
watch-and-do-nothing
pontificating
self righteous
pharisee
that
i
am

and move !
move
get up
walk
in that direction
heading there
run !
and don't look back

repent

change

for jesus' sake

any less
i fail

God
you help me

please

i beg of you

free
me

butterfly . . . . stroke ...

i guess what i've been trying to say is
i want to do life

and if that's so
i need to do it now
before it's too late
to do

i'm later on in life ...
it's now or never

i
vote
now

i have choices
of my own
i can continue down the fail-path
chasing money
and career
and retirement
and comfortability

which is actually death
not life

or
i can
repent

i can change my heart
my mind
my motivations
my intentions
my attitudes
my spending
my efforts
..... ...
my life
into life
real life
life in the Son

i choose life
over death

it may result in death
but that death is
release from the flesh
new-newlife
in its fullest

= shalom

selah ~~.~.~..

which translates into
clarify
simplify
balance

centre

which translates into
trust in the lord with all your heart
and don't rely on your own understanding of things ...
submit everything to his authority
and he will guide you on the right paths.

which translates into
'you want to be my disciple
leave your life
pick up your cross
follow me'

i really can't think of anyone better to be a follower of

i see us esteeming this person and that
this movement
this church
that doctrine
that whatever

and i think of jesus saying
that we shouldn't be looking to esteem
even him
“why do you call me good?" 
jesus asked him. 
no one is good but one - God.

what we are to be about
is fulfilling our call
to love God with everything we are
and to love our neighbours as our selves
...

that's it
in a nutshell

so
i'll
be
a
nut

shalom

backstroke ~~~ ~ more thoughts on the swim ...

a wise man once said
very wisely
that to follow him
meant everything

and required
my
everything

i'm trying to follow that very man

selah .............................

we are so befuddled by life here
in the now
caught up
sucked in

that we miss
the life we're supposed to be in
as in
as in new life
as in new creation
as in new vision
as in new priorities
as in new motivations
as in new intentions
as in new eyes
as in new heart
as in new spirit
as in .....
as in life in jesus
...

jesus recognized that early on in his ministry
and john the gospeler
spells that out in the early chapters

nicodemas the pharisee
who really should have known better
the woman at the well the samaritan
who had no earthly idea who she was dealing with
until he told her her life story

jesus wants us to move off the earth-level
up
into the spiritual
where my spirit
submits to his spirit
and my spirit regulates the rest of me

nicodemas was stuck in childbirth
and the woman in water-ing ...

jesus spoke of newbirth
living water

.... .

point is
my perspective is to be primarily
spiritual
not earthal

when God is moving
in my life
and he opens a door
and draws me to it
that is my command ...
"leave 'it'
follow me"
... period
end of story

until the time
he changes his mind
and mine
and slams the door shut
i am
in
all
of me
all i got
everything
...
that's my desire
for my desire
i want to want that more than anything

more than mother and father
more than children
more than family
and friends
and money
and whateveritisyouwantoadd ...

i
am
in

done deal

if you see me backing off that
hit me up
knock some sense into me
remind me of where i was headed
encourage me to keep on
to goforit
to not give in or up or out

encourage me
please ...
don't fight me on it ...
join me in it

selah ..~

i just watched a most horrible video
part of it anyway
of a roman catholic priest and 2 others
being beheaded
live
by jihadists in syria
june 23
..
i suggest strongly that you don't watch it

it is sobering
it is scary
it is hateful
it is bloody and violent
it is a matter of faith
primarily

........................................................................................
sobering

because one day
i
could be asked
to do
the very same thing

you ever thought of that ........ ... ... . ..  . . . . ... .. .

you better

i want to
humbly
look into
the eyes
of
jesus
and hear him
whisper
sweet something in my ear
like
welcome
friend

i want that

regardless
of the cost

he said
“if anyone wants to come with me
he must deny himself,
take up his cross daily,
and follow me"

i don't know i'm there
yet
in fact
i ain't

but you know what .....

i'm trying

i'm trying

shalom

lost words

i awoke this morning
to discover my blog was still here
google blog was to have died july 1
i had frantically tried to figure what to do
how to preserve my posts
move them to another home

selah ..!?.

selah ...~.

in the transition
i wondered ...
why am i so concerned
with my 'blog'

what if it dies
is lost
ends up somewhere in hyperspace
or a black hole
becomes part of a digital garbage dump

so what

selah ...

why stress over it

is it that my pride is under threat

why

will i lose a part of 'me'
will i be less of a person

why

am i building a reputation
a career
... my self  ?

am i on a rampage
to deconstruct religious christianity
to reconstruct what
i
see as
the real christianity  ?

who made me
architect
authority
artist

why
after all
am i so
anxious

selah ...  ~  ~    ~

something else i woke up to ...
my dogfriend
messed on the carpet
not just messed
a messy mess ...

and while i processed that
over coffee and internet
steeling myself for the inevitable cleanup
he messed again ...

perhaps
i
need a cleansing
a cleanout
a purge

perhaps i've become
too big a 'me'

perhaps it really doesn't matter
what happens to the blog posts

and
my rants and ravings
defenses and diatribe
inked diarrhea

are my own invention
to vent
to dump
to think through
to reform

and they matter little
because they are me-focused
they matter to me
too much

lost words ...

lost to whom

i realize
i am in process
and the think i am in
is a me-thing

it speaks 'me'

it shouldn't speak 'you'

you are you
and i am me

you are on your
own
personal
journey

and me
should not ever look to override
you

only help
assist
enable
encourage

maybe

selah ..

you
and i
must walk
our own paths

and yet
walk together
hand in hand
into
through
the kingdom of God

for the kingdom
for the king

not for
me
or for
you

for him
from whom
to who
for whom
are all things

i want him
to run through me
through and through
in my blood
racing through me
bringing life

selah ~~~~~~~~ . ~

as i go
i might share some of that

because
you
may be going
and my share
may help
somehow

as i muse

may strike a chord in you
mix with your own music
help
somehow

i'm not here for me
or
for you

and yet
i am here
for me
maybe for you

in the end
i want to have been
here
for Him
and Him alone
and that should bring
us
together

the journey
the friendships
the 'battles'
the musings
the talks and conversations
arguments and disputations
...

all are
to be
for him
pushing his agenda
growing his kingdom
edifying
for him

selah .. ~

i am
comfortable
with
lost words

see you
again
maybe

somewhere

shalom

allegiance issues

i ran into this post today on another blog

july 4 is here
the time when people pledge an oath
to the USA
(and many other countries do similar)

i must be careful here
i certainly do not intend to be offensive
the Lord requires us to recognize the valid authority of our government

but consider this, from ushistory.org on the pledge of allegiance
The original Bellamy salute, first described in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, who authored the original Pledge, began with a military salute, and after reciting the words "to the flag," the arm was extended toward the flag.
sound familiar?
... sorry

my allegiance is to one only lord
one only master
one only king

i am a citizen of a realm that supercedes this one
earthly citizenship lands squarely in second place
and i better not confuse the two
.... or combine the two?
which could well lead to
confuse the two ...

my alleigance to anything
must fall under
and within
my allegiance to jesus
.. else, fail

the blog below discusses the implication of performing nationalistic rituals in the context of our churching

http://daviddflowers.com/2013/07/01/how-worship-of-the-american-flag-changed-everything/

peace ...

share

sometimes
it's better to shut up
and let others speak
like ann
...

someone recently said something like
"it's not so much that the poor and disadvantaged need us
we need them
they enrich us in ways nothing else can
we end up being the blessed
when we bless them"

from ann's blog ..
And all I can think is how I read it once, how one out of every 4 people in a small town was deaf.

So everyone in town learned sign language.

Those without hearing loss— entered into hearing loss, imagined it, walked in it, learned to sign through it – so those with hearing loss could gain a fuller life. The non-deaf disadvantaged themselves, inconvenienced themselves, to learn sign language – so the deaf wouldn’t struggled through disadvantaged, inconsequential lives.

And it was the non-deaf whose lives were enhanced in unexpected ways.

Who not only gained rich relationships with deaf neighbors they would have missed out on otherwise— they discovered the convenience of signing across the street to one another, of sign language communicating from atop hills to folks below, of the sick signing what they needed when voices failed, of children signing to avoid being loud.

Disadvantaging themselves —turned out to be to their advantage. Entering into loss – enriched their lives.

read the rest of it here
http://www.aholyexperience.com/2013/06/how-to-be-beautiful-have-a-beautiful-home-life/