“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” – Luke 6:27-28 (NRSV)
What is the whole point of this verse? As we go about our Missions Week how can this verse guide our future? Do you pray for those who abuse you? How do you think Jesus expects us to act toward our enemies?
This is from "The Paradoxical Commandments" by Dr. Kent M. Keith that Mother Teresa had on the wall of her children's home in Calcutta.
Anyway
People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.
Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you help them.
Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, It is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.
Our lives are meant to glorify God! So when Jesus talks about doing good to those who hate us it isn’t about them, it’s about God, it’s about us! I have probably used this “Anyway” illustration in a different weekly devotional, but sometimes it is good to hear again. Love and will change the world, but it begins with us. Today choose to love no matter what and then we will become people who glorify God no matter what.
With hope and joy,
Garrett
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Minister's Minute from October Issue of the Journal of Hope and Joy
Today I went to see a brand new baby, not even a full day old yet. Everyone knows there is something great about going to see a healthy baby. Mom looks exhausted (and rightly so), but bathing her little one with love. Mom and dad both look proud, which may be why one Southernism I have heard is, “I’m so proud for you!” Perhaps people who once experienced the pride of becoming a parent can see it in another person and say, “I’m proud for you.”
I remember hearing people say that when Langston was born. In would walk someone, and he or she would take one look at the scene and say, “I’m just so proud for you guys.” And I think each person who said it meant it, they were proud for us.
I had never heard that before that moment, or if I had heard it I had not noticed. That happens with life sometimes. We only notice things after they have affected us. I remember when I bought a 2004 Honda Civic. I thought it was a relatively new car style. At least in my own driving I hadn’t noticed many of them. Then as soon as I drove off the lot it seemed every other car on the road was a Honda Civic. How had I not noticed that before?
I had never noticed anyone saying to someone else, “I am so proud for you,” but I had probably heard it. Maybe it didn’t register because no one had been proud for me. Sure people had been proud of me, but never proud for me. Then as I held Langston, or Melinda held him, or whoever else, and in came so-and-so saying, “I’m proud for you,” I thought to myself, “Why yes, I am overwhelmed with pride, I suppose I am proud for myself!”
I wonder how many times God looks at the whole human scene, this whole mess of which we are all a part, and sometimes sees something that makes God just say aloud, or within, or however God would say it, “I’m just so proud for you!” I’d like to think God can do that sometimes. See something miraculous and smile. Maybe it is a smile that comes from a place of joy that we who are made in that divine image finally figured out what we could do because of it.
If God is able to do anything like this, perhaps God is doing it right now as God looks over our little church. Here we were a couple of years ago barely breathing as it were, and now we are raising money to help others who may actually be barely breathing in every literal and metaphorical way we can think of during this Missions Week. God was there rebirthing this church, and now God is just so proud for us as grace allows us to birth something in return. Our own little hope, our own little bundle joy. And as we hold onto this Missions Week, I hope we can sense God walk into our worship celebrations, smiling at the whole scene, maybe even saying, “I’m so proud for you.”
That’s a reason to celebrate! That’s a reason to raise money! That’s a reason to build bridges in our community! That’s a reason to try to be foolish enough to change the world! What we are proud for, God might just be proud for as well.
Riding this wave we know is the Holy Spirit,
Garrett
I remember hearing people say that when Langston was born. In would walk someone, and he or she would take one look at the scene and say, “I’m just so proud for you guys.” And I think each person who said it meant it, they were proud for us.
I had never heard that before that moment, or if I had heard it I had not noticed. That happens with life sometimes. We only notice things after they have affected us. I remember when I bought a 2004 Honda Civic. I thought it was a relatively new car style. At least in my own driving I hadn’t noticed many of them. Then as soon as I drove off the lot it seemed every other car on the road was a Honda Civic. How had I not noticed that before?
I had never noticed anyone saying to someone else, “I am so proud for you,” but I had probably heard it. Maybe it didn’t register because no one had been proud for me. Sure people had been proud of me, but never proud for me. Then as I held Langston, or Melinda held him, or whoever else, and in came so-and-so saying, “I’m proud for you,” I thought to myself, “Why yes, I am overwhelmed with pride, I suppose I am proud for myself!”
I wonder how many times God looks at the whole human scene, this whole mess of which we are all a part, and sometimes sees something that makes God just say aloud, or within, or however God would say it, “I’m just so proud for you!” I’d like to think God can do that sometimes. See something miraculous and smile. Maybe it is a smile that comes from a place of joy that we who are made in that divine image finally figured out what we could do because of it.
If God is able to do anything like this, perhaps God is doing it right now as God looks over our little church. Here we were a couple of years ago barely breathing as it were, and now we are raising money to help others who may actually be barely breathing in every literal and metaphorical way we can think of during this Missions Week. God was there rebirthing this church, and now God is just so proud for us as grace allows us to birth something in return. Our own little hope, our own little bundle joy. And as we hold onto this Missions Week, I hope we can sense God walk into our worship celebrations, smiling at the whole scene, maybe even saying, “I’m so proud for you.”
That’s a reason to celebrate! That’s a reason to raise money! That’s a reason to build bridges in our community! That’s a reason to try to be foolish enough to change the world! What we are proud for, God might just be proud for as well.
Riding this wave we know is the Holy Spirit,
Garrett
Friday, September 17, 2010
Ministers of Reconciliation
But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and gave unto us the ministry of reconciliation. – 2 Corinthians 5:18 (ASV)
What does it mean to you that you are reconciled to God? Do you remember this when God feels distant? Does it make you feel more whole? What is your role in the ministry of reconciliation? What needs reconciling right now?
The following story was e-mailed to me:
There was a man who had a little boy that he loved very much. Everyday after work the man would come home and play with the little boy. He would always spend all of his extra time playing with the little boy.
One night, while the man was at work, he realized that he had extra work to do for the evening, and that he wouldn't be able to play with his little boy. But, he wanted to be able to give the boy something to keep him busy. So, looking around his office, he saw a magazine with a large map of the world on the cover. He got an idea. He removed the map, and then patiently tore it up into small pieces. Then he put all the pieces in his coat pocket.
When he got home, the little boy came running to him and was ready to play. The man explained that he had extra work to do and couldn't play just now, but he led the little boy into the dining room, and taking out all the pieces of the map, he spread them on the table. He explained that it was a map of the world, and that by the time he could put it back together, his extra work would be finished, and they could both play. Surely this would keep the child busy for hours, he thought.
About half an hour later the boy came to the man and said, "Okay, it's finished. Can we play now?"
The man was surprised, saying, "That's impossible. Let's go see." And sure enough, there was the picture of the world, all put together, every piece in it's place.
The man said, "That's amazing! How did you do that?" The boy said, "It was simple. On the back of the page was a picture of a man. When I put the man together the whole world fell into place."
In Christ, God put us back together. And wouldn’t you know it, when we are put back together we indeed can begin to put the world back together too. You who are reading this, yes you, have a part in God’s great ministry of reconciliation. We each have a part! Those of us who have been reconciled to God in Christ Jesus are now to bring people together. Look out at this divided world, where can your ministry help bring it back together? Go out and minister and do not wait anymore, for you are needed more than you know!
With hope and joy,
Garrett
What does it mean to you that you are reconciled to God? Do you remember this when God feels distant? Does it make you feel more whole? What is your role in the ministry of reconciliation? What needs reconciling right now?
The following story was e-mailed to me:
There was a man who had a little boy that he loved very much. Everyday after work the man would come home and play with the little boy. He would always spend all of his extra time playing with the little boy.
One night, while the man was at work, he realized that he had extra work to do for the evening, and that he wouldn't be able to play with his little boy. But, he wanted to be able to give the boy something to keep him busy. So, looking around his office, he saw a magazine with a large map of the world on the cover. He got an idea. He removed the map, and then patiently tore it up into small pieces. Then he put all the pieces in his coat pocket.
When he got home, the little boy came running to him and was ready to play. The man explained that he had extra work to do and couldn't play just now, but he led the little boy into the dining room, and taking out all the pieces of the map, he spread them on the table. He explained that it was a map of the world, and that by the time he could put it back together, his extra work would be finished, and they could both play. Surely this would keep the child busy for hours, he thought.
About half an hour later the boy came to the man and said, "Okay, it's finished. Can we play now?"
The man was surprised, saying, "That's impossible. Let's go see." And sure enough, there was the picture of the world, all put together, every piece in it's place.
The man said, "That's amazing! How did you do that?" The boy said, "It was simple. On the back of the page was a picture of a man. When I put the man together the whole world fell into place."
In Christ, God put us back together. And wouldn’t you know it, when we are put back together we indeed can begin to put the world back together too. You who are reading this, yes you, have a part in God’s great ministry of reconciliation. We each have a part! Those of us who have been reconciled to God in Christ Jesus are now to bring people together. Look out at this divided world, where can your ministry help bring it back together? Go out and minister and do not wait anymore, for you are needed more than you know!
With hope and joy,
Garrett
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Slowing Down...
“Be still, and know that I am God!” – Psalm 46:10
What does it mean to you to be still? How often are you still? Why do you think God is telling us here to be still? What does it mean to know that God is God?
The following is a prayer by the late author Wilferd A. Peterson.
Slow me down, Lord!
Ease the pounding of my heart
By the quieting of my mind.
Steady my harried pace
With a vision of the eternal reach of time.
Give me, admidst the confusions of my day,
The calmness of the everlasting hills.
Break the tensions of my nerves
With the soothing music of the sighing streams
That live in my memory.
Help me to know
The magical restoring power of sleep.
Teach me the art
Of taking minute vacations of slowing down to look at a flower;
To chat with an old friend or to make a new one;
To pat a stray dog,
To watch a spider build a web;
To smile at a child;
Or to read a few lines from a good book.
Remind me each day
That the race is not always to the swift;
That there is more to life than increasing its speed.
Let me look upward
Into the branches of the towering oak
And know that it grew slowly and well.
Slow me down, Lord,
And inspire me to send my roots deep
Into the soil of life's enduring values
That I may grow toward the stars
Of my great destiny.
Sometimes being still means just slowing down a little bit. The Hebrew verb translated “be still” also means something like letting go. We often try to keep pushing on in life in such a way that we forget that God is in control. Sometimes we just need to be still, to let go, to slow down, and let God be God so that we can rejoice in life’s little miracles.
With hope and joy,
Garrett
What does it mean to you to be still? How often are you still? Why do you think God is telling us here to be still? What does it mean to know that God is God?
The following is a prayer by the late author Wilferd A. Peterson.
Slow me down, Lord!
Ease the pounding of my heart
By the quieting of my mind.
Steady my harried pace
With a vision of the eternal reach of time.
Give me, admidst the confusions of my day,
The calmness of the everlasting hills.
Break the tensions of my nerves
With the soothing music of the sighing streams
That live in my memory.
Help me to know
The magical restoring power of sleep.
Teach me the art
Of taking minute vacations of slowing down to look at a flower;
To chat with an old friend or to make a new one;
To pat a stray dog,
To watch a spider build a web;
To smile at a child;
Or to read a few lines from a good book.
Remind me each day
That the race is not always to the swift;
That there is more to life than increasing its speed.
Let me look upward
Into the branches of the towering oak
And know that it grew slowly and well.
Slow me down, Lord,
And inspire me to send my roots deep
Into the soil of life's enduring values
That I may grow toward the stars
Of my great destiny.
Sometimes being still means just slowing down a little bit. The Hebrew verb translated “be still” also means something like letting go. We often try to keep pushing on in life in such a way that we forget that God is in control. Sometimes we just need to be still, to let go, to slow down, and let God be God so that we can rejoice in life’s little miracles.
With hope and joy,
Garrett
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Minister's Minute from September Issue of the Journal of Hope and Joy
Yesterday I met someone for the first time. It was filled with those moments that we all have when you meet someone for the first time. There were plenty of moments filled with that awkward silence we all know. Awkward because for some reason when we first meet another we need to fill the space with words, we can only sit in silence we people we know or people we aren’t paying attention to at all.
There was the getting to know you questions some without verbs. “Where you from?”
“California. Where you from?” The thing about a lot of those questions is that they don’t quite inspire conversation. “Where have you visited?” Again only one word answers. “What do you do?” Sometimes this question moves people on toward having more of a conversation. In my line of work I have found that the moment someone finds out what I do the person changes the way he or she was interacting with me. One moment we are having a casual getting to know each other conversation, the next moment is… well it’s just a little different.
Sometimes people feel like they have to tell me where they go to church which I have taken to mean is their way of letting me know that they believe in God. It is as though they are saying, “Hey listen I believe so you don’t need to pressure me into going to your church.” And if they didn’t tell me that I might invite them, if we got to that place where an invitation would seem appropriate that is, because I love my church. I love the people, I think the Spirit moves in that place, I know people who have discovered their God at that place and I have seen miracles happen there.
Other times the person tries to stop talking to me. Maybe such people have been hurt by religion so many times that they can no longer deal with it. That happens a lot, religious people being like all other kinds of people (even if we don’t like to admit it) hurt people. If I had not felt the call of God there are some “religious” people I have met that would keep me from ever wanting to be a part the whole mess. So I say what I do and those people who have been hurt by religion see me as all that has hurt them. I don’t blame them, but I do wish they would try to get to know me, and often times I would like to get to know them too. Maybe if we kept talking grace would show up and talk too, and who knows maybe even healing would happen.
Then there are the people who want to talk to me all the more. Maybe they are religious or maybe their not, maybe they believe in God or maybe they don’t, but they want to talk about God, because for some people God is just too interesting not to talk about. These people tell me their stories and want to hear mine. They share their ideas of the divine, their struggles, their joys, their sorrows, their anger, and whatever else, because when we actually take the time to talk about God we realize that we can talk about everything, nothing is off limits, and maybe that is why God is just so interesting in the first place.
This guy I met he was the third type. He didn’t come out and say it, but he kept bringing up God. First it was kind of as a joke because he told me he didn’t believe in God, but he just couldn’t stop himself. And after awhile there we were, talking all about God. I wasn’t trying to get him to believe, but I am not ashamed to tell him why I believe. And I don’t believe in order to be “saved” so much, I believe because the world I live in is so much better with God. I believe because when I see the beauty that is all around me sometimes I can see God. I believe because I have seen ordinary events become holy moments and I have no idea how it happened. I believe because I have seen people in love, and something about love always makes God seem closer. I believe because… well because… well I have no idea really, but I love it, and I wish everybody else could have that love too. Life with God is so much better than life alone, but so many of us choose to be all alone. Your not alone, and I’m not alone, and if we could offer the world anything it would be telling people about a God who is so interesting that we cannot help it.
At the end of our time together this guy I had just met said, “thank you.” Maybe he’ll never believe in God, but I hope he wants to keep talking about God because if he does some day he might just find himself believing and have no idea why.
Riding the wave of the Holy Spirit,
Garrett
There was the getting to know you questions some without verbs. “Where you from?”
“California. Where you from?” The thing about a lot of those questions is that they don’t quite inspire conversation. “Where have you visited?” Again only one word answers. “What do you do?” Sometimes this question moves people on toward having more of a conversation. In my line of work I have found that the moment someone finds out what I do the person changes the way he or she was interacting with me. One moment we are having a casual getting to know each other conversation, the next moment is… well it’s just a little different.
Sometimes people feel like they have to tell me where they go to church which I have taken to mean is their way of letting me know that they believe in God. It is as though they are saying, “Hey listen I believe so you don’t need to pressure me into going to your church.” And if they didn’t tell me that I might invite them, if we got to that place where an invitation would seem appropriate that is, because I love my church. I love the people, I think the Spirit moves in that place, I know people who have discovered their God at that place and I have seen miracles happen there.
Other times the person tries to stop talking to me. Maybe such people have been hurt by religion so many times that they can no longer deal with it. That happens a lot, religious people being like all other kinds of people (even if we don’t like to admit it) hurt people. If I had not felt the call of God there are some “religious” people I have met that would keep me from ever wanting to be a part the whole mess. So I say what I do and those people who have been hurt by religion see me as all that has hurt them. I don’t blame them, but I do wish they would try to get to know me, and often times I would like to get to know them too. Maybe if we kept talking grace would show up and talk too, and who knows maybe even healing would happen.
Then there are the people who want to talk to me all the more. Maybe they are religious or maybe their not, maybe they believe in God or maybe they don’t, but they want to talk about God, because for some people God is just too interesting not to talk about. These people tell me their stories and want to hear mine. They share their ideas of the divine, their struggles, their joys, their sorrows, their anger, and whatever else, because when we actually take the time to talk about God we realize that we can talk about everything, nothing is off limits, and maybe that is why God is just so interesting in the first place.
This guy I met he was the third type. He didn’t come out and say it, but he kept bringing up God. First it was kind of as a joke because he told me he didn’t believe in God, but he just couldn’t stop himself. And after awhile there we were, talking all about God. I wasn’t trying to get him to believe, but I am not ashamed to tell him why I believe. And I don’t believe in order to be “saved” so much, I believe because the world I live in is so much better with God. I believe because when I see the beauty that is all around me sometimes I can see God. I believe because I have seen ordinary events become holy moments and I have no idea how it happened. I believe because I have seen people in love, and something about love always makes God seem closer. I believe because… well because… well I have no idea really, but I love it, and I wish everybody else could have that love too. Life with God is so much better than life alone, but so many of us choose to be all alone. Your not alone, and I’m not alone, and if we could offer the world anything it would be telling people about a God who is so interesting that we cannot help it.
At the end of our time together this guy I had just met said, “thank you.” Maybe he’ll never believe in God, but I hope he wants to keep talking about God because if he does some day he might just find himself believing and have no idea why.
Riding the wave of the Holy Spirit,
Garrett
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