Listen to God…

“But my people did not listen to my voice;
Israel would not submit to me.
So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
to follow their own counsels.
Oh, that my people would listen to me,
that Israel would walk in my ways!
I would soon subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes.
Those who hate the LORD would cringe toward him,
and their fate would last forever.
But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
(Psalm 81:11-16 ESV)

We will be ok, if we can only listen to God. Pharaoh’s heart was hardened by God and did what he did because God was using him. We all can be in God’s good graces if we only listen to Him. and we all know how easy that it!

How easy is it to listen to God?

When you aren’t sure what His voice sounds like? Is that me or is that God? The sound of a thought passing through your mind that seems like something foreign to you, could it be God, or the devil leading you astray?

Or does God speak to us through the community of gathered believers we worship with? Well that would be only if God is speaking to them. And they have not been lead astray as the above psalm tells us.

How do you know if you are listening to the Lord? It is not easy, and if everything you are doing seems to be something you have done before and it doesn’t push your thoughts or imagination or your faith, you may not be hearing God right, but you may… God speaks in many and various ways. We have to be listening to hear Him and ready and able to follow when He calls and leads us.

It is enough

But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. (1 Kings 19:4-8 ESV)

It is enough, please take my life! I know exactly how Elijah feels. Elijah is distraught and is running for his life because Jezebel has said he is to be killed. Elijah sits down beneath a tree and asks God to take him to be with his ancestors.

I got it. I really do. Waiting for the community where God is calling me. Watching my family wonder and suffer as I try to figure out where we need to be. Wondering if it will ever happen. I wander as I wonder what will happen next. Elijah just came down from a high of defeating the prophets of Baal when God rained down fire from heaven and causing Elijah’s pile of wood to catch fire. Now he is running and asking for death. He has trouble seeing the full picture just as we do. We wonder what awaits because of our discontent with our current situations.

But just like Elijah, God is providing for us. And just as God will appear to Elijah in the still small voice, He will show each of us the wonders of the abundant life he has for us. Just rest in His hands and live in His care. He will supply our every need if we will only just trust that He will…

Music of God

I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
let the humble hear and be glad.
Oh, magnify the LORD with me,
and let us exalt his name together!
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
(Psalm 34:1-8 ESV)

Can you identify with this psalm? I might be much like a song from your youth that brings about certain thoughts or feelings when you read it.

Music is powerful and draws us to places we once remembered or places inside of our selves where we go away to hide. When you hear, “Welcome to the Hotel California…” what do you think? Or how about “When the lights go down in the city…” Or maybe “amazing grace how sweet the sound…”

Can you identify with the lines of the psalm? “This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles.” We have all cried to the Lord in our troubles in our wanting… We are all blessed when we take refuge in Him. Read the psalm and remember that this was a song of David, or someone else who wrote it. It is a way to be drawn to a place where God will give you shelter, and protect you. God will deliver you from all of your worries if you will let Him. Draw near to Him and live in the life He will give you.

Prodigal God by Timothy Keller ~ Book Review

Timothy Keller does a supurb job of unlocking the understanding of the Christian faith through his look at a well known parable of Jesus.

The Prodigal God looks at the parable told by Jesus in Chapter 15 of the gospel according to Luke.  It is a wonderful story that I have read many books on and studied to find new insights and to see from new angles and Timothy Keller opened up Pandora’s box with his revelations on the parable that begins, “There was a father who had two sons…”

Most of us know this story as the story of the Prodigal son. But I have always entitled it the story of the Loving Father. But Timothy Keller calls it the story of the Two Lost Sons. You see as is pointed out in the book, prodigal does not mean wayward but it means “recklessly spendthrift.” The prodigal part really is a statement about God, and Timothy helps us see that. He also unpacks the parable and helps us see how most of us who are in the church are probably older brothers and are just as lost as the younger brother.

Through this book Timothy helps us see just how extravagant God is with his grace, to what lengths He has gone to seek us out, and then how far He is willing to go to bring us back if we stray from Him. This book is a must read for anyone who claims to understand the Christian faith, as it will help us see how much we are the problem and how we might be better followers of Jesus.

Timothy Keller brings to life the parable of the Two Lost Sons and through it helps the heart of our Christian faith shine.

Bear each others burdens…

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load.
Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. (Galatians 6:1-10 ESV)

Here in the opening of Galatians chapter 6 we are called to restore our brothers and sisters when we see catch them in a transgression a sin.  We who are spiritual must for the betterment of the body of Christ and for our brother and sisters rebuke them and correct their behavior! But wait a minute…

It does not say to rebuke them, or that we have to correct their behavior. The reading says we are to restore them in a spirit of gentleness. We are to help them see that what they are doing may not be the best thing for them and help them see this. Not bring the smack down on them and beat them into submission. But this goes for all of us.

You see we are all calling names, we are all doing things to provoke, we all are as guilty of sinning as the other we are pointing at. We need to be gentle with each other and bear the burdens of the other. We all think more highly of ourselves than we ought at times, and we need to see ourselves in the light of the other. We all have a long way to go and we need each other even when we do not see eye to eye.

We think we know what is spiritual because we have come up with the idea from our surroundings and our up bringing, and so what someone else is doing in the spirit may not seem spiritual to us, it may seem as if that brother or sister is sowing in the flesh and should be gently restored, when really they are working in the spirit…

We do not control the Holy Spirit and she flows where and how she will…

We need to bear each others burdens and work together through the spirit so that God’s mission is moved forward.

Daddy, be with all of us and help us to seek out your spirit, to not walk in our flesh, to look out for the other. Help us to bear each other and to lift each other to you in a spirit of gentleness so that we all might be restored, and in the relationship that you have for us with you and with each other…

Harmony is not agreement but unity

Romans 15:1-6 (NRSV)

We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose of building up the neighbor. For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Definition of HARMONY
har·mo·ny noun \ˈhär-mə-nē\
plural har·mo·nies

  1. archaic : tuneful sound : melody
  2. the combination of simultaneous musical notes in a chord
    1. the structure of music with respect to the composition and progression of chords
    2. the science of the structure, relation, and progression of chords
  3. pleasing or congruent arrangement of parts
    1. correspondence, accord
    2. internal calm : tranquillity
  4. an interweaving of different accounts into a single narrative
    1. a systematic arrangement of parallel literary passages (as of the Gospels) for the purpose of showing agreement or harmony

We are called to live in harmony. To me that s interesting as I spent a lot of time learning about harmony in my under-graduate and my first master degree studies of music. We looked at what made harmony and what kind of harmonies moved us from one chord to another and would move a piece is music. We looked at the difference in musical style over the years and how music grew and changed and how composers used the tools they had to create new sounds and styles to help give the picture and understanding they were looking for.

But all of us can understand that when we sing or play in harmony, we do not sing or ay the same notes. In fact we are always singing different notes when we are in harmony, and some harmony is even said to be dissonant, or maybe unpleasant to the ear… But it is in harmony, not the same, it moving forward in the same piece for the same reason…

So we are called to live in harmony with each other working together in our unity in Christ spreading His love for all. Not playing or doing the same part but working together. That means we may not always agree, but we can be in harmony…

Brokenhearted ~ Hurt ~ Yet Jesus can heal…

This was taken from a friends notes page of Facebook. I am fairly certain this article was written about me…

I am fairly certain that there are few things as emotionally and/or Spiritually painful as having someone with whom you have lived and shared faith embracing and teaching things (in the name of tolerance and love) that are contrary to God’s will and intent for us – as revealed in the written word of God. To know that you played a part in helping to raise them up and send them out to teach falsehood – a sense that you aided and abetted in the process – is HEARTBREAKING.

Yet, much like Paul writing to the Galatians, there comes that moment where you have said all that you have said. Coercion won’t help, and persuasion has failed. So how do you move on?

For any of my colleagues and friends who continue to assert theological, doctrinal, sociological, ecclesiological, and hermeneutical principles in the false ideology of “Jesus didn’t say (insert here” – playing freely with the other writings and teachings revealed in Scripture as being written and spoken by others that sometimes have something to do with Jesus, other times are directly attributed to Jesus, and other times are contrary to Jesus’ hope, intent, and purpose I will say these two things…

1) Jesus refers (and the authors of the Gospels and writings) refer to these written words in Greek as “sacred writings”. The tense of the terms, in Greek, infers that they are writings that were “true” and “sacred” not only then, but forever. Scripture is is often,yet not always, a tool to wield, but I would always encourage servants of the Christ to see the Scriptures as witness to which we are all called to humbly yield.

2) Even the teachings of Jesus that are quoted in red letters were not written by Jesus. They were attributed to Jesus by witnesses and disciples who wrote and taught in accordance with the teachings handed on to them. There was no tape recorder…but we receive them in trust.

(*note-please don’t argue these thoughts with me on this page. There is no debate regarding these things that is fruitful.)

It makes me wonder how this is to make me feel when this person was a huge part in me realizing my gifts for ministry and now as I struggle to find a congregation to lead I read this and question my call even more.

It is interesting that I am teaching falsehood and not following with what the sacred scriptures say. I wonder where the line is actually drawn? When Jesus met the Pharisees with the woman caught in the act of adultery, as He is drawing in the sand He tells them that the one without sin may cast the first stone, yet we are all ready to throw our rocks when we spot someone who is sinning…

Where does the line go? We eat shell fish, and catfish which are against the dietary laws of the Holy Scripture. I eat bacon and all kinds of pork and know many others who do as well, and this is against the dietary laws of the sacred scripture. We wear clothing made of mixed fibers, and that is against the laws of the sacred scripture. We seem to pick and choice what laws we will follow. Right after one of the admonitions to homosexuality is the commandment to accept the outsider, and in America we are saying we need to send all of the immigrants back home. Well the sacred scripture tells us to accept and welcome the stranger and the alien. So which part do we listen to and follow and why do we get to pick and choice some?

I wonder how I am to move on, but then it is about me, and that is the real point where we might disagree…

I see it as not about me, but about all of creation. It is not about the hurt I feel when my pastor says that I am teaching falsehoods. It is not about the hurt I feel when my congregation leaves the denomination that I was ordained into (not that it is about the denomination, but about the church catholic and my call is not to the ELCA but my call is to God). It is not about my hurt or anything that I have gone through. It has to be about Jesus and spreading His gospel. And I do not recall any where where Jesus says that people are second class or lower and do not deserve the same respect and honors as all other people. We are all sinners in need of His grace and that is what it has to be about.

Brokenhearted – maybe we can move forward in the unity of Christ understanding we do not agree on interpretation to do what we are called to do – spread the gospel – the good news of Jesus to everyone.

The Fullness of You…

Prayer of Invocation: Isaiah 55: 1-9

We gather today, O Lord of Life, seeking fullness.
Not the fullness our world offers,
but fullness that comes from You.
We spend so much of our lives on things that do not count—
things that promise much and give little.
Help us now—today—to find fulfillment in Your love.
May we discover all You have to give,
and seek You while we yet have the gift of days.
Lift us O God, to a higher plane of living,
as we lift our hearts and minds and souls into Your Holy presence.
Amen! Make it so Lord! Amen!

That we may be filled with Your fullness and not our own! Fill us o Lord with the fullness that comes from you, not what we seek or what we think we want but what You know we need – The Fullness of You!

See we have to read Isaiah 55:1-9 again:

“Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.
Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know,
and a nation that did not know you shall run to you,
because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you.
“Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
(Isaiah 55:1-9 ESV)

You see Isaiah told the people to not worry about eating more than what you need. You see bread is enough to sustain us, so why do we spend our money on more than what we need. Seeking after the better life, the life that gives us joy, but only in our own minds. We seek after the rich foods, and the glory, and these things are obtainable, but why do we seek them? We seek them for our own fulfillment and not for the abundance of life we  could have in God, if we would not worry about what we have and allow Him to fill us with the good things He will give us if we would only let Him.  We worry about having steak when bread is enough. And we worry about making the money to get the new things everyone has to have, when He will provide for our every need…

So live the abundant life – the life lived in God and the supply that He has for you…

Now reread the opening prayer, and allow it to permeate your life, that life lived in the fullness of God!

We gather today, O Lord of Life, seeking fullness.
Not the fullness our world offers,
but fullness that comes from You.
We spend so much of our lives on things that do not count—
things that promise much and give little.
Help us now—today—to find fulfillment in Your love.
May we discover all You have to give,
and seek You while we yet have the gift of days.
Lift us O God, to a higher plane of living,
as we lift our hearts and minds and souls into Your Holy presence.
Amen! Make it so Lord! Amen!

Temptation of the Lord…

Deuteronomy 8:1-20 (NRSV)

This entire commandment that I command you today you must diligently observe, so that you may live and increase, and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments. He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. The clothes on your back did not wear out and your feet did not swell these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a parent disciplines a child so the Lord your God disciplines you. Therefore keep the commandments of the Lord your God, by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you may mine copper. You shall eat your fill and bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you. Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I am commanding you today. When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, an arid wasteland with poisonous snakes and scorpions. He made water flow for you from flint rock, and fed you in the wilderness with manna that your ancestors did not know, to humble you and to test you, and in the end to do you good. Do not say to yourself, “My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today. If you do forget the Lord your God and follow other gods to serve and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations that the Lord is destroying before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.

Do not forget the lord your God…

He has given you a land flowing with milk and honey and a richness you can not imagine…

But before that he has had you wander and wonder for 40 years in the wilderness. So that he might test you. Yes you read that correctly, that he might test you… that is after all what the Deuteronomy reading above says at the beginning. “Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart…” the lord your God will check to see if you are humble and test you… isn’t this what we pray on the Lord’s Prayer? “And lead us not into temptation…” yet God would never lead us into temptation. No that is not what Deuteronomy or the Lord’s Prayer says. They both clearly say that God will test us to see if we are humble and ready to follow him. And he will deliver us from evil and take us to the land of milk and honey if we will only have faith and follow him…

Attend to these things…

Psalm 107:1-3, 33-43 ESV

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
whom he has redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
He turns rivers into a desert,
springs of water into thirsty ground,
a fruitful land into a salty waste,
because of the evil of its inhabitants.
He turns a desert into pools of water,
a parched land into springs of water.
And there he lets the hungry dwell,
and they establish a city to live in;
they sow fields and plant vineyards
and get a fruitful yield.
By his blessing they multiply greatly,
and he does not let their livestock diminish.
When they are diminished and brought low
through oppression, evil, and sorrow,
he pours contempt on princes
and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
but he raises up the needy out of affliction
and makes their families like flocks.
The upright see it and are glad,
and all wickedness shuts its mouth.
Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things;
let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.

Whoever is wise let him attend to these things, considering the steadfast love of the Lord!

Sounds a lot to me like “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and love your neighbor as yourself…”

You see this psalm says that God lifts up the lowly and provides for those who society leaves behind. And we are called to do the same thing if caring for the needy and down trodden.  We can not allow the last, lost, least, or little to be left behind or forgotten because the psalmist says “Whoever is wise let him attend to these things”. If we are wise in the Lord we will attend to the last, lost, least, little.

We are called to love and lift up…

Are you attending to these things?