Grace-period

This week's message was a natural progression from last week's commentary on God's silence (especially if George read my blog to help him with his prep-LOL): God and Suffering. Last week I observed that God's silence is often connected with a perception of being abandoned during times of difficulty. Surely, not always, but that is when we notice His distance most profoundly. Sunday we looked at Psalm 73 . How do we reconcile God's goodness to the evil and suffering we see? Depends on how we see the story. I see the story as the world, God's creation, was broken, also called The Fall which is where sin entered the world. We chose something over God...security, knowledge, relationship, power...and things were never the same. Still, God loved His creation (us included but all of His creation) and the Bible is the recording of God's pursuit of mending, reconciling, of bringing us back to His dream for us. Since very ancient times, since the beginnings of t...

I am so nervous. Tonight I start a class. A first night, a group of strangers, a higher level of schooling. All the insecurity and fear leaps into my throat. Silly that I can avoid all this by just not going, not pressing thru. Shaking my head, I know that is not a possibility for me. Too much possibility, too much adventure, too many opportunities would be lost. So I worry what I should wear and when I should leave and if I know where I am going, but I know I am going.

How long, O LORD ? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? (Psalm 13:1 NIV ) Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you... Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. (Psalm 42:5-7 NIV) This Sunday the topic in our series on the Mysterious God is: The Silence of God . Somewhat fitting that I have been a bit tongue tied, eh? Well, not quite so tongue tied, as brain tied. What a HUGE topic! I know people who believe that God is silent to them. I have times like that, but I do not struggle with them because they are typically short and I rationalize them with my small brain as God needed to go fishing or see to something else for a little. He has not left me, just stepped out for a moment. But then there were other moments, in a death, in a tragic event-wher...

OK, the ref is calling delay of game. I am gonna be a little late with Monday's post. Working at my real job while working out this post. Get to you soon!

This Sunday we continued our discussion of the attributes of our Mysterious God with His Power. Our text was primarily Isaiah 40:7-31. Altho this is where I usually process the message, I am going to do something a little different. I am going to tell you a little of my story about His Power . As an adult, I was not involved in church. I didn't want to be. Growing up in a Baptist church, I heard the Bible preached regularly. I knew the stories, and I knew it wasn't for me because this ancient book was just some myths made up by a people to make sense of life's tragedies. But along my path, a woman taught me to seek evidence in a Power greater than myself. She said, "What if there are no coincidences? What if that is God speaking to you? Can you be open minded enough to investigate?" I was pretty desperate at that moment, my marriage difficult, my emotions volatile. I was willing to see what this was all about. Now, this was not a journey of 10 minutes or 10 month...

I didn't sleep well last night. I kept waking up, wanting to write. Those nights are annoying, particularly when I am working 12 hours the next day so I have no business getting out of bed to write. But here is the thing that kept bugging me...what if God is calling us not to greatness, but to smallness? Yeah, weird thing to keep a person awake, huh? Our group that went to the Leadership Summit are praying for ways that we can put what we learned into practice. Look around your neighborhood-there is so much need. Look around your coworkers-enough need to depress you. Look around the world-so much need it can paralyze. And then I think about this thing with callings... What if it isn't about being called to a thing, but to be like Him? What if it doesn't matter where I am or what I do but how I do it? What if His only desire is for me to respond to this broken world as He does? Right where I am? Jesus stopped to love the kids, he held up important people to talk to a woman, ...

St Clare's Blessing Always be lovers of your souls and those of all your sisters. And may you always be eager to observe what you have promised the Lord. May the Lord always be with you and may you always be with Him Amen I chose St Clare as my confirmation saint. It is a hard choice because out of all the saints, you have to pick one whose character or life is admirable. Clare heard a preacher who helped the Holy Spirit ignite a fire within her that prevented Clare from going back to life as usual. An heiress who grew up in comfort, she turned away from all this seeking her Lover. She wanted to know Him like Francis and to serve Him like Francis. On a Palm Sunday, she left her family, her wealth, her pretty clothes, and her hair (shaving of the head was a surrender of vanity and worldliness), and followed Francis to her Beloved Jesus. I also wanted to be like Francis. I wanted to preach the Gospel, to embrace the untouchables, to give all I had on this earth for my Savior. I felt ...