After this David inquired of the Lord, "Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?"
The Lord said to him, "Go up."
David said, "To which shall I go up?"
He said, "To Hebron."
So David went up there, along with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. David brought up the men who were with him, every one with his household; and they settled in the towns of Hebron. Then the people of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.
When they told David, "It was the people of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul," David sent messengers to the people of Jabesh-gilead, and said to them, "May you be blessed by the Lord, because you showed this loyalty to Saul your lord, and buried him! Now may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you! And I too will reward you because you have done this thing. Therefore let your hands be strong, and be valiant; for Saul your lord is dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me king over them."
2 Sa 2:1-7 - NRSV
When it came to the big moves in his life, David had learned not to completely trust his own judgment. He inquired of the Lord. So the priest would pull out the Urrim and Thummim, and he would do whatever it was that he did to obtain answers from the divine. Once David had the answer, he enacted it. You do what is right, with no other justification required. Action, without hesitation.
When David arrives in Hebron, he learns that the people of Jabesh-gilead have done a very brave and righteous thing. After the Philistines killed Saul and Jonathan on Mount Gilboa, they returned to cut Saul’s head off, put his armor in their temple and mount his body, and his sons’ bodies, on the wall of Beth Shan. This was both shameful and horrible to the Israelites. When the people of Jabesh-gilead heard about this, they were convicted. As a community they decided to right this wrong.
So, in a courageous raid, the men of Jabesh-gilead marched all night to Beth Shan, stole the decomposing bodies from the wall and brought them back to Jabesh. They burned the bodies, gathered the bones, and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh. Where is a respectful place? Where does the king sit as judge? Under the well-known tree in a community.
Many people would not risk the danger to rescue people who are still alive. The citizens of Jabesh knew this well. Years earlier, Nahash the Ammonite had besieged Jabesh offering them their choice of death, or making a treaty which required their right eye to be gouged out - most often the dominant eye of an archer or the one who carried the sling. Nobody would come to rescue them, even though they were alive, well, and willing to fight alongside their rescuers. No one, except Saul. Saul gathered up an army within seven days, raced across Israel, defeated Nahash, and freed Jabesh.
Saul didn’t do it because it seemed reasonable. You do what is right, with no other justification required.
The people of Jabesh didn’t need an excuse to go rescue the bodies of Saul and his sons. You do what is right, with no other justification required.
This last week, many of our neighbors in Oklahoma and Texas suffered from horrible range fires that swept across huge expanses of land at unbelievable speed. They lost grass, hay, fences, horses, cattle, barns, and houses, too. It is a gift from God that some of them were able to get themselves out of the fire alive. After the fire, they are now working hard to restore their farms and ranches to some form of normalcy. So to pray for them would be a good thing. But real righteousness is coupling action with prayer.
Independently, Burl and Doug came to me. Burl wanted to haul our excess clothing for children from our clothes closet to Sunset, TX to clothe children there who didn’t have any left. He took some groceries, too, to help tide their families over for a bit. Doug gathered up a semi-trailer load of hay and took it to Blanchard, OK, where horses and cattle were literally starving. The hay that he took will help tide them over until these ranchers’ hay can get up high enough to swath and bale. Neither one did this for the public to find out. And we’re not going to brag about it outside our community.
You do what is right, no justification required. Action coupled with prayer, without hesitation.
Blessings,
Ron
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
The Song of the Bow ...
David intoned this lamentation over Saul and his son Jonathan. (He ordered that The Song of the Bow be taught to the people of Judah; it is written in the Book of Jashar.) He said:
Your glory, O Israel, lies slain upon your high places!
How the mighty have fallen!
Tell it not in Gath,
proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon;
or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice,
the daughters of the uncircumcised will exult.
You mountains of Gilboa,
let there be no dew or rain upon you,
nor bounteous fields!
For there the shield of the mighty was defiled,
the shield of Saul, anointed with oil no more.
From the blood of the slain,
from the fat of the mighty,
the bow of Jonathan did not turn back,
nor the sword of Saul return empty.
Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely!
In life and in death they were not divided;
they were swifter than eagles,
they were stronger than lions.
O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul.
2 Samuel 1:17-24 – NRSV
David excelled at poetry and singing before he became king. So it is only natural that at a time of sorrow that he would turn to his strengths to express the depth of his feelings. Although there is a certain amount of irony in this lament, I don’t believe that such was David’s intent.
David remembers the good, the strength in these two men. He cannot have forgotten the painful politics, the random raids, the chases through the desert wilderness, or the sound of Saul’s spear shaft singing past his ear. Yet David does not sing about the famous spear of Saul. He celebrates his fonder memories: the mighty warrior, the relentless foe, their speed and strength in battle. Remembering the loss of Saul and Jonathan brings to mind the true enemies of God’s people, not the squabbles between them.
How will your survivors remember you? What images will come to mind when your spouse, your children, the boys, or your co-workers remember you? What will be the weapons, the tools, the instruments that they remember in your hands? Just as it is too late to speak the unspoken to someone who has died, it is too late to change the image that our survivors have of us, even in that last eulogy.
Think about it.
Grace and peace,
Ron
Your glory, O Israel, lies slain upon your high places!
How the mighty have fallen!
Tell it not in Gath,
proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon;
or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice,
the daughters of the uncircumcised will exult.
You mountains of Gilboa,
let there be no dew or rain upon you,
nor bounteous fields!
For there the shield of the mighty was defiled,
the shield of Saul, anointed with oil no more.
From the blood of the slain,
from the fat of the mighty,
the bow of Jonathan did not turn back,
nor the sword of Saul return empty.
Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely!
In life and in death they were not divided;
they were swifter than eagles,
they were stronger than lions.
O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul.
2 Samuel 1:17-24 – NRSV
David excelled at poetry and singing before he became king. So it is only natural that at a time of sorrow that he would turn to his strengths to express the depth of his feelings. Although there is a certain amount of irony in this lament, I don’t believe that such was David’s intent.
David remembers the good, the strength in these two men. He cannot have forgotten the painful politics, the random raids, the chases through the desert wilderness, or the sound of Saul’s spear shaft singing past his ear. Yet David does not sing about the famous spear of Saul. He celebrates his fonder memories: the mighty warrior, the relentless foe, their speed and strength in battle. Remembering the loss of Saul and Jonathan brings to mind the true enemies of God’s people, not the squabbles between them.
How will your survivors remember you? What images will come to mind when your spouse, your children, the boys, or your co-workers remember you? What will be the weapons, the tools, the instruments that they remember in your hands? Just as it is too late to speak the unspoken to someone who has died, it is too late to change the image that our survivors have of us, even in that last eulogy.
Think about it.
Grace and peace,
Ron
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Wrong place, wrong time ...
Hear the word of God:
When David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag. On the third day, a man came from Saul's camp, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground and did obeisance. David said to him, "Where have you come from?"
He said to him, "I have escaped from the camp of Israel."
David said to him, "How did things go? Tell me!"
"The army fled from the battle, many of the army fell and died; and Saul and his son Jonathan also died."
David asked, "How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan died?"
"I happened to be on Mount Gilboa; and there was Saul leaning on his spear … He said to me, 'Come, stand over me and kill me; for convulsions have seized me, and yet my life still lingers.' So I stood over him, and killed him, for I knew that he could not live after he had fallen. I took the crown that was on his head and the armlet that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord."
Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them; and all the men who were with him did the same. They mourned and wept, and fasted until evening for Saul and for his son Jonathan, and for the army of the LORD and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
David said to the young man, "Where do you come from?"
He answered, "I am the son of a resident alien, an Amalekite."
David said to him, "Were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD's anointed?" Then David called one of the young men and said, "Come here and strike him down."
2 Samuel 1:1-16 – NRSV
You have to wonder, what did this young Amalekite expect from David? Did he expect to be congratulated for living through such a brutal battle? Did he hope to be considered compassionate because he administered the coup de grace to a suffering king? Or did he believe that the surviving competitor for the crown of Israel would reward him for bearing the news and the crown?
Whatever he thought, he was wrong.
It’s not as if David killed the messenger for bringing bad news. David executed the Amalekite for doing the very thing that he had resisted doing for some time; killing King Saul so that he could claim the throne for himself. David was furious.
It’s not as if David had been having a great week. He’d been living in Philistine territory for a while now, hiding out from Saul. David was the right hand man of one of the Philistine kings, but most of the Philistines thought that he was a crazy man. He ought to know; he did his best to convince them of that.
So when the five Philistine kings set out to destroy Saul, David was in a hard place. Would he fight as a traitor against his people, or would his new masters discover his lack of loyalty and take his life? After they sort it all out, the kings go to fight Saul, and David gets sent back home to the women and children in Ziglag.
Only they’re not there. It seems that some Amalekites have come, stolen his property and livestock, and kidnapped his wives and children. Yeah, that’s right: Amalekites. Land pirates from way back in the time when Moses and the newly-freed Israelites wandered in the wilderness. (Some think that, over the years, they migrated to Somalia and learned how to sail ships …)
When his men discover what has happened, they want to do to David what Saul has been thinking about for years. But he manages to shut them up, band them together, and go fight a battle to reclaim what belongs to them. Only to have to put down another rebellion to make certain that all of the stuff was given back to its original owners, and not just the endurance athletes.
So he gets home to a burned-out city, gets a night’s sleep and then wakes up, only to find out that the king he who used to sing to sleep, and the friend who was closer than any brother, are dead. Yes, David is angry.
But is the anger really about Amalekites, or young men that claim to kill kings? (Read 1 Sam 31:1-6 and see if you think the Amalekite is a murder or a liar…) I don’t think that’s what all of the anger is about.
I believe that David is angry because David knew that David was in the wrong place at the wrong time. This won’t be the last time that this happens, but this is a particularly painful time for it to happen. David is on the wrong side with the wrong people fighting the wrong battle, and now he has terrible evidence of that reality. The only person David ever trusted besides his God is now dead. Jonathan is gone. Discovering that we’ve made a mistake may put us in a murderous mood, but anger can’t fix our problems. It can only signal to us that we have a problem.
Sometimes our anger rises, but not because someone else has been a fool. Sometimes our anger rises because we have been a fool, and we really don’t want to admit it. Or deal with it.
The next time we feel angry, what is that anger telling us? Are our expectations of someone else disappointed, or have we disappointed ourselves? Let’s keep our swords in their sheaths until we figure it out.
Grace, and peace,
Ron
When David had returned from defeating the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag. On the third day, a man came from Saul's camp, with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground and did obeisance. David said to him, "Where have you come from?"
He said to him, "I have escaped from the camp of Israel."
David said to him, "How did things go? Tell me!"
"The army fled from the battle, many of the army fell and died; and Saul and his son Jonathan also died."
David asked, "How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan died?"
"I happened to be on Mount Gilboa; and there was Saul leaning on his spear … He said to me, 'Come, stand over me and kill me; for convulsions have seized me, and yet my life still lingers.' So I stood over him, and killed him, for I knew that he could not live after he had fallen. I took the crown that was on his head and the armlet that was on his arm, and I have brought them here to my lord."
Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them; and all the men who were with him did the same. They mourned and wept, and fasted until evening for Saul and for his son Jonathan, and for the army of the LORD and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
David said to the young man, "Where do you come from?"
He answered, "I am the son of a resident alien, an Amalekite."
David said to him, "Were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD's anointed?" Then David called one of the young men and said, "Come here and strike him down."
2 Samuel 1:1-16 – NRSV
You have to wonder, what did this young Amalekite expect from David? Did he expect to be congratulated for living through such a brutal battle? Did he hope to be considered compassionate because he administered the coup de grace to a suffering king? Or did he believe that the surviving competitor for the crown of Israel would reward him for bearing the news and the crown?
Whatever he thought, he was wrong.
It’s not as if David killed the messenger for bringing bad news. David executed the Amalekite for doing the very thing that he had resisted doing for some time; killing King Saul so that he could claim the throne for himself. David was furious.
It’s not as if David had been having a great week. He’d been living in Philistine territory for a while now, hiding out from Saul. David was the right hand man of one of the Philistine kings, but most of the Philistines thought that he was a crazy man. He ought to know; he did his best to convince them of that.
So when the five Philistine kings set out to destroy Saul, David was in a hard place. Would he fight as a traitor against his people, or would his new masters discover his lack of loyalty and take his life? After they sort it all out, the kings go to fight Saul, and David gets sent back home to the women and children in Ziglag.
Only they’re not there. It seems that some Amalekites have come, stolen his property and livestock, and kidnapped his wives and children. Yeah, that’s right: Amalekites. Land pirates from way back in the time when Moses and the newly-freed Israelites wandered in the wilderness. (Some think that, over the years, they migrated to Somalia and learned how to sail ships …)
When his men discover what has happened, they want to do to David what Saul has been thinking about for years. But he manages to shut them up, band them together, and go fight a battle to reclaim what belongs to them. Only to have to put down another rebellion to make certain that all of the stuff was given back to its original owners, and not just the endurance athletes.
So he gets home to a burned-out city, gets a night’s sleep and then wakes up, only to find out that the king he who used to sing to sleep, and the friend who was closer than any brother, are dead. Yes, David is angry.
But is the anger really about Amalekites, or young men that claim to kill kings? (Read 1 Sam 31:1-6 and see if you think the Amalekite is a murder or a liar…) I don’t think that’s what all of the anger is about.
I believe that David is angry because David knew that David was in the wrong place at the wrong time. This won’t be the last time that this happens, but this is a particularly painful time for it to happen. David is on the wrong side with the wrong people fighting the wrong battle, and now he has terrible evidence of that reality. The only person David ever trusted besides his God is now dead. Jonathan is gone. Discovering that we’ve made a mistake may put us in a murderous mood, but anger can’t fix our problems. It can only signal to us that we have a problem.
Sometimes our anger rises, but not because someone else has been a fool. Sometimes our anger rises because we have been a fool, and we really don’t want to admit it. Or deal with it.
The next time we feel angry, what is that anger telling us? Are our expectations of someone else disappointed, or have we disappointed ourselves? Let’s keep our swords in their sheaths until we figure it out.
Grace, and peace,
Ron
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
A note of thanks ...
On behalf of us all, I want to thank Jason for the extraordinary job that he has undertaken over the last two months to lead us in our devotional thoughts daily.
I appreciate his hard work, his insight, and his heart for the job. I know that you do, too.
Please let him know how much you appreciate this time.
Blessings,
Ron
I appreciate his hard work, his insight, and his heart for the job. I know that you do, too.
Please let him know how much you appreciate this time.
Blessings,
Ron
Lightening our load ...
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30
As I look back on this spiritual formation experience, I remember our times of devotion together. I remember the times of sharing, the times of worship, the times of simple silence where we all sought out the heart of God. I chose this verse from Matthew as the passage of scripture that I would like to close out with. We are told that we need to be the one who decides to come after Jesus. He focuses on all those who are weary and burdened, but isn’t that all of us? We are told that we will receive the promised rest, and that he is willing and able to help us to learn from him. He wants to lighten our load.
Have you felt that time of lightening? It is a time where we feel like we can make it. It is a time where we feel like we don’t have to go it alone. I have learned that we all need help with our daily walk. This help can come in many different forms, but some of them are as easy as actually praying for each other. We have sat in silence together and worshiped. We have studied and meditated on certain passages of scripture. We have spent time in a prayer exercise for our boys where some of us were praying so hard for our boys that tears flowed.
Many of you commented that this was a great reminder for you, to work harder at your spiritual walk. Many of you told me of ways that you are trying to implement some of these spiritual disciplines in your life as you work with each other and help our boys. I have enjoyed these stories, because it has made me realize that all was not in vain.
There have also been times when some of you have told me that our times together have been very challenging in ways you have never experienced. Not everyone in our group is at the same place when it comes to working through some of these disciplines, and that’s ok. I am reminded that our boys are all at different places as well when it comes to drawing near to God. They may have a hard time when it comes to focus and meditation. Some of our boys may have a hard time going to that quiet place with God, because they are not prepared to open up their heart out of fear or even rejection. These are all thoughts that we need to ponder individually and as a group as we try to share our faith with those around us.
This project has been called “Overflow,” and I hope that you have been able to see God’s love flowing out of your heart as you hold out the Word of God. That was actually one of my objectives. I wanted us all to be able to take some of the things we have learned and apply them to this ministry. I feel we have learned how to focus a little better. I feel we have learned how to use the Word of God to battle those challenges that come up in our lives. I feel we have learned how to do so many things including service, simplifying our lives, and even being reminded what worship can be like. I feel our lives have been challenged, and our spirit has been encouraged. This is where the “overflow” comes out. This is where we learn how to take our own experiences with God and share those with our boys and our families. This is where we work together as a community to help transform the lives of our boys.
I have been feeling that sense of “Holy Expectancy” that we discussed during our worship time together. Instead of it being towards our worship service, it is towards our ministry together. I have found myself coming to God and praying for us all as we work ourselves to exhaustion to try and help our boys learn to live and learn how to be loved. We have a hard job, so it is important that we spend as much time as possible in the Word, in worship, in prayer, in silence with God, simplifying, and serving so we can be prepared for anything that comes our way, and our spirit is so full, that it overflows more and more each day into the lives of those we love.
Thank you for participating in this project and thank you for loving and caring for me enough to be honest with me about your feelings throughout this project. You have all blessed and encouraged my life.
Jason
Matthew 11:28-30
As I look back on this spiritual formation experience, I remember our times of devotion together. I remember the times of sharing, the times of worship, the times of simple silence where we all sought out the heart of God. I chose this verse from Matthew as the passage of scripture that I would like to close out with. We are told that we need to be the one who decides to come after Jesus. He focuses on all those who are weary and burdened, but isn’t that all of us? We are told that we will receive the promised rest, and that he is willing and able to help us to learn from him. He wants to lighten our load.
Have you felt that time of lightening? It is a time where we feel like we can make it. It is a time where we feel like we don’t have to go it alone. I have learned that we all need help with our daily walk. This help can come in many different forms, but some of them are as easy as actually praying for each other. We have sat in silence together and worshiped. We have studied and meditated on certain passages of scripture. We have spent time in a prayer exercise for our boys where some of us were praying so hard for our boys that tears flowed.
Many of you commented that this was a great reminder for you, to work harder at your spiritual walk. Many of you told me of ways that you are trying to implement some of these spiritual disciplines in your life as you work with each other and help our boys. I have enjoyed these stories, because it has made me realize that all was not in vain.
There have also been times when some of you have told me that our times together have been very challenging in ways you have never experienced. Not everyone in our group is at the same place when it comes to working through some of these disciplines, and that’s ok. I am reminded that our boys are all at different places as well when it comes to drawing near to God. They may have a hard time when it comes to focus and meditation. Some of our boys may have a hard time going to that quiet place with God, because they are not prepared to open up their heart out of fear or even rejection. These are all thoughts that we need to ponder individually and as a group as we try to share our faith with those around us.
This project has been called “Overflow,” and I hope that you have been able to see God’s love flowing out of your heart as you hold out the Word of God. That was actually one of my objectives. I wanted us all to be able to take some of the things we have learned and apply them to this ministry. I feel we have learned how to focus a little better. I feel we have learned how to use the Word of God to battle those challenges that come up in our lives. I feel we have learned how to do so many things including service, simplifying our lives, and even being reminded what worship can be like. I feel our lives have been challenged, and our spirit has been encouraged. This is where the “overflow” comes out. This is where we learn how to take our own experiences with God and share those with our boys and our families. This is where we work together as a community to help transform the lives of our boys.
I have been feeling that sense of “Holy Expectancy” that we discussed during our worship time together. Instead of it being towards our worship service, it is towards our ministry together. I have found myself coming to God and praying for us all as we work ourselves to exhaustion to try and help our boys learn to live and learn how to be loved. We have a hard job, so it is important that we spend as much time as possible in the Word, in worship, in prayer, in silence with God, simplifying, and serving so we can be prepared for anything that comes our way, and our spirit is so full, that it overflows more and more each day into the lives of those we love.
Thank you for participating in this project and thank you for loving and caring for me enough to be honest with me about your feelings throughout this project. You have all blessed and encouraged my life.
Jason
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Up or down, in or out ...
Today’s thoughts are from Julia:
Of the devotionals Jason led, I was most impacted by the one where we put our hands face up or face down. I had done this sort of thing before, and had forgotten how quickly the Spirit moved in me to rid me of negative emotions and thoughts and fill me with positive ones. It was good to have a kind of refresher course on one of the practices I could have been using for years, but had simply forgotten about. Since that devotional I have used that method again and it has been very good for me.
I was also highly impacted by the quote he put on the page about being lost in pride or emptiness, depending upon whether one spends too much time with people or alone:
“Let him who cannot be alone beware of community…. Let him who is not in community beware of being alone….Each by itself has profound pitfalls and perils. One who wants fellowship without solitude plunges into the void of words and feelings, and one who seeks solitude without fellowship perishes in the abyss of vanity, self-infatuation, and despair.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
I feel like I have experienced these two extremes and the emptiness that comes with them. It is a fine line to walk, the line of being in community in a healthy way. But it is essential to our spiritual well-being. This, too, was a good reminder. I tend towards solitude, but, in excess, it does seem to lead directly to pride (and mental illness, really). So I thank God that He used Jason to remind me of these things.
Thanks again for your thoughts.
Jason
Of the devotionals Jason led, I was most impacted by the one where we put our hands face up or face down. I had done this sort of thing before, and had forgotten how quickly the Spirit moved in me to rid me of negative emotions and thoughts and fill me with positive ones. It was good to have a kind of refresher course on one of the practices I could have been using for years, but had simply forgotten about. Since that devotional I have used that method again and it has been very good for me.
I was also highly impacted by the quote he put on the page about being lost in pride or emptiness, depending upon whether one spends too much time with people or alone:
“Let him who cannot be alone beware of community…. Let him who is not in community beware of being alone….Each by itself has profound pitfalls and perils. One who wants fellowship without solitude plunges into the void of words and feelings, and one who seeks solitude without fellowship perishes in the abyss of vanity, self-infatuation, and despair.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
I feel like I have experienced these two extremes and the emptiness that comes with them. It is a fine line to walk, the line of being in community in a healthy way. But it is essential to our spiritual well-being. This, too, was a good reminder. I tend towards solitude, but, in excess, it does seem to lead directly to pride (and mental illness, really). So I thank God that He used Jason to remind me of these things.
Thanks again for your thoughts.
Jason
Monday, April 13, 2009
Freedom to be vulnerable ...
Over the next few days I will be sharing some of the closing thoughts from our team members. I wanted to close down this devotional experience this way so we can all hear the hearts of our brothers and sisters in the trenches with us. I wanted to share with you some of what I have heard and felt over the past few months of this experience. Thank you all for your help and encouragement along the way.
Jason
Angela’s Thoughts
Good morning! I had something I wanted to share with you before the day of "business" began :)
One memorable experience I had in regarding to your awesome devotional schedule is from a different perspective.
I don't remember what it was that kept me from the meeting this particular morning, but it was the morning that you discussed worship and had a lengthy time of singing as a group. I have thought about that morning many times since knowing I missed it.
I have tried to envision what the group sounded like, tried to imagine what the room felt like, what everyone's faces looked like, and tried to recreate what my heart may have felt in those moments. And I find myself very saddened that I missed such a beautiful moment of spiritual intimacy shared with my closest friends and family. Personally, I need to sing as a channel of encouragement and connection to God, as well as listen to music that praises our God. We have replaced a lot of TV time by listening to the Christian XM station on the satellite, but it's just not the same and it never can be as hearing the combined voices of those who love God and each other deeply. I know that it's taught over and over again about "not forsaking the assembly" out of respect for the elders, the congregation, and your own relationship with God. But never have I felt the repercussions of "forsaking" the assembly so strongly than to know what I missed out on. I can't imagine going through life, let alone a job like we have, without that sense of family, belonging, connection, and even sorrow when opportunities for time spent together are lost out on.
It is difficult for someone with my temperament to admit that I am in need of anything. But there is no denying the fact that I need my friends. I need my brothers and sisters. I need their encouragement through their presence, their prayers, their words, and their songs. To pretend otherwise is both cowardly and selfish. Praise be to God and His Son, that we have the freedom to be vulnerable with each other and that that vulnerability completes God's plan for His Kingdom, both now and in eternity.
Thanks for a wonderful time of challenge and growth <>< Angela
(hint, hint: can we please sing again sometime)
Jason
Angela’s Thoughts
Good morning! I had something I wanted to share with you before the day of "business" began :)
One memorable experience I had in regarding to your awesome devotional schedule is from a different perspective.
I don't remember what it was that kept me from the meeting this particular morning, but it was the morning that you discussed worship and had a lengthy time of singing as a group. I have thought about that morning many times since knowing I missed it.
I have tried to envision what the group sounded like, tried to imagine what the room felt like, what everyone's faces looked like, and tried to recreate what my heart may have felt in those moments. And I find myself very saddened that I missed such a beautiful moment of spiritual intimacy shared with my closest friends and family. Personally, I need to sing as a channel of encouragement and connection to God, as well as listen to music that praises our God. We have replaced a lot of TV time by listening to the Christian XM station on the satellite, but it's just not the same and it never can be as hearing the combined voices of those who love God and each other deeply. I know that it's taught over and over again about "not forsaking the assembly" out of respect for the elders, the congregation, and your own relationship with God. But never have I felt the repercussions of "forsaking" the assembly so strongly than to know what I missed out on. I can't imagine going through life, let alone a job like we have, without that sense of family, belonging, connection, and even sorrow when opportunities for time spent together are lost out on.
It is difficult for someone with my temperament to admit that I am in need of anything. But there is no denying the fact that I need my friends. I need my brothers and sisters. I need their encouragement through their presence, their prayers, their words, and their songs. To pretend otherwise is both cowardly and selfish. Praise be to God and His Son, that we have the freedom to be vulnerable with each other and that that vulnerability completes God's plan for His Kingdom, both now and in eternity.
Thanks for a wonderful time of challenge and growth <>< Angela
(hint, hint: can we please sing again sometime)
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Great power for us ...
Hear the word of God:
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
Ephesians 1:18-21 (NLT)
Blessings,
Jason
I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
Ephesians 1:18-21 (NLT)
Blessings,
Jason
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)