Christ of the Desert

 This Icon, "Christ of the Desert" comes to us out of the Syriac Christian Tradition.  Syriac tradition does not make the separation of "heart and mind" that we in the West often do - in fact, the heart is seen as the center of both emotions and intellect. One theme that is constantly appearing in Syriac tradition is a longing for Paradise. I know that some people really love the desert. It can be beautiful. But, it can also represent very harsh conditions that are difficult to survive.  Christ dwells in the desert places, as well as in the lush places. Today, I'm in prayer for those living in dry harsh realities - those in poverty, those dealing with broken relationships, those who feel like they are lost and are desperate for an oasis. The other day, Bishop Johnson told me she was praying about what more we can do for the poor. A good prayer to have on our hearts often! May Christ of the desert hear our prayers!

Resurrection

Well....been a long time. I've decided to resurrect my blog and start adding to it on a bit more regular basis..and try to get a few more readers! Ha..considering that right now there are a whole three of you signed up to follow it! I've been doing some work on prayer that I would like to write about, as well as some insights I am getting from the Gospel of Mark. ..so friends..here goes!

Today, I share with you Prayer for the Sabbath Day that originates out of the Puritian Faith Community. It can be found in a book called "Visions in the Valley".

O Lord, My Lord,
This is thy day,
the heavenly ordinance of rest,
the open door of worship,
the record of Jesus’ resurrection,
the seal of the sabbath to come,
the day when saints militant and triumphant unite in endless song.

I bless thee for the throne of grace,
that here free favour reigns;
that open access to it is through the blood of Jesus;
that the veil is torn aside and I can enter
the holiest
and find thee ready to hear;
waiting to be gracious,
inviting me to pour out my needs,
encouraging my desires,
promising to give more than I ask or think.

But while I bless thee, shame and confusion are mine:
I remember my past misuse of sacred things,
my irreverent worship,
my base ingratitude,
my cold, dull praise.
Sprinkle all my past sabbaths with the cleansing blood of Jesus,
and may this day witness deep improvement in me.

Give me in rich abundance the blessings the Lord’s Day was designed to impart;
May my heart be fast bound against worldly thoughts or cares;
Flood my mind with peace beyond understanding;
may my meditations be sweet,
my acts of worship life, liberty, joy,
my drink the streams that flow from thy throne,
my food the precious Word,
my defence the shield of faith,
and may my heart be more knit to Jesus.

Using Scripture to guide your Praise

Using scripture is a great way to engage in acts of devotion and praise of Christ. One of this weeks lections was Hebrews 7:23-28. Within that text, there is a wonderful description of Christ.
It reads: " Such a high priest meets our need - one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens". Below is an example on how we might use that in worship. I invite you to offer it to the Lord in prayer. We will be using a litany form of this in worship on Sunday at Hopeland UMC

An Act of Praise based on Hebrews 7:26

You, Lord, are our high priest .

Holy! Holy! Holy are you ,

Lord God almighty!

All your works
Will praise your name

in earth, and sky and sea!

Only you are holy!

There is none beside you!

We praise you, Holy Son of God, most high!

You Lord, our high priest are blameless!
You walked among us, born of the Virgin.

You lived a life like ours, yet you never sinned.

You never once disobeyed the will of God!

You provided us with the perfect example to follow in faith!

Forgive our sin.

Forgive the times we have fallen fall short of the mark.

Create in us new and clean hearts, ready to serve you.
.
You, Lord , our high priest are pure, set apart from sinners!
O lamb of God – you are the one who takes away the sins of the world!

Holy are you! You are without blemish.

Pure and spotless – the only one able to be that pure sacrifice – offered on our behalf!

You, Lord, our high priest are exalted above the heavens!
High and holy are you, Lord Jesus!

Exalted above the heavens, that every knee should bow before you!

Yet, even as the exalted one, you came down to be with us, and are yet with us still.

You choose to dwell within us, and call us to be yours.

Praise to you Lord Jesus!

Do you have a "biblical World View"?

I've been reading the book "unChristian" by David Kinnaman, and would highly recommend it to you! David Kinnaman is with the Barna Research group. In a chapter I just read, he listed what the Barna Group defines as "A Biblical World View". Here are the eight "tests" they use to define that view. A person with a biblical worldview believes:
1. Jesus Christ lived a sinless life.
2. God is the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe and he
still rules it today.
3. Salvation is a gift from God and cannot be earned.
4. Satan is real.
5. a Christian has a responsibility to share his or her faith in Christ with other people.
6. the Bible is accurate in all of the principles it teaches.
7. unchanging moral truth exists
8. such moral truth is defined by the Bible.

David Kinnaman writes that "In our research we have fond that people ho embrace these eight components live a substantially different faith from other Americans - indeed, from other believers. What we believe influences our choices".

By these eight tests, I would be defined by the Barna Group as having a "biblical world view". What about you?

The Elimination of Poverty

One of the four focus areas of the United Methodist church is working towards the elimination of poverty in our world. We are encouraged to be doing this both locally and globally. It can be a challenge, sometimes , for us to find ways of eliminating poverty globally. One of the ways that Jeanette and I are trying to do this is through volunteer work at Ten Thousand Villages. We are fortunate to have their warehouse located just 10 mins from our house. Until she gets a job, Jeanette is volunteering twice a week, I am just doing it on Fridays, my day off from my church job. We do simple tasks like check that the tags are right, change out tags, or like just the other day, we were adding a "for decoration only. not a toy. keep out of reach of children" to a product from Africa. The beauty of Ten Thousand Villages is that the crafters are paid a fair wage for their product and with out this outlet, they would have very little income at all. What we do seems kind of trivial and insignificant - but its a part of the whole process. If they had to pay someone to do what we were doing, their profits would be less.

It's also important to be in ministry with the poor locally. In the past we have worked at food banks, and in a ministry that sought to help people out of poverty by establishing positive relationships. Here at Hopeland UMC there is a clothing bank ministry that we want to help out with. Right now, my little task, is to bring in the clothing that is dropped off at our door, and take it to the back room where it is sorted. Its just a little thing - but already I have found myself tempted to grumble about doing it. At those times I need to remind myself that each little part of the process adds to the whole.

I want to encourage you , beloved reader, to find a way to serve where you are. Even if it is in just a little way, it can make a difference when added to the things that others are doing. Blessings!

Tervis Tumbler and the Spirit!

My Beloved Tervis Tumbler! My tervis tumbler was a "house warming" gift from my sister Amy. She told me when she gave it to me that I would love it - and she was right. She said her beloved tervis was the only glass she ever used these days. She used it for coffee, then when the morning was over, for cold drinks, you name it, if she drank it, it came from her Tervis cup!

I could not help but notice in these last days the similarities between my tervis glass and the Holy Spirit and some ways its different.

Here's how my thinking goes.

1. My Tervis was a gift - so is the Holy Spirit. I didn't know what I was missing before my sister gave me my tervis. I did not know what I was missing before God gave to me the gift of the Holy Spirit! I didn't even know I needed the Spirit. I wouldn't want to go through my day with out my tervis, but I could if I had to. I can't imagine going through the day without the Holy Spirit - infact, I know I couldn't!

2. One of the great features of my Tervis is that there is never any condensation on the glass. No furniture gets a mark on it from it being wet. The reason it works, is that the liquid in the glass is surrounded by a protective pocket of air. The Holy Spirit is all emcompassing! It totally surrounds me and protects me where ever I am. Thanks be to God!

3. Changing the illustration a little bit...I hope to be a bit like my Tervis. My tervis is clear. It is easy to see what is inside of it. The Tervis is not the drink - its just the container. I want my life to be so clear that people can clearly see the gifts of the Holy Spirit in me. I want to get to the point where I am "just the container" for the gifts that God wants to give to others.

4. I'm trying to take my Tervis where ever I go. But sometimes I forget and leave it behind. Thanks be to God that such is not the case with the Spirit. I can't leave the Holy Spirit behind. The Spirit is with me where ever I go! Its not up to me to remember.

5. My tervis just feels good in my hand. It fits. The Holy Spirit is an even better fit! It feels good to be held by the Spirit of God!

There are, I am sure, plenty of ways that this illustration breaks down - and i apologize for that ahead of time....but I just wanted to let you know about my Tervis...and even more, I wanted to let you know about the Holy Spirit!

An Illustration that didn't work for me

The other day I got into the car and a radio preacher was on. I am usually tuned to a country station, but Jeanette had the car before me and had it tuned to the local christian station. It was one of those short spots where a preacher tries to share a thoughtful, inspirational story meant to encourage the lives of the listeners. He shared this illustration: A story is told of a certain ruler and one of his subjects. The subject, a youth known for bad behavior was brought before the ruler. The youth it seems was becoming known for his participation in illicit activities. The ruler wanted to change the youth's outlook, and handed down this judgement. He told the youth that unless his behavior changed, he would be executed. To help him change, he was sentenced with the task of carrying a shelf throughout the city upon which were placed two pots of oil. If any of the oil spilled he would be executed by the two guards who would walk beside him. The young man agreed to the sentence, and walked through the crowded city, consentrating hard on his task - after all, his life was at stake. His eyes never strayed from the pots of oil perched on the shelf he carried. He accomplished the task set before him. Brought again before the ruler, he was asked if he spilled any . "Not a drop" the young man reported. "How did you acheive this?" the ruler inquired. "I paid attention only to the task set before me" he said. " I never took my eyes off those pots, and so no oil was spilled". "Well done" responded the ruler. "Learn that lesson for the rest of your life", he said, and sent the youth on his way. The radio preacher went on to say that that is how we should live our lives - with our eyes only on Christ - and thus we will be able to avoid any of life's temptations.

I get what the preacher was trying to get across. And I agree, we need to learn ways to avoid giving into temptations. But my first thought was "How sad". How sad that this young man went through the whole of a city, and saw nothing but the pots he carried. He saw nothing of poverty. He saw nothing of oppression. He saw nothing of suffering. Likewise he saw nothing of beauty, of kindness, of joy. Christ calls us, I believe, to be fully alert to life around us. He does not want us so to concentrate on just one thing, that we miss all other things. Keeping our eyes on Christ does not mean that we don't see the world around us. What it does mean, is that we are called to see the world through the eyes of Christ. May we learn to see with they eyes of Christ - see the beautiful things as well as the ugly, and by that have our lives changed.