What Do I Look to?

At church this morning I was reflecting that with all that is going on in our nation and in the world, it would be easy (next to impossible not to!) to get freaked out. Where to look in times of anxiety, stress, fear? The answer is to look to Jesus. Keep your eyes on a person, a place, a rock of peace: Jesus Christ.

We are the body of Christ. He is the head. Like a conductor of an orchestra, or the director of a choir, he expects all eyes on him in order to make a harmonious movement. What would happen if each instrument played the notes but not at the right time or speed or volume? Dissonance! Or in a choir if some sang when the director indicated silence? Or sang loudly, drowning out their neighbor, when the director indicated softly? Not a beautiful melody! So, we too, must keep our eyes on our Leader, our ears attuned to His voice, keeping silent when He shows us and speaking what He wants us to,  when He says to speak.

There is ample chaos. We need peaceful organization, patience for right timing, humble obedience and holy boldness when it's called for.

How are you feeling after today's Supreme Court ruling?

How are you feeling after today's Supreme Court ruling? I'm a little unsettled. I don't think anyone wants same sex couples to be unhappy or lack in benefits. But I am concerned that the court's ruling is more like writing law from the bench. I am concerned about religious liberty and the freedom of religion which the Constitution guarantees us. No matter how this sorts out in the coming days and years, please remain loving and kind to those whose views are not your own. Let's have freedom from hate. Freedom from gloating. Freedom from insensitivity. Let's make tolerance go both ways.

Prayer for Charity and Tolerance 
Attributed to Eusebius

   May I be no man's enemy, and may I be the friend of that which is eternal and abides. May I never quarrel with those nearest me; and if I do, may I be reconciled quickly. May I never devise evil against any man; if any devise evil against me, may I escape uninjured and without the need of hurting him.
   May I love, seek, and attain only that which is good. May I wish for all men's happiness and envy none. May I never rejoice in the ill-fortune of one who had wronged me.
   When I have done or said what is wrong, may I never wait for the rebuke of others, but always rebuke myself until I make amends. May I win no victory that harms either me or my opponent. May I reconcile friends who are angry with one another.
   May I, to the extent of my power, give all needful help to my friends and to all who are in want. May I never fail a friend in danger.
   When visiting those in grief, may I be able, by gentle and healing words, to soften their pain.
   May I respect myself. May I always tame that which rages within me. May I accustom myself to be gentle and never be angry with people because of circumstances.
   May I never discuss who is wicked and what wicked things he has done, but know good men and follow in their footsteps, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Three Things #2

Scripture 
My brothers, when you have fallen into various trials, consider everything a joy, knowing that the proving of your faith exercises patience, and patience brings a work to perfection, so that you may be perfect and whole, deficient in nothing.  James 1:2-4

Prayer

Prayer for the Cleansing of our Soul

Father,

do not let me find consolation

in sensible devotion 

to the person of Jesus Christ 

while Jesus Christ passes me by

unrecognized,

unknown,

unsought,

uncomforted

on the Via Crucis

we travel together.

Do not let my heart

be moved by pity

for the painted Christ on the wall

while it remains a stone,

hard, insensitive 

to Christ suffering alone

in the ugliness of shame and disgrace 

in the outcast,

the shunned,

the forgotten:

in mental sufferers hidden away in hospitals,

in prisons serving life sentences,

in people wrestling with bitterness and despair

behind the Iron Curtain;

in those fighting a losing fight

with human weakness and degradation —

in the unhelped,

the uncomforted,

the unloved.

Do not give me tears

to shed at the feet of the crucifix

while they blind me to Christ crucified

unwept for in the souls of sinners

and in my own sinful soul.

Carlyle Houselander - a British mystic, poet and spiritual teacher 

Words to Consider

Anger and fear are a lack of faith. Mother Angelica

Three things #1

Words to Consider
You have called us to encourage one another and build one another up: make us skilled laborers in the art of mutual support.

Change your words, change the world.

Prayer

O God, You have granted us different gifts for the upbuilding of your Body, the Church, in love: give us generous hearts for the works of mutual service. Amen

Scripture

Therefore, as most beloved sons, be imitators of God. And walk in love, just as Christ also loved us and delivered himself for us, as an oblation and a sacrifice to God, with a fragrance of sweetness. But let not any kind of fornication, or impurity, or rapacity so much as be named among you, just as is worthy of the saints, nor any indecent, or foolish, or abusive talk, for this is without purpose; but instead, give thanks. Ephesians 5:1-4

In The Ghetto

From my friend, Deacon Brian, a terrific reflection which I had to share with you. 

In The Ghetto 4th Day Letters June 16, 2015 As a reader of the 4thday letter you most likely already know that I love music. The other day as my wife was driving the car, I was scrolling through the stations on Satellite radio and I stopped on the 60's station. The song IN THE GHETTO by Elvis was playing. As I listened to the familiar verses I reached for my iPad and began to take notes. I knew they were destined for a 4thdayletter one day. Today is that day. The song is old, the singer famous, and the message timeless. The recent shootings of several young black men in the United States has brought our attention back to the poverty that exists in our country and other countries around the world. Sadly violence is closely tied to poverty. These recent occurrences make the words to this song as important today as they were when the song was written.  Please read through the words of the song before reading my comments: "In The Ghetto" As the snow flies On a cold and gray Chicago mornin' A poor little baby child is born In the ghetto And his mama cries 'cause if there's one thing that she don't need it's another hungry mouth to feed In the ghetto People, don't you understand the child needs a helping hand or he'll grow to be an angry young man some day Take a look at you and me, are we too blind to see, do we simply turn our heads and look the other way Well the world turns and a hungry little boy with a runny nose plays in the street as the cold wind blows In the ghetto And his hunger burns so he starts to roam the streets at night and he learns how to steal and he learns how to fight In the ghetto Then one night in desperation a young man breaks away He buys a gun, steals a car, tries to run, but he don't get far And his mama cries As a crowd gathers 'round an angry young man face down on the street with a gun in his hand In the ghetto As her young man dies, on a cold and gray Chicago mornin', another little baby child is born In the ghetto   A few of the verses really strike me. We hear that his mama cries because she knows they are poor and he will go hungry. The song writer challenges us by asking us the question, "are we too blind to see and do we simply turn our heads and look the other way." We are told that the child's "hunger burns." Sadly the song ends with the death of this once beautiful little child, who grew up to be an angry young man that turned to violence on the streets. The song ends just like the headlines from our recent news.  I am going to address the poverty issue not the violence and I am placing my emphasis on the indifference that still seems to exist even amongst Christians towards those in real need.    Long ago, the Hebrew prophets announced God's special love for the poor. Ever since those days of old we have been called as God's people to a covenant of love and justice. Jesus Himself taught us that He came "to bring glad tidings to the poor . . . liberty to captives . . . recovery of sight to the blind." (Lk 4:18-19)  My friends we are a communal church. We all make of the body of Christ. We know that Jesus identified Himself with "the least of these," the hungry and the stranger (cf. Mt 25:45).  As Christians we believe in a triune God. God by His nature is in perfect community with Himself. The Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are one. Because we are made in God's image we too are called to live out our lives in Christian community. We are called to a life of love and justice.  The trinity we are called to consists of God, ourselves and others. Too often we live life in the narcissistic trinity of me, myself and I. As the song says we often turn our heads and avert our eyes from the problems of the world. Not just in America, but especially so here, we get drunk on our wealth, toys, gadgets, comforts and outright luxuries without ever stopping to lend a helping hand to those in need.  Every human life has dignity and every human being is created in God's image and therefore worthy of our respect. Human dignity comes directly from God, and it is not something that any of us earned or the result of some earthly accomplishment that we did. If we are not currently living in poverty ourselves then we need to recite that familiar phrase: "but by the grace of God go I." If we have a deep relationship with God and if we have truly experienced a conversion of heart then we must respond to God's call to love one another as God has loved us. Indifference towards the poor is not an option for Christians. I believe we can get so caught up with what we think is urgent in our lives that we forget to act on what is essential for being Christian; love God and loves others as He loves us. When Jesus encountered people in need, He looked into their eyes, He loved them, He touched them and He healed them. He changed lives one life at a time. We are called to do no less. How are you interacting, on a one on one basis, to change the plight of the poor? It is so easy to say the government needs to fix the problems associated with poverty. It is so easy to say our churches need to fix these problems. It is easy for this to become a political football and blame the other party. The reality is you and I, as individuals, are called to give of ourselves to make a difference. Are we? To live as Christians means to live sacrificially. We are called to alms giving. Alms giving is so much more than just giving money; it is giving all of ourselves to those in need.  My point today is about indifference, it is not about race. The statistics below show that even though the percentage of blacks in poverty is larger than the percentage of whites, the sheer number of whites living in poverty is greater. So poverty is a problem that crosses all races and nationalities. Although I only have United States statistics here, this issue is even worse in many other countries around the world.   Basic Statistics U.S. poverty (less than $18,552 for a family of three; less than $23,834 for a family of four): 45.3 million people, 14.5 percent of U.S (2013). African American poverty rate: 27.2 percent, 11.0 million people (2013). Hispanic poverty rate: 23.5 percent, 12.7 million people (2013). White poverty rate: 9.6 percent, 18.9 million people (2013). Native American poverty rate: 29.1 percent. People with disabilities poverty rate: 28.4 percent (adults ages 18-64) (2013). Children in poverty: 14.7 million, 19.9 percent of all children under 18 (2013). There are over 14 million children living in poverty in the United States. We can choose to bury our heads in the sand to the problem of poverty in the world. We can choose to remain indifferent. We must remind ourselves that to be Disciples of Christ means to follow His teachings. If we remain indifferent and lukewarm to His teachings then we need to re-read Revelation 3:16 which tells us of our Lord's teaching on the attitude of indifference: "But because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth."   We must all ask ourselves today if we are doing all we are called to do to help the poor. I encourage you to pray over this. "Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me." Matthew 25:40 As always, I love to hear your feedback. Click here to send me an email. Also, continue to feel free to forward these emails to as many friends as you want. Additionally, all past emails are archived here.   Broken Door Ministries As I have mentioned before, I would welcome the opportunity to come speak to your church or small group. I have made it my mission through Christ to help bring the lost and broken closer to God. If you would like to schedule an event or merely get more information, please click here to send me an email to begin the conversation.

In the Dark

Lessons from my garden.

I have a good sized deck just off my living room and it has 15 or so large pots filled with blooming plants, which are lovely during the day. But at night, I can't see any of that beauty. I began buying solar lights several years ago. Now I have 15-20 and at night my deck is a fairyland. 

Nearly every night I stand at the door and admire the dim but colorful lights. The Holy Spirit inspired me: these solar lights absorb the sunlight during the day and in the dark give back that light. Just so we are to absorb the Son's energy so that during the dark times we may bring comfort and encouragement by reflect back His Light. It takes no effort on your part, just absorb and reflect back.

On my deck there is also a fish sculpture that sits on a pole like a weathervane. Even the slightest breeze will turn it. I thought that I should be as easily moved to go in the direction the Holy Spirit (breath of God) turns me toward.

Bigger font! These old eyes can't see that tiny type!

Suffering for Love

From the June 11 page in Streams in the Desert, a quote from G. D. W.:
"...very few Christians are willing to endure the suffering through which complete gentleness is obtained. We must die to ourselves before we are turned into gentleness, and our crucifixion involves suffering. It will mean experiencing genuine brokenness and a crushing of self, which will be used to afflict the heart and conquer the mind." If you fail to do this he says, "Yet the heartstrings of their old natures have not been broken, and their unyielding character, which they inherited from Adam, has not been ground to powder. Their soul has not throbbed with the lonely, gushing groans of Gethsemane. Having no scars from their death on Calvary, they will exhibit nothing of the soft, sweet, gentle, restful, victorious, overflowing, and triumphant life that flows like a spring morning from an empty tomb."

Without this complete, suffering surrender, we run the risk of being Christian in name only. We might well be one of the ones who claimed to do God's work but about whom Jesus said, "I never knew you."

Though in the so-called " golden years" of life, I find I still have not completely surrendered myself. Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit I see that I must abdicate my "self," the way a king abdicates his throne. The question is, who rules my life? Me? Or God?

It is so hard to chose suffering but true love suffers. God is love and He showed us that He suffered in Christ for us. One in Love is one in suffering with those we wish to help, support, aid, and love. At all costs chose love, chose love at any cost. This is the salvation of the world, our salvation.