Behold by Amy Orr-Ewing

Take approximately 5 minutes to read yesterday's 'A Slice of Infinity' - below. Post comments to the blog for spiritual collaboration. Please email your prayer requests too.

John Chapter 6

Comments:
Friends, below is yesterday's Slice of Infinity in its entirety. Typically, I will try to take out some morsel for your reading, but I found this one too good to chop up. I have been discussing miracles with a few friends and this, very poignantly, grabbed my attention. I have often heard the question asked, and asked it myself, "is God still doing the miraculous" or "why don't we see miracles like what we read of happening in the early church"? I want to encourage you that if you want to see miracles, ask God to open your eyes to them. Ask Him for spiritual gifts. Don't quit asking Him. I have seen the miraculous first hand and I am happy to share with those who would like to hear more.

Also, Danny Meece, who is a fellow Cougar, will gladly share testimonies of healing and miracles if you ask Him. Danny is a precious man with no agenda or anything to earn in sharing what he has witnessed. Please do not hesitate to ask him to share with you.

Perhaps we could start a comment thread to this post, or start a new posting section on the blog, sharing our stories of the miraculous in our lives?

May this season of Advent remind us of our messiah-who takes away the sin of the world.

With admiration,
-Chad

Slice of Infinity:
Behold!

What are you looking at? Where are the anchors in your life? In these uncertain times, I imagine for many of us these questions are more than rhetorical or philosophical; they are truly heartfelt.

Recently I was struck by this announcement in John’s gospel: “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’” (John 1:29). John says, “Look, the Lamb of God.” My question to you is, what are you looking at? John emphatically directs our focus: “Look at Jesus.” In fact, he makes this declaration fifteen times in his gospel. This word is translated in the King James Version as Behold. Fifteen times he exhorts his readers to look at Jesus. Will you behold? This is astonishing. This is amazing. Look at Jesus.

My favorite hymnwriter is Charles Wesley and one of my favorite of his hymns is called, “Jesus! The Name High Over All.” In the final verse of his hymn, he sings,

Happy, if with my latest breath
I may but gasp His Name,
Preach Him to all and cry in death,
“Behold, behold the Lamb!”

Now an account of John’s death tells us that that is exactly what happened. As John lay dying, he uttered those words, “Behold the Lamb,” and then went to be with the Lord. John is telling us to look at Jesus--for our hope, for our provision, for our very lives.

In his gospel he invites us to behold Jesus through the lens of seven signs or miracles. That is, John deliberately chooses seven out of the many miracles that Jesus performed in order to give us a particular perspective of who this Jesus is. And the fourth miracle that he records is Jesus’s feeding of the five thousand. Jesus himself beholds the crowd--he looks attentively at their need--and he responds with compassion and provision. We encounter a dramatic miracle: Jesus multiplies fives loaves and two fish to feed five thousand people. Then John tells us, “When they had all had enough to eat, [Jesus] said to his disciples, ‘Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.’ So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten” (6:12-13). What a picture of amazing abundance: the Son of God demonstrating the abundance of God to a hungry people.

Perhaps as you look at our world today you wonder if God is still at work in such a way. I want to encourage you that He is, for in my work and ministry I have seen his provision. Having been involved in Bible smuggling in China, I was intrigued to learn of a man named Chris who had gone out from the UK to do the same. Every three seconds someone in China becomes a Christian, but there’s a real lack of the Word of God there. This is what happened to Chris: he and his team stood at the pickup point in China where they were to meet their contact, who would utter a password, and they would deliver their Bibles. They arrived with only minutes to spare, but the contact didn’t show up. Knowing they were being watched, the team started walking towards the edge of town as though leaving. Hot and tired, they stopped at a nearby park for a drink of water, rest, and prayer. It was hard to understand why after all the difficulties God had brought them through that something had gone so wrong. They had looked to Him for provision and direction, and yet their mission had seemingly failed.

Soon the team became aware of three very ragged and dirty men under a tree behind them. Chris felt the Lord leading him to go over with some water. When he offered it, one of the men suddenly spoke the password very clearly in English. The rest of the team hurried over in amazement and pieced together the men’s story from the little Chinese that they knew. Two years earlier, God had given a word to these Chinese men in one of their services that they should plan for this trip. He would lead them to this park, on this date, and have Bibles ready for them, which would be brought by white men from far away. Since they were all poor farmers, it had taken a long time for them to save the money for food and shoes for the trip. The men had walked for two and a half months, mostly at night to keep from being arrested. Coming from the far north of China near Mongolia, they had climbed a range of snowcapped mountains, traveled through the desert, and crossed several rivers without a compass or any knowledge of the country. All they could explain was that God had shown them where to go.

How did they know the password? How could they speak it in English when they knew no English? How did they survive the heat and the snow without protective clothing? It could only be God.

When the men saw the Bibles, they cried and praised the Lord for a long time. They had brought cloth bags with them to carry the Bibles home, and inside each one was a small watermelon that they had carried all those miles as a gift of appreciation. Even though they had been without food for several days, they didn’t eat a single watermelon. The team exchanged clothes with them and Chris explained what an honor it was to put on those dirty rags. The shoes were completely worn out, but the team chose to go barefoot and give up their own shoes, which fit the others perfectly. Apparently God had chosen each group member based in part on their shoe size. Many tears were shed as the team prayed for the Chinese and sent them back home with food and money for their journey.

Jesus is the God of abundance. He is the one within whom this provision, this abundance, is located. Look to him, behold him, and you will be amazed.

Amy Orr-Ewing is training director at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in the United Kingdom.

Author:

Amy Orr-Ewing

Daily Bread by Jill Carattini

Take approximately 5 minutes to read this shortened version of yesterday's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Post comments to the blog for spiritual collaboration. Please email your prayer requests too.

Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

Jesus said, “This is how you should pray:

“Father, may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.
Give us each day the food we need,
and forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation.” Luke 11:1-4 NLT

Slice of Infinity Snippets:
The Lord’s Prayer, which is familiar to many, comes out of this context, out of the praying of Jesus himself. It is not just good advice about praying; it is his praying. Giving his followers this prayer, Jesus, like John, was following a common rabbinic pattern. When a rabbi taught a prayer, he would use it to teach his disciples the most distinctive, concise, essential elements of his teachings. Furthermore, disciples would learn to pray as their teacher prayed. From then on, when a disciple’s prayer would be heard, it would sound like that of his teacher’s prayers, bearing his mark and posture before the Father. Thus, when we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we sound like Jesus, we belong to him, and we pronounce the lessons he wanted us most to learn.

Comments:
I am often taken by surprise when my relationship to my daughter teaches me something about my relationship to God. Today's message was one of these moments.

In Exodus 3 when Moses finds God speaking out of a burning bush, God essentially tells him, “I have heard the cries of my people, I have seen their oppression, and I am sending you.” God cares deeply about human need, the world we live in, and the brokenness all around us--so much so that God sends his own children to respond.

When we pray the words Christ told us to pray, we pray out of the same paradox in which he prayed himself. He was both the Son who knew he would need the Father’s provision to get through the days before him and the Son who poured out his life for the crowds and individuals that needed him.

From Whom All Blessings Flow by Jill Carrattini

Take approximately 5 minutes to read this shortened version of yesterday's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Post comments to the blog for spiritual collaboration. Please email your prayer requests too.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him all creatures here below.
Praise Him above ye heavenly host.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

You will eat it for a whole month until you gag and are sick of it. For you have rejected the Lord, who is here among you, and you have whined to him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?” Numbers 11:20 NLT

And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. 7 Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. Colossians 2:6-7 NLT

Slice of Infinity Snippets:
In what remains a revealing look at human nature, Moses describes life after Egypt. Rescued Israel was a grumbling people sick of manna, wailing for meat, even longing to go back to the land God had mightily delivered them from. Though their daily bread was actually falling from heaven, they wanted more. In the midst of their discontent, Moses revealed God’s promise for meat, but added the wake up call: “You have rejected the Lord, who is among you” (Numbers 11:20).

To our grumbling prone lips, these words are quite revealing. If being thankful is by nature being aware and appreciative of things beyond ourselves, complaining is refusing to see anything but ourselves. It is refusing to see the one who is among us. Moreover, it is an expression that serves only to affirm our own expectations, whether they are based on faulty visions of reality or not. Certainly the Israelites did not want to go back into captivity, but in their grumbling even slavery began to look inviting. Likewise, the falling bread from heaven ceased to be a remarkable sign of provision from the Father, but remarkably, a sign of monotony and their own dreariness.

Comments:
As we look forward to celebrating Thanksgiving with family and friends, lets really enjoy our time together! Yet, lets also think about our motivations for thankfulness. Here are a few pondering thoughts:
Why do we grumble so much? Why do we concern ourselves so much about our finances and our personal comfort? There are 6 billion people on planet earth and the US is a whopping 300 million. Why are we letting politics split the church? Why are we letting politics/finances keep us from following Jesus? Why, when the culture turns a deaf ear and begins to ignore the church, do we simply turn up the volume? Are we loosing relevance because we have adopted the American idea and we look so much like the the world that people easily see through our religiosity? Do we put our personal comfort before our love for humanity? (I know I do.) How can we focus our animosity on other human beings, regardless of what they do or what they look like when God loved us before we even were?

If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 1 Corinthians 13:3-7 (NLT)

Street Culture:
The street culture always pursues and welcomes them, but the doors of the church are open only on Sunday. The church wants them neat and clean, but the streets take them as they are. Leroy Barber, president, Mission Year as quoted in unChristian-Kinnaman/Lyons

Q&A:
On October 28th, I posted the verse from Titus :Remind the believers to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good. They must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone. Titus 3:1-2

Shannon asked pointed quesiton about what this will look like when many part of an administration do not match our personal convictions.

One thought I want to convey is that in submitting ourselves to governmental authority, we learn to submit to God's. While men are falible, God is not.

Have a great day in Christ COUGARS!
-Chad

Proper Fear - by Margaret Manning

Take approximately 5 minutes to read this shortened version of yesterday's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Post comments to the blog for spiritual collaboration. Please email your prayer requests too.

We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.

Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first. 1 John 4:16-19 NLT

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:18-21 ESV

Slice of Infinity Snippets:
“Afraid of burning? Apply Son-screen.” “How will you spend eternity: Smoking or Non-Smoking?” “Life is Hard. Afterlife is Harder!” “WARNING: Exposure to the Son may prevent burning!”

...the fear of God is quite different from being afraid. Actually, the fear of the Lord is a component of faith; it arises from knowledge of God and from within the context of relationship with God.

I suspect the motivation (in the slogans above), even if unintentional, is to make people afraid of God so that they will turn to God and be spared. But here I believe we confuse God’s judgment with punishment. Often, we want to punish others, or we have misplaced the desire to see others punished for a sense of justice. In contrast, the desire for justice is the desire to see things put right, made right by God. As Jesus prayed, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This is a prayer for God’s justice to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Rather than using an apologetic of fear and bidding the world to see all that is fearfully wrong, we are instead exhorted in Scripture to proclaim all that God has set right in Jesus Christ:

Interestingly enough, more than any other command in Scripture, we are commanded to “fear not,” “do not be afraid.” ... So why do we want to use fear to try to persuade others of the good news of the gospel? Does fear have any place in the gospel message? In Jesus’s teaching and message, he reserved his warnings of judgment for those who considered themselves in the “right” with God--those who defined their righteousness by their own merits. Jesus never used fear to convert sinners. Rather, Jesus extended hospitality to those who were on the outside. Indeed, in his message announcing “the kingdom of heaven is at hand; repent and believe the gospel” Jesus extends an invitation, not an ultimatum driven by fear. It is an invitation to enter into the kingdom by following him--his way, his life. In the same way, our Christian apologetic must be invitational, as though God were entreating through us: “We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”...

Author Scott Bader-Saye comments that fear twists virtue into vice. Fear motivated by a lack of love pursues punishment. When we are detached from love, we preach messages that are built on fear. But those who preach Christ motivated by love, cast out all fear. When motivated by love, we become ambassadors of reconciliation reaching out with faith and not with fear, winning the lost with the hope that God has first loved us.

Comments: A few things stood out to me in today's reading: that we are to implore (beg) others to be reconciled to God and that our apologetic (rational faith sharing) must be invitational. As I pursue REAL relationship with people who do not call Jesus friend, I pray that I am transparent about my fears, pains and losses. I have never been one to journal, nevertheless I want to remember difficult times in my life that I can share. Many of you have known me for a long time. Please do not hesitate to share your memories of difficult times where I was involved. I remember mom's scare with breast cancer, Darrell Meece moving from this world to be with God and my wife's battle with depression during her immense sickness from pregnancy with our daughter. Help me remember pain/suffering in my life so that these times may benefit those whom God entrusts to me; I implore you.

May we all be transparent as we invite our friends to be reconciled to God. We may run into many people today who say they do not believe in God; but I doubt you will meet anyone who says they do not believe in pain.

Faith Quote (shared by Pat): "Do you realize that your imagination of the future, which is almost always dictated by fear of some kind, rarely, if ever, pictures me there with you? The person who lives by fears, especially the projection of those into the future, will not find freedom in my love." God speaking in fictional book "The Shack" by William P. Young

The Sky is Falling by Jill Carattini

Take approximately 5 minutes to read this shortened version of yesterday's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Post comments to the blog for spiritual collaboration. Please email your prayer requests too.

Parable of Talents

Slice of Infinity Snippets:
Chicken Little is afraid. The sky is falling and she needs to tell the king. She dashes off as fast as she can, running into friends along the way with whom she shares her fear. “The sky is falling!” she yells, and her worried friends join the race to find the king.

The well-known misadventures of Chicken Little and her friends tell a tale of fear and its infectious grasp. ...It seems like we have been hearing it a lot this year...

Focusing on our fears, ever-reacting to our worries, and accepting this culture of fear as a given, not only affects our subsequent reasoning, living, and faithfulness, our fears in fact become us. Our fears tell us how to spend our money, raise our children, vote in an election, and participate in (or isolate ourselves from) society. We become no different than Chicken Little or the slave in Jesus’s parable who withdrew in fear of his master and buried his talent in the sand...

Yet the harsh rebuke of this slave in the parable of the talents makes it clear that safe-living is not an option, nor an ultimate value, in the kingdom of God. So is there a distinctively Christian alternative to the atmosphere of fear that is so pervasive and contagious? The parable of the talent asks us to see the power and control we allow to masquerade as security and so convince ourselves that we are living wisely, even morally upright, when we are really living in fear. These fears move us to withdraw from the very kingdom Jesus calls us to join and join with him in announcing. Instead of moving further up and farther into the kingdom he proclaimed among us, we dig for our souls a place in the outer darkness.

There is indeed an alternative, but it is neither safe nor easy. It involves laying down our fears to follow Christ with faith’s daring; it involves opening our lives to a world that scares us, and rejecting the anxiety of a world convinced the sky is falling. The Christian alternative to a culture of fear is a kingdom of hospitality and abundance, vulnerability and generosity, love and self-sacrifice--the very kingdom Christ shaped with his living and dying, and invites us to do the same.

“Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

Where, Why, Who? by Stuart McAllister

Take approximately 5 minutes to read this shortened version of yesterday's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Post comments to the blog for spiritual collaboration. Please email your prayer requests too.

“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,”- 1 Peter 3:18

Slice of Infinity Snippets:
The biblical vision captured in the Westminster Confession in 1646 claims: "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." To most modern people, the chief end of life is to provide freedom and as much pleasure as we can get forever. Interestingly, as we look back through the history of ideas, the question, "Where is God when it hurts" was not asked before the 17th century. The inquiry has a late pedigree in our making man the center and measure of all things in our considerations.

Yet the Bible clears up any ambiguity about who we are, who God is, what is wrong with the world, and what can be done. The possibility of freely chosen love means allowing conditions that permit freely chosen rejection, evil, or alternatives. Our lack of interest in God and our self-assured confidence excludes any normal or routine reflection on life. For many of us, pain is the very platform from which the imperative questions of life are asked and answered. C.S. Lewis put it this way, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

The question of God’s presence in the midst of evil is answered in the silhouette at the heart of a different question: Where was God at the crux of human history? As the disciples’ gazed at the Cross, their expectations were dashed, their hopes shattered, and they could not see God in the midst of the turning point of history. But at the Cross, what men at first could not see was the very triumph of good over evil.

Comments: Yesterday I saw a sign on a church that put many anti-theist arguments in a category for me. I think the next time I hear some argument from an atheist, I will likely pull out this perspective to analyze the comment: Our perspective as people is to use God. However, the reverse is actually the case; God uses people.

Prayer Request: John Harrinigton (fellow Cougar-he came up with the name COUGARS) had the first of two rounds of knee surgery yesterday. The surgery went well. Pray for John's complete healing and for encouragement of his heart/mind. Pray for his wife, Shannon, as she takes on extra duties while John is rehabilitating.

Fauth Quote: shared by Pat Castle on Life-Devotions: "For love. He chose the way of the cross where mercy triumphs over justice because of love." from fictional book The Shack by William P. Young

Imago Dei by Jill Carattini

Take approximately 5 minutes to read this shortened version of yesterday's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Post comments to the blog for spiritual collaboration. Please email your prayer requests too.

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 ESV

Slice of Infinity Snippets:
Being made in the image of God is not about maintaining a flawless facade, a perfect record, or even a life without scars. All the power of God that raised him from the dead did not erase the scars left by the Roman nails. The marks of suffering were not removed. The resurrected Christ, the perfect image of God, chose to keep the scars of the Cross. It is his image we are being made to reflect. And we are called to come as we are.

What the leprous man recognized in Christ was enough to bring him to his feet in worship. It is this image that continues to erect the heads of the poorest beggars and bow the shoulders of the greatest emperors. It was the image of Christ that made its way into the insecurities of some in my youth group. Though there was "nothing in his appearance that we should desire him," he lived as one touched by another kingdom, obedient to the Father even unto death. In Christ, God supersedes every longing and pain, every sin and scar, with a face that won’t go away. It is this image within us, this image we were made to reflect. Imago Dei is the hopeful commission to become more like the one we follow. It is the cry within us to be who we are: children made in the image of the Most High.

Comments:
I easily believe that God will accept me, 'just as I am'. Nevertheless, when I think of someone who is not living up to my expectations of what people should look/act like, I quickly forget that they also can 'come as they are'. I forget they too, are image bearers. Yes, there comes a time when a person must hear that they need to turn from wickedness and God requires an entire reorientation of our lives. What I have difficulty in doing is encouraging people to go in a Kingdom direction. To be sure, I want to show them who they can turn towards, but I often feel inadequate to do so; or simply do not know how.

I think this is where service can enter in: Service (ministering) humbles us and lifts the head of those we serve.

Also, sharing our own brokenness can be a great help. But I want to move past only being a counselor myself, and point people to the true Counselor.

Perhaps opening up to Christ comes when we see Him lived out. When we know who we are and who He is; and we know that He still loves us.

So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" John 4:28-29

Faith and Reason by Stuart McAllister

Take approximately 5 minutes to read this shortened version of yesterday's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Post comments to the blog for spiritual collaboration. Please email your prayer requests too.

Jesus heals a paralytic
Sermon on the Mount

Slice of Infinity Snippets:
In many circles today, we are given the impression that we face a choice between thinking and faith. We are given the impression that somehow the postures of faith and reason are mutually exclusive. We live with words in our culture that seem to confirm a divide between fact and value. There is a real world of objective things, science, and hard realities; and there is the world of tastes, opinions, and personal values. The gulf, we are told, is real and to be held to at all times. This division is further reinforced by the notion of public and private worlds, whereby one set of values or criteria rules in one sphere and a different set rules in the other. And this is then often compounded in the church with the divide between sacred and secular. The language employed is one that clearly divides that which is deemed "of God"--preaching, praying, and evangelism--and that which is deemed of "the world"--business, politics, media, and so forth.

Within such a context, belief is seen as something mystical, existential, and defying rational boundaries or requirements. For the Christian in such a context, thinking, theology, and reasoning can be seen as unnecessary distractions to "simple" or "pure" faith.

Yet the biblical reflection of faith is quite the contrary. Throughout Scripture we are reminded of what it means to be made in the image of God, and what it means to live and function in a created order. God has given us various faculties that are the vehicles of our knowing and understanding. Reason, experience, and revelation are all legitimate means and provisions of God for us and to us.

In the words of the prophets and the cries of the psalmist we see many references to reason in relation to faith. The book of Job is an extended discussion on the "reasonableness" of Job's situation, and though reason does not discover a right answer and makes many blunders, it is not refuted in and of itself. The entire wisdom tradition enjoins the pursuit of knowledge and understanding as an expression of worshipping God. Nowhere do we get the impression of blind faith or esoteric leaps into ecstatic union.

Moreover, in the life of Jesus, the sound use of soul, heart, and mind is further exemplified. His teaching required careful listening and comparison, as in the Sermon on the Mount. He asked questions which were structured to require reasoning, such as in the healing of the paralytic. Even when asked by John about whether he was the Christ (Matthew 11:1-6), Jesus essentially tells John to think through his own conclusions, sending messengers back to report what they heard and saw. Christ's use of questions, parables, and dialogues shows boldly that reasoning is not ruled out of our spiritual life but is a central component of it.

Indeed, when reason and faith are set up as juxtaposing postures, much is lost. Authors R.C. Sproul, John Gerstner, and Arthur Lindsley describe the current divisions among us with a warning: "The church is safe from vicious persecution at the hands of the secularist, as educated people finished with stake burning circuses and torture racks. No martyr’s blood is shed in the secular west. So long as the church knows her place and remains quietly at peace on her modern reservation, let the babes pray and sing and read their Bibles, continuing steadfastly in their intellectual retardation: the church’s extinction will not come by sword or pillory, but by the quiet death of irrelevance. But let the church step off the reservation, let her penetrate once more the culture of the day and the face of secularism will change from a benign smile to a savage snarl."

Living With a Foreign Worldview by Jill Carattini

Take approximately 5 minutes to read this shortened version of yesterday's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Post comments to the blog for spiritual collaboration. Please email your prayer requests too.

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. Philippians 2:3-4 NLT

Slice of Infinity Snippets:
Many Christians now live in an environment where there are not only multiple faith communities around them, but faith communities spilling over into other faith communities, and worldviews embracing strands and fragments of other worldviews.

For Christians whose beliefs are rooted more in conviction than comfort, it is easy to feel that we must inherently be cultural naysayers, gypsies who wander through this world unattached and hopefully unaffected...At times it is admittedly overwhelming, and I am tempted to embrace the myth that faith is something for the private sectors of life. But then something like the Lord’s Supper, a reminder of my baptism, or a glimpse of the glory of God in the face of the church reminds me that God’s reign is here and now, real and present, radical and unafraid.

Like the apostle Paul within first century Rome, I do not believe that all is lost in the fog of a thousand religions. As Paul discovered among the people of Athens, our cultural context presents both risk and opportunity. We may live with a foreign worldview, but we do indeed live in this world. Part of proclaiming the reign of God among us involves learning to see this hope, learning to see that praying “God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven” means being that hope of opportunity... Our communion as sinners who know God’s power is, for the world, the real presence of God’s reign today. In the words of Lesslie Newbigin:

The church represents the presence of the reign of God in the life of the world, not in the triumphalist sense (as the “successful” cause) and not in the moralistic sense (as the “righteous” cause), but in the sense that it is the place where the mystery of the kingdom present in the dying and rising of Jesus is made present here and now so that all people, righteous and unrighteous, are enabled to taste and share the love of God before whom all are unrighteous and all are accepted as righteous.

The world in which we find ourselves is full of fog and fallacies, but so it is full of the unfailing love of God. In a world where countless ideologies vie for our allegiances, the biblical narrative invites us into an understanding of human history where we encounter the one whose authority is ultimate and presence is real. Our mission is thus to tell the old, old story, to live within this story and the kingdom it proclaims, and to invite others into the narrative that is continually moving us from the particular to the universal, from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. As Christians aware of God’s reign among us, we must not fear the historical accident that shaped the moods both in and around us, but we can live as visionaries of God's grace, harbingers of hope, and catalysts for transformation. For we testify to the radical work of the Cross in Jerusalem and in our hearts, and to the uniqueness of Jesus Christ who, unlike any other, exchanges guilt for grace, ashes for beauty, and sorrow for joy, yesterday, today, and forever.

Comments: Do not give in to selfishness when those around you do so with glee. We must be a vision of accountability if we are to help our neighbor desire to be accountable. And, our neighbor will not see our true heart for him if we are not in relationship with them. We must get people to FEEL that we care for them and to do this, we must truly care for them (this is the hard part for me). When you are building into someone's life, present your case from the standpoint of the minority (I think true Christians are in the minority) and do not think 'successfully' but rather think significantly over a long period of time.

Regardless of how you voted (or didn't vote) yesterday, it is now time to get behind President elect Obama. Pray for him and over him. God has allowed him to be the next leader of the United States. Let's pray that God has him in relationships that enjoin him to pursue the will of God for our country. Pray 'Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done'.

Faith Quote: Let's pray for the courage to sacrifice and be uncomfortable as we follow Christ and put love of God and neighbor first...Pat Castle, life-devotions.blogspot.com

The Joy of Living Secretly

Take approximately 5 minutes to read this shortened version of yesterday's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Post comments to the blog for spiritual collaboration. Please email your prayer requests too.

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. Philippians 2:3-4 NLT

Slice of Infinity Snippets:
Dallas Willard, writing about the spiritual discipline of secrecy Jesus espouses in the Sermon on the Mount, says, “[O]ne of the greatest fallacies of our faith, and actually one of the greatest acts of unbelief, is the thought that our spiritual acts and virtues need to be advertised to be known... [S]ecrecy, rightly practiced enables us to place our public relations department entirely in the hands of God... [W]e allow him to decide when our deeds will be known and when our light will be noticed.” When we desire godly secrecy, Willard goes on to suggest that love and humility before God will develop to the point that we’ll not only see our friends, family, and associates in a better light, but we’ll also develop the very Christian virtue of desiring their good above our own.

Comments:
Yesterday, I heard R.C. Sproul say something that I had not thought of before. Voting a tax increase on someone other than yourself is stealing. Hard words, but thought provoking.

May I encourage you to think about putting others as more important than yourself when you go to the polls too. Put away class envy and put others above ourselves. Today we elect a leader. We do not elect a savior; We already have one. God's will cannot be thwarted. Rally behind the one whom God chooses by loving and encouraging them.


Principles for voting by R.C. Sproul

Mountains Beyond Mounatins by Jill Carattini

Take approximately 5 minutes to read this shortened version of yesterday's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Post comments to the blog for spiritual collaboration. Please email your prayer requests too.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, Ephesians 2:13-14 NIV

Slice of Infinity Snippets:
What is at the top of the mountain you climb? Do you need to persevere or turn around? Is it a mountain you need the faith to move or one God in his mercy must demolish? The picture of faith we carry as Christian pilgrims is one that offers hope for any road we might face. "Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken" (Isaiah 40:4-5). We persevere through uphill battles and threatening winds because Christ has prepared for us the way to the Father. We persevere because we follow a God who moves mountains.

Comments: Last week I submitted a verse for your thoughts. It was Titus 3:1-2 Remind the believers to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good. They must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone.
Today I want to add this one: Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”- Romans 13:1

Shannon asked for my thoughts on the Titus verse and I told her I would think about it more. One opinion I might give is something I learned from the book called 'The Shack'. When asked about rules and regulations in the Bible, the God figure in the book responds with something like: "do not look for rules and ordinances, but look for relationship." While I cannot say that I would that 'the Shack' as gospel, I do like the idea of setting aside a performance based mindset and looking toward God as a friend whom I long to be with. With that said, I am still thinking on the context of these verses and how they may apply to me today. However, as I do so, I keep my God in the center.

Prayer Request: John Harrington (Fellow Cougar and my brother-in-law) has been training for some time in anticipation of passing a physical examination for the FBI. Yesterday, he was playing basketball and blew out a knee. He is distraught as the FBI is something he was putting a lot of energy and hope towards.

10-31 Michael Ramsden

Take approximately 5 minutes to read this shortened version of yesterday's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Post comments to the blog for spiritual collaboration. Please email your prayer requests too.

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 NLT

Slice of Infinity Snippets:
Whenever we think about sharing the gospel, two issues immediately present themselves. The first has to do with content: What is it that needs to be said? The second has to do with communication: How will I say it? Sometimes we also talk about motivation: Why should I say anything at all? The last question becomes increasingly relevant as more and more Christians fear that evangelism is not worth losing one’s friends. All of these issues are important. All of them must be addressed. For the words of the Great Commission are clear:

However, there is one part of sharing the gospel that we rarely hear about. The command to go and make disciples was given to us by a person, by Christ himself. The gospel was not given to us based on our ability to share it. In fact, the Great Commission is sandwiched between two such reminders. Before Jesus tells us to go, he says, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (28:18). And then after he tells us to go he powerfully reminds us, "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (28:20). Thus, communicating the gospel is first about remembering the authority, power, and presence of the one who calls us to speak.

Not long ago I was across the globe speaking to almost 5,000 people, most of whom were not interested in what I had to say. This was because I had been asked to give a talk to one audience, but I was presented with a completely different context. About half of the audience was made up of children under twelve, which I was not at all expecting. The audience was completely disengaged with me. Twice I stopped the meeting to pray and ask for silence. I have never before felt so inadequate. In the end, I abandoned the message, read a large passage of Scripture, offered a call to repentance, and then closed in prayer. I came down from the podium wanting to hide my embarrassment. My head hung in defeat. But as I looked up, I found myself lost in a sea of over 1000 faces--young and old--many of whom were in tears as they came to pray at the altar.

If the gospel is about God, this shouldn’t surprise us. He is the one who calls and convicts; He is the one who pardons and makes all things new.

Pictures of Me by Jill Carattini

Take approximately 5 minutes to read this shortened version of yesterday's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Post comments to the blog for spiritual collaboration. Please email your prayer requests too.

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. Romans 5:8 NLT

Slice of Infinity Snippets:
While in prison, Dietrich Bonhoeffer struggled with the many reflections of his life. As a seminary instructor he was considered a saint and a giant. In America they made him feel like an escapist. In prison they made him feel like a criminal. There were days when he saw himself as all three and all the stages in between. It was in such a convolution of images that he asked:

"Who am I?
This or the other?
Am I one person today, and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
And before myself a contemptible woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army,
Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?
Who am I? They mock me,
these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, O God, I am Thine."

Our adoption by God is our identity, the picture we hold as children until the day when there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, and God will wipe every tear from our eyes. Neither death nor life, nor anything else in all creation, can separate us from this love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Comments: The main thrust of this article (click here to read today's slice of infinity in full) was adoption. Galleries containing photographs of foster children at play spur people towards adoption. Recently, I have been keenly aware of God's command to love your neighbor as yourself. If you recall in the recent letter I shared with you, one comment, which was first made by a friend of mine, went like this,“My prayer and heartbeat is that we in America will stand up and focus on what is eternal and begin to love people in such a way so that next time a girl gets pregnant before she goes to the abortion clinic, she will first think to go to a Christian family who will love and accept her and will either help her raise her child or will adopt her baby. When this becomes our reputation, then I'm convinced that the abortion rates will dramatically be will be lowered in our land.

It is no coincidence that another friend replied with some wonderful ideas of how we can truely love our neighbor as ourself:

I also think a huge investment in the opposite side of the equation would make so much sense. What if we lived in a culture that praised a young girl for delivering a baby for a sterile married couple instead of mocking her for "being a careless tramp" (or whatever other vulgar things are said)? What if young fathers were comfortable with supporting the mother in all ways instead of denying "participation" and running from the result? What if adopted kids were so routine in families that nobody ever did a double-take? How about government funding for organizations that educate young couples, help them through the pregnancy, and facilitate adoption instead of funding the murder? This seems so simple.

I really like this. Here are some concrete examples that buck perception of Christians because we don't condemn the girl for being a 'tramp'. And we disciple others in Love. Let us strive to make this the new reputation.

May you today be known by how you love your fellow Christian.
-Chad

The Kingdom and the Mustard Seed by Jill Carattini

Take approximately 5 minutes to read this shortened version of yesterday's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Post comments to the blog for spiritual collaboration. Please email your prayer requests too.

Then Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like? How can I illustrate it? 19 It is like a tiny mustard seed that a man planted in a garden; it grows and becomes a tree, and the birds make nests in its branches. Luke 13:18-19 see also Mark 4:30-32, and Matthew 13:31-32

Slice of Infinity Snippets:
... we find truths and wonders worth gleaning as if from a great and fruitful tree. The parable of the mustard seed depicts the inconspicuous ministry of Jesus and the sometimes hidden signs of his significance as holding a potential far beyond metaphor or imagination, culture or history. The kingdom of God is not in the future only, nor is it only at hand in a history we cannot reach; it is here even now, reaching out with branches that bid us to come and dwell. As with all of Jesus's stories, which "leap out of their historical situation and confront us as if they had not yet spoken their final word,” I believe this parable will continue to surprise us if we will continue to inquire. The great reality of a great kingdom has been planted within the life and words of Jesus, always ready to break forth the fullness of meaning, gradually or suddenly, or sometimes both.

Comments: Here is an interesting verse to chew on today:

Remind the believers to submit to the government and its officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is good. They must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone. Titus 3:1-2

In Service to the King of Kings,
Chad Livingston

Tiny Beginnins by Alison Thomas

Take approximately 5 minutes to read this shortened version of yesterday's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Post comments to the blog for spiritual collaboration. Please email your prayer requests too.

Here is another illustration Jesus used: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. Matthew 13:31 NLT

The birds nested in its branches,
and in its shade all the wild animals gave birth.
All the great nations of the world
lived in its shadow. Ezekiel 31:6 NLT

“‘While I was lying in my bed, this is what I dreamed. I saw a large tree in the middle of the earth. 11 The tree grew very tall and strong, reaching high into the heavens for all the world to see. 12 It had fresh green leaves, and it was loaded with fruit for all to eat. Wild animals lived in its shade, and birds nested in its branches. All the world was fed from this tree. Daniel 4:10-12 NLT

Slice of Infinity Snippets:
Since Jesus and his disciples were familiar with those mighty images, the deliberate irony in the parable of the mustard seed was clear. The kingdom of heaven would grow from its tiny beginnings to a great tree that would ultimately provide shelter, protection, and benefit to the entire world. As Craig Keener notes, "The parable is intended to accent both the qualities of growth and contrast. Like the mustard seed, the kingdom's humble beginnings and unpretentious character offer no visible indication of its future growth and glory, but just as there is continuity between the tiny mustard seed and the resulting 'tree,' so there is continuity from the seemingly inconsequential beginnings in Jesus' ministry and the future glory of God's consummating reign. Thus even though the beginnings of God's kingdom as manifested in Jesus may appear unimpressive, it is casually dismissed at one's own peril."

How marvelously the parable of the mustard seed highlights the past, present, and future magnificence of the kingdom in which God reigns. Though the presence of the King among us may at times feel threatened and slight, his is a kingdom with an explosive promise: it is not the one who plants or waters; it is God who makes things grow. Even now God is working to that end of future glory, calling us to see the great tree in the seedling, growing all things in his time--even those with the tiniest of beginnings.

Comments: This week I know you received my letter/website forward. As you search to share this, I want to ask you to be diligent in prayer for God's will. It is his Kingdom we want to bring, not our own.

Here is one way I have approached sending this letter out:

Thanks Ryan, you have always been very open to dialogue and that is something I really admire about you. You have a keen mind and you are gentle towards your fellow man.

I don’t know if you already received the letter. I’m assuming you have not. There is an attached web address that the letter asks you to follow. When I first saw the video on this website, I wanted everyone to see it and I didn’t care about the consequences. Therefore, I sent it out to many people on my email list. Looking back, I wish I had not been so hasty and had asked permission first, as I have done with you. Adam is one whom I think got the original without any prior soliciting.

If I may, I would like to expound first on my reason for asking permission. There is a cultural perception of Christians that I am trying hard to overcome. The perception goes a lot like this: Christians are: judgmental, too political and anti-choice, anti-gay and anti-just about everything. Put it this way, if I know my neighbor is a Christian, it is likely because I know he votes pro-life or at least republican and that he goes to church on Sunday. It is unlikely that I know he is a Christian because I know he cares about me and my life circumstances. I don’t know he cares because he does not demonstrate that he cares and therefore is actually demonstrating that he really only cares about himself. Likely, with Adam and with many others whom I hastily sent the letter/website to, I have played right into this cultural perception that much of the church has earned so well.

So, I ask permission to speak into your life about the topic of abortion because I do not want to be that guy. I wish the video were edited to remove any mention of politics and we could simply look at what abortion is. Unfortunately, this is not the case. However, I still feel that the rest of the video is powerful and moving.

Thanks for letting me get all this out. I look forward to talking to you more.

Have a great Monday everyone. Keep praying for the upcoming elections here in the United States that His Kingdom come and His well be done. Consider joining the windfarm prayer initiative on November 3rd (9pm mountain time) and consider downloading the 'daily audio bible' podcast. This would be another connection for us as we grow together.

All for Jesus the Christ
I am Chad Livingston

Surprised by Suffering by Jill Carattini

Take approximately 5 minutes to read this shortened version of yesterday's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Post comments to the blog for spiritual collaboration. Please email your prayer requests too.

“we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. ” 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 NASV

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. ” 1 Peter 4:12-13 NASV

Slice of Infinity Snippets:
Mark Twain once said, “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect.” For those of us who live the faith we profess without challenge, trial, or risk, reflection may well be appropriate. Is it possible that we have so shut ourselves up in Christian circles that we have closed ourselves off from the unbelieving world and hence any chance of suffering for Christ? Is it possible that we are so at ease among the majority that we avoid venturing out as the minority among those who might hate or hurt us? Certainly we experience hostility and persecution indirectly; Bill Maher’s new film Religulous is one example among many. But how we are personally interacting with the angry, the lost, and the broken masses Jesus once wept over is another thing entirely. How effectively we live as “the salt of the earth” that Jesus described depends on our place and posture within it. Surely salt that remains content within the shaker has lost its saltiness.

The struggles of Christian students on university campuses, the sufferings of Christian aid workers across the world, and the daily trials of believers who live courageously in dangerous places are stories that frighten and sadden us. They are also stories that depict what can happen when the salt of the kingdom is allowed to season the earth. Gayle Williams is said to have been the hand of Christ among some of the world’s most forgotten. “Remember the words I spoke to you,” said Jesus to his disciples. “‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also” (John 15:20). And then he was led away like a sheep to the slaughter.

Prayer Request: Kathy Curtis enters her first Chemotherapy today. Please lift up Kathy for Strength, her husband Mike for courage and faith and her Children, Scott, Brian, Angela and Tammy for Faith.

Daily Audio Bible: For those of you with iPod's and other MP3 players, I want to encourage you to take a look at Daily Audio Bible dot com. I listen to the Word regularly through this group and I really enjoy it. They have started what is called the Wind Farm Prayer Initiative and will host a world wide prayer for the elections starting at 8p (Mountain Time) November 3rd. This will last two hours and we will be able to hear/see/participate in the prayers being lifted up. I would like to have a small group meet at my home for this prayer as well as see COUGAR cell groups around the country join this initiative. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Outreach: As the cold sets in, homeless are in more need of warmth. If you can spare any coats/blankets, please get them to me for distribution through the street church.

Let's invite more people to join the COUGARS group. Drop me their email address and I can send them a teaser.

May your day be filled with lasting memories,
Chad

Bittersweet by Margaret Manning

Take approximately 5 minutes to read this shortened version of yesterday's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Post comments to the blog for spiritual collaboration. Please email your prayer requests too.

“The harvest is finished,
and the summer is gone,” the people cry,
“yet we are not saved!”

I hurt with the hurt of my people.
I mourn and am overcome with grief.
Is there no medicine in Gilead?
Is there no physician there?
Why is there no healing
for the wounds of my people? (Jeremiah 8:20-22 NLT)

Slice of Infinity Snippets:
But beyond this, there are simply some realities in life that at times are overwhelming: the inevitability of ageing, death, and loss, poverty, hunger, homelessness, relational disruption, and many others. I grieve over those who find themselves on the losing end of things, who through no fault of their own always find themselves in last place or left behind. Lament arises from the despair of looking honestly at these realities for what they are, and wishing for something else. It is the despair that arises from not knowing what can be done or how to overcome.

Yet it has been said that “the cry of pain is our deepest acknowledgment that we are not home.” The author continues, “We are divided from our own body; our own deepest desires; our dearest relationships. We are separated and long for utter restoration. It is the cry of pain that initiates the search to ask God, ‘What are you doing?’ It is this element of a lament that has the potential to change the heart.”(3) If this is true, then sometimes my overwhelming sorrow, my feelings of bitterness over some of the harsh or inevitable realities of life are, in fact, the crucible for real change. The same waters of despair that seek to drown and overwhelm are the waters of cleansing. So indeed, let the tears flow, “for if [the LORD] causes grief, then He will have compassion according to his abundant lovingkindness.”(4) Let lament have its way of bittersweet transformation.

Comments: However often God must win, it is our most difficult but most triumphant loss. (Excerpt from Monday's blog)
Live By The Spirit! Present tense - "Go on Living!" (Danny / Elaine) Galatians 5:16

REAL relationships / POINT evangelism intro

Today, ask yourself this question:

How do I know God loves me?
Than ask, How do I convey to someone else that God loves them?

Our culture is filled with Modern and Post-Modern mindsets. Both of these are man made philosophies on living life. Moderns are prone to accept information before relationship. Whereas, Post-Moderns are likely to accept the persuasion of their relationships before, if not over, information.

Example: I know God loves me because:
Informationally- The Bible tells me so
Experientially- Someone who has loved me told me

In ministering to today's post-modern / post-Christian culture. I suggest getting people to FEEL that you care for them. I believe the modern mindset will also appreciate this approach.

At our church we try to implement POINT evangelism:
Personally touch people (Luke 10:25-37)
-Take time out of your busy schedule to look into their eyes and see the hurt of their lives, why they are the way they are; and why they do what they do.
- People are convinced that no one cares about them or what is really going on in their lives
Occasionally encourage them (Luke 5:27-32)
-People want to be touched at their point of pain, but then they want to be left alone.
-You must earn the right to be heard. In order to be heard, it takes time and a willingness to
build into the lives of people
I
N
T

Let's work on the first two this week. More to come in the weeks ahead.

May you be Christ to someone today.

Chad

Audio of REAL teaching and POINT evangelism

Triumphant Defeats by Jill Carattini

Take approximately 5 minutes to read this shortened version of yesterday's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Post comments to the blog for spiritual collaboration. Please email your prayer requests too.

So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak."
But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."

The man asked him, "What is your name?"
"Jacob," he answered.

Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome." Genesis 32:24-28 NIV

Slice of Infinity Snippets:
However often God must win, it is our most difficult but most triumphant loss. In this great surrendering that we find, as Fredrick Buechner says, "the magnificent defeat of the human soul at the hands of God."

Carrying the scars of a fresh wound, the humbled Jacob limped toward the brother he betrayed, on his way to becoming the father of a great nation. We, too, can be humbled by the God who refuses to leave despite the words we shout in protest and despite our constant refusal to surrender. We, too, can be awed by the God who says, "Follow me!" and expects us to trust that He will neither leave us nor forsake us. And we can marvel at the God who, carrying in his own body the scars of defeat, invites us to the very nearness that is our victory.

Comments:
I was reminded by God this weekend of something I have shared with some of you before. That is to say that the old adage of 'love the sinner, hate the sin' will likely not work. When we look at the culture around us and ask questions like, "why aren't they coming to me for help", and "why aren't people seeking me out for what I have?" I think we may be able to see that the perception at large of Christians is that we are hypocrites to the true Christ. People so often tend to see us as judgmental instead of healing. If you think about it, the biggest threat to religion in Jesus day, was Christ himself. And as our pastor said yesterday, and I believe he is right; the biggest threat to religion in our day is Jesus himself. Jesus comes to a broken world and offers healing. Is that what we are endeavoring to do? Or, are we endeavoring to tell people what they are doing wrong?

I believe if we can lead with our own brokenness, people will come to us. For, who wouldn't rather talk about someone else's downfalls rather than their own. And today's reading put this into a greater perspective for me as it helps us to look at defeat as a stepping stone. When God defeats us, we can not have won any greater prize.

As Danny and David (part of this Cougars group and long time friends) can attest, one of my biggest downfalls has been chasing girls. I have always chased girls for selfish reasons. Even to the point of hurting friends. Thank God for giving me a forgiving wife and for teaching me.

Love sinners(everyone), hate your own sin.

Risking Beauty by Jill Carattini

Take approximately 5 minutes to read this shortened version of yesterday's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Post comments to the blog for spiritual collaboration. Please email your prayer requests too.


“The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. My eyes are ever on the LORD, for only he will release my feet from the snare.”- Psalm 25:14-15

Slice of Infinity Snippets:
I sometimes wonder if we have so stripped away the possibility of beauty in our encounters with Christ that we not only miss something real of God to behold in the world, but we miss opportunities to show the world the beauty of God--in hands and faces, in people who bestow crowns of beauty instead of ashes, in communities that repair ruined cities instead of causing further devastation.(1) Theologian William Dyrness laments the modern mentality that has somehow lost the sense of the “wholeness that beauty reflects.”(2) We are so mindful of beauty’s limitations; but isn’t it we who are limited as depicters of God’s beauty? “[When I look at] the moon and the stars that you have established,” sang David, “what are human beings that you are mindful of them?” (Psalm 8:3). Describing the very wholeness that beauty reflects, Dyrness continues, “Based on God’s continuing presence in the Spirit of Christ, God is somehow present in all beauty.”(3)
That is to say, the divine presence can be seen in the beauty of bringing the cup of cold water, in the stained glass mural of the great cathedral, or in the life that sits in broken shards before the potter. Moreover, if beauty is revelation, if creativeness is more than an object but an action of both play and work in God’s kingdom, if the Incarnation is a call to participate in the glory of God as persons who imbibe that glory, then there is most certainty in beauty the potential to save, for God is both the Source and Subject.

Of course, this is not to say that beauty is not a risk for the community of God. We are sinful and limited creatures in our ability to appreciate true beauty, and it is often an elusive concept to understand practically. We are artistically formed at the hands of a God who is far beyond us. We must indeed remember with David that it is we who fall short, we who must maintain the perspective of humility and keep before us a sense of mystery. But() we must also have the courage to risk beauty, living as those who recognize the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ and so choose to boldly proclaim and reflect this beauty in a world that would have otherwise.

Comments:
Can you find beauty today; In those you work with? In your family? In yourself?

Consuming Christianity by Jill Carattini

Take approximately 5 minutes to read this shortened version of yesterday's 'A Slice of Infinity'. Post comments to the blog for spiritual collaboration. Please email your prayer requests too.

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.”- Psalm 19:14 NIV

“Starting with Samuel, every prophet spoke about what is happening today. 25 You are the children of those prophets, and you are included in the covenant God promised to your ancestors. For God said to Abraham, ‘Through your descendants^[a] all the families on earth will be blessed.’ Acts 3:24-25 NLT

Slice of Infinity Snippets:
There is a covered bridge in Georgia that extends over a scenic rushing stream. A well-worn trail leads its visitors to a succession of small cascading waterfalls over a series of massive rocks. Sitting atop one of these rocks recently, my husband turned to me and asked, "Do you ever think of the springs in France when you see a bottle of Evian for sale?"

My answer caught me more off guard than his question. I really hadn't ever thought of the springs, or the production, or for that matter, the importing that goes into the 20 kinds of bottled water we see on our grocery store shelves. In fact, I don't usually think about the origins of anything I consume...

Sociologists call this growing trend of perspective commodification, the progression of thought whereby the commodities we consume are seen in abstraction from their origins...

Author and cultural observer Vincent Miller writes of how such a manner of seeing and interpreting is making us more comfortable with engaging religion as commodity, lifting certain portions of a religious tradition from its context and historical background...

In Christ we live as recipients and guardians of a way of life in which belief and practice are intertwined with history, meaning, and hope. There is an origin to the grace we cling to; we are made whole because in Christ we are given a context, a story, a Source.

Comments:
When reading today's writing from Jill, I immediately thought of our detachment from Origin in the teaching of Cosmic Evolution. If we are not aware of the truth of our origin, how can we expect to be who God created us to be? Then, I thought of our culture of consumerism. Americans used to be producers and now we are mainly consumers. Consumerism leads to convenience and convenience to waste. We must be stewards and a return to ancient practices of stewardship should be in our sights. Finally, I thought of our need for a culture of LIFE. Without grounds for origin(God made me with a purpose) and with a convenience (serve me) mindset, we will make decisions based on what we 'feel' is best for us at the time. We need God's word to permeate our very beings on a daily basis; to be sustained by our God. As my friend Rich said in his devotional time this morning, "God still communicates the Truth to us through our hearts. (We) need to meditate on the Word of God and allow Him to lead (us). Lord, please take hold of our hearts and lead us to the Truth. Amen."