I heart henri nouwen

He is so good at putting such profound things into small and wonderful statements.  can't say enough about this saint and brother.

peace,

matt 

Wednesday September 7, 2011                           

Blessing One Another 

To bless means to say good things.  We have to bless one another constantly.  Parents need to bless their children, children their parents, husbands their wives, wives their husbands, friends their friends.  In our society, so full of curses, we must fill each place we enter with our blessings.  We forget so quickly that we are God's beloved children and allow the many curses of our world to darken our hearts.  Therefore we have to be reminded of our belovedness and remind others of theirs.  Whether the blessing is given in words or with gestures, in a solemn or an informal way, our lives need to be blessed lives. 

Recommitment Pt. 3

Do you love the Lord with all your heart, your passion, your gut?

This is a pretty big question to ask in terms of recommitting to God. The reason that it is such a big question is that if we answer it truthfully, we will most likely find that we don't. That answer means that we are faced with a choice. We either have to do something about it or leave things the way they are.

So think about that for a minute...

 

What is your answer? At least for today, my answer is, "I've got work to do." I am going to be more intentional about doing the things that demonstrate the love that I confess to have. This means better time spent with the One that I love and better time spent with the ones that He has given me to love. It also means less time being selfish and wallowing about the things that I don't have or lamenting that my life isn't the way that I want it to be. Of course my life isn't the way that I want it to be, thank God. That is why I gave Him my life in the first place isn't it?

Jesus has been working this in me for awhile now, and I think that I might finally be coming out of my apathy and distraction.  

"Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation.  The old has gone, the new is come."

"I surrender all.."

"Take my life..."

"Anyone who would gain his life must lose it"

"But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.  I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,  and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead."

"in my life, be lifted high.  in our world be lifted high.  in our hearts, be lifted high"

"Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, your soul, your mind, and your strength..."

People wrote these phrases.  The were inspired by something so much greater than themselves.  The Lord fell upon them in such a way and with such power that they could do nothing more than give everything.  This is the kind of love that I've been seeking all my life.  I want that 'giving my whole self to God' mentality.  I want to be able to say that I love my God with all my heart.   And that is really powerful and scary...but really good...in the truest sense of that word. 

In the words of that prophet from the 80's:

"I'm just looking for a dare to be great situation"  Lloyd Dobler Say Anything

recommitment pt. 2

So in a  fleshing out of this idea of recommitment, I would like to walk through the Shema (my augmented version). If you are a part of our worship community at Knox, you will recognize this as part of one of our calls to worship. 

 

 

Call: Who is it that you seek?

Response: We seek the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Call: Do you seek Them with all your heart, your life, your desire?

Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.

Call: Do you seek Them with all your soul, your energy, your purpose?

Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.

Call: Do you seek Them with all your mind, your attention, your creativity?

Response: Amen. Lord, have mercy.

Call: Do you seek Them with all your strength, your hands and feet, your work?

Response: Amen. Christ, have mercy.

Let's take this in parts. In the concept of recommitment it is essential that we identify what it is that we are recommitting to.  Many would see wisdom in recommitting to a healthy diet, less t.v., more reading, exercise, or any number of things that we put under the category of self-help.  Others would recommit to a cause for justice, or the pursuit of hard work or some new project or adventure.  But we are talking about something in a wholly other category.  

When the leader calls out, 'Who is it that you seek?', they are not asking for us to respond with self-help tips or self-actualization or a rallying cry for a cause.  they are asking for nothing short of your all being focused on the Triune, Living God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  This is a big deal.  This is not to be said lightly.  This is not to be forgotten when we leave the worship gathering or worse yet, forgotten immediately after we say it.  Responding with, 'We seek the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.', we should be prepared to reorient everything...EVERYTHING PEOPLE!...to the one the we seek, pursue, search for, long for.  

So next time we'll look at recommitting the heart, but for now consider the object of our recommitment.  Today I will seek Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Will you do this with me?

peace,

matt

recommitment

I'm sad to say that I've actually fallen away from this in the business of life.  So I'm recommitting to putting something of substance up on this blog at least once a week.  Apologies to all for the lack of content.


So here is some content:
What would it look like for me, you, us to recommit ourselves to the Lord, to prayer, to servanthood, to a passionate and obedient life in submission to the Lord by the power of the Holy Spirit? 

Just a little question.  I invite your responses and discussion.  I will check back and give some more thoughts tomorrow.

peace to you all,
matt

Torn

I will write some follow ups to this soon, but I wanted to get something out now.

Last night two presbyteries voted to ratify amendment 10a. (I'll give the new and old wording later, but you can find it by doing a quick search for Amendment 10a).  This gives those in favor of the amendment for new ordination standards the majority or our 173 presbyteries (USA). 

All I can write at this moment is that my heart is broken because I think this is going to rip our denomination apart.


I would like us all to take a moment and pray:

for peace to move in our midst
for rhetoric to move towards honest and Christ-centered conversation
for all of us to be moved by the Spirit
for the Word of God to be the loudest and clearest Voice
for Christ to be glorified
for us as a community to not forget the mission that we've been given
for grace, forgiveness, and love to be what moves us to act (in Christ) and to wait (in Christ)


May the God of all creation be our Guide in these times...

peace,

matt

apologies and ideas

so i owe you all an apology for the lack of posts over the last few weeks...

may the next weeks be fuller.

Just got done with the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday gatherings...

both we times that I believe God spoke. Not only did we hear the story of Jesus Christ, but the Spirit was there confirming it in our hearts. I was blessed and I hope many of you were as well.

It's such a good thing to gather during such special times, I wander if we ought to have more special times; we ought to be a people celebrating the absolutely off the wall life that we've been given. Maybe that should be one of our goals for after Easter. We spend so much time getting there, but not much time preparing for life after the resurrection. I found a band in college called the Alter Boys check 'em out, they're awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYWBvydSxYM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Anyway, the above song talks about life beginning at the cross...there's a lot to that. Life, real life, abundant, mischevios, holy, consuming life happens when we encounter the LIVING God. This is a big deal.

So what are we gonna do come Monday? You tell me. I'll through up some ideas and I'll add anything that you all send to the discussion. Let's make this a habit of finding new ways to live out the life that we've been given.

may the rest of this blessed week be amazing for you all...may God rock you...may you never be the same...Amen

Sickness as a Gift?!

So the quick recap is this.  Since the beginning of February everyone in my immediate family has gotten one or several bouts of sickness...ear infections, sinus stuff, chest colds, and da da da da pneumonia.  I can't seem to help turning to complaining.  I sick and tired, and I don't wanna be anymore...

problem is, that I have been telling my community that we should use our everyday ordinary happenings...that we should look for the simple, the sacrificial, the sacramental in everything...


so to take my own prescription for transformation...

I can be reminded that with every wipe of every nose, I get the privilege of care for my children...
I can pick up tissue without complaint because in some very small way, it is unselfish and unselfish is like Jesus...
I can remember that Jesus is the great Healer when I give the antibiotics to my little ones...
And maybe being sick can be a gift to remind me that this world is not done being redeemed yet, and that every time I sniffle or sneeze, I can pray and work for that Kingdom to be revealed more fully...

may you be blessed even if your sick like the habermans

shalom,
matt

Lenten Thoughts 1

So our community is walking through Lent this year by following the idea that God gives us grace to cooperate with the transformation that He desires for us.  This has been something that has found its way into my body, mind and soul.  I've been wrestling with it for several years now, and I am finally starting to get it...a bit...sort of. 

So here's how I've been trying to cooperate:

Week 1: The Body

Ashes

Prayer of anticipation

Breathing the Breath of God

Tuning my senses to sing His grace

Week 2: The Body

Give it away

Build something for someone else

Don't change your clothes

Invite someone to your table

I'm gonna take some individual posts to flesh these out and give a bit of my experience with these practices.  I hope and pray that you have taken, are taking, and will take the opportunity to live into the grace that God is bestowing on all of us. May these things help you look my like Jesus.

shalom,

matt

going live

so i figure it's probably time to put some thoughts out there and solicit some response in regards to what the future looks like for those who are trying to make their life around and in and through the way of Jesus...

now there's a mouthful, huh?  

welcome in...I'll set up some ground rules later.  but taking the initiative is the hardest part for me, so I felt like getting the first post up, without too much fanfare.

peace,

matt