Jesus stood

There is only one time - that we can read about - when Jesus stood beside His Father's throne: when Stephen was stoned to death for his faith.

Last week, 10 Christians were summarily executed in Afghanistan after spending several weeks in remote Afghan villages providing medical care to the people there...

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack as international reaction ranged from disgust at the abject barbarism to anguish for these saints and their families.

One of the members of the team was Tom Little, an optometrist from New York who has lived in Afghanistan for 30 years... he raised his family there, and has been providing free eye care and organizing medical missions since he moved there in the late 70s...

As I think about these precious brothers and sisters who literally gave their life to serve others, I wonder if Jesus is standing now...

May God grant peace and comfort to the family members left behind... and may the angels welcome these 10 new residents with a grand bash worthy of royalty!

San Francisco

just got back from a whirlwind tour of San Francisco! a B E A U tiful city!

Truly enjoyed the culture, the people, the geography and the iconic landmarks... we walked across the Golden Gate, had a piece of Pizza in the Haight Ashbury district, took in a Giants game at AT&T (Candlestick) Park and saw the 'Full House' house! -even played in the park from the Full House opening credits! :-)

First Day did a benefit concert for Agape Villages and led worship at Lake Merced Church of Christ... it was a really perfect weekend!

Caitlin joined us for the trip.... and the only regret is that my other 3 girls couldn't be with me!

blessed indeed!

tm

amazing Panama

the people of Panama are what makes the country so amazing! My family and I traveled to the Western Province of Chiroqui in June of 07, and fell in love...

but after just returning from a week which spanned 8 days and all but 2 provinces, I gotta say Panama is as diverse as any other country!

Meeting precious people from several different Indian Tribes from Cocle to Darien reminded me how different people in the same country can be...

It was a terrific trip, and I am a better, richer person for having gone...

Thank you to all who prayed and supported. Without you, none of this happens...

check out pics and comments:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Day/112759002083082?v=wall

http://www.riversideinpanama.blogspot.com/

more later!

Blessings!

hedges and walls

There is a lot of bad stuff going on in our world... I read about it in the news and see it on TV: foreign wars, gang-banging, murders...

and I learn about stuff in my own little myopic world: families crumbling.... cancer progressing... moms leaving, daddies cheating...

and it is hard to reconcile all this... it's difficult to understand... I want to apply a 'cause' to every 'effect', but it doesn't always add up.

yeah, I suppose one could see (through 20/20 hindsight, of course) how this flirtation or that stray look or that 'what if' thought could lead to cheating and disappointment and hurt and separation. ...or how ignoring the family to climb one more ladder rung could lead to resentment and loss.

but what do I do with a 17 yr old in a coma after a car accident which he couldn't avoid? or a dying momma succumbing to the ravages of cancer?

I am not sure.

But I pray every day that God continue to build a hedge around my family... and that His Spirit give me strength to fortify the wall around my heart with prayer and Bible study.

At the end of the day, I just have to understand that I don't understand. So I have to fix my mind on Him and surround myself with His people and do everything in my power to stay vigilant and watchful... to avoid temptation when I see it and pray God's protection when I don't see it.

and i have to believe He is in control. ....that the sovereign God of the universe who sent His only Son to die for me knows what I need. and provides it.

Blessings!

Jonathan Richardson remembered

I met him only a couple times at family gatherings.

Technically speaking, he was my step-nephew. My daddy married his grandma 12 years ago after we lost momma to lung cancer.

Last Tuesday he was warming his hands by the fire at the Army Base in Khost, Afghanistan, when a Taliban suicide bomber dressed as an Afghan Police officer walked up and pulled the ripcord on his bomb vest, ending the lives of Jonathan and his best friend... two more American Soldiers in their mid twenties who joined the growing number of Americans killed in action in operation Enduring Freedom.

Jonathan leaves behind a wife and a momma and brother.

He was a decorated Soldier who died way to young in a place which is, by definition, God-forsaken.

I am not politically active anymore. And this is not the time or place to rant about the 'why'...

I simply want to honor Jonathan: another hero who came home from this war to be buried and remembered.

You are missed here, my young friend. terribly missed.

I know the angels are celebrating your arrival there. And from that we will gain peace.

God Bless

what goodbye looks like

I saw what a 70 year goodbye looks like yesterday.

After the mourners paid their respects and made their exit, it was just the family.

and after the nieces and nephews and cousins and son and daughter said their farewell, it was Jimmy's turn.

'til death do us part.

it takes on a new meaning when you watch a broken man say goodbye to the only love he ever knew.

The music had long since stopped playing...

and finally it was just this frail old beautiful man... touching the face and hands of his beloved best friend. Sobbing openly and loudly... pouring out the contents of his heart. Bidding farewell to his bride of almost 70 years.

It was a very sobering and lovely moment.

And if I live to be 120 years old, I will never forget it.

compromised immune system

When I was a boy, mom and dad smoked. A lot. When you walked from room to room, you could actually see the 'clouds' part as you cut through them... sorta like a jet airplane leaving those cool swirly contrails as it knifes through fog...

Most everyone's parents smoked. It was the thing to do... I mean, think of how popular a gift the ashtray was... How would you like to own an ashtray company today?

Anyhow, a few weeks ago, my family was passing around a winter headcold... they're very thoughtful that way. and, of course, I caught it.

But because my momma and daddy smoked for all 18 of my years at home, a simple head cold descended into my compromised lungs and became bronchitis, heading toward pneumonia. And I did what I have done at least once a year for most of my adult life: I went to the doctor, got a steroid shot, started on a high-powered antibiotic and a codeine-laced cough syrup and laid in bed for a couple days while God and the medicine did their work.

It's miserable. It's not end-of-the-world miserable (though my wife will tell you I am the BIGGEST BABY on the planet... and she's right!), but it is very very unpleasant.

and it got me to thinking... how many of my peers and fellow adults are smoking around their kids and grand kids. I think I will start preaching my message to every idiot who lights up in a confined space - like a car - with a child inside... yeah, I think I will...

but it also got me to thinking something else... when we are 'surrounded' and daily bombarded with spiritual pollution, what long-term affects might that have?

I mean, if my lungs are indeed unable to defend themselves against a common head cold - like most peoples' lungs can easily do - how bout my soul? How is THAT affected by all the 'smoke' I have inhaled (wittingly or not) over the years?

That's the thing with sin. You may think you are maintaining a perfectly healthy defense system... but all the while you are letting junk into your mind that erodes and corrupts your spiritual immune system.

'minor' temptations then become not so minor. and falling into habitual sin becomes much more possible...

what antibiotic do you take then? what shot do you get? How do you undo the damage from all the garbage you have allowed to enter your soul?

here's the deal with my lungs... I asked the doc if there was anything I could do to repair whatever damage has been done. I was a little bit scared to learn that there is not. I will always have a compromised respiratory system because of what I was exposed to when I was a boy. Period.

thankfully, God does give us a salve that can heal. I pray daily that God will remove the bad things from my 'soulmemory' that I have exposed my heart to over the years... and His Word is a healing balm that WILL undo what damage we have done.

Thank God!

From Eternity to Here

My First Frank Viola book was Pagan Christianity, and it gave me a voracious appetite to read whatever else Mr Viola had to say on the subject of 'church'.

and I have not been disappointed! His books speak to my heart in a way that no other writings on the subject ever have... and I suspect I am not alone. I am 47 years old and, like most of my friends, woke up a decade or so ago to ask "is this it?"

I was 'raised in the church' like most of my peer group... but always felt like what I was 'doing' - which consisted of spending an inordinate amount of time deciding and executing what was done at a building 2 hours a week - was empty and relatively meaningless.

Mr Viola hits me right between the eyes with each of the books I have read... and 'from eternity to here' (like his other books) does not simply sit back and take potshots at organized religion, it gives terrific, real, relevant, Biblical insight to the burning question of my day: "what IS church?"

I highly recommend this book to any serious seeker of the Way!

Blessings!

the Message

So my friend Doyne introduced me to a new (to me) version of the Word... it is called the Message... many of you have heard of it.... I had.

But I hadn't read it until a few weeks ago... and I gotta admit I am hooked!

Some will argue that it is a watered down version... others, no doubt, will call it a per-version (instead of a 'version'... cute play on words, don't you think?) The latter group are the same ilk who once stated that 'NIV' would be more aptly titled the 'HIV' because it is a virus... (yeah, I know... sorta blasphemous, huh?)

anyhow, it occurred to me yesterday - during a sermon which culminated with the 'fruit of the spirit' in Galatians 5 - why this version may be so good. It certainly speaks to the heart of most seekers.... it is in plain language and is very easy to read and simple to understand (sorta like the Gospel, right?)

but the one piece of it which I believe makes 'the Message' very important is this:

it speaks about concepts instead of lists

which drives the anal retentive (like me) absolutely nuts!

I like lists! I crave them!

and my old KJV (and even, to a lesser extent, my NIV) really does an incredible job of satisfying my 'list hunger'...

but yesterday, while I was listening to the preacher - who read from the NIV while I followed in my 'message' - it hit me! Here is the difference:

NIV:
"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage; selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies and the like. I warn you, as I did before, those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

now there are some GREAT LISTS! and pretty easy to understand, no doubt.... but we like lists SO MUCH that we memorize the list... we write tunes to go with them so we can sing them in Children's Church! (and there is nothing wrong with that....) but...

I believe with all that is in me that Paul is NOT trying to provide us with an exhaustive list of 'bad things' that we must avoid... he is drawing a character sketch, describing for us the types of things unGodly people habitually DO which makes them WHO they ARE! (obviously we want to avoid becoming THAT way, so we will run away from everything on the 'list'...)

nor is he trying to give us a complete list of all good things... he is painting a masterpiece of what a Godly person looks like by listing a sampling of what Godly people DO which makes them WHO they ARE!

here is the Message's "take" on Galatians 5:19-23:
"It is obvious what kind of life develops from trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods, magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness, cut-throat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied-wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits, the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community; I could go on. This isn't the first time I've warned you, you know... If you use your freedom in this way, you will not inherit God's Kingdom.
But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard - things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Legalism is helpless in bringing this about."

Harder to make a song out of that, I know.... but I believe it paints an accurate picture of a Godly person versus an unGodly one.

I am certain that Bible Scholars will not agree with my assessment of 'the Message'. I wouldn't expect them to.... they are paid to make lists and test students on those lists...

I am no longer certain that any of THAT matters.

I am fearful that we have replaced the Bible command to 'engraft' the word in our hearts (James 1:21) with the rote memorization of lists from a particular Bible translation... we have become those Pharisees Jesus talks about in harsh tones who 'pray to be seen by men' and 'wear their phylacteries (scripture boxes) on their heads for all to see....'

I don't know that 'the Message' will change any of that.... but this version speaks to my heart... it reads like a novel, and I cannot put it down!

Blessings!

grace growers

we've all got em'.

grace growers... you may not know it, but you've got 'em...

don't believe me?

take this test:

• Is there someone in my life that make my life more difficult?
• Does it seem like no matter where I go or what I do, THAT person is there, testing my patience?

yeah, me too....

and until last week, I looked at that person with.... well.... let's say my attitude toward that person was less than great. (OK, I wished they would move away from here and that I would NEVER have to see them again!) sorry. that's how I felt.

but last week a friend was describing a person in her life that was an absolute thorn in her side... consistently and continually.

but she did not describe this person as her nemesis or as an enemy or as the devil (all descriptions which I have used for MY thorn)... she described HER thorn as a grace grower.

yep, a grace grower.... someone who God places (and keeps) in your life to teach you grace.

wow. grace growers...

we've all got 'em... and God is using them to teach us. He's using mine to teach me... to be merciful and gracious and forgiving. and less judgemental and less harsh...

James says we should count it as pure joy when we are tried. I never made the connection between THAT and my grace grower..... til now.

it doesn't make it any more pleasant for me.... but maybe pleasant is not exactly what God has for me... perhaps pleasant is not what I need.

(you see 'em differently now, don't you? maybe you see them a little more like God does....)

blessings!

your problems may not be that big

So... while I travel along my selfish path, I become convinced that I am the center of my world.

and that everyone else is somehow orbiting me, the center... the sun.

Before long, I am certain that anyone who is not completely in tune with my vibe and in agreement with my idea is my enemy... or at the very least, ignorant and unenlightened.

how can I be so self-absorbed?

If I will look up from my arrogance for a second, it may be that I discover that people have their own lives. and their own tragedies... and their own stuff do deal with.

is it possible that when someone walks past me without saying hello, they are not being hateful, they are just burdened with their own set of circumstances?

is it possible that my ideas are not the only ideas worth considering?

Could it be that the reason some folks don't place the same importance on my important junk is that they have more important important junk of their own?

Maybe they have more on their plate than me. and maybe my important stuff just isn't.

yep, i'm pretty sure of it.

may God bless us as we elevate others above ourselves and listen... for the chance to help.


Blessings!

clouds of doubt

For the Believer, faith is vital.

"being sure of our hope and certain of the unseen"... that's what the Spirit breathed into the Hebrew writer's pen...

and here's the piece of it I am finally beginning to learn: faith not only improves our 'future vision', it brings into 20/20 focus the things that happened before! as a matter of fact, the latter is necessary to the former!

After opening the chapter with faith's definition, the writer spends a LOT of time giving examples from the past... so we can believe. So we don't forget..

But more and more, doubt clouds our faith vision. and we become less sure of anything, and suspicious of His leading. We explain away God's daily miracles... we sanitize His present activeness and rationalize His awesome power.

We use words like fate and coincidence to explain away the things God does for us every minute of every day...

and here's the devil's insidious tactic: he convinces us that what we saw - what we lived through - wasn't REALLY a miracle. he whispers to us that what we read about is a fairy tale... he leads us to find scientific explanations for the divine...

"that parting of the Sea" says the Israelite who JUST LIVED THROUGH THE MOST HARROWING CLOSE CALL IN HUMAN HISTORY!, "that was just a freakish wind pattern that caused the waters to part and allow us to walk across dry land...."

"That pillar of fire..." says the one who has been miraculously led by said pillar for months!, "really just a low-hanging constellation..."

and we have big fun at the Israelite's expense.... "oh those silly Jews... how could they NOT see something so obvious" says us...

"now if God only did THAT sorta stuff TODAY, well, THEN I would be able to really get into this faith and belief business..." says me, as I sit in the church pew beside Dawson, a perfectly beautiful and smart 6 year old little boy who I held - literally - in the palm of my hand at Children's Hospital when he was first born. 18 weeks early. the miracle. the surviving twin of an extremely premature birth.

satan is a filthy liar spewing clouds of doubt... and we - if we are not extremely careful - buy it! Hook, line and sinker! We cannot be sure of anything...

no wonder we can't trust the future..... we refuse to see the past clearly...

and the worst part, perhaps? The doubt that clouds our vision? doesn't come from CNN or Fox or MSNBC (I mean, they are the worst enemies of faith and belief, but I have long since tuned out that white noise)... MY clouds of doubt come from folks who purport to be believers!

Let's remember. Let us remember God. let's resolve not to make mundane the divine... and let's decide to believe... and to surround ourselves with believers.... and to encourage belief and faith in all those we touch every day.

I know He is in control because I have lived it. So I trust that He will continue to do His miracles in my life.

All I gotta do is clear away the clouds of doubt.

when things go wrong

I really like it when things go just like I planned.

and I really do not like it when they don't.

I mean, I reeeeeaaaallly don't like it.

but, from all I can read... in history, in the Bible, even in novels... and from all I know from 47 years of living...

it is clear that we simply don't grow without challenges.... we just can't learn unless we encounter hardship... and we absolutely won't deepen our faith in the absence of conflict.

When James exhorts us to 'count it pure joy when we face all kinds of trials', what do we think that entails?

I guess I always sorta hope it doesn't apply to me, or that I am immune somehow to the immutable rules of natural growth and education...

The only thing I know is this: God has brought me and my family through some difficult times. and He will again....

and my faith will grow and I will be a stronger witness for His Glory.

but, dang, it is really hard for me to embrace the concept...

you?

blessings!

facebookless

I deactivated my Facebook yesterday.

I have struggled with what exactly this thing called Facebook is.... and finally decided that, for me, it is an unhealthy timewaster. at least.... (at most it feels a little like voyeurism...) sorry to all you Facebookers... if it is not that for you, then cool! ...if you love your Facebook, God bless ya'!

The questions I had to ask myself surrounded the old cost/benefit analysis...

what does Facebook cost me and what does it give me?

yeah, I know it's 'free'... I mean what does it cost me in time and mental energy and, well, what does it do to me spiritually and emotionally?

and what does it benefit me?

"Oh, I can keep in touch with ALL my friends!!!"

really?

at least half my 'friends' on Facebook are people I barely know! My real life friends have my email and my cell phone number... they know where I live.

old-fashioned? maybe... but I don't think so... I am a gadget-technology freak!

OK, I'll stop preaching... every one has to do what they gotta do...

I know Facebook is not some evil communist godless plot! I understand that it, like many things on the 'net, are morally neutral...

I am just explaining that I am facebookless now....

nothing horrible happened... I wasn't abducted by kidnappers or aliens.... I didn't get my identity stolen.... and, please stop asking me why I 'de-friended' you! I didn't!

I just deactivated my Facebook account....

if, for you, it is not a timewaster.... if it is not a negative influence for you... go for it!

If you need to talk to me, call or text or email or, for crying out loud, stop by the house!!!

Blessings!

paralyzing fear

there are a lot of things fear will do for you.

God wired your body so that fear (or more specifically, immediate danger) triggers a response in your adrenal gland that we have come to call the 'fight or flight' hormone.

action is required, so your body is flooded with adrenaline to equip you to run away fast or vanquish the attacker.

But sometimes we neither fight nor flee. we freeze. I have read accounts of this phenomenon... in battle and in the wild... and in every case, the attacked becomes the victim. and usually dies.

within organizations, I have rarely seen fight or flight... I sometimes wish that were not the case...

instead, when we are afraid as a group, we become paralyzed. We do nothing.

too fearful to make a wrong move, we simply stand still.

and when churches are paralyzed by fear, they die.

I suppose I am not advocating that we be in a constant state of flux... and I don't guess I would want for us to always have adrenaline pumping through our collective veins...

but I am quite convinced that God does not wish for us to settle into rote and habit and routine, and I believe that He wants us to be unafraid... I am Biblically Certain that He did NOT give us a spirit of fear. (Rom 8:15)

God Bless us as we Claim His Promise and live up to His Expectation!

the mission?

"Actions speak louder than words"....

ya know, cliches don't become cliches without some merit. and this cliche definitely has merit....

"don't do what I do, do what I say" is a close second cousin...

If you pay attention to how we (religious folks) act, you may come up with a different mission than the one we articulate with our words.

In the realm of walking the walk as well as talking the talk, we have failed miserably... and the saddest part of THAT is this: the mission is really really vitally important!

If you listen to the words of preachers and proselytes, you hear something like this (with regard to mission statement):

• we are to be seed-spreaders
• 'to seek and save the lost'
• we must preach Jesus
• to help each other here on earth to get to heaven
• we need to Unify the body
• to speak where the Bible speaks and to be silent where it is silent
• to be about restoring the 1st century church

and on and on and on it goes.

If, however, you listen to the actions of religious leaders and their followers, you may get a different message.... I fear that our actions (which, yes, always speak louder than our words, no matter how loud we shout) may betray us. yep, the casual observer may infer something more like:

• we gotta keep score (saved and lost)
• we need to correct (usually through printed or online rags)
• we must be right and prove it
• we have to do our Sunday morning ritual correctly

what if we were at least honest about our mission? what if what others heard from us was exactly what they saw from us?

how would that smell?

My guess is it would smell a lot more real. I have a hunch it would be a lot more attractive - or at least less repulsive - to those we are trying to reach.

What if we actually spent more time preaching the unifying message of Jesus Christ than picketing and blogging and slamming other religious (or non-religious, for that matter) folks?

We fall so deeply in love with being right - and proving it at all costs by any manner - that we cannot possibly be heard about the really important things.

and we are irrelevant.

and nobody is listening.

because we are the know-it-all Pharisees.

remember them?

read the 4 gospel accounts of Jesus' dealing with these religious leaders (Matthew 23 is my personal favorite) ...and then honestly compare them to your religious group.

If we are not too scared to honestly compare us - religious people of today - to them (yeah, the group which He routinely blasted and challenged), I believe we (you, me) will earnestly repent and set about to try to act out our words...

because, let's face it: until your stated mission is supported by your overt actions, your mission is worthless.

God Bless us as we dwell in the center of His will, and truly live out His mission in our lives.

fall has fell (or is it fallen?)

don't you just love this time of year! I do... really it may be my favorite... right up there with Spring and Summer and Winter...

leaves are turning and the air is less thick... the grass has slowed down its growing - finally! football is in full swing and basketball is just around the corner!

I am blessed indeed!

get out and enjoy the beautiful Ozarks in the fall!

God Bless!

penance?

Guilt is an interesting emotion.... it is at once a dirty feeling and a great motivator... but it usually misses the point.

We love to beat ourselves up because of our failures... society almost demands it! as if self-flagellation is the path to absolution...

Dusty Rush preached a sermon a few weeks ago about Old Temple vs New Temple theology, and in it he told the story of fictional character Rodrigo Mendoza (played by Robert De Niro) in 'the Mission', a movie about 18th century slave trade in South America...

Mendoza is a ruthless mercenary slave trader who wants to turn from his evil ways, and ultimately seeks redemption from a Jesuit priest after killing his beloved brother in a duel over a woman. For his penance, Mendoza drags the heavy weapons of his former trade in a sack on a journey to accompany the Jesuits to visit the tribe which Mendoza has terrorized during his former life.

Upon meeting the son of one of the men he kidnapped and delivered to a plantation owner, Mendoza expects the native Guarani Indian to kill him. Instead, he cuts the pack of weapons off of Mendoza, effectively freeing him of the heavy burden he has carried for so long and absolving him of his sin.

To some, this is a beautiful story... many Christians believe this is an accurate picture of God and man.

To me, this is a horrible, misguided, ugly tale of man's attempt to assuage the wrath of the Living God. The reason it is so horrible is that the sacrifice has already been made, the absolution has already been granted and

the PENANCE HAS ALREADY BEEN PAID!

the longer Christians hold on to some twisted man-made model of forgiveness and penance and penalty, the further we stray from the truth!

Hallelujah! Christ paid your debt!

Praise God! you are free!

act like it!

'til the whole world hears'

another perspective

restoration movement.... what does that phrase mean to you?

well, I have harped and ranted that it certainly cannot mean restoring the church of the 1950s...

if it is a grand enough vision to aspire to a restoration plea, it's gotta be that we try to restore the church of the 0050s...

but a good friend and partner in the Way recently shared his perspective with me, and I gotta say it made sense. At the very least, it made me rethink the whole idea.

If the restoration plea is one which purports to re-establish the early 1st century church, there is a problem or two with that.

as an example, my friend revealed to me that - in order to return to that Acts 2:42-47 model, we would have to live in that time. and, simply stated, we just don't.

we wanna say that a strong sense of community is what we need, what we want. But honestly, when was the last time someone was dragged away from your small group and thrown in jail?

When was the last time you were meeting in your home church and had to get quiet all of a sudden so that you wouldn't be heard talking or singing about Jesus?

Has anyone ever asked the question 'Hey, I wonder where Jim has been... he hasn't been with us in a while?' only to find out that Jim was taken from his home in the middle of the night and tortured to death for his faith?

my friend's point is simple and powerful: unless we are pressed like the first century churches, we cannot possibly understand what 'community' meant to them.

I have friends who have lived in tough places... places where it was forbidden to worship God or talk about Jesus... but most of them come home after their relatively short, temporary visits to places like China and other hostile environs.

(this is not about missionaries or foreign travel... this is about whether we can really model that first century church. here. today.)

So we would have to move our family to the far east to duplicate the kind of persecution which forged their specific bond and community.... and that sounds kinda ridiculous, right?

I don't think it excuses us. I believe we are called to be His Hands and His Feet.... I just wonder how realistic our restoration plea really is...

it's worth rethinking.

Blessings!

the God of YES!

Friends, consider this:

But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not "Yes" and "No."

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by me and Silas and Timothy, was not "Yes" and "No," but in him it has always been "Yes."

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ.

And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.

Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

- Paul's 2nd letter to his friends in Corinth....

don't you absolutely LOVE that?!!???

yeah, me too!

Blessings!