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RE: Imagination: Key Weapon in Battle for the Mind - 4/8/2006 5:28:48 PM
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CoeurdeLeon
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quote:
I am concerned that imagination, rather than being appreciated and cultivated within the Church, is too often criticized and looked down upon by misguided voices. That is tragic, for the Creator demands creativity from his own--from those he has made in his own image.
Oh Quaz, I liked this, the whole thing. I, too, am concerned with the above.
Imagination makes us able to even think about the immeasurable love of God, Heaven, our Savior's suffering and death. It helps us to see what is possible instead of just what is. It allows us to have empathy, we imagine what it is like to be the other person. It gives us the creativity to show Jesus to our children, our neighbors and our co-workers in ways that make sense to them and to live our lives with joy and anticipation. How could we anticipate anything if we couldn't imagine it first?
Maybe this all wasn't quite what you were meaning but that's what it made me think of.
God bless, brother.
_____________________________
Some days it's just not worth
chewing through the restraints.
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RE: Imagination: Key Weapon in Battle for the Mind - 4/8/2006 7:03:07 PM
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Quasiblogo
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quote:
It allows us to have empathy, we imagine what it is like to be the other person. It gives us the creativity to show Jesus to our children, our neighbors and our co-workers in ways that make sense to them and to live our lives with joy and anticipation. How could we anticipate anything if we couldn't imagine it first?
Maybe this all wasn't quite what you were meaning but that's what it made me think of.
God bless, brother.
Hey Thankul. You actually beautifully encapsulated what I was trying to convey. What's the web version of iron sharpening iron? Maybe "bless the other cursor"?
Yes, imagination, sanctified gray-matter...to effectively make our lives speak for Jesus--and use words when necessary.
That is so descriptive of this issue: "How could we anticipate anything if we couldn't imagine it first?"
There's so much food for thought in this. Wouldn't you call it a win-win situation just knowing that God is enjoining us to be imaginative to the highest degree possible, despite our limitations...and at the same time, He asks us to rest in Him (in his Salvation, care, creativity, and imagination)?!
Sis, great discussing with you. Have a blessed Lord's Day.
Good, stout, Scottish phrase you use. "Drees". I'm rolling my R's with gusto on that one! 
Quaz
< Message edited by Quasiblogo -- 4/8/2006 7:05:49 PM >
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Quaz
Forecast: Reign Forever
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An Evening Praise - 4/8/2006 7:56:00 PM
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Quasiblogo
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I sought my Father
And He sent His only Son,
Saying, “You see Him,
Believe and you see Me.”
So I gave in to the Spirit
And He showed me Paradise
By the love of Jesus’
Cross on Calvary.
For God so loved this world
of toil and sin,
That he gave of his
One, Begotten Son.
So that whosoever
trusts Him as the fall-man
might not die
but wholly gain, this day, eternal life.
Hear, obey the holy Father
By abiding in the Son,
Holding to his Word
with all creative heart.
For as He made all things,
every soul renews in Him,
who will wash, by shed blood
the sinner-stain.
For God so loved this world
of toil and sin,
That he gave of his
One, Begotten Son.
So that whosoever
trusts Him as fall-man
might not die
but wholly gain, this day, eternal life.
Adoration to the Father
And all glory to the Son,
in the Spirit, all praise
the Three-in-One!
Prophesy this on each mountain
that our Lord has shone
on every people,
for the earth does touch the Cross.
For God so loved this world
of toil and sin,
That he gave of his
One, Begotten Son.
So that whosoever
trusts Him as fall-man
might not die
but wholly gain, this day, eternal life.
_____________________________
Quaz
Forecast: Reign Forever
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RE: An Evening Praise - 4/9/2006 6:03:54 PM
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CoeurdeLeon
Posts: 8169
Joined: 9/4/2005
From: Inside my head
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Quaz,
quote:
There's so much food for thought in this. Wouldn't you call it a win-win situation just knowing that God is enjoining us to be imaginative to the highest degree possible, despite our limitations...and at the same time, He asks us to rest in Him (in his Salvation, care, creativity, and imagination)?!
Yes! And it all comes from Him to bring glory to Him! And in the process, we are blessed ourselves! It's a delight to think about, isn't it?
quote:
Sis, great discussing with you. Have a blessed Lord's Day.
As it always is with you, brother.
quote:
Good, stout, Scottish phrase you use. "Drees". I'm rolling my R's with gusto on that one!
I should have guessed you'd recognize it.
_____________________________
Some days it's just not worth
chewing through the restraints.
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The "Unity Cross" - 4/10/2006 7:36:48 PM
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Quasiblogo
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Sorry - artistic idea I described, that on second thought, wouldn't work. I edited it out.
Quaz
< Message edited by Quasiblogo -- 4/10/2006 7:56:44 PM >
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Quaz
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What Do We Expect to See? - 4/12/2006 10:31:55 PM
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Quasiblogo
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"What did you go out to see? A reed swayed by the wind?" Here, Luke (7:24-28)narrates how Jesus used the reed to illustrate the frailty and weakness of human nature.
The counterpart to the weak reed is the nuturing Kingdom of God. Because John the Baptist announced the kingdom boldly, the Messiah revels in John by saying, "among those born of women, there is no one greater". John is the opposite of that reed. So is anyone else who allies himself with Jesus: "yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he".
Moses, as the infant floating in a basket made of tar, pitch, and reed (papyrus), well depicts the hapless condition humanity is in--unless God intervenes. God mercifully put his hand on the that reed-stuffed basket, and the royalty of Egypt rescued Moses (Exodus 2:1-10).
God's grace makes a way when our condition and circumtances that surround seem to dictate otherwise. Picture the scene as Pharoah's army tried to overtake the children of Israel at the border with the "Sea of Reeds" (Red Sea). "The children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left" (Exodus 14:22).
The Spirit of Jesus calls to us each day as we awake: "What are you going out to see?" The Almighty poses this question to the greater-than-John for a reason. It is meant to drive us to strength found in the kingdom. Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit".
The reliance of creation on Jesus is made stunningly clear in Revelation, for we learn there is only one person worthy to peel back peoples' blindness and unveil the mysteries of God to them...only one who can bring history to a culmination and bring heaven to earth. He is Jesus the Messiah, the only One who is "worthy to open the scroll".
Jesus, the Word, not made by the will of man, opens the scroll that is not made from earthly reed but rather from heavenly material...all for the purpose of saving us, to bring us into fellowship with him!
The early church scrolls were made from reed, if I am not mistaken. To think of it: earthy, tenuous, soon-to-perish (as James describes it) grass...turned into papyrus...with inspired writing that unveils the Living Word, "Who Liveth Forever".
We know what we go out to see. It is God's hand in the midst of weakness. It is grace shed abroad by the Holy Spirit, enabled by the shed Blood of the Lamb. We feel the winds of life in our faces. The forces of temptation attempt to ensnare us, and we are not afraid. God's grace, found in the aquatic grasses, at the high plains, and in the frozen polar reaches withstands all.
"We are complete in Him".
Quaz
< Message edited by Quasiblogo -- 4/12/2006 10:46:29 PM >
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Quaz
Forecast: Reign Forever
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"Cross Examination" - 4/13/2006 10:30:58 PM
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Quasiblogo
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If we but gloried
in Jesus Christ and in him crucified,
would there be room
in our desires
for anything else?
If our hearts pounded
at the beat of hammer to nail,
whose pain would concern us?
If we saw the curse
of our sins punished, justly for the unjust,
whose shame would drive us to cry
"He was abandoned!"
If we sensed
the desperation to cover all sin,
whose lament, "Father forgive them!",
would make us stand in awe
of such love?
If we began to hear
"It is finished!"
each time we asked, "Why was this so?",
what would we ask Jesus
to start in our own lives?
If we acknowledged
how Messiah continues to draw to Golgotha,
what would we do
before walking away
from the Cross?
If we saw the Savior
die under execution,
how revolutionized would we be
if he said to us later,
"Peace, be still!"?
If we witnessed the dumb
become wise and the intelligent
turn dumbfounded by the perceived
"foolishness of the Cross",
would we embrace this tree of the Morningstar,
no matter what?
If we but gloried
in Jesus Christ and in him crucified,
would there be room
in our desires
for anything else?
_____________________________
Quaz
Forecast: Reign Forever
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"Childlike Praise" - 4/15/2006 6:26:38 AM
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Quasiblogo
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You are like the Potter, Lord,
and I am like the clay.
You are like the Potter, Lord,
and I am like the clay.
Mold me, mold me and make me,
make me, Lord, more like you!
Mold me, mold me and make me,
make me, Lord, more like you!
I can do anything
that you want me to do!
I can be anyone
whom you ask me to be!
Spin, Lord, spin your amazing
wheel of love around me!
Spin, Lord, spin your amazing
wheel of love around me!
_____________________________
Quaz
Forecast: Reign Forever
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"The Overwhelming Rest" - 4/15/2006 6:39:04 AM
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Quasiblogo
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Deep waters cannot
quench love,
nor floods sweep it away!
For you my soul and my flesh pines,
it is to you that I sing all the day;
like dry land, parched, without water,
so do I thirst to be filled with your grace.
Deep waters cannot
quench love,
nor floods sweep it away!
Once lost, I did knot know Jesus,
but then I turned my heart to the Cross;
beholding the nails pierced through His hands,
I was cleansed and washed in His blood.
Deep waters cannot
quench love,
nor floods sweep it away!
And now, though yet I'm a sinner,
I have no want for the things of this world
but to praise my Lord and my Savior,
both for now and forever, Amen!
Deep waters cannot
quench love,
nor floods sweep it away!
_____________________________
Quaz
Forecast: Reign Forever
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Luke, Warm - 4/15/2006 1:22:26 PM
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Quasiblogo
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I recall how much I enjoyed playing a certain game as a boy. One youngster would close his eyes and attempt to find whatever object was hidden, within close proximity, by playmates. They'd coach by saying, "warm/warmer", "hot/hotter", and "cold"/"colder", depending on the movement of the searcher.
The Scriptures are full of correctives like this, of the spiritual kind, and these speak loudly to us and help us to understand our position in relation to Jesus.
The Gospel of Luke, from Chapter 10 through Chapter 22:19, is replete with precision-guided messasges, divinely-designed to perk us up to God's expectations, care, warnings, and promises.
Take Luke 12:9, for instance. "He who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God".
These passages from Luke read like a John Grisham novel, moving from scene-to-scene with breathtaking revelation...leaving you on the edge of your seat as you watch the protagonists play out the plot. Only, in Luke it gets better. You see yourself on a stage where attitudes and actions either collide or coalesce.
As we "draw nigh unto Him", we get warmer, even hotter in our grasp of God's love and purposes for us. Like the two disciples on the road to Emmaeus, our "hearts will burn within us" as the Word confirms God's wisdom to us, energizes us to both rest and action, and validates our experiences as having been in His presence.
Today, I find myself feasting on God's incredible ability to awake and move us in order to love Him and neighbor.
Enjoy Luke. "Warmer!"
Bro. Quaz
_____________________________
Quaz
Forecast: Reign Forever
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"Local Faith" - 4/17/2006 8:25:21 PM
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Quasiblogo
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"Local Faith" - a folk song
Chinese believers
gathered in a
brickhouse to pray.
Sudanese neighbors
rested on a Sabbath Day.
The poor were fed in Memphis,
Brisbane rich gave some away.
A Laplander rejoices—
sin meltin’ at a tea,
reading Timothy.
The whole church
Got a little local
On God, today.
Grabbed more of believin’
when it shook the hand of one old man.
You can satellite convention,
But the truth is still the Way:
did you read the lips
of your pastor’s need
when he blessed you out the door?
A second-language teacher
showed the Good News,
helpin’ say:
“Jesús te ama,
Jesus loves you, yes he does”.
A politician cut the mic
and he cried to God instead,
when he saw
he represented lives--
even three-week images.
The whole church
got a little local
on God, today.
Teenagers said “hello” to friends in church,
then in school hallways.
You can satellite convention,
but the truth is still the Way:
did you hold your hands
on the steering wheel,
let offenders slip away?
We build two-lane roads
travelin’ around this world,
an’ propogate the Faith, in a vision
that just starts to whirl
when we lose connection
with why we’re on this earth:
did you pour a glass of water
into raised, cupped hands—
gently sway them with this command,
“You see Him in us,
now believe in Jesus!”
And the whole church
got a little local
on God, today,
raisin’ up praise to Heaven
an’ got blessed, here, where it’s paved.
You can satellite convention,
but the truth is still the Way:
did you make your offerin’ plate
that one mistake
when you gave that one an’ twenty
to the homeless down the road?
Bro. Quaz
_____________________________
Quaz
Forecast: Reign Forever
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Have you walked without a Ford, Lately? - 4/18/2006 10:38:59 PM
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Quasiblogo
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A few Saturdays ago, I took my '93 Ford Taurus to a local dealership for repairs. I turned it in, mindful that the previous day I'd been promised there was free taxi service to my house. Murphy lives on Saturday, too: I was told the promise was not correct. I could feel my anger rising, and might have been able to shame the employees into helping me. But, I felt anything I said would be a bit too angry. So, I clammed up and walked outside into a fairly nice day...and started my 8-mile walk home.
It was a great walk. The windy road through this part of upstate (northwest) South Carolina, I found, was gorgeous--bursting with azalea blossoms of several colors. There were nicely manicured country homes, picturesque woods and farms, and slightly rolling hills that permit a walker to break a sweat but not tire all that much. Now that I look back on it, it is odd that I didn't notice any kudzu. You know you're settled into an area when the once-odd no longer sticks out.
I was struck that while I have driven this stretch over the past 10 years, I now understand I really only had a concept of what it was like from the inside of a vehicle. Sure, I thought it was nice, and I had always liked to go through there with the windows down to enjoy the sense of freshness. Still, I really didn't know it from a walk-perspective.
I will be contemplating this a lot...and will doubtless hike this way to recapture the enjoyment. It has helped me understand, anew, what it means to know--even believe ardently, but not really understand spiritual truths unless I am willing to walk out my faith in Jesus. I see more clearly now how that hypocrisy is actually perceived as a beautiful experience, because one truly can be surrounded by beauty despite the misstep. The tragedy, though, is that the "experience" is simply the beholding of the real thing.
I noticed during the walk that it was not always comfortable. The temperature got up to the mid-80's for the first time this spring, and I felt winded from a reaction to the pollen. However, the inner peace I felt as I purposely stretched by legs and swung my arms in deliberate rhythm to my stride is still riveted in my memory. It was joy, inner assurance that I felt as I once in a while offered abbreviated praise to God or quoted out loud a few of my favorite verses. This sense that I was both worshipping and progressing was exhilerating.
Have you walked without the contrivance of your preconceptions lately--and just walked in obedience to the truth that has been revealed to you in the Word and by experience? If not, get out of that vehicle you are in and take the path toward home.
Quaz
< Message edited by Quasiblogo -- 4/18/2006 10:54:04 PM >
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Quaz
Forecast: Reign Forever
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RE: Monastique - Reveling in the Quiet Place - 4/20/2006 10:03:30 PM
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Quasiblogo
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"A Living, Dying Day"
I die first as I shake the covers
at dawn and say,
"How great You are!"
before I'm tempted
to manipulate your strengths
within me and muse,
"Let us plan this day".
A psalm, a proverb, some
fresh-laid verse hits
my eyes before
the secular-wise
can tell me, "You're
in control; if not, your fault".
I'm learning to look past
the presumption of concluding
before You have spoken.
I pop the kitchen window open
to catch the play of nature,
realizing that
no mindset,
no aspiration,
no heart bent on self-will
can dictate sky colors
nor force
the hand of Providence
an inch beyond its Good Intent.
The shrill chirp
of spring birds
reminds me I'm commanded
to sing out praise to compliment
Your creative destiny for world and I.
The marvel of this--the beauty
of the solitary
being asked to bless
the whole in joyful song,
is holy incongruity
on this earth, astride the sacred
order of the angels' choir.
It's a living, dying day,
oh Lord,
my desires planted
at the Cross,
and whatsoever You pick
from among them
is given Life,
in ways seen and unseen,
revealed always before Your eyes,
sometimes kept from my grasp
of mind or hand,
so that I learn
to eat the fruit of grace
and acknowledge
that only You
know all things.
And, within the depths of this,
all things are given to me
in a measure that replaces
longings
with fulfilled peace.
Bro Quaz
< Message edited by Quasiblogo -- 4/20/2006 10:05:41 PM >
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Quaz
Forecast: Reign Forever
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RE: Monastique - Reveling in the Quiet Place - 4/22/2006 10:01:30 AM
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Quasiblogo
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[Note: "man" is meant to include all, just as the New Covenant emphasizes that in God's eyes, Salvation and grace are offered to all--whether Jew or non-Jew, male or female, free man or enslaved]
"Childlike Faith"
Unless you become, like
one who dreams without shame,
whose start is potential
and end is the joy
of leaving a mark
for Father's delight,
then the man of the Spirit
has barely arrived,
indeed cannot fly,
for the child that's within
must first live.
Think of yourself
as a horse on the plains,
with swiftness desired,
where wildness remains.
It's only the will
to bolt n'hide that must go,
the rest of you coveted,
the rest of you bold!
A child is like that.
He foreshadows the man
who, made in God's image,
inherits a plan
to run the good race
with energy, sound...
so that old-in-the-faith
means young
where the testing is found.
No one 'ud call you "child",
but, how d'you react
when Spirit whispers
amidst all the "facts"?
Will you take hold of Life
or let loose with the flow?
You're a spiritual man
if you're childlike
in where you do go.
Bro. Quaz
< Message edited by Quasiblogo -- 4/22/2006 10:07:04 AM >
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Quaz
Forecast: Reign Forever
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RE: Monastique - Reveling in the Quiet Place - 4/24/2006 8:02:56 PM
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Quasiblogo
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"Walking and Chewing on Truth at the Same Time"
I find the prophet Jeremiah a fresh face, although it is a weeping one...lamenting Israel's past habit of falling into idolatry.
The text in Jeremiah 2:5 is intriguing, as "Yiremyahu" prophetically speaks for God: "What did our ancestors find wrong with me to make them go so far away from me, to make them go after nothings, and become themselves nothings". Here, we find the end of not following God. Nothing. The act in itself is evil, from within the human heart. The result of the act is also sin in God's eyes.
What does the wayward heart then reap? Nothing.
This is why Paul said our struggle was "not against flesh and blood", for how could nothing be fought? Yes, God has a problem with idols and any material thing that poses an obstacle to obeying God. However, vengence in the physical is the Lord's. The Church's job is to engage the world concerning its attitude toward God, primarily through its own example and "sometimes with words".
Let's take the most extreme example by answering a riddle that Jeremiah would surely liked to have answered. "What do you call a thinker on its way to an idol?" Answer: "An atheist". How is that? The Word says, "The fool has said in his heart there is no God". It is no only inherently foolish to deny the Creator. It is also, by default, an embracing of nothing, because outside of God one obtains/has nothing.
Of course, the atheist will say, "I embrace nothing". Fine, let us give him the benefit of the doubt. Still, he is on his way to an idol, for thinking gravitates towards it if it is not pulling toward, seeking God. We see, however, there really is no difference between cowering before an idol and envisioning one. These are one and the same, opposed to but not offering any real opposition to God--except in the imagination and in what one can seek to convince or impose upon others.
Truly, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom".
Bro. Quaz
< Message edited by Quasiblogo -- 4/24/2006 8:07:39 PM >
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Quaz
Forecast: Reign Forever
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RE: Monastique - Reveling in the Quiet Place - 4/26/2006 7:22:20 PM
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Quasiblogo
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“The Convince Me Code”
What to make of the “Da Vinci” movie?
Let’s consider its origins. It is named for a man who came from a town called Vinci. The rest is, as they say, “History”…of a fictional nature.
At its core, it is another spasm in the arm of humanity…an arm tearing itself in an attempt to reach up to code, or, in its own thinking, define itself in light of how it conceives “god”.
We should take the “nothing new under the sun” approach. Just as good motives are easily identifiable as fitting a pattern, a la Ecclesiastes, so are the bad ones. The sure thing is that there’s a silver lining running through “The Da Vinci Code”, and it is that humanity is hungry for truth. Humanity is inwardly crying out for truth, while at the same time it denounces all standards pointing to it, because in the end, truth means defined obedience.
When’s the last time you saw a picketer with a sign that said, “I want to obey!”
This cry for truth—the search for a Convince Me Code, is spiritually genetic and observable in its healthy and aberrant manifestations.
The best thing the Church can do is educate people about the fallacies of the movie, and more importantly, pray and point to the only ticket there is to understanding God’s will, His code, for humanity, and that is the sacrifice of Jesus on the Christ for sins. The result is freedom, not skepticism.
“Whom the Son shall set free is free indeed”.
_____________________________
Quaz
Forecast: Reign Forever
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RE: Monastique - Reveling in the Quiet Place - 4/27/2006 2:13:53 AM
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“Landing at Tagaste”
I enjoy reading about the life of St. Augustine. Here, the man who achieved recognition as one of the most brilliant intellectuals in the Roman Empire. Here, a son so totally loved by his mother, Monica, that her every thought was that he know Jesus as Savior. How many men are so blessed that they can claim their mothers are like this? Here, the man consummately adequate to pursue deep things; there, a man mighty in God because of his acceptance that neither he nor anyone is adequate to please God through merely inner strength.
For Augustine, Italy represented both the heights of his life in paganism and the exhilaration of total surrender to the Master.
Later, Augustine returned to his hometown of Tagaste, south of Hippo in now modern day Algeria. Augustine found in Tagaste his foothold to the consecrated life. This happened because he was sold out to God. One sure evidence of this was his retort to a former mistress, when upon her calling out to him, he replied that the person he once was no longer existed.
Augustine’s self-denial is impressive, given his respect for the whole person: emotion, body, intellect, and spirit. Augustine lived in that rarified commitment of pursuing God to the hilt, to the end that God would be glorified. His brutal honesty with himself enabled him to live a life centered on zeal for God and the Church, without the entrapment of being dominated by inner passions.
Returning to Tagaste was not the beginning of a fairy tale, but it did lead to his finding fulfillment in the purposes of God. He was pressured into the priesthood, yet his later service as Bishop of Hippo would leave a lasting legacy of brilliant teaching and witness to the Church and the world. His early feelings of ineptness meant spiritual greatness for the kingdom and more glory to Christ.
There is indeed a cost for following Christ. Using Augustine’s life, it starts with an abiding love for Jesus' Word and work in our lives. Then it requires consecration to living out this New Life in the ordinary, on the pavement of our own Tagastes.
We need not be afraid of being declared imposters. We are, as St. Paul emphasized, “new creatures in Christ”. Living in this newness from day to day is our entrance into an effective and dynamic life for Jesus.
I’m glad Augustine didn’t settle down to a life of ease in Italy, where he found recognition and influence. That would have been, by modern day terms, the equivalent of living off the royalties of Christian publishing houses--or perhaps using his "cross-over" influence as a past erudite. Instead, he pressed forward to land at Tagaste and live the adventurous life of faith.
< Message edited by Quasiblogo -- 4/27/2006 2:17:28 AM >
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Quaz
Forecast: Reign Forever
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RE: Monastique - Reveling in the Quiet Place - 4/28/2006 6:17:00 AM
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Quasiblogo
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"When God Speaks"
A word translates a word,
A line sets straight a line.
Then, as text speaks to text,
Life translates life.
A word means nothing without meaning,
A line gives no motion without thought.
As text has no congruence without theme,
Our lives have no Life without the Lord’s.
We are accustomed to sounds, just as
God has foreordained familiarity and awe.
We are deepest in Salvation, when
shouts of His grace echo truth and the weak see power.
What is a word, if it cannot end with “Amen!”,
a line, if it does not hold promise of a newer, infinite one?
What is any text if the eternal Word
does not enliven existence in Jesus’ love?
A word translates a word,
A line sets straight a line.
Then, as text speaks to text,
Life translates life.
_____________________________
Quaz
Forecast: Reign Forever
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RE: Monastique - Reveling in the Quiet Place - 4/29/2006 9:52:57 AM
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Quasiblogo
Posts: 364
Joined: 11/5/2005
Status: offline
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Pharoah - the hardening of his heart by God in order to break his will so that Moses could take Israel into the desert... If the Almighty will go to such measures for an unbeliever, what does that tell us about how jealous He is for the loyalty of those in the Way? God's hand of discipline on those he loves--we should feel it as a ruthless one if we slip into open rebellion! Otherwise, we would be, as Paul points out, illegitimate children parading as believers. Strong medicine from a concerned Father.
Pentecost - many Jews were there from several regions, speaking different dialects. Whether it was a miracle of speaking or hearing (I tend toward the former), God creatively accomodated the hybrid gathering and multitudes heard preaching in their own language. For my fellow brothers and sisters in the U.S., what does that tell us about God's attitude toward communicating truth, much less secular ideas? We need to pray for imaginative governance, in the Church and on Capitol Hill, when it comes to strategic involvement with multiple ethnic groups. God is the God or order, but that means we think within His "box", not merely within the strict confines of law. Of course, we do not use grace to thwart law, but if our thinking gracefully enhances law, why suppress progress by sitting on paradigms?
The God of Sport - ...is pervasive worldwide. None of us can define what is too much, but like that U.S. Supreme Court justice said when commenting on the effect of pornography on a culture, he knows it when he says it. It isn't enough for the Church too simply devise a tactic of showing people how to effectively integrate sports into a Christian witness. There really appears to be too much in that integration. I like to "shoot the rock" like any basketball player, but I need to take a wide step back from the TV screen. Too much time is spent observing events and my not being a catalyst for winning in the routine things of life, where Jesus is most found. Afterall, the weak-but-strong emphasis is hardly a mindset to take into an arena.
Saturday yard work - I'm out in the sunshine and unusually cool air today. Weeds to kill. Can't risk damaging the bluegrass, though. Good way of thinking about our lives as effective ministries. Our attitudes need to reflect that we want to see strength and endurance in others, regardless the less admirable traits they may exhibit. After all, faithfulness in the work will take care of the "weeds" in time. And we should pace ourselves. As sure as tax time, we will need to de-weed our lives, and gently assist others when our seasons of weeds recur.
_____________________________
Quaz
Forecast: Reign Forever
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RE: Monastique - Reveling in the Quiet Place - 5/2/2006 10:17:46 PM
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Quasiblogo
Posts: 364
Joined: 11/5/2005
Status: offline
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True Believer
I was born again
where Lady Liberty couldn't
see me, so in God I trusted
as the Word unfolded
before a sinner,
and I learned praise
is not a form,
and preaching, not an accent or pitch,
and fellowship
peaks when needed most
to survive and awaken
to the Grace of our standing.
It is then that we know we're confirmed
in God and not
in economy's eyes.
I didn't come back
through Ellis,
but the strangeness seemed real
when I was told, in a
denominated school,
"you must be a bigoted,
narrow-minded Bible thumper, because
you believe what is read,
and you pray what you mean,
and you say what is said,
and your healing words must
come from a mean spirit,
because we don't believe that
anymore--on TV."
So I struggled,
'cause the man in the robe
questioned Adam, Job, Isaiah,
and poked at the
thread that ran from Old to New,
because "it was one thing
for Jesus to be a Jew,
but you, who are you,
to say you that you know?"
And all I could say was,
"He came to my side,
when I didn't believe,
and now He's there,
saying, 'touch me,
if you don't!'". You see?
This is a
Thomas-of-a-generation,
holding bacculaurate
in one hand
while it judges the nation.
To suppress belief,
it questions all,
not out of conviction,
but in the spirit of stall,
for to the measure
it cannot apprehend,
it strives to ensure none
question (not even from the '60s)
what? why? how?
And the times, they are
what they are.
Yet, I believe, for
I'm an immigrant son,
native to here
but from somewhere else
in my heart-of-hearts.
Call me "patriot",
and I'm not ashamed,
but call me "believer"
and I will admit my undying
loyalty to amber waves
is dimmed by the voice
that since Pentecost
has moved, as coined,
"Like a Mighty Wind".
< Message edited by Quasiblogo -- 5/4/2006 12:09:12 PM >
_____________________________
Quaz
Forecast: Reign Forever
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RE: Monastique - Reveling in the Quiet Place - 5/6/2006 12:05:25 PM
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Quasiblogo
Posts: 364
Joined: 11/5/2005
Status: offline
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"Find Prayer, Find Favor"
Psalms 116:1-2 (CJB)
I love that Adonai heard
my voice when I prayed;
because he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.
To love the Lord, to fully know his favor, I will turn to Him in prayer. Oh, to experience the freshness of His Presence!
I am truly "in prayer" when I am not impressed with my initiative...but instead am continually fascinated that the Almighty turns, and turns His ear again--when I am so overwhelmed by this attentiveness that I see I am called to call upon Him.
All prayer and praise is preceeded by all awe.
This will ba a life of prayer and fellowship, for He turns his ear toward me.
How will I be able to stand in the days of adversity? God will sustain me; I will stand, in prayer.
Will God always turn His ear to hear me? Yes, if I call upon Him! [Luke 11:9-10]
There was a popular song in the 60's with the refrain "Turn, Turn, Turn". Those words echoed with the music as the singers recounted the passage from Eccliastes 3:1-8. The lyrics used to leave me with a sense of powerlessness, because even if we accept the fact that there are twists and turns to life, how do we move with this (at times, chaotic) ebb and flow? Do we merely resign ourselves and cope as best we can?
Hear those words, "Turn, Turn, Turn", again! But this time, don't picture yourself turning. Picture God turning his ear toward your prayer, again and agin. See the Holy Spirit giving strength where there is none: grace for each trial, for every activity under Heaven [Ecc 3:1].
We are going to discover that a "time to" anything is already within God's foreknowledge and will, for He is I am, and we are "with Christ, in God". [Colossians 3:3]
When we see God turn His ear toward us, we are moved to turn our hearts toward such love.
Turn us agin, Oh God, and cause Thy face to shine; and we shall be saved. [Psalms 80:3]
Bro. Quaz
_____________________________
Quaz
Forecast: Reign Forever
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RE: Monastique - Reveling in the Quiet Place - 5/7/2006 7:56:11 AM
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Quasiblogo
Posts: 364
Joined: 11/5/2005
Status: offline
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"Walking Song"
Well...my soul is like an old worn shoe,
a walkin', wa-a-a-lkin', a-walkin' with my Lord.
You cain't go far in no slick shoe--no sir, no sir!
got to break 'em so's they touch this earth,
yes sir, yes sir!
I wanna see my Jesus
by and by,
so I take my shoes to the countryside,
an' go walkin', wa-a-a-lkin',
a-walkin' with my Lord!
Well...my soul is like an old worn shoe,
a walkin', wa-a-a-lkin', a-walkin' with my Lord.
Say, gimme a rag tah dust these shoes,--brother, brother!
they's cracked n' dry, an' they need a shine,
sister, sister!
I'm gonna see my Jesus
by and by,
so wanta be presentable in his sight,
a walkin', wa-a-alkin',
into Paradise!
Well...my soul is like an old worn shoe,
a walkin', wa-a-a-lkin', a-walkin' with my Lord.
Mebbe I'm half way home, mebbe jez in sight--Halle-lu-u-ujah!
suits me fine, Lord I-I don' mind,
no, my Jesus!
I wanna see you Jesus
by and by,
kin I wear these shoes when I'm in your sight?
Oh, to be a walkin', wa-a-alkin',
in a New Jerusalem with my God!
Well...my soul is like an old worn shoe,
a walkin', wa-a-a-lkin', a-walkin' with my Lord.
_____________________________
Quaz
Forecast: Reign Forever
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RE: Monastique - Reveling in the Quiet Place - 5/14/2006 8:41:23 AM
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Quasiblogo
Posts: 364
Joined: 11/5/2005
Status: offline
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"Master and Creator"
By Whom
are we moved
to believe this
Saving Grace?
Spirit of Jesus, holy
Spirit of Jesus!
In Whom
do we move,
do we live,
and have our being?
Messiah Jesus,
Messiah Jesus!
Only Begotten Son,
not made;
Creator of what we see,
don't see.
Intended sacrifice,
to carry our sin far away!
Master and Creator,
You call us out to be
in You, with You,
by your rule we are set free to...
...sail upon the waters,
proclaim You set the captive free,
nothing can separate us
from Amazing Grace!
Can two--three
really be
all that's needed
to set ablaze?
Spirit of Jesus, holy
Spirit of Jesus!
When You
move among
us in love
there really is no way
waters remain still:
every sail is up, unfurled!
Master and Creator,
You call us out to be
in You, with You,
by your rule we are set free to...
...sail upon the waters,
proclaim You set the captive free,
nothing can separate us
from Amazing Grace!
Shout upon the waves,
"You are free,
in Jesus' Name!" (3x).
Spirit of Jesus, holy
Spirit of Jesus!
< Message edited by Quasiblogo -- 5/14/2006 8:47:18 AM >
_____________________________
Quaz
Forecast: Reign Forever
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RE: Monastique - Reveling in the Quiet Place - 5/15/2006 9:28:08 PM
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Quasiblogo
Posts: 364
Joined: 11/5/2005
Status: offline
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"Easy, Costly Grace"
Well, I had a sad conversation
with the world just th | | |
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