Rescue

msnbc

What a news story! Julie Ogden, from New Jersey, drove all the way to Hinesville, Georgia to bring a lost dog back home. Juile had seen that the dog was 2 hours from being euthanized if not adopted from a shelter, and took the dog home. Then, when she saw that the dog’s owners were looking for their dog, who had gotten out of their back yard when a storm blew away the fence, she just had to get her back home. A whole caravan of people- cars, vans, motorcycles, all took this dog back to Belinda and Terrel Stevenson’s home. Belinda’s husband, Johnny ‘Pops’ Brooks Stevenson, Jr., had lost his life serving in Afghanistan. Their dog, Savannah, was very close to Pops, and was a sweet reminder of him after his untimely death at age 51. The extent to which people would go to get this dog home, and comfort this family, was a big enough news story for the NBC nightly news. Homecomings are big news! It is just like our heavenly father, whose heart is longing for us and has made a way for our return. No barrier is too big for our God to bust through and get us home, if we will let ourselves be rescued by the one who loves us best!

Designed to be Loved

Home Design. Interior design. Designer clothes. I remember when designer jeans were the hot new rage! The idea is that special attention went into a special product. In Ephesians 1:3-14 we see that we were especially designed to be loved by God! Even before the incredible beauty of our earth was thought of, we were thought of! How awesome! It’s so inspiring to look at the way our earth was designed, how breathtaking the views that only his intelligent design could create. But to think that we were in mind before any of this, is enough to humble me, and make me pause in the wonder of it! Take time today, and pause in the wonder of the love of our heavenly father, who took great pleasure making you, to love you now and forever!

The Second Leap of Faith

Choosing to believe is like opening a door to a multitude of possibilities! In Mark 6:1-13 we see Jesus in his own hometown. Though he did many miracles in other towns and cities, he did few here. Why? Because they said, ‘He’s just that little kid we watched grow up!’ (Rough translation!) Jesus had just spoken eloquently at their meeting place. They were initially impressed. But the people let their preconceived ideas about Jesus close the door to all the wonders that could have been through the Son of God! How often do we do the same?

We limit what God can do when we do not believe in him. God is ready to do more than we could think, ask, or imagine. But for those of us who have made the leap of faith to really believe in God, do we still limit God when we refuse to make the next leap of faith to see the Jesus in his children? Yes. How many things does God want to do through all his children around us? Only God knows. And if we want to know, see, and experience all these kingdom possibilities, then let us pray that the Lord opens the eyes of our hearts to see that no one is just [fill in the blank!]. May we believe in God, and his children!

Healing Adventure

Everyone wants a healing. We see it in Mark 5:21-43, and several other places in the Gospels. When news of Jesus’ power to heal spread, a crowd gathered and pressed in.  Physical healings he did, but to all he did and still does offer inner healing. We are his body. As we are healed ourselves, and gather to form his body, we offer to the world the possibility of the inner healing as only Christ can bring. It means that, just like Jesus, people may be attracted to our fellowship because they are in need of healing. Jesus must have become weary with all the ones seeking healing. But he carried out his mission. And so must we. Being his body brings with it the mission of being the healing presence in a hurting world. What an awesome adventure we have been chosen to embark upon!

Jesus Needs a Few Good Pioneers



rantnrev.blogspot

Stories from the frontier are inspiring and mind-boggling!
The frontier culture demanded that you look at a wilderness with no roads and see a road. You saw a meadow with no shelter and saw a home. Your school, your church, and your community were the ones which you envisioned, and determined that you and your new pioneering neighbors would craft with your own hands, God being with you. That pioneering culture brought the vision of a new community to reality.
But something happens when we go from pioneer to settler. Pioneer culture assumes that we have to put our own hand with God’s hand to make the vision a reality.  But soon after we become settlers, we become accustomed to what has already been created, and we can become comfortable with what is, or, at least, begin to stop envisioning what could become reality, if we dare to dream and do.
In 2 Corinthians 4, we are reminded that in God’s kingdom, we don’t always see what is about to become. In this awesome passage, you can just hear what makes pioneering culture work! God just loves to take challenging circumstances, wilderness scenes in our life, and build a new reality where it seems impossible! But to take this and other scripture in context, this is not just our sitting and daydreaming! The context of scripture lets us know that we dream and do right along with God, who gave us brains, hearts, and muscle, because the dreaming and doing go together!

Whatever our circumstances today, may we not dream human size dreams, and live humanly explainable lives! Let us join God in dreaming and doing God-sized visions of our new Kingdom of God community!

I See Him Now!

yahoo news

850,000 people in Milan today, Sunday, June 3rd, 2012, crowed to see Pope Benedict XVI and worship. In the middle of a Vatican Scandal and a world with many troubles, people still want a glimpse of God’s kingdom! It was like that for the Old Testament Prophet, Isaiah (see chapter 6 verses 1 through 8.) A national leader had just died; there was the threat of instability in politics, society, finances, religion. But the word from God was not news of any of this, at least not yet. The big revelation of god was this: Here I Am! In all God’s glory, he made himself known. How many of our problems seem so big, until compared to our God?! Isaiah had a picture of God with which to face the challenges of the day. So do we! The wisdom, knowledge, and inspiration we need is secondary to the one we need: our Lord. Seeking him first, and then facing life with knowledge of him, our problems are cut down to size!

Golden Opportunities-More Than a Memory!



AP photo

75 years ago, May 28^th, the Golden Gate Bridge opened to traffic. In 1933 the economy was horrible. Spirits were down. No wonder it was called the Great Depression. We now look back and know that those tough times were about to improve. It did not look that way at the time. But a group of determined people had a vision. It was a vision that would take wide support, hard work, resources, and sustained effort. With these values, the Golden Gate Bridge was constructed in about 5 years, opening up a vastly improved route across the San Francisco Bay. It broke records and became a lasting reason for pride in the awesome accomplishment. It is hard to believe now that it faced fierce opposition. People said it would hurt the city and area. They had fears that the bridge would open up such access to the city that it would be impossible for the military to protect the city. But the majority voted in favor of it. And with focus and undiminished determination, the vision became reality.
This is but one of many examples of the power of human agreement. But we see in Acts chapter 2 the power of human agreement coupled with agreement to the purposes of God’s kingdom.  The power that results is so great that even those who witness it are confounded.
Today we, too, face many obstacles. We find power in banding together for all kinds of causes. But when we band together for the cause of God’s kingdom, even in the toughest of times, there is so much power in His spirit! And it is the power to let Christ’s good news be known. Hard times are a ’golden’ opportunity for us to let God’s spirit inhabit our banding together for the cause of Christ! Let’s give the following generations the memory of us being one for our Lord!