Notes: Ref. Stanza 1, see Colossians 1:12-14. Paul emphasizes that when the Father rescues us through Christ, we are placed then and there in the Kingdom of Jesus, "although" Heaven certainly awaits us!
Ref. Stanza 2, see Galatians 4:25-26. Here, Paul refers to the "Jerusalem that is above" as our "mother", that is, the place from which our faith comes. The Seed of Abraham, Christ himself, is from that place (Galatians 3:14).
---------------------------------------------------------------------…
Continue
Added by Quasiblogo on December 4, 2009 at 7:59am —
No Comments
This ought to be an intersting read: http://ignatiusinsight.com/authors/gkchesterton.asp
Why do I get the feeling Chesterton is the Theodore Roosevelt of Christian belief? Maybe it's the similar look, verve, nerve, zest for life, intellectual agility, daring, and strong convictions.
Continue
Added by Quasiblogo on September 27, 2009 at 2:10pm —
1 Comment
Today is Yom Kippur on the Jewish Calendar, the holiest of the Jewish festivals. Here's a good primer about it:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_meaning_does_Yom_Kippur_have_for_Jews
One phrase from the Wiki article that I like: "There is no commerce of any kind in the Jewish areas".
There is a certain part of our daily repentance-walk wherein we need to dispense with our own means of travelling. There is more than dependence here. Jesus is telling us to
walk with him. Side-by-side. Step…
Continue
Added by Quasiblogo on September 27, 2009 at 9:00am —
No Comments
Christians (myself included) have been at times too quick to offer shallow and hurtful answers to the suffering of people. While those answers may be well-meaning, they are misguided and in most cases, just plain wrong. Theologically ignorant. They cause hurt, pain, and loss of faith. We have used to bible not as a living ongoing story of God working in our world, but as and open and shut law book.
One of the worst cases I remember involved a woman whose child died at age 8. Someone told her th…
Continue
Added by HappyDays (Admin) on September 20, 2009 at 12:27am —
No Comments
have not blogged in a while, due to a very, very busy and stressful couple of months. Just to give you an overview:
I was laid off from my job, permanently. It came as a bit of a shock. I was not prepared, and there was not advance warning.
My vehicle died the day after I was let go. I had to have the clutch assembly replaced.
Almost a month now, and I have not been called for a single interview.
I am 49 years old. I am a chunky woman. How can I compete in the job market against the young an…
Continue
Added by HappyDays (Admin) on September 20, 2009 at 12:27am —
No Comments
I was in a Bible study tonight focusing on the first chapter of Philippians. Topic was joy. Something that seems to be missing from the lives of Christians, and from many church bodies.
Several things that cause rob us of our joy include: fear, illness, worrying about what others think, disobedience to God,lack of trust in God, and professional joy killers what seem to be in most churches.
Fear is a big one for me at the moment. Unemployment and concern over the future is a joy robber. Facing t…
Continue
Added by HappyDays (Admin) on September 20, 2009 at 12:26am —
7 Comments
It helps me to think that holiness is respecting God the Holy Spirit who lives in us. By doing this daily and in a conscious way, we demonstrate receptivity to Him our Annointing--and this empowers us to obey the two greatest Commandments of loving God and neighbor and as ourselves.
How do we show respect to the Spirit of Christ? St. Paul gives us a powerful outline in Phillpians 4:8-9. These "whatsoever things are" are opened-ended, yet specific. Our obedience to the moment, from a clean heart…
Continue
Added by Quasiblogo on September 17, 2009 at 7:30am —
1 Comment
Although many of us, myself included, do not have the time to study in an in-depth manner the nature of our "Hebrew Roots" in Messiah Jesus [i.e., the grafted-in way non-Jews are saved], there is a certain framework that, I think, can help us. Namely, to what extent is our life in Christ an exclamation point or a question mark. I'll call these the
? and
! schools.
A backdrop for this is Psalm 101:2a: "I will be careful to lead a blameless life--when will you come to me?"
A blamel…
Continue
Added by Quasiblogo on September 16, 2009 at 8:16am —
No Comments
(or from the meditations of an average wise guy)
Oh Rescuer,
You whose stadium dwarfs the playfields of men,
you need no traffic light to tell you to come and go,
to prevent disaster or to steer a parade.
For your main streets are the avenues
of powerful thoughts and cosmic creations!
Your retinue makes the Macy’s entourage of floats
look like the queue for a hotdog stand.
The pavement of your purposes
is sounder than any urban renewal.
The edifice for your plans is a rock
in contrast to the b…
Continue
Added by Quasiblogo on September 13, 2009 at 6:00pm —
No Comments
A few kernels of wheat that I believe the Lord let me snatch for daily bread, from his fields yesterday...from radio...TV...the pew...foyer...kitchen window...
The true believer is shown in the mercies of God,
by His love, today,
since we first heard His song.
We become witnesses to,
reflections of visitation,
careless, carefree as to status,
trembling to reverence
undeserved love
which He gives us with pleasure.
Grafted branch,
gifted growth,
the dew on a single leaf
nourishes us all.
The Body…
Continue
Added by Quasiblogo on September 7, 2009 at 6:55am —
No Comments
If I fell in love with Love,
would I be lifted, would I be crushed?
Am I so inside the refuge cave
I think of freedom like in this nave?
Plato thought outside as novel,
but God is here, will I praise or grovel?
I must embrace Compassion in my lair,
should I expect God, His goodness, out in the air.
Then chains will fall,
and He will spare.
Intersting website about Plato and the cave: http://www.thewebprophet.net/12steps1god/?p=115
Be blessed,
Quaz
Continue
Added by Quasiblogo on August 27, 2009 at 8:00am —
No Comments
In prayer I fall myself on Thee,
Jesus the Christ, sweet liberty.
Never once a better man,
we did not know Him, yet He came.
Lowly his start, unto the end
humble beginnings stretched its hand
to heal and comfort the diseased
of heart, and mind, soul and body.
You did not quite stand out for thirty,
yet three last years crowned your descending.
Hidden in wonder of virgin birth,
You offered life to all the earth.
Carpenter hands received the nails
of sinful building in this world.
You who bless…
Continue
Added by Quasiblogo on August 23, 2009 at 4:29pm —
No Comments
Added by ponderwoman on August 21, 2009 at 5:34pm —
No Comments
Added by ponderwoman on August 21, 2009 at 5:31pm —
1 Comment
Sometimes, we need to mind the metaphors we use. Do we really want to be put to the test, placed in the frying pan, or be inside a spiritual pressure-cooker to prove that we really will follow Christ at all costs?
How about about just engaging Christ, now, at all costs? It would seem that to want anything more than that, to eschew what God has sovereignly put in our paths, is a denial of his will, if not a retreat on our part.
"Just as I am". This has to be more than a single, salvation moment…
Continue
Added by Quasiblogo on August 18, 2009 at 9:30pm —
1 Comment
I've been reading a contemporary version of the Gospels, CEV I think. It has been an inspiring/jolting time.
Here's what I think about Jesus as I continue: passionate, non-partisan, kind, informed, holy, prayerful, riveted to the present, pensive about the past, forward-looking, forgiving, indignant at lack of compassion, joyful, a seeker of opportunity to buoy the spirits of people, humbly-powerful.
Then I look at the paper-Jesus I've allowed to infiltrate my mind through latent religiosity,…
Continue
Added by Quasiblogo on August 13, 2009 at 8:04pm —
No Comments
Check out "IV" in this link (copy/paste to your URL):
http://www.tristan.icom43.net/quartets/gidding.html
I first saw this passage by T.S. Eliot [Little Gidding, IV] in the foreward of Dallas Willard's book,
The Spirit of the Discicplines
I find the word pictures fascinating. What I learned: there are only two possible reactions to the fire of the Lord. One, to be consumed by it, in Love...and therefore, live. Or, the other possibility: be judged through our own self-destructiven…
Continue
Added by Quasiblogo on July 29, 2009 at 10:00pm —
No Comments
With all the political hoopla going on in the U.S., I have a richer appreciation for the cutting-edge walk that Jesus maintained during his earthly ministry. Not beholding to any party or faction, prodding them to avoid their own mental traps. I've studied a little bit of what Knox, Calvin, Colson, St. Francis, Francis Schaeffer and others have to say about faith and engagement with the culture. I'm motivated by a lot of what they say, but I lately can't help but think that if Messiah strode amo…
Continue
Added by Quasiblogo on July 10, 2009 at 11:30am —
No Comments
[Ref. John 17:6-10]
Therefore, we cannot fail!
Christ prays for us in heavenly realms.
In perfect union He does ask;
our victory’n Him must come to pass.
Therefore, we shall endure!
His heart draws us, for it is pure.
Grace b’yond our comprehension now;
we understand that He is Love.
Therefore, we shall proclaim,
(though gift may cease), ever His Name!
He prays our passage to secure.
We cry, “Amen!”, for this is sure.
Church, hear Messiah pray!
Within the din of ev’ry day,
His voice rings tr…
Continue
Added by Quasiblogo on June 17, 2009 at 1:11pm —
No Comments
In the distant past of my teenage years I was president of a Junior Achievement company. Somehow I qualified to go on a trip to a big convention, "where" doesn't matter because all I saw was the inside of a hotel after a six-hundred mile bus ride, one-way.
I shared a room with some donkeys, although they were actually other teenage males. Unable to hang with such as these, I went to the lobby and found a brief friendship with a bellhop. He explained to me that his family was wealthy but they wo…
Continue
Added by wintery on June 3, 2009 at 10:35am —
2 Comments
What Love Has Done
Spreading the pain
video- Hillsongs, You Are My Strength
The Secret Lion
