John 17:
I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
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I have seen and I have personally experienced families functioning at their best and at their worst. They are at their worst when they are chewing on each other’s faults and weaknesses. They are at their best when they circle their wagons and stand shoulder to shoulder against a common enemy. Evil that can turn family members against one another is the great terrorist of our time. Our world needs strong followers of Christ and strong, faithful families. May we fight the good fight of faith from the inside out, from confession of our own sin, from strengthening our precious relationships, from overflowing the best of who we are for the sake of the world.
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God, what are you up to? I want to be a part of it. Amen.
ELOGOS
May 18
ELOGOS
May 17
John 17:10-11
All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.
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There is a saying I learned quickly upon arriving in my present state of residence. The saying goes “I am not a native Texan but I got here as fast as I could.” Let’s face it. As Christians, we are slow as molasses on a cold day when it comes to change. We have spent centuries arguing with one another about how redemption happens and putting up walls when our arguments failed us. Certainly redemption has been a part of God’s purposes but it was not the endgame. Restoration is the purpose. That which was broken, divided, beside itself – is now being made whole. There are more than enough barriers between us. Now is the time for the restoration. It is time to build windows and doors into dividing walls and to take down some walls altogether. We are closer to God’s purposes if we are taking down a wall.
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God, what are you up to? I want to be a part of it. Amen.
ELOGOS
May 16
I John 5:13
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
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A friend got me watching the TV series “Once Upon A Time” and I have been hooked. The season just ended with a classic cliff-hanger to entice viewers to look forward to the 2nd season by prompting us to ask “What’s coming? What’s happening? What’s next?” I imagine that was what it was like in a big way for the disciples after the resurrection before Pentecost. Jesus is risen. What’s next? We live utterly and completely in the Land of What’s Next. To believe in Jesus is the know that we have eternal life. So now that we know that, it is silly to spend our lives fretting about it or trying to make sure we don’t lose it. Is that freedom? Christ has set us free for what’s next. What’s next is love and justice and life unleashed in the world.
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God, what are you up to? I want to be a part of it. Amen.
ELOGOS
May 15
Psalm 1:1-3
Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.
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I am a recovering scoffer. It begins innocently enough. One or two scoffs that are filled with wisdom and wit, that are rewarded by the laughter of friends. It became a habit to scoff everything. The scoffing had to be disguised into carely crafted barbs, laced with wit, punctuated with bits of truth but after a while, it became less about the truth and more about the feeling of being wiser, more superior. No one is satfistifed by a happy glass of empty optimism when a full-bar of wicked scoffing sits before us. Scoffing is a dangerous, lonely path that makes footprints in an infinite forest. There is a more nourishing, thriving way to live in choosing to be the vehicle for the Good word.
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God, what are you up to? I want to be a part of it. Amen.
ELOGOS
May 14
Acts 1:24-26
Then they prayed and said, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.
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The vacancy in their ranks and in their hearts left by Judas’ betrayal and death was still an open wound for the disciples who were soon to be called out as witnesses to the ends of the earth. 12 was an important number for them….it was a memorial to the 12 tribes of Israel. Those tribes were at war with each other more than they were ever one nation and yet there was a new kind of wholeness born among the 12 as they walked with Jesus. Now as they moved forward into their purposes as bearers of the Good News of Jesus, they longed for that wholeness again. They trusted God would help them fill the vacancy. They trusted one another to vote according to the Spirit of God within them. The news was not of who won the election but that they who were 11 were now whole again. Matthias is not known for much else but making something that felt incomplete, whole again. Not a bad ministry….not bad at all.
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God, what are you up to? I want to be a part of it. Amen.
ELOGOS
May 11
1 John 4:17
Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world.
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There is a part of me that is sorry that the phrase “What would Jesus Do” was turned into a trend, because all trends burn out. In the strobe-light burst of fame today, a trend lasts the length of a blink. As I walk through my days, I still find myself asking that question or variations on that question. When we stand before Jesus face to face, I will certainly ask forgiveness for all the many times I did only what I wanted to do. I hope there will be other moments, especially when taking a stand comes at a high cost, that am able to say, “Jesus, on that issue, in that moment, I chose to love the best way I know how – as you love.” May we be so bold as to choose love.
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God, what are you up to?
ELOGOS
May 10
John 15:16-17
You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.
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One of the great questions that people of faith often ask is “What is God’s will? What is God’s plan for me?” Of course, we want details. The more specific, the better. When we are mired in the muddied swamp of difficult and stressful times, we seek solace by knowing that perhaps it all fits into a plan….assuming that the tough times are just something we have to endure before things get alot better. God’s plan, God’s will often comes into focus when we are looking at where we have been(the proverbial footsteps in the sand story). However, we can’t keep walking backward looking at what God WAS up to. We need to know that God is up to now. We need to know our purpose now. It is as simple and as complicated as this. We were chosen to love one another. I think that is a good to-do list for today and tomorrow.
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God, what are you up to?
ELOGOS
May 9
I John 5:3-4
For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith.
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There is that iconic scene in the movie “Gone with the Wind.” Scarlett is stepping through an overflowing courtyard of wounded soldiers lying on the ground, row after row. The camera pulls back. There are even more wounded. Even as Miss O’Hara steps around bloodied bandages and men in agony with severed limbs, she clings to an illusion of normal life – she is looking for the doctor to come and make a house call to deliver a baby. The first step toward victory is realizing the nature of the war and how desparately important it is that we engage the battle. The next step is realizing that we have what we need. We are wired for faith – even Scarlett though naive and misguided was a titan of faith. The tricky part is sloughing off our naivete about the enormity of the task before us without letting it undo us. Everyday that I have asked the question – God, what are you up to? – I have heard responses from some of you. The question is becoming less of a question and more of a statement of faith: God is up to something.
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God, what are you up to?
ELOGOS
May 8
Psalm 98:8-9
Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills sing together for joy at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
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I read a quote recently which said, “To make God awesome and yet not stand in awe in God’s presence is surely a sin.” We sing “Our God is an Awesome God! He reigns from heaven above” but we don’t always experience the presence of God and and stand in awe. In the spirit of my question for this month – “God,what are you up to?” – I ask all of you reading this – when was the last time you stopped in your tracks, felt your knees buckle, your proverbial jaw drop because you knew you were in the presence of the Lord?
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God, what are you up to?
ELOGOS
May 7
Acts 10:44,47
While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. Then Peter said, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”
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The Spirit of God moves where it wills, to whom it wills, for whatever purpose it wills. Since the first century we have drawn a line between those who we think are truly Christian and those who are not. Who has the Spirit and who does not? We ask as if it is something that we possess like stock in the company. In these days of upheaval in the life of the institutional church, those within the church must accept the fact that the Spirit is not contained within brick and mortar nor does it play denominational favorites. For those who boast that there is more Spirit outside a faith community, they too limit the power of the Spirit. What amazes me about the Spirit of God is that it works outside the box and inside the box. So while we are all arguing about the nature of the box, God is up to something. May it is time to pay attention.
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Holy God, what are you up to?
