The power of the Spirit...

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19)

Jesus continually moved in the power of the Spirit. Sometimes it would truly be ‘powerful’, like when he healed people and told blind men and women to see and lame women and men to walk. Other times it was really subtle, like when he called young children to sit by him and he said things like, “Whoever becomes like a child will know what the kingdom of God is like”.

Then there were times when he was really, really subtle and he’d say, ‘Do you see the lilies in the field, even they possess the wonder and beauty of the Creator!’ Jesus, I believe, was aware of the significance of living every moment as though it were drenched in the presence, creativity and beauty of God.

Imagine what it would be like if you were aware of the significance of living every moment as though it were drenched in the presence, creativity and beauty of God. Imagine your conversation’s with friends at work.

I know it’s just an imagination exercise, but how would you describe the feelings and thoughts that accompany this awareness of the divine?

How is this different from the real world you live in?

Are your eyes open to the beauty of the creator in everything you do?

What is the biggest thing stopping you from being freely missional? What is the thing that stops you from being able to say, ‘My life is my mission’?

AndyC

Giving and receiving - an attempt to make sense of the greatest story ever told. [Pt. 1] God gives first.

‘In the beginning…”

We’re made aware of this God who creates, who acts, who makes things and says they’re good. In the beginning …if we take seriously the nature of God, the understanding that we have gained through the resultant search of many before us, that God has no beginning, he just…is.

Then the creation story is somehow also about a God who wants to be involved, who doesn’t just want to sit back and wonder what it would be like to create. He actually does it.

So God, starts, he begins, he makes, he decides to act, and from the beginning we see that this God takes the initiative.

Could this be one of the building blocks to understanding what God is like? If God decides to create, to begin something, he has to give. God gives first.

GOD

GIVES

FIRST.

What would compel God to give?

What compels you to give? More often than not when we give something away, we somehow expect something in return.

Is this God’s motivation? Is God expecting something back?

When God creates he simply tells what he has created to keep on creating to multiply and expand and grow. It’s almost as though this God, receives pleasure when his creation keeps on giving. Somehow when this divine principle of giving is practiced by the Creator’s creation the Creator receives. When creation gives, the Creator receives. When you give, God receives.

AndyC...

P.s. I wouldn't blame you if you thought my writing and phrasing in this article has a Rob Bell feel to it, I read and listen way too much to his stuff :D

Oh yes and this is just a random experiment on my part to make sense of the bible it's not a hermeneutical expose, it's just random thoughts that make sense to me, I hope they make sense to you.

Torn bits of paper (Abstract Confessions of a Cynic)

This is an attempt, by me, to be poetic. And not just for the sake of it either. There are limitations to endlessly trying to prove a point about anything, especially God! This is an attempt at removing those limitations. Writing a poem instead of an argument frees me up from being defensive, how do you defend a poem? You don't, you share it and allow people to come to their own conclusions. So, how do we get passed relating to God and Jesus in a systematic and rigid manner? I don't know the answer, but this poem is an attempt to be expressive not rigid, honest not defensive, hopefully it comes across this way...

The Poem:

Like torn bits of paper
At the mercy of the morning breeze
My thoughts are littered(I confess)
Disgusted and diseased

Like torn bits of paper
On a canvas of chaos
My heart is broken (I confess)
A mess and lifeless

Like torn bits of paper
In the hands of an artist
I am reconciled (I believe)
A mosaic in his likeness

Like torn bits of paper
Rough edges, tossed and tumbled
I am repentant (I believe)
Moved, aware, and humbled

Like torn bits of paper...

AndyC