Gratitude is the sign of a healthy psyche. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: MorningStar Ministries <noreply@morningstarministries.org> Date: Fri, Nov 25, 2011 at 1:05 AM Subject: Happy Thanksgiving - a note from Rick Joyner 
|  Thanksgiving by Rick Joyner One of the most powerful of all spiritual weapons is thanksgiving. Few things can change our lives more than turning our complaining into thanksgiving. As we are told in I Thessalonians 5:16-18, we should: “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Think about it—“in everything give thanks” because it is the will of God. To be able to sincerely do this is one of the ultimate signs of true spiritual maturity. If we believe the Word of God that “God causes all things to work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (see Romans 8:28), then we should give thanks for all things. It’s just not that easy to do, but when we do, we are walking in the faith that pleases Him because it is an ultimate trust in Him.
As Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday, let us also remember to be thankful for our country, for the freedoms we still have, and for all who paid such a high price for us to have them. Let us also resolve that we will not take them for granted, but will do our part to preserve them and not let such a priceless gift be lost on our watch.
As we approach this great holiday, take a minute to consider the promises and declarations about the power of thanksgiving in these few verses:
“He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; and to him who
orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God” (Psalm 50:23).
This is not just the salvation of our souls but our salvation from attacks and troubles. The first generation of Israel that left Egypt died in the wilderness without attaining their Promised Land because of their “grumbling and complaining.” Those who are prone to grumble will likewise spend their lives going in circles and will die in a wasteland because complaining is the opposite of thanksgiving. God wants to lead us to walk in all of the promises, but it takes faith and patience to inherit the promises (see Hebrews 6:12). So let us resolve to turn our complaining into thankfulness. It can change our destinies. Then there is another important reason to be a thankful person. We enter the presence of the Lord with thanksgiving, as we read in these two verses: "Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving"
(see Psalm 95:2) "Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courts with praise"
(Psalm 100:4) In both of these verses, we see that to enter His presence we must come with thanksgiving. If we will start our day by recounting before the Lord how thankful we are to Him, we can enter His presence first thing. By keeping a thankful heart all day, we can abide in His presence. This is the way to the happiest and most successful life. Would you like to live a peaceful life without stress? This is the key as we read in Philippians 4:6-7: "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." We must train ourselves that when we start feeling anxiety, it is a call to prayer. Thanksgiving is a link to the peace of God that guards us and keeps us abiding in Christ. Prayer is likened to incense in Scripture, and thanksgiving is the ingredient that makes our prayer a “sweet savor” to the Lord. We have so much to thank the Lord for that we will be thanking Him forever, and it won’t be long enough. So let’s get started! Happy Thanksgiving!
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A child walks into a church, then another. Listen to how she describes them both in the article linked below. The last time I was in one of those "cool" churches, I spent the service wondering where I could find a club with such a thumpin' bass. It was fun, though. But my takeaway from that service: yea, it was cool. Nice burgers at the cafe afterwards. Impressions from my last visit to a major local Catholic church: the interior was grand, reminiscent of the Elves' country in Middle Earth. There was a huge cross with a life-size Jesus on it looming large over the congregation, from behind the altar. I spent much of the service thinking, No way Jesus was that skinny. He spent his childhood and adult life as a carpenter (or builder, _tekton_) in an age without power tools. How did I feel between the two? Both were inspiring in some way. But the club atmosphere inspired me to check out a club. On the other hand, skinny Jesus distracted me a little. But everything else in that sanctuary pointed my mind Spiritward. In the end, a church service is not a consumer event, and if we're looking for a place that caters to us, it should cater to us by inspiring us to bow down in worship.
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One thing that always irks yet amuses me at the same time is when people express surprise that a robber or thief was "well-dressed and clean-cut". You see this often in forwarded emails that make the rounds. The email writer details how a friend of a friend or sometimes themselves were robbed at knife- or gunpoint and then ends it with a caution and surprise at how normal and un-robber-like the perpetrator looked. I'm always amused by how these people express protest that the criminal did not honour the imaginary code to dress like a criminal. Evil does not dress in red with a pointy tail and a horn-rimmed head. Ask for the grace to see beyond appearances, to the true nature of a thing - or a person.
"God is not a Christian." What do you say to that? ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Emergent Village <emergentstuff@gmail.com> Date: Tue, Jul 12, 2011 at 8:00 PM Subject: MINemergent - God is Not a Christian | | | | God is not a Christian We should in humility and joyfulness acknowledge that the supernatural and divine reality we all worship in some form or other transcends all our particular categories of thought and imagining, and that because the divine -- however named, however apprehended or conceived -- is infinite and we are forever finite, we shall never comprehend the divine completely. Archbishop Desmond Tutu
God is not a Christian: And other provocations Start or join the conversation for this posting on the Emergent Village Facebook Page What do you get when you cross Emergent Village with dynamic thinkers? Mini-emergents: daily wisdom to keep us thinking in fresh ways. We're always looking for great ideas to feature, so click here to propose your favorite quotes, lyrics, ancient adages, or even that brilliant realization that came to you this morning. We'll select and feature quotes that fall into the following categories: inspiration, theology, leadership, culture, poetry/song. Submit a contribution to MinEmergent@gmail.com |
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Ironically, although I am the younger of two brothers, I often struggle with "Older Brother Syndrome". The elder brother of the Prodigal Son did not just begrudge his younger brother's redemptive return; he begrudged his father's perceived lack of generosity toward him, the good son. In fact, he was blind. "You are always with me, and all I have is yours," his father told him when he whined. All he ever had to do was ask. He never did. He only toiled. Remind me to ask, Spirit. That's a sign of faith and humility. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: The High Calling Daily Reflection <Newsletter@thehighcalling.org> Date: Fri, Jul 8, 2011 at 5:35 PM Subject: Do You Suffer With “Older Brother Syndrome”?  | | | | Daily Reflection by Mark D. Roberts on Friday, July 08, 2011
Do You Suffer With “Older Brother Syndrome†? Luke 15:11-32
The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!' " [Luke 15:28-30] The parable we know as The Prodigal Son doesn’t end with the joyous return of the younger son to his father. In fact, this son is not even present in the last section of the story. It focuses, instead, on the older brother and his interaction with the father. When we left the parable yesterday, the “prodigal” father had just welcomed home his son with an extravagant party. The loud music caught the attention of the older son who was working in the fields. A servant reported to him the reason for the celebration: the return of his younger brother. The older brother did not share his father’s joy. In fact, he didn’t even join the party. When his father came out to get him, the older brother complained: “All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!” (15:29-30). Can you understand the older brother’s unhappiness? I can. As the perennial “good kid,” I used to look down my nose on my classmates who got into trouble by making terrible choices. If, when those classmates were caught by the authorities, they received a grand celebration rather than detention, I know I’d have been peeved. So, I can imagine what’s going on in the head of the older brother. “My father is endorsing selfish and immoral behavior. Shouldn’t I be recognized for my faithfulness and decency? My father takes me for granted. He never appreciates me, etc.” Those of us who suffer with “older brother syndrome” have a hard time with God’s grace. A part of us actually thinks we don’t need it because we’re good enough on our own. Thus, when others receive God’s amazing grace, we aren’t amazed or delighted. Instead, we’re bugged. Yet, the more we recognize our own sin, the more we see that we need God’s grace just as much as more obvious sinners, the more we’ll want to join the party when any sinner says “yes” to God’s offer of forgiveness and restoration. QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: Have you ever found yourself in a position like that of the older brother? How did you feel? How did you act? What do you think opens our hearts to celebrate God’s lavish grace? PRAYER: Dear Lord, you know that I often suffer with the “older brother syndrome.” I don’t mind when others receive your grace. But I don’t want it to be too lavish. I don’t want them to receive more than I have. Thus, I can miss out on your joy over the repentance of sinners. I can lock myself out of your party. Help me, dear Lord, to see just how much I rely on your grace. Keep me from self-absorption and “grace-greed.” Give me, instead, a generous and rejoicing heart. May I celebrate with you when sinners return to you, sinners who are, in the end, just like me. All praise be to you, lavish, gracious, forgiving, celebrating God! Amen. | | |   | | |
Here's a question: Is God "out there" or is God within you?
1.
People travel, climb mountains, move mountains, go to strange lands on missions to find God. But where is he found? Devotees who go on pilgrimages - do they find God at the end of their pilgrimage, or do they find themselves? Put another way, do they find God within themselves? A pilgrim travels round the world and climbs a mountain - and does he meet God descending from a cloud on the top of the mountain? Or does he find God in his travails, solitude, meditations and interactions with the people he meets on the journey?
Is God within you or is God up in the blue beyond?
That is the first question, and I posit that God is within you. Both by reason of the above thought experiment and by the fact that "the Bible says so". But I do not want to lead with the gavel of dogma. Suffice to say, God is within you, in the temple not made with hands, in the temple of the Holy Spirit.
2.
Now, if God is within you, is he somewhere in the middle of your being, like your muscles that form layers around your vital organs? Or is God more like your heart or brain - the centre of everything, and without which everything else fails (that is, dies)?
God, being the supreme being, if he were within you, would be the most "within", the most central. He would be the heart of your heart, if your heart were centre. He would be the brain of you brain, if your brain were the centre.
3.
Here's the third consideration: If God were right at the core of your being, so deep within that you cannot even begin to fathom, would it not take a great adventure and lots of boldness to find him? Would you not have to go through many layers of yourself, many dark, hidden layers of your very being, your mind, your psyche, your innermost being that is almost animal, which makes you cry at times your mind cannot begin to understand, and rejoice at things your intellect cannot explain?
Would not the journey toward discovering God entail discovering more of yourself in the process?
I posit that it would. I posit that we do ourselves a disservice - and we do our God a disservice - when we shy away from knowing ourselves, when we ignore our deep beings and pretend that all that we feel and know and think and rage against and feel passion for to the extent of pain, is worthless, and that only study and congregational attendance are worthwhile.
x.
So, listen. Listen to yourself. God speaks to you, but if he is within you, his voice comes from within. Don't be afraid to listen. You can always check what you hear with trusted fellows.
But you must first listen to God who lives within, beyond the inner parts of your unseen being.
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If you try to be different on purpose you will end up being the same, if you try to just be yourself and follow your own nature you will stand out from all the rest.
If it comes down to a choice between the divine and your ol' family or good friends, you have to know where your will lies. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: The High Calling Daily Reflection <Newsletter@thehighcalling.org> Date: Tue, Jun 14, 2011 at 5:34 PM Subject: Am I Really Supposed to Hate My Family? | View in a web browser | | | | | | Daily Reflection by Mark D. Roberts on Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Am I Really Supposed to Hate My Family? Luke 14:25-27
“If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.” [Luke 14:26] Yesterday, I began considering Luke 14:26 with its troubling instruction about hating our family members. I suggested that we need to be wise interpreters of this verse, recognizing that Jesus is using the rhetorical form known as hyperbole (exaggeration). Jesus does not want us to hate our closest relatives by stirring up bad feelings for them or treating them poorly. But he does want us to be shaken up, so that we might see in new ways what it means to be his disciples, and how this leads to a new way of relating to all people, including our family members. In fact, one prevalent barrier to Christian discipleship is too much attachment to family, especially as defined by cultural, traditional, and personal values. I think, for example, of a friend of mine whose mainstream Protestant parents did not approve of his call to pastoral ministry. They used all the tools at their disposal, including financial leverage and shame, to get him to pursue a more profitable career as a doctor or a lawyer. In the end, my friend found the courage to be faithful to Christ in spite of his parents’ disapproval. In a sense, he had to “hate” his parents in order to be an obedient disciple of Jesus. During my parish ministry, I watched good church-going parents use the “priority of family time” rationale to get in the way of their teenagers’ growth as disciples of Jesus. Family time would preclude the regular involvement of their kids in Bible study groups. Family vacations kept their teenagers from being part of life-changing mission trips. In some cases, the parents who prized family so much were the ones who later blamed the church when their children wandered away from the Lord in college. Now I realize that there are times when parents rightly choose to have their children involved in family rather than church events. But, as a parent, I know how easy it is to choose what feels best for me without considering what’s best for my kids and their discipleship. After all, I “hate” it when they’re not around for family events and trips. There are no simple answers here. I want to encourage parents—and all of us—to take a fresh look at our family relationships in light of our primary commitment to Christ. In fact, faithful parents can often help their children grow in their discipleship, rather than impede it. If we model commitment to Christ in our lives, our children will be encouraged to imitate our example. The same is true for other adults who influence young people with whom they have relationship. No matter what we say, our actions will speak loudly and clearly of what authentic discipleship is all about. QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: Can you think of adults whose example of faithfulness to Christ has influenced you? Are there people in your life who are being influenced by your discipleship? Do you ever find a tension between your discipleship and your family relationships? PRAYER: Dear Lord, I do want to follow you faithfully, to seek you first and foremost in my life. Yet, there are many times when I feel torn. Sometimes I’m not sure how best to follow you. Other times, I know what discipleship requires, but I’m just not sure I want to do it. So, help me, I pray, to know how best to follow you and to choose the path of discipleship above all. Help me also, Lord, as I seek to set an example of faithfulness for my children. May I live in such a way that they are encouraged to seek you above all in life. May they know that when I put you first, I am better able to love them in a way that honors you and helps them grow as your disciples. Amen. | | | | | | |
---------- Forwarded message ---------- * A man **feared his wife wasn't hearing as well as she used to and he
thought she might need a hearing **aid. * *
Not quite sure how to approach her, he called the family doctor to
discuss
the problem. * *
The Doctor told him there is a simple informal test the husband could
perform to give the **doctor a better idea about her hearing loss. * *
Here's what you do," said the Doctor, "stand about 40 feet away from
her,
and in a normal conversational speaking tone see if she hears you. * *If not, go to 30 feet, then 20 feet, and so on until **you get a
response." * *
That eve ning, the wife is in the kitchen cooking dinner, and he was in
the
den. He says to himself, "I'm about 40 feet away, let's see what
happens."
* *Then in a normal tone he asks, 'Honey, what's for dinner?" * *
No response.. * *
So the husband moves closer to the kitchen, about 30 feet from his wife
and
repeats, "Honey, **what's for dinner?" * *
Still no response. * *
Next he moves into the dining room where he is about 20 feet from his
wife
and asks, "Honey, **what's for dinner?" * *
Again he gets no response. * *
So, he walks up to the kitchen door, ab out 10 feet away. "Honey,
what's for
**dinner?" Again there is no response.
So he walks right up behind her. "Honey, **what's for dinner?"
* *
**
"Ralph, **for the FIFTH time, CHICKEN!"** *
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