The Spirit of Love, The Spirit of Christ

The Christian Faith is not a religion. It is a way of life. It is a practice of the presence and spirit of God. It is the allowing of the spirit of Christ to express himself through our lives. The Bible teaches that we are Temples or containers of God. We do not bring the law, condemnation or judgment but we bring the spirit of Christ. We bring Love, Peace and Joy. We bring acceptance, inclusion and hope.

This is our gift to the world....a God given, Love and hope that has within itself the power to transform individuals, relationships, families, communities and nations simply because it connects and bonds us to God and each other.

Once embraced, this spirit of Love heals the embracing one by shattering the false image of being separate and unloved and reveals our true identity of being the beloved. However the spirit of Christ does not stop there but also reveals to us that all people are God's beloved.

This love empowers and propels us to demonstrate and reveal this message of love to all. This is the "Good News". The is the mission!

Getting still is a practice

He leads me beside still waters.....Ps 23

Life has a way of being noisy and hectic. Stress is the friction of living a fiction. When we get overwhelmed, or stressed out it is time to reconnect with stillness and truth. I have of late gotten so busy that I unconsciously allowed myself to become disconnected from self and God. This brought about stress or friction in my own life.For me I then begin looking for ways to find comfort and peace. Food, distractions or other unhealthy practices promise comfort but never deliver.

However the Spirit whispers to me to return to the stillness and peace that passes understanding.

"Quiet the mind, pull aside from the race and find rest for the weary soul".

Thank you God for your faithfulness, thank you for leading me into paths that nourish and supply life.

Amen....Let it Be!

When?

Many times even in matters of faith, happiness is a future prize. I lived many years with that kind of mentality. Recently there has been many deaths of friends and people I know. This has made me ponder and think about life. One of my favorite movies " A Peaceful Warrior" talks about how most people sleep walk through life. Happiness is always in the future. This morning I read an email I received from "Zen Habits" that I thought I would share with you......bottom line don't wait to live....


My Life of Waiting

When I was young, I couldn’t wait to become an adult. Oh, the freedom! Becoming an adult would bring me happiness. I couldn’t wait.

When I became an adult, I couldn’t wait to get a good job. That would surely bring happiness. I couldn’t wait. When I got a good job, I couldn’t wait to get a raise. When I got a raise, I couldn’t wait to get married. When I got married, I couldn’t wait to buy a nicer car. Got the car, then I couldn’t wait to buy a house.

When I bought the house, I couldn’t wait to … get out of debt.

I could go on for quite awhile, but you get the point. None of my desires ever produced happiness, because I was stuck in the mindset of wanting more. When I got what I wanted, I wanted something else. My happiness was always on hold, because I was waiting to reach a goal.

Waiting for happiness.

What do I know?

I had a friend ask me a question recently because he felt I knew more about God than he did, because of my pastoral experience. While it is true nothing has taught me more about God and people than pastoring, the one lesson I have discovered more life changing than any other is the acknowledgment of what I do not know. When you realize that God and the universe cannot be explained or understood completely with our minds you leave the land of religion and move into real faith. I take great comfort in the fact that God is bigger than my understanding or religion's attempt at definition.

I am sharing an article by a pastor that I hope you enjoy:

TRUTH IS A JOURNEY, NOT A DESTINATION
D.E. PAULK

We never arrive. In all of our acquiring knowledge we must remember to get understanding. And what is understanding? True understanding is accepting that truth is a journey, not a destination.

Just because Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would guide us into ALL TRUTH doesn't necessarily mean that the truth will come all at once or from one culture, cult, religion or religious figure. Truth is a proceeding word or a continual flow that emits to and through all of creation. Because we are both flesh and spirit we are temporarily, yet not permanently, unable to see all of God's Spirit and Truth at once or even clearly.

I Corinthians 13:12 says, Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror... Claiming to know something that we can never completely know keeps us from a deeper knowing. We see. However, we do not yet see clearly. Questions are like Windex for the mirror of our soul. As we ask questions, we wipe away a little more of the debris that blurs our vision, and we remove the obstacles that keep us from seeing into the mirror correctly.

Once we lose our perceptions of knowing, the mirror shows us something most unexpected... it shows us God! As we humble ourselves and ask, we experience the exaltation of knowing.
Quote of the Week

"We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself."
-Lloyd Alexander