Good Morning All,
Last week when we took a look at Jesus’ teachings about the Kingdom of God ; the Realm of God, One of the things to which Jesus compared it all, was a mustard seed—reminding us that bigger is not necessarily better. My recent encounter with “new and improved” technology caused me to reflect upon this teaching when it comes to the countless advertisements shouting at us about upgrades, the bundling of services and other technological gadgets. Is the latest and greatest that technology has to offer, better? I really do wonder…
A few weeks ago one of the thunderstorms that rolled through our area affected my cable TV service. I was a bit perplexed in that it only affected the TV in the living room—yes, I have more than one television in my home…but we’re not going there, OK? :) Tried as I might, I couldn’t get it to work and had to resort to going online with “live tech support.” After about 20 minutes of instructions, ranging from, “Tell me what is lit up on the box” to “Let’s reboot by unplugging the electrical connection in the wall,” the internet connection fails and “Bye-bye tech help!”
Then thru the magic of cyberspace, I get reconnected, not to the same tech of course, who finally told me that she would make arrangements for an onsite tech to come out and fix the problem. And 4 days later, the tech did just that…and to my embarrassment, by punching a few keys on the remote!
And then 5 days later someone is in the driveway spray painting orange and red lines from the road to the house. What are you doing? I’m preparing the way for some cable guys to lay a new cable line…and I’m thinking, “Funny, you don’t look like John the Baptist!” :) And 3 days later, 2 other guys arrive to lay the new cable. While doing so, I have no cable, no internet, no phone—the joys of “bundling” my services—more like bungling. When they said they were finished and we’re leaving, I asked them to wait while I checked to see if everything was back up and running…And yes, you guessed it; I still had no connections of any sort…
“Well, Ma’am, our lines are definitely connected…you’ll have to call for a Time Warner tech to come out.”
“And I’m supposed to do that by using a dead phone?”
Hmmmm…”Let me see what I can do…” And off he goes to consult with his companion…and 30 minutes later all is connected correctly to the power source; the services are restored… WoooooHooo!
Amid all my frustrations, I pause…there really is a life lesson at work here…isn’t this the problem that you and I have from day to day? When we find ourselves not working or functioning up to par, it doesn’t take long to realize that we are not connected to the Power Source. The Power is there, but it’s not coming through. Yes, you and I are functioning at some level—maybe even able to sit up and take a little thin soup—but it’s not enough to tackle what we must tackle in any given day. Sooner or later we run out of steam; we must reboot our system so that we may be connected to the source of power…THE Source of Power, lest we lose important data.
Excuse me…I must go now and Power Up so that I will have whatever I need to move through this day…perhaps you need to do the same…
Blessings, Joanne
“Come, Satisfy the Hungry Heart”
www.CovenantChristianChurch-Cary.org
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
The Wastefulness of God
Good Morning All,
During the Commission on Ministry meeting earlier this month, one of the seminarians who appeared before us showed me a book he was reading and recommended. He had me when he said it was an easy read; emphasis on easy. :) That’s what I like especially in the summer. I’m sure some of you are already familiar with The Shack (Where tragedy confronts eternity) by William P. Young. I only lack a few pages until finishing it and have thoroughly enjoyed how the story brings the reader into a yet another approach to a relationship with God, spurred on by an encounter with personal tragedy.
The 6 year old daughter of the main character, Mack, was abducted while on a family camping trip and later found in an abandoned shack. “Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him to return to that same shack for a weekend…In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant, The Shack wrestles with the timeless question, “’Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?’” (from the back cover)
It’s important to note that this is a work of fiction—the author is not a theologian—and it’s not to be taken as gospel truth. But the story line raises many questions that beg the reader’s own answers--questions that deal with who God is; the nature and makeup of the Trinity (which isn’t even mentioned in scripture); good and evil; free will, etc. And anything that causes us to wrestle with what YOU and I each believe about our faith; anything that causes us to strengthen what YOU and I believe, can’t be all bad, right?
In the story line is an exchange that speaks to what I have come to believe about the nature of God and God’s grace; that God offers us the “wastefulness of grace…” Some of us might look at wastefulness as a bad thing…so what’s up with the idea of God’s grace being wasteful? Does this mean that God spends or uses the gift of grace in a less than careful manner? That God squanders the gift of grace? Hmmmmmmm….
Perhaps the “wastefulness of God” can be viewed in the same way as an approach to the parable we usually call, “the Prodigal Son.” One approach ends up naming it as the story of the Prodigal God! The word, “prodigal” by first definition is, “recklessly extravagant” and can be attributed to the younger son in the parable as he goes about wasting his resources and his life. The second definition is, “one who spends or gives lavishly. This second definition fits more with who God is and what God does…offering us lavishly all that we need; lavishly, with reckless abandon, offering us God’s gifts…
For many of us this remains a difficult concept to wholeheartedly believe. Surely God doesn’t mean to shower everyone with blessings we don’t deserve—the obedient as well as the disobedient? How foolish! Surely God doesn’t shower everyone with God’s grace—the good as well as the bad? What a waste!
Which leaves me asking yet another question: Who are we to question God’s actions?
I for one am eternally grateful for the wastefulness of God…How ‘bout you?
Blessings, Joanne
“Come, Satisfy the Hungry Heart”
www.CovenantChristianChurch-Cary.org
PS. I would like you to consider reading The Shack as an “easy summer read” and get back to me as to whether you would like to explore the questions and answers that are presented in the story and wrestle with what YOU believe…I’ll check back with all of you in a few weeks and we’ll find a time to get together…one daytime and one evening time…
During the Commission on Ministry meeting earlier this month, one of the seminarians who appeared before us showed me a book he was reading and recommended. He had me when he said it was an easy read; emphasis on easy. :) That’s what I like especially in the summer. I’m sure some of you are already familiar with The Shack (Where tragedy confronts eternity) by William P. Young. I only lack a few pages until finishing it and have thoroughly enjoyed how the story brings the reader into a yet another approach to a relationship with God, spurred on by an encounter with personal tragedy.
The 6 year old daughter of the main character, Mack, was abducted while on a family camping trip and later found in an abandoned shack. “Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him to return to that same shack for a weekend…In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant, The Shack wrestles with the timeless question, “’Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?’” (from the back cover)
It’s important to note that this is a work of fiction—the author is not a theologian—and it’s not to be taken as gospel truth. But the story line raises many questions that beg the reader’s own answers--questions that deal with who God is; the nature and makeup of the Trinity (which isn’t even mentioned in scripture); good and evil; free will, etc. And anything that causes us to wrestle with what YOU and I each believe about our faith; anything that causes us to strengthen what YOU and I believe, can’t be all bad, right?
In the story line is an exchange that speaks to what I have come to believe about the nature of God and God’s grace; that God offers us the “wastefulness of grace…” Some of us might look at wastefulness as a bad thing…so what’s up with the idea of God’s grace being wasteful? Does this mean that God spends or uses the gift of grace in a less than careful manner? That God squanders the gift of grace? Hmmmmmmm….
Perhaps the “wastefulness of God” can be viewed in the same way as an approach to the parable we usually call, “the Prodigal Son.” One approach ends up naming it as the story of the Prodigal God! The word, “prodigal” by first definition is, “recklessly extravagant” and can be attributed to the younger son in the parable as he goes about wasting his resources and his life. The second definition is, “one who spends or gives lavishly. This second definition fits more with who God is and what God does…offering us lavishly all that we need; lavishly, with reckless abandon, offering us God’s gifts…
For many of us this remains a difficult concept to wholeheartedly believe. Surely God doesn’t mean to shower everyone with blessings we don’t deserve—the obedient as well as the disobedient? How foolish! Surely God doesn’t shower everyone with God’s grace—the good as well as the bad? What a waste!
Which leaves me asking yet another question: Who are we to question God’s actions?
I for one am eternally grateful for the wastefulness of God…How ‘bout you?
Blessings, Joanne
“Come, Satisfy the Hungry Heart”
www.CovenantChristianChurch-Cary.org
PS. I would like you to consider reading The Shack as an “easy summer read” and get back to me as to whether you would like to explore the questions and answers that are presented in the story and wrestle with what YOU believe…I’ll check back with all of you in a few weeks and we’ll find a time to get together…one daytime and one evening time…
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Holy Time Out
Good Morning All,
I returned home from working out this afternoon; no need to be impressed; haven’t been to the Rex Wellness Center for quite some time. Feeling a bit virtuous nonetheless, but I’m sure this too shall pass. :) After dinner I thought I would catch up with some phone messages but as I passed through the living room, “what to my wondering eyes should appear?”--A young buck eating grass in the back yard. He must have seen my movement through the window as he stopped and seemed to stare right at me. I moved to get a better view and he saw me again. This went on for another 15 minutes or so until he headed off down to the creek in the woods.
It’s good to stand still and to observe one of God’s seemingly gentle and curious creatures grazing in the yard; all the while ever vigilant of his surroundings. For a brief few moments I found myself transported from the everyday tugs on my life to a world that gives me the gift of a deer grazing in the early evening light. And just as suddenly as the deer appeared, my thoughts turned to the news that the body of Nancy Cooper, the woman who left home to go jogging last Saturday morning, was found less than a mile from where the deer and I were standing...to think that something as horrific as the murder of a young mother had taken place nearby just a few days before.
Experiencing the deer’s presence, up close and personal and then knowing that a death had taken place near my home, only serves to remind me for the gazillionth time, that life IS fragile.
And I’m always left wondering why it takes the extremes of life’s experiences to teach me this invaluable lesson. Somehow most of us find ourselves being torn in so many directions each day; allowing little or no time for self or family; to take time to not only smell the roses, but to see an owl take flight or to hear the lament of a hawk in a distant tree; to see children at play; to visit with a dear friend; a spouse; a parent; a child or teenager; to share laughter.
Why can’t we simply slow down long enough to take time to play; time to listen; time to relax; time to pray for strength and courage; peace and justice; time to sort through the problem areas of life—making a way through any financial hardships we might be experiencing; unemployment or having to work several jobs to make ends meet; relationship concerns; health challenges—of our own of someone we love; or sorting through the clutter of our lives…
We go about the hectic pace from day to day as if it were the demands of our life that really mattered. When what REALLY matters is taking some “holy time out” to be with those who matter and to do the things that matter. And during this “holy time out” to remember that God is in all of life with us; walking in front, leading the way; walking beside us as a friend and partner; walking behind us, prodding us, nudging us to keep moving ahead.
Oh, we of little faith; how faith-less we are each time we think we must go it alone. How quickly we forget that the One who calms the storms of life is as close as a prayer; as is the One who takes our burdens and makes the load a whole lot lighter; the One who is in the stillness of the moment; the One who stands ready to guide us; the One who transports us from where we are to where God wants and needs us to be...
Thanks be to God…the One to whom we can return over and over again when life is filled with paradoxes; confusion; emptiness and uncertainty; the One to whom we can turn when life makes absolutely no sense; who promises to be with us always...beginning right here and now...in the fragility of this day...Life is Fragile—Handle with Prayer...
Blessings, Joanne
I returned home from working out this afternoon; no need to be impressed; haven’t been to the Rex Wellness Center for quite some time. Feeling a bit virtuous nonetheless, but I’m sure this too shall pass. :) After dinner I thought I would catch up with some phone messages but as I passed through the living room, “what to my wondering eyes should appear?”--A young buck eating grass in the back yard. He must have seen my movement through the window as he stopped and seemed to stare right at me. I moved to get a better view and he saw me again. This went on for another 15 minutes or so until he headed off down to the creek in the woods.
It’s good to stand still and to observe one of God’s seemingly gentle and curious creatures grazing in the yard; all the while ever vigilant of his surroundings. For a brief few moments I found myself transported from the everyday tugs on my life to a world that gives me the gift of a deer grazing in the early evening light. And just as suddenly as the deer appeared, my thoughts turned to the news that the body of Nancy Cooper, the woman who left home to go jogging last Saturday morning, was found less than a mile from where the deer and I were standing...to think that something as horrific as the murder of a young mother had taken place nearby just a few days before.
Experiencing the deer’s presence, up close and personal and then knowing that a death had taken place near my home, only serves to remind me for the gazillionth time, that life IS fragile.
And I’m always left wondering why it takes the extremes of life’s experiences to teach me this invaluable lesson. Somehow most of us find ourselves being torn in so many directions each day; allowing little or no time for self or family; to take time to not only smell the roses, but to see an owl take flight or to hear the lament of a hawk in a distant tree; to see children at play; to visit with a dear friend; a spouse; a parent; a child or teenager; to share laughter.
Why can’t we simply slow down long enough to take time to play; time to listen; time to relax; time to pray for strength and courage; peace and justice; time to sort through the problem areas of life—making a way through any financial hardships we might be experiencing; unemployment or having to work several jobs to make ends meet; relationship concerns; health challenges—of our own of someone we love; or sorting through the clutter of our lives…
We go about the hectic pace from day to day as if it were the demands of our life that really mattered. When what REALLY matters is taking some “holy time out” to be with those who matter and to do the things that matter. And during this “holy time out” to remember that God is in all of life with us; walking in front, leading the way; walking beside us as a friend and partner; walking behind us, prodding us, nudging us to keep moving ahead.
Oh, we of little faith; how faith-less we are each time we think we must go it alone. How quickly we forget that the One who calms the storms of life is as close as a prayer; as is the One who takes our burdens and makes the load a whole lot lighter; the One who is in the stillness of the moment; the One who stands ready to guide us; the One who transports us from where we are to where God wants and needs us to be...
Thanks be to God…the One to whom we can return over and over again when life is filled with paradoxes; confusion; emptiness and uncertainty; the One to whom we can turn when life makes absolutely no sense; who promises to be with us always...beginning right here and now...in the fragility of this day...Life is Fragile—Handle with Prayer...
Blessings, Joanne
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Do Good
Good Morning All,
If you pay attention to your life and to the world, it’s easy to understand why we sometimes feel helpless and unable to come close to helping others, those whom we know as well as the stranger, resolve their needs and challenges in life. We become overwhelmed by life in general. It’s part of the human condition…some even call it “compassion fatigue”—we wear ourselves out in response to the needs of others. I don’t know how you respond, but this is when I have found myself throwing my hands up and saying to God things like:
“OK God…What do you want from me anyway? Why do you expect me to care so much? What good do my seemingly insignificant efforts really do to alleviate the suffering and pain of so many?” Or, why are some folks so difficult to love? Am I the only one in my family who can figure this out? Or, what’s up with the need to compromise or work things out?
Sometimes I want to put up a sign that says…Gone fishin’…see you next year!” :) Perhaps your personal pleas to God are a bit different, depending on the circumstances, but just about the time you and I might want to give up and cast it all into the wind, along comes this gentle reminder from Jesus found in Matthew 11: 28-30: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest…learn from me…for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls…”
In addition to these comforting words of Jesus, I also offer you another reading that might help guide our thoughts and actions that express scriptural direction and hope: “Paradoxical Commandments,” written by Dr. Kent Keith, when he was a sophomore at Harvard in 1968. He wrote them as a challenge for student leaders, “to always do what is right and good, even if others don’t appreciate it. You have to keep striving, he writes, “no matter what, because if you don’t, many of the things that need to be done in our world, will never get done.” So, try this on for sighs :) :
The Paradoxical Commandments by Dr. Kent M. Keith
People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.
© Copyright Kent M. Keith 1968, renewed 2001
Jesus invites us to share our burdens, frustrations and challenges with him and with each other, remembering that God has also equipped us with minds to think, hearts to feel and hands to help, even when we least desire to do so…
So, let’s go out and do what is right and good, even if we don’t feel like it..after all, many of the things that need doing in this world will never get done…I will if you will…
Blessings, Joanne
If you pay attention to your life and to the world, it’s easy to understand why we sometimes feel helpless and unable to come close to helping others, those whom we know as well as the stranger, resolve their needs and challenges in life. We become overwhelmed by life in general. It’s part of the human condition…some even call it “compassion fatigue”—we wear ourselves out in response to the needs of others. I don’t know how you respond, but this is when I have found myself throwing my hands up and saying to God things like:
“OK God…What do you want from me anyway? Why do you expect me to care so much? What good do my seemingly insignificant efforts really do to alleviate the suffering and pain of so many?” Or, why are some folks so difficult to love? Am I the only one in my family who can figure this out? Or, what’s up with the need to compromise or work things out?
Sometimes I want to put up a sign that says…Gone fishin’…see you next year!” :) Perhaps your personal pleas to God are a bit different, depending on the circumstances, but just about the time you and I might want to give up and cast it all into the wind, along comes this gentle reminder from Jesus found in Matthew 11: 28-30: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest…learn from me…for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls…”
In addition to these comforting words of Jesus, I also offer you another reading that might help guide our thoughts and actions that express scriptural direction and hope: “Paradoxical Commandments,” written by Dr. Kent Keith, when he was a sophomore at Harvard in 1968. He wrote them as a challenge for student leaders, “to always do what is right and good, even if others don’t appreciate it. You have to keep striving, he writes, “no matter what, because if you don’t, many of the things that need to be done in our world, will never get done.” So, try this on for sighs :) :
The Paradoxical Commandments by Dr. Kent M. Keith
People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.
© Copyright Kent M. Keith 1968, renewed 2001
Jesus invites us to share our burdens, frustrations and challenges with him and with each other, remembering that God has also equipped us with minds to think, hearts to feel and hands to help, even when we least desire to do so…
So, let’s go out and do what is right and good, even if we don’t feel like it..after all, many of the things that need doing in this world will never get done…I will if you will…
Blessings, Joanne
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
The Family of Faith
Good Morning All,
“Gosh, I’m just swamped with work… studies…family demands…I’m just not getting enough sleep…(insert your own excuse here)…getting ready to come to worship (insert other church meeting/activity here) and being in worship(meeting/activity) takes up a lot of my time…I need that time with my cup of coffee and the Sunday morning paper…it’s the only morning I can sleep in and take it easy…after all, I can worship God on my patio…at my kitchen table, right?” It’s the only time I can get away…I can worship God on the golf course, right? At the beach, right? In the mountains, right? During my own “pillow devotions,” :) right?
These are just a sampling of the “justifiable reasons” people express for not being in worship—justifiable to the persons making their case for absenteeism, but God’s verdict has yet to be rendered on this one…or has it…”Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy…” comes to mind… But I’m not writing this to make anyone feel guilty…guilt runs rampant throughout every part of our lives and accomplishes very little.
I’m bringing this to our attention to remind us all of something more important and more revealing about our relationship with God and the church. It’s not about the need to be away; or to take a little R ‘n’ R from time to time. Of course we all need a break from the stresses and demands of everyday life. Even God rested on the 7th day, right? Jesus went off to be by himself to pray quite regularly; found that quiet mountain rest from time to time.
It’s not any of the excuses we offer that disturb me; it’s more about how I think most of us have forgotten the purpose of a faith community. Yes, God can be worshipped anywhere… There, I’ve said it! You do not have to be in worship on Sunday morning each week in order to worship God…God indeed, is everywhere and I imagine God is pleased with our worship wherever and whenever we take time to do so…And yes, we can indeed worship God by ourselves…But there’s more to being a faithful Christian than this…worshipping God calls us to be in community with one another. We are called to gather together to support each other.
Your life may be going along just fine for the moment…Praise God. But the person seated next to you in worship, may be quietly sitting in his/her own “pool of tears” or filled with joy because there is something to celebrate that day; and you are needed to be there for that person. The joys are easily shared with one another. But you may never know the hurt and pain of that person next to you; nor the importance of the comfort or encouragement you offer simply by being there.
And when it’s your turn, and you have a joy to share or when you are engulfed by your own “pool of tears,” you need others to be there for you in the same way…worshipping together is a “win-win” experience. We give and receive to and from the other…we’re there for each other.
“...what we glimpse is life woven together in love…interwoven in ways that do not smother and encumber but release and strengthen. Here is God’s desire and design for created life…
“So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith (Gal.6:10). No dimension of another’s life lies beyond the scope of the Christian’s concern and care. Paul enjoins us to “bear one another’s burdens” and so fulfill the commandment to love one another (Gal. 6:2)…New life in Christ manifests itself in responsibility for the other…” (John Mogabgab, Weavings XXIII:4; July August 2008)
This is the purpose of being Church—the body of believers gathered together in one place…See you the next time we gather in one place…Blessings, Joanne
“Gosh, I’m just swamped with work… studies…family demands…I’m just not getting enough sleep…(insert your own excuse here)…getting ready to come to worship (insert other church meeting/activity here) and being in worship(meeting/activity) takes up a lot of my time…I need that time with my cup of coffee and the Sunday morning paper…it’s the only morning I can sleep in and take it easy…after all, I can worship God on my patio…at my kitchen table, right?” It’s the only time I can get away…I can worship God on the golf course, right? At the beach, right? In the mountains, right? During my own “pillow devotions,” :) right?
These are just a sampling of the “justifiable reasons” people express for not being in worship—justifiable to the persons making their case for absenteeism, but God’s verdict has yet to be rendered on this one…or has it…”Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy…” comes to mind… But I’m not writing this to make anyone feel guilty…guilt runs rampant throughout every part of our lives and accomplishes very little.
I’m bringing this to our attention to remind us all of something more important and more revealing about our relationship with God and the church. It’s not about the need to be away; or to take a little R ‘n’ R from time to time. Of course we all need a break from the stresses and demands of everyday life. Even God rested on the 7th day, right? Jesus went off to be by himself to pray quite regularly; found that quiet mountain rest from time to time.
It’s not any of the excuses we offer that disturb me; it’s more about how I think most of us have forgotten the purpose of a faith community. Yes, God can be worshipped anywhere… There, I’ve said it! You do not have to be in worship on Sunday morning each week in order to worship God…God indeed, is everywhere and I imagine God is pleased with our worship wherever and whenever we take time to do so…And yes, we can indeed worship God by ourselves…But there’s more to being a faithful Christian than this…worshipping God calls us to be in community with one another. We are called to gather together to support each other.
Your life may be going along just fine for the moment…Praise God. But the person seated next to you in worship, may be quietly sitting in his/her own “pool of tears” or filled with joy because there is something to celebrate that day; and you are needed to be there for that person. The joys are easily shared with one another. But you may never know the hurt and pain of that person next to you; nor the importance of the comfort or encouragement you offer simply by being there.
And when it’s your turn, and you have a joy to share or when you are engulfed by your own “pool of tears,” you need others to be there for you in the same way…worshipping together is a “win-win” experience. We give and receive to and from the other…we’re there for each other.
“...what we glimpse is life woven together in love…interwoven in ways that do not smother and encumber but release and strengthen. Here is God’s desire and design for created life…
“So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith (Gal.6:10). No dimension of another’s life lies beyond the scope of the Christian’s concern and care. Paul enjoins us to “bear one another’s burdens” and so fulfill the commandment to love one another (Gal. 6:2)…New life in Christ manifests itself in responsibility for the other…” (John Mogabgab, Weavings XXIII:4; July August 2008)
This is the purpose of being Church—the body of believers gathered together in one place…See you the next time we gather in one place…Blessings, Joanne
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