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Journal Archives — March, 2007 |
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AN ONGOING
SPIRITUAL WEBLOG
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March 30, 2007
You've no doubt heard about The
Secret, a popular book made into a movie and publicized
by Oprah Winfrey and others. The law of attraction that is the basis
of this book and movie makes a lot of sense - on the surface. Whatever
we focus on and ask for with hopeful and faithful anticipation comes
to us. The Universe answers our request.
Of course, if we accept this idea on a simple level it sounds a lot like
Santa Claus. What Christian believers should do is connect with God.
We should strive to be in tune with the God consciousness within and
then proceed to live our lives with God's direction. This is not heresy;
it is a directive found in many places in the BIble and Jesus spoke of
it frequently.
The danger is when we envision our requests being met without accepting
that part of life's lessons are struggles, failures and suffering. All
that bad stuff we don't like to acknowledge. Fr. Richard Rohr, a noted
Franciscan writer and speaker, has posted his thoughts on The
Secret and you can read his insight here on
the Center for Action and Contemplation website.
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March 28, 2007
The situation in Iran with the capture and imprisoning of Britain's Royal
Navy personnell has again heightened the tension in the Middle East
and the world. The U.K. claims the Britons were 1.7 miles inside
Iraqi waters and "ambushed" by Iranians. Iran insists they were
inside its territorial water. | more
here |
We should all pray for a peaceful resolution. There is so much
anger and violence in the region. Peace is not easy to come by,
but more military action will only lead to more violence.
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March 27, 2007
Two great spritual building blocks: love and suffering. We all like the
love part. Suffering...not so much.
But suffering tells me to recognize that there is much in this world
that is more important than me and my comfort. Pain brings me to surrender.
Suffering unites me with Christ.
How to love when suffering? This is a big one. Jesus loved while suffering,
and not just suffering, but bearing the pain in his heart of the hatred
towards him. He refused to give in to that hatred, to return it or to
be defeated by it. He took the pain in and he held it and he transformed
it and returned love.
Jesus Christ is the great transformer.
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March 21, 2007
Today is the first official day of spring. Spring is a season of renewal.
Things begin to grow. Trees are budding, grass is sprouting and flowers
are blooming. It's a great time to recognize life and creation.
Here in Albuquerque, a high desert climate, we even have some showers
moving in as I write this. I love the smell of rain here.
As believers we should always be wanting to learn and grow. There is
head knowledge and there is heart knowledge. Go with the heart.
We always have a great selection of Christian books, music and other
resources on sale at our Living the Solution online store. Why not head
there now to check it out?
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March 19, 2007
St. Patrick's Day was on Saturday. Hopefully you celebrated safely and
joyfully. If you would like to be "green" all year, consider living eco-responsibly.
There is a lot of great information on how to do that at Co-Op
America
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March 15, 2007
I've noticed a couple of things about the times we live in and what people
are saying about God and Jesus Christ. Many people are questioning
things. This, in of itself, is not bad. We should use our
brains and our hearts in considering what we believe.
Some people refuse to think for themselves and will follow whoever sounds
good, feels good or is the most charismatic. This can produce rigid
fundamentalism. "It's right because we say so!"
Others are so open to whatever that they can't decide. I don't
mean everything has to be specifically defined. Who can do that
with God? The nature of God is beyond human words, description
or definition. But, we can certainly make decisions on how to live
and what moral guidelines are important.
For me, the teachings of Jesus Christ are the greatest. They tell
us how to be fully human and also how to let God indwell and live through
us to the benefit of all. To let the Kingdom of God reign here
on earth, if you will.
The other thing there seems to be more and more of are theories and attempts
to discredit or explain away Jesus Christ as the Son of God and Redeemer
of the world. This is the spirit of anti-christ.
No one knows precisely how history will end. But we were warned
by Christ to be vigilant and to live for today. A friend of mine
had a powerful dream last night that told him that there will soon be
a major attempt to "explain away Jesus Christ". He believes it
was a prophetic dream and maybe it was. I know him to be a strong
believer with great creative gifts that he has dedicated to God and Jesus
Christ.
'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.' (Acts 2:17 —NIV)
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March 14, 2007
What are the major issues facing evangelicals today? We hear so much
about abortion, gay marriage and sexual morality. But certainly there
is more. What about poverty, war, and the environment?
My thoughts on this are spurred by the recent letter from James Dobson
and friends to the board of the National Association of Evangelicals
challenged NAE vice president Rich Cizik’s efforts on global warming
as “dividing and demoralizing,”and shifting “the emphasis
away from the great moral issues of our time”(more
here).
Jim Wallis of Sojourners and Call to Renewal would like to have what
he calls a "coversation" with James Dobson to open up the discussion
on the great issues facing us today (more
here). I think everyone would benefit from open, honest and heartfelt
dialog.
The real issue for each of us is to examine our conscience and see just
what we believe and how our actions measure up to our beliefs. Isn't
that what Jesus calls us to do - and with love guiding our every step?
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March 13, 2007
Now that Daylight Savings Time has kicked in some of us are still a little
groggy getting used to the hour we lost over the weekend. We "spring
forward" an hour to give us daylight later in the evening, but that does
mess with our bio-rhythms.
On a related note, if you wake up in the morning wishing you didn't have
to get out of bed and wondering what the point is to starting another
day you might want to read this new article on RELEVANT.com. Satisfaction
Illusion by J. Estaban Contreras deals with the issue
so many grapple with. Just what is satisfaction in life? Go
here for the article.
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March 7, 2007
The teachings of Jesus Christ have depth and weight. They basically
boil down to some pretty simple things: love God with all your being
(body, mind and soul) and love everyone else. We should not oversimplify
this. It is simple, but not easy. If we really try to follow
Jesus we discover that he is calling us to love others not just as we
want to be loved, but as he loves. Love others as God loves. Love
unconditionally and be willing to grant forgiveness for wrongs done to
us.
Sometimes Christians teach that all you have to do is invite Jesus into
your heart as your personal Savior. This is commonly referred to
as the "sinner's prayer". Yes, it starts with this. But we
must accept in our heart of hearts what this means.
Read David Gushee's comments on this at Christianity
Today (here).
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March 6, 2007
What do you do with news stories about people claiming to be Jesus Christ? It's
happened before and it is happening again. This time Jose de Jesus,
who lives in the suburbs of Houston, claims to be "Jesus
Christ, man, the second manifestation, the Second Coming of Christ" (story
here). Disturbingly, he also calls himself "one of the
antichrists". He counts followers in over 30 countries. In
Miami Beach some of his followers were lining up at a tattoo parlor to
get "666" tattooed on their bodies, reportedly doing it to profess their
belief in this man. Like I said, disturbing.
There will continue to be people touting that they have the secret of
life, that their are God's appointed one or the new Messiah. And
some will come saying they are Jesus Christ. This was prophesied
in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew
24:4-5).
I choose to be a follower of Jesus Christ. He teaches a radical
way to live and about a beautiful relationship with God available to
everyone. It's not an easy path to follow, but it is worth it.
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March 5, 2007
April 29, 2007 is the day to tell
the world through your church, website and other resources
what God is doing on the web, how to utilize the Internet
to effectively reach others and how you, your church
or Christian group can use the Web for outreach –and
how to make effective church websites reach into the
community. See
more at the official Internet Evanglism Day website.
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March 2, 2007
People want to talk about God. And people don't want to talk about
God. It is probably the most debated issue.
What a wonderful relief when I accepted that there is a reality, a spiritual
awakening, that I can't define or fully understand. I say this
because it defuses the argument over who or what God is. I do strive
to understand matters of faith and to live the way I believe God wants
us to live. But I accept that I cannot define God, neither for
me or anyone else. The reality of God I accept. The definition
of God is beyond our human limitations.
Perhaps this is another reason why God chose to reveal God's self to
us through Jesus Christ. The Son of God as the Son of Man is an
attempt by God to reach out to us.
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March 1, 2007
Most of us have heard the passage from the Gospel of Matthew about asking
and seeking and God will answer and provide for us (Matthew
7:7-12). Did you know that a universal principle is
in effect with this? It's called the Law
of Attraction and recently has been popularized with the movie, The
Secret.
A very important part of the Law of Attraction and what Jesus was telling
us in this passage from Matthew is that we need to ask and seek for good
things with the right motives. We should not ask for selfish and
self-seeking things. Neither should we seek for vengeance or harm
for others. And we should live the way that is is right for all
of us, doing to others what we would have them do to us.
How we treat others and how we want to be treated - I believe this is
another universal principle. How we treat others is how we will
be treated. When we are mean, angry, resentful and judgmental then
others will be that way to us. The only ones who aren't that way
are those who love others no matter what (even loving their enemies). So,
if we live to love God, ourselves and all people we will attract love
in return and we we will find the answers to our heart's deep questions. We
might also be persecuted by those who don't understand or who are envious
or blind to the universal principle of love. When this happens
stand firm. God will still shower love on you, often through other
people and with Christ you will be able to withstand the persecution.
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Scripture taken from the
Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright © 1973,
1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved
throughout the world. Used by permission of International
Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks
of International Bible Society. Use of either trademark for the offering
of goods or services requires the prior written consent of International
Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New
Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used by permission of Tyndale
House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189, USA. All rights reserved.
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PSALM 118:24
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"This
is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad
in it."
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(NIV)
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