kingdom travelin'

I have always loved snow (and I promise no theological musings about it in this post). This pic is of the path I was digging…

This week’s second snow storm has knocked out electricity all day. I’ve been out three times to get firewood, clear ice from the heat pump and then to shovel.

After an hour of shoveling…

I sit in the quiet with a favorite chair pulled up to the fireplace reading… enjoying the warmth and sound of the fire, the clock chiming downstairs and the general simplicity of it all.

Yeah, I do love the snow.

One of the things I do to follow my calling is to engage people in conversations. I’ve done this for a while. I do enjoy it.

More often than not, these conversations turn toward what it means to deepen our connection to God. I’m a bit obsessed with this topic. It’s important.

So, I’m always on the lookout for thoughtful books to read and talk about with friends. There are a lot of great books out there to use for this purpose, I have a stack I’m trying to work through. There’s a lot of trash and nonsense out there too, too much of which flies the Christian flag. I read one like that lately. I WILL NOT tell you the title because I do not want the responsibility of your reading this book and getting as angry as I did, or worse, getting confused by this babble.

ANYWAY, a few weeks ago this group I am in on Monday mornings were trying to decide what to use as our basis for conversations. A few months earlier, my friend who sort of leads our group, had been introduced to some material that he really liked working through. He had told us about it, so we decided to give it a try. Here is the cover…

It was written and published (in a cool way) by World Harvest Mission, which is in my estimation, a very, very cool organization. They get it. Anyway, this material really gets you to ponder what you are thinking and feeling about and how you are reacting to God and yourself. I am going through this with a bunch of people. Some of us are face to face in person, on Skype, or on voice via Skype. I am finding it to be really helpful in having great conversations about deepening our connection with God. If you want to learn more click here.

This is kingdomtravelin’s 1000th post. I write it on a snowy day in the ‘ville.

I call this pic ‘path in the snow’ and enjoy pondering its meaning. I always think of Isaiah’s reminder in chapter one that our sins be white as snow. This pic was taken up on the neighborhood nature trail which is a favorite place for me to find solitude. The meaning of the path itself is not lost to me either, it reminds me that I am ever on a journey…

Upon further reflection, I realize that as I travel the path, I act like a human and do and think in ways that displease He who gives me life, so the snow falls afresh with His forgiveness… I have this pic as the background on my handheld because its nice to look at and its a good reminder of His forgiveness on the journey…

Isaiah has few more powerful words than those packed into 1:17-18…

17 learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow’s cause.

18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool. (ESV)

a path in the snow

that reminds me of a journey of forgiveness

which is needed because of the muddy soul that I am

but the mud is red from the blood shed by my words

that hurt and stab

the twisting knife of my sin

but the snow of Forgiveness just keeps falling

and falling

from the Forgiver

the Lover of my soul who walks

beside me and never leaves me

even when I pick up the knife of words

in speech and thought

and prayer

Help me oh Forgiver and stay with me

cover my head, my shoulders with your snow

cover the scarlet that I am

with wool as I walk

the path in the snow…

Covered with wool, help me bring justice

to my own heart

with hands

let me work

not just pray

let me

go

to bring justice

to the oppressed

I am reading the words of Jesus these days…

As part of my own process of abiding in Him, I am dwelling on the words of Jesus (thanks be to God for the red letter Bible, right?)

I ran across this the other day… check it out:

9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God) [1]— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.” (Mark 7:9-13, ESV)

I thought to myself, when Jesus said this to the Pharisees and scribes, he was saying to them (I think), you are building your own kingdom, not my Father’s…

There is an awful lot of kingdom building going on out there in the name of The Kingdom… there is a lot being done in the name of The Kingdom that is based on a lot of words of people, not so much the words of Jesus…

Dwell on the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles so you can discern the words of people who are teachers and apostles…

are you abiding in HIM or them?

in speaking with a friend recently, I was allowed into the mind of a parent of a child astray…

it wasn’t that this person’s child was into, what most would term, immoral behavior, it was their expression of sadness at their child’s world-view which reflected a greater importance of material over relationship…

Sweet Anna and I (at the recommendation of Princess Irene) went to see ‘Leap Year’ last night. I discovered the theme there too…

material was being placed over relationship…

and when the moment came to really discover what was important, there was disappointment about the choices made by one who should have cared more about relationship, about person, than about the material possession, about success…

as I spoke with my friend, I realized that this parent was more sad than mad… there was a bit of anger mixed in with the sadness, but it was mostly sadness at the priorities…

I thought of the Prodigal Son’s father. He stood on the road waiting and watching, I bet he was sad too… but hopeful… that his child would return from his waywardness (in this case caring more about success and stuff than relationships)… that the son would come back home…

In this story Jesus told, the father in the story represents God the Father… who, I bet, looks at our hearts and our decisions with more sadness than anger…

my friend’s adult child should know better and put relationship and people over material and success…

I should too.

What about you?

I hope you can hang for the full 8 min 33 seconds, and if you do, you may not get it… your reaction may not be that of the audience (me included)… but I post this because SO MUCH of this depicts life over much of Europe last century in Krakow, Sarajevo, Kyiv, Kerch, Vukovar, Budapest, on and on the list could go…

be sure you have good speakers or headphones, the music is very important…

thanks Anne