CHANGE...

INVOCATION.... d365.org (Ruth Perkins Lee)
Change is hard for everyone. Even when it’s obvious that doing something different is the better way to go, we always seem to encounter opposition. Sometimes that resistance comes from others, but often we find it welling up from deep inside ourselves.

God has something new in mind for us, but we have to decide that we are willing to go there. No kicking and screaming!

So get ready for something new. Hopefully, you will recognize its value and receive it—gladly!

   

SATURDAY, August 17, 2013 "Drink Freely"
Revelation 21:5-6 (MSG)
“Look! I’m making everything new."......“It’s happened. I’m A to Z. I’m the Beginning, I’m the Conclusion. From Water-of-Life Well I give freely to the thirsty.
(So....after an hour of writing two days worth of posts this morning, my computer just decided to shut down and update without my knowledge....I lost everything I had just written!  Agh!  I don't have time for this!.....Patience, Ginger.  Deep breath.  I'll give you the words again.....)

Yes, this is a previous scribble, but then again, ...
the scripture is a repeat from Spring!

     Blogs over the past two weeks have spoke of new beginnings and change, but the line that jumped out at me today from this familiar scripture was WATER!  Baker City is entering week three of a mandatory boil mandate due to the presence in our city water of crypto---.  Suddenly, the assumed-bounty of clean water pouring forth on demand from the tap has become a treasure.  We conserve more, we waste not!  (Habits which SHOULD continue!)  But the fountain of God is always without blemish, and always freely flowing for all who thirst!  May we abundantly drink each new day and welcome the change and new opportunities that come to us when we are sustained by the fountain of a loving God.  

BENEDICTION.... d365.org (Ruth Perkins Lee)

Don't be afraid. 

The newness God is offering you is a very good thing!

Open your heart and mind to the new beginnings God has in store.

Get ready for a change that lasts - forever!  

FRIDAY, August 16, 2013 "Top of the World"
Song Lyrics from PASS IT ON:
"I'll shout it from the mountain top, I want my world to know,
The Lord of Love has come to me, I want to pass it on."
Song Lyrics from TOP OF THE WORLD:
"I'm on the top of the world, looking down on creation
And the only exclamation I can find. 
Is the love that I've found ever since you've been around
Is what puts me on the top of the world."
    Today was an early rising for a dawn departure at 6am to climb to the summit of Elkhorn Peak.  Our climbing crew is Rick and I, Mark Bogart, Luke, and Zachariah Ellis, the youth pastor from the Nazarene Church.  The forecast for HOT and potential afternoon thunderstorms precipitates our early escape, but we are rewarded as we leave town with the fiery ball of an orange sun bursting above the Baker Valley horizon.  A God-reminder for the day. 
     Early mornings always reward you on the trail with deep shadows and bright light, dampness with residual dew, and the freshness that comes with dawn.  We hike the first three miles with animated conversation and silence, fellowship and contemplation, reveling in the changing panoramas, and agonizing over the hazy, smokey skies that tell stories of forests ablaze. 
     At three miles the hike changes to climb as we venture off the beaten trail to ascend the shoulder of the peak over rocky terrain.  I thrill to find new growth in tiny fern-like plants thriving in the hostile rocks.  By 9:30 am all five of us stand on top of the summit (somewhat amazed to find an American flag has been erected on top recently!)  We all take a few moments for solitude and silence, alone with our thoughts (and our lunch!)  
     Whenever I get to the top of a mountain, two songs always burst forth from my lungs: Pass It On and Top of the World.  I like to sing the latter with God's love as the source.  When you stand within touch of heaven, to sing praises to God is so very natural.  
     We gaze out on God's glory: the patchwork of farmland below, the indistinct outline of distance mountains in the shifting haze, tiny wildflowers struggling for survival in a cold and barren location, the myrid of Elkhorn peaks dotting the northern horizon, mountains goats grazing in a lakeside meadow, the piercing cry of hawks soaring on thermal breezes, the fluttering of hundreds of brightly colored butterflies - (and a few bees according to Zach!), the cool and cleansing rush of the Spirit wind.  When on top of mountains you have a sense of place in God's creation, small and insignificant to the great big world, but close and in touch with a God who cares so very deeply about each part of Creation.  
      Not sure what the scripture is for today from the lectionary or d365.org, but mountaintops always change me in some way, and I can venture forth with a new epiphany having spent a little time 'on top of the world'!

THURSDAY, August 15, 2013  "Eruption of Spirit"
Isaiah 43:18-19a  (MSG)
“Forget about what’s happened;
    don’t keep going over old history.
Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.
    It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?
    I am pondering the discussion at our Missional meeting yesterday as I read this scripture and the one from yesterday.  It is time to let go, pray for guidance, and allow God to reveal the changes that are right for our church community.  It is time to BE in the spiritual exercise of waiting, rather than jumping forth to DO new projects that fit OUR expectations rather than God's dream.  
      Where does this leave us?  In prayer and conversation, open to God's voice.  And it leaves us in bold expectation of change....of something new and exciting ready to spring forth in our congregation.  May we be prepared to perceive the newness and be a part of the eruption of the Spirit!  And may we be patient in our waiting! 



WEDNESDAY, August 14, 2013 "Waiting"
Isaiah 40:31 (MSG)
But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.
    They spread their wings and soar like eagles,
They run and don’t get tired,
    they walk and don’t lag behind.
     Once again, I am amazed at the subtle ways in which God speaks.  Monday night I began working on a sermon I will be preaching on September 1.  I have had the text selected for some time with an idea in my mind.  I was gone yesterday and returned today at noon to finally check on today's scripture.  
     What is the subject of my sermon?  Eagles!  And today's scripture is one of the three texts that I will use.  Uncanny.  God. 
     Exercise develops strength.  Athletes all condition to improve their physical abilities.  Waiting is a form of spiritual exercise.  It strengthens us in ways we cannot anticipate. It allows God time to work within us.  Waiting can turn us into....EAGLES!!!  




TUESDAY, August 13, 2013 "No Turning Back"

Philippians 3:13-14 (MSG)

Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.

    No turning back.  Once the commitment to Christ has been made, only one path lies before us - all others are distractions.   We can forget the sins of the past, revel in our resurrection forgiveness, and move forward to a new life.  We are all constantly moving forward, learning, growing, maturing.  No one ever has it 'all together' and is an expert in following!  The journey is never complete until our transition to the Kingdom!  God is beckoning!  Focus! Keep eyes on Christ and travel knowing we have the guidance of the Spirit the whole way.    

MONDAY, August 12, 2013 "Knowing Christ"

Philippians 3:10-11 (GNT)

All I want is to know Christ and to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings and become like him in his death, in the hope that I myself will be raised from death to life.

What is it to KNOW Christ?
Not just to know ABOUT our Lord,
    the facts and timelines,
    details and Bible translations,
But to truly KNOW him?
    To walk in his shoes,
    To experience his power,
    To heal and transform;
    To feel his pain and suffering;
    To grow in the fellowship of community;
    To laugh with him with joy
    And cry in the sorrow of all;
    To witness the loneliness of his position,
    To welcome God into my very being,
To KNOW Christ is to suffer and die,
To endure the ridicule and scorn,
And be resurrected in God. 
To KNOW Christ is a new beginning, 
     a change in attitude,
And it happens daily,
As we LIVE in our KNOWLEDGE. 
KNOW Christ, LIVE Christ. 
Today. 

Sunday, August 11, 2013 "Spring Cleaning"

Philippians 3:7-8 (GNT)

But all those things that I might count as profit I now reckon as loss for Christ's sake.....For his sake I have thrown everything away; I consider it all as mere garbage, so that I may gain Christ.

     Whenever I consider change, I recall a book our teaching staff was asked to read titled, "Who Moved My Cheese?".  It was the summer before a year of change in our school.  It helped us see how we approach and handle change. We don't like change.  We like our orderly, planned lives where events happen as expected. Jesus, don't rock the boat!

     But life in Christ is anything but predictable! It demands change: a shift in priorities and daily choices.  It demands SPRING CLEANING in our lives!!  We have to make space in our busy, cluttered lives for top priority: God!  Things that were previously so important can be tossed out.  Materials goods can be downsized and our priorities dusted off to clean our hearts and souls to think God, to live God, every day. 

     Change is hard work. But change for the sake of Christ is exciting and rewarding.  May we openly embrace a new life in our Lord!  

d365.org is not following the Revised Standard Lectionary during this 'Back to School' period.  For consultation purposes, here are this week's Lectionary Texts: 

Isaiah 1:1, 10-20

Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23

Genesis 15:1-6

Hebrews 11:1-3,8-16

Luke 12:32-40