START NEXT DOOR

Tuesday, May 8     Love Starts Next Door
1 John 4:13-16
"This is how we know we're living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He's given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit. ... Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God's Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God.  We know it so well, we've embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God."  (The Message)
      Over and over John reminds his readers that our ability to love comes from the Spirit of Christ alive within us.  Love comes from God.  Love God, love each other.  You would think John knew how hard this simple concept would be to grasp!
      Our d365.org writer today recalled the Acts story of Philip sharing the story of Christ with the traveling Ethiopian.  A chance encounter (NOTHING is chance with the Holy Spirit!) that was made sacred because Philip saw the opportunity and shared the love.  The authors challenged us to ask, What persons has God put in front of us that we must love for God's sake?  We might not even suspect that God is at work in the relationship.  And then I thought, "I don't need to look too far for someone to love.  My neighbors are a family in need, a family with both physical and spiritual needs.  Perhaps God is calling me to start right there." Quit judging their values and priorities and do what I can to make God's love alive for them.  Love needs to start right next door.

WORLD HUG

Monday, May 7    Pass It On!
1 John 4:9-12
"My dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other.  No one has seen God, ever.  but if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us - perfect love!  (The Message, vs. 11-12)
It's hard to love from afar.  You can't send a hug through the mail or phone line.  Over the time from Creation, God had used many long distance means to share his love with the world, but ultimately he needed to deliver the love hug in person.  So he sent Jesus to physically love us - or as the phone company would say, "he reached out and touched us"!  But for this love to continue, for the plan to keep working, we have to keep the hug chain alive.  When we love one another, God's love reaches through our hands and arms to hug the world.  That's God-love dwelling in us and sharing God with all.   Give a hug today....give God today.

TWITTER MESSAGE

Sunday, May 6    Twitter Love!
1 John 4:7-8
"Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God.  whoever loves is a child of God and knows God." (TEV, verse 7)

What if God had asked Jesus to post his religious views on Facebook or Twitter the gospel to the world?  The message would be just as concise as John repeatedly gives it: God is love.  Everything else flows from there.  We are given just two commands!  Love God and love each other.  Short and sweet.  Easy to understand.  You would think.
     But we as a collective world have made understanding Christ's Twitter so confusing.  We have mixed up and messed up as we argue the details of "love one another".  What if one part does this?  What if we can love one day and not the next?   What if?  What if?  So much discussion and debate that we miss the point - to love!
     God's Twitter is easy to understand.  There is no reason to be confused.  Love God.  Love each other.  Practice that love.  Keep the message central to our life.  All else flows from there.

A NEW KIND OF STAFF?

Saturday, May 5
1 John 3:23-24
"Again, this is God's command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus Christ.  He told us to love each other, in line with the original command.  As we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us.  And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us:  by the Spirit he gave us." (The Message)
     As I read through this passage, my first thoughts were, "OK, we're talking the love commandment here, and then, hmmm, how will I connect this is the Shepherding theme for the week?"  But then the thought occurred to me....the Spirit!  The Staff!  Isn't the Holy Spirit just a new kind of staff?  The shepherd's crook, that tool of intimate shepherding has become the superpower cape of the Holy Spirit.  With the power of Christ abiding within us, we can have the power to love all, in spite of personal hesitation to love those that are different or we don't like.  Our Shepherding cape/staff gives us the love to act in ways we can't alone.  The Holy Spirit is our Shepherd's crook!  We are all Shepherd's of Christ's love.  We will make mistakes, but we know the tools and support of Christ is ever present for us to act as we are called to do.
     Let's put on our capes and do a little shepherding.  It will be exciting to see what God has in store for the flock!

Thanks to my Missional friends for giving me voice and a platform to share my daily thoughts!!!  Scribbles may not come on a daily basis next week...This week.I was intrigued with drawing lots of sheep, plus I wasn't feeling well enough to do much else!  I AM FEELING BETTER TODAY...finally!

USE YOUR STAFF

Friday, May 4    USE YOUR STAFF

1 John 3:18

"My dear children, let's not just talk about love, let's practice real love.  This is the only way we'll know we're living truly; living in God's reality."

    A Shepherd cannot tend the flock from a far off post and then use a microphone or megaphone to yell directions at the sheep.  The key tool for a Shepherd is the staff: a tool that implies action, not just talk; a tool that suggests getting intimate among the sheep.  

     People are like sheep in many ways.  "Instead of just words, people respond best to someone who is willing to come beside them and offer a helping hand, a listening ear, or a hug." (Susan Reed, d365.org) To shepherd means a willingness to get involved in the lives of the sheep.  How often do we want to shepherd with megaphone or wallet - a quick word of advice and a dollar slipped in here and there - such "action" doesn't demand much investment, our 'staff' doesn't get dirty!  Our shepherding love will mean so much more if it is shown with actions, not just words.  Listen to the sheep.  Hear their concerns.  Work beside them.  Shepherd using the staff.  Shepherd AMONG the sheep.  

Being a missional church in community has a lot in common with shepherding our flock of sheep.   Being missional is working AMONG the sheep.  How are we doing?  What are we doing?  Maybe we need to know our sheep better.     That could be step one.  

From Jim....

I'm at work, I have no problem standing, stretching, taking a short break to renew my mental focus. Why is it I don't think to do this throughout the day to renew my spiritual focus? 

"Lay down our lives" I naturally think of dying but I can lay down my life without dying physically. I can die to my wants and desires, I can set aside my life for the life God desires to give me. If I take up God's life, I must lay down my life, for the sake of the world. We are chosen, not for the sake of salvation but for the sake of the world. The world is our flock and like all the saints who came before us, are here now and who will come, we learn how to shepherd during "ON THE JOB TRAINING", with the guidance of our Lord and Savior through His Holy Spirit. As you have pointed out, Ginger, "God, you have given me a perfect example to follow. While I cannot live up to that example, help me to desire to try. Help me see myself as a shepherd of your love for the world. Amen." 

I believe, technically our Missional Community devotion, is more than just a day, it is a God given way of LIFE. I believe, technically, you are living what we have committed to as a community and "come much closer to acting as Christ in our broken world."  

With Love,

Jim

MORE SHEEP

I know yesterday was "technically" our Missional community devotion day, but I have been caught up in the Sheep imagery all week (and lacking anything more strenuous to occupy my time....).  I especially found the closing prayer in today's message thought provoking:  "God, you have given me a perfect example to follow. While I cannot live up to that example, help me to desire to try. Help me see myself as a shepherd of your love for the world. Amen." Read on....


Thursday, May 3    Shepherd Love
1 John 3:16-17
"This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us.  This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves...."  (The Message)

    To be a good Shepherd means to put the needs of the flock ahead of our own. It involves sacrifice.  It means diligently tending the flock and not running off and neglecting them.  Even if we don't always LIKE some of the flock....or they hold different views from ours.  I must tend to some gay sheep in my flock?  Some Arab sheep?  We often get caught up in judging the value of the sheep first.  Christ set the example of Shepherding. If we see each sheep as our extension of Christ's love....if we see LOVE in each sheep, our sacrifice will come, our actions will be right.  If we Shepherd Love, rather than sheep, we will come much closer to acting as Christ in our broken world.  








Wednesday, May 2    One Flock
John 10:16-18
"You need to know that I have other sheep in addition to those in this pen.  I need to gather and bring them too.  they'll also recognize my voice." (The Message)
     At the heart of yesterday's devotion was the message that God calls me by name - individually.  He knows ME inside and out.  It would be easy to think of this as a one-on-one exclusive relationship - a personal Big Brother and Shepherd.  But Jesus goes on to remind us there are other sheep also. 
     Other sheep?  What? I have to share?  Does God/Christ love that funny-looking sheep over there just as much as me?  If that sheep has lots of problems, will the Shepherd have time for me?  Those sheep are different from me.  Are you sure they recognize the same shepherd's voice?  They hear it differently.  We have to live together in the same pen?  In harmony?  
     We love the thought of a unique individual faith with God.  We don't always handle sharing our pen, or our God, as well with those who hear the same voice, but in a different way.  How do we learn to live together in the flock?  Watch and listen to the Good Shepherd.  Copy him.  He's pretty good at loving ALL the sheep.  

This is interesting, navigating this blog! 

This blog is one vehicle for communication. Newsletters, e-mail, postcards, telephone calls, face to face conversations are all communication vehicles. This blog is intended for community communication, the community of "1st. Presbyterian Missional Community" yet not all those who are currently in this particular community and those who potentially could be in this community can conveniently access this forum. Which introduces us to an additional issue. 

Our intent is to listen to God, discern God's Will. We grow in our personal discernment through personal spiritual practices,  grow in our communal discernment through communal spiritual practices and through our community dialog within the framework of the Biblical narrative, and we grow in our discernment through dialog within our larger church, (issue one). All of this is communication, communication between God and us individually, between God and us communally and between each other. Issue one is "what are we communicating", answer, "Gods Will" for us individually and communally. 

Issue two, how do we communicate with others? What vehicle or vehicles do we use? I believe a noted novelist once stated that the greatest single misconception about communication is the belief that it has taken place! To facilitate open, honest, free flowing dialog, we must cultivate the environment for this dialog and convenience of communication methods is critical for this healthy environment.


The above issue two applies to all areas of dialog especially within a congregation not just within a small group. Our family of faith is multi-generational. How do we cultivate an environment for dialog, what methods do we use to communicate? At the inquirers class, Katy provided handouts to the inquirers and also noted she would send the same information electronically to those who desire this form of communication. The responses to Katy's question were down generational lines. Roger Fisk gave me some articles about this same issue, what method, vehicle, do we use to get the word out, to facilitate dialog, to communicate? How convenient do we make communication? Lots of questions, not many answers!


Well this is the view from my saddle.
Jim

Sheep and Shepherds!

I am home "laying low" and getting bored, so I shall share a little.  I spent the morning drawing!

Tuesday, May 1   The Shepherd Relationship
John 10:14-15
"I am the Good Shepherd.  I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me.  In the same way, the Father knows me and I know the Father. I put the sheep before myself, sacrificing myself if necessary."  (The Message)

     At the heart of Shepherding is a reciprocal relationship between the Shepherd and the sheep.  We easily understand the first part: our Shepherd takes care of us and knows us by name - individually.  Not as a number or as part of the whole flock, but as us...alone.  It is a great big universe out there with lots of sheep.  To think that God doesn't look out and see a massive flock, but sees and knows each of us as a unique individual - that is mind blowing.  What a sense of overpowering love flows from that realization!
     But how easily do we often neglect the second part of the relationship: my sheep know me.  We must listen and recognize God's voice when he calls to us, when he tries to gather us in as we stray.  We often get confused with conflicting voices telling us what to do.  If we live in our Shepherd/Sheep relationship, we'll recognize God's voice among the crowd and seek him only.
     By name, by voice....live in the love of the Shepherd Relationship.

Monday, April 30   Fair-Weather Shepherds
John 10:11-13

"A hired man is not a real shepherd.  The sheep mean nothing to him.  He sees a wolf come and runs for it, leaving the sheep to be ravaged and scattered by the wolf."  (The Message)
     We all know or have known "Fair-weather" friends - those who are with you when life is fun and exciting, when the going is smooth, but run for the exit when things heat up and get tough. They are gone, like the hired hand, when the wolf comes - just when you could really use their help!
     But not our Shepherd, Christ.  Our Good Shepherd will be there for us.  He's no "fly by night" hired hand.  Shepherding is hard work, but God/Jesus love us so much, they will be there.  No matter what.  No matter when.
     What kind of Shepherd am I to those within my care?  Am I a friend that stands firm when the wolf of illness, divorce, financial difficulties comes?  Do I show the love of Christ in my relationships with others?  I want to be known as a Good Shepherd, not a hired hand!

Missional Devotions 1-7

I wanted to keep all the Missional "stuff" in one place, so I am transferring this post to our new site.

MISSIONAL DEVOTIONS

MISSIONAL POST Week #7 
Wednesday, April 25
Luke 24:44-48  Mission Impossible
"You can see now how it is written....and then a total life-change through the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed in his name to all nations - starting from here, from Jerusalem!  You're the first to hear and see it! ... So stay here in the city until he [my Father] arrives, until you're equipped with power from on high." (The Message)
     Richard Vinson of d365.org says it well when he writes this sounds like a job for Tom Cruise and Mission Impossible!  Your job, should you accept it, is to proclaim Christ to all the world!  To preach forgiveness and salvation to everyone, starting with your neighbors here in Jerusalem (or Baker City!)  Poorly equipped? Heavens no!  The disciples would be armed with the greatest "technology" available, better than the decoder rings and micro-glasses worn by Tom Cruise:  The disciples will be armed with the power of God through the Holy Spirit!  
     Our mission as well?  You bet, for the job hasn't been finished.  We are all "special agents" for God.  Agents with a really big job still ahead of us.  "Sometimes salvation feels like a really big challenge to undertake with others." (RV)  
     Accept the mission.  Accept the power to work together to fulfill God's purpose.  
     PS.  The Bible will NOT self-destruct in 30 seconds!  


MISSIONAL POST Week #6
Wednesday, April 18
John 20:28-29   Doubting
"Jesus said, 'So, you believe because you've seen with your own eyes.  Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing'." (The Message)
     While Jesus praised those who believe without seeing, he met Thomas where he was at - he came and provided proof.  He gave Thomas what Thomas asked for and needed.  Jesus goes above and beyond to answer our questions and make a way to be in relationship to us.  We shouldn't be afraid to ask God for what we need, but we should try to live by faith - proof or not. 
     Thomas is not alone in his doubt.  We all have it at one time or another.  Doubt isn't the exception - it is often the rule.  Did the other disciples say, "I expected to see you?" or "Welcome back - what took you so long?"  Of course not.  No one really anticipated Jesus' return, even when he told them over and over he would rise again.  
     Is Jesus rebuking Thomas for his doubt, or really blessing those who have managed to believe without the benefit of direct experience? Who have managed to come to a faith EVEN while living with doubt; A way to believe in spite of and through the doubts.  
     Let's allow the Doubting Thomas in all of us to provide the basis for a life lived in faith.  


MISSIONAL POST Week #5  Wednesday, April 11
John 1:11-18  Grace and Gifts
"For out of his fullness (abundance) we all received - all had a share and were supplied with - one grace after anotherand spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift (heaped) upon gift."  (Verse 16, Amplified Bible)
     I went to the Amplified Bible where I found BOTH words used in the NIV (grace) and The Message (gifts). Out of who's fullness?  The fullness of God as witnessed through his son, Christ! Undeserved, unearned, unwarranted grace.  Blessings overflowing.  A Christmas of gift giving.  Party favor upon party favor.  All because God loves us and wants to be in relationship with us.  What bounty!  May we accept the gifts, let blessings shower down like rain, and share the grace with those around us.   When we do this, we will "see" God: "This one of a kind God-Expression [Jesus], who exists at the very heart of the Father, has made him plain as day." (The Message, vs. 18) 
     Let the gifts multiply!  Share the gifts!  Share the grace!  Grace upon grace. 

MISSIONAL POST WEEK#4
Lent Day 37 - Wednesday, April 4
Mark 14:12-16   Passover Preparations
"...his disciples asked him, 'Where do you want us to go and make preparations so you can eat the Passover meal?'....The disciples left, came to the city, found everything just as he had told them, and prepared the Passover meal."  (The Message vs. 12, 16)
     This is the second time that Jesus has sent his disciples out to make preparations, and they find everything EXACTLY as he said.  How did he know a donkey colt would be tied up? (Mark 11:1-11)  How did he know a man with a jar of water would walk past at just the right moment for the disciples to find an upper room for the Passover?  Lest we forget, these experiences remind the disciples, and us, of Jesus' divinity.  He is God, in human form.  He knows!  
    Passover was a major event in the Jewish tradition - a celebration and time to remember all the details of the Exodus, a period of history when God interceded on behalf of man in an extravagant manner.  Could we as Christians see Christmas and Easter in the same way today?  A time to remember God entering our world in a new way, in a life-changing manner?  For the Jews, Jesus, and the disciples, there was no question of whether or not to take the Passover meal.  For us today, there should be no doubt as to WHY we celebrate both seasons of Christ's life.  Why we remember.   
    Preparations are made for the events of Holy Week to unfold.  Good Friday and Easter are near.  How will we remember our Christ? 


MISSIONAL POST WEEK #3
LENT DAY 31: Wednesday, March 28
John 12:25-26   RECKLESS IN LOVE
"Anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life.  But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you'll have it forever, real and eternal.  If any of you wants to serve me, then follow me... The Father will honor and reward anyone who serves me." (The Message)

     I love Eugene Peterson's choice of words here in The Message: be "reckless in love".  To follow Jesus, to serve the living God, is to be lavish in loving: to love the marginalized, the poor, the terrorists, those who believe differently from us, those who speak against us, those who have different skin tones from us.  To love ALL, not just in word, but in ACTION!  With this wild abandonment of loving, God will honor our actions.  What high praise to be criticized for or described as being "reckless in love"!  What am I doing to earn this label?  What should I be doing?  What is keeping me from it?  What about you?  What about our churches?  How reckless is our love?  




MISSIONAL POST WEEK#2
Lent Day 25 - Wednesday, March 21
John 3:17    God Saves! 
"For God did not send his Son into the world to be its judge, but to be its Savior." (TEV)
     John 3:16 is the verse always seen on a placard at ball games and major events, but it shouldn't be separated from its companion verse 17.  To put them together gives you the FULL Gospel in a Nutshell: God loves us.  All of us.  God sent Jesus.  Not to judge, but to save.  
     Jesus didn't come to tell us how bad we were or to condemn us.  He came to show us, by example, a better way.  He came to make things right in our relationship with our Creator God.  He came to make our lives whole and filled with purpose.  In loving us, he saves us.  
     "Jesus is not judge or jury, but brother and friend." (PH d365.org)  In the name of Christ, can we not treat each other in the same manner? 
Footnote:  At some point during the night, I realized I was composing this scribble in my mind.  I had thought I would make an additional John 3:16 drawing when I arose this morning.  Imagine my surprise when I found the parting line to today's devotional to read, "God came to save us."  I dreamed the scribble before I even knew the verse!  Is God at work?  Wow!


MISSIONAL POST WEEK #1
LENT DAY 19: Wednesday, March 14
John 2:18-22     "Temple Address"
"Jesus answered, 'Tear down this temple and in three days, I'll put it back together.' .... Jesus was talking about his body as the Temple."  (The Message, 19-20)
     We love to "put God" in his "place" - at church, a temple, a holy site.  But buildings can be destroyed in a moment of time - a fire, a flood, a tornado.  The Israelites considered the Temple and Mt. Zion as the abode of God.  But in this passage, Jesus is saying HE is the NEW temple, a temple that cannot be destroyed, lost, or taken away.  NOTHING can take the presence of God from us - it is about relationships, not buildings.  
     This made me think about God as having an "address" for the mail (our concerns & petitions?) to be delivered.   God can never be in the "dead letter" box, because we have an all-present, ever-current forwarding address.  Jesus is God's forwarding address.  
     What about our temples or churches today?  We need to remember the physical building isn't what is important - it's what we do inside and outside those building walls, in relationship and service to God, that matters.  Buildings are temporary, God is eternal.  Where is your temple?  Where is mine?  Is God's mail being delivered?