tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-139964162024-03-15T21:09:56.617-04:00on coffeethis is a work in process :: thoughts expressed are current personal opinions and are not necessarily final statements :: i reserve the right to disagree with myself and/or change my mind at any time :: it is a reflection on spiritual growth / formation :: and a little bit of just about everything else thrown inoncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.comBlogger2587125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13996416.post-19057500381843884952024-01-05T10:01:00.001-05:002024-01-05T10:35:05.548-05:0012 days of Christmas - Epiphany<p>The 12 days of Christmas are the 12 days following Christmas. <br />Today, Friday, January 5 is the 12th day and Saturday, January 6 is Epiphany.</p><p>The origins of Epiphany as a church festival are vague, as is the definition of the word. <br />“Epiphany” can mean manifestation, revelation, appearance, insight, enlightenment, or a shining forth.<br />Epiphany begins with the story of the Magi, astrologers, who follow a brilliant star to the place of Jesus’ birth and honour the child with gifts. Upon seeing the baby, they were “overwhelmed with joy,” and fell on their knees.</p><p>The wise men awaited a sign in the sky — a star — to guide them on this journey. Revelations break in, light shines forth, and glory appears. Such things are from the realms of mystery, awe, and wonder. They surprise and disrupt the normal course of existence. Epiphanies are not of our making.</p><p>But we need to be more than passive recipients of epiphanies. We need to be alert for their appearance and search out the signs of their presence. Revelations can be missed if we aren’t attentive or attuned to the possibilities of sacred surprise.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>What it would be like to expect epiphanies? <br />Not just in stars, but in the more normal course of things. </li><li>What if we “attuned” ourselves to “sacred surprise”?</li><li>Can we be open to the possibility that “aha” moments might happen anywhere and anytime<br />Maybe epiphanies — not just the big, dramatic, starry ones — are humbly manifesting themselves all around us in ways we don’t expect, and they hold the promise of insight and deeper understanding in the everyday.</li><li>When the Magi go home and the tree comes down, things return to normal. Or do they?<br />The beautiful, unexpected, and even unbelievable story of God-With-Us invites us to a rebirth of imagination. </li><li>Let us ask ourselves today: <br />Are we open to God's surprises? <br />Or are we closed and fearful before the newness of the Holy Spirit? <br />Do we have the courage to strike out along the new paths which God's newness sets before us, or do we resist, barricaded in structures and systems and ways which have lost their capacity for openness to what is new?</li></ul><p></p><div><div><div>The Magi, of course, were looking for a sign. The Magi were outsiders. Imagine a group of psychics turning up at church on Easter Sunday, saying, “We got a strange reading in the cards, and it brought us here.” But they weren’t content just gazing at the star. They didn’t remain in some distant locale and admire its glory from afar. They got up and followed it to its source. And their journey even involved danger, a treacherous king attempted to use them to manipulate this manifestation for his own evil purposes. They kept going.</div><div><br /></div><div>We don't create epiphanies, we respond to them. <br />Epiphanies grab a hold of us. <br />Epiphanies ask something of us. The star is an invitation, a calling to do something — to act.</div><div><br /></div><div>One of the Old Testament passages that is often read at Ephiphany are these words from the prophet Isaiah 60:1</div><div></div><blockquote><div><i>Arise, shine; for your light has come,</i></div><div><i>and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.</i></div></blockquote><div></div><div>We arise; we shine — glory entices us, woos us, into the light. <br />We don’t just observe. <br />Epiphany embraces and enlivens us.</div></div><div><br /></div><div>The author and poet Madeleine L’Engle captures the fullest sense of Epiphany in this blessing:</div><div></div><blockquote><div><i>This is my charge to you.</i></div><div><i>You are to be a light bearer.</i></div><div><i>You are to choose the light.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Arise. Shine.</i></div></blockquote><div></div></div><div><br /></div>oncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13996416.post-38957451430087686232024-01-01T09:19:00.006-05:002024-01-01T09:19:48.170-05:00strange fruit<p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> <span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Billie Holiday singing "<i><b>Strange Fruit</b></i>"... lyrics are posted below</span></span></p>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-DGY9HvChXk" width="320" youtube-src-id="-DGY9HvChXk"></iframe><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><p style="background-color: white; color: #444444; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;">"</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><i>Strange Fruit</i></b>" began as a poem written by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abel_Meeropol" style="color: #3778cd; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Abel Meeropol">Abel Meeropol</a>, a Jewish high-school teacher from the Bronx, about the lynching of two black men. He published under the pen name Lewis Allan. Meeropol and his wife adopted Robert and Michael, sons of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_and_Ethel_Rosenberg" style="color: #3778cd; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Julius and Ethel Rosenberg">Julius and Ethel Rosenberg</a>, who were convicted of espionage and executed by the United States. via <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Fruit" style="color: #3778cd; text-decoration-line: none;">Wikipedia<br /></a><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #444444; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">The photo below was the inspiration for the poem</span></span></p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc-_JTDz9c5Q993zf-cSJHIoXaT9mUtM6O64I3Kv-YP8pmuZC5ky8CA87NxUYnlogWZ8ntB7-VtVCWKj96KJJ0EBAZTucBnU2IQSTv_LW9ZzX2gWp8-AsPprQsU81sOyim-rCe3A/s1600-h/300px-ThomasShippAbramSmith.jpg" style="background-color: white; color: #3778cd; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5286363777282806258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc-_JTDz9c5Q993zf-cSJHIoXaT9mUtM6O64I3Kv-YP8pmuZC5ky8CA87NxUYnlogWZ8ntB7-VtVCWKj96KJJ0EBAZTucBnU2IQSTv_LW9ZzX2gWp8-AsPprQsU81sOyim-rCe3A/s400/300px-ThomasShippAbramSmith.jpg" style="background: transparent; border-radius: 0px; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 0px 0px; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 284px; margin: 0px auto 10px; padding: 8px; position: relative; text-align: center; width: 300px;" /></a><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">So why did I post this song?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /></span><ol style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">It's a beautiful, haunting song.</span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">It's a needed reminder that there is still deep-seated racism... and despite our claims otherwise, it exists here in Canada as well.</span></li><li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I wonder... are we as the church producing "<span style="font-style: italic;">strange fruit</span>" rather than "<span style="font-style: italic;">peculiar people</span>"? Are we producing stuff [and I think that's an appropriate term] instead of being a missional people?</span></li></ol><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Just some things to think about?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-weight: bold;">Strange Fruit</span><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #444444;"> lyrics</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Southern trees bear strange fruit,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Pastoral scene of the gallant south,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">Here is a strange and bitter crop.</span>
<br style="background-color: white; color: #444444;" /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><br />oncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13996416.post-9376211478695277822024-01-01T08:42:00.003-05:002024-01-01T08:42:18.078-05:00A Magna Carta of Trust by an Out-of-Control Disciple<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">"<b><i>A Magna Carta of Trust by an Out-of-Control Disciple</i></b>"<br />~Leonard Sweet’s Soul Cafe (March 1996 Vol. 2, No. 1)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I am part of the Church of the Out-of-Control. <br />I once was a control junkie, but now am an Out-of-Control Disciple. <br />I’ve given up my control to God. <br />I trust and obey the Spirit. <br />I’ve jumped off the fence, I’ve stepped over the line, I’ve pulled out all the stops, I’m holding nothing back. <br />There’s no turning back, looking around, slowing down, backing away, letting up, or shutting up. <br />It’s life Against the Odds, Outside the Box, Over the Wall, the game of life played Without Goal Lines other than “Thy Will Be Done…”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I’m done lapdogging for the topdogs, the wonderdogs, the overdogs, or even the underdogs. <br />I’m done playing According to the Rules, whether it’s Robert’s Rules of Order or Miss Manner’s Rules of Etiquette or Martha Stewart’s Rules of Living or Louis Farrakhan’s Rules of America’s Least Wanted or Merril Lynch’s Money-minding/Bottom-lining/Ladder-climbing Rules of America’s Most Wanted.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I am not here to please the dominant culture or to serve any all-show/no-go bureaucracies. <br />I live to please my Lord and Savior. <br />My spiritual taste-buds have graduated from fizz and froth to Fire and Ice.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Sometimes I’m called to sharpen the cutting edge, and sometimes to blunt the cutting edge. <br />Don’t give me that old-time religion. <br />Don’t give me that new-time religion. <br />Give me that all-time religion that’s as hard as rock and as soft as snow.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I’ve stopped trying to make life work, and started trying to make life sing. <br />I’m finished with second-hand sensations, third-rate dreams, low-risk high-rise trades and goose-stepping, flag-waving crusades. <br />I no longer live by and for anything but everything God-breathed, Christ-centered, and Spirit-driven.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I can’t be bought by any personalities or perks, positions or prizes. <br />I won’t give up, though I will give in… to openness of mind, humbleness of heart, and generosity of spirit. <br />When short-handed and hard-pressed, <br />I will never again hang in there. <br />I will stand in there, <br />I will run in there, <br />I will pray in there, <br />I will sacrifice in there, <br />I will endure in there – in fact, I will do everything in there but hang. <br />My face is upward, my feet are forward, my eyes are focused, my way is cloudy, my knees are worn, my seat uncreased, my heart burdened, my spirit light, my road narrow, my mission wide.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I won’t be seduced by popularity, traduced by criticism, by hypocrisy, or trivialized by mediocrity. <br />I am organized religion’s best friend, and worst nightmare. <br />I won’t back down, slow down, shut down, or let down until I’m preached out, teached out, healed out or hauled out of God’s mission in the world entrusted to members of the Church of the Out-of-Control… to unbind the confined, whether they’re the downtrodden or the upscale, the overlooked or the underrepresented.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">My fundamental identity is as a disciple of Jesus – but even more, as a disciple of Jesus who lives in Christ, who doesn’t walk through history simply “in his steps,” but seeks to travel more deeply IN HIS SPIRIT.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Until he comes again or calls me home, you can find me filling not killing time so that one day he will pick me out in the lineup of the ages as one of his own. <br />And then… it will be worth it all… to hear these words, the most precious words I can ever hear:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">“Well done, thou good and faithful… Out-of-Control Disciple.”</span></p>oncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13996416.post-17706839816453404122023-12-31T14:48:00.002-05:002023-12-31T14:48:29.369-05:002024<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">“<i>Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky</i>…” <br />These words from Tennyson’s poem resonate with timeless significance, capturing the essence of saying goodbye to the old year and embracing the possibilities of the new. <br />Written in 1850, yet so applicable to our day with its rudeness and strife, it is a reminder that the need for the peacemaking presence of “<i>the Christ that is to be</i>” is as relevant as ever.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The fifth stanza says</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div><i></i></div><blockquote><div><i>Ring out the want, the care, the sin,</i></div><div><i>The faithless coldness of the times;</i></div></blockquote><div><i></i></div><div>We are called to be faithful in these times, in the midst of all the ugliness.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here is a version of the poem, set to music by Alana Levandoski, followed by Malcolm Guite reading it.</div></span></span></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Ring Out Wild Bells</h3><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">lyrics by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, music </span></span><span face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.1); white-space-collapse: preserve;">by Alana Levandoski</span></span></div><div><span face="Roboto, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.1); font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dbnsIydaYYg?si=WjwmRYQQs0-P9Mtr" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe> <div><span style="font-family: verdana;">For another version by Alana go <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8w2Z1QCbIs" target="_blank">here</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Here is the poet Malcolm Guite reading Tennyson’s passage about the New Year Bells</span></div><div><br /></div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fAwIVU2TFk8?si=IWEiZ5XMsSLEcDjZ" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>oncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13996416.post-60427742398803521052023-12-24T07:43:00.001-05:002023-12-24T07:43:09.786-05:00Jesus messes things up<p> </p><div style="background-color: white; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;"><b>This is the time of year when we mess up the Gospel. </b><br /></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">I mean it.<br /></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">We mess up the Gospel because we confuse the Gospel with sentimental mush. <br /></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">And no, I am not the Grinch.<br /></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">We mess up the gospel, because:<br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">we sing songs that sentimentalize the birth of Jesus; </span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">we confuse winter songs with Christmas songs;</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">we sing and play a lot of theological nonsense;</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">we focus a lot on gifts - both the giving & the receiving;</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">we spend a fortune on decorations;</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">we eat too much of the wrong types of food;</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">we try to pretend that family relationships are fine;</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">we volunteer at soup kitchens because it makes us feel good;</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">we put on Christmas Cantatas & programmes, thinking this is evangelism;</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">we... [you can add in your item]</span></span></li></ul></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">We do all this stuff & we mess up the Gospel.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;"><br /></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">You see Jesus was born <br /><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">to mess with religious life, </span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">to mess with the messes that fill our lives.</span></span></li></ul></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">The birth of Jesus was just the beginning (actually it comes somewhere in the middle of the story... but I don't have space to tell that whole story).<br /></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">John the Baptist quoted the prophet Isaiah about a bulldozer movement:<br /><div style="text-align: right;">Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. </div></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: right;">Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low.</div></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: right;">The crooked roads shall become straight the rough ways smooth.</div></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: right;">And all mankind will see God's salvation. </div></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: right;"><b>Luke 3:4-6 </b>quoting I<b>saiah 40:3-5 </b>NIV </div></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;"><div style="background-color: white; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>Jesus announced that his ministry was kingdom ministry, expressed most concisely in the words of the prophet Isaiah:<br /><div style="text-align: right;">The Spirit of the Lord is on me,</div></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: right;">because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.</div></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: right;">He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. </div></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: right;"><b>Luke 4:18-19</b> quoting <b>Isaiah 61:1-2</b> NIV</div></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;"><div style="background-color: white; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>The Gospel of the Kingdom of God has to do with a lot more than what we often focus on around Christmas or even Advent. </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">Or can I say it without being accused of heresy, than Lent and Good Friday and Easter. </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">I don't minimize, in any way, the reality or the importance of these events for understanding the Incarnation. </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">But the Gospel of the Kingdom of God that Jesus came proclaiming, announcing, demonstrating, and establishing is so much bigger than we often think.<br /></span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">Jesus calls us </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">to be the people of God,</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">partnering with him</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">in his redemptive mission,</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">in the world.</span></span></li></ul><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">Unpacking that, living that out is a full-time job of listening to the Spirit and being obedient. </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: small;">That's a lot more and a lot more challenging and fulfilling than some of our Christmas stuff.</span></span></div>oncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13996416.post-45446574294598214182023-12-10T07:14:00.004-05:002023-12-10T07:14:29.086-05:00I Will Wait<p> Mumford & Sons - I Will Wait</p><p>an advent song</p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rGKfrgqWcv0?si=k5JhZlGhvpX_xpGl" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>oncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13996416.post-22829431412468359222023-12-10T07:12:00.004-05:002023-12-10T07:12:44.613-05:00carol of the bells<p> Carol of the Bells on the Hammered Dulcimer performed by DeeDee Tibbits</p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QN3KWbpBsvg?si=WALPRBPuDxk_gmUA" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>
oncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13996416.post-1489951764779245622023-11-03T08:25:00.000-04:002023-11-03T08:25:38.809-04:00the times they are a changin'<span style="font-family: verdana;">On my run the other day I was listening to Bob Dylan's "<i>The Times They Are A-Changin'</i>"</span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="351" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uc5lyJDiyEI" width="422" youtube-src-id="uc5lyJDiyEI"></iframe></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">
The times are changing.</span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I don't just mean the time change of this weekend.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I don't just mean the seasonal change.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I mean what's happening in our world.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Here are some incomplete thoughts and reflections.</span></div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Israel / Gaza / Palestine</span></h4><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">With what is happening in Israel / Gaza / Palestine we hear rumours of more and more violence. Killings. Retaliation. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">We hear of Christians who are almost delighted with what is happening. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">They rejoice that Israel is taking back all the land, not caring about the human cost, not caring that every single person killed is a person created by and loved by God, not caring that it is citizens - men, women, children - not terrorists, who are being killed.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">There are some Christians who are looking forward to a rebuilding of the temple - a sure sign that they don't understand the gospel.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">It is so sad to hear of pastors calling for & endorsing war. Nations must provide security, but religious leaders giving religious cover in the name of God to slaughter people should make us quake - we will answer to God for every innocent life we give permission to kill.</span></div><div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Does anyone else notice that some Christian "just war" proponents give full support to Israel while Israel violates the principles of just war? J</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ust war theory is appealing to Christians living in Empire, but it's an impossible reality in modern warfare.</span></div></div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Middle East</span></h4><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">We should not think there could not be a WWIII</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">There are new alignments of nations. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">New alliances between China and Russia. North Korea connects with China and Russia.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">There are m</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">ultiple opposing navies in the Mediterranean.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">We need calm leaders and Christians & pastors doing all they can to call for peace while confronting evil & the circumstances that promote it.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Saudi Arabia has been awarded the next FIFA World Cup. Saudi Arabia has a terrible record on human rights, making the previous hosts, Qatar, look positively rosy. Saudi Arabia is actively oppressing and killing people in Yemen.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Saudi Arabia, while trying to act like a go-between in the middle-east conflict, actually is the home to top Hama leaders. </span></div><h4 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">the rest of the world</span></h4><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">In many places in the west - USA, Canada, Britain, and others - anti-democratic leaders are on the rise. Extremism and violence, lying (an old-fashioned word for misinformation) is on the rise. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">AI tools make it easier to spread falsehoods.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The list goes on and on.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The world is a mess.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">The world hates those who strive for peace - shalom.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Persecution of those who name the name of Jesus is on the rise, and will increase.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I read from John 15 this morning.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white;"><blockquote><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. </i></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>Now remain in my love.</i> <b>John 15:9</b></span></blockquote></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>oncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13996416.post-29857824908938713862023-10-23T08:53:00.003-04:002023-10-23T08:53:52.946-04:00Israel, Hamas, Gaza, Palentinians<p>Over the last few days:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Israel bombed Gaza with more airstrikes. </li><li>Israeli soldiers fought Hamas militants on the ground in raids within the besieged Palestinian enclave.</li><li>Israeli aircraft also struck southern Lebanon and Syria. </li><li>Israeli troops fought Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.</li></ul><p></p><p>Most observers and commentators suggest much more will happen this week.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>So how do we respond? </li><li>How do we talk about Israel, Hamas, Gaza, and Palestine? </li><li>We live in a world where it seems if you say anything that attempts to be even-handed you are condemned. </li></ul>The following comments are drawn from a variety of sources and reflections, including my own.<p></p><p><br /></p><p>First, we need to be in <b>prayer</b>: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>in lamenting the grievous deaths and violence; </li><li>in pleading with God to awaken the desire for shalom, not just a peace-fire; </li><li>in asking God for each of us to be patient and compassionate as our first step. </li></ul><p></p><p>Prayer is a form of activism that does not replace social activism.</p><p><br /></p><p>Second, talk about <b>justice</b>. </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Talk about justice for each human on planet earth. </li><li>Talk justice for all image-bearing humans, Palestinian, Jewish, Muslim, Christian and others.</li><li>Justice, not in the legal sense of Just War Theory or in the sense of international war policies and rules or in the legal rulings of a given nation, but a deeper sense of justice for all. <br />Justice for Israel. <br />Justice for the Palestinians.<br />Justice for Hamas. <br />Justice for Hezbollah. </li><li>Justice is doing what is right. </li><li>Justice for a Christian is doing what is right in the way of Jesus. </li><li>Justice is also doing what is right at the time as far as possible.</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><p>Third, talk <b>compassion</b>, talk <b>love</b>, talk <b>empathy</b>. </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Compassion leads us to become educated about the history of the Palestinians, about Israel, about Middle Eastern social tensions, injustices, terrorism, and violence. </li><li>The simplistic story often heard, namely that the Palestinians and Jews lived in the land together in total peace but 1948 ended all that, requires nuance and correction rather than simplistic political finger-wagging.</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><p>Fourth, <b>justice </b>and <b>compassion </b>should prompt a return to the conditions for Jewish persons throughout Europe, to the Holocaust, to the need for people to have the right to rule themselves. </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Including modern Israelis and modern Palestinians. </li><li>The conditions for Palestinians are intolerable. </li><li>The rhetoric of some that they want Israelites or Palestinians, wiped from the face of the earth is intolerable.</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><p>So, fifth, talk <b>peace</b>. </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Talk shalom - flourishing.</li><li>Talk peace-making. </li><li>Talking toward peace is Christian; war is not. </li><li>If we talk peace we will avoid taking sides. </li><li>We will avoid saying “we stand with Israel” when that implies not standing with Palestinians. </li><li>We will avoid saying “we stand with Palestinians when that means not standing with Israel.” </li><li>We cannot excuse the violence of terrorists. </li><li>We need to speak up and out about kidnapping, hostages, and taking prisoners.</li><li>We need to talk about blocking aid and other acts of retaliation.</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><p>Sixth, be very careful linking this with <b>prophecy</b>, </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>either in the Old Testament or in the New Testament. </li><li>for many in North America, a major prophetic event was the rebirth of Israel in 1948, which was understood to be not just miraculous but a fulfilment of the fig tree parable in Matthew 24. The problem was that the fig tree was followed by a prediction that the Lord would return within a generation. </li></ul>Many of us in North America were socialized into believing that 1948 fulfilled some special prophecy; <p></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>many of us never looked into it; </li><li>many of us have been nurtured in a faith shaped by such a pro-Israel political stance that we can never ponder that Israel is not infallible in its decisions. </li><li>We need to recognize this orientation, that any alternative view can be disorienting, and that a reorientation takes time. </li><li>We need a new evangelical culture when it comes to politics.</li></ul><p></p><p>This needs to be said: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>every precise fulfilment of some Bible verse (understood as) prophetic prediction so far has been shown not to be a fulfilment. </li></ul><p></p><p>To put it more bluntly, the predictors have all been wrong about every prediction so far. </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Predictors, prophets, apostles, and preachers, need to stop. </li><li>We need to stop. </li><li>Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Gorbachev, Putin, the list goes on... none were THE antichrist. None. WWI, WWII, the Six Day War, the oil crisis, you name it, each has been ramped up with apocalyptic expectations and every last one – name them all – has been wrongly connected to the end of history. </li></ul>That approach is entirely wrong.<p></p><p>This is why we need to be more biblical by talking <b>justice</b>, <b>compassion</b>, and <b>peace</b>.</p>oncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13996416.post-70567864825997971072023-10-20T15:00:00.007-04:002023-10-20T15:06:08.948-04:00conflict in the world<p><br />If you listen to/read/watch the news, you know that the world's attention is focused on <b>Israel - Gaza - Hamas. </b></p><p>If you follow evangelical American commentators, you might think that that is the only conflict happening in the world right now.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUIw9rBklQvLXzx05pMY4onXjezxGz-18Gjy5QZepQ2ABreNWLREVWU0V8QvEa11FzCntgUVpflqFVsNDyizLp8-uQr0cS6h1b5PNCLca_MGilFmfdwToo6RFNZCfEAJzLz6Qm59csrc8o8TrmY4NLe3V7aqZQqrnHDC_wf7zsgTe9LhveDjLE/s1121/index_map.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="669" data-original-width="1121" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUIw9rBklQvLXzx05pMY4onXjezxGz-18Gjy5QZepQ2ABreNWLREVWU0V8QvEa11FzCntgUVpflqFVsNDyizLp8-uQr0cS6h1b5PNCLca_MGilFmfdwToo6RFNZCfEAJzLz6Qm59csrc8o8TrmY4NLe3V7aqZQqrnHDC_wf7zsgTe9LhveDjLE/w496-h296/index_map.png" width="496" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>These maps highlights multiple places where there is conflict... <a href="https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker" target="_blank">global conflict</a> [I almost didn't use this map, because one of the factors it highlights is "impact on the US" - that strikes me as a far too narrow, self-focused view, that impacts how people see the world] ... in most cases, the conflict has resulted in loss of life and significant disruptions within the countries, including (but not limited to)... </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>death</li><li>starvation</li><li>rape & sexual exploitation</li><li>forced evacuation</li></ul>Yes, we understand the importance of the Middle East (on many levels): biblically, economically, and politically. But let's not forget, that in every place where there is conflict over land and power, the people involved are people created in the image and likeness of God. The violent death of an innocent Palestinian child is as grievous to me as the innocent death of an Israeli child or a child in Ukraine or in Russia or in Sudan, or in dozens of places around the world. Undisciplined attempts to destroy terrorists will always create future terrorists.<div><div><br /></div><div>Estimates, as of Friday (20 October 2023), say that more than <b>4,500</b> people have been killed in Israel and Gaza. This article on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ongoing_armed_conflicts" target="_blank">Wikipedia </a>lists more than <b>162,170 </b>people killed in 2023 in the 6 major conflicts [more than 10,000 deaths in the last year] happening right now (this does not include Israel - Hamas).</div><p></p><ul><li>Yes, we need to pray for Israel & Palestine. </li><li>We need to pray for peace - shalom in the land - not just Israel, but everywhere.</li><li>We need to pray that God's people do not listen to the distortions and misinformation that flows in time of conflict.</li><li>We have to be aware that the conflict between Israel and Hamas may end up involving other actors and increasing hostilities… we also should be aware that unless we choose to end the hostilities we have with each other, war may come to our own neighbourhoods.</li><li>Paul writes in <b>Ephesians 6:10-12</b> "<i>Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.</i>”<br />Paul’s statement is straightforward and simple... the enemy in front of us is not the real enemy... it is the power behind the enemy in front of us that demands our attention. We focus on the unseen powers, not on people.</li><li><b>Daniel 10</b>, tells us that the answer to his prayer was delayed because of battles in the spirit world. It seems to me that hell rejoices when we believe prayer is fruitless.</li><li>Read <b>Romans 8:18-25</b> and know that groaning is part of prayer... groan loudly, groan often, but groan in hope of the Day when groaning will cease.</li><li>Hope for an alternative future brings us into contradiction with the existing present and puts us against the people who cling to it.</li></ul><p><br /></p><p> </p></div>oncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13996416.post-45300201949188301362023-10-16T16:22:00.000-04:002023-10-16T16:22:51.568-04:00Praying for Israel & Palestine<p>As God's people, as the Church we need to pray for Israel & Palestine. We are reminded that God has called us to be watchmen. Isaiah 62 specifically says we are to pray for Israel day and night and not give Him any rest until Jerusalem becomes a praise on the earth. Here are some ways to intercede: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Pray for peace in the region, and for this war to end quickly.</li><li>Pray for families who have lost loved ones, that the Lord fills their hearts with comfort and peace.</li><li>Pray for leaders, that they will make the right decisions.</li><li>Pray for believers across the land, that they have inner peace and be salt and light, and that all their financial and physical needs are met.</li><li>Pray that the Lord will give us wisdom on how to minister to people and help those affected by the war.</li><li>Pray for the protection of believers on both sides. And pray for Arab believers and Messianic believers to find unity in Jesus rather than division.</li><li>Pray for repentance over the extreme bloodshed that is taking place in the land, and that Satan will not succeed in his plans to harm and kill.</li><li>Pray that the Lord will lead many to know Him, so that they may repent and be saved.</li><li>Finally, pray that the Lord would grant us wisdom to care for our congregations and strengthen them in the Lord in this difficult time.</li></ul><p></p>oncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13996416.post-34858701848990036672023-10-13T19:29:00.004-04:002023-10-13T19:29:55.501-04:00Poor Bishop Hooper - Psalm 122<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="382" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Hffi8UCNxHw" width="459" youtube-src-id="Hffi8UCNxHw"></iframe><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.1); color: white; font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Lyrics:</span></div><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.1); font-family: Roboto, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">i was glad when they said to me
let us go to the house of the lord
our feet have been standing within your gates
o jerusalem o jerusalem
built as a city should be jerusalem
bound together firmly jerusalem
where the tribes go up to praise
there the thrones of judgment set
the thrones of the house of david
jerusalem
peace peace peace be within your walls
pray for the peace peace peace of jerusalem
i will say peace peace peace be within your walls
pray for the peace peace peace of jerusalem
Poor Bishop Hooper is Jesse and Leah Roberts.
All songs written, recorded, and mixed by Poor Bishop Hooper.</span>oncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13996416.post-25229533838086191352023-10-13T19:05:00.005-04:002023-10-13T19:05:42.071-04:00Blood Brothers<p>I don't remember listening to audiobooks since we moved to Richmond, BC.</p><p>Right now I am listening to "<i>Blood Brothers: The Dramatic Story of a Palestinian Christian Working for Peace in Israel</i>". This is an excellent book by Elias Chacour. As a child, he lived in a small Palestinian village in Galilee. When tens of thousands of Palestinians were killed and nearly one million forced into refugee camps in 1948, Elias began a long struggle with how to respond. In <i>Blood Brothers</i>, he blends his riveting life story with historical research to reveal a little-known side of the Arab-Israeli conflict, touching on questions such as: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>What behind-the-scenes politics touched off the turmoil in the Middle East? </li><li>What does Bible prophecy really have to say? </li><li>Can bitter enemies ever be reconciled?</li></ul>The forward has a helpful update on recent Israeli-Palestinian conflict. <i>Blood Brothers</i> offers hope and insight that can help each of us learn to live at peace in a world of tension and terror. Whatever else can be said, absolutely nothing justifies terrorizing and violently targeting civilians. And in this, the extremes of both sides aren’t moral opposites, but rather, moral mirrors. I think we need to be very careful of any narrative that paints a black-and-white (uncomplex) picture. <div><p></p></div>oncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13996416.post-23955226740749134172023-10-02T09:01:00.005-04:002023-10-02T09:01:59.268-04:00book review: mission is the shape of water<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizn2BsZCptB7kE2fawqghghWIe14BVJvkcL3TcqlEBZXSkNDPQlDfhlsqwyqDqGlJ2YcEBZ1JLTU5t9MN0Q6GKq9nInL9S3tl3-9rEMlY63jQ-kdDqKiwXb6aTpsJOkyr22D_wG2zBTEVBr7sfg8lOgikEMnsHn_2JzDgMjcngEOmWrLBjDW29/s425/615Tj2q2a+L._SY425_.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="283" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizn2BsZCptB7kE2fawqghghWIe14BVJvkcL3TcqlEBZXSkNDPQlDfhlsqwyqDqGlJ2YcEBZ1JLTU5t9MN0Q6GKq9nInL9S3tl3-9rEMlY63jQ-kdDqKiwXb6aTpsJOkyr22D_wG2zBTEVBr7sfg8lOgikEMnsHn_2JzDgMjcngEOmWrLBjDW29/s320/615Tj2q2a+L._SY425_.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><b>title</b>: Mission is the Shape of Water: Learning From the Past to Inform Our Role in the World Today<br /><b>author</b>: Michael Frost<br /><b>date</b>: 2023<br /><b>publisher</b>: 100 Movements</div><p>I have read most books by Michael Frost, and have always been encouraged and challenged by them.</p><p>In his latest book, he traces the good, the bad and the ugly of the church's missional journey. In this book, he walks us readers through what he calls the ten shapes: </p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>God Slaying, </li><li>Peacemaking, </li><li>Flame Bearing, </li><li>Spirit Seeking, </li><li>Wordsmithing, </li><li>Freedom Fighting, </li><li>Unshackling, </li><li>Contextualizing, </li><li>Remissioning, and, </li><li>Unearthing.</li></ol><p></p><p>“Mission,” he writes, “must never be about transplanting British or American forms of Christianity into foreign fields.” Having spent some time in Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda that is something that the church there wrestles with: why did missionaries bring so much British (especially) forms of Christianity to our land. </p><p>The movement of God throughout history has seldom moved in a straight line, but has ebbed and flowed, just like water, “...the exact contours of the mission of God’s people are fluid…And throughout history, our mission has been shaped differently, depending on the challenges and interests of people in each epoch.” </p><p>One of the things that I appreciate about the history that Michael Frost traces in this book is he doesn't shy away from the bad and the ugly parts of church history. But he also puts those parts in the context of their day. It's an important reminder that what we take for granted today may not be the best approach. As these stories are unfolded, Frost ties them together, showing us a colourful and diverse picture of God’s Kingdom work in different times and cultures. </p><p>At the end of the book, Frost gives some questions that, if we wrestled with them, might cause us to shape things more in the way God calls us rather than the ways that have led us to what we see in the church today. Part of that is admitting that maybe what we’ve been striving for isn’t what we should be striving for after all. “What if the church in post-Christendom eschews any inclination to dominate or control the culture in which it finds itself? What if faithfulness becomes our metric rather than triumph?” </p><p>“This is the gospel,” Frost writes, “Christ is king...as proved by his birth, life, miracles, teaching, death, and resurrection...and a relationship with him unites us into a world of deliverance, justice, peace, healing, community, joy, and the experience of God’s presence. These are the very things we need to be sharing with this current generation.”</p><p>You may find the book a little slow to get going, but I highly recommend this book.</p>oncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13996416.post-57583725028073079282023-08-28T17:05:00.001-04:002023-08-28T17:05:14.795-04:00more than a dream<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Today, August 28, is the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington, a pivotal event in the 1960s civil rights movement at which Martin Luther King Jr gave his galvanising “<b><i>I have a dream</i></b>” speech. The 1963 march brought more than 250,000 people to Washington. </span></p><p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wwc20h0LDN4?si=EtgVFVZrZdiUZRQR" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></p><span style="font-family: verdana;">
But that speech was not some wistful, hopeful desire for a “colour-blind” America as it is often portrayed today. It was a call for justice, for white Americans to consciously and intentionally join the cause for racial justice – and to see the fight for freedom for all Americans as intrinsically linked with our own.
King’s speech was a call to action – one that reverberates to this day.</span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><div style="text-align: right;"><i>“We have also come to his hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.</i></div><div style="text-align: right;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: right;"><i>Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.”</i></div><div style="text-align: right;">Martin Luther King, Jr., August 28, 1963</div><div><br /></div><div>The work of justice is not done. Sadly, some of the progress made in the last 60 years is being wiped away by a small but noisy minority who are counting on people to be lulled asleep by "<i>the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.</i>"</div><div><br /></div><div>Throughout the Civil Rights movement, Rev. King often, correctly, lamented the silence of white ministers. King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” was addressed directly to “My Dear Fellow Clergymen” as he wrote of broken promises and the obstacle of “the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice.”</div><div><br /></div><div><div>Too many people hear King’s speech as “I have a complaint”! Of course, it wasn’t and the difference between a “compliant” and a “dream” is profound. There are many things we can complain about and protest against. </div><div><br /></div><div>It is easy to complain but it is in dreaming that people bring about social change. Dreaming is about imagining how change looks. The Bible told us this a long, long time ago; “<i>your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams</i>” [Joel 2:28 quoted in Acts 2:17].<br /><br /></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Here's the full speech</div><div><br /></div></span></div>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0o3a2HIKkuE?si=Iy9YWTKlIJDqibPB" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>oncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13996416.post-36038690865098331832023-08-12T10:56:00.002-04:002023-08-12T10:56:46.404-04:00book review: cold pursuit<div style="text-align: left;">title: <b>Cold Pursuit</b><br />author: <b>Nancy Mehl</b><br />date: <b>2023</b><br />publisher: <b>Bethany House</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLjvrA-TbNsCd8omrQwHo0rzkXzmQ2Z-ZbnBRDc-kujJmlA7P58vmb6pCQXAZxc022S2Xf7y9Xr-Qm6cu8zGma8EoxnmAMURWIXyhNAfh13HHEOYo_-Vqd4M3l9LuaQH-0VU9weyys0dJjjC0UCqFulv5sBm0sR8mOOUSSeVh-jvlYvzpphikT/s499/51E4bWaG6uL._SX322_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="324" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLjvrA-TbNsCd8omrQwHo0rzkXzmQ2Z-ZbnBRDc-kujJmlA7P58vmb6pCQXAZxc022S2Xf7y9Xr-Qm6cu8zGma8EoxnmAMURWIXyhNAfh13HHEOYo_-Vqd4M3l9LuaQH-0VU9weyys0dJjjC0UCqFulv5sBm0sR8mOOUSSeVh-jvlYvzpphikT/s320/51E4bWaG6uL._SX322_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" width="208" /></a></div></div><p style="text-align: left;">This is the first Nancy Mehl novel I have read. </p><p style="text-align: left;">In <b>Cold Pursuit</b> she introduces us to River Ryland and Tony St. Clair, both retired from the FBI, now launching their own private investigator office. In this opening book of a new series, River and Tony take on a 4-year-old cold case. </p><p style="text-align: left;">Nancy's storyline takes a basic missing person's case and weaves in PTSD, synesthesia, alzheimer and other mental health complications. And she does it in a careful, sensitive way. She does not demean characters who struggle. She also weaves faith into the story in a very natural way. It is not an add-on or a pushed agenda.</p><p style="text-align: left;">This is not a complicated or overly dark thriller, but she keeps drawing you in to keep reading. I am glad it is the first in a series, I'd like to see more character development as the journey unfolds. </p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">This book was provided by Graf Martin Communications, Inc. Views expressed are my opinion.</p><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p><br /></p>oncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13996416.post-80919607847221987012023-07-06T08:24:00.009-04:002023-07-06T08:24:50.856-04:00Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny<p>Janice & I went to see <b>Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. </b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5YMPCg8yT2jaHAL2Sp1izToQo9RCVKsLVOVS6LEp4bu1PZPrbk-33BSLBIVu5uCSw90ghbEtWRfESLc-MGFGJ5mdpbwl0igrLPtvIvYR1kMxU6KUTxwDKdMyn_UsBvVhn81AU1LGyuSrRn16XOCLoKjXwASiH6OYxSdqWc4WMOYFUQ9xQl1-f/s810/image_17ad972d.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="540" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5YMPCg8yT2jaHAL2Sp1izToQo9RCVKsLVOVS6LEp4bu1PZPrbk-33BSLBIVu5uCSw90ghbEtWRfESLc-MGFGJ5mdpbwl0igrLPtvIvYR1kMxU6KUTxwDKdMyn_UsBvVhn81AU1LGyuSrRn16XOCLoKjXwASiH6OYxSdqWc4WMOYFUQ9xQl1-f/s320/image_17ad972d.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div><p>I wasn't sure about going to see it, since some of the reviews were not too positive. Sure there are some things to quibble about... but then you can say that about just about every movie, play, book. </p><p></p><p>Bottom line we liked it. Lots of action, the script is funny, and well-done pointers back to previous movies in the franchise.</p><p>This is the first movie we have seen on the big screen in a long time - there's a lot to take in.</p><p>If you are looking for an action-filled, fun summer movie... go see this one.</p><p><br /></p>oncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13996416.post-33496546799095302922023-05-24T09:01:00.002-04:002023-05-24T09:01:24.291-04:00banning books & guns<p> Amanda Gorman reading her inauguration poem, '<i><b>The Hill We Climb</b></i>'<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="498" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LZ055ilIiN4" title="WATCH: Amanda Gorman reads inauguration poem, 'The Hill We Climb'" width="885"></iframe></p>Those are powerful words. The full text of her poem is posted below.<div><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/23/florida-school-inaugural-poem-ban-00098492" target="_blank">News </a>comes out of Florida that a Miami-Dade elementary school has removed Amanda Gorman’s presidential inauguration poem, "<i><b>The Hill We Climb</b></i>", from circulation after a parent complained that it contained indirect “hate messages.”<br /><div>"one parent complained in March that it 'is not educational and have indirectly [sic] hate messages.'... The complaint also misidentified Oprah Winfrey as the author of 'The Hill We Climb.'"</div><div><br /></div><div>There is something very wrong when one parent who has not done their homework, can get this poem banned from classrooms, and yet a multitude of voices cannot ban assault rifles from massacring children.</div><div><br /></div><div>Shortly before I saw that news, I came across this post of a letter from Helen Keller</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh0pdrqNV1AeKBaeu63XlLrDKGRPNb96h5g73ZVQ7giaEd8U3NS9marlCmXh_57ULUPyE3fVXOvEwYKmeTsr8ZVsSGjT0TS1dwSXP3rQlSwnoxpzt_Xz32FMa_s9zC9eX8ZcuDe_mzKadYI7XjqziyPA6YEg6tlGTOzbiP5vTK0PW8HOh5jA/s1212/KellerLetter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1212" data-original-width="920" height="529" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh0pdrqNV1AeKBaeu63XlLrDKGRPNb96h5g73ZVQ7giaEd8U3NS9marlCmXh_57ULUPyE3fVXOvEwYKmeTsr8ZVsSGjT0TS1dwSXP3rQlSwnoxpzt_Xz32FMa_s9zC9eX8ZcuDe_mzKadYI7XjqziyPA6YEg6tlGTOzbiP5vTK0PW8HOh5jA/w402-h529/KellerLetter.jpg" width="402" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b><i>The Hill We Climb</i></b></div><div>When day comes, we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never-ending shade?</div><div>The loss we carry. A sea we must wade.</div><div>We braved the belly of the beast.</div><div>We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace, and the norms and notions of what “just” is isn’t always justice.</div><div>And yet the dawn is ours before we knew it.</div><div>Somehow we do it.</div><div>Somehow we weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken, but simply unfinished.</div><div>We, the successors of a country and a time where a skinny Black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president, only to find herself reciting for one.</div><div>And, yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine, but that doesn’t mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect.</div><div>We are striving to forge our union with purpose.</div><div>To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man.</div><div>And so we lift our gaze, not to what stands between us, but what stands before us.</div><div>We close the divide because we know to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside.</div><div>We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another.</div><div>We seek harm to none and harmony for all.</div><div>Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true.</div><div>That even as we grieved, we grew.</div><div>That even as we hurt, we hoped.</div><div>That even as we tired, we tried.</div><div>That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious.</div><div>Not because we will never again know defeat, but because we will never again sow division.</div><div>Scripture tells us to envision that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid.</div><div>If we’re to live up to our own time, then victory won’t lie in the blade, but in all the bridges we’ve made.</div><div>That is the promise to glade, the hill we climb, if only we dare.</div><div>It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit.</div><div>It’s the past we step into and how we repair it.</div><div>We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation, rather than share it.</div><div>Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.</div><div>And this effort very nearly succeeded.</div><div>But while democracy can be periodically delayed, it can never be permanently defeated.</div><div>In this truth, in this faith we trust, for while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us.</div><div>This is the era of just redemption.</div><div>We feared at its inception.</div><div>We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour.</div><div>But within it we found the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves.</div><div>So, while once we asked, how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe, now we assert, how could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?</div><div>We will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be: a country that is bruised but whole, benevolent but bold, fierce and free.</div><div>We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation, become the future.</div><div>Our blunders become their burdens.</div><div>But one thing is certain.</div><div>If we merge mercy with might, and might with right, then love becomes our legacy and change our children’s birthright.</div><div>So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left.</div><div>Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest, we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one.</div><div>We will rise from the golden hills of the West.</div><div>We will rise from the windswept Northeast where our forefathers first realized revolution.</div><div>We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the Midwestern states.</div><div>We will rise from the sun-baked South.</div><div>We will rebuild, reconcile, and recover.</div><div>And every known nook of our nation and every corner called our country, our people diverse and beautiful, will emerge battered and beautiful.</div><div>When day comes, we step out of the shade of flame and unafraid.</div><div>The new dawn balloons as we free it.</div><div>For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it.</div><div>If only we’re brave enough to be it.</div></div><div><br /></div></div></div>oncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13996416.post-21672614123834853812023-04-24T11:37:00.001-04:002023-04-24T11:37:07.841-04:00Rana Plaza Factory<p>In my facebook memory this morning I had the post below from Corban Addision about the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh several years ago.</p><p>If you want a good understanding of social issues, Corban Addison writes some excellent novels that address these big pictures. His book "A Harvest of Thorns" tackles the overseas fashion industry.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZY3EX8HnTKL5ljleowKDlt-_WiQ977YJue2XG-gYPkwXEWjXbPDpLER65pA9xrzie8N1V6r9lX9YGsF9SIPPlALXBw9ZqyGHM6Yt4hZejcCvn9q0KoPqRDrPe4nWhNFzA53FMY-57dQagMJEuzBqiUxrdCESRtLgDBG0p3P7QSf02Uz2YIA/s2560/914P9GpjkTL.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1745" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZY3EX8HnTKL5ljleowKDlt-_WiQ977YJue2XG-gYPkwXEWjXbPDpLER65pA9xrzie8N1V6r9lX9YGsF9SIPPlALXBw9ZqyGHM6Yt4hZejcCvn9q0KoPqRDrPe4nWhNFzA53FMY-57dQagMJEuzBqiUxrdCESRtLgDBG0p3P7QSf02Uz2YIA/s320/914P9GpjkTL.jpg" width="218" /></a></div><p>And despite all the cries of outrage at the time, still next to nothing has been done. <a href="https://takeaction.amnesty.ca/page/124747/petition/1?_ga=2.97438751.1066406981.1682350376-877654096.1682350376" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Take action now</a> and call on Canada to finally pass a law requiring Canadian companies and importers to respect human rights throughout their supply chains.</p><p><br /></p><p>It’s been 7 years [it's now 10] since the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh claimed the lives of 1,132 garment workers—mostly young women—who were making clothes for the world’s biggest brands. The brands promised change. They chipped in cash to a relief fund. They ramped up their CSR (corporate social responsibility) efforts. They tightened their supplier contracts. But few, if any, took a deeper look at their business model. Few, of any, asked if exploitation was baked into the system where price and time pressure from the top drive thinner margins and cost cutting at the bottom. Why would they? Fast fashion is a money mint. It doesn’t pay to question it.</p><p>Unless investors and consumers demand it.</p><p>Seven years on, the fashion industry is again in the midst of crisis, this time a global pandemic. And, again, the world is getting a peek behind the veil at what the brands actually value. Some like H&M, Target, and Zara are taking the high road, standing by their suppliers and paying for cancelled orders, so that the workers at the bottom—still mostly young women who have no safety net—can feed their families. Other brands are claiming poverty and holding out. </p><p>But the fundamental question remains: When will the industry take a hard look under the hood at the engine that drives exploitation, that funnels money to the brands and leaves workers in such desperate straits? The answer, as always: Only when investors and consumers demand it. </p><p>If ever there was a moment for introspection, it is now.</p><p>The pandemic has slowed the whole world down. Why not slow down fast fashion? Why not take this opportunity to hit the pause button on our own fashion addictions? We don’t need to stop buying clothes. We just need to change the way we relate to our wardrobes, recover old favorites, take up my friend, Livia Firth’s, #30Wears challenge, buy less, and enjoy what we have more. </p><p>We should also use this time to look at the labels in our closets and change who we buy from. At the very least, we should all commit to walking away from any brand that has abandoned its poorest workers in the hour of their greatest need. Right now, the biggest COVID holdouts are Gap, Primark, Anthropologie, and Walmart. They’re still refusing to pay for cancelled orders. But more than that, we should adopt a more ethical approach to all of our purchases. I used to buy my casual shirts from JCrew. Now I buy from Everlane. My own closet is far from clean, but I’m trying. I’m committed to trying harder.</p><p>During this #FashionRevolution week, will you join m</p>oncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13996416.post-64207766767617814902023-03-31T07:39:00.005-04:002023-03-31T07:39:44.350-04:00encouragement<div style="text-align: left;">I saw a couple of pieces that deal with encouragement... </div><div style="text-align: left;">watch & read these two stories & then encourage someone.</div><div style="text-align: left;"> </div><h3 style="text-align: left;">First story</h3><div style="text-align: left;">Vincent Van Gough was born 170 years ago (30 March).</div><div style="text-align: left;">I had the privilege of seeing the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam about 5 years after it opened.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><div>I like this scene from #DrWho where he's brought to the modern day and discovers how much his work is appreciated. It’s a gorgeous bit of TV! </div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ubTJI_UphPk" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe> <div><br /></div><h3 style="text-align: left;">The second story</h3><div>Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.</div><div><br /></div><div>The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.</div><div><br /></div><div>The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.</div><div><br /></div><div>One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn't hear the band, he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.</div><div><br /></div><div>Days and weeks passed. One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.</div><div><br /></div><div>Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the world outside. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it for himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed.</div><div><br /></div><div>It faced a blank wall.</div><div><br /></div><div>The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you." hospital</div>oncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13996416.post-32952842023970425242023-02-27T07:26:00.003-05:002023-02-27T07:26:33.382-05:00Tyre Nicols - A Lament<p> </p><h3 class="post-title entry-title" style="background-color: white; color: #212121; float: left; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 22px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 8px; max-width: calc(100% - 48px);">Tyre Nichols - A Lament</h3><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>http://dreamsunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/01/tylor-nichols-lament.html</div><div class="post-header" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.54); font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; width: inherit;"><div class="post-header-line-1"><span class="byline post-timestamp" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 24px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 8px; vertical-align: top;"><a class="timestamp-link" href="http://dreamsunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/01/tylor-nichols-lament.html" rel="bookmark" style="background: transparent; font: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;" title="permanent link">January 28, 2023</a></span></div></div><div class="post-body entry-content float-container" id="post-body-5755995193444517969" style="background-color: white; color: #757575; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.6em; margin: 1.5em 0px 2em;"><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="Tyre Nichols does tricks on his board in a YouTube video, which was shown at a news conference by his family's attorney Crump." class="image__dam-img" height="276" loading="lazy" src="https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230126111223-04-tyre-nichols.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_270,w_480,c_fill" style="border: 0px; height: inherit; max-width: 100%;" width="353" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">the prophet said let justice roll down</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">and i see nothing</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">the prophet talked about streams of righteousness</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">and i see a parched desert</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">we pray Your kingdom come</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">and wonder when</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">we pray Your will be done</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">and wonder when</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> when will our sons walk unafraid?<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> when will our girls live unashamed?<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> <br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">who can treat perpetual trauma?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">what elixir must we mix?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">waiting patiently</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">miry clay</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">its a trail of brokenness from Golgotha to Memphis</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">and then</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> whispers of a stone that was rolled away<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> hazy visions of a coming day (of the Lord?)<br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">but still I wonder when</div></div>oncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13996416.post-64489764184750835272023-02-10T12:52:00.007-05:002023-02-10T12:52:57.093-05:00Book Review: Righteous Brood: Making the Mission of God a Family Story<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF1AJIo1ni-Wm6vyc9JFt4eWOzc7Yc_cbe9BOh2pYQVGxLG4PvJwlLWnsSE3f3gQYBflCzkE8Uzf5BCax5trhe6lSDNLReop69ApWSl3iaMkxzUGKo4ppLhOSKI9fxEWSWAiK5tVfW08fehrFKQ9VP1cYbzwLbqaMyRC9ttWUbLGUIHM4ClQ/s2339/70046492.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2339" data-original-width="1524" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF1AJIo1ni-Wm6vyc9JFt4eWOzc7Yc_cbe9BOh2pYQVGxLG4PvJwlLWnsSE3f3gQYBflCzkE8Uzf5BCax5trhe6lSDNLReop69ApWSl3iaMkxzUGKo4ppLhOSKI9fxEWSWAiK5tVfW08fehrFKQ9VP1cYbzwLbqaMyRC9ttWUbLGUIHM4ClQ/s320/70046492.jpg" width="208" /></a></div><b>Title</b>: Righteous Brood: Making the Mission of God a Family Story<br /><b>Author</b>: Hugh Halter<br /><b>Publisher</b>: 100 Movements Publishing<br /><b>Date</b>: 2023</div><p>I have enjoyed Hugh Halter's books in the past: <b><i>Flesh</i></b>, <b><i>Sacrilege</i></b>, <b><i>The Tangible Kingdom</i></b>, <b><i>And</i></b>.</p><p>In this new book on family and kids, Hugh asks that important question: "Is our goal to raise religious kids, or are we hoping for something more?"</p><p>In <b><i>Righteous Brood</i></b> Hugh invites us into the story of his family and more than that, into the bigger story - the story that has the mission of God at its heart. </p><p>Each chapter ends with 3 application sections</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>In Summary</li><li>Something To Think About</li><li>Make It Happen</li></ul><p></p><p>Hugh tells the story with humour and gentleness of success and struggles as their family grew through various stages of life, of desiring to be missional. This is an excellent resource on nurturing disciples of Jesus who live out his mission in the world.</p><p></p>oncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13996416.post-6214179255682360752023-01-17T09:01:00.001-05:002023-01-17T09:01:17.342-05:00Lorica of St. Fursey<p>Fursey who lived c597-January 16, 649 AD and was also known as Fursa, Fursei, or Furseus was the first recorded Irish missionary to Anglo-Saxon England. He arrived in East Anglia in 633AD with his younger brothers Foillan and Ultan</p><p>His Lorica is below. Lorica is an old Latin word meaning prayer of protection. It is also called a breastplate prayer.</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><p><i>The arms of God be around my shoulders,</i></p><p><i>the touch of the Holy Spirit upon my head,</i></p><p><i>the sign of Christ’s cross upon my forehead,</i></p><p><i>the sound of the Holy Spirit in my ears,</i></p><p><i>the fragrance of the Holy Spirit in my nostrils,</i></p><p><i>the vision of heaven’s company in my eyes,</i></p><p><i>the conversation of heaven’s company on my lips,</i></p><p><i>the work of God’s church in my hands,</i></p><p><i>the service of God and the neighbour in my feet,</i></p><p><i>a home for God in my heart, </i></p><p><i>and to God, the father of all, my entire being.</i></p><p><i> Amen.</i></p></blockquote><p><i></i></p>oncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13996416.post-84119507505640115572023-01-05T11:00:00.003-05:002023-01-05T11:00:00.220-05:00poem for the 12 days of Christmas - t.s. eliot<h3 style="text-align: left;">A Journey of the Magi - T.S. Eliot</h3><p>"A cold coming we had of it,</p><p>Just the worst time of the year</p><p>For a journey, and such a long journey:</p><p>The ways deep and the weather sharp,</p><p>The very dead of winter.”</p><p>And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,</p><p>Lying down in the melting snow.</p><p>There were times we regretted</p><p>The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,</p><p>And the silken girls bringing sherbet.</p><p>Then the camel men cursing and grumbling</p><p>And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,</p><p>And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,</p><p>And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly</p><p>And the villages dirty and charging high prices:</p><p>A hard time we had of it.</p><p>At the end we preferred to travel all night,</p><p>Sleeping in snatches,</p><p>With the voices singing in our ears, saying</p><p>That this was all folly.</p><p>Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,</p><p>Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;</p><p>With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,</p><p>And three trees on the low sky,</p><p>And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.</p><p>Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,</p><p>Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,</p><p>And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.</p><p>But there was no information, and so we continued</p><p>And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon</p><p>Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.</p><p>All this was a long time ago, I remember,</p><p>And I would do it again, but set down</p><p>This set down</p><p>This: were we led all that way for</p><p>Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,</p><p>We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,</p><p>But had thought they were different; this Birth was</p><p>Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.</p><p>We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,</p><p>But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,</p><p>With an alien people clutching their gods.</p><p>I should be glad of another death.</p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="439" journey="" magi="" of="" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BCVnuEWXQcg" the="" title="T. S. Eliot reads " width="780"></iframe>oncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13996416.post-50304550632003837632023-01-04T10:31:00.001-05:002023-01-04T10:31:00.230-05:00poem for 12 days of Christmas - macdonald<p>Christmas Meditation - George MacDonald</p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;">He who by a mother’s love</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #252324; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;">Made the wandering world his own,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #252324; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;">Every year comes from above,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #252324; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;">Comes the parted to atone,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #252324; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;">Binding Earth to the Father’s throne.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #252324; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;"> </span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #252324; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;">Nay, thou comest every day!</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #252324; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;">No, thou never didst depart!</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #252324; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;">Never hour hast been away!</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #252324; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;">Always with us, Lord, thou art,</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #252324; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252324; font-family: Merriweather, serif; font-size: 15px;">Binding, binding heart to heart!</span></p>oncoffeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11247590396091771981noreply@blogger.com0