Discipleship is not about:
Though they all help!
It is about submitting every thought — and emotion! — to Christ, so we more consistently manifest the Fruit of the Spirit.
[By denying our Self so we can follow Jesus all the way to the Cross]
Which is how others learn to enjoy Him.
#AmygdalaGospel #TheTransition #FruitOfTheCross
The reason I need a Messiah
Is because of the, quote, “Mess I Are”
It feels like I’m fighting a hydra
My striving will not get me far
“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”
Matthew 5:23-24 NIV
If You are withholding Your gift
Maybe it’s due to our rift
It’s always worthwhile
That we reconcile
To show the world we get Your drift!
If it walks like a duck…
I think we are making a children’s TV show.
These kids are in love with an actual duck.
Who doesn’t do much.
Like Phineas & Ferb with Perry.
One of the larger kids dresses up in a giant, non-realistic duck costume.
They go on various misadventures.
This intersects somehow with Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Continue readingLord, maybe it’s me who is dense
But sometimes You just don’t make sense
And how can I act
When meaning is lacked
And cost of failure immense?
Lord, I want God as my pardner
So I can best do what I oughter
With you at my side
I’m your secure Bride
And we raise the world like our daughter!
So Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself, unless He sees the Father doing it. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does.
John 5:19
I am walking my dogs Qhuinn and Frolic on their yoke leash, as usual.
I pass a bit of small dog poop.
I wonder if I should pick it up.
This is not a simple question…
Continue readingWhile Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell facedown and begged Him, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
Luke 5:12
HE WILL always love you
Though you might not believe it
HE WILL give good blessings
Yet it’s hard to receive it
We cannot exist in a world
Unless the divine be concealed
His glory would us overwhelm
If this earthy veil be unpeeled
We are not all of us heroes
But we can still testify, “He rose!”
When Grace triumphs Law
He fills us with awe
And calls us to cast nets while He rows
Earnest: Yo, Jonah!
Jonah: Yo, Earnest! What brings you all the way back here to Nineveh?
E. Well, it’s kind of embarrassing…
J. Please don’t tell me this is for another whale pun!
E. What? No, nothing like that.
J. Whew. That’s a relief. I can handle anything except another whale pun.
E. Oh, great! I actually wanted to talk to you about bitterness and judgmentalism.
J. …
Continue readingBlessings on all of my foes!
For even the worst of my woes
Serve but to reveal
The pain that I feel
Is what brings the healing Christ chose
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Matthew 5:44
I had two contradictory encounters at yesterday’s PAWS for Men Encountering Jesus.
During Immanuel Encounter,
I saw Jesus on a cliff overlooking the sea.
His arms were outstretched.
He had a huge grin.
He said, “Come fly with me!”
He had a huge grin on His face.
I heard the words “So Happy” over and over.
And I started sobbing great gut-wrenching sobs.
[on reflection: perhaps “un-wrenching”, like resetting a dislocated shoulder]
The second was when Paul M. prayed for me.
I was describing unforgiveness as a barrier.
When you sin against me, you reveal that you and the world are broken.
Unforgiveness is my refusal to internalize that brokenness.
I saw Jesus sucking out my brokenness.
Leaving wholeness in its place.
Except where my brokenness was holding to that barrier.
Forgiveness is realizing I need to release that barrier.
So Jesus can suck out all my brokenness.
And yours through me.
#EmbraceTheSuck
I saw Him absorbing all that sin and shame on the cross.
And I just started laughing and laughing…
I know it may sound like a joke
But sometimes on Your Word I choke
The truth that I find
O’erwhelms my mind
Fearing that I’ll end up broke
Lord plow up the soil of my heart
Make me the place where you start
Sowing your joy
So we destroy
Those lies that do us keep apart
Lord, now that I’ve left Your ocean
I find myself struck by the notion
That salt is the thing that I lack
For which I must always go back
The story which our lives make told
Is one which must slowly unfold
The mystery seems dark
But grace is the spark
That unveils the path we enrolled
He replied, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those on the outside everything is expressed in parables
Mark 4:11
For Robby
The cure for burnout is burn-in:
First finding the failures within
Our need to be used
Will leave us confused
Twixt service and slavery to sin
This world has its ups and its downs
Sometimes tis more crosses than crowns
But even its worst
Makes me for you thirst
Your dance is the floor to my frowns
Lord, help me to realize
The essence of evil is lies
The pain that we feel
Though it seems real
Is actually grace is disguise!
Question: How do I demonstrate grace metabolizing pain into trust?
#Laughter
Radically Happy 
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