Rebirth, Renew

Friends, Spring is upon us, that’s for sure. Although we didn’t eat outside last night, we did have the windows open which is a first for the season. Josh made his signature spaghetti which, as per usual, was awesome.

Earlier in the week Josh sent an email around suggesting that we use the next couple of weeks to discuss and commit to prayer where we want to go as a group. So we did just that and it was a pretty cool and encouraging conversation. I took the opportunity to look back in the blog where we first posted our vision/mission statement for the group (all the way back in January 2008!):

“In this group we hope to seek to know the Character of God, and know His many attributes. Often times we know what God has told us to do but we don't know the Author of life Himself. Our hope is the more we discover who God is, the more our hearts will be moved by the things that move God's heart. The more our hearts are transformed we will discover the way of life Jesus taught us, and strive to engage and be active in this city, bringing beauty and hope. We are leaning on God and asking Him for an extra dose of creativity, so we can love our neighbors.

“As we go on this journey together, "I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with the fullness of God. Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever!" (Eph 3:18)”

I felt encouraged reading back over the blog and being reminded of how far God has brought us, all the people that blessed and were blessed by the group over the years, friends that we’ve seen come and go, the things that we’ve accomplished together. And then I thought about how each and every person has changed so much in the last two years. It is through the power of Christ that we have learned more about the character of God and through that, more about each other. We have been transformed. And I think that God has so much more he wants to do in our lives.

We did discuss some logistical issues, like making sure that we all pitch in some money for dinners, letting Josh know ahead of time whether or not we’re coming (by texting or phone call or email) so that he knows how much food to make. We also talked about continuing to schedule what we will do each week (i.e. bible study, worship, prayer) and generally thought it would good to alternate between a bible study one week and worship and prayer the next. And we want to continue our exploration of Luke and the New Testament.

Then we started thinking “outside the box” about the structure of the group and what we really wanted to DO as a group. Jess made a good point that the group doesn’t necessarily need to look like it does now, meeting every week at the same place, dinner and discussion. We talked about how we could meet different places and on different days. Janelle also made a good point that in certain ways, we have formed into an old school (like New Testament) style home church, which are pretty common all over the world. These are small groups of believers who meet together with a shared love of Christ, to eat together, to worship together, and to immerse themselves in prayer together.

While we agreed that we were not interested in creating a formal “church”, we did discuss ways to make the group more open to new people again. Now that we are not associated with Vineyard, it’s a lot less likely that someone we don’t know will just show up on a given Thursday night. Josh and Vernon both thought that being more open would be good to keep the group fresh and compel us to radiate our love of Christ outside of 1232 Melville. So we talked about ways to make that happen, while debating whether we should or could “open our doors”.

At the end of the night, we agreed to continue praying and talk again next week about our vision and plans for Thursday nights. I believe that all of us were encouraged excited about the future and eager to learn more about what God has in store for us as a group. I certainly think that God wants to continue the work He has begun.

So for those of you who weren’t there, what do you think?

Art.Culture.God@gmail.com

It's been a while

This past Thursday we had a pretty cool conversation. We discussed the idea of being sent, and what that looks like for us. We compared more traditional views of "being sent", such as overseas missions, too where we are today in Philadelphia and what it means for us to be sent daily. We had quite a large pool of views to pull from, and to help balance each other out. Views ranging from living overseas and having missionaries come to your people, to being the missionary who was sent over seas and living among other people. We have people in our crew who wrestle with the idea of short term missions, and people who have worked for years with organizations that send you short term all over the world.

As the conversations continued, we decided that we need to ask ourselves, what is our purpose.

Why are we at our jobs? Is it just to pay the bills and to give money to christian organizations and churches, or is there more?

Why do we live in the communities that we do? Is it because it's comfortable, close, and cheap, or is it because we have an amazing opportunity to discover Christ in our neighbor by loving them.

I am really excited with the direction that God is leading us. How he is growing us, and what he is calling us into. I am stoked that the creator of the universe has invited us, as a small community, each being apart of other communities, to take part in his world redemption plan.

I listened to a teaching a while back, and thought I would share it with everyone. It is a bit long, I know, I have a habit of doing that, posting really long teachings, but it is well worth listening too.

I would love to hear your thoughts on it once you give it a listening too.

Joe Ferrante's Teaching


Let's as a community and as individuals wrestle out what our purpose is every day of every week. Let's encourage each others to live the life we are called to live, and holding each other accountable to that. Let's continue to invite Christ and others to share in our lives as we pursue the Grace and Christ Jesus that brings us closer to His holiness daily!

Grace and peace every,

Thanks again for sharing life with me and let me share in yours with you.

Chris

Pentecost and Beyond

Hello family!

It has been awhile since I have written on this blog and a while since I have seen or spoken with you guys.

I had a few thoughts that I wanted to share. With 48 hours of non-stop travel and days without electricity it gives one time to reflect and think. I have been thinking about Thursday nights and everything that God has been doing. I have been thinking about how I have learned so much of who God is through everyone, and how much I appreciate everyone. When I reflect on the past year or two, that we have been gathering, eating together, and sharing life together, it gets me stoked with what God wants to do. I am excited about whatand how God wants to build upon the foundation that we are building on, the foundation of Christ. That for some reason God has been moving, speaking, and encouraging us, drawing us closer to Him and closer to each other. To say that I am excited about the direction the Lord is taking us is an understatement.

A few Sundays ago was Pentecost. For those of you who don’t really know much about Pentecost, it is really quite a beautiful day to remember, celebrate and reflect upon. It means 50,but is full of meaning besides the number. Pentecost is the day that Jews celebrate the giving of the law on Mount Sinai and the day Christians remember the gift of the Holy Spirit. You can read about it in the beginning of Acts, or Deuteronomy and Exodus.

On Pentecost I had the privilege of speaking topart of the church here in Africa, and had the amazing privilege to worship with people of all ages, from many different nations, and many different languages. I thought it fitting for that to take place on Pentecost.

As the story of Pentecost goes, the followers of Jesus were together worshiping, praying, and eating together, when all of asudden something like tongues of fire came down and rested upon them. They all started to speak it their own native tongue, from the surrounding nations. The crowds that were around them were amazed and quite frankly confused. They accused them of being drunk, but Peter was quick to correct them, and tell them that it was too early morning to be drunk. Peter then goes into a speech saying that this is what the prophets had for told, and this is what Jesus had promised. We also read in the book of John that Jesus speaks about sending his Counselor after him, and because of this Counselor we will do greater things then even Christ did.

After the gift of the Holy Spirit these people go out and start doing miraculous things. They share what they have, there is no poor among them, they cared for widows and orphans, and they start to pick up the slack where the government is missing the mark. Their movement grows even though they are for the most part an underground movement. They call them selves the Way, because it is about the way to life, they way of living here today into eternity. The bible says there were thousands who were joining them daily, but at the same time many were staying away from them, because they were afraid of this new crew of people, but they had great respect for them.

What where these people afraid of?

Were they afraid that if they joined them they would have to share what they owned, what was “theirs”?

Were they afraid they would be judged or told they are going to hell?

Were they afraid of building intimate relationships with others, being exposed to the healing power of Christ?

Were they afraid because these people were living upside down to the way that the world lives?

Were they scared because the way these people connected to God and each other was even different from the way that their religions operated?

We could ask ourselves the same question, what are we afraid of?

Or maybe we could ask how did this underground, non-official movement, gain such good standing with the public, and grow so rapidly?

Are we living like they were, or what would that look like in this day in age?

Would it look any different or is that an excuse to not live at all?

Despite the confusion many had, and the fear that many people had, this movement grew because the Holy Spiritwas with them, showing them how to live the Kingdom of God out, here and now. They were able to do the impossible, give freely to those in need; they travel to other parts of the globe to live out this gospel, to work normal jobs, like making tents, but to love extravagantly, or to wait on tables, but to do it in the strength, love and knowledge of the Holy Spirit. They did this not because it was a rule, or law that Jesus left them, or because of an institution that had been set up but because that’s what Christ did, and still does today.(maybe not the tents, but the love). They continued to go to their regular churches, places of worship, or Synagogues, but they also gathered together on the side to pursue this Jesus deeper and to wrestle out what it looks like to live this way. There were many disagreements, but there was also a lot of rejoicing and cities began to get turn upside down.

Some people think that the amazing things were the healings, or the gifts of the spirit that was poured out, but if you ask me the miraculous thing was the sharing of possessions. The dying to ones self out of the desire, and shear joy of helping others.

These people began to full fill what God had promised after He rescued them from Egypt. There was no poor among them, God had told them that if you obey my teachings there will be no poor among you. How exciting is that, but the difference now was that it was for the whole world, for all of creation.

For Jews, Greeks, Samaritans, Sinners, Saints, Tax collectors, Priests, Prostitutes, the WHOLE WORLD!

In a way, Pentecost is a celebration of a new beginning, of a fresh start, a new partnership with God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Three in One, the fulfillment of the law through Christ Jesus.
So now we live Post-Pentecost, what does all this mean for us today, in Philadelphia. What is the relevance of these old stories, and how do we apply this to who we are in the Body of Christ. How do we wed this teaching to our little crew that gathers not because it is a new program started up, but because we are people wanting to go deeper with God and to go deeper with those around us. We attend different churches, but have one faith. So what does all of this mean for us?

What does it look like for us as a community, a tribe, a little family adopted into the kingdom to partner with the Holy Spirit. To invite Him to come and teach us who he is and what it looks like for us to live out this Gospel. Do we have the same Holy Spirit that is talked about here in the beginning of Acts, if we do how do we work with him?

Does it mean that we keep doing what we’ve been doing or do we do more, again not do more because is a rule or a law, but because we desire to Love and see God more, and to love others more.

Does it mean we go as extravagant as the early church we read about in acts and share everything in common, holding nothing back for anyone else? We did that a little bit to help Josh our, does it mean we do it to an even greater level?

Or is it as simple as reading the scriptures more, really studying them, and spending time in prayer like the earlier church did? Then share what we are learning with each other as often as the time permits.

Maybe it means we try to take every opportunity we get to eat together, to break bread and drink wine, so to speak, and invite others to join us for these meals?

Does it mean we start more worship services, or maybe our worship serviceslook like us getting to know our neighbors and starting new relationships?

Maybe it means moving into a house together and working out the gospel in the tough nitty gritty of living with others and trying to figure out how to love them despite theirs and ours weaknesses. Looking to break our selves open and pour ourselves out like Christ did, and being open to receive when other are pouring into us.

It may look different for each of us, or the same, I don’t know, but where we can start is by truly inviting the Holy Spirit to lead our crew. That we would be open to His leading, His movement, His Challenging, and that when we are asked to respond that we respond and answers Gods call.

Let’s truly go deeper, despite the discomfort and fear of it. Let’s wrestle with the gospel in ways that may even be new to our way of think. Let’s read the Living Word with a renewed sense of passion and desire to see God’s Kingdom come, God’s will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Let’s not just talk about what it looks like, but let’s take risks knowing that we will fail at times and get hurt other times. Let’s continue to break bread, and do it even more often then we do now.

This is where this life gets exciting, when we walk and talk with the triune God, in an exciting, passionate and living relationship that involves those around us.

I am looking forward to when I will be with you guys again, sharing meals, laughing, praying and discussing. I am excited to hear all that God has been doing and speaking to you guys. And once again thank you so much for all that you have taught me, and all the love, grace, and support that you have given to me.

Until then, Grace and Peace!

If anyone doesn’t read this pass on the word that I say “Hi”, and send my Love.
Chris

Who is this Jesus?

This Thursday instead of "studying" the bible, we took time to listen to the story of Luke 8, and to ask the question, "Who is Jesus?" We took time to imagine what it would have been like to be one of the 12.

I had a friend that once said to a small group of people, " We need to not read the bible as a self-help book, or as a book for sin management. But we need to read the bible to Know who God is."

That was one of the most profound things said to me. It was a radicle concept to me.

We need to read the bible to discover the person of Jesus, because Jesus, IS the Gospel.

As we listened to the story of Luke 8, there were a few themes that grabbed my attention, and echoed inside of me.

The first was, "Who is this Jesus."

The second was, The Revolution will not be Televised!

Throughout this story people are asking, "Who is this person". Jesus is bringing peace, wholeness wellness to people, and people are filled with Terror. Why is that? Jesus did things so upside down compared to the way that we do things these days. He wasn't trying to get big numbers to join his crew, he wasn't looking for people who would have the best stories to convince people to follow him, he wasn't even trying have people know what he did. But, what he was trying to do was love people in such a way that their dignity would be restored to them. Love them to introduce them to the Resurrection of all things. Love them in such a way that they would not become a spectacle, or used for his purposed.

But Jesus wanted to be used for their good, not them for his good.

While Jesus was bringing the kingdom to those around him, he was throwing off and breaking down people's social class structures. In one story, he even caused a ripple of fear in a people groups economic situation.

But through all that Jesus did, he kept it quite. He didn't have a bull horn, or large speakers. He didn't write any books, or building a building. He didn't start a club, and have sign up lists. He didn't have numbers in mind that he was trying to attain. He didn't make banners, bumper stickers, or even billboard adds. He didn't put his name in the paper telling people to follow him. He didn't have clever designed adds on the side of busses, taxis, or rickshaws(or what ever they used back then).

The Revolution will not be televised!

What he did do was live life and invite a few people to live with him. What he did was have people in mind that he was trying to love and serve. He knew that His way, although backwards to even the way we often times do church these days, was the best way to do things. He knew that in the quietness and stillness of loving people, that his name would be spread far and wide, even to the ends of the earth. He knew that the best way to enact change was to love so radically people wouldn't be able to keep quiet, despite him saying, "Tell no one".

The Revolution will not be televised!

He knew that living counter cultural, not subcultural, would turn cities upside down. He knew that loving people who you weren't supposed to love, would bring the kingdom of God. He knew that living drastically different from those around him would begin to crumple the holds that the enemy has on lives. Living this way would break addictions, personal insecurities, greed, lust, hatred, and bring about a new way of doing life, a new way of living.

The Revolution will not be Televised!

Jesus knows that that kingdom does not come about by crafty slogans, or slick design, nor does it come by eloquent words or miraculous signs, nor does it come with knowledge that can fathom all the mysterious of life or prophetic giftings that can end all strife, nor does it come with a hip band and music that is above the rest. But this Kingdom, The kingdom of the Most High God, comes by feeding the poor, clothing the naked, freeing the captive, and loving our enemy.

The Revolution will not be Televised!

What Jesus did leave behind was people, and relationships. People he believed in despite their not so fantastic stories and backgrounds. People he believed in, even though they were still broken and working out their salvation, even unto death.

Jesus knows the kingdom does not come by force, but by submission to our God, and by breaking ourselves open and pouring ourselves out for those around us, like Jesus did for us.

Jesus knows, taking the models of the world around us and putting "christian" labels on them does not make them Kingdom. But, taking the models of the world upside down and shaking them out brings the kingdom.

Jesus is inviting us to live life with him and teaching us to invite others to live life with us.

Who is this Jesus?

...

I believe we need to ask this question, and be Ok with not answering it right away, but sitting in the stillness.

There were some great things said on Thursday night, I would encourage us to not let the conversation drop just because the night ended. Let's continue to ponder, and wrestle with this. Let's start this conversation with people who don't come on Thursday nights. If you need to, reread Luke 8, and feel free to voice your thoughts on this blog as well.

Let's wrestle with the idea of, "where are we looking for this revolution"? Are we looking to wisdom, media, the cool kids, church, people, school, pastors, the government, ourselves, or Jesus Christ?

as I can't say it enough, I love you guys/gals tons, and am glad to be on this journey with everyone. I am excited for where God is taking us as individuals as well as a group. I am excited for ways that we are starting to discover more of this Jesus, and his message. I am stoke for ways that we are starting to enter into his revolution, and His way of life. I am glad we are going at it together.

Grace and peace,
Chris

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Here is the poem/song I was talking about. I know it applies
to something different then the Jesus movement, but I think
there are aspects that relate.

Feel free to comment

...

You will not be able to stay home, brother.
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip,
Skip out for beer during commercials,
Because the revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox
In 4 parts without commercial interruptions.
The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon
blowing a bugle and leading a charge by John
Mitchell, General Abrams and Spiro Agnew to eat
hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary.
The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be brought to you by the
Schaefer Award Theatre and will not star Natalie
Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia.
The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal.
The revolution will not get rid of the nubs.
The revolution will not make you look five pounds
thinner, because the revolution will not be televised, Brother.

There will be no pictures of you and Willie May
pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run,
or trying to slide that color television into a stolen ambulance.
NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8:32
or report from 29 districts.
The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of Whitney Young being
run out of Harlem on a rail with a brand new process.
There will be no slow motion or still life of Roy
Wilkens strolling through Watts in a Red, Black and
Green liberation jumpsuit that he had been saving
For just the proper occasion.

Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville
Junction will no longer be so damned relevant, and
women will not care if Dick finally gets down with
Jane on Search for Tomorrow because Black people
will be in the street looking for a brighter day.
The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no highlights on the eleven o'clock
news and no pictures of hairy armed women
liberationists and Jackie Onassis blowing her nose.
The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb,
Francis Scott Key, nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom
Jones, Johnny Cash, Englebert Humperdink, or the Rare Earth.
The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be right back after a message
bbout a white tornado, white lightning, or white people.
You will not have to worry about a dove in your
bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl.
The revolution will not go better with Coke.
The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath.
The revolution will put you in the driver's seat.

The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised,
will not be televised, will not be televised.
The revolution will be no re-run brothers;
The revolution will be live.

By
Gil Scott-Heron

THE LORD HAS RISEN!

It seems as though I gave up blogging for lent...

I hope that everyone had an amazing Easter and was able to encounter our Resurrected Lord.

I know I say this all the time, but I truly appreciate all you who come and are apart of the Thursday night crew. Through out this year I encountered Jesus in deeper ways because of you guys and gals. In the time I have spent with you, I have been stirred to pursue Jesus in deeper ways and strive to figure out what an even deeper connection to Him looks like in my life. You have challenged me to count the cost that we must make in following Jesus.

Though our relationships I have parts of me that I didn't even know needing it, being resurrected with Christ.

In this post Resurrection season, let's continue to press into the person of Jesus, not forgetting who He is. Let's continue to invite him into the parts of our lives that need resurrecting. Let's invite Him into the communities we are in, to bring a fresh renewal. Let's support, challenge, and encourage one another in the love of our Lord, as we move forward

Thanks for journeying with me and letting me journey with you.

Grace and Peace,
Chris

Why do we seek God? What is the purpose of this personal relationship with God?

I have been thinking about these questions recently. I know many times people have said to me, and I say myself, "I need to seek God more because it's good and my life tends to be even more blessed when I do." Or I hear "It just helps my life be better."

But I ask myself,

What about those who are pressing into God daily, yet are having to flee for their lives. Does their pursuit of God make their life better? Are they pursing God for the sake of self-improvement?

What does "to be blessed" mean?

What about those who live in our own neighborhoods who seek God hourly, yet everything around them is crumbling, their families, their money, and their world. Is their personal relationship with God improving their life? Do they think if they pray a little harder everything will come together?

What does it really mean to have our life improved? How do we measure this improvement or can we measure it at all?

Often times in this subculture that many of us have grown up in or end up in, the subculture of christianity, there is a ton of emphasis put on you and your personal relationship. There is this idea, whether or not we are taught it directly, that tends to sink into our way of thinking. We begin to press into God because it is good for us, God is our home boy, God helps us take tests so pray hard before. God helps us find lost keys, so be in a good relationship so that you can find what is lost. I know, if I am going to be honest, all of what I have just written applies to me at some point in my life, if not now.

The other day I was thinking about this. We act as though Jesus is here for me, and we are the end. Of course Jesus came and died on the cross for my sins so I can be in communication with the Author of life, but it doesn't stop there. To often we get hung up on the "us", and loose site that we aren't the end, but we are a means and an end...

we are "the end of the beginning is the end".(thank you Billy Corgan)

What if we pursed God not to improve our own lives, but for the sake of those around us. The truth of the matter is when we are connected to the divine, the Holy One, YHWY, we are able to poor into others in a deep and meaningful way. What if our hunger for God was a hunger for those around us. What if we wanted so badly for those around us to experience relief, joy, hope, and true life, here and now, not just in the to come, that we pressed even deeper into God. What if we want so badly to have something worthy of giving our neighbor that we forget about our own needs as we press into God. But something really strange happens when we press into God for that reason, we get everything we need and more, but everything we receive pours out into those around us. Then they start to experience the Living God in a real and tangible way, and we experience God in a real and tangible way as well.

It's a shame that often times the real reason for our pursuit of God is a selfish reason. It's for us, and we can't get beyond that. We are pros at making excuses for why that is.

I need to have my stuff together first.

I am not in the right place to serve.

I don't know the Bible well enough.

Well I am empty so I need to fill me first.

Those might be true, but I think an even greater reality is that when we pour into those in need, all of our excuses diminish because we get filled.

It can be scary. Thats cool, let's admit that, and call it what it is, fear, then step forward together in faith.

I am not saying that we pursue God to get the right answers so that we can fix people, because that is also selfish. If we press into God for that reason, we put ourselves on a pedestal, when in reality we are extremely broken and need fixing also.

When we explore the ancient texts of the bible we see that God shows up to people not for them, but for those that come after them. But at the same time shows up fully for them as well. its a little bit paradoxical.

God showed up to...

Abram so that all the nations could be bless.

Abraham, Issac and Jacob not for them and their ministry but for the twelve tribes that came out of them.

Moses, not for just to help him with his identity crisis, but to lead a whole people into freedom.

The slaves in Egypt, not just for their own freedom but for the whole world and the blessing of the nations.

King David, not just for his current kingdom, but for his family line to which a savior would come out of. This savior would fulfill the promises God had made with Abraham. Which was to be a blessing the nations.

The profits, not just for the current generation of Israelites but for the future generations and the whole world.

Jesus showed up to...

The disciples, not just so the secrets of the Kingdom of God would be given to them, but so that they could take the kingdom tangibly to the ends of the earth.

The lepers, not just so that they could experience healing and wholeness, but so they could go to the temple, praise God, and tell everyone else the great works of God.

Legion, the man full of demons. Not just for him to experience wholeness and dignity, but so that he could go tell his home town all that God had done for him.

The woman at the well, not just so she could have a relationship with the God man, but so that her whole village could have an experience with God.

The Holy Spirit showed up to...

The crew of disciples, not just for them, but so that they had the power to go out of Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth. The Holy spirit fell on them not so that they could speak in crazy languages, but so that there would be no poor among them. So that the widows would be fed and cared for. For the orphans to have homes. For the sick to be cared for.

I'm sure you get the point. We see a theme arise from the biblical texts, we are to receive so we can give it away. We are to be blessed so we can be a blessing to the nations. We are to be an open channel, a steady flow, a river of life. We could keep going but I am trying to write shorter blog posts.

If that theme is true, why did God show up to us?

Why did God choose us and say "Follow me"?

Who are we called to pour our lives into?

Who are we supposed to break ourselves open for, as Jesus broke himself open for us?

Maybe some of us are having a hard time connecting with God, because we aren't connecting with the poor. I heard it said, when you forget the poor and the oppressed you forget God. I think that is a scary but true statement. I think often times we say, "I haven't forgotten the poor and oppressed" because we will talk about them and discuss how to help them. But just because we are talking about them doesn't mean we remember them. Just because we speak about God doesn't mean we remember him or know him.

Lets be sheep not goats.

Maybe if we are to be honest, our pursuit of God has been a selfish one. We were meant to be like a hose, with crisp, refreshing water flowing out of us for those who are thirsty. But instead we are a hose that is tied in knots and full of crud so water can't flow out of us. What water is in us has become stagnate and unappealing even to us. Maybe we even forget what the fresh water tastes like, so we have no idea how to give it to others.

God's grace is amazing. Far larger then I can fathom and greater then I could ever hope to understand. And I thank God that it is that big.

Let's stop making excuses like, I don't have time, I am too busy, I am not called to do ..., I am waiting for God to tell me what to do, and so on.

We know what God has called us to do. Let's seek out the poor and the oppressed, not so we can fix them, but so we can love them. And when we start loving them, we will once again start loving God. When we remember them again, we will once again be filled with the awe and wonder of the Creator of the universe.

We have been forgiven of much, no longer under condemnation but freedom, so let's go out and love much.

Let's remember how God has loved us, and go love others likewise.

Let's hold each other accountable to be the people we are called to be. People who are made in the image of the loving, full of grace, savior Jesus Christ.

As usual I am glad all you guys are in my life. You are a huge encouragement to me, and are continually teaching me who the person of Jesus is!

Grace and peace,
Chris

I'd love to hear if you agree or disagree.