I was reading 2 Cor. 6:1-10 this morning and verse 10 jumped out at me.  

"Sorrowful yet always rejoicing." 

When we are involved with those in crisis: the hurting, struggling, oppressed, we enter a world of sorrow. As the heart of Jesus pours out his compassion and mercies through us, we are caught up in such emotional drama that it can sometimes weigh and drag us into melancholy. Oh but as He touches their mind and hearts, and we share in His presence, we can't help but leave rejoicing!  

There are sects of Christianity, even among the Orthodox denominations, that will influence their members to avoid reading anything but the Bible. Of course the Bible encourages just the opposite, but rather urges us to --

"To understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles." Pr. 1:6

"One who walks with wise people will be wise, but a companion of fools will suffer harm." Pr. 13:20

To submit to one voice, even of a pastor, is what can lead to cultic like thinking.

TO MY OLD FRIEND, WILLIAM LEACHMAM

Fer forty year and better you have been a friend to me,
Through days of sore afflictions and dire adversity,
You allus had a kind word of counsul to impart,
Which was like a healin' 'intment to the sorrow of my hart.

When I burried my first womern, William Leachman, it was you
Had the only consolation that I could listen to—
Fer I knowed you had gone through it and had rallied from the blow,
And when you said I'd do the same, I knowed you'd ort to know.

But that time I'll long remember; how I wundered here and thare—
Through the settin'-room and kitchen, and out in the open air—
And the snowflakes whirlin', whirlin', and the fields a frozen glare,
And the neghbors' sleds and wagons congergatin' ev'rywhare.

I turned my eyes to'rds heaven, but the sun was hid away;
I turned my eyes to'rds earth again, but all was cold and gray;
And the clock, like ice a-crackin', clickt the icy hours in two—
And my eyes'd never thawed out ef it hadn't been fer you!

We set thare by the smoke-house—me and you out thare alone—
Me a-thinkin'—you a-talkin' in a soothin' undertone—
You a-talkin'—me a-thinkin' of the summers long ago,
And a-writin' "Marthy—Marthy" with my finger in the snow!

William Leachman, I can see you jest as plane as I could then;
And your hand is on my shoulder, and you rouse me up again,
And I see the tears a-drippin' from your own eyes, as you say:
"Be rickonciled and bear it—we but linger fer a day!"

At the last Old Settlers' Meetin' we went j'intly, you and me—
Your hosses and my wagon, as you wanted it to be;
And sence I can remember, from the time we've neghbored here,
In all sich friendly actions you have double-done your sheer.

It was better than the meetin', too, that nine-mile talk we had
Of the times when we first settled here and travel was so bad;
When we had to go on hoss-back, and sometimes on "Shanks's mare,"
And "blaze" a road fer them behind that had to travel thare.

And now we was a-trottin' 'long a level gravel pike,
In a big two-hoss road-wagon, jest as easy as you like—
Two of us on the front seat, and our wimmern-folks behind,
A-settin' in theyr Winsor-cheers in perfect peace of mind!

And we pinted out old landmarks, nearly faded out of sight:—
Thare they ust to rob the stage-coach; thare Gash Morgan had the fight
With the old stag-deer that pronged him—how he battled fer his life,
And lived to prove the story by the handle of his knife.

Thare the first griss-mill was put up in the Settlement, and we
Had tuck our grindin' to it in the Fall of Forty-three—
When we tuck our rifles with us, techin' elbows all the way,
And a-stickin' right together ev'ry minute, night and day.

Thare ust to stand the tavern that they called the "Travelers' Rest,"
And thare, beyent the covered bridge, "The Counter-fitters' Nest"—
Whare they claimed the house was ha'nted—that a man was murdered thare,
And burried underneath the floor, er 'round the place somewhare.

And the old Plank-road they laid along in Fifty-one er two—
You know we talked about the times when that old road was new:
How "Uncle Sam" put down that road and never taxed the State
Was a problem, don't you rickollect, we couldn't dim-onstrate?

Ways was devius, William Leachman, that me and you has past;
But as I found you true at first, I find you true at last;
And, now the time's a-comin' mighty nigh our jurney's end,
I want to throw wide open all my soul to you, my friend.

With the stren'th of all my bein', and the heat of hart and brane,
And ev'ry livin' drop of blood in artery and vane,
I love you and respect you, and I venerate your name,
Fer the name of William Leachman and True Manhood's jest the same!

 This is such a beautiful church, and as awe inspiring as it is, worship is directly designed to lead us when we go out to recognize God in our own nature and to see in men His children; to respect ands serve them for their relationship to the Divinity, to see in them signatures of greatness amidst all their imperfections, and to love them with more than earthly love. We must not look round the universe with awe and on man with scorn.

God dwells in every human being more intimately than in the outward creation. The voice of God comes to us in the ocean, the thunder, the whirlwind; but how much more of God is there in his inward voice, in the institutions of reason, in the rebukes of conscience, in the whispers of the Holy Spirit. I would have you see God much more in the clear judgment, the moral energy, the unselfish purpose, the pious gratitude, the immortal hope of a good man, than in all of nature. 

Go from this house to worship God by reverencing the human soul as his chosen sanctuary. Revere it in yourselves, revere it in others, and labor to carry it forward to perfection. Worship God within these walls as universally, impartially good to his human offspring; and go forth to breathe the same spirit. 

Go forth to respect the rights, and seek the true, enduring welfare of all within your influence. Carry with you the conviction that to trample on a human being of whatever color, clime, rank, condition, is to trample on God's child; that to degrade or corrupt a man, is to deface a holier temple than any material sanctuary.  

Mercy, Love and compassion are more acceptable worship to God than all sacrifices or outward offerings. The most celestial worship ever paid on earth was rendered by Christ when he approached man, and the most sinful man, as a child of God; when he toiled and bled to awaken what was Divine in the human soul, to regenerate a fallen world. 

Go forth to do good with every power which God bestows, to make every place you enter happier by your presence, to support all human interests, to throw your whole weight into the sale of human freedom, and improvement, to withstand all wrong, to uphold all right, and especially to give light, life and strength to the immortal soul. 

He who rears up one child in Christian virtue, or recovers one fellow-creature to God, builds a temple more precious than Solomon's or St. Peters, more enduring then earth or heaven."          William Ellery Channing. 

YOU WILL HAVE MANY QUIET REVOLUTIONS.

MUTED APPLAUSE IN THE SHADOWS.

SILENT TRANSITIONS WITH BEAUTIFUL OUTCOMES.

IT WILL LOOK UNEVENTFUL AT TIMES, IT WILL FEEL POINTLESS IN

MOMENTS, BUT THIS IS HEALING, THIS IS GROWTH.

  I turned 74 this month, and I've been a Christian for 52 years now, and the biggest change I've seen in the church over the last half century is we are taught to share our faith but not our heart. Many think if they simply share a verse or dispense some Biblical truth they are planting a seed. But planting requires cultivating the ground first, that is done heart to heart, cheek to jowl. 

 

  "The lips of the righteous feed many." Pr. 10:21

  If we examine our lives and find that our lips are not feeding many, it is, perhaps, because we we don't discern the presence of God because He is too close, too near, too inward. Jesus said the kingdom of God is within, and those who need to be fed the Bread of Life will not reveal their hunger on the outside: it is inward, within the soul, and we, like God, must learn to speak to the secret, inward places of others. We must tune our ears to the hearts of others. God has given us His spirit of compassion, and this sensitive voice is often His only prompting; follow it, it is the gateway into the souls of others. We must have "eyes that see and ears that hear" the deep need of others. 

  

 

 

 

  "God has not always been worshipped as a Father, even among Christians, as we well know. Men have always been inclined to think that they honor God by placing Him on a distant throne, much more than by investing Him with the mild luster of parental goodness. They have made Him a stern sovereign, giving life on hard terms, preferring His own honor to the welfare of his creatures, demanding an obedience which He gives no strength to perform, preparing endless torments for creatures whom He brings into being wholly evil, and refusing to pardon the least sin, without an infinite satisfaction." William Ellery Channing. 

 The author provokes me to think and consider how I perceive God and His ways among men. I believe it's good to have our established thoughts challenged, and certainly the unbelieving world considers these very thoughts, and "always having an answer for the hope that is within us" demands we understand what we share as Gospel. 

 

  "God gives birth to the mind, that it may grow and rise for ever, and its progress is the end of all his works. This outward universe, with its sun and stars, and mighty revolutions is but a school in which the Father is training his children. God is ever present to the human mind, to carry on its education, pouring upon it instruction and incitement from the outward world, stirring up everlasting truth within itself, rousing it to activity by pleasure and pain, calling forth its affections by surrounding fellow-creatures, calling it to duty by placing it amidst various relations, awaking its sympathy by sights of sorrow, awakening its imagination by a world of beauty, and especially exposing it to suffering, hardship, and temptation, that by resisting it may grow strong, and by seeking help from above it may bind itself closely to its Maker. Thus He is the Father." William Ellery Channing.  

 

"The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with hewn stone. The sycamores have been cut down, but we will replace them with cedars." Is. 9:10

Reading this verse today it stuck out and I considered what application could be made for me today. Here's mine - 

 As Christians if we continually lose spiritual battles, we want to take care not to just continue doing the same things again, only with more and greater determination. The Israelites lost their battle and decided they needed stronger stones and wood for building defense against their enemy; but the problem wasn't their building materials, it was a matter of the heart. Sometimes we lose battles and determine to fortify what we have already been doing such as reading the Bible, praying, attending church, and giving. If we only do it more we will have a break through; but it may be your building materials are already good, but you have overlooked the weightier matters of seeking justice, showing mercy, and being faithful to the less fortunate.   

This is a photo of the Big House at The University of Michigan. It is the largest football stadium in the United States and holds 107,601 people!

Now imagine a crowd 7.4 times this size...

...that’s how many children go missing every year.

Now ask yourself...

Is this not a pandemic as well?

Why doesn’t main stream media address this?

Where are the celebrities and athletes speaking up for awareness?

If not us, then who will speak for them?

Demand answers. But also, support organizations that stop Human Trafficking; if every Christian helps it can make a HUGE difference!

   The following quote will no doubt strike each of us a little differently. My background in Christianity is varied and over fifty years long; so I've seen many methods of worship, Christian charity, as well as methods of sharing our faith and communicating. I offer this quote as a balance and not a carved in stone declaration of how all worship, preaching, witnessing or conversation should be. But simply the opinion of some.

  "We interpret with much rigor those precepts of Christ, which forbid ostentation, and enjoin modesty and retirement in devotion. We dread a showy religion. We are disgusted with pretensions to superior sanctity. We believe that true religion speaks in actions more than in words, and manifests itself chiefly in the common temper and life; in giving up the passions to God's authority, in inflexible uprightness and truth, in active and modest charity, in candid judgment, and in patience under trials and injuries. We think it's no part of true devotion to publish its fervors, but prefer a delicacy in regard to these secrets of the soul; and hence, to those persons who think religion is to be worn conspicuously and spoken of passionately, we may seem cold and dead, when perhaps were the heart uncovered, it might be seen to be "alive to God" as truly as their own."  William Ellery Channing. 

 

Why do I love God? What a great question! Not one I can answer in a few words, so forgive me if I get a bit long winded and mix some quotes of others with my answer. The reason I love God is because Jesus Christ revealed to me by His words, actions and presence at my time of my greatest need, the exact representation of God, because Jesus is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His nature and moral goodness. And I can't think of another reason we would love God, or any person, apart from their moral goodness. It is the moral beauty and grandeur of His character to which alone we are bound to pay homage. The claim of God to the love of his offspring rests on the virtue, benevolence, generosity, mercy and compassion of His will. I can't imagine any being that can have any claim to affection but what rests on his character, meaning by this, the spirit and principles which constitute his mind and from which he acts. In Jesus we see His spotless purity, His moral perfection, His unrivaled goodness. It is the spirit of His religion, which is the Spirit of God. From this view you see that love to Jesus is a perfectly "natural" sentiment, and by that I mean, our natural sense of right, our conscience and our reason joins and approves His words; and our minds are constituted to feel and to cherish the words and example given to us in Christ, and they harmonize with the noblest instincts and highest aspirations of our soul. This description contains my thoughts and the thoughts of others that love Him and can express it far better than I: but my heart resonates with every line.

Here are comments by people that viewed this modern painting of the Nativity.

"I had to look at this like FIVE TIMES to register all the layers of symbolism going into the piece by Patterson of the Present day Nativity.

The hoodie as a veil.

Weisman cigarettes - refers to the three wisemen and the camels.

Each of them is haloed by an advertisement sticker.

No Vacancy sign on the motel.

Dove sticker over Maria’s head. The paper at José’s feet has an advert for Shepard Watches Maria’s hoodie says Nazareth High School The sign above José’s head proclaims ‘Good News!’

Neon sign with a star symbol also over Maria’s head.

The crown over the ‘Dave’s City Motel’ sign. “New Manger.”

The sign behind Jose’s elbow likely says ‘Herod.’

The wee little plant growing through the cracks at their feet.

Mary rode in on a donkey, and Maria is sitting on a plastic pony.

The artist added - "The verse from the prophet Ezekiel in the graffiti on the phone kiosk, the way the “Save More!” behind Mary’s head looks kinda like “Ave Maria!,” and the two ads for “Glad” and “Tide” on the newspaper (get it?)."

And "New Man" on the motel sign.It’s like a New Testament ‘I Spy.’ I love it!"

 We all have times and seasons of great spiritual reward, joy and power. None of us have them continually. They ebb and flow, so the quotes here are to prepare us for when the Spirit seems to have left forever.  

 "He who is too secure in time of peace will often be found too much dejected and fearful in time of war. It is good counsel that when you have received the spirit of fervor that you should meditate how it will be with you when that light shall leave you. And when it shall happen, remember that the light may return again, which, for your instruction and God's glory, He withdrew from you for a time." Thomas A Kempis

 "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Jn. 3:8