Ryden's Guide to Grace

2011-10-11T10:10:00.000-07:00

Attitudes and Reactions

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Verses 3 – 5 of Psalm 104 give some good advice how we are to deal with anger and resentment that the events of the day often conspire to leave us restless and brooding.

Verse 3 tells us that if we are angry not to do wrong, an echo of the words of Jesus where he says to be angry and sin not. Is David telling us to leave it in and let it fester and eventually cause bitterness? No! What to do about it? Hold on to that thought for a bit.

Expanding his thought David says even in the night on our beds when resentment is stealing our sleep don’t break silence, in other words, don’t vent. Sadly, venting is something I do often to my own hurt.

So finally, in verse 5 he tells us what to do. Pay our sacrifices, pray, and trust in God. In another place I said we need to roll the anger and resentment and other burdens off our back and on to God, who is able and willing to take it and carry it away from us.

Just a few simple words from a simple Psalm, but words that promise health to us.

It is the Season

2011-08-20T11:17:00.003-07:00

This will be the first part of what I anticipate to be a four-part blog concerning the return of Christ. Many of you know me, you know that I am not a doom and gloom kind of guy, I don’t walk around with a picket sign that says the end is near. Although, one of my favorite tee-shirts I saw in New Orleans, years ago, it said Jesus is Coming Back Soon and He is going to be Pissed. Irreverent for sure but true.

He returns in Judgement for some, a happy gathering for others. Matthew 24 and Matthew 25 do a good job of sorting out the process and draw the lines so people will have no cause for argument as to which side of the line they fall on.

I would encourage you to read the two chapters referenced above and even print them off so you have a quick reference as these blogs proceed.

In verse 36 of Chapter 24 it says clearly that no man can know the day or the hour of Christ’s return. But return he will, it is the hope of the Christian and one of the lynchpins of the faith. If you remove the return of Christ from the tenants of the faith everything falls apart.

Intimated in these verses though is that we can know the season. And Chapter 24 is about recognizing the season so we will not be caught unaware. What this does is put us into a mindset of living our lives as if Christ could return today, but strengthen us to live prepared if he delay’s his coming. Why would he delay? For the sake of mercy, it says that he desires to lose no one and will not return until he gets the nod from the Father that it is time.

I believe two things about these days. The first is that we are for sure in the season and as we go though the verses in Chapter 24 you will be able to see it clearly. Not from any isolated verses, it is very dangerous to do that, but from the total reading of the verses in the chapter. I also believe that we are living in what I call ‘the highways and byways’ days, when we need to compel them to come in.

I worked in West Africa in the rubber plantations owned by Firestone, in Liberia. Trees have about a thirty-year production life. The first twenty-five years the trees are tapped in a normal manner. Then in the last five years they are slashed tapped, cuts are made all over the upper branches of the trees and cups attached to collect the latex.

In the same way God is asking us to step out of the norm and go to those places and people who for the most part have been untouched by the Gospel. Those who have been abused and forsaken by many in the church as being unfit for the love of God, indeed the last shall be first.

So spend some time this week and read Matthew 24 and 25 and I will post Part 2 next week.

How we got the platypus.

2011-07-05T11:21:00.003-07:00

Towards the end of the sixth day after God finished creating the world and all that is in it he stepped out of his workroom for a few minutes. Passing by and seeing the room empty a little angel entered to see and look around the room. While he was in there he saw a lot of drawings and ideas that God had thought of the past few days. He grabbed some of the sketches and took a blank piece of paper and began to doodle. A little bit of this, a little bit of that; just for fun.

Presently God came back to the room and found the little angel sitting at his desk surrounded by his papers and drawings with the little angel drawing away, happy and oblivious to God’s presence. A quick ‘ahem’ got the angels attention and at once he dropped his pencil and sat there shaking, he had been caught red handed in God’s workroom and he did not know what to expect.

God walked over to the table and picked up the little angel’s doodle’s and looked at them quietly for a few minutes. Then he raised his eyebrow and looked down at the little angel and gave him a piercing stare. The silence was palpable. Then to his surprise God gave the little angel a wink and said ‘not bad, I like it’. And that is how we got the platypus.

I am a lamb and sometimes I wander.

2011-05-14T14:11:00.003-07:00

I am sure you remember the verse that says that God disciplines those he loves. And I am sure you have seen the picture of the Good Shepherd, of Christ carrying the lamb on his shoulders. Do you know the story of that image? Shepherds would sometimes have sheep that would constantly wander off. They would break one of the back legs and then carry the sheep or lamb on his shoulder until it healed and what would happen is that such a bond was established between the animal and the shepherd that it would never leave his side again.

This last week my left leg has been hurting very bad, horrible. While I was in my devotions this morning (5/12/11) that picture of Christ with the lamb came to my mind and I said to myself how could I have forgotten that. I really had a strong revelation of God’s love for me through his disciplining of me. Once I surrendered to that point, and I am not kidding, the pain went away, not just partially but totally away. I even tested it by going for a walk.

This is the second time something like this has happened to me. In 1980 I had a very serious neck injury involving the fourth cervical vertebrate. Pain all the time. I had therapy, ice – heat- and massage for two years. I remember driving down the road one day and I told God, that no matter if I had the pain the rest of my life I was still going to serve him. I woke up the next morning and the pain was gone, never to return.

It's been a few days and still no pain, and now I can work on strengthening that leg.

If you are struggling with God – Stop. Surrender. It’s your healing; it’s your door for sure to the life God wants for you. And remember he disciplines those he loves.

bnr

It's the right time to talk of last things. Part One.

2011-03-12T22:19:00.003-07:00

Greetings friends and companions.

The Bible says we can not know the day or the hour, only the season. Granted many things tend to say we are in the season of Christ’s return; that forces me to hope he would return today, but live as if it might be many years away.

There is one verse though in the Bible that gives me pause and in my thinking lends more credence to the thought of Christ’s return that any. Matthew 24:12 says - And because lawlessness will be increased,the love of many will grow cold.

All one has to do is pick up a newspaper or read on the internet from any news source the evil that is adrift in the land. Whole families are slaughtering each other; it’s not just a criminal here or there. Fathers and Mothers are murdering their children wholesale.. These things are happening on a daily occurrence. If these things and things like them are only the signs of the beginning of the last days then God have mercy.

The thing that is important is not to get caught up in some fever pitch of looking for this or that sign; that is something the devil would love to have happen. What needs to be done is simply continue going about the work of God we have been called to do and continually live lives that point to the love and grace of God. That is our true calling.

When I first started writing blogs about ten years ago I wrote one specifically on the last days. I give it to you now. Be blessed. Brad

Who is this King of Glory?

What was it like in those days 2000 years ago when God was preparing to invade humanity with Himself? Was it like today? Were there people going about their daily routines with a sense that the world was about to change irreversibly? I think so. Luke’s Gospel gives an account of two people, Simeon and Anna, who were in the temple and saw Jesus when Joseph and Mary presented Him as required by the law. The Holy Spirit told Simeon that he would not see death before the coming of the Messiah. Anna spent her life in the Temple praying and fasting and telling others about the redemption that was coming to Israel.

There is a sense today that we are living in the end times, that the return of Jesus Christ will soon be here. We temper our anticipation with the knowledge that the Gospel must be preached to the entire earth before that day comes, but still deep down in our hearts, we know. Forces of evil are raising their heads in the world, people are becoming more deceived than ever that evil is good, and science is giving men the ability to control and manipulate life in a way that is reserved for God alone. The tower of Babel is rising again.

What are we to do then? Run here, do this, do that? No, of course not. Life on that scale is meaningless and without purpose. What we are to do is so simple it passes us by, but it stands out every time we look into the face of another. These days, these last days, we are simply called upon by God to love. When we love unconditionally, and to love as if every person were Jesus himself, we are in many ways like Simeon and Anna, faithful in pray

Daily Devotions, the good that comes from them.

2011-02-20T11:58:00.002-07:00

2/20/2011

Daily Devotions

Daily devotions are a discipline. Like any discipline or exercise the benefit is not realized easily without practice and repetition. But if you commit to doing them the good they bring to you is amazing. Let me say, in the beginning it is not about quantity or quality, we are not expected to run a marathon when we first start working for goals in track and field. It’s about consistency. Even if you start with only one verse or thought at day, little by little that one will become many. It has been written, line upon line, referring to the act of building. Indeed the common maxim – One day at a time. – And the eastern proverb that says – The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. – Both of these are reflective of starting small. I had a pastor who used to say – It is not how you start the race that counts, it’s how you finish. So if you want to commit yourself to beginning a program of daily devotions start small.

I am an Anglican, and for our services and such things we use a liturgical guide called – The Book of Common Prayer. It is a virtual atlas of road maps you can use to guide you on your way of learning to do daily devotions. And that is how I started. I also use a little devotional guide called – Forward Day by Day. It provides some scripture readings and a meditation for every day of the year, for me it is an excellent addendum to the ‘Daily Offices’ that are in the Prayer Book. I have been committed for a number of years to a daily regime of prayer, of the last three years in a more regimented manner. It has paid off for me in so many ways.

It’s not that great inspirational moments come when I sit down, indeed often I am tired, cranky and not very spiritual at all. But I do them. And if I look back over this time I can see changes, often very incremental, but changes none the less. It is like a sculpture, the master has roughed out the image and now he is using finer tools to bring into focus his goal for the stone. Not that he doesn’t have to pull out the hammer once in a while, he does.

One of the things that inspired me to write this today is that I am starting to see changes in form as well as substance. Sometimes I don’t ‘stick to the book’. I go on these little excursions with God and spend the time meditating, reading and praying in ‘free form’ so to speak. It is refreshing. It helps to renew my relationship with him and learn to see new things and new ways of doing things.

So please, I urge you to start some kind of program for yourself, some time when it’s just you and your creator, spending time, getting to know each other and growing. Most important of all you will be in that place of grace where you will be being transformed into His image.

Two stories about Eagles.

2011-01-19T01:10:00.001-07:00

Young eagles can be stubborn little creatures, somewhat like humans. When it comes time for them to fledge, some simply say no. The security of the nest is more to their liking and they refuse to go out on their own. I mean, who would not like the nest. You are safe, secure and assured of a constant food source, and you don’t have to do a thing, it is all provided for you. Fledges though are not eagles. The parent-eagles have a way of dealing with this.

The first option. They push the fledge towards the edge of the nest and simply push him over. The fledge free-falls down, screaming all the way. Then the parents dive downward quickly overtaking the fledge and swoop under him and take him back up on their back. Whew, I am sure is the sentiment of the young bird, back to the nest it assumes. But that is not the parent’s plan.

No sooner than they get back to the altitude of the nest they jettison the fledge overboard and down it goes screaming again with the parents following and again catching it and back up again. This cycle repeats it self a number of times. Two things happen. Eventually the fledge learns to trust the parent eagles. That trust allows the fledge to do something new, he stretches out his wings and flies. Haltingly at first, but a few more catches from the parents and the fledge is competently flying circles in the sky.

Something wonderful also happens. The fledge is no longer a fledge, it is an Eagle.

At times, even after all this, there are those birds that simply refuse to leave the nest and take care of themselves. When this happens radical action is required of the parents. They destroy the nest, stick by stick. Right before its eyes the bird sees its world vanishing in front of him. Camera studies show the panic that sets in during this process. Finally, soon before the last vestiges of the nest are gone, the young bird gets the message and stretches his wings and flies away.

The implications for us in this story are obvious. God will do what it takes for us to learn to trust him and to become what he created us to be. Fly like an eagle.

From Shepherd's Field to Managua

2010-12-25T17:09:00.003-07:00

Once when I was a boy I went to Bethlehem for Christmas. It was in 1972, just after the second Israeli / Arab conflict. We were traveling unescorted so we were on our own dealing with all of the imposed travel restrictions within the country; Bethlehem was in a military zone at that time. We navigated all of the red tape and made it to the town by mid afternoon. There are two memories from that afternoon and evening that I still carry with me.

In the late afternoon we decided to make our way to Shepherd’s Field about three miles west of the town. It was not crowded at all and there was a little stirring of excitement as Harold Wilson, one of Britain’s mid-century Prime Ministers was also in our small gathering. But that was not the memory that has stayed with me all these years. The impression I took with me has only grown over the years.

This place, this small piece of ground, covered with tall golden grass was the place where God chose to reveal to the world what he was doing; that he had arrived among men and had chosen the city of Bethlehem to do that. It was cold that afternoon and I knew the evening would be even more so and I imagined that it was also cold that night so many years ago.

The men who sat in that field that evening fighting the cold and huddling around their fire surrounded by their flocks were burst upon with the light and music of angels telling them that God was among them. That God \ chosen these simple men to tell of these tidings is so characteristic of him. God had chosen these ordinary faithful men, men probably not much different from you and I. These are the kind of people God looks for; faithful and quick to obey. Cathedral paintings have so damaged our understanding of how God works amongst us. The point of all this is to encourage you to go about your life faithfully and quietly and when God bursts in on you to rise and go with him, never looking back.

Later that evening we were wandering around Manger Square and ran into a fellow from Nicaragua. A few days before a major earthquake had struck Managua and killed thousand of people. This fellow had not been able to contact his people and was very frightened. He was traveling solo too. We decided to hang with him for the rest of the evening just being his friend; nothing holy about that; but wait.

I tell you people that shared space filled with friendship, companionship and compassion is holy ground. So this season if you find yourself with someone in need who is frightened and running scared join with him or her the place will be a Cathedral of hope, one not built with human hands but built by God himself. God bless all of you. bnr

Let Your Light Shine

2010-12-05T21:40:00.002-07:00

The story of the candle.

Once, in the days before electricity, a fellow had a large home that was lit with candles. There were candles in every room in the house so he could see well when he walked about and not bump into things and be hurt.

But these candles had one thing that was unique about them, they could move about anywhere they wanted to on their own. The fellow knew that this could be trouble, but he never gave it a thought because for the most part the candles were content to stay where he had placed them.

That was true of all the candles except the ones in a back room of the house. It was not a big room, fancy or well furnished; in fact it was not furnished at all. But, it was a very important room. It was where he stored all his most valuable possessions. So he went often to the room to get things when he needed them and to place things there that he had newly acquired.

But those candles did not like the room. They didn’t know that the room was important to the fellow, all they saw was a room that was not as nice as the other rooms. And so, some, and soon all of them, left and went to a room that already had a lot of candles and didn’t need any more. This went on until there was only one candle left.

The fellow didn’t complain too much because he could see that the one candle did produce enough light to keep him from bumping into things and being hurt. One day though the lone candle ups and leaves too and went to join the other candles, not letting the fellow know that he had left. Now the room was totally dark.

One day the fellow went to his room with all his valuables and promptly bumped into a box, tripped and fell and hurt himself. Muttering things under his breath he wondered where that last candle had gone. He found him with the others and left him there. He promptly found another candle that would be content to stay in the room alone and so he was safe again to go into the room when he had to.

The moral of the story is simple. Even though we do have the choice of where to let our light shine - where we find ourselves is often where we are most needed. Where we are needed and where we want to be are often two different places. You always need to ask yourself a few questions. Is this where I am needed? And, if I leave will people get hurt or damaged because I have left? Remember that another candle can be found to take your place when you move off on your own to find a comfort zone. And your light will continue to shine, but not with the brightness and service that it had where it was. Always be guided, never wander on your own.

A thought about grace.

2010-05-24T09:26:00.001-07:00

Most of you know that I am big on grace. For sure it is God’s grace and mercy alone that has allowed me to stand and live; in spite of all the times I have gone astray and gave up on trusting God and going my own way. As an aside I might add that one of the things I realized, and this is so simple, is that obedience is tied directly to trust. When we don’t trust God we will, more often than not, end up not obeying him either.

But let’s get back to grace for a few minutes. I learned that grace is not only that ongoing part of God’s character that operates in all of our life, and for all of our life. It is also has a finite dimension as well. For want of a better description I would call it a learning time. Any teacher knows that his pupils need time and space to learn what is taught and how to apply it; time to succeed and a time to fail. But with time and encouragement the pupil masters the subject and the successes increasingly outnumber the failures.

I think that God does the same for us when he is teaching us how to walk out our life in Christ. He gives us time and space to learn and master what we are being taught. God does not smite us on our first failure, or even our ‘enth failure. But he patiently helps us to stand up and try again. As God is patient with us we need to be patient with ourselves; realizing that as we ask and seek forgiveness each failure becomes another opportunity to succeed.

God will never test us beyond our ability to pass. He wants us to succeed; he wants us to graduate from glory to glory. The ultimate reward, diploma or what ever you want to call it, is an increasing Christ like appearance and we increasingly becoming Christ like in action (righteousness). Be confident and be at peace; everything we are not Christ is. Grace and mercy will indeed follow us all the days of our life.

The Cry

2010-02-24T00:37:00.009-07:00

Isaiah 55 is of a truth one of the great invitations of the Bible. It is one of those times that God bares his heart and cries out for us, his own love, his own creation to return to him and become one with him. To let him provide freely that which we struggle so hard for and bring so much misery and unhappiness in our own effort to seek and supply for ourselves.

These are times I have never seen before. Never have I had so many close friends, and to a degree myself, so stirred up, so struggling, so hurting. The absolute poverty of spirit, the lie of all that we have added to ourselves by our own effort, these things are being exposed as never before in so many. Are we so blind that we can’t recognize the poverty of our own spirit? Why are we content with nothing when God desires to give us everything that is good?

Come all who are thirsty, come fetch water.
Come, you who have no food, buy corn and eat.
Come and buy, not for money, not for a price.
Why spend money and get what is not bread?
Why give the price of your labor and go unsatisfied?
Only listen and you will enjoy……………..
(ESV)

Have you ever heard such a cry from God? This is absolutely the cry of a lover for his lost love. These words will be echoed again when Jesus stands in the Temple and cries out ‘Come unto me………’ Another invitation, another cry, another plea; but the same heart.

In the middle of the chapter are words that say ‘ Call upon him while he is near’. When I ever taught this chapter in studies I would often invoke the darker side of these words, that there would be a time that he would not be near and out of reach of our plea for help. That may be so, but these words stand as part of God’s plea to us. He is near; he is nigh thee it says in another place.

Guys and girls, men and women, friends and lovers, fellows and family now is the time to answer God’s plea, his cry to us. We see all these Victorian sentimental pictures of Christ standing knocking on the door, pictures that were made to make us think ‘poor Jesus is standing outside, I should be polite and open the door for him'. Hogwash!

Jesus is knocking for true, but he is knocking with his arms full of all we need, all we have been crying out for all that is good. The Bible is not bashful when it speaks to what God will give to his children who turn to him. Not things, although things will come, but the gift of himself.

Two final thoughts, God comes to us with a story, our story, and it is a story interwoven with the story of Christ. We need to let him tell us that story, we need to listen. It is a story of love and care.

I had a dream the other night; it was really very simple. I was sitting with Jesus and I was going over all my failures and shortcomings and bemoaning my life; it was all bad. And then Christ turned to me and said simply, ‘But I did something good’; with those words everything that was impossible became possible.

Jeremiah 33: 3 – Call unto me and I will answer and show you great and mighty things you know not of.

The Human Heart - The Final Frontier

2009-01-11T13:24:00.001-07:00

The Final Frontier

Most of us grew up hearing ‘Space the Final Frontier – These are the voyages of the Star Ship Enterprise’. But the other evening I was thinking about that, who knows how these thoughts come to us, and I realized that that space is really not the final frontier, the human heart is.

The heart is a universe of its own. It is a universe of infinite size and I believe one that is unobstructed and undiscovered at birth, one replete with potential. But with our first breath it starts to take form and shape. We build with all of those things that have hurt us, blessed us, made us glad, made us sad; day after day, year after year, we build this universe out of our accumulated emotional responses; one that is bigger on the inside than the outside. A concept C.S. Lewis so skillfully describes in many of his books.

The truth is that this woven universe of varied constructs is inherently weak and has very little strength to carry us through crises or troubles. It is always failing us and leaving us in need of more things to shore up the weaknesses. And in response we typically choose things like bitterness, hate, doubt, anger; these kinds of things; things that will not strengthen our heart but only add to its weakness and sudden and unavoidable failure.

Many times, just before the final fall, when we understand the desperate situation we find ourselves in, we go searching in vain for those things that can help us, or so we believe. Our lives become an ‘if only’ time; if only I can have this, or do this, or be with this person or that person, things will be all right. We realize, too late, our dreams have been stolen and every chance for good lost.

I remember once when I had gotten my car stuck on the side of the road in the wilds of northeastern Wyoming. Off in the distance I saw a light, that I assumed must have been a ranch. It required a hike across country, not roads. It seemed to take for hours, all the time the light did not seem to be getting any closer and I was growing tired and doubtful that any help would be there when I arrived. But eventually, with perseverance, I did, it was a ranch, and the fellow came and towed my car out and thanking him I continued on my way.

I digressed with that story because in our desperation we often find ourselves running rampant across the wilderness of our heart, looking for anything that will hold off the inevitable collapse. In the frantic rush we will see a light off in the distance and we have to decide, do we make our way toward the light or ignore it and continue our mad searching. If we do decide to journey towards that light it often is the same experience that I had in Wyoming. Time passes and the light seems the same distance as ever. But something is happening on the inside of us. Even if we won’t admit it we know we are growing in confidence and that we are going in the right direction.

So we journey on and finally we reach the source of the light. We find a small fire, warm in every way, our body is warmed and the heat penetrates our soul and brings peace and comfort. Sitting there at the fire is a man, unrecognized at first, but soon we know who it is because of some marks we see. He asks us to sit down and rest. “I have been waiting for you for a long time” he says. In that moment of willingness to rest and stay a while everything changes, everything becomes new.

--
http://bradnelsonryden.blogspot.com/

Psalm 34:5
Look to him, and be radiant;
so your face shall never be ashamed.

A Lust for Time and Place

2008-07-13T14:25:00.003-07:00

New journey's, new times and new places.

"When I am alone in the half light of the canyon". Wait! No! Not that book! Even though 'A River Runs through It' does have the power to transport you to other places that is not the book or description of place I want to reference.

A time ago I had seen the movie 'Under the Tuscan Sun'. I know it has a reputation of being one of the ultimate 'chick flicks', and maybe it is; but it has one other quality only found in the rarest of films. When it ends you wish it could go on and on; it can awaken memories and desires forgotten long ago; one would say it is almost sensuous in its possession, not a prurient sensuality, but a longing, a feeling of want and need for place.

Four months ago on one of my book buying outings I saw a copy of the book for sale and I decided to buy it. I started reading and except for the most minor of plot threads there was nothing you could find that made the book recognizable to the film. Except one thing; the same evocative sensuality was present in the book that I found in the movie, magnified a hundred times.

'Under the Tuscan Sun' was the book I decided to bring along with me yesterday, there were only 20 pages left for me to finish. There were four stops after the initial one where I made my purchases. With each stop I would turn the radio to an XM channel that played the kind of Jazz that I like and I would pick up the book and read; alone, with my companions heading off into the blinding sun and unrelenting heat

At the same time as I read I was experiencing a tranquility, well the only way to describe it, a person could purchase through the use of those things destructive and illegal. I was immersed in a small corner of Tuscany and allowed to experience with every sensual receptor of my being the logos (the written word) that became rhema (the written word come to life) that I read. I was actually, no I was there; feeling, tasting, touching, smelling, walking, listening and thinking all things; I was spent by the time I came home.

I had saved the last two or three pages to read for later. After a few hours I picked up the book and braced myself for the final ending; it was unstoppable and there was nothing I could do to prevent it. When it came I expected the same sadness that I experienced with the ending of the movie; it did not happen. I asked myself why and I realized that the restoration of the Tuscan heap that had become a home would never end. And I realized that the rebuilding efforts that exposed the years of neglect and that inspired the visions of renewal are the dynamics we do with our lives; the confession-renewal cycle in a different form. We labor to improve and strengthen what we have and to push and shove it into new directions we know we need to take.

Those things we value in our lives, our loves our friends, our surroundings are an exact mirror of the efforts referenced above. The strength that we build into our own lives becomes their strength. We are our brother's keeper. The final irony is that as we give ourselves to others, as we allow ourselves to meld into another's needs, our own need for strength and love are also given and met as well.

If you are judging people, you are too busy to love them.

2008-06-12T04:16:00.002-07:00

June 11, 2008

Dedicated to many, but especially Kris and Arturo; two, even if unknowing, live a life on the altar and have not crawled off.

The temptation to do something when God says to wait and do nothing.

Greetings and Salutations

Today in the liturgical calendar the day is the Feast of St. Barnabas; you know, the man who was with Paul on his travels and ultimately was known for his ministry of encouraging others.

What follows may sound like some of my own horn tooting, but believe me it is not, I would never abuse God's graces like that. One day about ten years ago a prophet came to our church from Australia, Gordon Gibbs. I was called to the front and when he came to me he laid his hands on my stomach and just stood there, looked at my eyes, looked at my stomach and so forth. I thought to myself here comes the holy diet talk. But much to my surprise, even though the person next to me did get the diet talk, Gordon looked at me and said I would have two ministries. That I would 'birth' ministry and that I would be an encouragement to others. That Sunday evening still reverberates with me.

I have tried to live a life, sometimes successfully, sometimes not, that reflect those two graces and be available to God. Success has always been achieved to the degree that I stand out of the way and allow God to work through me, that I die daily. Add to all this I am always trying to be disponible (a Spanish word that has no English equivalent); to be both willing and available.

It's not rocket science. Henry Blackaby said that if you can see the need than probably God is calling you to help meet that need in other's lives or situations. It is a matter of saying 'here I am Lord, send me'.

Encouragement does not take a theological degree. Tom Messer used to be the Pastor of Mt. Zion Yuma. He has since retired and, as well, I have moved on. He said some things that had an anointing to them that I have never forgotten. One of the things he said was to 'trust the seed'. You can trust it when you plant encouragement, compassion or just love into people's hearts or sacrifice it into people's lives.

Of late I have contact with about 100 people on a regular basis. Of those maybe 10 are on a daily basis and the rest maybe two or three times a week. These have proven to be some of the most satisfying and wonderful relationships I have ever had. What ever the degree of contact it always amazes me to see the planted 'seed' take root and grow; I would not trade the experience for anything.

I also have to let the seed go; maybe its not my time to nurture its growth or see the harvest but I have to trust that God is in control and he will bring about the fruition of what has been planted. It says that one plants, another waters and another harvests. There is another dynamic at play here too that I don't think we realize. The seed we plant in others is also planted in our own hearts and gives us life.

Right now I am in a holding pattern, where God has me doing nothing. I wake up each morning and all I am told to do is read. If any of you really know me you know how difficult that is for me. I have been in these situations before and every time it was a season of preparation and new beginnings. This season will come to an end and God will take me on to a place he has prepared for me to serve him. Oh, I am not doing 'nothing' per se; but I am not out in active ministry. I am working on my book that I want to have finished this fall; the ministry of encouraging others continues and I have a few serious writing projects to work on. Soon though a bend in the river or a rise in the road will reveal a new road, a new destination; I want to be ready, I don't want to screw up and have gone on my own way. I need to be content to wait for his revelation. I need to be ready for others who will want to go with me.

I have come full circle in this blurb and I hope this encourages you today to be patient, that when you find yourself in times where you seem to have been put on the shelf to not worry. God knows where you are and trust that he is preparing you for the next chapter of life in his service.

During these times don't roll over and play dead. It is during these times more than others that you can become a warrior in prayer (Jeremiah 33:3), or encourage those around you of the love that God has for them; that he will never leave them or forsake them.

Paul said to redeem the time for the days are evil. We can't be ignorant of our responsibilities to love and sacrifice. Brad

Milton's poem - On His Blindness

On His Blindness

 When I consider how my light is spent
   Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
   And that one talent which is death to hide
   Lodg'd with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present

   My true account, lest he returning chide,
   "Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?"
   I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies: "God doth not need
  Either man's work or his own gifts: who best

  Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is kingly; thousands at his bidding speed
  And post o'er land and ocean without rest:
  They also serve who only stand and wait."

 -- John Milton

The Card is Dealt

2008-04-20T12:53:00.001-07:00

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Greetings and Salutations

It is the middle of Spring and Summer is teasing us like a cat playing with a mouse before it lays on the mouse what cats do. A hundred degree day here, a hundred degree day there and soon it will be a constant with the added insult of the monsoonal humidity to send us fleeing to our air conditioned hiding places until the October break comes.

The movie ‘Brother Sun – Sister Moon’ is probably one of the best films around that encapsulate what the Kingdom of God is all about; a few others are ‘The Song of Bernadette’ and ‘Chariots of Fire’, there are others for sure but these three are the best.

There is a point in the film where God reveals the Kingdom to Francis. He is sitting in Mass and beholds a living Christ on the Cross not a dead representation. In this encounter he mouths no great revelations as he looks around at the opulence of his surroundings and also sees the contrasting struggle of the poor forced to gather in the back of the church. Looking around this created by men Kingdom that has totally covered and hidden God’s purposes and thoughts for mankind he simply utters one word: ‘No!’; and to the horror of his parents and the gathered ecclesiastical mob walks out of the church and proceeds to begin to live a life that becomes a revelation of how God calls us to live, in plain language; how to live a Kingdom life.

God has a lot of cards in his hand to get our attention. He weaves and guides our lives until we reach that ultimate point where we can see the Kingdom and make the choice to join or walk away at that point, maybe to have the choice to enter another day, maybe not. When God does play this hand of revealing himself and his Christ all of our excuses of saying we did not know are gone, absolutely and totally.

We have walked away from the life we were created for, a Kingdom life. No longer will we ever have the chance to say I never knew or have the chance to reach out to those in need around us; the poor, the sick, the weak and the lost who represent Christ and our opportunity to minister to him by ministering to others. Rejecting this revelation puts us in a no-man’s land where the only thing left is God’s mercy and justice. How long we are played between these two I don’t know, we can never judge another.

Choosing to live a surrendered life in God’s kingdom is a no-brainer. Everything that we are not God is. Everything we lack God possesses and will give us gladly and lovingly. All he asks is that we trade the rusting piece of cheap metal and plastic that is our own crown for his, not only to wear it but learn to live everything it represents. Don’t question your worthiness, if God has crowned you, who are you to call him a liar and say you are not worthy.

If he has not already one day, sooner rather than later, God will play his card and reveal the kingdom to you. If he has not yet then he is preparing you through the circumstances going on in your life to see it and give you the chance to embrace it when he does. Some of you indeed I know are in the midst of that process already and the card is in front of you. Don’t wimp – Embrace the Kingdom.

Have a good week. Love you all. Brad

This is a good blog link, there is a newsletter you can subscribe too as well as a book that you can download the .pdf file. If I ever do recommend a link to you remember it is only seasoning to your own communion with God, it is never the main course. http://subversive1.blogspot.com/

Giving Away our Gifts.

2008-03-05T23:21:00.002-07:00

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Greetings Folks:

Well this is the fifth time I have sat down to write this week’s blurb, and each effort has ended with me reaching for the delete button; the electronic equivalent of a wastepaper basket filled with crumpled paper. I realized that my failures were from complicating simple truths with my own thinking; I had forgotten one of my own rules, the kiss (keep it simple stupid).

I am, by background, an Anglican. At one point in the Communion Service the Priest stands facing the people with the bread and the wine and says “The Gifts of God for the People of God”. Epiphany of epiphany; our gifts are to be given and shared; if we don’t they rot.

I have a friend who lives in Central Mexico. He is a talented musician, singer and actor who finds himself at the beginning of his career; in that place where doubt, passion and daring all mix. It was not difficult to see that my friend had a passion for sharing his gift; to share his voice with others; but he wondered if anyone was listening. It says that a man’s gift will make a way for him. Our talents might provide for us, but our gifts provide us a life.

Embedded within the helical wonder that is our DNA God has planted talents that will only come alive if we give them away. God breathes into our talents a passion to share them; unfortunately many people spend their energies covering over that passion because of doubt and fear and never achieve any sense of satisfaction in their lives. If you want a life that has meaning you have to be willing to give things away. Giving and sharing our talent is a birthing process where they become gifts.

Take the leap, become passionate about the gift that is within you; give it, share it and watch it grow. Be a risk taker. Why? This is what it means to take a risk. It means you take a chance that everything you give away might be rejected or mocked. But it also means that in that risking and giving you may save another persons life the way someone else saved yours. If we are to lay claim to the power that God plants in each of us we must start taking a few chances and stop worrying what the outcome will be. God gave us everything and all he asks in return is that we do the same so another might live.

Beware of Pit Bulls

2008-03-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

Greetings folks and fellow sojourners:

I am a blogger and so I read others of the same ilk, although I must admit, not many because I don’t like a lot of input beyond trusted friends and my Bible. One of those I read is by a blogger from France. On his page he has a function that translates the page into English. Some of the phrasing can come out humorous after passing through the online translator. In his blog that he posted on June 22^nd one of his thoughts translated out saying that he felt he was living his life in the ejector seat. I smiled; there is a lot of truth in this saying.

This would be a nice warm-fuzzy if this were his main point he was making but it was not. His main point was that in our lives we need to be at peace; peace being one of the fruits of the spirit. These two thoughts in juxtaposition really speak to me as a life lived in submission to the Holy Spirit. Especially when you consider that our life in the ‘ejector’ seat is one of not having or controlling the ejection button itself.

But isn’t that the life the Spirit is always calling us to; to be at peace even if we have no control over our lives, living a life that is not our own. My gosh that statement is almost un-American. But it is the word for this week. One worth meditating on and plumbing up to our own life and see where we need to adjust.

Note: CNN ran a series of reports on gay life in the USA today as it relates to religion. I was amazed at how unbiased the reporting was and how ‘balanced’. Remarkable using that word with CNN and not Fox. But what happened after each report was tragic. They threw it open to comments from two polemics, one on the fringe right, and one on the fringe left. It was like throwing prime beef into a cage of pit bulls. They sliced and argued the thoughts that had been expressed until they were unrecognizable.

This tendency to do this is a scourge of our age. Our television and radios are filled with words either from the idiots on the political-religious right or the paranoid-God in a box left. There is no room left for anybody to make their own opinion, to come to their own conclusions and give a thoughtful response. We have lost the vast middle ground that has insured for over 200 years a stable foundation for this country.

These fools, and I use that word with relish; the Limbaugh’s; the Lou Dobb’s, the Franken’s; the Ann Coulter’s and the Nancy Grace’s, and we can’t form such a list without the name of Howard Stern, are paid millions to supposedly speak for us and claim to be the voice of America. We used to elect our representatives, now we pay these gladiators to do battle for us. America is the worse for it. God help us.

You have a blessed week as we all seek God’s peace.

Brad

A Contemplation

2008-02-20T09:07:00.000-07:00

I am so contemplative tonight, especially with you. I was reading the hometown (Erie, PA) paper tonight online and I read about the death of an old farmer. It re-birthed a flood of memories. When I was a child my best friend lived down the road about a half a mile away. From May to September the road was rutted with marks that recorded the numerous bike trips between our farms.

One of our frequent destinations was the farm of the man who died today. He had a swimming hole that was a wonder, just the right depth and size, and with just the right kind of tree, for a Tarzan rope that taught all of us courage and provided a summers worth of 'fun'. I learned so much at that place. Many of the things I learned were those things every young boy/man learns growing up.

I have contacted Jack twice in the last five years: the first time was when his father died, the second was the death of his brother. Now I will contact him again, and again because somebody died.

Two years ago I wrote a poem about missed opportunities. One day I need to gather these missives and see if they are worth any further consideration (publishing). I leave you with these few words as a cautionary tale for your own thoughts.

As ever, Brad

Reaching Out

Across the room
Struggling to meet in between
With eyes betraying hunger,
Surrendering to currents that
Bring us face to face.

Lips that would not speak,
Arms that would not reach
A heart I feared to share,
All I possessed and would not give,

I left, a poorer man.

2008-02-12T12:04:00.001-07:00

Last Things

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Greetings and Salutations

I have been sitting with this thought for a few weeks; and have not kept my schedule in sending the ‘weekly’ blurbs out as I should, forgive me.

Ever since I have been a Christian, and I am sure you have experienced the same thing, we have all heard people saying that this sign or the other surely points to the imminent return of Jesus. I have dismissed most of them because they were usually referenced to this or that person being the anti-Christ. It also says we can not know the day or the hour, only the season. Granted many things tend to say we are in the season of Christ’s return; that forces me to hope he would return today, but live as if it might be many years away.

All one has to do is pick up a newspaper or read on the internet from any news source the evil that is adrift in the land. Whole families are slaughtering each other; it’s not just a criminal here or there. Fathers and Mothers are murdering their children wholesale. Just a few weeks ago there was the story of the father who threw his children over a bridge and killed them, and then a few days later it happened again. These things are happening on a daily occurrence. If these things and things like them are only the signs of the beginning of the last days then God have mercy.

When I first started writing blogs about ten years ago I wrote one specifically on the last days. I give it to you now. Be blessed. Brad

Who is this King of Glory?

It's True

2008-02-12T09:40:00.000-07:00

IT'S GOOD by Phillip Long

I have listened to a rushing stream until I could no longer hear its roar I have watched as an eagle soared until it disappeared into the sky I have walked in the rain until I did not feel wet and cold I have endured solitude until I knew I was not alone I have watched in the darkness until I could see I have forgiven until I learned how to love I have given until I had all that I need I have hoped until I was satisfied I have loved until I vanished I have discovered my life I know that I have And it's good It's good

A tap on the shoulder.

2008-02-12T09:34:00.000-07:00

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Greetings Folks

Tuesday I had an Isaiah 1:18 moment, you know the verse that says ‘Come let us reason together, says the Lord. As I was going to bed that night I felt the Holy Spirit gently saying “Brad, let’s talk”. The topic was repentance and the subject was ‘wasting time’. All that day I had a gnawing sense of the time I have wasted in my life, I don’t mean a few minutes here or there but months and years, laying in waste all over the place like pages of a calendar laying on the floor.

This was for real; I didn’t feel the sigh of sorrow, but rather the punch in the gut of conviction. This was serious. What started in fear became a conversation with God that was not a litany of the past but about the opportunities of the future. I told you last week that much in my life is being reformed right now and I am sure God wanted to make sure that I understood what and why things are happening as they are now. Things are unfolding at a good pace, and rather than ‘talk’ about things you are just going to have to watch and see the process as it happens.

Second I found a quote by that giant of Christian thinking (just kidding) Sigmund Freud. He spoke about the ‘narcissism of small things’, and he went on to explain how we dwell on the little things that separate us as human beings as a way to avoid the larger issues that need to be dealt with. I thought about that and realized he was right.

Of course Jesus pointed this out long ago when he said for us to take the log out of our own eyes before we try and remove the speck from our brother’s eye. Specks in our own eyes as we constantly dwell and harp on them end up becoming logs in the end and they blind us and bind us to our fears and prejudices.

The reason I think we do this is because of our refusal to deal with the big issues that surround us all summed up in the second half of the Great Commandment where Jesus demands that we love our neighbor as ourselves. If we are honest about how we deal and live with those that we have differences with we know this is true. Oh we can hid behind theological doctrines and such but it all boils down to the fact that we don’t like being vessels of God’s love to those we perceive as ‘not like me’.

What do we think it means when the Bible says that love covers a multitude of sins. It is not speaking of love hiding sin but it speaks that loving one another changes both halves of the equation. I am changed and you are changed and so we go on and finish our journey together.

A christmas Leftover

2008-02-12T09:33:00.000-07:00

A Gift for Yourself this Christmas

We spend so much time thinking of gifts for others that often we neglect ourselves. For this Christmas 2006 give yourself the gift of being a child again. That’s right, becoming an innocent wonder-eyed boy or girl, looking at the world in a new way and experiencing everything as if it were a door to discovery, just like a child.

When was the last time you just went outside and sat, letting the sun warm your face and watching a hoard of ‘bugs’ going about their daily chores at your feet with the songs of a hundred birds as a background. Or kicked a can down the street and listened to the sound of the metal skipping along the pavement. Think these simple things silly? Not a chance, the wonders of childhood lead to the questions of tomorrow and send us on life’s quest for answers.

Innocence and wonder are the fertile soil that our gifts and talents are planted in. They germinate, grow and mature and we become men and women, unique and gifted. As we grow new seeds are planted, but for them to mature the soil still needs to remain child-like, and full of possibility.

And if we still doubt; we need to realize that if God himself left heaven and became a child; are we too proud to follow?

Have a blessed and glorious Christmas.

Brad

Track Wisdom

2008-02-12T09:32:00.000-07:00

February 11, 2008

Greetings Folks and Fellow Sojourners:

Some scriptures have become so familiar to us that they have lost any ability to convict and come alive in our spirit. The Twenty Third Psalm and the Lord’s Prayer are two that come to my mind. .For many of us they have been reduced to words that can be uttered and in the process totally bypass our mind and heart.

The Twenty Third Psalm is replete with illustrations that have meaning and when understood within the cultural context of when they were written, come alive. I shared one in the past few weeks about the overfilled cup as an expression of God’s desire for us to remain in his presence.

“He restores my soul”; those words have comforted many of us through dark days and nights when God seemed so far away. The Arabic translations render these words differently and illustrate God’s heart much more clearly. “He brings me back”. These simple words, while not poetic, illustrate more the heart of the shepherd that David was describing. This David, who himself rescued sheep from the mouths of lions and bears, speaks of the Lord as his shepherd who rescued him from the lions and bears of his own self will and lovingly brought him back each time.

For the sake of heaven and all that is good folks we need to recognize when God has lovingly sent out someone to rescue us from ourselves and bids us to return with him. Without being crass he is not taking us back to make lamb stew of us. He is returning us to the love and care that only he can provide and give.

Where would you rather be, out wandering on a cold night among the rocks and wilds, being forced only further away by sound and fear? Or turn and surrender to the loving eyes and arms of one who has come far to find you and ‘bring you back’ to a place of warmth and comfort by his side.

I’ll take a night under the stars of a clear sky next to the warmth of one who loves me and a warm fire any time.

Life in the ejector seat.

2007-06-24T10:14:00.001-07:00

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Greetings folks and fellow sojourners:

I am a blogger and so I read others of the same ilk, although I must admit, not many because I don’t like a lot of input beyond trusted friends and my Bible. One of those I read is by a blogger from France. On his page he has a function that translates the page into English. Some of the phrasing can come out humorous after passing through the online translator. In his blog that he posted on June 22nd one of his thoughts translated out saying that he felt he was living his life in the ejector seat. I smiled; there is a lot of truth in this saying.

This would be a nice warm-fuzzy if this were his main point he was making but it was not. His main point was that in our lives we need to be at peace; peace being one of the fruits of the spirit. These two thoughts in juxtaposition really speak to me as a life lived in submission to the Holy Spirit. Especially when you consider that our life in the ‘ejector’ seat is one of not having or controlling the ejection button itself.

But isn’t that the life the Spirit is always calling us to; to be at peace even if we have no control over our lives, living a life that is not our own. My gosh that statement is almost un-American. But it is the word for this week. One worth meditating on and plumbing up to our own life and see where we need to adjust.

Note: CNN, last evening, ran a series of reports on gay life in the USA today as it relates to religion. I was amazed at how unbiased the reporting was and how ‘balanced’. Remarkable using that word with CNN and not Fox. But what happened after each report was tragic. They through it open to comments from two polemics, one on the fringe right, and one on the fringe left. It was like throwing prime beef into a cage of pit bulls. They sliced and argued the thoughts that had been expressed until they were unrecognizable.

This tendency to do this is a scourge of our age. Our television and radios are filled with words either from the idiots on the political-religious right or the paranoid-God in a box left. There is no room left for anybody to make their own opinion, to come to their own conclusions and give a thoughtful response. We have lost the vast middle ground that has insured for over 200 years a stable foundation for this country.

These fools, and I use that word with relish; the Limbaugh’s; the Lou Dobb’s, the Franken’s; the Ann Coulter’s; and the Nancy Grace’s, and we can’t form such a list with out the name of Howard Stern, are paid millions to supposedly speak for us and claim to be the voice of America. We used to elect our representatives, now we pay these gladiators to do battle for us. America is the worse for it. God help us.

You have a blessed week as we all seek God’s peace.

Brad

The Day I Died

2007-06-08T06:26:00.000-07:00

10:00 AM – March – 10 Kilometers South of San Felipe – Baja California - Mexico

I stand at the edge of the sea.
There - the hurt from some far storm, or,
Maybe some heart just next to me seizes me in its grip.
And I find myself naked, stripped - with no defense – yet;

This pain – this crush – I welcome it;
My chance to challenge death has come.

Above my tears I hear a friend - sharing the love of silence.
.
I know – I must – I can’t – I will myself;
To release – let go – surrender – to bend the knee……I-let-me-die.

In the moment – in this one act of seeming madness………

The embrace – the shout – the victory;
All that I want – all that I need – is given me.
This one – my God - this storm – this friend – this faith in my Father’s love………..
Has given me life.

I am a child again.