Brennan Manning

Ragamuffin Thoughts

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“When all Christians surrender to the mystery of the fire of the Spirit that burns within; when we submit to the saving truth that we reach life only through death, that we come to light only through darkness; when we acknowledge that the grain of wheat must fall into the ground and die, that Jonah must be buried in the whale’s belly, that the alabaster jar of self must be broken if others are to perceive the sweet fragrance of Christ; when we respond to Jesus’s call of ‘Come to me,’ then the limitless power of the Holy Spirit will be unleashed with astonishing force upon the church and the world” (Brennan Manning, The Importance of Being Foolish: How to Think Like Jesus).

I think what we need is more Christians who are Christlike.

It sounds like a Captain Obvious statement, but so many Christians profess faith and live in such a way that denies that very faith. Your words are meaningless unless you back them up with actions. In other words, faith without good works is dead and useless.

I can say that because too often I’m one of those who say one thing and act another way. Unfortunately, the world is no longer buying our “Do as we say, not as we do” routine any longer.

It isn’t about trying harder or doing better. It’s about surrender. Raising the white flag of “I can’t but You can” and letting that flag fly free.

It’s about dying to your own desires and wishes and ways of doing things so that a new and better life takes root and takes over. That’s nothing less than the power of the resurrected Jesus in you.

That’s my prayer for me and for all of you, that we make a declaration of dependence and bow the knee in surrender once and for all.

 

How to Survive the Snow-pocalypse if You’re a Cat

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If you’re a cat, comfort is everything. Especially during wintery weather.

The best possible way to deal with the ice and snow is to avoid it all together by sleeping through as much of it as possible.

It’s like hibernation, only you take the occasional break or two to interact with your human. You want him or her to still feed you and clean out your litter-box, so play nice with your person.

First of all, and most important, is to find the comfiest spot possible. Ideally, you want a soft blanket (with your human underneath if at all possible) or a cushy piece of furniture. Fleece or wool blankets are best, but polyester will do in a pinch.

If worse comes to worse, you can always use your own furry body as your own blanket, but that’s really the last option.

Step two is to begin napping and dream of things like spring and mounds of tuna cans and slow, boneless chicken.

Enjoy!

Snow-pocalypse Part II

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Life in Middle Tennessee has ground to a halt. It snowed.

I know I already wrote about Snow-pocalypse 2018, which ended up being more hype than actual snow or ice.

This time it actually snowed. Like maybe a whole inch and a half. Time to buy up all the break, milk, and eggs you can lay your hands on.

Normally, I’m all for building snowmen (or attempting to), gathering snow for snow-cream, and enjoying the wintery scenery.

Today, I lasted 15 minutes. That also happened to be the temperature at the time.

I’m just about convinced that the temperature needs to be above my age for me to go outside and enjoy it. I had plenty of warm clothing on but nothing I’ve found prevents my face from feeling like it’s going to freeze off. Guess I’d better not make any ugly faces while I’m outside.

I’m thankful for snow. I’m thankful for cold weather that makes me appreciate warmer weather.  I’m thankful for gloves and wool hats and flannel and coats that make the cold bearable.

It’s likely that tomorrow will be day two of Snow-pocalypse Part II, so stay tuned.

Remember Me

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“Lord, Eternal One, remember me” (Judges 16:28, The Voice).

I was reading a very familiar passage about Samson and Delilah when I saw something I had never seen before. It almost literally jumped out of the page.

The story may or may not be familiar. Samson was a Nazirite and a Judge over the people of Israel. Basically, a Nazirite was someone dedicated to God from birth who had certain restrictions, like no alcohol, no haircuts, no touching dead bodies. As a judge, he essentially ruled over the Israelites. He had extraordinary strength and could not be bound by any ropes or chains.

Most of the time, he was ruled by his appetites. He saw what he liked and went after it, no matter what the consequences. Even though God said for His people to have nothing to do with the Philistines, Samson continually wooed their women and spent time in their cities.

Then Delilah showed up. She agreed to betray Samson into the hands of the Philistine rulers for a hefty sum, or a king’s ransom, you might say. Of course, Samson fell in love with her.

She asked three times how he could be bound. Three times he fibbed. You would have thought he’d catch on to her motives but apparently his love blinded him to her wiles.

Finally, she nagged him to the point where he gave in. You can probably figure out that she got her reward and Samson got captured. He ended up with his eyes gouged out, working at the grindstone as a slave, reduced to a joke.

Samson’s very last actions were his best ones. The Philistines brought him out to taunt and mock him in a celebration to their god, Dagon. He ended up between the two main pillars of the temple. He prayed one last prayer for strength and pushed out the pillars, toppling the temple and killing everyone inside, himself included.

I’d never paid much attention to his last prayer. “Remember me.” Suddenly, it dawned on me. I remembered someone else in the Bible whose last words were the same. It was the  thief on the cross next to Jesus who said, “Remember me when You come into Your Kingdom.”

Such a beautiful prayer that says so much in so few words. It’s not so much that God has forgotten who we are but that we’ve forgotten who He is.

It’s a declaration of dependence, an acknowledgement of great need. It says to God, “I’m unworthy to ask but still I know you are a gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in love. Come to my aid and save me.”

The Bible is still living and active. God still speaks through His word to those with ears to hear. Speak, Lord, for your servants are listening.

 

A Celtic Prayer

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“O God
In my deeds,
In my words,
In my wishes,
In my reason,
And in the fulfilling of my desires,
In my sleep,
In my dreams,
In my repose,
In my thoughts,
In my heart and soul always

A Dhia, ann mo ghniamh
Ann mo ghniamh,
Ann mo bhriathar,
Ann mo mhiann,
Ann mo chiall,
Ann an riarachd mo chail,
Ann mo shuain,
Ann mo bhruail,
Ann mo chluain,
Ann mo smuain,
Ann mo chridh agus m’anam a ghnath”

I think this prayer captures the heart of the Apostle Paul’s injunction that we “pray without ceasing.” I also can’t help but think of an Alison Krauss song that speaks of making my life a living prayer to God.

I want this to be my prayer in 2018, to live in an ever mindful awareness of God’s nearness in all my waking moments. To have every single thought, word, and act be an offering of worship and a declaration of thanksgiving.

I realize that I’m very much human and I have distracting thoughts and desires all through the day. I’m sure that I will have to remind myself of this prayer at least once a day to recenter my attention away from everything else back to God.

I’m very much with the Apostle Paul in that I very often do what I know is wrong and don’t do what I know is right. I very often stray and take my eyes of Jesus. Maybe this little prayer will help get my eyes back to where they belong.

May this also be your prayer in 2018.

 

My Brilliant Idea

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I had the most brilliant idea recently. Or at least it seemed brilliant to me.

You know how all these classic gaming consoles have been hitting the market lately? The most popular example is the Nintendo Classic and the Super Nintendo Classic, but I’ve also seen editions for Atari and Sega Genesis.

How about one for all the Commodore 64 games? I had quite a few back in the day, and I can’t tell you how many hours I spent in front of my computer back in the day.

I think the console could look like a C64 keyboard, but be much smaller, kind of like the NES and SNES classics. Or maybe it could look like the old floppy disk drives that took up half my desk and weighed a ton.

Of course, I have nowhere close to the tech savvy to pull this off myself, but I thought since I came up with the idea that I could get some of the riches that will inevitably roll in once this gem of an idea is realized.

Whoever finally makes this happen, I want first dibs on the final product. And I should get a discount for having the idea in the first place. Just sayin’.

 

 

Words of Wisdom from the Late Steve Jobs

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Steve Jobs passed away in 2011 from pancreatic cancer at the age of 56. At the time, he was one of the most powerful and well-known CEOs. He reportedly had some parting words as he was dying of lessons learned too late that would serve all of us well to heed. Whether or not he actually said them, they still ring true.

Here they are, stated better than I have heard them put in a long time:

“I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world.  In others. eyes, my life is an epitome of success.
However, aside from work, I have little joy. In the end, wealth is only a fact of life that I am accustomed to.
At this moment, lying on the sick bed and recalling my whole life, I realize that all the recognition and wealth that I took so much pride in, have paled and become meaningless in the face of impending death.
You can employ someone to drive the car for you, make money for you but you cannot have someone to bear the sickness for you.  Material things lost can be found. But there is one thing that can never be found when it is lost – health and life itself.

When a person goes into the operating room, he will realize that there is one book that he has yet to finish reading – “Book of Healthy Life”.

Whichever stage in life we are at right now, with time, we will face the day when the curtain comes down.
Treasure Love for your family, love for your spouse, love for your friends…
Treat yourself well. Cherish others.
As we grow older, and hence wiser, we slowly realize that wearing a $300. or $30.00 watch – – –  – – – – they both tell the same time…
Whether we carry a $300 or $30.00 wallet/handbag the amount of money inside is the same;
Whether we drink a bottle of $300 or $10 wine the hangover is the same;
Whether the house we live in is 300 or 3000 sq. ft loneliness is the same.

You will realize, your true inner happiness does not come from the material things of this world.
Whether you fly first or economy class, if the plane goes down you go down with it.
Therefore,I hope you realize, when you have mates, buddies and old friends, brothers and sisters, who you chat with, laugh with, talk with, have sing songs with, talk about north-south-east-west or heaven & earth, ….
That is true happiness!!
Five Undeniable Facts of Life :
1. Don’t educate your children to be rich. Educate them to be Happy.
So when they grow up they will know the value of things not the price.
2. Best awarded words in London … “Eat your food as your medicines.
Otherwise you have to eat medicines as your food.”
3. The One who loves you will never leave you for another because even if there are 100 reasons to give up he or she will find one reason to hold on.
4. There is a big difference between a human being and being human.
Only a few really understand it.
5. You are loved when you are born. You will be loved when you die.
In between, You have to manage!
NOTE: If you just want to Walk Fast, Walk Alone! But if you want to Walk Far, Walk Together!
Six Best Doctors in the World.
1. Sunlight
2. Rest
3. Exercise
4. Diet
5. Self Confidence and
6. Friends
Maintain them in all stages of Life and enjoy healthy life.
Sent with Smiles, Affection and Love !! “

Snow-pocalypse 2018

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Currently, it’s almost 70 degrees outside, yet Tennessee is under a winter weather advisory. Does that make your head hurt? It does mine.

Somehow in the next 9-12 hours, the temperature will drop radically and all the drizzle will turn into freezing rain and/or snow. According to all the weather sources I checked (both of them), there’s a 100% chance of precipitation.

My greatest fear is that I will get all the way to my job in Donelson, only to have the great snow-pocalypse of 2018 descend, turning all the streets into icy hazardous paths. I also know that fear and worry are not of God, but I’m just keeping it real here. I’m a little nervous about the commute.

Still, it’s Tennessee. Nothing is guaranteed– other than everyone’s sinuses will explode and the vast majority will have headaches all day.

I’m all for snow. I’d love to see it. I’d rather not drive in it, seeing as how most Middle Tennesseans have trouble driving when it’s sunny and 75 outside. Including me, sometimes.

But I think a good night’s rest and a silent prayer on my lips as I drive will get me through. I just need to remember to stay calm, breathe deeply, and trust that God is sovereign even over Nashville traffic.

Oh, I predict that grocery stores are selling out of bread and milk right about now. And possibly toilet paper. Gotta do something while you’re stranded at home from all this crazy weather.

 

 

Keeping the Faith

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I recently heard a quote that fits the majority of what passes for Christianity in American. Too many preach that “[a] God without wrath brought men without sin into a Kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a Cross.” (H. Richard Niebuhr), The Kingdom of God in America).

Those who hold to the orthodox faith of the early church as proclaimed by the apostles are getting fewer and fewer these days.

But those early apostles held to the conviction that they would rather please God than people, as stated by one of their most outspoken members, Paul.

They knew that the world would hate them just as it hated Jesus.  They knew the world they lived in would never tolerate their message of repentance and faith in the Messiah Jesus.

Repentance is almost a taboo word, yet it’s one of the most freeing. To turn away from sin is to walk out of a lifestyle of bondage into wide open freedom. But it’s not just turning away. It’s turning to the true and living God who has revealed Himself in Jesus.

Grace is such a beautiful thing because none of us deserves it. All of us really have sinned and fallen short on a daily basis of the glory of God. All of us have a deep need for salvation in Jesus. All of us are loved deeply and unconditionally by a God whose love refuses to leave us the way it found us. Sometimes it’s a tough love, but it’s always a love that seeks the very best for the beloved — that’s us.

It’s not about making America great again. It’s really about getting back to the whole gospel that can save the whole person. It’s about the good news that is still there for the taking for anyone who truly seeks it.

Being a Hero

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“Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds, –and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of –Wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air…
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark or even eagle flew —
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God” (John Gillespie Magee, Jr).

Recently, I stumbled across the NASA channel, almost completely by accident. I’ve been watching it on and off since.

A few days ago, they paid tribute to a long-serving astronaut, John Young, who passed away at the age of 87 on Friday. I confess that before then, I had no idea who he was.

It turns out he was the only astronaut to fly on the Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle missions. He flew the first manned Gemini mission and was the commander of the inaugural Space Shuttle voyage. He served in NASA for 42 years, giving him the longest career of any astronaut.

You can read more about him here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Young_(astronaut)

And yet I had never heard of him before. I knew John Glenn, Neil Armstrong, and Buzz Aldrin, but for some reason I had gone through my entire life not knowing about this fascinating American.

I can’t help thinking about the chapter in Hebrews about the Faith Hall of Fame that talks about Noah, Abraham, and Sarah. It also mentions that many others were just as faithful, though less well known. Many of them died without ever seeing the fruition of their hopes, yet they never wavered in their faith.

There may be some heroes that you might run across and never know it. Maybe, one day, you will be considered a hero to some because you persevered and kept believing in times when it would have been much easier to give up. They will see your life and say, “He never gave up. He kept on showing up every day, no matter what. If he could do it, then maybe so can I.”