generous

Coming to Stay

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“The Word became flesh and blood,
    and moved into the neighborhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
    the one-of-a-kind glory,
    like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
    true from start to finish” (John 1:14).

Have you ever noticed how sometimes friends come and go?

I mean, have you ever had a friend completely disappear from your life? It’s like one day you see them all the time and the next you don’t see them anymore. It feels like they moved on and forgot about you.

Not all friends are meant to be in your life forever. Some are meant for only a season or two. Yet it still hurts when they’re no longer around.

I love how The Message puts it. Jesus moved into the neighborhood. He didn’t come to visit for a while. He came to stay. He came to take up residence and be among us.

Jesus may have physically left, but He’s still around. He promised He would be when He sent His Holy Spirit. Jesus Himself promised that He would never leave us or forsake us.

That’s what I cling to some days. I cling to Jesus as the only constant in a world racked by constant change and turmoil and instability. My pastor said that when the Bible talks about the glory of God, it conveys almost a kind of weight. It’s like saying that only God deserves glory because He’s the only one weighty enough to hold our lives in orbit and to keep us from spinning out of control.

That’s what Jesus does. He keeps us together on those days when it’s all we can do to put one foot in front of the other and to remember to breathe in and breathe out.

That’s what Immanuel means. God is still with us.

 

My Mac Fund

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macbook-pro

Note: the following is in jest. I hope you won’t take any of this seriously (unless you’re feeling REALLY generous).

I’ve started my Mac Book Pro fund. Obviously, the idea is for me to FINALLY buy a Mac and end the days of PC frustration forever. Also, I will be 20% more hip. Alas, me not being able to grow a proper beard cost me 20% hipsterness so these would cancel each other out.

I accept all major forms of payment (and even the minor ones, too). I accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Checks and (most of all) CA$H. I do like CA$H.

I’m hoping that writing these blogs on a Mac will make me 20% more creative and witty and (hopefully) profound. I’d be able to get my Mac on (and not in a super-creepy stalker-y way- nooooooooooo)

But seriously, what I want for Christmas is to be content with what I have. To live in gratitude and thanksgiving. To know that if I have God and nothing else, I have as much as if I had God and everything else.

I’d also like some whirled peas. Think about it for a minute and you’ll get it.

 

Christian Reciprocity Revisited, Or What I Learned from Kairos Roots Tonight

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

I feel like Mr. Rogers. “The word for today is reciprocity. Can you say reciprocity, boys and girls? Very good.”

Basically, the word means give and take. It’s all about giving and receiving.

There will be times when God blesses you. You will pick up your Bible and truths and insight will practically jump off the pages. You will have an unexpected bonus from work or a pay raise or some other financial blessing. You will be in a good position to give.

Then there will be other times when you read the Bible and it might as well be in Greek for what you get out of it. You have an overdraft or two at the bank and your bank account has a rather unpleasant negative sign in front of the number. Then you are in a good place to learn how to receive.

Even life experiences can be shared in the same way. You go through tragedy and heartbreak at times and find others who are willing to share your load and get you through. Later,  you are able to walk with someone else who is going through the same valley.

I do believe that we are most like Jesus when we are giving freely, expecting nothing in return, to those least likely to reciprocate the favor.

I also believe that it is a good lesson to learn to receive gratiously and humbly. To not receive is to rob someone else of the blessing of giving out of pride or false self-sufficiency.

The bottom line is that all we have is from God. We didn’t earn one red cent apart from His grace and provision. In the end, we’re not owners. We’re stewards, taking care of what really belongs to God.

Lord, give us Your eyes to see the need and Your generous heart to reach out with what You gave us to help meet that need. May we not give just our resources and our time but our very lives away for the cause of Christ every single day for the rest of our lives. Amen.