“O Lord, this holy season of Lent is passing quickly. I entered into it with fear, but also with great expectations. I hoped for a great breakthrough, a powerful conversion, a real change of heart; I wanted Easter to be a day so full of light that not even a trace of darkness would be left in my soul.
Things I Love 8: Greg’s Sanity Has Left the Building
FYI: these blogs will continue until I get to 1,000 things I love. It’s from the book, One Thousand Gifts, so I’m trying to list out– wait for it– 1,000 little things that I believe are God’s gifts to me and daily reminders that stir me to gratitude and thanksgiving as a lifestyle. Plus, I don’t have to worry about what I will be blogging on until at least July of 2014. Just kidding. Sort of.
Ok. Here goes the list, starting at #168. Drum roll, please.
168) Looking through old photo albums and reliving those old memories and remembering people who’ve been gone from my life for a while (and thinking they’re looking down from heaven and smiling at those photos, too).
169) My extremely loud Hawaiian shirt, which one random teenager called “sick.” I guess that’s a compliment. I’m not really sure.
170) Everything related to either Narnia and Wardrobes or Middle Earth and Hobbits.
171) Surprise birthday parties (hint, hint, subtle subliminal suggestion. . . cough).
172) Celebrating Easter and remembering that the Resurrection changed EVERYTHING. Including me.
173) That Jesus would have chosen the nails and the cross and the agony if only for me alone.
174) By Jesus loving me unconditionally and prodigally, he made me loveable.
175) Silent movies.
176) Box hockey (and the fact that I know what box hockey is).
177) All my high school reunions where I see old friends and get to catch up after 10 (or 20) years apart.
178) That I get to be a small part of Kairos, a worship gathering for young adults, every week and I see God at work there every single week.
179) Being content in my relationships and not obsessively wondering where they might or might not be headed,
180) Knowing that if the absolute worst case scenario should happen, I would still be loved by Jesus and God would still work even that out for my good and his glory.
181) How randomly my brain works these days.
182) The vast array of autumn colors from the leaves changing and falling.
183) Doing small random acts of kindness for people when they least expect it.
184) Any positive news stories (because they are sadly the exception and not the rule).
185) That I’m down to 715 more things to be thankful for.
186) Now it’s only 714.
187) That I’m not what everyone else thinks I am or even what I think of myself, but only what Jesus says I am– Chosen, Redeemed, Beloved, Child of God, Forgiven, Free, etc.
188) That Jesus won’t ever stop reminding me of my true identity and sending friends who will help me remember the song in my heart when I forget the words.
189) Lightning bugs at night in an open field.
190) Cheese grits made just right.
191) That I probably have at least 32 more of these blogs a-comin’ your way. But not in a row.
A Church Without Walls (Part 2)
I see a church where we will not be afraid to stand up and declare that Jesus is Lord, that there is no other God but Yahweh, and that there is no other way to heaven but through Jesus Christ. I see a church who instead of condemning sinners, will cry out to God and repent of our lack of love and take the blame for what is wrong with our culture. I see a church who will not just give out of her excess, but will sacrifice to meet the needs of those hurting and needy. I see a church where our worship costs us something and we like David proclaim, “I will not sacrifice to the Lord that which cost me nothing.”
I see a church where it is not about being right, but about giving up your rights. Where we will turn the other cheek, walk the extra mile and keep our word even when it hurts. I see a church who tries to match their lifestyle with what they profess with their lips. I see a church where we stop pretending to be perfect people who have it all together and are so much better than everyone else. Where we admit to being broken and helpless without Jesus and to admitting that the only difference between us and the worst sinner is the grace of God at work in us.
I see a church who is not selling out to a political party or a form of government or a way of life, but who are citizens of a kingdom where the King is Jesus. Where not political might, but the power of prayer and fasting will bring about lasting change.
I see that church and as much as I want that, I have to be the first one to change. Better yet, I need to seek after a transformed heart, God’s own heart, inside me.
As always, I believe. Help my unbelief.
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