It is a Shame

There has been a perceived loss in the quantity and quality in the friendships over the years as reported in a variety of studies.
This is what I deem to be part and parcel of the many life changes many are experiencing.
I personally, have had friends move away, die, divorce, change jobs, drop out of social groups I am affiliated with, etc.
These variables plus the addition of children, job demands and depleted energy reserves have caused many to disengage from friends as well. It seems to be a part of life ...now.

A Friend in Need ...

A friend in need is a friend in deed
A version of this proverb was known by the 3rd century BC. Quintus Ennius wrote: 'Amicu certus in re incerta cernitur'. This translates from the Latin as 'a sure friend is known when in difficulty'.

The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations lists the earliest version from Caxton's Sonnes of Aymon, 1489:
"It is sayd, that at the nede the frende is knowen."

The morality play Everyman from the 15th century also contains similar lines.

Fellowship: 'Sir, I say as I will do in deed.'
Everyman: 'Then be you a good friend at need;...'

Funnel of Life

I was reflecting on the death of a friend, remembering the times we shared, the conversations we had. It struck me how my view on life has evolved, not only because of this event, but the way in which time has revamped my focus on the things I once thought were important.

Desire; The 'Lie' Within

Desire means a sense of 'lust', a 'want', a 'wish' or something we 'long for'.

1 John 2:16, " For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world."

But what of those desires we have, those things which crawl around in our breasts, making our hearts beat faster ...

CommUNITY (2)

Ephesians 4:11-14

"And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,..."

CommUNITY (1)

The term community has a two rather poignant meanings, community and society, each can be said to refer to a group sharing a common understanding and often the same language, manners, tradition and law. In human communities, intent, belief, resources, preferences, needs, risks, and a number of other conditions may be present and common, affecting the identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness. This cohesiveness is paramount in defining the unity of said community. I find it rather pregnant that the word 'unity' is at the end of community.

Shame, Grace, Repentance

 ^"Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world (shame) produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter."

Shame, A Synopsis?

"Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to."

Mark Twain

Shame is the fear of displeasing men, when a man loves their good opinion more than he regards the judgemnet of God, which would make him humble himself in penitence."Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to."  Mark Twain

Shame

■Shame is a destructive emotion, particularly in the church, but also in our culture generally. It is time we started opening up these conversations and banishing shame, which only keeps people trapped in destructive patterns.

What Luther Said!

Matthew 15:22-28, "...behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed. But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.”

Success/Wisdom

Success is a product of wisdom.
Who I am? I am a person created by God, with a purpose, with a personal agenda, and my life is lived out as part of a plan larger than myself, all adjudicated and influenced by God.

Who Am I?

Who Am I?
I could give you a list of properties, attributes and abstract qualities which I believe form and embody the substance and characteristics of who I am as a person. Some items on the list will be the usual fare, age, employment, etc,. Some items would be more ambiguous, items left to interpretation by a reader, but none the less, they would by my estimation be items defining who I am. As it stands it would be a list, a register or roll account consisting of an enumeration or compilation of a set of possible items. It would only represent me on paper, the real me, like the real you, is experiential, like a colour, it would prompt an emotion and a feeling of connection or dislike.

Success

"I suppose them as at the beginning of no meane endeavour,
not a little alter'd and mov'd inwardly in their mindes:
Some with doubt of what will be the successe,
others with fear of what will be the censure;
some with hope, others with confidence
of what they have to speake." John Milton

Footfalls Echo

What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.
Footfalls echo in the memory
Down the passage which we did not take
Towards the door we never opened
Into the rose-garden. My words echo
Thus, in your mind.

Ayahuasca;Survival

Ayahuasca is used largely as a religious sacrament. Users of ayahuasca in non-traditional contexts often align themselves with the philosophies and cosmologies associated with ayahuasca shamanism as practiced among indigenous peoples.

What Is the Church?

Matthew 16:19, "...and I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

What is the Church? Faith

Faith; this is the great issue of our time and in the days ahead.


If you had faith as a grain of mustard you can move a mountain, but there is not enough faith in the world to move a content Christian out of a pew. Proverbs 27:7, "A satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb, but to a hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet."

What is the Church? Grace

"During the last year or so I've come to know and understand more and more the profound this-worldliness of Christianity. The Christian is not a homo religiosus, but simply a man, as Jesus was a man...I don't mean the shallow and banal this-worldliness of the enlightened, the busy, the comfortable, or the lascivious, but the profound worldliness, characterized by discipline and the constant knowledge of death and resurrection." Bonhoeffer

What is the Church? The Will of God

"The movement that began about the thirteenth century (I'm not going to get involved in any argument about the exact date) towards the autonomy of man (in which I should include the discovery of laws by which the world lives and deals with itself in science, social and political matters, art, ethics, and religion) has in our time reached an undoubted completion. Man has learnt to deal with himself in all questions of importance without recourse to the "working hypothesis" called "God." In questions of science, art, and ethics this has become an understood thing at which one now hardly dares to tilt. But for the last hundred years or so it has also become increasingly true of religious questions; it is becoming evident that everything gets along without "God"--and, in fact, just as well as before. As in the scientific field, so in human affairs generally, "God" is being pushed more and more out of life, losing more and more ground." Bonhoeffer

What is the Church?

This is a question which has been circulating through the Church and un-churched community for some time now.

A few years ago I had the opportunity to speak to the congregation of my church. I was an Elder at the time and our Pastor was encouraging us, as Elders, to take on some speaking tasks. What started as a singular event, morphed into a series of talks, which at this time has not been completed. As with all Churches we were experiencing the usual discontent from certain factions within the congregation. This seemingly is not unusual, but ...

Hell; Tweeted and Defeated

*In the Epistles, sin = death and destruction, not eternal torment – Rom 1:32, 2:12, 6:23, 9:22 – no eternal torment
+The death that sin = is an eternity in Hell, we all die once

Hell: Biblical

Biblical


*The overwhelming majority of Bible verses support some form of annihilation; more support universalism than eternal Hell
+Contextually if you approach the Bible with the answer in mind you will always find the scriptural support to shore up your predetermined thought ... if however you go to Scripture with only a question in mind you will find the answer

Hell: Theological

Theological


*Eliminating a doctrine of eternal Hell does not mean eliminating justice, judgement, punishment, and so on
+If our reward is eternity in Heaven, then the only option for justice to be served is Hell

Comfort

"It will come certainly.

Hell; Ethical/Rational?

Ethical/rational



*Eternal Hell is not in any way restorative – it eternally severs relationship and eternally prevents redemption
+For those who reject Christ in this life ... it is just and appropriate