As the week has gone on, I have continued thinking about Martin Luther King Jnr. During the week my attention was also drawn to the passage of scripture of 1 Chronicles 12:32.
"men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do - 200 Cheifs with all their relatives under their command;"
This indeed an interesting piece in light of people like Martin Luther King Jnr. The setting in scripture is that these are men who are joining King David from each tribe and they are being described. Mostly they are described in thousands of fighting men, but the men of Issachar are described as leaders/chiefs of household/families, not as soldiers. Men like Martin Luther King Jnr, John and Robert Kennedy were such men for their times. They understood the times in which they lived in and knew what they and their families should do.
They took on the giants, "the Goliaths" of their times; hatred, racism, social injustice and they stood for those who had no voice of their own. It is easy to say these men were giants themselves, but I would suggest they were men who used their sphere of influence for good not for evil. They were men who had some fairly significant personal flaws, but it did not stop them understanding their times and knowing what they should do.
We all have a chance to be men and woman of Issachar; to look around us and see circumstances that are not right and need some attention. It is even better if we believe that we have a mandate from God. Martin Luther King Jnr did, but the Kenenedy's I am not so sure. Martin Luther King jnr started his journey in his father's church in Atlanta Georgia, Kennedy on a motor patrol boat in the Second World War. These great men did not start at a national level they started with the small sphere of influence they had. The interpreted their circumstances and their sphere of influence and sought to do something about it. That is something we all can do but still not many us make that choice to step out. We all have a sphere of influence we we could use, no matter how large or small. Even if we just influence ourselves and do the right thing, but most of us have a larger sphere of influence than just ourselves. The question is will we use our lives for good in our generation or will we be just a number on the list.
Today - I chose the road less travelled and it made all the difference - Robert Frost
Sunday, 28 October 2012
Monday, 22 October 2012
"I have Dream"
I was preparing to make a short speech on the 10th anniversry of an organisation that works with at risk youth. Consequently it has proved to be a very interesting week as I have wrestled with some of the quotes that I found. I have made the address, but I am still wrestling with thoughts and questions, hence it has taken me a while to get to this blog and even then, I am not so sure I have begun to grasp the concept yet.
This is the first quote I found from C S Lewis:
If you read history, you will find, that the Christians who did the most for the present world were precisely those thought most about the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the otherworld that they have become so ineffective in this one."
This quote just leaves me with so many questions:
What does thinking about the next world look like?
How do you do this and remain living in the moment?
Is this something to do with interpreting the prophetic to get Heaven's viewpoint?
Are Bethel Church in Redding California onto something with their concepts of bringing heaven to earth, by trying to work out Heavens governmental system in a "A Culture of Honor".
While I was researching for my address I found two further speeches(that seem to be strangley linked with Lewis's thought) that were written 5 years apart by Martin Luther King Jnr. The first is the "I have Dream" Speech Washington DC, 28 August 1963.
"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out of the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths self-evident that all men were created equal........."
The second speech is "I have seen the Promised Land" Speech Memphis Tennessee 3 April 1968
".....Well I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult times ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody I would like to live a long life. Longevity has it's place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up the mountain. And I've looked over . And I've seen the promised land. I may not get their with you. But I want to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. And I 'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."
Martin Luther King was Assasinated in Memphis Tennessee on 4 April 1968.
With election of President Barak Obama, the first African American Preseident in 2008, 40 years there was a partial fulfillment of King's " I have Dream" speech. At least in our life time we have seen change.
There was obviously some intense seeking of Heaven between 1963 and 1968, something had changed in the makeup of the man and it wasn't his dream. How this works, I am not sure, but work it apparently does. I need to become more heavenly minded to be signifigantly more useful on earth. I will continue to wrestle and keep you posted.
This is the first quote I found from C S Lewis:
If you read history, you will find, that the Christians who did the most for the present world were precisely those thought most about the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the otherworld that they have become so ineffective in this one."
This quote just leaves me with so many questions:
What does thinking about the next world look like?
How do you do this and remain living in the moment?
Is this something to do with interpreting the prophetic to get Heaven's viewpoint?
Are Bethel Church in Redding California onto something with their concepts of bringing heaven to earth, by trying to work out Heavens governmental system in a "A Culture of Honor".
While I was researching for my address I found two further speeches(that seem to be strangley linked with Lewis's thought) that were written 5 years apart by Martin Luther King Jnr. The first is the "I have Dream" Speech Washington DC, 28 August 1963.
"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out of the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths self-evident that all men were created equal........."
The second speech is "I have seen the Promised Land" Speech Memphis Tennessee 3 April 1968
".....Well I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult times ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody I would like to live a long life. Longevity has it's place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up the mountain. And I've looked over . And I've seen the promised land. I may not get their with you. But I want to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. And I 'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."
Martin Luther King was Assasinated in Memphis Tennessee on 4 April 1968.
With election of President Barak Obama, the first African American Preseident in 2008, 40 years there was a partial fulfillment of King's " I have Dream" speech. At least in our life time we have seen change.
There was obviously some intense seeking of Heaven between 1963 and 1968, something had changed in the makeup of the man and it wasn't his dream. How this works, I am not sure, but work it apparently does. I need to become more heavenly minded to be signifigantly more useful on earth. I will continue to wrestle and keep you posted.
Saturday, 13 October 2012
Not in a Box
Last night a group of relative strangers gathered together to hear from God, not in a corporate sense but as individuals. Would God show up? Well the answer was yes and He spoke in such different ways. We all gathered together to spend a night; creative journalling. A strange gathering expecting to hear God intimately among strangers .....even more strangely we did.
We looked at Scripture and began to respond in the heart, not in the head, an interesting phenomena. This was not to be teaching or learning; it was experiencing God through His word. Moving on we had to choose a secular magazine out of a pile and then had an expectation that God would speak. He spoke through pictures, text phrases, advertisements and individual words. We gathered, tore or cut out pages or sections of the magazines to display the message we felt God had for us: totally individual, personal, and living. We finally wrote a simple cinquain (5 line) poem about what God was saying. Using colouring pencils and paint we made a presentation. This was an outstanding evening, first of many more, I hope.
God gave me the gift of Himself. All He asked of me was that I give Him time and took Him out of the box of my expectations. You see I like to have expectations about what will be, could be, and should be. When I step beyond that and allow God to be God - well interesting things happen! A God bigger than my understanding emerges and it is wonderful.
Don't be afraid to see God where you least expect him. Take the time.
"I took the road less travelled and it made all the difference" - Robert Frost
We looked at Scripture and began to respond in the heart, not in the head, an interesting phenomena. This was not to be teaching or learning; it was experiencing God through His word. Moving on we had to choose a secular magazine out of a pile and then had an expectation that God would speak. He spoke through pictures, text phrases, advertisements and individual words. We gathered, tore or cut out pages or sections of the magazines to display the message we felt God had for us: totally individual, personal, and living. We finally wrote a simple cinquain (5 line) poem about what God was saying. Using colouring pencils and paint we made a presentation. This was an outstanding evening, first of many more, I hope.
God gave me the gift of Himself. All He asked of me was that I give Him time and took Him out of the box of my expectations. You see I like to have expectations about what will be, could be, and should be. When I step beyond that and allow God to be God - well interesting things happen! A God bigger than my understanding emerges and it is wonderful.
Don't be afraid to see God where you least expect him. Take the time.
"I took the road less travelled and it made all the difference" - Robert Frost
Monday, 8 October 2012
The big picture
I have found it useful to just step back a little in the last few days and look and think...
Who am?
Who am I in God?
What does my life look like when I look back over time?
What might life look like in the future?
These are all good and useful questions. When I did that I could see the ebb and flow of .... life....God's intervention.... themes .....my weaknesses ..... my strengths.... my stuff ups ..... my successes.
For me it comes back to the prophetic, my prophetic nature, that's what drives me forward; my interactions with God.
Only by doing this can I begin to comprehend the warp and weft of God's tappestry. The prophetic stream in my life; brings me life, frames my life, brings consistant meaning to my life.
Somestimes you can get too close to yourself (almost navel gazing)........ you need the big picture!!
What does your big picture look like?
Who am?
Who am I in God?
What does my life look like when I look back over time?
What might life look like in the future?
These are all good and useful questions. When I did that I could see the ebb and flow of .... life....God's intervention.... themes .....my weaknesses ..... my strengths.... my stuff ups ..... my successes.
For me it comes back to the prophetic, my prophetic nature, that's what drives me forward; my interactions with God.
Only by doing this can I begin to comprehend the warp and weft of God's tappestry. The prophetic stream in my life; brings me life, frames my life, brings consistant meaning to my life.
Somestimes you can get too close to yourself (almost navel gazing)........ you need the big picture!!
What does your big picture look like?
Wednesday, 3 October 2012
Less is More
As you may have gathered I have been away for a break with my family over the last few days. One of the things that having a little spare time does for you is give you time to think. So as I was reflecting I began to contemplate what I see as the major messages for me from God this year; I decided there were three:
The first was to slow down; as in the concept of "less is more"; I must try to do less; to acheive more. That may sound like a contradiction in terms, but what I think God is looking for depth in an area, not width. I find that I like to know a little about a lot and God for me seems to be saying I need to know a lot about a little i.e. depth in an area. I have slowed right down. Chapters of a devotional that would take me a week to read are now taking me a month. I am using a smorgasbord of resources rather than sticking to a select few. I am finding that God is speaking quite clearly.
The second on the list is that there is God factor in all of us. No matter how far people are from God there is some of the Glory of God, if you look hard enough. I guess the challenge to me is to make the effort to look....... in some cases it takes real effort.There is an element of the elder son (in the Prodigal Son story) in my life and this often causes me to judge; but in doing this, it shows how little I understand the love of the Father. I 'll keep you posted on how that goes.....still very much a work in progress. I am reading through "A Culture of Honour" by Danny Silk, but the concept is being reinforced so many other places, it is quite scary.
Last but certainly not least is the; "darkness or sin factor". I guess its about the fact we are all prodigal sons and daughters; we are all moving away from the Father at various levels on a daily basis. As I turn back to be with the Father, I realise more and more the dirt of daily life I bring with me; it just seems to be hard sometimes. In some ways I feel I am just as prodigal as the day I was first saved.
St Teresa of Avila put it this way.....
" The door by which we enter this castle is prayer. It is absurd to think we can enter heaven without first entering this castle and finding our own sinfulness and how much we owe God for our redemeption"
Paul
The first was to slow down; as in the concept of "less is more"; I must try to do less; to acheive more. That may sound like a contradiction in terms, but what I think God is looking for depth in an area, not width. I find that I like to know a little about a lot and God for me seems to be saying I need to know a lot about a little i.e. depth in an area. I have slowed right down. Chapters of a devotional that would take me a week to read are now taking me a month. I am using a smorgasbord of resources rather than sticking to a select few. I am finding that God is speaking quite clearly.
The second on the list is that there is God factor in all of us. No matter how far people are from God there is some of the Glory of God, if you look hard enough. I guess the challenge to me is to make the effort to look....... in some cases it takes real effort.There is an element of the elder son (in the Prodigal Son story) in my life and this often causes me to judge; but in doing this, it shows how little I understand the love of the Father. I 'll keep you posted on how that goes.....still very much a work in progress. I am reading through "A Culture of Honour" by Danny Silk, but the concept is being reinforced so many other places, it is quite scary.
Last but certainly not least is the; "darkness or sin factor". I guess its about the fact we are all prodigal sons and daughters; we are all moving away from the Father at various levels on a daily basis. As I turn back to be with the Father, I realise more and more the dirt of daily life I bring with me; it just seems to be hard sometimes. In some ways I feel I am just as prodigal as the day I was first saved.
St Teresa of Avila put it this way.....
" The door by which we enter this castle is prayer. It is absurd to think we can enter heaven without first entering this castle and finding our own sinfulness and how much we owe God for our redemeption"
Paul
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