Same Old, Same Old

My screensaver word for today is inertia, defined as “the tendency to remain unchanged; in physics a property of matter by which it continues in its existing state, unless that state is changed by an external force; resistance to change in some way.”  That’s us, unless we let the external force of the Holy Spirit become our internal force -  and change us.  None of us wants the “same old, same old;” let’s resist inertia.

Bible Studies Start Today!

Summer Studies start today!  
Thursday mornings, 9-11 -  Ruth: Kinsman Redeemer
Thursday evenings, 6:30-8:15 -  For Women Only(What You Need to Know About the Inner Lives of Men) AND One in a Million: Journey to Your Promised Land

A Spiritual Checkup

Last week I had my annual checkup: blood tests and lots of questions.  It got me to thinking about a spiritual checkup. How is your spiritual blood pressure? (I think here that high is good.)  Do you have a sense of urgency about staying connected to Jesus, letting His lifeblood be your lifeblood?  Is there any bad cholesterol (sin) clogging your arteries, preventing His power from flowing through you? What are you taking for that?  For me, I have to be in God’s word daily or the sin piles up like sludge and I get really comfortable with spiritual lethargy.  I also take medication for an underfunctioning thyroid; if I don’t, I barely have enough energy to make it through the day.  What are you taking to maintain spiritual energy?  It seems like God has wired each of us to need a different medication: prayer, meditation, music, nature, time with friends who challenge and inspire us, serving, scripture. How do you fill your soul and stay healthy?

The Girl Scouts Had It Right

I remember my Mom getting ready for Sunday – ironing our clothes, putting vaseline on the girls’ patent leather shoes, cooking a roast so we wouldn’t devour each other after church.  We probably don’t do those things any more but we can still prepare for Sunday.  I wish I could say I prepare every week but . . . yesterday I did.  I knew Dennis was preaching on Jonah, so I read the book and thought about what God might say to me today.  I dealt with some junk in my soul (i.e., sin) so I would be prepared to worship God and to experience Him. I asked Him to open my eyes to others’ needs and to show me whether to respond with a hug, a prayer, a word of encouragement or comfort.  I can’t wait to see how today goes.  It feels good to be prepared.

What's for dinner?

A couple of days ago I attended the introductory class for one of our summer bible studies.  LaDonna Sprayberry used a great illustration to encourage us to study on our own and to come to class to share what we've discovered.  She said spending time in God’s word and then going to bible study is like making a delicious dish and taking it to share with others.  Sometimes our dishes are complicated and fabulous; sometimes our dishes are simple and ordinary; sometimes we don’t even have a dish to bring.  But we come anyway and we get fed from others’ dishes.  Life in community is a great big feast - what’s for dinner at your house?

This is how it's supposed to be

Yesterday I witnessed a holy moment.  It looked like a bunch of women sitting around crying but it was really a Holy Moment, the kind of moment with a capital H and a capital M. A young couple from our church moved away several years ago. This week we found out their baby is in PICU in critical condition.  Their friends decided they needed to pray for them so a group of busy moms got babysitters and gathered in our auditorium to pray.  Some moments our auditorium becomes a sanctuary and this was one of them.  They prayed for Kara, Scott and Baby Henry, they wept, they raised their hands to God in prayer.  Perhaps Kara was too tired or too fearful to pray but her friends prayed on her behalf, much like Aaron & Hur held up Moses’ hands when he grew too tired (Exodus 17).  It was a moment like so many I’ve seen at TBC, a living picture of the family of God. This morning we hear that Baby Henry is a little better, the first good news they’ve had. We’re grateful for God’s mercy and for each other.

"Sex and the City 2" is generating lots of chatter. Consider this blog on what we are REALLY looking for and where to find it: www.redeemedgirl.org/sex-and-the-city-movie.

God's call from mundane Christianity to a radical experience of Him will take us down roads that, honestly, are quite narrow. Not many travelers take this route; it's easier to stay on the main road where there are more people and far less uncertainty. But God's way is too unusual and mysterious for boredom to even be an option. Paraphrased from "One in a Million, Journey to Your Promised Land" by Priscilla Shirer. This summer study starts Thursday night, June 10. Join us!