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January 30, 2008
Convinience and Call
Dear Friends,
Today when I woke up the Lord was brought this song in my language that is deep and touched me to the core.
We have made if thus far
because you Shepherd us
in bad and in good protected us
glad tomorrow is in your hands
as we love and continue to live
in your miracles
I live and continue to live because of God's miracles. I stay and continue to stay because of God. Recently the Lord brought a choice in my life between convenience and truth. We live and do everything we can to get convenience. When you see the TV ads you will see how much we are after convenience. You can see that creeped in the Christian community which is trying to do ministry at the least convenient way. There is nothing wrong to have convenience. But when it governs our thinking of living and relating there is a big trouble.
Many of us who lead God's people are trapped, knowingly or unknowingly, in the convenience dilemma that will touch our core values. The sad thing is,most of us are not even aware of it. This is not new you can see it through out salvation history. To remind you one; the Israelites were in the wilderness and so inconvenienced that they demanded to go back to Egypt.
I have recently learned in a very hard way to look what God has called me to do though mostly it inconvenienced me and others. The Church needs to watch lest it sacrifices God's new movement for the sake of organizational convenience and familiarity. Those choices and changes we are making are happening because what God is doing in our communities is at stake. As McManus, points out the church is an organism that brings changes in all of its aspects.
As I said many times, because some people try to put others in a box of their own they find it very difficult to accept the growth and the change God is doing in our lives.
But God who calls a fisherman, a forgotten Shepherd, a given up farmer like Gideon, or a death row hopeless like Mordecai he called people whom you would not expect to be part of the kingdom. If anyone recognize that they would not have a problem with what God is doing in the lives of the people who are not expected to be on the top column of the suburbia Church shelf.
Here at RISE TOGETHER MINISTRIES God is allowing us to to take unusual steps in making sure not just justice and mercy, but biblical justice and mercy is applied in our lives and others. I personally believe that I am the least to deserve God's grace and mercy. Because I am one and on the top of the worse. But God has extended that mercy to me. Just like those workers who did not like what their masters paid to the latecomer workers(Matthew 20). God decided to pay attention to me to the least one and bless me. Some people may not like that. But it is the master's decision and when it comes the master's decision no one can have an option.
And that love and extended grace made me to love and stay with people who would not be lovable or acceptable otherwise. To some people of "order and importance," that is not acceptable. Others who have received grace and mercy from God joined in the work.
My pastor was preaching about prayer this last week. One of the important thing God has taught me from his sermon is Prayer is entering God's character. It is not being able to explain his intellect. It is willing to be loved and accepted by him. It is allowing God to do new things in our lives. Some people try to figure out what he is thinking or even try to figure out God while he is inviting them to share his heart and his grace. What a loss!
Because some people are not willing to move with the God who creates new things does not mean God stopped working. If the God I worship is a God who has been put in the box of some suburbia mentality I would have gone long time ago.
The God I worship is a God who allow me to enter his heart and be loved by him. Out of that grace and mercy come. It is an experience that make me joyful and move me in the new direction that he designed for me and the community I am privileged to serve.
The more I think about it the more I love the work I do; and the more I fall in love with my God. I do not think I will allow anyone to take that away from me because they are not willing to move out of their box.
I love God and more that that it is a great joy to be loved while you are broken!
| By kishawork2 | 07:33 AM
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Comments
It was nice to reconnect. So, same time and place next weekend? I must say, when dad came in with the guitar and big smile I knew I had to leave or be there for another several hours. Tee hee.
P.S. I just can't bear making eye contact with you, Maggie, and Isaac during prayers...my laughing is way too loud. :)
Posted by: Heidi Vincent at January 30, 2008 12:12 PM
