September 4th poem: Matthew 18:15-20, 16th Sunday after Pentecost

As I gather myself to pray
I remember those around me
those in need
who are praying also for me
and together
you and I
we make up the church of God
gathered in Your name
Brothers and Sisters in Christ
Children together in the family of God
no longer strangers
or lone rangers
but the forgiving and the forgiven
gathered at the table of the Lord
once again to renew our strength
for service
of You

Blessed are the Peacemakers

Matthew 5
The Beatitudes
1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying: 3"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.


U.S. Sells the Most Weapons to Others

Aug 30, 9:05 PM (ET)By LOLITA C. BALDOR
WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States is the largest supplier of weapons to developing nations, delivering more than $9.6 billion in arms to Near East and Asian countries last year.
The U.S. sales to the developing countries helped boost worldwide weapons sales to the highest level since 2000, a congressional study says.
The total worldwide value of all agreements to sell arms last year was close to $37 billion, and nearly 59 percent of the agreements were to sell weapons to developing nations, according to the Congressional Research Service report.
The weapons being sold range from ammunition to tanks, combat aircraft, missiles and submarines.
As economic pressures led to a worldwide decline in weapons orders - from about $42 billion in 2000 to $37 billion last year - competition is forcing the U.S. and European countries to forge agreements to develop weapons jointly.
The CRS report released Monday said worldwide arms deliveries to developing nations rose from $20.8 billion in 2003, to $22.5 billion last year. Agreements to sell weapons, meanwhile, shot up from $15.1 billion to nearly $21.8 billion last year. China, Egypt and India were the heaviest buyers of the weapons.
Last year, for example, the U.S. completed agreements to sell helicopters and other weapons to Egypt, radar systems to Taiwan, helicopters to Brazil and Israel and other weapons systems to Oman and Pakistan.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack explained the transfers as "a very serious national security and a foreign policy matter" carried out under "a very rigorous set of rules and regulations and laws."
"And just as we exercise restraint in our own transfers, we encourage restraint by other countries," including the European Union, which McCormack said should reconsider its decision to resume arms shipments to China.
Developing countries are the weapons' primary buyers. And the U.S. has been the most active seller for the past eight years, resulting mainly from agreements made in the aftermath of the first Gulf War. The U.S. was responsible for more than 42 percent of the deliveries to developing nations in 2004.
Russia, which ranks second, sells mostly to China and India, as well as a number of smaller, poorer countries.
The CRS study, which is done each year, was written by national defense specialist Richard Grimmett. He said in the study that developed nations have tried in recent years to emphasize joint projects rather than simply buying the weapons from each other, so they can preserve their own industrial bases.
On the Net:
Congressional Research Service: http://www.crs.gov

Anniversary Prayer

Saturday September 10th, Matthew 18: 19 "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Tomorrow is the anniversary of when not just two or three, but the anniversary of when most of the world came together in prayer. Let us come together again. Not in retaliation or revenge, not in rancor or resentment, but in the righteousness that comes from God; a righteousness that calls us to love one another, a righteousness that calls us to forgive, righteousness that calls us to live as brothers and sisters through the love of Christ. Spend some time in prayer today. Pray for those who died in the twin towers. Pray for those who have died since then. Pray for the families, both here and in the Mid East who have lost so much and pray that the killing will end. Pray for all who have suffered so much in the devastation of Katrina. Pray for the people whose lives have been disrupted and all too often, devastated in the floods. Pray for the thousands who have lost their lives and their loved ones still living who mourn in the midst of trying to clean up and put their own lives back together. Pray for those who are giving time and money and supplies to the relief efforts. Pray for our loved ones and theirs and pray that the people of the world will learn to live in peace. Pray.

It’s hard to bust a move with a booty full of baggage

Friday September 9th, Matthew 18: 18"I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Wow! That gives us a lot of power!! Or then again maybe it doesn’t. I think what it is saying is that if you hold onto your dislikes and hatreds on earth; you just might be stuck with them for eternity. What you forgive, or loose on earth, you are done with and you can move on. Imagine if you will that each grudge you carry is a gallon of water duct taped to your body. It doesn’t take long before it is almost impossible to move, let alone dance. God created us to dance but it’s hard to bust a move with a booty full of baggage.

If you win, you lose

Thursday September 8th, Matthew 18: 15"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. If your goal is to win, you have already lost. If your goal is to win back your brother or sister, it may take time, but in the long run you will have already won. I just read that last year was a banner year for arms sales and that we as a nation topped the list by selling more than any other nation. It seems to me that the Biblical thing to do would be to come out on the bottom of that list. It would be nice to see us on the top of a list of countries that put the most into diplomacy. It would be nice if there was such a list. Let’s follow the word of God and start mending relationships at home and then work in ever widening circles until we reach the whole world. All it takes is for you to do your part today. Talk to someone you don’t like, and be nice.

Love focus

Wednesday September 7th, Romans 13: 11 But make sure that you don't get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. What is sin? The answer, that which separates you from God. Sometimes that can be evil, but then again sometimes, that can even mean being so caught up in doing good stuff that you lose focus. What is the Christian life all about? Loving God and loving others. Sometime the only way we can bring ourselves to love others is to see a bit of God in them also, even our enemies. In the process of loving others, don’t forget to take time to love yourself, after all, God loves you so you should too. Take time, seek peace, pray, talk to God, be silent, today. Five minutes is all it takes, thirty minutes is better. Focus in on the one you are called to focus on. It is then that the rest of the day comes into focus.

Do the do's and don't worry about the don'ts

Tuesday September 6th, Romans 13: 9The law code--don't sleep with another person's spouse, don't take someone's life, don't take what isn't yours, don't always be wanting what you don't have, and any other "don't" you can think of--finally adds up to this: Love other people as well as you do yourself. 10You can't go wrong when you love others. When you add up everything in the law code, the sum total is love. We all tend to look at the laws as “don’ts”, Jesus changed that to “do’s”. If we live our life trying to avoid the don’ts we usually end up making our lives, as well as the lives of those around us, miserable. God does not seem to be in favor of miserable. If we live our life doing the do’s, it seems for the most part that we just don’t get around to that many don’ts. I think that is what Paul was trying to say. So, don’t worry about doing the don’ts as much as focusing on doing the do’s and soon the do’s will have you so busy you won’t do the don’t. ;-)

No pleasure in the death of wicked people

Monday September 5th, Ezekiel 33: 11As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people. I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live. Turn! Turn from your wickedness, O people of Israel! Why should you die? God created us and loves each and every one of us. We tend to forget that from time to time. We use words like terrorists and freedom fighters, depending on whether we agree or disagree with those we are talking about. We use phrases like god-less communists to describe people who use different economics. They are all the children of God however, and God loves them as well as us. The Sovereign Lord takes no pleasure in the death of wicked people, because they may only be wicked in our eyes and not the Lord’s eyes, and because they are the children of God created in the image of God. God can no more take pleasure in their death than we could take pleasure in the death of one of our children. When we consider war as an option on how to fix things, we would do well to consider that.

Warning! Danger Will, Danger!

Sunday September 4th, Ezekiel 33: 7 "Now, son of man, I am making you a watchman for the people of Israel. Therefore, listen to what I say and warn them for me. The religious community is good about warning others, it’s just not so good about warning them about what God says. If you listen to the warnings, you would think that what God is most concerned about is sexuality and abortion. Try something. Take one of the Gospels, go through it and write down everything Jesus praises and everything Jesus criticizes. Then go through and distill them down into a “top ten” list of praises and a “top ten” list of criticisms. You might be surprised to learn that human sexuality and abortion are not on the list. Faith, Justice (economic and social) and compassion are on the praise list. Lack of faith, self-righteousness, injustice (economic and social) and lack of compassion on the criticize list. The church needs warn the people, just about the right things.

Free, Free, Free

Saturday September 3rd, John 8: 34Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. That is the gift Jesus brings. That is the hope Jesus brings. That is the life Jesus brings. Through Christ we are made members of the Body of Christ. We are forgiven, we are loved and we are given the strength each day to live our lives close to what God wants for us. To get in shape for this life, just pray.

work your program

Friday September 2nd, John 8: 31 Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." The truth is that God loves you. Jesus’ teachings can be summed up as, “love God, love others.” How we work that out is life. You will make mistakes along the way, that’s OK. Just work your program one day at a time.

Inch by inch, row by row

Thursday September 1st, Romans 7: 24I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question? 25The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different. While we are in the midst of try to make things right we discover that Christ is right there with us to set us right with God. So does that mean that I can just give up and do whatever I want? Yes, you can, and Jesus will still love you. The problem is that bit by bit, inch by inch, all that other stuff draws us away until we find ourselves where we don’t care. In C. S. Lewis’ Screwtape letters, the devil lets the minor demon know that the way to succeed is to slowly draw people away, letting them think they are doing good until they find themselves where they reject God. He knew God would never reject them. It may sound stupid, but the trouble is that it works.

What I really need is God

Wednesday August 31st, Romans 7: 15What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. 16So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary. I used to smoke. I smoked for two years in college and then I quit. It only took fifteen years to quit. Life is an ongoing process of discipline, watching what you eat, getting enough exercise, praying often, working at relationships, all things we want and know we should do, but in the end, for most of us, we come up a bit short. Paul pointed out that sin acts in the same way. There are things we know we should do and not do and even with the greatest intentions, we just don’t seem to make it all the time. Sometimes all this leads us to where we should be in the first place, at the foot of the cross, looking up at the crucified and risen Lord who brings salvation to us.

shine from within

Tuesday August 30th, Romans 7: 13 Sin simply did what sin is so famous for doing: using the good as a cover to tempt me to do what would finally destroy me. How are you today? Just fine, how are you? Fine, just fine. We are all fine all the time. To show that we are fine, we sometimes do good things as a diversion to cover up the not so good things we are doing in other parts of our lives. God prefers honesty. It may seem shocking, but in facing the sin in our lives we are more likely to destroy it through Christ than be destroyed by it through the prince of darkness. That is a good name for the tempter, prince of darkness. He survives by actually convincing us that we can hid something in the darkness if we spread a little light on the outside. Jesus wants us to shine from the inside out with the love and forgiveness that comes only from God.

scapegoats are no longer contextual

Monday August 29th, Leviticus 16: 7 Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 8 He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the LORD and the other for the scapegoat. 9 Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the LORD and sacrifice it for a sin offering. 10 But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to be used for making atonement by sending it into the desert as a scapegoat. We still have scapegoats. Just look at the way Cindy Sheehan has been demonized by the religious right for pointing out that killing people and destroying their homes doesn’t make them like or respect us more. A scapegoat takes our sin out there somewhere away from us. It was God’s way of showing the people that through God their sin was removed from them. It worked then. Now it is just used to cover up our own sins by pointing to someone or something else. Now there is something else in place, honesty before God. Try it, you might just feel forgiven.

no bull

Sunday August 28th, Leviticus 16: 6 "Aaron is to offer the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household. Ahhh to be young again when there were no worries and if you did do something wrong it was easy to fix. Humanity was young once. God gave them ways to make things better. Did God want the bull? Probably no more than God wants our bull today, but it was something they could “do” that would help them understand that God loves them. Not only that, people who worshiped other gods did something similar, so it made sense as far as worship goes. Offering bulls for sacrifice during the time of Aaron was contextual worship. Now we need to watch it so we do not get hung up on yesterday’s contextual worship but find fresh ways to help others see one thing, God loves them.

Blessed

Matthew 5:1-12

Blessed are we
Blessed in the midst of God’s love
Blessed in the midst of our world
Blessed in what we feel
See
Do
Blessed
Even in the times we find it hard
To see
The blessing
Even then
We can know ourselves
As the children of God
Especially then
We can know
See
Feel
God’s presence in our lives
Blessed
God’s love in our lives
Given by the One
Who came to save
Blessed are you
In the name of Christ

When Bad things happen

The question for last Sunday, August 14th, was: Why do bad things happen to good people. It was and is a difficult question. Most of what was in the sermon came from the book "When Bad Things Happen to Good People" By Harold S. Kushner (1981). A very good set of notes on this book can be found at: http://www.gurus.com/dougdeb/Courses/bestsellers/Kushner/BTmain.htm check it out or get a copy of Kushners book or do both.

Pastor Dan

Blessed are those who are driven deep

Saturday August 27th, Matthew 5: 10 You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom. I have known some who seek persecution as proof that they are following God. Most of the time I think what they have found is how to be annoying. The focus in this blessing is not in the persecution, but in the commitment. The religious right tends to wear their perceived persecution as a badge. Their righteousness soon becomes self-righteousness and except for throwing his name around a lot, God is largely absent from the picture. Focus on your commitment to God and God’s teaching of peace. If you are feeling persecuted, check to make sure it’s not just because you are being obnoxious.

Blessed be the cooperators

Friday August 26th, Matthew 5: 9 You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family. If I don’t fight, how can I win? That is sort of what fighting is all about most of the time, winning. The only trouble is that in the battle to win, the victim is you. Jesus use the imagery often that we are called to see each other as brothers and sister in Christ. Now I know brothers and sisters don’t always get along, and I know that brothers and sisters do fight, but except for the occasional psychopath, it is usually not to the death. God calls us to be peacemakers. We don’t do that of course. Our nation’s largest export is weapons. Our nation’s largest expenditure is military. What would happen if we put that much energy into making peace? If one nation came over and bombed us and another country came over and helped us, which one would you be most likely to listen to? You see, military, in order to be effective, must always be secondary to aid. Remember AIDS medication cost a lot less than a bomber, and it’s more effective at winning the hearts and minds. It is the only way to win against terriorism that works. Everything else is just about making a profit.

Blessd be the content

Thursday August 25th, Matthew 5: 8 You're blessed when you get your inside world--your mind and heart--put right. Then you can see God in the outside world. In western society we are always running after something, trying to get this or that or trying to get ahead or maybe just trying to stay even. We are after the goal at the end of it all and forget the real goal is right here and right now. Jesus instead calls us on a path. Live today as a child of God, live today as a better person, live today immersed in love and peace, live today. Then open your eyes to God’s blessings.

Blessed be the Caring

Wednesday August 24th, Matthew 5: 7 "You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being "carefull,' you find yourselves cared for. Lowest paying job I ever had was at the Ebenezer Nursing Home. I remember the day I got the raise up to $2.55 hr. I also remember many of the individuals I helped take care of. These memories have been a blessing in my life. Most of the residents I worked with could not care for themselves. But I found that in caring for them and showing them love, what I got in return was far greater. The more I cared, the more I was cared for. Love the Lord with all your heart soul and mind and your neighbor as yourself. You will find that all that giving turns into receiving, and the funny thing is, while doing it, you never think about receiving.

Blessed be the real hungry

Tuesday August 23rd, Matthew 5: 6 You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat. If you have ever tried dieting, you know that there is that point in which no one is safe reaching in front of you. You are ready to eat someone’s arm off and you don’t care whose. Imagine longing for God in that way, imagine longing for a close relationship with God and nothing else will do. Imagine the satisfaction of a good meal when you are really hungry. God longs for your love in that way, you might want to try to return the favor and see what life is like then.

Blessed be that's all there is

Monday August 22nd, Matthew 5: 5 You're blessed when you're content with just who you are--no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought. Just think of those lilies and birds, you can’t get better than that, but we try. The problem is that it is so easy to get caught up in the trying that we forget about the lilies and birds. We think we have to HAVE that stuff or we will somehow be less than. Instead of pursuing we are being pursued. We lose sight and we lose charge. When we are able to look around and simply say, wow, thanks, we begin to get the picture. When we get off the having to have merry-go-round, an the world stops spinning, we then find God has been there all along. We were just to busy going in circles to notice.

Blessed be the end of the rope

Sunday August 21st, Matthew 5: 3 You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule. The temptation for humanity is to shine our own light, the trouble is, it is then hard to see God’s light. We can become so busy getting by that we forget about God. So busy living day to day we forget what life is all about. But then, there are those times when you find yourself at the end of your rope. If you haven’t wandered to far, perhaps, just perhaps you can then see off in the distance the light of Christ. That is when real life starts.

God so loved the world

Saturday August 20, John 3: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. It’s the only thing love can do. Jesus came, not so some could find the right way and ascend to the glory of heaven, but so that all could be saved. In the temptation of Christ after his baptism, Jesus could have fixed things for us. He perhaps could have negotiated with the devil to arrange for an easy life for all of us, happiness all around, but he did not. We could all be mindlessly happy all the time, but we are not. There is even the possibility that there would be no wars, but there are. The tradeoff would have been your soul. The tradeoff for not being able to hate is not being able to love. The tradeoff for not making life a living hell sometimes is not having heaven without the restraint of time. Jesus made the only choice love could make. Thank You Jesus!!!

the only thing love can do

Friday August 19, John 3: Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. The people of Israel were being bitten by snakes and many were dying. The solution was mold a snake on a pole, hold it up and have those who were bitten look upon it and be healed. Later, Jesus used it as an image of his own crucifixion. Pain come down to earth. Jesus meets us where we are at; in the cancer ward, on the ball field, in the birthing room and on the battlefield. Jesus meets us where we are at and loves us there, walks with us there, comforts us there. The call is to look into your pain, look into your joy, look into your life where you are at and there find Jesus. Not in some far off place waiting for you to get your life together, but right where you are at. It is the only thing love can do.

Aaauugh! Beautiful

Thursday August 18, Romans 8: the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. Sometimes we just don’t know what to say. Sometimes the emotion associated with the joy or with the pain in our lives is too much. Sometimes all we can manage to get out is a long and loud Aaaauuuuuugh! They are the greatest prayers we can utter. They are prayers truly from the heart, no agendas, no pretense, no guarding, no holding back, only prayers from the heart. God hears them. The Holy Spirit interprets them. They are beautiful.

Creation, creature and creator together again

Wednesday August 17, Romans 8: We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. We tend to forget that heaven is not just about us, it is about all of creation. All the waste we create, all the forests we destroy, all the dirty air that traps the heat that changes the face of the earth and kills thousands and millions of lives, human and otherwise, it is part of our sin. It is part of our thinking that this time is somehow more important than the time others, especially our children, will have. Part of the evil we live with in the world is the evil we do to the world. Part of the suffering we experience is a result of greed our fathers practiced and we in turn practice for our own children and grandchildren. All creation, as well as all creatures, long to be in the new creation with the creator.

the bag seems lighter

Tuesday August 16, Job 14: You'll watch over every step I take, but you won't keep track of my missteps. My sins will be stuffed in a sack and thrown into the sea--sunk in deep ocean. Most of us are good, none of us are perfect, all of us are loved. That love has brought us the gift of life here and now. That love has brought us the gift of life yet to come. Lives that are different and yet somehow the same. Different in that they happened during a time and during timelessness. The same in that they are surrounded by the love of the creator for the created. For now we have this baggage of sin thrown over our shoulder, then we will be free from the burden of carrying it. Forgiveness offers us a glimpse into the future, for a brief moment at least, for some, the bag seems lighter. Welcome to the kingdom.

Homesick

Monday August 15, Job 14: If we humans die, will we live again? That's my question. All through these difficult days I keep hoping, waiting for the final change--for resurrection! Homesick with longing for the creature you made, you’ll call--and I'll answer! In the midst of the troubles that sometimes beset us in this world, we find ourselves homesick. Longing to reunite the created with the creator. Longing once again to be a part of that from which we came. The spirit of love, the spirit of life, once again becoming a part of the spirit. In the many good times we are blessed with in life, we sometimes forget that, we sometimes forget from where we came and to where we are going. Sometimes amid the blessings of life we start to believe that that is what real life is all about. But then sometimes, in the midst of the blessings we get a glimpse, off in the distance, of the love from which we came and to which we will go. It’s just a glimpse, but it is enough.

but a fleeting moment

Sunday August 14, Job 14: We're all adrift in the same boat: too few days, too many troubles. We spring up like wildflowers in the desert and then wilt, transient as the shadow of a cloud. We, on this side of the resurrection, use time to measure events in our lives. Time, related to the days and seasons is part of our reality. With time, life seems too short, it is here and it is gone again. With God, time is not a factor. Eternity is not the endless marching on of time so much as the absence of time itself. Too few days, transient shadows? Simply the things of this earth, of this existence. Perhaps we think of bad things happening to good people in part because we see time as limiting. Perhaps they are but fleeting moments in that sea of blessing called life.

It's Grace come Down

Saturday August 13th, John 14: 5Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" 6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. So often we use this little phrase to point out that others are out of the kingdom. So often we use this little phrase to point to a God out there to whom we must ascend as we are busy pointing to those who obviously will not be doing any ascending. No one gets to the father except through Jesus. Jesus’ way is love. Jesus’ method is grace. Jesus’ movement is down to us where we are at. It’s the only way. Anything else is doomed to failure, and even then Jesus meets us where we fall. It’s grace come down.

It's a big, big house

Friday August 12th, John 14: Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. Words of comfort, words of God’s loving presence, words of inclusively, words that describe God. There are many rooms, not just for us, but for the whole array of God’s creation. I find it strange that so many who profess to love God so much, disdain so much of God’s creation. If it exists, God created it. If they exist, God created them. What God created, God loves and makes rooms for. To believe otherwise is to believe in a God who as a loving father would just as soon some of his children were dead and wouldn’t mind helping the process along a bit. Sorry folks, I can’t buy that one. To me God is love, end of story.

Complete

Thursday August 11th, Revelation 21: And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. The English language does not allow for a mixed gender pronoun, but I think it is safe to assume that what it means is, "now the dwelling of God is with humanity…" Not just males, not just this humanity, not just those who are the right religion, or any religion for that matter, but with humanity. Emmanuel, God with us will then be complete, and so also will we.

Heaven come down

Wednesday August 10th, Revelation 21: 1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. In this vision of what the end of the world will look like, we are also surprised with a God who comes down, and this time brings heaven along for the ride. This means of course that it is not just filled with the ones we call the good guys. Perhaps the gift of heaven is the reconciliation with those we do not consider the good guys. Maybe the gift of heaven is that "W" and Saddam will reconcile and all those killed on both sides will stand and applaud. It may not be your or my view of Heaven, but then God doesn't take orders from either one of us anyway. I think I like it better that way.

Surprise! surprise! surprise!

Tuesday August 9th, Genesis 28: 16Jacob woke up from his sleep. He said, "GOD is in this place--truly. And I didn't even know it!" 17He was terrified. He whispered in awe, "Incredible. Wonderful. Holy. This is God's House. This is the Gate of Heaven." Surprise, surprise, surprise, God it not in some far off heaven, God is right here with us now. It is not just at the Jordan River, or in the finest churches or anywhere in particular. Where God is, is wherever you are. Our call is to recognize this and make each and every place, time and event in our lives Holy, Incredible and Wonderful. Sometimes we don’t feel God’s presence. Sometimes we feel like God is over there somewhere but not somewhere near where you are. Those are the times God is probable the closest. It’s not a matter of inviting God into your life, it is a matter of welcoming a God who is already there. That doesn’t mean that everything is always joyful, happy and wonderful and successful. It does mean that life is Holy if you let it.

Down, God comes down!!

Monday August 8th, Genesis 28: 10Jacob…came to a certain place and camped for the night since the sun had set. He took one of the stones there, set it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12And he dreamed: A stairway was set on the ground and it reached all the way to the sky; angels of God were going up and going down on it. Unlike the old gospel song, we are not climbing Jacobs’s ladder, every rung higher and higher. Instead, it is the angels of God, the messengers of God who are using the ladder to come down to us. We keep wanting to go up the down staircase rather than welcoming the God who comes down. Down to us. Down to where we are. Down to the live in the midst of our joys. Down to live in the midst of our sorrows. Down to the front lines in Iraq, on both sides of those lines. Down to the cancer ward. Down to the schools and churches and synagogues and mosques and hospitals and board rooms and lunch rooms and homeless shelters. Down, God comes down.

WWJD???

Sunday, August 7th, Luke 1: The Lord has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. The Lord has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. Jesus for us is God come down to earth. In the prediction of what this would mean for the world, these are the words of Mary, his mother. They contain words of comfort; they also contain words of warning. Mary’s expectation was that this child of God would comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. This message is counter cultural to the prevailing understanding of Christianity, but it is consistent with Jesus teachings. WWJD, (What Would Jesus Do)? Well here you have it, this is what Jesus would do and did. The church has just done a good job of covering it up for 2000 years. Maybe we need to get back on track and stay the course.