Category: Faith Ponderings

“Catching Fire”…at Pentecost

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“They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.” -Acts 2:3

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The sequel to “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins hits theaters this weekend.  Some, who have already seen it, call it epic and amazing.  I’ve read the books and the tension and suspense within this story is truly heart pounding.  Without including any spoilers for movie goers, just know that Katnis Everdeen and Peeta Mellark  are once again thrust into the famous, yet brutal “hunger games” because President Snow fears that a revolution is at hand if these two champions continue to live.

Readers of the trilogy and critics alike have proclaimed this to be the new standard of fiction literature for young readers.  Though the themes are dark there is an underlying message of hope, resurrection and love.

The first to catch fire:

The disciples were unsure of…

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Perspectives Day 5.2 “Poetry” – Featuring Marlene Chase (Lt. Colonel) “A Tale of two Fathers”

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A Tale of Two Fathers

“Then God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love…” (Gen. 22:2)

 

Two fathers–one of the earth,

the other of the spheres.

Each with patriarchal love

bearing the earth’s inconsolable secret

climb the rugged mountain

leading the child of innocence.

Two righteous hearts aggrieved,

two hearts torn by love.

One in obedience raises the knife;

the other halts it with a cry,

“Not your son, but Mine shall die,

Not on Moriah but Calvary’s hill.”

The two descend the mountain,

arms entwined, souls on fire,

bearing their burden of love

for a world of sons.

By Marlene Chase.

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Perspectives Day 4 – Featuring Dennis Strissel (Colonel) “Opinion8ed”

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Opinion–8-ed

(A series of eight installments)

Number five – There’s a Welcome HERE!

 

“Hey, where did all the food go?” yelled my dad, gazing into the empty refrigerator. None of us would fess up to tell him that our friends had been there the night before and pigged-out, emptying the weeks supply of rations.

Have you seen the commercial sponsored by Daisy Sour Cream? If you haven’t I have included the link, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKWb8c1GBiw). The mother in the commercial has to remind young Steve that he is actually not a member of the family but lives next door. Well that is the way that it was at our home. Many of our friends were over so often, I’m sure our parents were concerned that they had forgotten their way back to their own home. Though our parents often complained about the missing groceries and the teens camped out all over the home, they were pleased that our home was one where people felt welcomed to come and stay awhile.

Sharon and I can attest to the same experience, with young people in and out of our home and our weekly grocery bill much larger than we could afford. However, we would comment frequently about how nice it was that our children felt comfortable with inviting their friends over and their friends finding our home as a secondary lodging to their own.

This triggers a memory of our son’s college roommate spending an entire summer in our home while our son, Scott, was away in Moldova on summer service opportunity. Andy was a great house guest and we loved him like a son. We were pleased that he felt comfortable and welcomed in our home.

When visiting another home, it’s pretty easy to pick up on an atmosphere of our surroundings. Intuition often informs and protects us from environments that are not safe or risky when visiting but it can also help you detect places of comfort and safety, making one feel right at home. When you find such a place you don’t mind visiting frequently.

A few weekends ago, men from around the eastern half of Michigan met in conference under the teaching of a wise leader. Our praise band helped out by encouraging the men to lift their voices in praise, adoration and supplication. I don’t know about you but music moves my soul heavenward. Sometimes I am so caught up in the melody and message of the song/chorus that I simply cannot sing the words. God knows those times and His Spirit speaks so clearly to me. One of the choruses/songs has followed me since that weekend retreat. As I close my eyes in sleep and when I wake, this chorus is literally on my lips and is the genesis for this humble opinion article. I notice that the older I get the more I love the traditional hymns of the church but occasionally something new breaks through and blesses me. Here’s the song I cannot get out of my head…and maybe I don’t want it to leave.

“Holy Spirit” Lyrics

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by Bryan & Katie Torwalt | from the album Here On Earth

There’s nothing worth more
That will ever come close
Nothing can compare
You’re our Living Hope
Your Presence

I’ve tasted and seen
Of the sweetest of loves
Where my heart becomes free
And my shame is undone

Your presence Lord

Holy Spirit You are welcome here
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere
Your glory God is what our hearts long for
To be overcome by Your presence Lord

Your presence Lord

.Let us become more aware of Your presence
Let us experience the glory of Your goodness
(Repeat)

Lord
Holy Spirit You are welcome here
Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere
Your glory God is what our hearts long for
To be overcome by Your presence Lord

I would encourage you to find the song on your favorite media site and give a long listen to these inspired words and music. However, and this is probably worth noting, that the message of the song penetrates the heart and reminds us that the most conducive dwelling place for the Holy Spirit is one where He is welcome and invited to dwell.

Some worshipers have a routine they may follow when preparing for a time of worship. Here is the way I approach most meeting where we spend time in worship. 1) I like to take in the room, looking for signs that the Savior has priority, (sermon title in the bulletin points me to Jesus and intrigues me, songs are well chosen to work in concert with the chosen theme, perhaps altar furniture features something of the theme of the meeting, etc.). 2) I like to spend some time in silence, focusing on the power of Christ in my life. 3) I search my heart for unconfessed sin that might contaminate my gift of worship to God. 4) I confess my sin through silent prayer and then ask the Holy Spirit to show up in every part of the meeting, being obvious that thought and prayer has come before the planning. 5) Then, in silence, I surrender all over again and welcome the presence of God through His Holy Spirit to have more of me as part of my gift of worship. It is all God-Centered. You know what happens? God never lets me down because my focus is on Him.

Perhaps the next time you find yourself in a time or place of worship you might try a couple of these steps and discover a new sense of His presence. Design your personal steps that direct your attention toward God, focusing totally on him, making his Holy Spirit welcome and just note the difference in that type of worship experience. God will show up!

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Perspectives Day 3 – Featuring Commissioner Clive Adams “Do Something!”

 

It spurred William Wilberforce, subsequent to his conversion, to dedicate the rest of his life to the abolition of slavery in the eighteenth century.

It was the command that William Booth gave his son, Bramwell, upon seeing homeless men huddled under a London bridge in the latter part of the nineteenth century.

It inspired Bob Geldof to organise Live Aid in 1985 after watching a BBC documentary on the famine in Ethiopia the previous year.

In 2007, it drove Michael Smith, sickened by the violence and destruction he witnessed daily as a policeman, to start Word 4 Weapons which, to date, has seen 10, 000 weapons handed in to collecting bins supplied by The Salvation Army.

The compulsion to ‘do something’ springs from the very heart of God – He, who…

has told you… what is good…

has told you what he wants from you:

to do what is right to other people,

love being kind to others,

and live humbly, obeying your God

(Micah 6:8 New Century Version)

God’s word is filled with such injunctions for us to reject indifference and inaction as responses to need. From Abraham’s intervention in Lot’s troubles when he could have been enjoying the land, through the prophets’ clear proclamation of a God less interested in creeds than in deeds – of mercy and justice, to Jesus, moved with compassion into action, and on into the Church Age, where, from its earliest beginnings, we see the Church appointing leaders especially to ‘do something’. A continuous line of grace being communicated through actions, throughout humankind’s history we see the hand of God ‘doing something’.

Doing something in the face of need should be as natural to the disciple of Jesus as participating in prayer, fellowship, worship and witness. Those first disciples would have recalled their own perplexity the day they stood alongside their master at the end of a long day of ministry, worrying about the hungry needs of thousands (John 6:5-13). Their perplexity arose from the size of the problem – it seemed insurmountable – and the Master’s clear expectation that they should do something about it – it seemed impossible. They learnt that day that, if they did what they could, gave what they had and obeyed as instructed, Jesus would bless their efforts, abundantly!

Children of the Central North Division have been inspirational in grasping this strong correlation between discipleship and doing something. Taken on a discipling course, they soon made the connection between their discipleship and doing something for people in need. The result is the amazing Change4Change project they have started to help trafficked children in Malawi.

                     [Donate to their Change4Change page here]

The Children’s Ministries Unit at THQ recently hosted these fine Salvationist young people when they enjoyed a trip to London, which included a visit to my office. What a joy to meet such enthusiasm! We were able to rejoice over the phenomenal amount of money they have raised already.

These young people have not let the enormity of the problem intimidate them. They’ve done something about it which will make a difference. Thereby, they join a long line – a line which starts at the Throne of Mercy and reaches across the ages and all around the world as people understanding the heart of a just and merciful God go out and do something. All of those referenced – Wilberforce, Booth, Geldof, Smith and these intrepid Salvationist young people – faced challenges too large for them to tackle, but, undaunted, they did tackle them, overcame them and made a difference. They were not overwhelmed, they did something!

There’s more than enough need to go around. Which begs the question: What can you do?

Image Check out Commissioner Adam’s blog site: http://insight.salvationarmy.org.uk/do-something  

ImageThis is so relevant yet today!  Do something!  

 

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Perspectives Day 1 – Featuring Shanais Strissel (Captain) “On the Other Side of the Veil”

“On the Other Side of the Veil”

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Have you ever had a dream that was so vivid that when you woke up it took you a few moments to realize that it actually was a dream and not reality? It takes a moment for the mist to clear, the world to turn right side up and reality to realign itself once more.

I had a dream like that last night, vivid, stingingly emotional, deep and filled with rich, longing emotions.

I had a dream in which my mother showed up, she wasn’t what the dream was about or even a large portion of it, she just showed up for a moment…

I was sitting in a small room, with a small stage and when I glanced up I saw my mother walk out on the stage and begin to speak (which if you knew my mother she would NEVER intentionally get up in front of anyone)

            It wasn’t what she said, it was how she looked that struck me like an arrow through the heart…she was wearing blue jeans, an old t-shirt, her hair kind of wild and a huge cup of coffee in clutched her hands, with a nervous smirk on her face.

             The feelings that overtook me were so intense in my dream that I couldn’t even bare to look upon her face, in my dream I got up and walked out to the hall and cried, I cried a deep longing, emotion filled, slightly angry filled moaning cry.

            Why…because even in my dreams I know that my mother is gone and I can only glimpse her through the veil of death…it was her essence in my dream that connected my heart directly to hers because this WAS who my mother was, her look, her mannerism, her spirit...

            My dream was my subconscious creating an illusionary moment of a reality that I desire- a desire that I cannot fulfill….yet.

 

For now I wait patiently on this side of the veil.

 

Death is not a fixed point and heaven isn’t some misty, foggy place “out” there in the sky somewhere…it is just across the veil and closer than we think, or at least closer than I used to think.

            When death visits close to home and comes to take someone we love, whether violently or silently, it never comes gently- it cannot- it is not its nature, because it almost always leaves behind a gaping hole of loss or uneasy questions.

            But the good news for us is that even though we must, for now, stand on one side of the veil or the other it will not always be so.  Death may separate one life from another for now but someday that veil will be torn and we will not mingle with each other in death but in a real and tangible incorruptible life…

            When Jesus hung on that cross he didn’t just save us from our sin, he saved all humanity from desolate separation…We could not face God in a corruptible state but when Jesus tore the temple veil on his death, WE can now walk through that VEIL of death and arrive before God…and just as the temple veil was torn, so will this veil that separates the corruptible flesh, what we are now, to what we will someday become.

Someday, I will see my mother, my grandmother and those who are now on the other side of the veil and someday I will see that veil fall…

For those we celebrate on this day of honor and sacrifice, for the loss of loved ones, let the pain and sorrow of that loss gently flow into healing and hope…

            Healing because we know life does not end at death

And hope because we, for now, may get glimpses through the veil of death from time to time but someday it will be gone and we will be free to live and love the way we were meant to…without the fear of separation.

So on this day, let us not celebrate loss, but let us celebrate our future hope…

Because someday I will be able to go across the room and embrace my mother because nothing will separate us anymore, and you will be able to do the same…

 

Shanais Strissel’s Blog Site: http://shanaisstrissel.wordpress.com/

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Sermon Podcast: “Two”

 

“Two”
Luke 10:38-42 (NIV)
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.
39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.
40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” 41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,
42 but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Do we open up___ our houses__ to Jesus? (v.38)

Are we willing to sit______at His feet?
(v.39)

What are our Distractions and Demands______________?
(v.40)
There are two choices.
What is the “one”______thing that is needed for us? (v.42)
Prayer:
Dear Lord I long to sit at Your feet. I long to listen to Your words and do what You would have me do. Teach me to prioritize my life. Teach me to understand how worry can be so crippling to my spirit this day. Teach me how to revel and worship at Your feet. –Amen.

 

 

Sermon Podcast: “Two”

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Are Your Robes Clean Or Is It Laundry Day?

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“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.  Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves the practices of falsehood.” Revelation 22: 14-15

There’s a blessing and a curse within this passage.  

Blessing: to those who have been cleaned they are blessed with entrance into the city (the new Jerusalem).  
Curse: to those who have not been cleaned and have embraced the practices of falsehood they are cursed with being an “outsider” and are barred from entrance into the city.  

These are the words of an post-ascended Jesus spoken to John in his vision of what is to come.  Recently I taught the book of Revelation in our bible study class and we went through each chapter together.  This wasn’t some sort of theological teaching of eschatological theories and dispensationalism.  This was a study of what is written within this book.  This was a look into what we understand and what we do not understand.  It was also understood that it is okay to acknowledge that we don’t have to comprehend everything in the text to understand what Christ is and will be doing at the end of all things…and at the restart/beginning of all things. Salvation and justice will be handed to out to us all.  Reward and punishment, blessings and curses.  His reign will be absolute in that there will be no question of who He is and will be for all time.  His city will shine because God will be at the center providing light and love.  The vision of John is both glorious and too majestic to fathom.  We cannot grasp it all.  Yet His wonder and might will be all consuming and powerful.  

“Behold I am coming soon!” (Revelation 22:7)
 This isn’t some billboard or poster board written by a street preacher who is screaming through a bullhorn and attempting to scare the hell out of people (Sorry if I offend you with that, but isn’t that their purpose?).  These words of Jesus aren’t supposed to be interpreted as horrifying and foreboding, yet many times that is exactly how people use them.  This isn’t some catch phrase to a horror movie.  These words should be read and interpreted with loving expectation and with a heart of preparation.  Jesus doesn’t say these words to scare us but rather prepare us.  In the Apostle John’s day these words would have evoked in the listener (the early Church) a sense of longing and hope in a world of fear, evil and Roman oppression.  To us, we should see Jesus’ words as not just a warning of His return but of a time to prepare our hearts, souls and minds for Him.  

Direct Questions: 

 

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How is your heart today?  Is there peace in your heart and life because you have a relationship with Jesus?  Are you in a good place spiritually?  What things still need to be surrendered to Him today?  The Holy Spirit still works within us to prepare us and to “cleanse our robes”.  Are you willing to surrender every nook and cranny of your soul?  Jesus doesn’t want to rent a room in your heart, He wants you all to Himself.  He longs for this right relationship with us, and we must decide how full our surrender to Him will be. 

I want blessings not curses.
I want His presence, not the “outsiders” view of the city.
I want to be completely His, not an ‘on again, off again’ relationship.
Is this your desire?  

Chorus and Prayer: 

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If on my soul a trace of sin remaineth,
If on my hands a stain may yet be seen,
If one dark spot a weary soul retaineth,
O wash me, Lord, that every part be clean;
For I would live that men may see thyself in me,
I would in faith ascend thy holy hill
And, with my thoughts in tune with thy divinity,
Would learn how best to do thy holy will.

Be Blessed today, not cursed!

-Just something more to ponder.-

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#Bringbackourgirls

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Human trafficking is still real.  It is still a blight in our world.  The recent stories of the kidnapped school girls in Nigeria and Chad by terrorist/militant organization Boko Haram has once again brought it to the forefront of the minds of many in our world.  Human slavery and the sex trade market needs to end.  How horrifying to be awakened in the middle of the night by kidnappers in your room.  How terrifying to be taken by men and young kids armed with automatic rifles.  How tragic that young girls aren’t safe within the confines of a school…in any country.  Human trafficking is abhorrent, despicable and disgusting.  

How can we fight Human Trafficking and modern day slavery?  

1. Pray – 
This might sound like a “wish” making task, but prayer works!  Pray to the Lord.  Ask Him to intercede.  Pray about legal actions you can take as a citizen in your country.  Pray for the lives of those who are affected by human trafficking and also pray for the men, women and children who are victims of human trafficking.  God hears our prayers and He does bring justice to those who are powerless and without advocates.  Begin with prayer.

2. Get involved – 
There are countless website of organizations that offer tangible, real advice and ways in which we can get involved in fighting human trafficking.  Here are a few websites to check out and decide which might best aid you in your involvement:
           The Salvation Army:
http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/combating-human-trafficking 

http://www.humantrafficking.org/organizations/362
http://www.humantrafficking.org/combat_trafficking
http://www.todayschristianwoman.com/articles/2013/august/how-you-can-combat-sex-trafficking.html

3. Write or call elected officials and/your state representatives –
http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml (If you are from another country look up the phone numbers and addresses to your elected officials and contact them!) 

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Call or write those who have the power to write laws and spend tax payer monies to combat human trafficking. Be aware and knowledgeable of the organization (listed above) that assist in fighting these causes and research the areas of our world affected by human trafficking.  The truth is every country has trouble with this horrifying social disease.  Calling elected officials or writing to them can add pressure for your country to take action and crack down on proprietors of human slavery.  

4.  Start a social media campaign – 

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Hashtags and posting news stories of these horrific events can continue to draw people’s attention to this serious issue.  Don’t be afraid to take a stand and to start something around your community and/or on your social media sites to generate action and support.  

We must fight this!  We can change lives and bring victims of human trafficking home and/or to shelters of safety.  
We can do this together!  We can save those without a voice.  Take a stand today and do something!!

 

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My Rescue (a poem or sorts)

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I cried out “my foot is slipping”
as I clung horrified to the rock.
Deep below my fall would kill
jagged and deadly…deep below.

In panic and pain strength, it waned
I knew I could not go on.
And just when it seemed I would fall
and my body, broken would fail
His hand reached me at last.

Within His grasp, my breath I gasped
My life had faced death’s cold stare
Yet there He stood, Jesus my Lord
and I knew that I was saved!

From death’s fearful grave
to life – rays of light warm my soul.
For He walks beside me all this way
and I know I have been gloriously saved!  

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