Friday, March 29, 2024
A post of Page Cited Link
https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/_/cite.aspx?url=https%3A%2F%2Fencyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com%2FNekhtnebf&word=Nekhtnebf&sources=columbiayou have to stalk
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Blogger.com Blogger location Electoral State Of Poverty, United States . Sci/Tech Cat. / Politics - blogger.com - Yahoo! Buzz
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Saturday, October 23, 2010
Shakespere Quorted
Dear,
Shakespere describes in a full page, and nearly four collumns, in the Complete Concordance To Skakespere; relevence, for the word "dear";, Dear!
Romantic thoughts invoked?
Ahhhh, "All's well" at last.
Quartering the lure of season, nesting seasons.
The freedom and independence that are so dearly needed, and appreciausly few and far between, to be found the enlightning elements of romance, within the sphere of relationships. Dear does quietlty nestle in between the deanery and the dear-beloved.
What romanced a way into"history" to describe some brief and broad covers, and what within the history of "romance" could be addressed to the quallity of our likenesses and ENDEARMENTS.
Savory thoughts for a rainy day, or, a gest towards the thoughts of a day when making new discoveries, encountering new people and generally having a sense of excitement and interest, are without going out of our way.
A deviation of yesterday, caresses the moment of today!
...QUART-D'ECU...
Im not sure what it means either!
Okay, the eagerness for the input is for something above average alone, something more detailed to each person for every task with great zeal and energy, whether waiting for directions, or taking the initiative..
..Link to book (see "more about...") above.
... ,,Another Link to this book to the Phrase "All's Well"
.."ALL'S WELL"- Order by: relevance page 1 of 1 pages...
By the way, It is "Shakespeare" as the Name and Author,
and not the book's titled -sphere....Oh well, dear...
Vanity is
...alas I ramble not, nore boast, by verse or chapter, or by definition...
..just to a memoire of this post: combining personal and professional interests...
dear romance fruitfull and multiply http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=AwJS2W06sCIC&oi=fnd&pg=PT30&dq=dear+romance+fruitfull+and+multiply&ots=P1KscQ3e9W&sig=8ZWqQJ99rQoM3Vu1UrTp3Dos6F8#v=snippet&q=romance&f=false
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=dear+romance+%22fruitful+and+multiply%22+stars&as_sdt=800&as_ylo=&as_vis=0
Shakespere describes in a full page, and nearly four collumns, in the Complete Concordance To Skakespere; relevence, for the word "dear";, Dear!
Romantic thoughts invoked?
Ahhhh, "All's well" at last.
Quartering the lure of season, nesting seasons.
The freedom and independence that are so dearly needed, and appreciausly few and far between, to be found the enlightning elements of romance, within the sphere of relationships. Dear does quietlty nestle in between the deanery and the dear-beloved.
What romanced a way into"history" to describe some brief and broad covers, and what within the history of "romance" could be addressed to the quallity of our likenesses and ENDEARMENTS.
Savory thoughts for a rainy day, or, a gest towards the thoughts of a day when making new discoveries, encountering new people and generally having a sense of excitement and interest, are without going out of our way.
A deviation of yesterday, caresses the moment of today!
...QUART-D'ECU...
Im not sure what it means either!
Okay, the eagerness for the input is for something above average alone, something more detailed to each person for every task with great zeal and energy, whether waiting for directions, or taking the initiative..
..Link to book (see "more about...") above.
... ,,Another Link to this book to the Phrase "All's Well"
.."ALL'S WELL"- Order by: relevance page 1 of 1 pages...
By the way, It is "Shakespeare" as the Name and Author,
and not the book's titled -sphere....Oh well, dear...
Vanity is
...alas I ramble not, nore boast, by verse or chapter, or by definition...
..just to a memoire of this post: combining personal and professional interests...
dear romance fruitfull and multiply http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=AwJS2W06sCIC&oi=fnd&pg=PT30&dq=dear+romance+fruitfull+and+multiply&ots=P1KscQ3e9W&sig=8ZWqQJ99rQoM3Vu1UrTp3Dos6F8#v=snippet&q=romance&f=false
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=dear+romance+%22fruitful+and+multiply%22+stars&as_sdt=800&as_ylo=&as_vis=0
Saturday, August 28, 2010
When In Rome
Shhhhh.... I saw the film...
... WHEN IN ROME ... There is a fountain..."touching on touchstone"
TouchStone__ GARY FOSTER __
... WHEN IN ROME ... There is a fountain..."touching on touchstone"
TouchStone__ GARY FOSTER __
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Look up touchstone in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Touchstone can refer to:
Touchstone (assaying tool), a stone used to identify precious metals
Touchstone (metaphor), a means of assaying relative literary merit
In business:
Touchstone Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster
Touchstone Magazine, a conservative Christian journal
Touchstone Pictures, a film banner of Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group
Touchstone Television, former name of television production company ABC Studios
Touchstone Energy, an energy cooperative
Touchstone, the brand name of the Palm Pre smartphone's wireless charger
In fiction:
Touchstone (As You Like It), a fictional character in Shakespeare's As You Like It
Touchstone (Garth Nix character), a fictional character from Garth Nix's Old Kingdom trilogy
Touchstone (Syphon Filter), a villain character from the Syphon Filter games
Touchstone (Stargate SG-1), an episode of the television series Stargate SG-1
Music:
Touchstone (band), rock group from the UK
Touchstone (album), a jazz fusion album by Chick Corea
TouchStone, rock group from Austria
Other:
Touchstone (horse), a thoroughbred racehorse
Touchstone File, a network parameter data file
This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title.If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touchstone"
View history
This page was last modified on 2 August 2010 at 12:26.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details.Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
2 MORE THAN FEED
Worship in the Real World
Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 10:00:00 PM phil@heartlight.org (Phil Ware)
[Jesus said] "A time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth" (John 4:23-24).[The Apostle Paul wrote] "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God -- this is true worship" (Romans 12:1).We don't like to stand in them, but despite all our protests, we really do like them ... in fact, much of what we do depends upon them. I am talking about lines.We have foul lines in baseball. We have sidelines and yard lines in football. We have sidelines, baselines, three point lines, and free throw lines in basketball. We have all sorts of lines in tennis. We have center lines and dashed lines and double yellow lines and double white lines and solid white lines and crosswalk lines for our highways and streets. We have lines to show us where to park and lines to guide us when we exit the freeway. We depend upon these lines for games, life, and safety.So we shouldn't be surprised when we so easily draw a line between the secular and the sacred in church. Folks have been drawing this religious line far longer than we've had baseball, football, basketball, and motor vehicles. This line has been a huge struggle those who claim to follow God in every generation. Part of our eagerness to draw this line between the secular and the sacred is our convenience. If we can confine God to a religious box at a religious time, then we begin to feel like we can control God. God-stuff doesn't intrude our stuff -- fun stuff, friend stuff, dating stuff, office stuff, political stuff, language stuff, driving stuff ... We can sing and say one thing on Sunday and live a different way Monday through Saturday.We want to say this is not true, but our language betrays us. We "go to church" rather than "being the church." We have a "worship service" or "go to worship" so we can "enter to worship and leave to serve." There is a clear line. We want to claim that we are better than this, but our daily ethics betray us. A number of surveys over the last several decades reveal there are only a few percentage points difference in the ethical behavior of professing Christians and those who are not. "Bible believing" Christians are often not much different than our unbelieving neighbors in their dating relationships, their marriage behaviors, their on-the-job ethics, and their attitudes and actions in the grocery store, at our kids' games, or on the roadways.We often find it easier to live the way we want as long as we can keep this line between secular and sacred in place. God stays on His side of the line and we go visit Him every now and then. We can get a taste of the sacred; then we can go back to doing what we want to do the rest of the week on the other side of the line. But, when we draw this line between the secular and the sacred, the line eventually blurs, fades, degrades, and disappears. The values of the secular invade and rob the sacred of its authenticity and vitality, eroding any sense of the sacred. All of life becomes secular, leaving us with nothing more than a trip to the religious box. God in human skin, the incarnation of God in Jesus of Nazareth, teaches us that this dividing line between the secular and the sacred is deeply flawed. Our loss of the sense of God's holiness, and our loss of our role as God's holy people, doesn't happen because the line between the secular and the sacred has become blurred. No, our loss of the holy happens when we draw a line God does not draw. We lose the essence of what holiness means in our day-to-day world and we forget our purpose as God's holy people. Instead of seeing holiness as something powerful, invasive, and transformational, we draw a line and make our sense of the holy into a visit, an experience, a segmented piece of our deeply fragmented lives. Instead of seeing holiness as daily, pervasive, and integrative, we choke the life out of a daily faith and turn it into a "god-in-the-box" event.The whole theme of worship in Scripture, and the intense focus of worship in the New Testament, remind us that we are a holy people, a kingdom of priests (1 Peter 2:9-10) placed in the world to live out our holiness as salt and light in a world of darkness and decay (Matthew 5:13-16). One of the clearest declarations of the continuity between our sacred worship and the sacred nature of our daily lives occurs at the end of the book of Hebrews (Hebrews 12:28-29; Hebrews 13:1-16). We often miss this point because of the chapter and verse divisions that mask the continuity of what is said. (Remember the chapter and verse divisions of the Bible were added hundreds of years after the last book of the Bible was written!) The passage is framed by a call to worship God:
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:28-29).Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise -- the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased (Hebrews 13:15-16).These bookends* that begin and end this thought on worshiping our holy God remind us that God is holy. We honor and celebrate this sacred holiness in the praise of what we say and sing. We also honor and celebrate God's sacred holiness by doing good and sharing with others. These latter acts of kindness are not merely service offered to others in the secular world, but are the invasion of the secular world through our everyday worship. Notice that both the praise of lips and the sharing and serving of others are described by the phrase, "with such sacrifices God is pleased."Even more powerful, between these section-framing calls to worship, we find a list of ways to "worship God acceptably with reverence and awe":
Loving one another as brothers and sisters in Christ (Hebrews 13:1)
Showing hospitality to strangers (Hebrews 13:2)
Caring for those in prison (Hebrews 13:3)
Keeping our marriage relationship healthy and holy (Hebrews 13:4)
Not getting caught up in greed, but trusting in God's presence (Hebrews 13:5-6)
Honoring our spiritual leaders (Hebrews 13:7-8)
Not getting caught up in strange spiritual teachings, but remember our roles in the world following Jesus' example (Hebrews 13:9-14)This is an everyday lifestyle of the sacred. This is a daily worship of God with reverence in awe. This is a keen awareness that while our home is not here, we have been placed here to honor God in every walk of life and in every day we are given that life. As children of God, we are called to erase the line between the secular and the sacred. We are God's holy temple, His sacred dwelling place (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Any place we go, we are honoring or dishonoring our holy God in worship as we live the liturgy of life.
This Sunday, we have our annual WATS Day. WATS is an acronym for "We Are The Sermon." We have all of our services and our home gathering groups meet for a communion service, then we spend the rest of Sunday worshiping in the community by doing acts of kindness. This is especially directed toward those who are economically disadvantaged, aging, or ill. We paint, roof, build handicap ramps, clean, wash, move, pray, and serve those who desperately need some help. However, we try to make it clear that this is not a day of service projects, but a day of worship. We want to remind each other that these acts of kindness in the real world away from our church building are really what we are called to do with our lives. More churches, all over the world, are joining us in WATS day every year. (You can learn more about WATS by going to the WATS links listed below.)Of course the goal is not to have one day a year where we do something like this, but to help our folks and our community remember that worship is an everyday gift done in everyday acts of kindness to share the grace of God.LIFE Questions:I would love to get your reaction to the thoughts above or to any of the questions below, on my blog (http://thephilfiles.com) or by email (phil@heartlight.org)Why do you think that humans have always struggled with confining worship to a place and time rather than an everyday lifestyle?How do we infuse each day with a sense of worship of God? (Romans 12:1-2)What makes it difficult to see our time at work or school or with our families as part of our worship of God? (Ephesians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:9-10)How does seeing our behavior at work, at school, at our kids' events, during our time driving, or in our recreation time, change our behavior, attitude, and influence in these areas of our lives? (Matthew 5:13-16)If worship is something we are to do in our everyday activities, then why is meeting with other believers important? (Hebrews 10:19-25)
NOTE:* The technical term for this way to indicate a rhetorical unit of thought is called inclusio.
© Phil Ware. All rights reserved.
Phil Ware is minister of the Word at Southern Hills Church of Christ in Abilene, Texas. For the past 10+ years, he has also been co-editor of HEARTLIGHT Magazine. For more details, clickhere.
Website: Southern Hills Church of Christ
The Power to Risk
Sunday, April 19, 2009, 10:00:00 PM phil@heartlight.org (Phil Ware)
"I'm not sure we should do that. You know, I think it's better to be safe than sorry."Sounds like wise words for times like ours, doesn't it?But, are they the Lord's words? Even more, are they even the Lord's will?Remember the story of the talents that Jesus told (Matthew 25:14-30)? What did Jesus say about the person who chose the "better safe than sorry" approach with the master's resources? The master's response begins with these biting words, "You wicked and lazy servant!" (Matthew 25:26 TNIV). The response finishes with these words:
And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:30).Quite often, we teach that Jesus' story says that we should use the "talents" that the Lord has given us. Clearly, this is a part of the message, but it is not the primary message. The primary message is that if we are picturing God as someone looking to condemn us for making a mistake while trying to do the work of His Kingdom and play it safe so we don't displease Him, then we've got the wrong idea. The person who operates under this idea and ends up risking nothing, and doing little or nothing, for the Master is the one who is condemned!You see, when Jesus was raised from the dead, He showed Himself to His followers (1 Corinthians 15:3-7) and then He called them to be His witnesses to the lost world (Acts 1:8; cf. Matthew 28:18-20). The Lord's resurrection and appearance to them, radically changed them! Fearful men were made fearless. Broken people were made brave. Common followers became committed. Private leaders went public. Doubting family members became daring believers. When pushed into a corner and warned to keep quiet by the same folks who orchestrated Jesus' death, they responded with bold and risky passion:
Which is right in God's eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard (Acts 4:19-20).The "better safe than sorry" approach to discipleship is out of place with the kind of faith displayed in the book of Acts. This "avoid all risks" approach to our faith is a mockery of what we see in God's people through the ages, especially as it is shared with us in the "Faith Hall of Fame" of the Bible (Hebrews 11:1-40).I fear that part of the reason we have lost our passion to be the Lord's witnesses to the world (Acts 1:8), is because we are afraid to risk what we have and don't have to live by faith, prayer, and dependence upon the power of the Lord. Even though the promise of God's power is still there for us (Ephesians 1:18-20; Ephesians 3:16-21), we don't pray for it and don't live like our Father longs to bless us with it. The Holy Spirit that Jesus poured out at Pentecost is the same Spirit poured out on all those who come to Him in faith and are baptized (Titus 3:3-8). Even though the resurrected Jesus promised to be with us as we risked ourselves finding and growing new disciples, we hold back and miss His presence, remaining silent and similar to a world lost without grace (Matthew 28:18-20).Why?Because it is easier to take the "better be safe than sorry" approach to our lives of faith."Most of us are not going to have to face what the apostles faced, so how can I ever risk like they did? And if I don't risk my life like they did, does that mean I am 'playing it safe'?"Are you sure you won't have to risk like they did? We have hundreds of thousands of believers who face many of the same persecutions today that they did in the early church. Every indication suggests that we could be headed down a similar path in Western Culture, as well. But even granting that we may not face such extreme risks as the early church, what about facing the risks we have in the everyday world in which we live? Think of some pretty clear ways we can take some risks for the sake of the Kingdom and regain our sense of focus.Give generously, especially to mission outreach and compassion ministries in the face of economic crisis.Get involved in the lives of our co-workers, neighbors, and the parents of our kids' teammates to love them in the name of Jesus and provide an open door for them to find Him.Go on a mission or service trip to a different culture.Take a few minutes after each TV show and see how the values measure up to what God calls us to live: talk with our families about how we are going to honor the Lord in our decisions, use of money, and moral values.Pray daily for our elders/pastors, ministers, missionaries, teachers, and quiet servants of the Kingdom.Respond to the person who says, "You know, if we do that, someone might leave!" with the words, "And if we don't do this who will we never reach?"Protect someone's reputation when the gossip brigade turns their guns on some new person in our office, school, or church.There are hundreds of ways to take risks for the Master that are crucial for us as God's people today in our world. (In fact, I'd really like to get your input on what are some ways we can risk for the Kingdom that are crucial for you. Please send your ideas on how you can take risks for the Kingdom to phil@heartlight.org or share your ideas on my blog, thephilfiles.com. Remember, these are not ideas for someone else to do, but risks you believe you need to make for the Kingdom.)Let's share a common commitment: the next time someone says, "You know, I'd rather us be safe than sorry on this!" let's kindly and respectfully, but firmly remind them what Jesus had to say. Then, let's lead the way to sacrifice, pray, and risk for the Master and His Kingdom.
© Phil Ware. All rights reserved.
Phil Ware is minister of the Word at Southern Hills Church of Christ in Abilene, Texas. For the past 10+ years, he has also been co-editor of HEARTLIGHT Magazine. For more details, clickhere.
Website: Southern Hills Church of Christ
Wednesday, April 22, 2009, 10:00:00 PM phil@heartlight.org (Phil Ware)
[Jesus said] "A time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth" (John 4:23-24).[The Apostle Paul wrote] "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God -- this is true worship" (Romans 12:1).We don't like to stand in them, but despite all our protests, we really do like them ... in fact, much of what we do depends upon them. I am talking about lines.We have foul lines in baseball. We have sidelines and yard lines in football. We have sidelines, baselines, three point lines, and free throw lines in basketball. We have all sorts of lines in tennis. We have center lines and dashed lines and double yellow lines and double white lines and solid white lines and crosswalk lines for our highways and streets. We have lines to show us where to park and lines to guide us when we exit the freeway. We depend upon these lines for games, life, and safety.So we shouldn't be surprised when we so easily draw a line between the secular and the sacred in church. Folks have been drawing this religious line far longer than we've had baseball, football, basketball, and motor vehicles. This line has been a huge struggle those who claim to follow God in every generation. Part of our eagerness to draw this line between the secular and the sacred is our convenience. If we can confine God to a religious box at a religious time, then we begin to feel like we can control God. God-stuff doesn't intrude our stuff -- fun stuff, friend stuff, dating stuff, office stuff, political stuff, language stuff, driving stuff ... We can sing and say one thing on Sunday and live a different way Monday through Saturday.We want to say this is not true, but our language betrays us. We "go to church" rather than "being the church." We have a "worship service" or "go to worship" so we can "enter to worship and leave to serve." There is a clear line. We want to claim that we are better than this, but our daily ethics betray us. A number of surveys over the last several decades reveal there are only a few percentage points difference in the ethical behavior of professing Christians and those who are not. "Bible believing" Christians are often not much different than our unbelieving neighbors in their dating relationships, their marriage behaviors, their on-the-job ethics, and their attitudes and actions in the grocery store, at our kids' games, or on the roadways.We often find it easier to live the way we want as long as we can keep this line between secular and sacred in place. God stays on His side of the line and we go visit Him every now and then. We can get a taste of the sacred; then we can go back to doing what we want to do the rest of the week on the other side of the line. But, when we draw this line between the secular and the sacred, the line eventually blurs, fades, degrades, and disappears. The values of the secular invade and rob the sacred of its authenticity and vitality, eroding any sense of the sacred. All of life becomes secular, leaving us with nothing more than a trip to the religious box. God in human skin, the incarnation of God in Jesus of Nazareth, teaches us that this dividing line between the secular and the sacred is deeply flawed. Our loss of the sense of God's holiness, and our loss of our role as God's holy people, doesn't happen because the line between the secular and the sacred has become blurred. No, our loss of the holy happens when we draw a line God does not draw. We lose the essence of what holiness means in our day-to-day world and we forget our purpose as God's holy people. Instead of seeing holiness as something powerful, invasive, and transformational, we draw a line and make our sense of the holy into a visit, an experience, a segmented piece of our deeply fragmented lives. Instead of seeing holiness as daily, pervasive, and integrative, we choke the life out of a daily faith and turn it into a "god-in-the-box" event.The whole theme of worship in Scripture, and the intense focus of worship in the New Testament, remind us that we are a holy people, a kingdom of priests (1 Peter 2:9-10) placed in the world to live out our holiness as salt and light in a world of darkness and decay (Matthew 5:13-16). One of the clearest declarations of the continuity between our sacred worship and the sacred nature of our daily lives occurs at the end of the book of Hebrews (Hebrews 12:28-29; Hebrews 13:1-16). We often miss this point because of the chapter and verse divisions that mask the continuity of what is said. (Remember the chapter and verse divisions of the Bible were added hundreds of years after the last book of the Bible was written!) The passage is framed by a call to worship God:
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:28-29).Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise -- the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased (Hebrews 13:15-16).These bookends* that begin and end this thought on worshiping our holy God remind us that God is holy. We honor and celebrate this sacred holiness in the praise of what we say and sing. We also honor and celebrate God's sacred holiness by doing good and sharing with others. These latter acts of kindness are not merely service offered to others in the secular world, but are the invasion of the secular world through our everyday worship. Notice that both the praise of lips and the sharing and serving of others are described by the phrase, "with such sacrifices God is pleased."Even more powerful, between these section-framing calls to worship, we find a list of ways to "worship God acceptably with reverence and awe":
Loving one another as brothers and sisters in Christ (Hebrews 13:1)
Showing hospitality to strangers (Hebrews 13:2)
Caring for those in prison (Hebrews 13:3)
Keeping our marriage relationship healthy and holy (Hebrews 13:4)
Not getting caught up in greed, but trusting in God's presence (Hebrews 13:5-6)
Honoring our spiritual leaders (Hebrews 13:7-8)
Not getting caught up in strange spiritual teachings, but remember our roles in the world following Jesus' example (Hebrews 13:9-14)This is an everyday lifestyle of the sacred. This is a daily worship of God with reverence in awe. This is a keen awareness that while our home is not here, we have been placed here to honor God in every walk of life and in every day we are given that life. As children of God, we are called to erase the line between the secular and the sacred. We are God's holy temple, His sacred dwelling place (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Any place we go, we are honoring or dishonoring our holy God in worship as we live the liturgy of life.
This Sunday, we have our annual WATS Day. WATS is an acronym for "We Are The Sermon." We have all of our services and our home gathering groups meet for a communion service, then we spend the rest of Sunday worshiping in the community by doing acts of kindness. This is especially directed toward those who are economically disadvantaged, aging, or ill. We paint, roof, build handicap ramps, clean, wash, move, pray, and serve those who desperately need some help. However, we try to make it clear that this is not a day of service projects, but a day of worship. We want to remind each other that these acts of kindness in the real world away from our church building are really what we are called to do with our lives. More churches, all over the world, are joining us in WATS day every year. (You can learn more about WATS by going to the WATS links listed below.)Of course the goal is not to have one day a year where we do something like this, but to help our folks and our community remember that worship is an everyday gift done in everyday acts of kindness to share the grace of God.LIFE Questions:I would love to get your reaction to the thoughts above or to any of the questions below, on my blog (http://thephilfiles.com) or by email (phil@heartlight.org)Why do you think that humans have always struggled with confining worship to a place and time rather than an everyday lifestyle?How do we infuse each day with a sense of worship of God? (Romans 12:1-2)What makes it difficult to see our time at work or school or with our families as part of our worship of God? (Ephesians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:9-10)How does seeing our behavior at work, at school, at our kids' events, during our time driving, or in our recreation time, change our behavior, attitude, and influence in these areas of our lives? (Matthew 5:13-16)If worship is something we are to do in our everyday activities, then why is meeting with other believers important? (Hebrews 10:19-25)
NOTE:* The technical term for this way to indicate a rhetorical unit of thought is called inclusio.
© Phil Ware. All rights reserved.
Phil Ware is minister of the Word at Southern Hills Church of Christ in Abilene, Texas. For the past 10+ years, he has also been co-editor of HEARTLIGHT Magazine. For more details, clickhere.
Website: Southern Hills Church of Christ
The Power to Risk
Sunday, April 19, 2009, 10:00:00 PM phil@heartlight.org (Phil Ware)
"I'm not sure we should do that. You know, I think it's better to be safe than sorry."Sounds like wise words for times like ours, doesn't it?But, are they the Lord's words? Even more, are they even the Lord's will?Remember the story of the talents that Jesus told (Matthew 25:14-30)? What did Jesus say about the person who chose the "better safe than sorry" approach with the master's resources? The master's response begins with these biting words, "You wicked and lazy servant!" (Matthew 25:26 TNIV). The response finishes with these words:
And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 25:30).Quite often, we teach that Jesus' story says that we should use the "talents" that the Lord has given us. Clearly, this is a part of the message, but it is not the primary message. The primary message is that if we are picturing God as someone looking to condemn us for making a mistake while trying to do the work of His Kingdom and play it safe so we don't displease Him, then we've got the wrong idea. The person who operates under this idea and ends up risking nothing, and doing little or nothing, for the Master is the one who is condemned!You see, when Jesus was raised from the dead, He showed Himself to His followers (1 Corinthians 15:3-7) and then He called them to be His witnesses to the lost world (Acts 1:8; cf. Matthew 28:18-20). The Lord's resurrection and appearance to them, radically changed them! Fearful men were made fearless. Broken people were made brave. Common followers became committed. Private leaders went public. Doubting family members became daring believers. When pushed into a corner and warned to keep quiet by the same folks who orchestrated Jesus' death, they responded with bold and risky passion:
Which is right in God's eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard (Acts 4:19-20).The "better safe than sorry" approach to discipleship is out of place with the kind of faith displayed in the book of Acts. This "avoid all risks" approach to our faith is a mockery of what we see in God's people through the ages, especially as it is shared with us in the "Faith Hall of Fame" of the Bible (Hebrews 11:1-40).I fear that part of the reason we have lost our passion to be the Lord's witnesses to the world (Acts 1:8), is because we are afraid to risk what we have and don't have to live by faith, prayer, and dependence upon the power of the Lord. Even though the promise of God's power is still there for us (Ephesians 1:18-20; Ephesians 3:16-21), we don't pray for it and don't live like our Father longs to bless us with it. The Holy Spirit that Jesus poured out at Pentecost is the same Spirit poured out on all those who come to Him in faith and are baptized (Titus 3:3-8). Even though the resurrected Jesus promised to be with us as we risked ourselves finding and growing new disciples, we hold back and miss His presence, remaining silent and similar to a world lost without grace (Matthew 28:18-20).Why?Because it is easier to take the "better be safe than sorry" approach to our lives of faith."Most of us are not going to have to face what the apostles faced, so how can I ever risk like they did? And if I don't risk my life like they did, does that mean I am 'playing it safe'?"Are you sure you won't have to risk like they did? We have hundreds of thousands of believers who face many of the same persecutions today that they did in the early church. Every indication suggests that we could be headed down a similar path in Western Culture, as well. But even granting that we may not face such extreme risks as the early church, what about facing the risks we have in the everyday world in which we live? Think of some pretty clear ways we can take some risks for the sake of the Kingdom and regain our sense of focus.Give generously, especially to mission outreach and compassion ministries in the face of economic crisis.Get involved in the lives of our co-workers, neighbors, and the parents of our kids' teammates to love them in the name of Jesus and provide an open door for them to find Him.Go on a mission or service trip to a different culture.Take a few minutes after each TV show and see how the values measure up to what God calls us to live: talk with our families about how we are going to honor the Lord in our decisions, use of money, and moral values.Pray daily for our elders/pastors, ministers, missionaries, teachers, and quiet servants of the Kingdom.Respond to the person who says, "You know, if we do that, someone might leave!" with the words, "And if we don't do this who will we never reach?"Protect someone's reputation when the gossip brigade turns their guns on some new person in our office, school, or church.There are hundreds of ways to take risks for the Master that are crucial for us as God's people today in our world. (In fact, I'd really like to get your input on what are some ways we can risk for the Kingdom that are crucial for you. Please send your ideas on how you can take risks for the Kingdom to phil@heartlight.org or share your ideas on my blog, thephilfiles.com. Remember, these are not ideas for someone else to do, but risks you believe you need to make for the Kingdom.)Let's share a common commitment: the next time someone says, "You know, I'd rather us be safe than sorry on this!" let's kindly and respectfully, but firmly remind them what Jesus had to say. Then, let's lead the way to sacrifice, pray, and risk for the Master and His Kingdom.
© Phil Ware. All rights reserved.
Phil Ware is minister of the Word at Southern Hills Church of Christ in Abilene, Texas. For the past 10+ years, he has also been co-editor of HEARTLIGHT Magazine. For more details, clickhere.
Website: Southern Hills Church of Christ
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