Rough Stuff

 Nobody said it was easy.

Well, they did, but the rough stuff comes first.

Paul speaks of being crucified with Christ.  It's old life over, new life begins.  He rose.  We rise with him.

Easy?  Rough but once done it's a start.

The world hated Him first.  And it hates us because we follow Him.

You figure out what the 'world' means.

We are not austere.  We are right here.  It's what we do that counts.  

A life of faith is constantly renewed.  It must be nurtured.  And we must do.

We don't twiddle our thumbs and say lah dee dah.

We get down where the rubber hits the road and with God's power in our faith, we do.  We proclaim, heal, expel and nurture.

It's rough.

But Jesus says, 'Come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will refresh you'.  Not easy, but easier.

The darkside tries to despair and isolate us.

NO!

God helps miraculously and through people.

Fear not.

Reach out.  We meet you and even seek you.

Rough/easier.

Bs

 He was a housepainter.

At least when I met him, he was painting a house.

A former Lutheran pastor, brought up in the church, he left, finally tired of 'policy'.  Not all Lutherans were so inclined.  Yet, for some, a regulated structure replaced church function.  This affected how people expressed their faith.  Leftist dialog usurped parishes, leaving behavior filtered through its socio-political lens.

B revolted against this.  He chose conscience and quite actually imitated Dr Luther many centuries ago.  

He chose an independent group.  This, by no means eschewed education.  

He simply didn't 'put on airs' and preached and ministered to many.  

When I met him, he simply was painting houses.

He never abandoned faith.

The man had remarkable reach and inspired many to walk in Jesus' ways.  

He had his own business and a full family life as well as making many friends.

B was quintessential humility for he accepted his work whether painting a house or counseling the troubled.

He never basked in his vast educational achievements.  They were simply part of him and coalesced.

Certain denominations could learn a lot from this.

Decide what's important and do it.

Not me, me, me.

But Thee, thee, thee.

Cs & Ws

 I remember the 'screening' process for 'candidacy' for the ministry.  

The future bishop questioned certain folks who decided to minister.  They did so outside what he considered a legitimate organization.  He sarcastically exclaimed anyone could set up a storefront and preach.  This was w/o the benefit of socalled apostolic succession.  No laying on of hands.

I said how can you question someone if they are truthfully drawn to ministry and are preaching the Word?

He huffed and puffed and said I lacked humility.

That meant I questioned him and didn't kowtow aka kiss his keester.

My brother from another mother had done just what he questioned.  Oh he did achieve a doctorate in education eventually.  Laying hands?  God's hand was on him.

I dated a girl for a bit whose Dad became a fundamentalist pastor similarly.  That was C.

W was the bishop who preceded the pompous one.

Both were great men of God who preached and taught the Savior.

Different guys, yet the same God guided them.

Humility?  They both humbly accepted the responsibility of preaching and counseling.

The Church consists of many types all with the same goal.  Methods vary.

To the pompous Pharisees I say look to Truth. Accept or deny.

It is what was done 2,000 years ago.

All together in the Light.  

Ties

 Not the cloth round the neck nor connectedness.

Just simply tying one's shoes.

Imagine a kid who wouldn't tie shoes.

It was so bad his Mom got special clip on shoes.  So tying was avoided and not tying was indulged.

His brother got fed up with such indulgence.  He sat the kid on the couch and wouldn't let him up til he tied some shoes.

Kid tried to get up and bro shoved him back down.

The kid knew how.  He was just spoiled.

Bro knew that the kid would eventually suffer in years to come.  He knew there were things one has to do oneself.

Sweat broke out but the kid finally tied his shoes.

Bro just walked away.

That was that.

The kid can wear loafers and ties both -s-.

No clip ons.

Ties go beyond shoes.  

Knots and other attachments might follow.

And independence rises.

Stars

 We think of gold and blue stars.  We honor our military.

This is about something else spurred by a passing thought.

Remember those little sticky stars pinned by our names in the lower grades?

Good conduct and achievement.  I don't remember if I got any lol.

Guess I didn't pay attention.

Anyway, I thought about how we anticipate rewards and, yes, punishments.

Do we do right just for stars?  And are we just trying to avoid punishment?  

What's underneath?

A sincere wish/will to do good for goodness sake?  Or only to look good?

My Dad taught me content of character.  Doing what's right, even though it's often painful.

This is what was fervently taught in the New Testament.  Dare I trip a bot?  Jesus.

Let us live accordingly.

God knows our hearts.

Ruts

 I remember a saying that made the rounds when I was a student minister.  'But we've always done it this way'.  And this was supposed to lead us to fresh thinking/methods.

Well, it didn't.  It blew over.  People were safer doing it the old way.

There are patterns in life we get used to.  Some are ok for day to day routine.  Others stifle us.

We go on and get something done.  Then suddenly another way dawns on us.  

Inspiration?  Serendipity?  Nah.  There are no coincidences.

The lingering thought with a new method is 'this is so simple so why didn't we do it before?

Leads us back to the rut we fall in.

Newness pops up.  Rarely do we search and find it.

So, breath, stay calm and let circumstance refresh you.  

Don't let the winds of fate bat you around.

Ride the waves of destiny.

Envy

 When I see the success of decent honest people, I salute them.  I pray for their health and all good things.

There are always those who have a negative opposite attitude.  They are lazy.

Instead of working and earning whatever the goal, they would rather steal.  It's an abysmal substitute.  

Obviously the fallen and their ilk are rife with this.  Delusional.

Success is very subjective.  Individual, local, national, world are just the surface.  

Whatever the goals of success, it is the proliferation of the Light that counts.

Decent?  Honest?  Yes.  Truth above all.

Be grateful.  Strive for success and Freedom.

Our destiny awaits.