Covenant of the Cross

What the Bible Says Wk 2 - Genesis, Nature, and Sodom

2009-11-12T11:33:00.000-08:00

Is there a difference in Original and Natural?

We are called to Rightly Divide the Word of Truth –
2 Timothy 2:15
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

Original is defined as –
belonging or pertaining to the origin or beginning of something, or to
a thing at its beginning.

Genesis Story of Adam and Eve
Genesis 2 – creation of Adam and Eve
• Helpmeets
• Naked
• Affirms need for relationship.
• To use as evidence of Sinfulness of gay/lesbian relationships
would also have to admit the sinfulness of those not married.
• God had introduced all creation before to see if there would
be a connection.
• Eve created because Adam was lonely, not for procreation.
• Original formulation is no longer valid as sin and brokenness
has entered the world.
• Actually, two creation stories.

Natural is defined as –
being such by nature; born such or in conformity with the ordinary
course of nature; not unusual or exceptional.

Nature in the Greek is Physis and is used to speak of what is normal.
The physin part which was translated to mean “natural” can actually have numerous meanings. Paul himself used this word to describe several different subject matters including: Jews by birth, those who are physically uncircumcised and those who instinctively do what the law requires.

Additionally, the same word, physin, is used to say that “beings by nature (physei) are not gods,” and in Paul’s question “Does not nature (physis) itself teach you that if a man wears long hair, it is degrading to him?”

2 Peter 1:4
Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

Ephesians 2:3
All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.

Galatians 2:15
We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles

Romans 2:14
Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things
required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law,

These passages show God using Paul to speak of what is normal for Jews, Gentiles and such. This is not a “natural law” in the sense that modern individuals would think. This is not going “organic,” or back to the original state of the world. This is concept is the concept of being true to who you are rather than being something you are not.

Romans 11:21
For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

Romans 11:24
After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and
contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much
more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own
olive tree!

The last passage here of Romans 11:24 shows God acting
“contrary to nature,” in bringing the gentiles into the fold of faith.

Without this acting contrary to his original covenants gentiles
would not be included in the covenant of faith as Paul speak and
tries to bring two different communities with different “natures”
together.

Sodom and Gomorrah.
Genesis 19:1-5
The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2He said, ‘Please, my lords, turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you can rise early and go on your way.’ They said, ‘No; we will spend the night in the square.’ 3But he urged them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. 4But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the
house; 5and they called to Lot, ‘Where are the men who came to you
tonight? Bring them out to us, so that we may know them.’

• What are the chances 100% of the men were Gay.
• Angels are not human so this would be bestiality if sexual.
• Rape and sacred sex – supposed to bring superhuman powers.
• Yadha appears some 943 times in a nonsexual way. 10 times in a sexual way.
• Word that Gay sexual practice was Shakhabh. Mishkabh appears in Scripture and is used to refer to same sex practice.

Other Scripture says this:
Jeremiah 23:14
And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen something horrible: They commit adultery and live a lie. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his wickedness. They are all like Sodom to me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah."

Ezekiel 16:49-50
'Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.

Matthew 10:14-15
If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

Jude 1:7 implies sex with something besides humans.

Home Work: Find the difference between these two words in Hebrew and Greek. You will find two columns for the Hebrew. They can both be found in searches, depending on the source.
The Greek is the Septuagint – the ancient Greek translation of the Jewish Scriptures.

Anglized
Hebrew Hebrew Greek
1. tow`ebah Toevah bdelygma
2. zimah Zimmah Anomia

What Does the Bible Say? Notes Week 1

2009-11-03T10:15:00.000-08:00

What does the Bible say about?

We are called to Rightly Divide the Word of Truth –

2 Timothy 2:15

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

Voting –

Nothing Explicitly:

Matthew 22:21

"Then give Caesar what is his, and give God what is his."

1 Timothy 2:1-3

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live.

Drinking –

Ecclesiastes 9:7

Seize life! Eat bread with gusto,
Drink wine with a robust heart.
Oh yes—God takes pleasure in your pleasure!

Amos 9:14

I'll make everything right again for my people Israel:

"They'll rebuild their ruined cities.
They'll plant vineyards and drink good wine.
They'll work their gardens and eat fresh vegetables.

Proverbs 23:29-35

Who are the people who are always crying the blues?
Who do you know who reeks of self-pity?
Who keeps getting beat up for no reason at all?
Whose eyes are bleary and bloodshot?
It's those who spend the night with a bottle,
for whom drinking is serious business.
Don't judge wine by its label,
or its bouquet, or its full-bodied flavor.
Judge it rather by the hangover it leaves you with—
the splitting headache, the queasy stomach.
Do you really prefer seeing double,
with your speech all slurred,
Reeling and seasick,
drunk as a sailor?
"They hit me," you'll say, "but it didn't hurt;
they beat on me, but I didn't feel a thing.
When I'm sober enough to manage it,
bring me another drink!"

1 Corinthians 6:12

Just because something is technically legal doesn't mean that it's spiritually appropriate. If I went around doing whatever I thought I could get by with, I'd be a slave to my whims.

Dating –

Nothing!

2 Corinthians 6:14-15

Don't become partners with those who reject God. How can you make a partnership out of right and wrong? That's not partnership; that's war. Is light best friends with dark? Does Christ go strolling with the Devil? Do trust and mistrust hold hands?

Sex Before Marriage –

Nothing!

Ephesians 5:31

And this is why a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife. No longer two, they become "one flesh."

Patriotism –

Nothing specific, but!

Nehemiah 1:4

When I heard this, I sat down and wept. I mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God-of-Heaven.

Philippians 3:20

We're citizens of high heaven! We're waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ

Money –

LOTS!

Luke 16:11

Jesus went on to make these comments:

If you're honest in small things,
you'll be honest in big things;
If you're a crook in small things,
you'll be a crook in big things.
If you're not honest in small jobs,
who will put you in charge of the store?
No worker can serve two bosses:
He'll either hate the first and love the second
Or adore the first and despise the second.
You can't serve both God and the Bank.

2. Proverbs 21:20 "Valuables are safe in a wise person's home;
fools put it all out for yard sales.“

2. Proverbs 21:20 "In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has."

Rebellious Children–

Enough

Deuteronomy 21: 18 – 21

When a man has a stubborn son, a real rebel who won't do a thing his mother and father tell him, and even though they discipline him he still won't obey, his father and mother shall forcibly bring him before the leaders at the city gate and say to the city fathers, "This son of ours is a stubborn rebel; he won't listen to a thing we say. He's a glutton and a drunk."

Then all the men of the town are to throw rocks at him until he's dead. You will have purged the evil pollution from among you. All Israel will hear what's happened and be in awe.

Words and The Bible:

Must look at the entire record to know what God means in all passages.
There are 700,000 words in Greek, but only 5393 appear in the New Testament.
There are 14,564 unique English Words in the Bible with English having over 1 Million Words.
God would have used the words available rather than making up something new.
Our interpretation has often been limited by our thinking that only the Biblical record could shed light on what is being said. When in fact, the biblical record is a subset of the words that were available – and is in fact, less than 1 percent of the words available to the writers of the Bible.

Original is defined as –

belonging or pertaining to the origin or beginning of something, or to a thing at its beginning.

Natural is defined as –

being such by nature; born such or in conformity with the ordinary course of nature; not unusual or exceptional.

Home work:

Find the use of the Word Nature in Scripture.

Hint look up the Greek word – Physis.

Where does God act Para Physis in the Bible and why?

Returning

2009-04-23T10:23:00.000-07:00

Many have walked away from what they knew and needed to do to be successful. We chased quick wealth and easy money. We acted as though we could take all the benefit and are not give any credit to God for the good things we had received - and then promptly wasted. Look around you and look at the hard time people are having - they had no plan to address anything except their idea of perfection and live in greed. The story of the Prodigal Son has a lesson for us about this very issue. A lesson of returning to find what we need and getting what we really wanted all along.

In the story of the Prodigal son, the youngest asks for his inheritance while his father is still living, and goes off to a distant country where he "squandered his wealth in wild living." and eventually has to take work feeding pigs, which is a rock bottom for him as it causes embarrassment and makes him dirty. There he comes to his senses and decides to return home and throw himself on his father's mercy. Knowing that even being his father’s servant is still far better than feeding pigs. When he returns home, his father greets him with open arms and hardly gives him a chance to express his repentance. He kills a fatted calf to celebrate his return.

In the story, we see that the younger son had at least three things wrong in his mind. First, he disrespected his father by basically wishing him to die in asking for his inheritance. Yet that is not the focus of this week. The next two errors compound his insult by injury.

Those errors are taking the full benefit and not honoring God with the Tithe as expected. God has continued these expectations today because they are part of his over all economic process. They are processes to fight against greed and abuse by individuals while ensuring continuing prosperity for the person and whole society. The idea was and is that our behavior is a reflection of what we believe, feel, and want. The behaviors that reveal self-centeredness also reveal that if we strike tough times as the Prodigal did we are on our own. We are there because we are the ones who walked away from the promises and processes of God.

Yet, though we walk away and get in a tight spot God is not calloused to us. He will greet us and throw a party - we just have to return.

God does not care why you return - just that you return. Once you have, you will begin to find the grace and mercy that transforms. Your heart and motive transform with the new interaction, but it cannot be so until you return. Presence and process transform rather than truth.

This week will you return and see your worries and troubles disappear in the rearview mirror? My prayer is that you will return so you can find God giving what you do not deserve and redeeming you from what you do.

Cycling

2009-04-23T10:22:00.000-07:00

“A senior leader in an investment bank called to tell me she was leaving her job. She realized she wouldn't make much money in the next few years and didn't want to miss her children growing up. Did you get that? She was willing to miss her children growing up if the money was good enough.” This quote by Steve Bregman shared this on CNN.com recently shows a lot of what we as a society think about life. Yet these, and other choices, are the very things that are robbing us of life with worry. We have become so stressed and strained that worship and resting in God is a distant memory – we have seen the glitter of what we thought was gold and yet it turned out to be fool’s gold.

While we may not be giving up our children’s childhood, we often do give up the peace and presence of God. We do so by chasing forever the next dollar, gadget, fashion, or whatever it is that strikes our newest fancy. Over the next few weeks, I will be sharing about the process God uses to ensure prosperity that endures and transforms.

The first, is to partake in a day of Sabbath. This is a day of Worship and rest. Within the Jewish faith and some Christian traditions this is a particular day of the week – specifically Saturday (Seventh Day Sabbath). Historically, most Christians used to use Sunday (First Day Sabbath) as a day of Worship, rest and preparation. This concept transcends these faiths to Buddhism, Islam, Wicca, and others.

The whole point of each of these Sabbaths is to ensure that we acknowledge God’s ownership and creation of the world. They also are days to acknowledge the fact that we need a day of worship and rest to prepare for the world in which we live. We are created to work, but this day was created by God to ensure that we stopped the rat race of constant and frantic activity. The goal of the day is Worship, but also giving everyone a way and time where there are no rivalries and anxieties to keep our mind working, and taxed.

Our current rat race has led to destruction in confidence, care, and even compassion. It is time that we take a day and withdraw from the ongoing cares of the world so that we can redirect our efforts in ways that builds a sense of the sacred in everything we do. Ways of viewing the world in life affirming and powerful ways. It is time to embrace this discipline in our lives so that we can find rest and peace rather than conflict, stress and anxiety as we live currently.

This week, embrace a day of Sabbath. One you celebrate God in community and one that you do not fill with a bunch of other activities. Frantic entertainment is as unhealthy as frantic work. Sabbath can bring balance and teach us how it to make life livable and productive.

Cross Carrying

2009-04-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

We love a winner! We have been taught in so many ways that winning is the only thing that matters. Hence we have all these sports heroes, politicians, even ourselves who will do whatever it takes to win, even if that means we sell our souls. Really, is winning worth whatever it costs? Can we change our attitudes to make winning something that comes from a life and process of integrity rather than to be bought with enhancing drugs, shortcuts. What would it mean to find victory by carrying the cross for Jesus rather than just showing up for the resurrection without any clue of what had happened?

We see in the passion narrative the following: “Along the way they came on a man from Cyrene named Simon and made him carry Jesus' cross.” Here we have a bystander that is pressed into service by the Roman Guards to serve someone who is about to die. He has children with him and yet he has to leave them as he carries the cross for a beaten and bleeding Jesus. He has little clue who this Jesus is since he comes from Libya and is just in Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover on a pilgrimage. Oh he may have heard of him, but the fact remains he was not a follower and he had possibly some small information regarding Jesus based on the events of that week.

Why is it that someone who is not a follower is pressed into this service. Are those who claim to be so distant and uncommitted that they will not remain? Are they so concerned about themselves that they abandon what they claimed were their convictions and faith? Are they so short sighted as to not see that victory will come, but that they must endure difficulty to get there?

Simon becomes a Christ follower and his sons evangelists. Imagine how their first experience must have formed their views and passion for the one who died that they might live abundantly. These are not people who saw Jesus initially at the height of his ministry, or even traveled with him for a period of years, but that initial interaction forged in them a powerful way of being followers.

Imagine three days later when the tomb is empty and the women interact with Jesus and do not recognize him because they did not see New Life. Perhaps Simon of Cyrene was better able to see the possibility because he did not have the stake in the old way of thinking. He was not a fatalist, but rather a pragmatist who saw Jesus for who he said he was rather than what he could get out of him. His relationship was bound by the tragedy and miracle of crucifixion and resurrection. He did not see with tainted eyes, but eyes that were both compassionate and expectant – albeit at different times.

This week many Christians celebrated Easter. Resurrection though comes in many ways. The only question I have for you is: Must Jesus bear the cross alone? Will you be the new Simon of Cyrene proclaiming hope and new life to those around you?

Blessings,
Pastor Greg

Crucifying Hosannas!

2009-04-02T14:56:00.001-07:00

Hosanna! Hosanna! Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord! These were the shouts of praise for Jesus entering Jerusalem. Yet these same voices would yell crucify, crucify! Why and how could they in such a short time turn from the one they saw as Messiah and seek to have him turned over and destroyed? There are several things that could have led them there, but mostly it boils down to he was not what they wanted him to be.

They expected a coming and conquering King that would destroy their enemies. They wanted someone with military might that would expel the Romans and end the humiliation that they felt at the hands of a people that were unclean. They wanted him to rise up and lead them in a rebellion that would transform the way that they lived. They wanted to be the ones who were the occupiers rather than the occupied. They wanted to be relieved and exact revenge.

Yet, his Kingdom was not what they expected. Far from needing an army with swords, chariots and infantry, he needed people with open hearts who were willing to let the Kingdom grow in their hearts and infect the whole of their lives. He was bringing them something far more powerful than a traditional army could deliver. He was bringing something that would bring the Kingdom across boundaries and borders so that humanity could build a community that bridged the divides of humanity to one.

That Kingdom was not what they wanted. Therefore, they turned on the one that had taught and loved them. The turned because they did not listen with pure ears, but rather with ears that heard what they wanted to hear. They heard the power and promise of his words, but did not hear his message. They could not hope to hear the truth for they did not wish to be set free. They wanted to become the prisoner with the keys to the kingdom. They wanted to find in his words something other than what he said

Now, Jesus is not the only one to be greeted with praise and then crucified by the same people in short order. We still do so today. We do it with anyone who steps forward to lead. Someone who steps forward will be greeted with the same effect in different people. Some will shout crucify. Some will slink away in fear. Others will stand silently afraid of standing up themselves. Some will take a stand and be treated in much the same way.

This week what kind of kingdom are you seeking? One where you serve or one where you are served? The first is of God the second is of sin. This week I pray that you find a way to be part of what God is doing rather than just being around what God is doing. If you do so, you will no longer be Crucifying Hosannas.

Do, or do not do. There is no Try.

2009-03-19T08:04:00.001-07:00

“Do, or do not do. There is no try.” is what Yoda tells Luke Skywalker in Star Wars. Yoda is in the saga that is Star Wars the preeminent mentor of young Jedi Knights. While it is easy to live in fantasy and fiction (As it seems our country has for years financially) it is not the true grit of who a person becomes. We all need a mentor, a Yoda if you would.

They come in various forms, shapes and sizes, but they always propel us along the journey toward God if they are true mentors. We find two very different Archetypes of a mentor in Scripture. They are Peter and Paul. As Leonard Sweet says – Peter is relationally fast, but spiritually slow and Paul is relationally slow, but spiritually fast. They exist to reach to and mentor different types of people.

Some want their mentors to be intellectual only. Others want them to be very close – almost like their next breath. The primary types we need really do depend upon on personalities, but we need both to be able to better work in and through the world. We need both around so that we remember that God does not use just those that think like us to make a change in the world for the better.

The beauty of mentors is that they have great wisdom to share with us if we will but listen. Oh, to be sure, we may not learn a great deal about technology from them. Mentors exist to teach us how to make our way through the world that is not as easy and neat as we would like. They have learned a few things about how to make it through the world. We may have to learn from their mistakes (preferable) or learn from making the same mess ups in our own lives. God has some great things to teach us through these masters if we will but stop and learn.

Mentors give us the wisdom of the ages and allow us to translate that into our own age of being and becoming. It is a powerful lesson to know that in human relationships there is nothing new under the sun. We will not have invented any new form of dealing with one another this year that did not exist 2,000 years ago. All we will invent is new technology that can make those ways more effective or less effective.

Selecting a good mentor is important. For they will and should have a large impact on how you live your life. If you select wisely they will show you things about yourself that you never knew before. They will do so in ways that challenge you to grow and become more like the person God designed you to be.

This week who is your mentor? Who is challenging you with: “Do, or do not do. There is no try.” If you do not have someone, it is time to start a new quest to find one who will give you the wisdom that will change your life forever.

Blessings,
Pastor Greg

Encourager

2009-03-12T08:48:00.001-07:00

I wonder why our faith is less about encouragement than judgment. Now, before you say it is only one faith, and in particular, Christians, I need to point out that they all do it. The only reason you have not seen the others is that there are not many of them around you. In reality, I suspect it is because most people identity SOCIALLY as Christian rather than as actual spiritual activity as such. So then how do we change our faiths – any faith – to be a faith of encouragement rather than judgment?

First, we start with the idea that people want to do better and get closer to God. We do not look at their shortcomings as a hindrance, but rather as a learning experience. Far too long, we have heard the back and forth recriminations that only seem to be self-fulfilling prophecy. I have yet to find anyone outside our broader community that is as hate filled and bitter against others, yet we decry the very same, though less intense, behavior in others.

Perhaps it is that people of good will, believing in the same God, can come to different conclusions and still be worshipers in the same space. To be an encourager rather than a judger means that you see that each has it’s God assigned task and cannot and should not be measured against the ministry of another.

Encouragement means to equip, pray and kick a person out of their complacency to the unique call, gifts and passions of God in their life. Many would rather sit still and do nothing than be criticized, but the encourager is there to remind us that the naysayer is not the person speaking for God.

The encourager will not be an enabler. They will not “do it for you.” They will not give you the excuse that you are OK if you do not try and keep trying. Encouragers are there for marathons, not for sprints. They do not let you settle for less that who God wants you to be and become. Over the years you know someone they can become more or they can shrink in the eyes of belief, God, and yourself. While God will always love them, they will lose that which they had if they do not use it according to the promise and intent.

This week, I pray you have an encourager and that you are being an encourager. If you are not in a positive, powerful, and moving ministry area at Covenant of the Cross that challenges you to reach your potential - find one and commit. When you do you will find God, until you do you will just be lazy and enabled to death by the mutual admiration society around you. I encourage you today to reach for the promise of significance and find the power of God rushing through you!

Blessings,
Pastor Greg

Find an Heir!

2009-03-07T20:37:00.001-08:00

We either have heirs or our line is passé. The heirs that matter are not the one’s that are born of sexual intimacy. Rather the heirs that matter will be the ones that embrace us and learn as if osmosis was the only way that learning can occur.

Spiritual heirs, heirs to our legacy, embrace out story and vision and then take it to their own levels. Moses had his Joshua. Elijah had Elisha. They are absolutely needed to ensure continuity and next level for the people of God. In modern time we see this in Joel Osteen being not only a physical heir, but also a spiritual heir in leading Lakewood church to a far larger vision and intent. Joel did not repudiate John’s vision and mission, he expanded it.

To have a legacy to give to someone we must inherit a legacy. Did you inherit from a Moses or get the mess that Joshua left because he did not embrace someone as his heir. There are generational blessings and curses based on what is left. Right now, we are a nation that is not focusing on our legacy. We seem to focus on immediate gratification rather than building long-term prosperity, mercy, grace, and ability. So what does an heir to our legacy look like?

First, they participate in our lives so that they know our heart, mind, and soul for the things we are trying to accomplish in our lives. They have to believe in the goal and vision of their Moses or Paul. They do not have to agree with every decision, because it is about letting them experiment and grow as they live under the covering of another more experienced person. In short, they are able to learn by experiencing and experimenting as they prepare for their day in leading others.

Secondly, they extend your legacy. Absalom is different from Elisha. Absalom wants to get rid of his father, from whom he should inherit the throne. Therefore, his selfish and self-centered thinking eliminates him as an heir. The other is an Elisha who wants a double portion of Elijah’s spirit as he embraces Elijah’s vision and mission. We all need an Elisha, we all should be aware of an Absalom and counter them out of our lives.

Lastly, spiritual and legacy heirs expand the horizon of the person to whom they are an heir. They tend to keep their elders on their toes and thinking while at the same time learning how to apply unchanging principles to ever changing circumstances. There becomes a symbiotic relationship of give, take and learn. What we need in an heir is also someone who will expand the vision when we go to our rest. To expand they must first understand the roots and foundation and from there they will expand the vision to it’s next level.

This week, I pray that you find an heir. I pray that you find someone who can reorient you to the next place your vision calls as they live out their hope to be your heir.

Blessing or Flattery, You Choose!

2009-02-26T14:12:00.001-08:00

Flattery will get you anywhere as the old saying goes. Well it may get you anywhere, but it will not keep you there. We do not need people to flatter us, we need people to bless us. We usually experience blessing as a statement about peace in our lives.

In Exodus 4:18 as Moses seeks release to go back to Egypt, where he committed murder and would be in danger Jethro blessed him by saying: “lech l’shalom.” Literally “Go TO peace.” Moses, of course, succeeds and follows a greater calling.

In 2 Samuel 15:9 King David bids his son Absalom bye with the phrase: “lech b’shalom.” Literally “Go IN peace.” This episode ends with Absalom dying in 2 Samuel 18, against the David’s command.

We often do not get the power of what it means to “go TO peace” rather than “go IN peace.” The difference is that TO is said to people who have a better future and IN is said to those who are on their way to death. TO is spoken as a blessing and IN is spoken as flattery. We need to learn to speak clearly and powerfully with the intent of God if we wish blessing rather than pronouncing a death sentence.

We all need a Jethro, or Jethrine, that can help us see where we really are and clear the haze out of mind so that we can set a course to our potential. Jethro’s come along in a spiritual, emotional and intellectual four wheel drive to pull us out of the mud hole into which we have sank. They do not tell us what we want to hear, but what we need to hear to get us beyond our own limited sight.

The reason we need Jethro’s is that we really are blind to our own issues. To assume that we are spiritually gifted enough to analyze and diagnose the ailments of our spirits is actually arrogance. We have lost the art of true and open direction and guidance because everything is about “ME!” Jethro’s wake us up to the reality that it is NOT about ME, but about everyone.

Jethro’s make us see decisions and directions in wake of how it will impact OTHERS and make us better able to be who we were created to be. We all want promotion, but few want the true responsibility of that promotion. That is true in all areas of life, not just at work. As it is written, “To whom much is given, much is required.” Ascending levels of call and conviction require higher levels of personal sacrifice. Jethro’s remind us that we were created to be doers rather than critics. TO see for a better future for everyone.

Most of us really want to be flattered rather than blessed. We do not realize that we are seeking the benediction of our life when we do that. We would rather hear sweet nothings that to be told we need to go TO peace. This week which will you choose? Life or Death? They are both set before you and God gives you the choice. Choose Life and a true blessing!

In Christ,
Pastor Greg

True, not Best, Friends

2009-02-19T08:56:00.001-08:00

Are you a Friend, or a Real Friend?

I am amazed at the people who will make a fool of themselves to be Paris Hilton’s New BFF (Best Friend Forever). Really, you think that you need ONE best friend and that someone who is a BFF will make you make a fool of yourself to just to become that. Over the past weeks we have looked at different relationships we need, and we have 5 more to look at after today, and at some time they are all your best friend. They are your best friend in different ways, but they are still that. We do not need a BFF, but a TRUE Friend. As Proverbs 18:24 says: “Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family.” As The Message shares it. In the NIV it ends …”there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

A Friend helps you move. A Real Friend helps you move a corpse. That old joke is not about a true friend, but a real friend is not far from a true friend. Cicero argued that if when we die we can count on the fingers of one hand the number of TRUE friends we have we will have been the wealthiest person on earth. Montaigne thought Cicero was an optimist and that you could only share that with one person. Let’s look at an interaction between David and Jonathan in 1 Samuel.

“’Come outside,’ said Jonathan. ‘Let's go to the field.’ When the two of them were out in the field, Jonathan said, ‘As God, the God of Israel, is my witness, by this time tomorrow I'll get it out of my father how he feels about you. Then I'll let you know what I learn. May God do his worst to me if I let you down! If my father still intends to kill you, I'll tell you and get you out of here in one piece. And God be with you as he's been with my father! If I make it through this alive, continue to be my covenant friend. And if I die, keep the covenant friendship with my family—forever. And when God finally rids the earth of David's enemies, stay loyal to Jonathan!’ Jonathan repeated his pledge of love and friendship for David. He loved David more than his own soul!”

Jonathan is sacrificing his throne and his family at some level because he is true friend. His father is less than reliable, but he will not betray his friend. (We can think about the other parts of the relationship at a different time.)

Jonathan is willing to do this because he has overcome the sins that prevent us from experiencing this relationship. He is not ego centered. He has let go of his self-centeredness and it frees him to go to deeper levels with David. The next sin that he let go was to stop being just surface with David. The last sin that Jonathan had to overcome was the one that kept him from sacrificing. He had to sacrifice to be a true friend to David.

This week, I pray that you overcome these same sins so that you can be a true friend to someone. I also pray that you find a true friend who has overcome these sins to be in your life as well.

Blessings,
Pastor Greg

Edit or Account? Choose Edit!

2009-02-12T13:24:00.000-08:00

We do not need anymore accountability. We need more editing. The minute you have someone that wants to be your accountability partner – RUN - do not walk away from them. They are NOT interested in improving your abilities – they are interested in showing you where you do not measure up to THEIR standards. I find it interesting that many want justice for someone else and mercy for themselves.

Accountability should keep us from failing, by design. Yet, even the people with the best accountability systems fail - as Bill Clinton, Ted Haggard and others have shown. We do not need someone keeping account of our wrongs – as that actually shows that there is less than love for us. Paul tells us: “Love… it keeps no record of wrongs.” 1 Cor. 13:4-5. I have been amazed at how often we do keep a long list of accounts of where we look for wrongs, or where we thought someone else sinned.

That is the basic difference between accountability and “editability.” An Accountant looks for errors whereas an editor looks to hone and make better. We all need an editor. Someone who knows us, loves us and knows how to tell the truth in ways to helps us see ourselves as we are and how we could be with the changes God sees can take us from good to best. That editor needs to be a person who can speak frankly with us, but also understand that truth is to be told – not vomited. If it cannot change, or it really is unimportant at that time they know that it is best to follow this simple concept: “Know everything, correct a little, and ignore a lot.”

To keep an account of all the wrongs a person does is in direct contradiction to the call and command of God. It tells us that a person does not love us – even if they say the words. A person who edits us is one who truly loves us. How do we know that an editor loves us.

We know because they speak the truth in such a ways as to open a vista into the panorama of our life. They let us see the whole play, but show us where we can tighten the dialogue, improve the flow and sets of our lives. Oh, to be sure, honesty is not always easy, but in the right tones, attitudes and intentions it can help us see ways to improve rather than create division, deprecation and destruction. An Editor is in our lives for a life and stays with us when we feel at our weakest and most vulnerable to show us ways to rise as a phoenix from the ashes of a broken heart and or life.

This week I pray, you have an editor in your life so that they can speak for God and make you the best you can be. If not, find one and stick with them.

Blessings,
Greg

Rich and Poor

2009-02-05T21:47:00.001-08:00

We see this parable about giving and receiving: "There once was a rich man, expensively dressed in the latest fashions, wasting his days in conspicuous consumption. A poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, had been dumped on his doorstep. All he lived for was to get a meal from scraps off the rich man's table. His best friends were the dogs who came and licked his sores.

"Then he died, this poor man, and was taken up by the angels to the lap of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell and in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his lap. He called out, 'Father Abraham, mercy! Have mercy! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool my tongue. I'm in agony in this fire.'

"But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that in your lifetime you got the good things and Lazarus the bad things. It's not like that here. Here he's consoled and you're tormented. Besides, in all these matters there is a huge chasm set between us so that no one can go from us to you even if he wanted to, nor can anyone cross over from you to us.'”

Jesus shares this parable so that we may see the power of giving and receiving. We often think that the Rich Man must give to the one that is poor, and say that the beggar must be the receiver. Even though that is the most obvious read of this parable, it may not be the most effective for us.

What would it mean for us to learn that we must become gracious receivers from the poor rather than just servers of the poor? How would it change our worldview to think that everyone has something to share for others? We need to begin seeing how the poor can serve the rich and what the rich have to gain from being with others without using or abusing them in either way.

We need a new way of thinking about our relationships and how they transform us. We need a new way of ending both physical and spiritual poverty in each person’s life. Ending one kind of poverty means that we must alleviate the other. We must learn how to live and grow with and toward one another as a society and as individuals. We learn to receive when we give and as we do God will begin to live in and through us in new and powerful ways.

If we want that lesson we must not rely on great signs or “miracles.” Jesus shares the last of the parable below. Listen to the Prophets of God or you will not get the hint until it is too late.

"Abraham replied, 'If they won't listen to Moses and the Prophets, they're not going to be convinced by someone who rises from the dead.'"

This week will you be a graceful receiver and a generous giver so that you may know the full measure and presence of God in this week?

Blessings,
Pastor Greg

Zanny Zacchaeus

2009-01-22T10:49:00.001-08:00

Who do you have in your life that makes others look at you weirdly? Who is YOUR outcast? Who is your person always in trouble? You were once that to someone. You need this person in your life to teach you some great things about God. Jesus once met up with someone like this, like everyday, yet I am specifically speaking of a man by the name of Zacchaeus. Here is how The Message shares that interaction:

“Then Jesus entered and walked through Jericho. There was a man there, his name Zacchaeus, the head tax man and quite rich. He wanted desperately to see Jesus, but the crowd was in his way—he was a short man and couldn't see over the crowd. So he ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus when he came by.

“When Jesus got to the tree, he looked up and said, ‘Zacchaeus, hurry down. Today is my day to be a guest in your home.’ Zacchaeus scrambled out of the tree, hardly believing his good luck, delighted to take Jesus home with him. Everyone who saw the incident was indignant and grumped, ‘What business does he have getting cozy with this crook?’

“Zacchaeus just stood there, a little stunned. He stammered apologetically, ‘Master, I give away half my income to the poor—and if I'm caught cheating, I pay four times the damages.’

“Jesus said, ‘Today is salvation day in this home! Here he is: Zacchaeus, son of Abraham!’”

Your Zacchaeus can be anyone, but they will always be someone that gets on your friends LAST nerve. They seem to have no social skills, or filters. They challenge everything that you think because they do not seem to listen, care or work toward something. They always come up short, are up a tree, or just do not fit in.

They are far from efficient and helpful. They cause us to see God in the midst of messiness. We, ourselves, are far from perfect so we have had someone bring us in when we were out in the cold. The interesting part of the relationship we have with God is that we need this personality to keep us grounded and focused in the grace that we get from God for our own lives. We need someone that stands out because they cause us to see the world from a different view. They cause us to see that love and life is not near as easy or clean as we want them to be.

The other thing that a Zacchaeus does in our life is teach us what it looks like and means to respond FULLY to God’s presence and promise. Did you notice how generous he responded? Giving HALF of everything he had and promising to restore to the maximum requirement anything he gained dishonestly? Why do you think we do not respond in such ways to those around us? Why do we hold back from the promises that such an embodiment brings?

This week remember you WERE Zacchaeus and you NEED a Zacchaeus. Go out and find one!

Blessings,
Pastor Greg

Jesus did not Speak English

2009-01-08T10:52:00.000-08:00

You saw that title correctly. Jesus did not speak English. He spoke ARAMAIC. In fact, the title on his cross was not written in a language he used in daily life. Please be aware that the thoughts expressed herein are my PERSONAL thoughts. I have a favorite Quote that refocuses the ministry to which God has called me please read and listen with your heart to this:

“Jesus wasn’t crucified in a cathedral between 2 candles, but on a cross between 2 thieves; at a crossroad so cosmopolitan they wrote it in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek; the kind of place where cynics tell jokes, criminals curse, and soldiers gamble. And the righteous run! That's not just where he died, but why.”

George MacLeod shared that quote to say that Jesus came in to a messy world to redeem a messy people, people who are always coming from different places on their way to different places. Today I want focus your attention on the fact that Jesus’ title was in three languages, and NOT the one he spoke most his physical life. Notice that there is in that moment of deep depravity on the human spirit a sense of the binding together of the three prominent cultures present in Jerusalem. They could have written in Latin, but some would have missed the meaning, they could have done the same in Greek or Hebrew, but again the same thing. Even in that moment when God completed the work needed for redemption, there was an understanding in God’s enemies that communicating effectively was more important than communicating officially.

Nashville and Davidson County is in the middle of early voting on an English Only amendment to our charter. There are lot’s of practical reasons to defeat this – with us loosing up to $200 Million in funding for needed services just so that some people can throw their weight around, jobs lost due to corporations not appreciating this, to increased taxes because the $200 Million impacts us all. Yet, my primary goal today is to communicate to you what I feel the heart of God is in regards to this process.

God did not wake someone up one day and say I want English to be the only language used by the government of Nashville and Davidson County. No people with good intentions, but misdirected steps from outside our city came calling and funded this marvelous waste of money, and potential to cost millions more. They have not heard the voice of God or the Prophets in Scripture telling them that they are welcome the stranger, or alien, and treat them well – loving them as we love ourselves.

What I know about this amendment is that it is NOT about love. It is about fear and intolerance. Also, let’s be frank this mostly directed at the Hispanic communities and is being guided and focused by Older White Straight Men. It preys on the smallest of ideas and greatest of fears in people. I expect better of people, especially because God expects better of us.

This week I pray that you go vote in early voting. I pray that you stand on the welcome that God has given you. I pray that you look beyond fear to FAITH. But most of all I pray you remember that JESUS DID NOT SPEAK ENGLISH!

Blessings,
Pastor Greg

Best Laid Plans

2008-12-31T10:58:00.000-08:00

We have moved into a New Year. We almost always exclaim how rough the previous one was, and wish that the new one will be better. That is one of our fundamental problems. We WISH rather than plan. We are taught, and know, that God works via plans. How can we do any less.

Louis Pasteur said: “Chance favors the prepared mind.”

If God works in plans, and chance usually breaks in the direction of those who are prepared, how then should we view this break from the past? Should we just set some random goals and act as though they are “resolutions” which usually means we do not accomplish them?

2008 was a water shed year for Covenant of the Cross. Many things happened that built strength and commitment from individuals, families and the church as a whole. The economic downturn did not destroy, the election did not transform, but the grace and presence of God did. People stepped forward that had been prepared for such a time. In all that we had Christ Community Church merge with us, we moved and sold our old building. Huge changes for people to make, but they were prepared. Prepared people thrive whatever their circumstances because they see the power that carries them is not their own, but the Spirit of God.

This past week we gave every attendee of Covenant of the Cross a Spiritual Health Assessment – a Spiritual Annual Physical if you would. We asked them to check their health based on our shared covenants and how we balance our lives. This tool coupled with a growth plan that they select for this next year. We have turned the corner as a people in planning and preparing for spiritual life. God is not content with us just living by happenstance. That powerful lesson is something that has transformed the view we have of life. The most enduring part of the lesson has been that EVERYTHING in our lives is spiritual – from how we deal with people to how we deal with our career to how we deal with our wallets.

From taking our spiritual temperature to creating a plan to become the people God desires us to be is a powerful lesson. Hebrew Scripture, the Christian Old Testament, shares these words: “Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed.”

God will assist those who plan and focus on walking in that faith to succeed. We have often failed to see the hand of providence in the things that happen in our lives, but there is always a plan to redeem and renew. We must begin to live our lives and plans within the greater plan of God and we will find the abundance and deliverance that will change our lives.

In Jeremiah God says: “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

This week I pray that you are making plans to access God’s plan for you. Find a place of Worship and people that will help you GROW into God’s plan.

Blessings,
Pastor Greg

Complete Commitment

2008-12-21T19:46:00.001-08:00

There is a story told about Ivan the Great who ruled Russia as Czar in the 15th century. He was a warrior, a fighter, and a conqueror of kingdoms. Ivan was so busy doing battle that his advisers had to tell him he had to get married and have a family so that there would be an heir Ivan said “I want to do battle and to conquer more territory, you go find a wife for me.”
Ivan's men found a wife for him from the daughter of the king of Greece, a beautiful girl. They said to Ivan, “We found a wife for you, but there's one problem.” “What's that?” he asked.
“If you're going to marry her, you have to be Greek Orthodox,” they said. Ivan the Great said, “Well, if you think she'd make a good wife for me, that's no problem, I could be Greek Orthodox.”
The Greeks sent tutors to Russia to tutor Ivan and 500 of his elite soldiers, everyone a great warrior. The soldiers required tutoring because Ivan said, “If I'm going to be Greek Orthodox, they're going to be Greek Orthodox.”
They tutored all these men in the Greek Orthodox faith and finally Ivan and the soldiers went down to Greece for the wedding. Before the marriage they had to be baptized into the Greek Orthodox church. It was an incredible sight as thousands of people came to watch Ivan the Great and his 500 soldiers all wade into the water at one time to be baptized by immersion into their new church.
500 soldiers with full armor and 500 Greek Orthodox priests were standing in the blue water of the Mediterranean Sea for the baptism, when all of a sudden the king of Greece said, “We've got a problem.” The problem was that in the Greek Orthodox Church you could not be a warrior and a member of the church at the same time.
So they held a hastily-called diplomatic meeting in the water to ask, "How are we going to work this out?” They came up with a simple answer. Just before the priests immersed the soldiers, each man took out his sword, held it high above the water, and allowed the priest to baptize everything but his sword arm. Thus the saying “the unbaptized arm.”

The reality is that this shows that there was not a COMPLETE commitment to the faith in which they were being baptized. To be sure, few of us compromise faith by withholding a sword arm because we are warriors, but many withhold aspects of their lives because they do not view them as being part of God’s Dominion. For most people it is God’s call to not hold back in other areas. We hold back in our committing of time to God. We hold back from giving to God sacrificially in finances. We hold back from giving to God with our talents and skills.

This week I pray that you will seek to Baptize your entire life to the God that has loved you and been merciful to you. What step do you need to take as we begin this new year to see God’s loop of Redemption, Renewal and Rejoicing grow in your life?

Blessings,
Pastor Greg

Forgiveness

2008-12-11T20:59:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about the concept of forgiveness, throughout most of the day. It's a hard pill to swallow. There are always going to be people who do you wrong or make you mad. Are there different levels of this that warrant different kinds of grudges? I know that holding a grudge against someone is never healthy...nor does it align with Christ and His commandment of forgiveness.

I seldom agree with the mindset of "fake it 'till you make it." Sometimes though, you have to put that in your mind first, before you can be ok with embracing it for real.

There are people from my past who I've harbored animosity toward. I've written them off and a part of me has even languished over them, to a degree. My forgiveness is a work in progress. I think most cases of forgiveness are works in progress. Even when you think you've totally forgiven, you sometimes need to revisit and recognize where you are, as opposed to where you were.

There's someone who's been on my mind and my heart lately. I was very angry for a long time. Slowly, it turned into apathy. That's when it festers and grows in your soul.

I'm beginning my process of forgiveness. I cried a little. It felt good a lot. I felt renewed. Through my forgiveness, I'm beginning my path to redeeming what had begun to fester and grow malignant.

Unforgiveness is not me. It never was growing up and I don't want it to become that, now that I'm grown.

Failing Forward

2008-12-11T10:57:00.001-08:00

We have seen some Fabulous Failures these years. I am amazed at the way we like to watch a train wreck and the attendant tragedy and loss of faith that occurs. Whether we are talking Britney Spears or some Preacher on TV we seem to glory in another person’s agony, pain and failure. I think we like it because it takes our attention off our own failures.

I confess that the other day I watched the Britney special and had to feel sorry for her. She is trapped in a place where no matter what happens in her life it is in a tighter glass bowl than any person should have to withstand. If 50 cars a day followed you everywhere you would have a lot of stuff in the news as well. We have the luxury that our whole lives are not on the news/gossip channels.

The Fabulous Failures of Jimmy Swaggart and John Hagee are two TV Preachers that had very different outcomes of their failures. Oh, they both preach, but one has a restored reputation and one is still seen as a shell of who they could and would have been. John Hagee has gone through redemption and has renewed his sense of holy obligation for the family of God. While he has failed he learned from that failure and has moved forward. That is what we have to do if we are to become new creations in God.

So then how do we become a different person? Paul says that this is the method : So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: “Take your everyday, ordinary life - your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life - and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”

We can be renewed by our failures - if we use them as learning tools that can inform and transform the thoughts and habits we have. Paul is speaking of the way that God seeks our maturing and building up so that we can become the fullness of who we were designed to be. That will never occur if we sit in victimization, hurt, or entitlement. God has a great plan to turn those times that we fail into a new and powerful promise of the future.

This week will you join me in learning and renewing yourself in the failures that you have seen? Will you join me in renewing your mind with the greatness that God can teach you? If so, move forward and quit looking back with regret rather than lenses of the lessons.

Blessings,
Pastor Greg

Redemption

2008-12-03T17:57:00.000-08:00

We rush around this world looking for to make the most of every possible moment. We cannot seem to sit in a moment of silence. We seem to think that we have to be always engaged and running or we are not productive. We want the future and we want it NOW. We are a people preoccupied with getting to the promise rather than enjoying the journey.

We are told that: “So, my dear friends, since this is what you have to look forward to, do your very best to be found living at your best, in purity and peace. Interpret our Master's patient restraint for what it is: salvation.”

Paul is speaking to people that want to rush God’s presence and force God to act in ways that they want. Yet, God is withholding so that what they do not understand can be accomplished. He is telling folks to quit rushing God because God will arrive at the correct time in our history to make the most effective impact. Paul understands that it is easy to say that they are trusting God when in fact they are trying to manipulate God to their way of thinking.

I was listening to someone the other day talking about trusting God to help them in their situation, yet they were so busy being worried about the fact that their reserves were not where they wanted them to be. In short, they said they trusted God, but trusted Bank of America more – since BoA could tell them how much the HAD rather than how their needs could be met otherwise. You see it is easy to say we trust God, when we really are trusting something else – namely the fiat or temporal rather than the hem of healing that will provide far more than we had ever imagined.

I do not think that we can easily dismiss the need for people to be reassured of their well being and also see a glimpse of God’s ability to redeem even our worst mistakes and failures. We can only pray that our worst fears can be allayed and removed from our minds and hearts. We need redemption more than we need blessing. We need redemption that translates into the future and promise that will transform us from the fear and failures that we have embraced to become the success and sensations that we were created to become.

This week embrace the promise of redemption so that you may become the promise of God in this place and this time.

Blessings,
Pastor Greg

The Three Rs

2008-12-01T15:36:00.000-08:00

There is a Sacred Loop that runs through life. The current series is Redeem, Renew and Rejoice. We have often lost track of the sacred themes because we do not want to have a repeating cycle. Yet we all repeat cycles – the question is if the cycles we repeat lead us to better places – if so they are part of the three Rs above, otherwise they need to be removed from our lives (and yes that includes some people as well).

For many Christians we are entering the First Season of a Liturgical Year (a three R Cycle). It is one that is filled with expectation and preparation for the birth of the Savior. It is a way of celebrating life and possibility and needs to be done on a continual basis so that we are reminded and energized for the journey of life and faith. The season of Advent for us mixes expectation, joy, purity and proclaiming in a way that heralds the birth in both physical and spiritual forms.

Advent is important. It reminds us to expect to be Redeemed and Renewed in our lives. It reminds us that we are called to Rejoice in ALL things because they can lead to a renewing of the cycle. It reminds us that our expectations drive the actions we take that often determine what we do in fact get in return. However, God is in the exceeding Redemptive Loop business.

Patricia Neal tells us what God does for us in the relationship: “A master can tell you what he expects of you. A teacher, though, awakens your own expectations.”

If we are indeed made in the image of God we need to find ways to see our lives in the Redeeming, Renewing and Rejoicing Cycle. We need to find ways to make our actions part of that same loop. How can we learn to be redemptive rather than retributive in our thoughts, and actions? If we are created in God’s image, AND if we have entered into a relationship with God we are called to be messengers and managers of this loop that we find in our own lives. While God is at some level a master, he is also a partner in the work we do on this world. There can be no redemption for tomorrow without renewal occurring and without rejoicing starting now.

So, This week do not just rejoice if the Titans win, but rather find ways to see yourself in the ever moving Three R Loop of God!

Thanks Giving

2008-11-20T09:38:00.000-08:00

Basil Carpenter states: “Thank God every day when you get up that you have something to do that day which must be done whether you like it or not. Being forced to work and forced to do your best will breed in you temperance and self-control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hundred virtues which the idle will never know.”

The wisdom that he speaks resonates when we wish to be the recipients of thankfulness. When we need an acknowledgement that the work we have been doing has not been in vain – and better yet is appreciated as people step forward into life. At the same time we need to acknowledge the things that people do for us that act as the grace and mercy of God to make our lives whole and significant. Too often we look at the difficulties we face and see only issues instead of the possibilities. Perhaps our hearts need to be retuned to the symphony of heaven so that we can again sing with power the promises and possibilities of God among us.

Anne Frank suffered greatly and yet she shared: “I do not think of all the misery, but of the glory that remains. Go outside into the fields, nature and the sun, go out and seek happiness in yourself and in God. Think of the beauty that again and again discharges itself within and without you and be happy."

We all have difficulty and stress, but we are also asked to let go of them so that we can instead focus on the things that make life a more memorable and enjoyable experience. There are times when we should recall that sometimes our moments of despair and desperation actually are the only reasons we can savor the success and suspense of greatness. It is only through the cadence, rhythm and cycle of life that brings both joy and
sorrow that we will ever be able to appreciate the things that we have and become.

The most powerful aspect of being thankful however is in the way that it transforms our attitude in life. As Melody Beattie stated: “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow."

This week will you embrace a real Thanksgiving or will you have just overeat on a holiday that is just the marker for the Christmas Shopping Season? My prayer is that you find real thanks and let it impact the way you live every day the rest of your life.

Blessings, Pastor Greg

Valuing People

2008-11-14T19:43:00.000-08:00

Have you ever noticed how your values shape your character and transform your life and perceptions? Our values are not the things that we say, but rather they come from deep within our minds and psyches. They drive our behaviors and thus transform our characters because we will become like that which we repeatedly do. Some repeatedly live in defeat and being a victim others live in ways that overcome – even when their physical situation does not change. As it has been said: "It's what comes out of a person that pollutes: obscenities, lusts, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, depravity, deceptive dealings, carousing, mean looks, slander, arrogance, foolishness—all these are vomit from the heart. There is the source of your pollution."

So then how do we transform our lives and live anew in grace and mercy? We are to do it by living in such a way that what becomes second nature is redemptive in the character that we dwell. How we treat people is indicative of our relationship with God and our respect for God. From Matthew 25:31-40 (The Message) I want to share the first part of a parable of Jesus:

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why: “I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me.'

"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me - you did it to me.'”

Did you catch that last part? They were honestly surprised that they were selected to go to a reward. Why? Because they had behaved as simple caring honoring and loving people who treated people well and looked after the most unlikely of people. In short, they valued people and treated tem with love, dignity, and respect.

How low has the world sunk when we have to see a person’s financial ability or similarity to us determines how the should be treated or heard. We need to embrace a new ethos of relating to one another. One that sees in others the greatness to which God has called us. One that sees us as servants one to another and embraces the call to heal one another’s brokenness.

This week I pray that you embrace the unassuming touch of God to be a vessel of change and hope for those around you. I also pray that you not even realize that you do it by it becoming a part of your personality.

Blessings,
Pastor Greg

2008-11-13T13:53:00.000-08:00

As much as I LOVE to learn new things, I do NOT learn them easily. There is a bit of stubbornness in my brain cells AND my spirit that says "Don't need that new stuff - why are you tryin' to push it on me?"

This has been especially true in this recent season. Finally, FINALLY, it's getting through my thick head that God's timing is NOT our timing, AND that His timing is perfect.

It is NOT a coincidence that we are getting the final things done on our new space, have a sale contract on our old place AND have called a SUPER new Director of Worship Arts all in the last 2 weeks. We are SO blessed to be under the direction of the Living God! He has a Plan and a Purpose for Covenant and I feel that He is leading us into a wonderful Season of Revival as we head into our new adventures!

If you like excitement and abiding joy, come join us!!

Food for the journey

2008-11-05T16:03:00.000-08:00

"Through My blessings, you ARE equipped for peace in the desert."

Sunday night, in the early part of Greg's sermon, I had a vision. Not really uncommon, although I had been in a quiet period, in my spirit, for a while.

I saw a small box, filled with sand. It had what looked like a lower-case "e" raked in it. There were two parallel lines with this "e" though. I asked what it meant. The bulk of what has been shown to and spoken to my spirit this year, has had a theme of fruit...or blessings. But, there has also been a recent trend of deserts.

When I looked at this sand box, I knew that it was a Zen sand garden.

After I asked what all of these things...the fruit, the sand, the "e" meant, subtle parallels between these dichotomies became apparent to me.

Zen, in our society, is equated to peace.
Fruit is blessings, abundance, sustenance.
Sand...desert, are both trial, barrenness, hard times.

The double "e"...parallel lines, both running the course together, equal.

That's when the Spirit spoke this sentence to me:

"Through My blessings, you ARE equipped for peace in the desert."

After this, my spirit was told to read the whole of Acts chapter 20.