Reflections.
A testimony: God rescues.
Blake, my roommate, is teaching me how to make healthy vegan meals that are nutritious, scrumptious and cheaptious. Praise God. I am strangely reminded of the time in 1 Kings 19 where Elijah is fed by angels. Not that I'm anything like Elijah (except that the Spirit that lives in me is the same one that moved him to do God's work) or Blake is a messenger from heaven, except unwittingly. God used Blake and another friend of mine, Brent, to rescue me last night (and to get me to study for my Calculus 2 test today, which I bombed horribly -- we think we all did, actually).
I was thinking, another interesting parallel between myself and Elijah ca. 1 Ki 19 is that we were both running from something we didn't have to be running from after a great time with God, in which we saw His character and power. Another is in that He used the rescuing to demonstrate more of His character.
Last night while I was in the shower, God directed me to catch some facedown time, so I did. After a while, I started asking Him to have mercy on myself and my friends, especially the ones who don't know Him; I eventually prayed "Have mercy, O God, according to Your unfailing love", and it hit me that that was the very like the first line of a psalm. I couldn't remember which for the longest time; I had to go through the concordance, which didn't help me for the longest time, and finally discovered it in one of my very favorite psalms (of course), number 51. So I read and prayed through it, both for myself and for the Church of God. It occurs to me that it would be the most awesome thing for the entire church to actually be able to pray that, in unity (read it and you'll see what I mean). God then led me to Galatians 5, verses 19-21, which is Paul's list of the acts of the flesh, and it broke my heart how many of those things I see in the modern church (read it). It also came to me that when one of these things is done by any member of the church, it reflects poorly on all of us as a body, and poorly on God. Denominational differences don't matter, neither do theological ones (within the Apostle's and Nicene Creeds). When a Catholic priest in Boston abuses a child, it is a wound to the body. When a hypercalvinist excludes everyone who doesn't believe that believing Calvinism is necessary for salvation from being his brothers and sisters in the Lord, it is a wound to the body. When pastors start competing for the biggest college service and Wednesday night youth group and measuring success by numbers, it is a wound to the body. When elders of a church veto every program they don't personally enjoy, it is a wound to the body. When we gossip about anyone, it is a wound to the body.
We need to get on our faces before the Lord as Nehemiah did, and mourn and fast and pray over the sins we have committed, over the state of the Church; that God would unite us and rebuild the walls of the church, that the gates of Hell would not prevail, as Christ promised. Just because He promised that they wouldn't doesn't mean that it is not our place to beg Him for His mercy and His grace. In 1 Chronicles 16, verse 35, David commands, implores the people of Israel to cry out to God, "Save us, O God our Savior; gather us and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, that we may glory in your praise." This is something that I believe the Church, especially that of the United States needs to do. We are the holy priesthood of believers (1 Peter 2:9), and like the Levite priests of old, we are still to minister before the Lord, to "weep between the temple porch and the altar." To say, "Spare your people, O Lord. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations." (Joel 2:17)
Christians, do the sins of our brothers and sisters in Christ break our hearts to the point where we love them to the point of begging God to have mercy on their behalf? Do we love the lost people around us to that extent? We should.
I have to confess that, very often, I don't. I, too, must pray to God for compassion and love to fill my heart, that He would break my heart with the pain of those around me, that I would see that pain, that I would be so consumed with his love that I act as the "good" samaritan did when he came across a man that was broken, beaten, robbed and helpless. To take pity, bandage wounds, care for that person... I want to have that kind of love. And this love comes only from God.
Man, I love this CD. "Within a Mile of Home" is definitely a song for any band I have to cover. Oh yes. "With a Wonder and a Wild Desire" is great as well. Such beautiful songwriting!
Galen
Blake, my roommate, is teaching me how to make healthy vegan meals that are nutritious, scrumptious and cheaptious. Praise God. I am strangely reminded of the time in 1 Kings 19 where Elijah is fed by angels. Not that I'm anything like Elijah (except that the Spirit that lives in me is the same one that moved him to do God's work) or Blake is a messenger from heaven, except unwittingly. God used Blake and another friend of mine, Brent, to rescue me last night (and to get me to study for my Calculus 2 test today, which I bombed horribly -- we think we all did, actually).
I was thinking, another interesting parallel between myself and Elijah ca. 1 Ki 19 is that we were both running from something we didn't have to be running from after a great time with God, in which we saw His character and power. Another is in that He used the rescuing to demonstrate more of His character.
Last night while I was in the shower, God directed me to catch some facedown time, so I did. After a while, I started asking Him to have mercy on myself and my friends, especially the ones who don't know Him; I eventually prayed "Have mercy, O God, according to Your unfailing love", and it hit me that that was the very like the first line of a psalm. I couldn't remember which for the longest time; I had to go through the concordance, which didn't help me for the longest time, and finally discovered it in one of my very favorite psalms (of course), number 51. So I read and prayed through it, both for myself and for the Church of God. It occurs to me that it would be the most awesome thing for the entire church to actually be able to pray that, in unity (read it and you'll see what I mean). God then led me to Galatians 5, verses 19-21, which is Paul's list of the acts of the flesh, and it broke my heart how many of those things I see in the modern church (read it). It also came to me that when one of these things is done by any member of the church, it reflects poorly on all of us as a body, and poorly on God. Denominational differences don't matter, neither do theological ones (within the Apostle's and Nicene Creeds). When a Catholic priest in Boston abuses a child, it is a wound to the body. When a hypercalvinist excludes everyone who doesn't believe that believing Calvinism is necessary for salvation from being his brothers and sisters in the Lord, it is a wound to the body. When pastors start competing for the biggest college service and Wednesday night youth group and measuring success by numbers, it is a wound to the body. When elders of a church veto every program they don't personally enjoy, it is a wound to the body. When we gossip about anyone, it is a wound to the body.
We need to get on our faces before the Lord as Nehemiah did, and mourn and fast and pray over the sins we have committed, over the state of the Church; that God would unite us and rebuild the walls of the church, that the gates of Hell would not prevail, as Christ promised. Just because He promised that they wouldn't doesn't mean that it is not our place to beg Him for His mercy and His grace. In 1 Chronicles 16, verse 35, David commands, implores the people of Israel to cry out to God, "Save us, O God our Savior; gather us and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, that we may glory in your praise." This is something that I believe the Church, especially that of the United States needs to do. We are the holy priesthood of believers (1 Peter 2:9), and like the Levite priests of old, we are still to minister before the Lord, to "weep between the temple porch and the altar." To say, "Spare your people, O Lord. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn, a byword among the nations." (Joel 2:17)
Christians, do the sins of our brothers and sisters in Christ break our hearts to the point where we love them to the point of begging God to have mercy on their behalf? Do we love the lost people around us to that extent? We should.
I have to confess that, very often, I don't. I, too, must pray to God for compassion and love to fill my heart, that He would break my heart with the pain of those around me, that I would see that pain, that I would be so consumed with his love that I act as the "good" samaritan did when he came across a man that was broken, beaten, robbed and helpless. To take pity, bandage wounds, care for that person... I want to have that kind of love. And this love comes only from God.
Man, I love this CD. "Within a Mile of Home" is definitely a song for any band I have to cover. Oh yes. "With a Wonder and a Wild Desire" is great as well. Such beautiful songwriting!
Galen