Category: DOC Thoughts
Devotion
Every Wednesday morning at 8:30 am (central time) the Oklahoma Regional staff (professional and office) gather for devotion. Someone in our group prepares something brief. We usually offer prayer concerns. We do with with deployed staff via web video conference. It allows us to see one another as well as be heard. Today, I led devotion and this is what I offered.
Check-In Time: How is your spirit today?
Matthew 6:24-34(NRSV)
24“No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
25“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? 28And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, 29yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. 30But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.
Prayer: A time of silence when persons offered intercessory prayer by naming persons, situations, and congregations out loud. I closed with spoken words of prayer.
A Parting Story
From one of my favorite books, Tales of a Magic Monastery. The story is titled, NOW.
I had just one desire — to give myself completely to God. So, I headed for the monastery. An old monk asked me, “What is it you want?”
I said, “I just want to give myself to God.”
I expected him to be gentle, fatherly, but he shouted at me, “NOW!” I was stunned. He shouted again, “NOW!” Then he reached for a club and came after me. I turned and ran. He kept coming after me, brandishing his club and shouting, “NOW, NOW.”
That was years ago. He still follows me, wherever I go. Always that stick, always that “NOW!”
Big Tent Christianity Pt. 2
As I continue reading about this event it was good to learn that one of my favorite scholars, Marcus Borg, offered words as a headliner at this event. Borg’s description of the divide within Christianity resonates with my thought and experience. It is also a good description of the conversations within my brand of Christian witness, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). I recommend any of Borg’s books. Below find a bit of the reporting about his address.
Marcus Borg’s Talk Surprises Many at Conference
by Cynthia B. Astle | The Progressive Christian | February 12, 2011Heart of the Message
Borg began the session, with its theme of Jesus, God and the Church, by posing what he sees as the critical question for all Christians today:What is the heart of the Christian message today, the heart of the gospel of Jesus Christ?
Borg said that a historic answer to this question dominates most understandings of Christianity today: “Jesus died for our sins so we can be forgiven and go to heaven if we believe in him.”
However, Borg continued, a growing number of Christians view the Christian message today as the radical centering in God that Jesus outlines in the three synoptic gospels:
“[Jesus] answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.’” -Luke 10.27
“Jesus talks consistently about the coming of the kingdom of God,” Borg said. “The kingdom of God is not for the afterlife, but for earth. It’s what life would be like if kings didn’t rule the world, a transformed world of justice and fairness, where everyone has enough for life.”