Theme: What is the Blessed Life?

Peace! 

What a wonderful concept.  It is even a pleasant word to say..."peace of mind", "grace and peace", "peace on earth", "love, joy and peace",  and so on. 

The word 'peace' conjures up so many nice thoughts and feelings...yet, do we experience any of those in our lives today?  "Conflict" seems to be everywhere - on the TV, in the newspaper, on the internet, in our government, in our culture, even in our own homes, families and relationships.

So, do we accept the lack of peace in our lives, in our hearts?  Do we make excuses:  "we're just under a lot of stress right now", "it is the economy", "it is the Republicans/Democrats fault", etc.?  Maybe, we even deceive ourselves into thinking we have peace, oblivious to the turmoil that exists within our very hearts.  It reminds me of the soldiers of the Seventh U.S. Calvary at Wounded Knee Creek.  It was late Dec

ember, 1890, in South Dakota when Custer's former regiment, (Custer was killed 14 years earlier), came upon a band of Sioux Indians headed to the Pine Ridge Agency for safety.  The group of Indians consisted of 120 men and 230 women and children.  Chief Big Foot, who was very ill, displayed a white 'flag' indicating their intentions.  The Indians set up camp for the night while the soldiers guarded them with plans to escort the Indians the following day.  The next morning an altercation occurred while the Indians were turning in their weapons.  The soldiers opened fire killing nearly 300 of the 350 men, women and children.  Forty-seven wounded, bleeding women and children were taken in wagons to the Pine Ridge 'church' or mission.  They were place on the floor where, above the pulpit, hung a banner stating - "PEACE ON EARTH, GOOD WILL TO MEN".

Jesus says "My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give you.  Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful", (John 14:27).  Therefore, peace is something we can experience. 

Jesus also said "blessed are the peacemakers", (Matthew 5:9), which implies peace takes effort. 

Peace is more than a concept; it is more than a word.  It is a reality!  Are we willing to make the effort to seek it, work for it, and accept it?  Maybe we are just more comfortable with 'words' like "peace on earth".  Read Philippians 4:6-7.

Doug Burns

Stephenville, Texas

Theme: What is the Blessed Life?

“Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God”.  Matt.5:8

This beatitude is an attitude of a true disciple.
Pure does not mean completely without sin.
A pure heart is a heart that loves God completely.

Our loyalty is undivided.

I was in Pier 1 last week doing some Christmas shopping. I noticed a piece of artwork on the far wall that drew me in. The scene was a grove of aspen trees in Colorado. The colors in the painting were greens, yellows, black and white, blues and deep hues of rust. The depth of the forest was intriguing to me. I envisioned myself taking a hike through those woods and enjoying the sounds of nature. I stood in front of the canvas noticing that it was a copy and reasonably priced. I asked my husband to come over and take a look at it.  While standing there he noticed a glob of white paint 1 inch long right in the center of the reproduction. It was out of place and once it was pointed out to me, I could not enjoy the painting. I was focused on the impurity, instead of the art.  

In the beatitude above, Jesus is telling us to keep our hearts pure. Don’t let evil in. Our allegiance to God must be unfaltering. Don’t allow a smudge of something contrary to God to be a part of our lives. When our heart is pure we can see Him who is invisible. We see him in those around us. We see him using people here to achieve his purposes.  We see Him working through us to touch others. This verse is not only talking about seeing God in heaven.  The truth is, we are part of His kingdom now and he is at work in those who love Him. Those who love Him with a pure heart will see Him now.

What a blessing!

Dear Father,
Thank you for giving us a glimpse of yourself in our everyday world.  Jesus thank you for pointing out to us the blessings that come from a pure heart. Thank you Father for the plan you have for us and for working through us to accomplish your purpose here on earth. Forgive me when my loyalty falters and help me to recognize it, so the impurity does not become part of my heart.  In the most Holy name of Jesus, Amen.  

Terry Smith

Stephenville, Texas

Theme : Eyes for the Margins

Marginal Missionaries

While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”  Matthew 9:10-13

Jesus ministered to those hated by society, outcasts, the sick, the poor, the un-churched, and the non-religious.  He served them rather than placing burdens of duty and works.  He forgave them rather telling people they were wrong.  He saved them rather than condemning. The Jewish religious elite followed the letter of the law and made sure everyone knew it.  They were quick to treat harshly, quick to judge, quick to condemn, and quick to punish. 

As a church who do we most resemble? Jesus or the religious elite?  Are we seeking and serving those on the margins within our churches, communities, and world who are hurting, in need, and looking for something to hold on to?  Are we as a church seen as a safe place, a refuge from life's storms, and a source of care, hope, and love?  Is our church a place of love first, acceptance first, healing first, and serving first even when it is clear those accepted, healed, served, and loved may be dirty with sin?   According to Jesus it’s ok to eat with "sinners" and just eat.  We don't have to put them on a 5 step program to salvation.  The lost and hurting world is looking for a church and its people whose identity is not in doctrine, law, and being right.  There is a great yearning for authentic love that embodies the way Jesus ministered to people.  He accepted the hurting and those seeking Him and rejected the religious. What does that tell us as a church?  As individuals and the church we sometimes think it is our duty to point out what’s wrong with people, fix them, and convert them.  We are more concerned with baptizing than saving.  We rush and push. We impose our religious rules and our time frames and don’t allow the Holy Spirit to do the work of changing hearts and lives.  Rather than gently, patiently, and lovingly ministering to those on the margins within and without our churches we wound and confuse them with our words, behaviors, and actions.  In our misguided, though well intentioned efforts, we often condemn, correct, and convert rather than comfort, care, and turn the other cheek.  The result is a church that repels rather than draws. 

How we treat people is what will draw them to the church and ultimately introduce them to Jesus.  We are His body, in the flesh today to embrace a lost and hurting world in a way none expect. With some poetic license I picture Jesus leaning back from Matthew’s dinner table surrounded by tax collectors, prostitutes, and thieves and with a slight smile on his face and one eyebrow cocked replying to the Pharisees “Worry less about being right and more about loving your neighbor”.

Father, may we love You with all that is within us and love others as if our own children.  Amen.

Scotty Elston  

Shallowater, TX

Theme: Eyes for the Margins

Scripture reference: 11 Corinthians 3:16-18

In my life my greatest deterrent from dealing with people who are in the “margins,” (destitute, handicapped, trapped in the sins of this dark world, dirty, repulsive, neglected etc.) is my own “aura” of righteousness.  It’s not an aura that I want to carry around with me, but I think in many ways I do.  As a Christian wife, mother and “church-goer,” it is a danger I face that I project a “holier-than-thou” disposition and am perceived that way by others. This makes me sad because I know I have no righteousness of my own, but only that which the Lord covers me with….His own!

In my prayers I ask God to help me overcome this impression on others, because it’s not how I want to be and I surely believe it is not how God wants His children to be, in actuality or in the perception of how we seem to be to others!  This perception puts up a “wall” that discourages any trust and interaction between us and those we’d like to befriend and interact with more naturally and comfortably, (for them, as well as ourselves!)

In the affluent society we live in, if the Christian has been blessed materially, this too adds to the “wall” that those less materially blessed view negatively, thus increasing their perception of “why would they care anything about me?!”

We have a preacher, new to our congregation, who so passionately is reminding us there are two things God wants!  He wants people to be saved by His gospel, and those saved to be changed into the likeness of His son, Jesus Christ, and do what He did!  The only way I can overcome this barrier I feel between me and the precious people I contact daily is through totally surrendering my will and ways to the Spirit of Christ and let Him change me to be like Him, putting people at ease, and helping me to be a warm, loving, genuinely caring person they can trust.  Through prayer I believe the Lord will respond to us to be more like Him in this and to help remove the wall that is so much of an obstacle!

My husband was a coach for many years at high school and then university level.   He coached athletes from many varied walks of life, one in particular from a home and town where she had been abused cruelly, both mentally and physically.  To say she was unappealing would be stating it kindly.  Yet she was a gifted athlete in a specific area.  Our interest grew in her and we attempted to be in her life and help her.  She was like an ill-treated puppy: dejected, cowering, untrusting, suspicious, and beaten down.  My initial involvement was to take her shopping for a dress for an athletic awards banquet.

Now this “wall” I’m writing about was very apparent in this experience, but I was determined to overcome it, and by God’s grace, in this case, it happened and we had a break-through, to His glory and ultimately to the salvation of this precious soul!  She became so interested in the Christian walk of life she decided she must read the Bible, God’s word, and provided with one, she devoured the entire book from Genesis through Revelation in one long weekend!  And on the following Sunday my husband, her coach, was blessed to baptize her into Christ!  I was blessed to assist in her baptism as she prepared and then came up out of that watery grave to a new life in Christ.  I’d like to say her on-going life has always been easy after that, but as we all live in this fallen world we aren’t promised a life problem-free, but a life where God sees us through the problems.  I believe her faith-walk will carry her though the particular challenges she continues to face daily.

I look at this experience as one God used in my life to remind me He can break down barriers, when we let Him, that keep us from being His hands and His heart and His outreach to others!

My prayer from a verse from the precious hymn, “Have Thine Own Way, Lord:”

Have thine own way, Lord, have thine own way!

Hold o’er my being absolute sway!

Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see Christ only, always living in me!

Jan McCoy

Merkel, Texas

Theme: Eyes for the Margins

Where does the “margin” begin and how can we have eyes for those in the margins of society?  Unfortunately it can be just beyond our own noses.   Do we need to minister to the homeless, the imprisoned, the orphaned and otherwise neglected?  Yes!  But, we start by SEEing those that need God’s love right around us.  Let us all put on our “Jesus Goggles”, open our hearts and start loving.

“But my eyes are toward you, O God, my Lord…” Psalm 141:8

“Thank you, Dana.”  These words were issued with a smile from a man that I admire and respect.  Less than ten minutes before he had lain in a recliner, dozing with his left hand limp at his side with a thin line of drool trailing down his lip.   It had been months since he called me by or remembered my name, so I thought.  I had assumed that his most recent stroke had left him with little of his memory or the ability to produce cogent thoughts.  These three words from a dying, 93 year old stroke victim struck a cord with me, helping me realize how wrong I was about many things.

I am used to hearing of families that would put an aging parent, like this gentleman, in a nursing home.  In fact, this is the norm more than the exception down in the lower 48.  From a young age, my family has volunteered at nursing homes.  I have witnessed the wearing down and death of both young and old.  Nursing homes are not just filled with the elderly.  I have known a man in his forties with AIDS, a 50-year-old former college professor with a brain injury, and a retired rodeo queen.  The one consistent between these varied acquaintances is that for the most part, they are forgotten; marginalized. They are forgotten by their families, forgotten by their friends, and forgotten by society at large. They are a grouping of the forgotten, the disposal of the dying.  You see, aging isn’t pretty.  It isn’t glamorous, and taking care of those that are in the twilight years isn’t glamorous either. 

Life is fragile in all its stages, in fact we all have needs that must be met.  These needs may change depending on which life season we are in, but needs are still there.  Those of us that are in the prime of our lives may delude ourselves into believing that we have it all under control and are completely self sustained.  Why does our culture so easily mock the weak or the dying?  I myself have been guilty of saying things like, “I don’t want to ‘go out’ that way” or “if, I ever get that bad off just ship me down the river.”  It is easy for us in our youth, to ‘mock the dying bird.’ 

This last week, as I heard my name from my aged friend, I realized that life isn’t just about “living large”.  In fact sometimes, life is just barely hanging on.  However strong or fragile life is, life is beautiful and amazing.  On the wall next to where this man lay was a framed photo of one of his proudest moments.  At the age of 78 he confidently stands 6’2”, a muscular 200 pounds, with a slight smile on his face and an outstretched arm next to a 368 pound halibut. I look at the same man, in a much weaker frame, and I can’t help but smile. Our culture today might say, “How pitiful that this great man would die this way.”  Yet, there is no need to pity this man.  Instead I see joy in his eyes, a smile on his lips and appreciation for all that is done for him.  He isn’t downtrodden in his last days or resentful of his condition.  He takes delight in a hymn, truly feels the warmth in a hug, and finds comfort from a warm bowl of soup.  His heart is secure in his salvation. I also look around and see his family and friends banding together to take care of his every need.  I observe granddaughters coming to hold his hand, grandsons dressing him for bed, and friends from his church stopping by with food and lending hands.  He is definitely not forgotten.

Just like a new mother, cares for and instructs her baby into childhood, and eventually adulthood; so we have the opportunity to aid the aging into heaven.  And through this work we can learn something.  The world tells us that if you’re not young, lean, wealthy and good looking not only will you not win the latest episode of Survivor, but your life is not really worth living.  What I learned from my time with Lionel is that life is worth living just simply because it is life.  He also taught me that true strength isn’t being ashamed of weakness or bound by pride, but boldly stepping through the doors of life, even the door that leads us home to heaven.

Prayer:  Thank you Father, for the opportunity to care for and learn from the aging in our midst.  Help us to see these beautiful lights of wisdom.  Help us to serve them and learn from them. Help us to see all those that you created through your eyes, and let what we see prick our hearts to love. We love you, Father

Dana Jaworski

Anchor Point, AK

Theme: Eyes for the Margins

Then Jesus asked him, ‘What is your name?’  ‘My name is Legion,’ he replied, ‘for we are many’.”  Mark 5:9

This quote is from the story of Jesus healing a demon-possessed man.  Read Mark 5:1-20 and Luke 8:26-38.  It’s exciting stuff!  No human could subdue this man and no chains could bind him.  He lived in the cemetery, shrieking and screaming and cutting himself with shards of stone. 

It’s no wonder this story resonates with me.  As a psychologist in the prison system I was supposed to help inmates change.  Change attitudes, change behavior, change perspectives.  The following story is about a man who helped me change mine.  

He could be any man or woman “on the margins” of society, created in the image of God and deserving of respect.  He was Legion, and I was a self-righteous Pharisee.

Wearing my fine clothes and best therapeutic expression I listened as he described how drugs had seduced him.  I could see how crime, self-abuse and neglect had ravaged his body.  I asked about his hands – black pigment burned white, and several fingers missing.  Evidently, fearing he had killed a man, he had set himself on fire.  His jumbled speech and blank stare betrayed early stages of dementia.   

After he left my office I glibly thanked God for the rare privilege of working “with men like him.”  Elevating myself further I thought, “Jesus walked with men like him, Jesus talked to men like him, and I get to work with men like him.”

Then the Spirit grabbed me by the scruff of my heart and reminded me that I, too, am just like him.  No better, no more loved by God, and no more deserving of the freedom that only comes by knowing Him.

I remember absolutely nothing of my comments to him.  (Please, God, let me have been a blessing).  He died two weeks later never knowing how our brief encounter would forever affect my perspective—and now yours.  

Father, prejudice and pride overshadow our freedom to be light in dark places.  Open our hearts so we can see ourselves and others through Your eyes.  Amen     

    

Sandra Milholland

Abilene, Texas

Theme: Eyes for the Margins

Jesus had eyes to see the outcast, downtrodden and lonely, those culture places on the fringe of belonging-the sinful, the poor, the diseased, the imprisoned.  Dear Father, Give us eyes to see those who live on the fringe of society.  May we live to share the “good news” and glorify Your name as we lend a helping hand.

How many times have you found yourself living on the fringe (on the outside, rejected, broken)?     

Jesus lived there.  He was “one” with the Father.  They walked together in spirit, continually in communication and sync with One another. Oh, to be like Jesus, each moment, living in the will of our Heavenly Father!

Without God, the fringe is a place of desperate loneliness, time creeps along when hope is nil, joy and peace are hidden from the heart’s view.  

Let us remember the lovely soul/s that noticed our situation and befriended us, not forgetting the companion who let down a rope into our pit of despair.   This one who brought good news of hope and healing to a destitute heart, a friend who knew God created each with a purpose, seeing beauty behind the ashes.

Shouldn’t we yearn to return the favor to the downcast and the lost?  “Father, give us Your eyes to see, give us Your arms for the brokenhearted, give us Your heart for the forgotten ones, give us Your love for all humanity”, (quoting from the chorus of a popular song today).

Give me your eyes-chorus
(By Brandon Heath)
Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me you heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see

Father God,

Forgive us for the haughtiness, busyness or fear that keep us from reaching out to the hurting.  Teach us to love and serve unselfishly without prejudice , just as Jesus our LORD modeled for us.  Show us when to speak, when to give and when to listen.  Thank You, Father, for each blessing You rain down on us day after day, faithfully loving us and sustaining our lives.

In Jesus Holy name, Amen   

Mischelle Oliver, Stephenville