becoming God's flock

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture,

And the sheep of His hand.

Psalm 95:6-7 NKJV

Our saviour leads us like a shepherd, but how? Is it just individual, is it just that still small voice? Is it simply by reading the Word on my own, by myself?

Or, has the Good Shepherd given us shepherds, to lead us in His care? What would that look like? What would following His appointed shepherds look like? How well do I/we do that?

Hebrews 13:7, 17 urge us to consider and follow, for our own benefit. Does how I follow a shepherd relate to how I'm following the Shepherd?

becoming "foreigners"???

I spoke yesterday about politics in church, where our politics, or our politeuma, really are. Our true citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20). I shared several quotes from Alexis de Tocqueville's critique of American democracy. What Tocqueville noted about America has some warnings for us as American Christians. There is always a temptation to follow along in the currents of our culture, when we are actually called to be Heaven's ambassadors, temporarily residents here to show and share God's glory and salvation in Christ. There is much that distracts us, but we who have been raised with Christ must seek those things which are above...(Col 3:1-4), and represent Heaven's values, even above our own interests, while we are here.

Here are those quotes (from De la démocratie en Amérique):
1. The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money.
2. There are many men of principle in both parties in America, but there is no party of principle.
3. There are two things which a democratic people will always find very difficult - to begin a war and to end it.
4. There is hardly a political question in the United States which does not sooner or later turn into a judicial one.
5. Materialism results from a passion for equality because people think that they ought to be able to have as much wealth as everyone else. Indirectly, materialism also comes from the philosophical tendency fostered by democracies to disdain lofty ideas or thoughts of eternity.
6. The main business of religions is to purify, control, and restrain that excessive and exclusive taste for well-being which men acquire in times of equality.

And one more...
Our home is in heaven, and here on earth we are a colony of heavenly citizens - M. Dibelius

becoming family

One of the strongest images for the Church, and a local church, is family. We are members of God's family, brothers and sisters, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. We have been born into this family, born again, born of the Spirit of God through faith in Christ (John 3).
Recently, I was reminded in our our family, what being God's family means in our church. Family is a place where your welcomed with a hug, you don't have to wait for an invitation to come, and you can bring your dirty laundry home with you--we'll work on it together!
I want opur church to be that for one another. Our past family expereince may not be perfect, it might not be what it could be, but our expereince in God's family, together, can be all that God intends it too be.
Leave a comment on what you think it takes or looks like for a church to be or do family together.

sewing pearls on satin

Imagine the wedding is just weeks away, you know things are not yet ready, and you're the bride! What are you doing, watching Oprah? Chillin with your ipod? No, you're frantic, focused on being ready. Minor distractions like eating and sleep mean nothing to you now. The Day is coming, when the doors open, and every head turns back, the music plays and you step toward your bridegroom. You have to be ready, the dress perfect, every bead and pearl in place.
The Day is coming, when Jesus calls his Bride, the church, to come be with Him in the place he has prepared for her, for us. Are we ready? Is the fine linen of the Bride (Rev 19:7-8) wrinkle free and shining bright? How should we be sewing pearls on satin?

a new humanity

God has made the church as a new humanity, a new man. The key is new, new in kind or quality--different--no more status quo. A key part of this difference is in our relationships with one another. I wanted to say that being reconciled with God we then can be restored to one another, but it's not that neat. These two are intertwined in Ephesians 2:13-18--God has made peace between man and God and between men... between women... between men and women?
Have we way over-compartmentalized our Christianity by focusing on a relationship between myself and God? Do I experience a relationship with God in relationship with others? How then, could I be more intentional about my spiritual relationship with God?