What I thought about today…
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THE CARDIGANS -I NEED SOME FINE WINE AND YOU, YOU NEED TO BE NICERNADA SURF- DO IT AGAIN /THE WEIGHT IS A GIFTEZRA REICH -I NEED A MOMENT ALONE / MILKSHAKE ARCADETHE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS -TWIN CINEMA / TWIN CINEMABLACK MOUNTAIN â DRUGANOUT / BLACL MOUNTAINACID HOUSE KINGS -DO WHAT YOU WANNA DO / SING ALONG WITH ACID HOUSE KINGSTHE SPECTACULAR FANTASTIC - DARKEST HOUR /THE SPECTACULAR FANTASTIC GOES UNDERGROUNDGOLDRUSH - WAIT FOR THE WHEELS /OZONASILVERSUN PICKUPS - KISSING FAMILIESPATTERN IS MOVEMENT- SILVER QUEEN / STOWAWAYBOYSKOUT- GIRL ON GIRL / BOYSKOUTSAFETY SCISSORS - SUNLIGHTDELANEY-LA NUIT ON A TOUJOURS TOUT/DELANEYPAAL FLAATA - IT WILL ALL COME DOWN / RAINRICHARD SWIFT - AS I GOEDDIE TADROSS - WATERED DOWNMUZORAMA IS BROADCAST WEEKLY ON RADIO FORTUNA (FM106.9 , TBILISI, GEORGIA)PRODUCED BY KOMUNIKATORI
Tommy Brown (3) and Michael Horn (16) make the Wing-T flow
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Paul takes a similar approach when he comes to the people of Athens. So today we are going to look at Paul’s mission to the people of Athens and see what we can learn from it as we reach out to those around us. We see an evangelist at work, we see an evangelist coming before a group of people and presenting his message in a way that they can digest, in a way that at least gets some of them interested. he was perfectly comfortable walking up to a crowd of people and starting to tell them about Jesus. These preachers would stand on a street corner and shout, or speak into a megaphone at the people coming by them. Though they were seeming to use the method of Paul, they didn’t seem to get the same reaction as Paul. People today aren’t going to stop to listen to someone speaking on a street corner. He didn’t need to convince them about God, they already knew about God. He was going to a place that was set aside for people to talk about religion, philosophy and politics. So Paul wasn’t just going and shouting from a street corner, instead, he was going to a place where people expected to hear others talk about God and he did that very thing. We don’t have that place where we can go where we will find people ready to listen to us and hear the message that we have. Moses and God were so taken aback and angry that that was almost the end of the people of Israel right there. And yet, when Paul brings his message to the people of Athens, he realizes that he needs to begin where they are at, not where he wants them to be. Instead of standing up in front of the idols and telling the people that they are worshipping false gods and trying to single-handedly destroy these abominations, Paul looks at the people and says, “I know you are a religious people”. Paul starts on common ground as he tells people about Jesus. But here, Paul knows that there is much that separates him from the people of Athens, but there is something that connects him to them as well, and that is their devotion to a god, any god. Unknown God In sharing his truth, Paul uses one of the very idols that he is so distressed about. He points out the idol made to the Unknown God and decides to use this as a starting point to tell the people of Athens about the one and only God who he serves. Again, Paul starts where the people are and he presents a message that connects with the needs they know they have. He doesn’t start by telling them where they’re wrong, he begins by telling them where they’re right. But Paul doesn’t end with what he has in common with the people of Athens. He uses this only as a foundation, he uses this only as a starting point so that he can then tell them the truth about God. The first of these is that we begin by telling people that they’re sinners. You cannot start by telling people how messed up they are. When we make this mistake, we spend all our time talking about what we have in common with those around us and we never move on to the stage where we tell people the truth about God. Like Paul told the people of Athens, we are to tell those around us to repent. Paul talked about what those in Athens got right, but he then moved from this to tell them about what they were getting wrong, what they needed to change. And, when the time is right (and we need to trust the Spirit to let us know when this is), we can share truth with them in a loving way that will move them closer to the kingdom of God.
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FIRST READING: Jeremiah 31-34. . .for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.When I was a kid, I said Im sorry” a lot. So much so that my mother, in pure exasperation, once shouted at me, “I know youre sorry, youre always sorry. I dont want to hear how sorry you are. I want you to stop doing it.I have to say that most of my sorry-ness was not true repentance seeking a genuine forgiveness, not when I was a kid, not even much later in life. It was not motivated by an awareness of true guilt for having acted wrongly. Rather it was an attempt to stave off punishment after getting caught doing things powerful others (parents, teachers, residence advisors, spouse, parishioners, bishops) didn’t want me to do.I developed a genuine need for forgivenenss only when I recognized that the failures with those folks were not failures of action, but of relationship. In a true relationship, a balanced and loving relationship, one acts faithfully not of of fear of punishment but in response to trust and love.To sin, either before God or our neighbor, is to break that trust, to act against it, to step outside the circle of love. And when you find yourself outside the love which is as essential to real life as air is to breathing, then the plea for forgiveness is a plea to be restored to the relationship of trust.When that happens, when you need that kind of forgiveness from God or wife or parent or children or significant other; then the words of Jeremiah remind us that God can give that kind of forgiveness, not a petty little Oh, its okay, dont worry about it, but a hearty, “I know you have failed, but I love you and will treat you as if it never happened.”It is in that kind of forgiveness that our sorry-ness is transformed into holiness, and the greatest Reformation of all.SECOND READING: Romans 3:19-28″For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by law.”For most of us, most of the time, the Gospel is just a little too good to believe. Theres got to be a catch, a hidden clause, something that we have to do so that we can be sure that were saved.We just have trouble putting our full weight down on the promise of this text. My Aunt Mildred died this past spring. She was in her 80s. In August, my siblings and I got together to work on settling her estate. As we were walking though the house, I noticed a machine attached to the back of her Laz-y-boy. My brother, who is an architect and builder and lives close by and took care of her, identified it as an auxiliary generator. The why? question was all over my face. He said,Well, its an electric chair with a motor to lift the seat up slowly so that it was easy for her to get out. A few years ago I dropped by to see her andshe said, “Im having trouble getting out of my chair lately. I said, Is there something wrong with the motor? Ill take a look.”She said, “Theres nothing wrong with the motor. I dont ever plug it in.I said, “Well, why not?” andshe said, “Well, what if I was laying back in it and the power went out. I wouldnt be able to get out of it.Hence the auxiliary power pack.Many of us are like Aunt Mildred. Kind of afraid to fully trust the Gospel, to trust Gods promise to be with us, to save us. So we get a little auxiliary power pack of good deeds, just in case. Money given, offices filled, good deeds done. We dont flaunt them, but we keep them around, just in case.The Gospel is, we are accepted on the strength of Gods love for us. And those things we do are done in response to Gods lovelink
Itâs that passage that talks about how the poor old apostles were being ridiculed and made fun of, and their followers were⦠Well, letâs just take a look at it: We (the apostles look like fools, but you (followers of Jesus) look wise⦠we are without honor, you are distinguishedâ¦We are weak, you are strongâ¦We are hungry and thirstyâ¦We donât have fine clothesâ¦We are treated badlyâ¦We are homelessâ¦Good grief⦠That was then, I guess, because these days itâs just the opposite. Those now claiming the apostles mantle are likely to look wise and be distinguished and have several honorary degrees on their paneled walls.
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Array
THE CARDIGANS -I NEED SOME FINE WINE AND YOU, YOU NEED TO BE NICERNADA SURF- DO IT AGAIN /THE WEIGHT IS A GIFTEZRA REICH -I NEED A MOMENT ALONE / MILKSHAKE ARCADETHE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS -TWIN CINEMA / TWIN CINEMABLACK MOUNTAIN â DRUGANOUT / BLACL MOUNTAINACID HOUSE KINGS -DO WHAT YOU WANNA DO / SING ALONG WITH ACID HOUSE KINGSTHE SPECTACULAR FANTASTIC - DARKEST HOUR /THE SPECTACULAR FANTASTIC GOES UNDERGROUNDGOLDRUSH - WAIT FOR THE WHEELS /OZONASILVERSUN PICKUPS - KISSING FAMILIESPATTERN IS MOVEMENT- SILVER QUEEN / STOWAWAYBOYSKOUT- GIRL ON GIRL / BOYSKOUTSAFETY SCISSORS - SUNLIGHTDELANEY-LA NUIT ON A TOUJOURS TOUT/DELANEYPAAL FLAATA - IT WILL ALL COME DOWN / RAINRICHARD SWIFT - AS I GOEDDIE TADROSS - WATERED DOWNMUZORAMA IS BROADCAST WEEKLY ON RADIO FORTUNA (FM106.9 , TBILISI, GEORGIA)PRODUCED BY KOMUNIKATORI
Tommy Brown (3) and Michael Horn (16) make the Wing-T flow
link
Paul takes a similar approach when he comes to the people of Athens. So today we are going to look at Paul’s mission to the people of Athens and see what we can learn from it as we reach out to those around us. We see an evangelist at work, we see an evangelist coming before a group of people and presenting his message in a way that they can digest, in a way that at least gets some of them interested. he was perfectly comfortable walking up to a crowd of people and starting to tell them about Jesus. These preachers would stand on a street corner and shout, or speak into a megaphone at the people coming by them. Though they were seeming to use the method of Paul, they didn’t seem to get the same reaction as Paul. People today aren’t going to stop to listen to someone speaking on a street corner. He didn’t need to convince them about God, they already knew about God. He was going to a place that was set aside for people to talk about religion, philosophy and politics. So Paul wasn’t just going and shouting from a street corner, instead, he was going to a place where people expected to hear others talk about God and he did that very thing. We don’t have that place where we can go where we will find people ready to listen to us and hear the message that we have. Moses and God were so taken aback and angry that that was almost the end of the people of Israel right there. And yet, when Paul brings his message to the people of Athens, he realizes that he needs to begin where they are at, not where he wants them to be. Instead of standing up in front of the idols and telling the people that they are worshipping false gods and trying to single-handedly destroy these abominations, Paul looks at the people and says, “I know you are a religious people”. Paul starts on common ground as he tells people about Jesus. But here, Paul knows that there is much that separates him from the people of Athens, but there is something that connects him to them as well, and that is their devotion to a god, any god. Unknown God In sharing his truth, Paul uses one of the very idols that he is so distressed about. He points out the idol made to the Unknown God and decides to use this as a starting point to tell the people of Athens about the one and only God who he serves. Again, Paul starts where the people are and he presents a message that connects with the needs they know they have. He doesn’t start by telling them where they’re wrong, he begins by telling them where they’re right. But Paul doesn’t end with what he has in common with the people of Athens. He uses this only as a foundation, he uses this only as a starting point so that he can then tell them the truth about God. The first of these is that we begin by telling people that they’re sinners. You cannot start by telling people how messed up they are. When we make this mistake, we spend all our time talking about what we have in common with those around us and we never move on to the stage where we tell people the truth about God. Like Paul told the people of Athens, we are to tell those around us to repent. Paul talked about what those in Athens got right, but he then moved from this to tell them about what they were getting wrong, what they needed to change. And, when the time is right (and we need to trust the Spirit to let us know when this is), we can share truth with them in a loving way that will move them closer to the kingdom of God.
link
FIRST READING: Jeremiah 31-34. . .for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.When I was a kid, I said Im sorry” a lot. So much so that my mother, in pure exasperation, once shouted at me, “I know youre sorry, youre always sorry. I dont want to hear how sorry you are. I want you to stop doing it.I have to say that most of my sorry-ness was not true repentance seeking a genuine forgiveness, not when I was a kid, not even much later in life. It was not motivated by an awareness of true guilt for having acted wrongly. Rather it was an attempt to stave off punishment after getting caught doing things powerful others (parents, teachers, residence advisors, spouse, parishioners, bishops) didn’t want me to do.I developed a genuine need for forgivenenss only when I recognized that the failures with those folks were not failures of action, but of relationship. In a true relationship, a balanced and loving relationship, one acts faithfully not of of fear of punishment but in response to trust and love.To sin, either before God or our neighbor, is to break that trust, to act against it, to step outside the circle of love. And when you find yourself outside the love which is as essential to real life as air is to breathing, then the plea for forgiveness is a plea to be restored to the relationship of trust.When that happens, when you need that kind of forgiveness from God or wife or parent or children or significant other; then the words of Jeremiah remind us that God can give that kind of forgiveness, not a petty little Oh, its okay, dont worry about it, but a hearty, “I know you have failed, but I love you and will treat you as if it never happened.”It is in that kind of forgiveness that our sorry-ness is transformed into holiness, and the greatest Reformation of all.SECOND READING: Romans 3:19-28″For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by law.”For most of us, most of the time, the Gospel is just a little too good to believe. Theres got to be a catch, a hidden clause, something that we have to do so that we can be sure that were saved.We just have trouble putting our full weight down on the promise of this text. My Aunt Mildred died this past spring. She was in her 80s. In August, my siblings and I got together to work on settling her estate. As we were walking though the house, I noticed a machine attached to the back of her Laz-y-boy. My brother, who is an architect and builder and lives close by and took care of her, identified it as an auxiliary generator. The why? question was all over my face. He said,Well, its an electric chair with a motor to lift the seat up slowly so that it was easy for her to get out. A few years ago I dropped by to see her andshe said, “Im having trouble getting out of my chair lately. I said, Is there something wrong with the motor? Ill take a look.”She said, “Theres nothing wrong with the motor. I dont ever plug it in.I said, “Well, why not?” andshe said, “Well, what if I was laying back in it and the power went out. I wouldnt be able to get out of it.Hence the auxiliary power pack.Many of us are like Aunt Mildred. Kind of afraid to fully trust the Gospel, to trust Gods promise to be with us, to save us. So we get a little auxiliary power pack of good deeds, just in case. Money given, offices filled, good deeds done. We dont flaunt them, but we keep them around, just in case.The Gospel is, we are accepted on the strength of Gods love for us. And those things we do are done in response to Gods lovelink
Itâs that passage that talks about how the poor old apostles were being ridiculed and made fun of, and their followers were⦠Well, letâs just take a look at it: We (the apostles look like fools, but you (followers of Jesus) look wise⦠we are without honor, you are distinguishedâ¦We are weak, you are strongâ¦We are hungry and thirstyâ¦We donât have fine clothesâ¦We are treated badlyâ¦We are homelessâ¦Good grief⦠That was then, I guess, because these days itâs just the opposite. Those now claiming the apostles mantle are likely to look wise and be distinguished and have several honorary degrees on their paneled walls.
link