Piloting Faith: If we do this, we will have SO MUCH free time!
A Word for the Day...
Author and Convergence Leadership Project Director, Brian McLaren, writes in his book, the Great Spiritual Migration:
"For centuries, Christians have presented God as a supreme being who showers blessings upon insiders who share certain beliefs and proper institutional affiliation, but who punishes outsiders with eternal conscious torment. What would it mean for Christians to let Jesus and his message lead them to a new vision of God? What would it mean for Christians to understand, experience, and embody God as the loving, healing, reconciling Spirit in whom all creatures live, move and have their being?"
What if we don't need to hate, exclude or fear anyone? What if there are no insiders and outsiders? What if that was the message that Jesus was trying to teach all along?
My gosh, just think of all of the free time we will have...especially if we don't have to build a stupid wall! ;)
- Rev. Cameron Trimble, author of Piloting Church: Helping Your Congregation Take Flight
Prayer for the Week
Lord,
Blessed are those who hunger for justice.
In your mercy, Lord, remember those who are desperate, exhausted, beaten down, and forgotten today.
Remember those who are unfairly imprisoned.
Remember those who have limited opportunities, who see no chance to make things better.
Remember those born into failed families, neighborhoods, nations. Remember those growing up in broken circumstances of all kinds. Remember the widow and the orphan.
Remember those whose lives are torn apart by war, or racism, or religious persecution, or unfair laws that prevent them from building a life for themselves and their families.
In your sight, they are my mother and father, my sister and brother, and I am their keeper.
You have called them blessed. Help them to hear your surprising word today. Bless them. Provide for their deepest hunger. Show me my part in that provision, and help me to act on it, for your glory and the welfare of your people.
Amen.
(adapted from The Prayer Wheel by Patton Dodd, Jana Riess, and David Van Biema)
