tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77331302490248729202024-03-05T02:20:01.953-08:00Pneumatic TireA blog about how the Spirit-filled life relates with everyday life, social justice and compassion. Spirituality where the rubber meets the road, as it were. The Greek word for spirit, wind, breath and air is "pneuma". So there you have it -- Pneumatic Tire.Mike Wilkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12483259835437099571noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733130249024872920.post-33959974217415064292022-11-15T14:10:00.018-08:002022-11-22T11:01:35.795-08:00Theology and Character in Discipleship<p> Theology and Character in Discipleship</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2MvaIMfW-6ZVwjemsLKYW5eb_Of1WCokwNAXc_wxX5sp0tjoZV5w9js_dzwcJJgONpMn_89QBF8lLMhaFaSZobVkarBDFDfU1Zb-Sha-vnM-z2sD_NCgNZrdWW8cQu42plIrV2lWY8h7_G0IVGg-0YZ01gbZq8wznbMZednw-lsL1HDoZidYiPQ/s500/500x321.aspx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="321" data-original-width="500" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2MvaIMfW-6ZVwjemsLKYW5eb_Of1WCokwNAXc_wxX5sp0tjoZV5w9js_dzwcJJgONpMn_89QBF8lLMhaFaSZobVkarBDFDfU1Zb-Sha-vnM-z2sD_NCgNZrdWW8cQu42plIrV2lWY8h7_G0IVGg-0YZ01gbZq8wznbMZednw-lsL1HDoZidYiPQ/s320/500x321.aspx.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">I was sitting in a restaurant on Bloor Street with Pastor Eric Mavinga who is pastor of </span><a href="https://twitter.com/ceparoledevrit" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Parole de Verite</a><span style="text-align: left;"> in Kinshasa City, Democratic Republic of Congo. He has over 2,000 in his congregation and oversees the churches of his denomination in Kinshasa. He wanted to know what I have learned about discipleship (training in Christian life/belief) in our small congregation in Toronto! In the midst of our conversation I commented that the western church’s emphasis in discipleship has been on teaching correct theology. I said that discipleship should be more about character than theology. Eric said, “I have to write that down!” At which point I thought I must have said something important! But even as I said it, I wasn’t comfortable with what I said. We may have emphasized theology over character, but the solution wasn’t to emphasize character over theology. Theology is still important.</span></div><p>I lived with and mused about this tension until I read Richard Rohr’s book, <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Falling-Upward-Spirituality-Halves-Life/dp/0470907754" target="_blank">“Falling Upward: a spirituality for the two halves of life.”</a> Rohr writes that the first half of life is setting up the structure: education, career, family, house…, and the second half is about how we will live in that structure. The two halves are not necessarily chronological.</p><p> I thought that this was a great metaphor for discipleship: where theology is the structure and character is how we will live within that structure. Our problem in the church is that we have taught people how to build a house without teaching them how to make a home. I would also say that we have created many amateur architects who build unlivable houses.</p><p>How do we train people in the two halves of Christian life? First, I think we need to understand that a simple structure is all that most of us need. For most of us, introductory courses in practical Christianity like <a href="https://alphacanada.org/" target="_blank">Alpha</a> is enough structure. As we live in the structure, we may need to learn more, or make some adjustments in our theology just as I repair and renovate our house in order to make it more livable. But early on, we need to train people to follow Jesus in his character, and do what he said to do. I have WAY more to say about this, but that might be in books not blogs. The goal of the Christian life is to be transformed into the likeness (character) of God. </p><p>2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><i>So all of us … can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.</i></p></blockquote><p>A few months ago I watched a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb3wSOpCsN0" target="_blank">Dallas Willard lecture</a> where he said, <i>“Don’t try to do what He says. Try to become the kind of person who would do what he says.”</i> He says this in the context of using the spiritual disciplines (practices) to become the kind of person who would do what he says. I would say that we <b>also</b> need to do what he says, along with spiritual practices to <b>become</b> the kind of person who would do what he says. We do what he says, not to just be obedient, but to become the kind of person who would do what he says. I’ve known people who are trying their best to do what Jesus said, but they were so angry in their actions, that their actions felt more like hate than the love of Jesus. We need to do what He says with the aim of becoming like him in his character.</p><p>Years ago, I was talking about this with my friend and former neighbour, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/mediacentre/bio/jeff-douglas" target="_blank">Jeff Douglas</a>. Jeff said that, in acting it is best to embody the character that you are playing, but if you are unable to do that, there is a method of acting called “<i>Fake it until you make it</i>.” In faith, we do the things Jesus said in order to become the kind of person who would do what he says. It might feel like we're faking it, but if it is our desire to have the same character as Jesus, we can fake it until we make it.</p><p>Henri Nouwen says it this way in a piece called “Doing Love:”</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p><i>“Often we speak about love as if it is a feeling. But if we wait for a feeling of love before loving, we may never learn to love well. The feeling of love is beautiful and life-giving, but our loving cannot be based in that feeling. To love is to think, speak, and act according to the spiritual knowledge that we are infinitely loved by God and called to make that love visible in this world.”</i></p><p><i>Mostly we know what the loving thing to do is. When we "do" love, even if others are not able to respond with love, we will discover that our feelings catch up with our acts.” </i></p></blockquote><p>I’ve been musing on this a long time. Let me know what you think, argue with me, or tell a story in the comments!</p><p><b>Blessing:</b></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i>May you turn to the Lord, </i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i><span> </span>so that you can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. </i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i>For the Lord is the Spirit, </i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i><span> </span>and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. </i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i>And the Lord—who is the Spirit—</i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i><span> </span>will make you more and more like him </i></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><i><span> <span> </span></span>as you are changed into his glorious image.</i></b></div></blockquote><p><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> - adapted from 2 Corinthians 3:16-18</span> </p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;"> </div></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Mike Wilkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12483259835437099571noreply@blogger.com2Toronto, ON, Canada43.653226 -79.383184315.342992163821151 -114.5394343 71.963459836178842 -44.226934299999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733130249024872920.post-91304442918499992412022-03-14T16:05:00.000-07:002022-03-14T16:05:26.937-07:00Solace: a playlist for loss<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOxNbCS9JLckLhlOmF14Bys58DYFpxgsGLATSPto7qdhdrC405yIa3w5voQVi-AgJUUe6kGT-ctYbF1MIlF5uEDWjSDJhwJFCQ0QKRZi1ECT0RAWHN96_Nq-kUz3JHx4h1yTwP3n7GrtTWVK7FWB_mvu8FHINRFVUk_6KozeCXNpdWvG17JxoVtg=s300" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhOxNbCS9JLckLhlOmF14Bys58DYFpxgsGLATSPto7qdhdrC405yIa3w5voQVi-AgJUUe6kGT-ctYbF1MIlF5uEDWjSDJhwJFCQ0QKRZi1ECT0RAWHN96_Nq-kUz3JHx4h1yTwP3n7GrtTWVK7FWB_mvu8FHINRFVUk_6KozeCXNpdWvG17JxoVtg" width="300" /></a></div><br /> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 2005, we lost my beautiful sister, Faith, to renal cancer which was likely caused by two treatments for two bouts of Hodgkin’s disease in the early 1990’s. During the difficult times of her illness and passing, we had 2 cds on heavy rotation: Steve Bell’s “Solace,” and Fernando Ortega’s “The Shadow of Your Wings.” Steve Bell’s liner notes said this: </span><p></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The Solace Project began when a friend, who was then dying of cancer, sent us an email to say that he had compiled several of my songs on a CD and was using it for pain management and comfort. He wrote in his diary, “I want to see a ‘sustaining’ CD from Steve Bell, a compilation that would help those who are dying and those who love them.” Ben had gone as far as to list which songs he thought would be best and had even thought through possible packaging scenarios for a CD. It occurred to us at Signpost that this could be a meaningful project and so we went ahead and put SOLACE together.”</i></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>At Faith’s funeral Chris Rice’s “Untitled Hymn (Come to Jesus)” and Matt Redman’s “Blessed be the Name” were sung.” </i></span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_EYfKPxv11FHcKpTUHd_cabLhL5mbHWe6y-liflMKJVx9N788Tv0IP2rXZ9stZiNtq7_B-7jE-C_Ibo3GeEewAvQTszlN84P7KknYJXjzYmXxpVAFFXD3wy_3j4MFpOHZZMFwdi-mW8YtwscKPxsCgO6nZ3Wlks3hrU6WkIav2I0Mwpq9nuQRQw=s428" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="326" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_EYfKPxv11FHcKpTUHd_cabLhL5mbHWe6y-liflMKJVx9N788Tv0IP2rXZ9stZiNtq7_B-7jE-C_Ibo3GeEewAvQTszlN84P7KknYJXjzYmXxpVAFFXD3wy_3j4MFpOHZZMFwdi-mW8YtwscKPxsCgO6nZ3Wlks3hrU6WkIav2I0Mwpq9nuQRQw=s320" width="244" /></a></td></tr><tr></tr></tbody></table><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In 2019, almost 15 years after Faith’s passing, I returned home from a 4 day bikepacking trip with an extreme and unexplained fatigue. The fatigue seemed to be connected to a severe infection and subsequent rounds of antibiotics. In July of that year I had completed an Ironman 70.3 Triathlon, in October, I couldn’t walk around the block. The antibiotics finally knocked down the infection, but the fatigue did not dissipate. I used the down time to get a spot checked out on my forearm. In December, I had surgery for Melanoma. The cancer was caught early enough and I required no further treatment, but the recovery from surgery as well as some nagging continued symptoms from the infection weighed on me. And… the deep fatigue persisted.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi7_XjwieV6uBz8rgr8F6YdEIQk4Yq5D5XzRp4NhA21RubkvIDUDRg8nqzZKTYO30XX6DLIbbAKqqXFyY2YJmwmH2bRPDGmyrlxz51qOmZtgC4_ydZKal5xWVE-VBoGLvjfTarnCup0hm5JRdy5GzKVNTJrHYiF1q6Do9Nd0wCJuTlvrfyE_H4Zhw=s960" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="540" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi7_XjwieV6uBz8rgr8F6YdEIQk4Yq5D5XzRp4NhA21RubkvIDUDRg8nqzZKTYO30XX6DLIbbAKqqXFyY2YJmwmH2bRPDGmyrlxz51qOmZtgC4_ydZKal5xWVE-VBoGLvjfTarnCup0hm5JRdy5GzKVNTJrHYiF1q6Do9Nd0wCJuTlvrfyE_H4Zhw=s320" width="180" /></a></div><br />Early 2020, I received a call from my only other sister, Kathy, about some disconcerting symptoms that she was getting tested. In the Spring she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Due to the physical distance and Covid-19 restrictions we were only able to visit with her briefly when she came south for treatment in the Summer. Kathy passed in hospice care on January 10, 2021. Her funeral was online due to Covid-19. During her illness and subsequent death, I returned to Steve Bell and Fernando Ortega for solace. I’ve added other artists to the streaming list I now listen to.<p></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My fatigue has only worsened through the two and a half years. I’ve been diagnosed with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. ME/CFS has kept me from ministry, relationships, and the outdoor adventure that I love. Needless to say, these last few years have been full of grief (there have also been times of great joy). I realize that these have been difficult years for many people so I thought I would share the playlist that I keep returning to for solace.</span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6AmfXc7Z2ibKrchi7b9hCh?si=IL8tkMeHQWmDgr_0FTagUg" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6AmfXc7Z2ibKrchi7b9hCh?si=IL8tkMeHQWmDgr_0FTagUg</span></a></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://music.apple.com/ca/playlist/solace/pl.u-9N9LLpeTxy49oE" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; text-decoration-skip: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://music.apple.com/ca/playlist/solace/pl.u-9N9LLpeTxy49oE</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope you find solace as you listen</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Lord, who is close to the broken-hearted and who rescues those whose spirits are crushed:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Lord bless you and keep you</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Lord make his face shine upon you</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Lord turn his gaze toward you</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span> And give you peace.</span><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; font-family: "crimson pro", Georgia, "times new roman", Times, serif; font-size: 20px;"> </span></p><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" />Mike Wilkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12483259835437099571noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733130249024872920.post-5760097559600643272020-10-23T17:33:00.000-07:002020-10-23T17:35:56.782-07:00The Good News and Broken Spirits<span id="docs-internal-guid-feb16ac5-7fff-0cc0-843e-aef66ef70b7a"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxDzZWrDjgleZjT7BnwMW0AYhZBK0C-7O24qMCk8t6P-JVdB3ZOq5OXEhQME4_hcaVm5qOkjjYQZxZ9g8KNVL0p7WAlqhB4gvfKVPM84N7JmiARg7_DAu4hAIVr-npNONjeSc4GzNh/s558/Jesus+Healing+Blind+4-4-08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="558" data-original-width="436" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxDzZWrDjgleZjT7BnwMW0AYhZBK0C-7O24qMCk8t6P-JVdB3ZOq5OXEhQME4_hcaVm5qOkjjYQZxZ9g8KNVL0p7WAlqhB4gvfKVPM84N7JmiARg7_DAu4hAIVr-npNONjeSc4GzNh/s320/Jesus+Healing+Blind+4-4-08.jpg" /></a></div><br />Last winter, some friends gave me the Lenten guide, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Forward to Freedom: From Exodus to Easter,</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by David Adam, Vicar of Holy Island, Northumberland. The book brought to my attention something I’ve never noticed before in the Exodus story. In Exodus 6, Moses brings a message from God to the people of Israel enslaved in Egypt. God says, “I am the Lord, and I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgement. I will take you as my people, and I will be your God, who has freed you from the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.”</span><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is amazingly good news! God has come to take them out of slavery and into a promised land to call their own. He is going to draw them into a deep and intimate relationship with himself! But verse 9 says that the people “would not listen to Moses because of their broken spirit and their cruel slavery.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We Christians have this amazingly good news from God as well: that He is here to free people from their heavy burdens and deliver them from slavery to the “world”, sin, and self, and bring them into the Kindom of Heaven. He is here to draw them into a deep and intimate relationship with Himself! </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When people won’t hear the good news we proclaim, we often respond like a scorned lover and blame them: “They won’t listen because they have some sin they want to hold on to; they are arrogant in their unbelief; they are rebellious against the God who made them and loves them.” It’s true that there are people who reject the good news for these reasons, and there are others who can’t accept the good news because of intellectual or moral difficulties with the message. But It occurred to me that there are many people who cannot hear the good news because of their broken spirit and their cruel slavery.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">People’s spirits get broken through the hardships of life and harm received from others. Sadly, some people’s spirits have been broken by Christians and the Church. While modern day slavery is a terrible problem, people are also enslaved to their own sin and others’ sin. People feel trapped by economic systems, debt, illness and addiction. There are people today, especially those who are marginalized, who can’t hear the good news because they can’t even imagine a way out.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">God responds to the Israelites’ rejection of the good news by going into battle against Pharaoh and the Egyptian gods who were oppressing the people. He brings the people into freedom even when they can’t even imagine it.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jesus responds to the broken-hearted by opposing the religious and political leaders that are oppressing the people, and by healing, freeing and embracing the marginalized. He describes his ministry by quoting the prophet Isaiah (Luke 4:18-19 The Message):</span></p><br /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>God’s Spirit is on me;</i></span></p></span><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> he’s chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor,</i></span></p></span><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and</i></span></p></span><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> recovery of sight to the blind,</i></span></p></span><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>to set the burdened and battered free,</i></span></p></span><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> to announce, “This is God’s year to act!”</i></span></p></span></blockquote><span><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Today, as people who want to proclaim the good news in a way that people can hear and accept, we need to take our cues from Moses and Jesus, not blaming those who are too broken-hearted to hear, but instead working and praying for their healing, freedom, and trust. We need to hear their cry, believe their story, and present a vision of true freedom and healing in the arms of a loving God.</span></p><br /></span><p> </p>Mike Wilkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12483259835437099571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733130249024872920.post-54276126053620608462020-03-13T10:59:00.000-07:002020-03-13T10:59:07.784-07:00The Corporate Sabbatical of 2020 Due to some health issues, I’ve been on a “forced sabbatical” for a few months, and will likely be on it for a few more. As schools and other institutions are shutting down because of COVID-19, (with no disrespect to those who’s lives are deeply impacted) we all might be placed on a forced Sabbatical!<br />
With Saint Patrick’s Day right around the corner, I thought It might be good to return to something I wrote on solitude for a course on Celtic Spirituality years ago.<br />
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Solitude and Silence<br />
Earthed Spirituality<br />
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If Celtic Spirituality was born out of Patrick’s experience, then it was born out of solitude. Patrick spent 6 years from age 16 to 22 living the life of solitude as a slave-shepherd in the hills of Ireland. He used his solitude to pray, praying the psalms day and night for those 6 years.<br />
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We’re actually not sure how, but the Celtic church was greatly influenced by the desert fathers and mothers. These Christians were the beginning of the monastic movement. They ventured out into the Egyptian and Syrian deserts to spend a life of solitude and prayer. They didn’t go to escape the sins of the city, but to do battle with the devil – the desert was not a spiritually safe place in their minds.<br />
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One of the most famous of these desert fathers was Saint Anthony of Egypt – His biography was written by Athanasius and is likely available from the library. Amazingly, Antony appears carved into the top of many high crosses across Ireland!<br />
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The Celts held these hermits in high regard, as they did the martyrs of the church and they tried to emulate them. But since there is no desert in Ireland, and by the end of Patrick’s life there was no persecution or opportunity for martyrdom, they created what was called “Green Martyrdom.” In Green Martyrdom a person would go off into the Irish countryside and find a cave to sleep in, or they would sleep in the open, living a life of sacrifice and solitude<br />
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But the Irish countryside is not the desert, and many of the Celtic solitaries found an abundance rather than a lack of provision in their hermitage. Here is a prayer that I have in a frame up in our little cabin in the woods:<br />
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I wish, O Son of the living God,<br />
Eternal, ancient King,<br />
For a secret hut in the wilderness<br />
That it may be my dwelling<br />
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A very blue shallow well<br />
To be beside it,<br />
A clear pool for washing away sins<br />
Through the grace of the Holy Ghost.<br />
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A beautiful wood close by<br />
Around it on every side<br />
For the nurture of many-voiced birds<br />
To shelter and hide it.<br />
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Facing the south for warmth<br />
A little stream across its ground,<br />
A choice plot with abundant bounties<br />
Which would be good for every plant…<br />
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This is the housekeeping I would get,<br />
I would choose it without concealing,<br />
Fragrant fresh leeks, hens,<br />
Salmon, trout, bees.<br />
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My fill of clothing and food<br />
From the King of good fame<br />
And for me to be sitting for a time<br />
Praying to God in every place.<br />
Esther De Waal, The Celtic Way of Prayer, p.100<br />
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Green Martyrdom was not the only way of Solitude – for many of the monks who put out into the sea in their little coracles, they were venturing into the “Desert Ocean.”<br />
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The Celts got their cues from the Desert Fathers and Mothers, but they did not just copy them. If someone went out to be a hermit in the desert, It was likely he or she would remain there for the rest of their life. The Celts on the other hand might retire into solitude at some times in their lives, or at certain times of the year, and then later on re-emerge to join the community once again.<br />
Great missionaries like St. Columbanus and Columba are recorded as seeking out and solitary spots as part of the pattern of their public activities.<br />
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What is Solitude?<br />
Just as fasting is the abstinence from food for spiritual purposes, solitude is the withdrawing to privacy for spiritual purposes. The period of solitude may last only a few minutes, or for days. Solitude may be sought in order to participate without interruption in other Spiritual Disciplines, or just to be alone with God.<br />
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Solitude and Silence<br />
In both Foster’s and Whitney’s books on the Spiritual Disciplines, they partner the disciplines of Solitude and Silence. They do so rightly because the two do go together. Even when we do not fill our lives with people, we can fill our lives with noise – the T.V. or radio on to “keep us company.” In modern times we have every convenience to fill our ears and eyes with noise which serves to drown out the voice of God in our ears and the image of God from our eyes. True solitude removes ourselves from company, but it also removes ourselves from other distractions as well.<br />
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While I turn off all distraction in Solitude, I often keep a very vocal conversation going with God! I often walk through the forest, or paddle down streams talking out loud to God as I go. So my silence and my solitude don’t always go together.<br />
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The Joy of Solitude<br />
Out of all the Spiritual Disciplines, this is the one that makes me sigh - like you might when you think of chocolate. For a guy that loves people, and loves a good party, I would like nothing better than to spend time in solitude with God. When life gets really busy, and even when it doesn’t, my heart cries out for a day or just a portion of a day when I can get away on my own and be with God.<br />
Nothing replenishes my soul like solitude.<br />
Bono sings about his yearning to get back to the loneliness of Africa in “Where the Streets Have No Name”<br />
“I want to run,<br />
I want to hide.<br />
I want to tear down these walls<br />
that hold me inside.<br />
I want to reach out<br />
and touch the flame,<br />
Where the streets have no name<br />
… and when I go there,<br />
I go there with You<br />
It’s all I can do.”<br />
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There are times when I am able to go out with just one of my kids – either to do something special, or to run errands. Inevitably doing these times, they will say to me, “Dad, I really like these times when we’re together, just you and I.” When I can get away for extended periods of solitude, inevitably, I say to God, “Father, I really like these times when we’re together, just you and I.”<br />
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The Fear of Solitude<br />
Once, when I went on a solo retreat at a hermitage at Mount Alverno Retreat Centre, Sister Wendy, who runs the place, said to me just as I started up the hill to the hermitage, “If you find you can’t take it, you can always come back down the hill for a conversation.” I said, “No I’ll be alright.” She replied that some people hardly last a half an hour before the quiet and loneliness get to them and they come running back down the hill to find another human!<br />
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Some people fear being alone.<br />
Foster writes, “Our fear of being alone drives us to noise and crowds. We keep up a constant stream of words even if they are inane. We buy radios that strap to our wrist or fit over our ears so that if no one else is around at least we are not condemned to silence. T. S. Eliot analyzed our culture so well when he wrote, “Where shall the world be found, where will the word resound? Not here, there is not enough silence.”<br />
But loneliness or clatter are not our only alternatives. We can cultivate an inner solitude and silence that sets us free from loneliness and fear. Loneliness is inner emptiness. Solitude is inner fulfillment. Solitude is not first a place but a state of mind and heart.”<br />
- P. 84<br />
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He says at the beginning of the chapter: “Jesus calls us from loneliness to solitude.”<br />
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For some of us, we don’t like to be alone because we don’t much like our own company, or because our personality is so shaped by the people around us, we don’t even know who we are when we are alone.<br />
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It may have to do with whether you are an introvert or an extrovert – introverts gain their energy from within, and are drained by exterior stimulation. Extroverts, on the other hand gain their energy from exterior stimulation and are drained by interior work.<br />
I once went on a canoe trip with an extreme extrovert friend. I’ve never seen him so depressed! He only had me to bounce off of. Once, I left him to get some alone time for myself, and it was the worst thing I could have done to the poor soul. He kept getting lower and lower until we met up with a gang of people on their own trip – It was like he found water in the desert!<br />
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Introvert, or extrovert, fearful, or expectant: we need to practice solitude because it will strengthen your soul.<br />
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Solitude in Scripture<br />
We only have to look at Jesus life if we want to find the practice of Solitude in scripture. Jesus inaugurated His ministry by spending forty days alone in the desert (Mt. 4:1—Il). Before He chose the twelve He spent the entire night alone in the desert hills (Lk.<br />
6:12). When He received the news of the death of John the Baptist, He “withdrew from there in a boat to a lonely place apart” (Mt. 14:13). After the miraculous feeding of the five thousand Jesus made His disciples leave; then He dismissed the crowd and “went up into the hills by himself . . .“ (Mt. 14:23). Following a long night of work “in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place . . .“ (Mk. 1:35). When the twelve had returned from a preaching and healing mission, Jesus instructed them, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place . . .“ (Mk. 6:31). Following the healing of a leper Jesus “withdrew to the wilderness and prayed” (Lk. 5:16). With three disciples He sought out the silence of a lonely mountain as the stage for the transfiguration (Mt. 17:1—9). As he prepared for His highest and most holy work, Jesus sought the solitude of the garden of Gethsemane (Mt. 26:36—46). One could go on, but perhaps this is sufficient to show that the seeking out of a solitary place was a regular practice with Jesus. So it should be for us.<br />
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We need to heed Jesus’ command, or invitation to “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place . . .“<br />
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The benefits of Solitude<br />
Being Real<br />
Some one once said, “True character is who you are when you are alone.” So if we are going to be real with God, we need to get alone with him more often. In the quiet of solitude, all pretensions can be striped away, all the things in life that are trying to mold us in their image are removed, all the requirements of the world disappear, and we can stand before God “just as I am” as the song says.<br />
This might be scary for some, but for me it is a relief, because it is in solitude that I am reminded that above all else my identity is caught up in the fact that I am God’s adopted, chosen son. If you are not really sure of what God thinks about you, being alone with him might be pretty scary! Maybe the reason I cherish solitude so much is that, on my best days, I’m really sure of what God thinks about me – he loves me. If you’re not so sure that he loves you, get alone with him, listen to his voice – the first thing that the Holy Spirit teaches our spirit is how to say “Abba, Father” If you can get alone in silence with God, the first thing that you will hear is the Spirit whispering in your ear “you are God’s adopted child – he chose you, he loves you.<br />
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Strengthening<br />
Dallas Willard writes,<br />
“We must reemphasize, the “desert” or “closet” is the primary place of strength for the beginner, as it was for Christ and for Paul. They show us by their example what we must do. In stark aloneness it is possible to have silence, to be still, and to know that Jehovah indeed is God (Ps. 46:10), to set the Lord before our minds with sufficient intensity and duration that we stay centered on Him – our hearts fixed, established in trust (Ps. 112:7-8) – even when back in the office, shop, or home.”<br />
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Do you know what Christian strength looks like?<br />
Listen to Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians:<br />
“I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:14-19<br />
Christian strength is the ability to know the love of God for us!<br />
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Getting Centred<br />
It is in my times of Solitude that I able to take the broad view of my life and remember my calling and purpose in life. I can make big decisions and plans without the distractions of other voices etc. You can see that Jesus sought out solitude before the big events in his life. Trudeau’s long walk in the snow before he resigned as prime minister has become part of Canadian history lore.<br />
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Whitney tells of how Billy Graham was being pressured by Charles Templeton to give up his belief in the inspiration and authority of the Scriptures. Templeton had many convincing arguments that Graham had trouble refuting, and it was a tumultuous time for him. Graham took some time in solitude and meditated on the many times in scripture that it said “the Word of the Lord came.” He saw how Jesus treated scripture, and he realized that intellect alone would not solve his problem – that it was an issue of faith. So he placed his Bible on a stump and knelt down and said, Oh God; I cannot prove certain things. I cannot answer some of the questions Church is raising and some of the other people are raising, but I accept this Book by faith as the Word of God.” And through that time of solitude and the perspective he gained that night, Billy Graham was shaped into the man the world has known since.<br />
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In Solitude we learn to live in integrity.<br />
In Max Lucado’s children’s book, “You are Special,” the Wemmicks spend all of their time judging each other. They give gold stars to those who impress them, and gray dots to those who fail to impress them. Punchinello, the main character discovers that – the dots and stars don’t stick when we spend time with the maker! (read the book, even if there’s no kid to read it to.)<br />
When we are tempted to live in a way that will please those around us, rather than live in integrity with who the Father has called us to be, the more time we spend in solitude with the Father, the less other’s judgments stick to us!<br />
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How to practice Solitude<br />
Daily Solitude<br />
Traditionally, Christians have called this practice “having a quiet time.” It is taking 10 or so minutes out of your day, finding a place that you can be alone and quieting yourself before God. Start with 10 minutes, and then you may find that you want more time. Martin Luther felt that he needed 5 hours a day in solitude with God just so he could accomplish all that he had to do!<br />
Some people may find it easy to quiet themselves before God, others of us need exercises to still our minds and our hearts. Take a look at the exercises in the Christian Meditation pamphlet for helpful ways to quiet your soul.<br />
Many people read and meditate on scripture or use a devotional guide to help them. It is also the time that people bring their requests to God, but it is important that you listen to God during this time and not use scripture and prayer as a distraction from God’s presence. The important thing is to get alone and recognize God’s presence with you before you read or pray.<br />
Dawn Comber has introduced me to this wonderful website called Sacred Space. It is maintained by the Irish Jesuits and it enables you to shut the world off and meditate of God’s presence even while you sit at your computer.<br />
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It would be great to set a space aside as Solitude space, so that even when there are people in the house, if they see you in that space, they know that you are wanting as much solitude as can be afforded. Susanna Wesley, mother of John and Charles had a very large family. When she needed solitude, she would bring her apron up over her head, so that she could pray and read scripture without being bothered by the myriad of children.<br />
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Spontaneous Solitude.<br />
Once you have learned the discipline of solitude, you can steal solitude in the most everyday places when you get alone. Try not turning on the radio when you get in the car. Recognize God’s presence as you ride the elevator alone. Walk through a park on the way home and be conscious of walking with God. I try to make myself aware of God’s presence in the solitude of my long-distance runs, bike rides and swims.<br />
They say that you can be alone even when standing in a crowd. So, if you have honed the discipline of solitude when you are alone, you could also practice it when you are waiting for the subway.<br />
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Retreats<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBlRhuYHUp6c_hKGgSuaMxvTMzM9Y7HCs4fkjaTwZr7hnZwjpOIfeKqzKZ2GIKr47_fJ8FXW2guAfFZdiQ1374r_Oeq0d0pgeFyEktqv1tRGN5k9SgawxJBs4ifMNnA-bNE-HGIFMB/s1600/7BBAED12-14BB-4141-BBEE-AB33CF64BC2F.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"> </a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBlRhuYHUp6c_hKGgSuaMxvTMzM9Y7HCs4fkjaTwZr7hnZwjpOIfeKqzKZ2GIKr47_fJ8FXW2guAfFZdiQ1374r_Oeq0d0pgeFyEktqv1tRGN5k9SgawxJBs4ifMNnA-bNE-HGIFMB/s1600/7BBAED12-14BB-4141-BBEE-AB33CF64BC2F.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBlRhuYHUp6c_hKGgSuaMxvTMzM9Y7HCs4fkjaTwZr7hnZwjpOIfeKqzKZ2GIKr47_fJ8FXW2guAfFZdiQ1374r_Oeq0d0pgeFyEktqv1tRGN5k9SgawxJBs4ifMNnA-bNE-HGIFMB/s320/7BBAED12-14BB-4141-BBEE-AB33CF64BC2F.jpeg" width="320" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBlRhuYHUp6c_hKGgSuaMxvTMzM9Y7HCs4fkjaTwZr7hnZwjpOIfeKqzKZ2GIKr47_fJ8FXW2guAfFZdiQ1374r_Oeq0d0pgeFyEktqv1tRGN5k9SgawxJBs4ifMNnA-bNE-HGIFMB/s1600/7BBAED12-14BB-4141-BBEE-AB33CF64BC2F.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a>Taking a retreat is probably what comes first to your mind when you think of the discipline of solitude. There are places where you can go to be alone with God. I’ve listed a number of them in this pamphlet. You might have a piece of geography where you have really connected with God – you may go back there. For me, there is nothing like a canoe to help me connect with the Father. Go for a day, or even half a day, once you’ve done that, you can think of practicing solitude for longer periods. If you have no idea how to spend your time during your retreat, many retreat centres have spiritual directors who will listen to your needs and give some direction on how you could spend your time. I would be willing to help in this way if you want to meet before any retreat.<br />
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You might think that going on a solitary retreat is only for super Christians, people in full time ministry, or people who are really messed up, or all of the above. The truth is, I believe that all Christians should take a daylong solitary retreat at least once a year. I think that 4 times a year would be more beneficial. I try to take a day away at least once a month, and a multi-day retreat once a year.<br />
If you have a issue to resolve in your life, think about all the time that you have taken worrying about it and trying to work it out, wouldn’t it be good to take a day to ask God what he thinks? My retreats help me to study, get connected with God as my friend, and I often am able to do some very important planning on those days. I do all of this in the presence of God.<br />
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Jesus says to us, “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place . . .“ will you heed his call?<br />
<br />Mike Wilkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12483259835437099571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733130249024872920.post-36074727584041236482018-01-02T08:46:00.001-08:002018-12-29T16:10:00.260-08:00Fasting - Hungering for God<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As we are heading into a week of prayer and fasting From January 7-14, I thought I'd post a pamphlet on fasting that I put together a few years ago.</span></div>
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After the story of the transfiguration in Mark 9, when Jesus and the three disciples come down from the mountain, there is a crowd waiting for them. There is a little boy who has been terrorized by a demon. The demon keeps him from talking and often throws him into fits that endanger his life. Jesus casts the demon out and frees the boy to live the life of God. The nine disciples that were waiting at the base of the mountain had already tried to cast the demon out. Afterwards they ask Jesus, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” Jesus answers, “This kind can come out only by prayer and fasting.” <o:p></o:p><br />
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Since Jesus cast the demon out immediately, He must have been talking about the </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic;">regular</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> practice of prayer and fasting rather than a concerted effort of prayer and fasting for this particular boy. Which brings us to the question, “What is fasting, and how do we do it?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: bold;">What is Fasting?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Simply put, fasting is the voluntary abstinence from food for spiritual purposes. It is important to note that fasts have a spiritual purpose – it is not just missing lunch because you are too busy .A fast can last anywhere from one meal to forty days without food. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There are different types of fasts. The most typical fast is to go without any food; some people will fast from food and water – although you can only do this for a short time. There are limited fasts, when people will allow themselves juice or other liquid sustenance during their fast. There are partial fasts, where you will give up certain types of food for a period of time. Many people do this during Lent when they will give up sweets, or meat, or something else for the forty days from Ash Wednesday to Easter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">While we are going to concentrate on fasting from food, people will also fast from TV, screens, and other media, from talking, from computers, computer games or social network sites; from shopping; married couples can fast from sexual intimacy… You can fast from anything that is habitual in your life. It is good to fast from the things that you obsess about – it reminds you that you can get by without them. I have a friend who hates holidays – work is so important to him that a holiday is like a fast from work rather than a rest! Another friend fasted from going to the gym for lent—he realized that he was obsessing far to much about fitness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: bold;">Is Fasting Christian?</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The simple answer is yes. Everyone of importance in the Bible practiced fasting: Moses, David, Elijah, Esther, Daniel, Anna, Paul, Jesus, just to name a few. When Jesus taught on fasting, He would say, “</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic;">when</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> you fast,” not “if you fast.” He assumed that we would fast. It is not just the great people of the Bible that practiced fasting, but also the great saints of the church down through the ages that practiced fasting as part of their regular spiritual discipline.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: bold;">Why Fast?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Fasting can increase our hunger for God<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">John Piper writes in his book, </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt;">A Hunger for</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt;">God</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">:</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic;">If you don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great. God did not create you for this. There is an appetite for God. And it can be awakened. I invite you to turn from the dulling effects of food and the dangers of idolatry, and to say with some simple fast, “This much, O God, I want you.” </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">(p.23)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Fasting reminds us that we can get by without most things in our lives for a time, but we cannot get by without God. The first and main pupose of fasting is to draw closer to God.</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Fasting can train our passions<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We are so used to giving ourselves whatever we want. We say, “I feel like a doughnut,” so we go get a doughnut. Richard Foster says that our stomach is like a spoiled child, and spoiled children do not need indulgence -- they need discipline. Even </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic;">Oh! Henry</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> commercials speak to the control that our stomachs have over our lives. We are not to be controlled by our stomachs, but controlled by the Spirit of God. Fasting is spiritual training in self-control.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The way that gold was refined in ancient days was that the ore was placed in a great cauldron with fire underneath it. As it heated up, the ore would melt, and all the impurities would rise to the surface. The smelter would then skim off the impurities – the dross. But he wasn’t finished there; he would stoke the fire more, and more impurities would rise to the top. He would skim those off, and heat it up even more. He would continue this process until the gold was pure. And it is said that he knew that the gold was pure when he could see his reflection in the gold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">God does the same thing. He heats things up in our lives so that the dross rises to the top. When we go through hard times, things in our lives are brought to the surface: sins, things that we are holding on to that we need to let go of, pride, etc. These things can become very obvious when we go through struggles, and it gives God the chance to skim them off and purify us. He knows when He is done when He can see His reflection in us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">God wants us to be like pure gold. We can turn up the heat ourselves, or we can wait until He does. Fasting is voluntarily turning up the heat in our lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt;">Richard Foster says:</span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic;">More than any other single discipline, fasting reveals the things that control us. This is a wonderful benefit to the true disciple who longs to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. We cover up what is inside us with food and other good things, but in fasting these things surface. If pride controls us, it will be revealed almost immediately. David said, “I humbled myself with fasting” (Ps. 69:10). Anger, bitterness, jealousy, strife, fear – if they are within us, they will surface during fasting. At first we will rationalize that our anger is due to our hunger; then we know that we are angry because the spirit of anger is within us. We can rejoice in this knowledge because we know that healing is available through the power of Christ. </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">(p.48)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 4:7-8:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Spend your time and energy in training yourself for spiritual fitness. Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is much more important, for it promises a reward in both this life and the next.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Out of all the spiritual disciplines, fasting is most like physical exercise. It is both physical and spiritual, and it builds our “faith muscles” so that we can withstand the bigger contests that come our way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Fasting can be earnest prayer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Many people fast when they are desperate for God to answer their prayers. We can fast for rescue from a bad situation, for healing of a loved one, for direction in life or for other requests that are close to our hearts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Fasting is not some kind of spiritual hunger strike that compels God to do our bidding. The Israelites got this wrong in Isaiah 58:3 when they say, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic;">Why have we fasted,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic;"> and you have not seen it? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic;"> Why have we humbled ourselves, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic;"> and you have not noticed?</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">On the other side, fasting can bring a note of urgency to our praying. We are coming to our Father and telling Him (and ourselves) how important this issue is to us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Arthur Wallis writes</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic;">:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; language: en-US; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-cyrillic-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-default-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-greek-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latin-font-family: "Arial Narrow"; mso-latinext-font-family: "Arial Narrow";">Fasting is calculated to bring a note of urgency and importunity into our praying, and to give force to our pleading in the court of heaven. The man who prays with fasting is giving heaven notice that he is truly in earnest… Not only so, but he is expressing his earnestness in a divinely-appointed way. He is using a means that God has chosen to make his voice to be heard on high.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">When my sister Faith was diagnosed with cancer, as I prayed for her, Jesus’ words that “these can come out only through prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29) kept coming to me, so I began a weekly fast for her as well as my constant prayer. When we fast with a specific request in mind, our fast can be a wordless prayer to God. Our hunger pangs also remind us to lift our voice up to God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Fasting for change<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, would not ordain anyone for ministry unless they fasted every Friday. While I was looking into the horrors of the modern slave trade, I discovered that the reason that Wesley fasted, and required his clergy to fast, was to see the end of the African slave trade. Two hundred years ago, his prayers and fasting were answered when the British parliament abolished the slave trade in the British Empire. Today, groups like Living Water International are inviting people to fast for fresh water provision in the developing world. The modern slave trade is actually more extensive than the African slave trade was; Christians need to renew the practice of fasting for social change.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Fasting can help us humble ourselves<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Fasting can humble us. Oftentimes all the things in our life that we take pride in are stripped away in fasting – the ability to move and think fast, the ability to be productive, and our physical strength are all reduced in fasting. Fasting really should be called “slowing!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Fasting can be an act of humility – just as kneeling or bowing before God is an act of humility, so is fasting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">One of the most wicked men in Jewish history, King Ahab, eventually humbled himself before God and demonstrated it by fasting: </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic;">“When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He lay in sackcloth and went around meekly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic;">Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite: ‘Have you noticed how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself, I will not bring this disaster in his day …’ ”</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> (1 Kings 21:27-29)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">David, one of the most righteous kings, also humbled himself through fasting (Ps. 35:13).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Fasting can be a sign of repentance<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Repentance is a decision to turn away from sin in our lives. In Christianity today, repentance can be a light thing. It is just some words we say, and it can be over in seconds. But many people in the Bible fasted to show their seriousness in repentance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">You might be uncomfortable with this, but God isn’t. While we would like our confession and repentance to be as short as possible, fasting takes time. This might lengthen our discomfort with our guilt, but it might cause us to take more seriously our decision to turn from sin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">When we fast in our repentance, it is not an attempt to punish ourselves for our past sin, but a commitment and preparation for our future righteousness. It is a sign that we are starting something new.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">People have also fasted out of grief for others’ sins, not just their own.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There are many more reasons to fast and you can read about them in the resource material listed at the end of this pamphlet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">How to Fast<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Start small. Fasting is a bit like physical exercise. You want to train yourself. You wouldn’t try to run a marathon without training, so don’t jump into a forty-day fast without training; Start by fasting for one meal, then two, then do a twenty-four hour fast. You may want to use the season of Lent to fast once a week, adding a little to the fast each week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Determine the purpose of the fast. Is it to seek God, to seek direction, to pray for others, or for change?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Determine the nature of the fast. Is it a partial fast? Many people do partial fasts through Lent. Is it an absolute fast, or solid food only? As a person who suffers from low blood sugar, I actually find it easier to fast with only water. When I have allowed myself juice, it spikes my blood sugar, and for every high there is a low. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Plan for the fast. Set the time specifically. It is likely best not to be fasting if you have a presentation or a job interview that day. Determine the length of the fast. Is it one day? Two meals or three? Is it longer? (For fasts longer than three days, please read the supplemental material recommended at the end of the brochure, and consult a doctor if there are any medical questions.) Don’t plan to decide as you go – that doesn’t work so well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Is it going to be a working fast, where you keep your schedule the same, but use the time that you would otherwise be eating to pray? Or are you going to clear your schedule and retreat during your fast? Is it also a media fast? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Get people praying for you. There is so much potential power in seeking God in this way that Satan will do whatever necessary to derail your plan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Don't call attention to your fasting. A simple "I'm skipping lunch today" will be an adequate explanation for most situations. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Stay continually focused on the Lord. If your fasting leaves you irritable with family or coworkers, it will not honor God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Pitfalls of Fasting<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Pharisees were very self-righteousness about their fasting, and it is easy for us to become self-righteous as well. Remember that your fast is about you and God, not about impressing others, or even yourself.</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-style: italic;">When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">(Matthew 6:16-18, TNIV)</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There is also the temptation to judge others who don't fast, or who don't fast as long, or who don't deny themselves as many things.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Fasting can also trap its participants in legalism. As soon as rule-making begins about whether juice is okay or water only, or what media are excluded, the joy and power of the Spirit will be lost.</span><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Coercion of God<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Remember that we are not twisting God’s arm; we are trying to draw closer to Him.</span><span style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold;"> </span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Penance<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">There is a heretical tradition in Christianity of punishing ourselves for sins. God’s forgiveness of our sins comes with no requirement of us except confession and repentance. We shouldn’t deprive ourselves of food as a way to punish ourselves or gain favour with God. We already have God’s favour through Jesus.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: bold;">Dieting</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It is tempting to see fasting as a great weight-loss program. Although you can shed weight during fasting, this is not its first goal. The goal is spiritual, not physical. If you want to lose weight, find a way to eat more healthily and exercise; if you want to draw closer to God, try fasting.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: bold;">Mental Health</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Fasting can complicate mental health issues that you may be dealing with. I’ve had friends go into a deep depression after a prolonged fast. If you struggle with mental health, talk to your doctor or therapist before you fast, and have someone monitor your health during the fast. If you have an eating disorder, fasting from food may not be healthy for you. Again, make sure you talk with your doctor, therapist, or 12-step sponsor before you fast.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: bold;">For further reading:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">John Piper, </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt;">A Hunger for God</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> (Crossways Press, 1997). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Arthur Wallis, </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt;">God’s Chosen Fast</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> (Christian Literature Crusade, 1980). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Richard Foster, </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt;">Celebration of Discipline</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> (Harper, 3</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 7.9919pt;"><sup>rd</sup></span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">. ed., 1988), ch. 4.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Check out more on the web!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt;">Go to Navpress.com, click on Magazines, the</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt;">n</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt;"> Discipleship Journal, then Archives</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt;">,</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt;"> and search for these articles</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt;">: </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">A Day to Pray</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt;">, </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Confronting Prayer Myths</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt;">, </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Speaking God’s Language</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt;">, </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">The Listening Side of Prayer</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt;">, </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Fasting on a Full Stomach</span><span lang="en-US" style="font-family: "arial narrow"; font-size: 12pt;"> and other articles on fasting.</span></div>
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Mike Wilkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12483259835437099571noreply@blogger.com160 Colbeck St, Toronto, ON M6S 1T9, Canada43.6548733 -79.478383218.1328388 -120.7869772 69.1769078 -38.1697892tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733130249024872920.post-36137364966046399292015-12-15T11:13:00.002-08:002015-12-20T10:45:21.858-08:002016 Christmas Letter - #FashionSanta<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTZbtSA5otqE0Qj4Qn0S1HAwdeUAebERIPTmR3yEbj5bM7K6zSj_k2wEejVk75TqtDKJJA9OU4Xwu25pJWD9qBccTTD0aK1zn01ZUUiWKNF9qwAnqCcDi2xdswW3cRIgzg0mQxU9LV/s1600/FashionSanta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTZbtSA5otqE0Qj4Qn0S1HAwdeUAebERIPTmR3yEbj5bM7K6zSj_k2wEejVk75TqtDKJJA9OU4Xwu25pJWD9qBccTTD0aK1zn01ZUUiWKNF9qwAnqCcDi2xdswW3cRIgzg0mQxU9LV/s400/FashionSanta.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Social media told me that <a href="http://www.blogto.com/fashion_style/2015/12/torontos_fashion_santa_sets_the_internet_on_fire/" target="_blank">Yorkdale Mall hired model Paul Mason</a>, and “his glorious white beard,” to play Santa Claus this year. If you google #FashionSanta you’ll see that he might actually look a little more like the <a href="http://pneumatictire.blogspot.ca/2011/12/saint-nicholas-and-national-day-of.html" target="_blank">real Saint Nicholas</a> than the <a href="https://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwinnbWex97JAhUHm4MKHXC5ADwQjRwIBw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.adbranch.com%2Fcoca-cola-santa-claus-1950-1964%2F&bvm=bv.110151844,d.amc&psig=AFQjCNGZ5lKmhBh1F_gTta0yZEKIYBKVxw&ust=1450292613884123" target="_blank">Coca-Cola version</a> of a very large elf in a very large suit.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The whole thing got me thinking about how we celebrate the birth of Jesus with all sorts of glitz and glamour when the Prophet Isaiah describes the coming savior like this, </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He was despised and rejected by mankind,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like one from whom people hide their faces</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Isaiah 53:2-3</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m all for having fun with Christmas, but in the midst of the lights and tinsel we can’t forget that we are celebrating the birth of God who came as a poor, homeless, helpless infant. I love how<a href="https://www.facebook.com/brennanmanningfans/?fref=ts" target="_blank"> Brennan Manning</a> writes it in a chapter called “Shipwrecked at the Stable”: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“God entered into our world not with the crushing impact of unbearable glory, but in the way of weakness, vulnerability and need. On a wintry night in an obscure cave, the infant Jesus was a humble, naked, helpless God who allowed us to get close to him.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While we might celebrate Christmas with “unbearable glory,” that is not where we will find the One we celebrate. He is not in the lights and tinsel – he is in the stable. To quote<a href="http://www.brucecockburn.org/" target="_blank"> Bruce Cockburn</a>, “</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It isn’t to the palace that the Christ Child come, but to shepherds, and street people, hookers and bums.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” (The Cry of a Tiny Babe)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” says, “</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He puzzled and puzzled till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. Maybe Christmas, he thought... doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps... means a little bit more!</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It actually means a lot more – it means that God has come to be among us, to show us who he truly is: “</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” – John 1:18</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This Christmas, celebrate well! Get out the lights and tinsel, the turkey and the trimmings, but make sure that you </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">find the One</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> whom we celebrate as well. You won’t find Him in the lights – he won’t come in unbearable glory, he’ll come </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“in the way of weakness, vulnerability and need.” </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Among the rejected ones, that’s where you’ll find the Christ Child.</span></div>
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<br />Mike Wilkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12483259835437099571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733130249024872920.post-30328028201351616882014-02-26T09:32:00.000-08:002014-02-26T09:32:40.935-08:00Wear a RED X tomorrow<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God often asks His people to do things that make other people ask: "Why do you do that?" One of my favorites is the time the people of Israel cross over the Jordan River into the Promised Land, and Joshua has a man from every tribe pick a rock from the river and heap the twelve stones up into a pile<i> "<span class="text Josh-4-6" id="en-NIV-5917" style="background-color: white;">to serve as a sign<span class="crossreference" style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(<a href="#cen-NIV-5917H" title="See cross-reference H">H</a>)"></span> among you. In the future, when your children<span class="crossreference" style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(<a href="#cen-NIV-5917I" title="See cross-reference I">I</a>)"></span> ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?'’</span><span class="text Josh-4-6" style="background-color: white;"><b> </b></span></i><span class="text Josh-4-7" id="en-NIV-5918" style="background-color: white;"><i>tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off<span class="crossreference" style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(<a href="#cen-NIV-5918K" title="See cross-reference K">K</a>)"></span> before the ark of the covenant of the <span class="small-caps" style="font-variant: small-caps;">Lord</span>. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial<span class="crossreference" style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: top;" value="(<a href="#cen-NIV-5918L" title="See cross-reference L">L</a>)"></span> to the people of Israel forever.”</i> (Joshua 4:6-7)</span></span><br />
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<span class="text Josh-4-7" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tomorrow (February 27), people all over the world are going to paint a red "X" on their hand. "Why?" you might ask. (This is the correct response!) </span></span><br />
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<span class="text Josh-4-7" style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And all those people (those of us with X's on our hands!) can reply: "We are wearing the red X to bring attention to the problem of slavery in the world today. Today, it is estimated that 27 million people are enslaved. That is more than were enslaved at the height of the African slave trade!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm inviting you to go to http://enditmovement.com to get informed and then tomorrow, before you go out to work, school or wherever, paint a red "X" on your hand. When people ask "Why?" tell them that you want to see slavery end.</span></div>
<span class="text Josh-4-7" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span>Mike Wilkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12483259835437099571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733130249024872920.post-79933130004697364442012-10-25T11:25:00.002-07:002012-10-25T11:25:30.954-07:00Dunlop in Dublin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Mike Wilkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12483259835437099571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733130249024872920.post-74060036665686833202012-03-15T10:24:00.007-07:002012-03-15T11:07:36.398-07:00Saint Patrick and Evangelism<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK2O-nRtD2Jph0bR8uSpo5DOG28g2bgJrDaVj3IJWwAvTOVkNsZi6VnnlscUJuuRcSSxnNPYMbK-R5dOhOwb7cScsHNWETvCtBq8Ee-KGHlAPZ9Ph0HONuoMqDEipFfyp8e-llJ3by/s1600/Celtic%252520Cross%252520II.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px; height: 240px; float: left; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5720179998412161554" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK2O-nRtD2Jph0bR8uSpo5DOG28g2bgJrDaVj3IJWwAvTOVkNsZi6VnnlscUJuuRcSSxnNPYMbK-R5dOhOwb7cScsHNWETvCtBq8Ee-KGHlAPZ9Ph0HONuoMqDEipFfyp8e-llJ3by/s320/Celtic%252520Cross%252520II.jpg" /></a><div>You might celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day this Saturday by wearing green and patronising your local Irish Pub, but to really celebrate the man, you might want to bring a friend along and tell them about Jesus! </div><div> </div><div>Patrick is the apostle of Ireland – credited with most of the population of the island embracing Christ within his lifetime. There are some who would say that he is the first true missionary since the apostle Paul: if not, he is surely the first missionary to venture outside of the Roman Empire.<br /><br />By the time Patrick died at the ripe old age of 115, after 60 years of ministry, the vast majority of Ireland would have adopted his very indigenous, very vibrant Christian faith.<br /><br />In many ways it was best explained as a conversion not to <em>Christianity</em>, but to <em>Christ</em>. Patrick was not spreading a religion: to have more people under the control of the Church; but he was spreading the Good News that the Creator wanted to have a relationship with them through his Son. It was the good news of inviting people to live the life that they were created to live, in the family of the One that they were created in the image of.<br /><br />Patrick’s message was good news that pulled people out of fear based, and often-oppressive religious systems and beliefs. Patrick himself recognized that the gospel was good news as he suffered as a slave on the hills of Northern Ireland. He returned to Ireland not to conquer it for Christ, but to woo people into Christ’s love.<br /><br />Patrick was a missionary unlike many others. Patrick was not Irish (gasp!), he was born in Roman Briton. But he didn’t reach the Irish as his “target audience.” In his writings he speaks of “we Irish:” he sees himself as one of the Irish. Because of his enslavement, he already had an understanding of the culture and ways of the Irish, and he felt no need to “civilize” them into Roman ways. <br /><br />Even the Celtic cross is a sign of the marrying of the Celtic culture and Christian faith – The circle was an important symbol to the Druids, and instead of destroying it as evil and devilish, Patrick placed the cross over it. This doesn’t mean that he adopted the traditional religion into his Christianity: there was much to be discarded it was a fear-based religion that included human sacrifice and fearsome and arbitrary gods. But the Celtic Christian faith was one that spoke to the same earthy “felt needs” of the people, and it adopted much of what was good and pure from the traditional culture.<br /><br />George G. Hunter III writes about Patrick’s method of spreading the gospel in “<a href="http://www.amazon.ca/The-Celtic-Way-Evangelism-West-Again-10Th/dp/1426711379/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331832759&sr=1-2">The Celtic Way of Evangelism</a>:” “<em>Patrick’s entourage would have included a dozen or so people, including priests, seminarians, and two or three women. Upon arrival at a tribal settlement, Patrick would engage the king and other opinion leaders, hoping for conversion, or at least their clearance, to camp near the people and form into a community of faith adjacent to the tribal settlement. The “apostolic” team would meet the people, engage them in conversation and in ministry, and look for people who appeared receptive. They would pray for sick people, and for possessed people, and they would counsel people and mediate conflicts. On at least one occasion, Patrick blessed a river and prayed for the people to catch more fish. They would engage in some open-air speaking, probably employing parable, story, poetry, song, visual symbols, visual arts and, perhaps, drama to engage the Celtic people’s remarkable imaginations. Often, we think, Patrick would receive the people’s questions and then speak to those questions collectively. The Apostolic band would welcome responsive people into their group fellowship to worship with them, pray with them, minister to them, converse with them, and break bread together. One band member or another would probably join with each responsive person to reach out to relatives and friends. The mission team typically spent weeks, or even months, as a ministering community of faith within the tribe. The church that emerged within the tribe would have been astonishingly indigenous.”</em> - p. 21<br /><br />Patrick’s is a great model for evangelism today in our post-Christian world. Some of the people who walk in his spirit today are <a href="http://www.alphacanada.org/">The Alpha Course</a>, Ed Silvoso & his model of <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Prayer-Evangelism-Spiritual-Climate-Neighborhood/dp/0830723978/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331831904&sr=1-1">Prayer Evangelism </a>& the people involved in the <a href="http://movein.to/vision/">MoveIn</a> movement.<br /><br />Wish someone a happy Saint Patrick’s Day & tell them about the Jesus that Patrick loved!</div>Mike Wilkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12483259835437099571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733130249024872920.post-48698494401505183742012-03-14T12:58:00.006-07:002012-03-15T09:51:16.315-07:00Saint Patrick and the End of Slavery<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge1snjOnIexfaT3M5W388LYTm38YDQs-Za1-6s817_gttX69jsBog4y-CTL2Ht3UxXgiSZr1yWsZL0IdHLDJ0e4xhTmsp7XoNR1KYccydtB5sIeu4tegbEGDlMjsvAi3OAD4gHC09I/s1600/PADRAIG.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 238px; height: 320px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5719847926044656290" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge1snjOnIexfaT3M5W388LYTm38YDQs-Za1-6s817_gttX69jsBog4y-CTL2Ht3UxXgiSZr1yWsZL0IdHLDJ0e4xhTmsp7XoNR1KYccydtB5sIeu4tegbEGDlMjsvAi3OAD4gHC09I/s320/PADRAIG.jpg" /></a><div>We’re a few days away from Saint Patrick’s Day, and it will be a day of grown men marching in funny green hats, drinking way too much green beer & inviting anyone to kiss them because, for today, they are Irish. Like many of our Saints’ Days, the celebration has taken over, and it has become much less than the actual person we are celebrating.<br /><br />Contrary to popular belief, Saint Patrick looks nothing like the guy on the front of Frosted Lucky Charms cereal! Patrick was born in Roman Briton in 387. At the age of 16 he was captured by Irish raiders and sold into slavery in Ireland. In slavery, he embraced the Christian faith he was born into. Through dreams and visions from God, Patrick was able to escape back to his family.<br />He was trained as a priest and, through dreams from God, he was called back to Ireland to be an apostle to his former captors. Patrick was an amazing evangelist: in his lifetime, Ireland was converted to Christianity.<br /><br />Patrick preached a holistic faith that encompassed every area of life. Thomas Cahill says in <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Irish-Saved-Civilization-Thomas-Cahill/dp/0385418493/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331830188&sr=8-1">How the Irish Saved Civilization</a>; ”Patrick is the first human being in the history of the world to speak out unequivocally against slavery. Nor would any voice as strong as his be heard again till the seventeenth century.” By Patrick’s death, slavery was completely abolished as a practice in Ireland – way better than driving out the snakes!<br /><br />We have two writings from Patrick that have survived into our time. One is his “Confession,” which is a brief autobiography; the other is his letter to Coroticus. This public letter to Coroticus is a powerful statement against slavery.<br /><br />As the Romans pulled out of Briton, the Romanized Britons had very few ways to support themselves so some of them took to piracy, raiding the neighbouring counties for booty and slaves. </div><div><br />You can imagine how horrified Patrick was to hear of the tables turning and British Christian raiders coming to make slaves of the Irish. One of the raiders was named Coroticus. Patrick describes how he had just baptized and confirmed a large group of young men and women, when on the very next day, the chrism “still gleaming upon their foreheads, they were cruelly cut down and killed.” Those that resisted faced instant death; the remainder were taken prisoner – the men into slavery, the women to endure a lifetime of sexual abuse at the hands of the pagan Picts.<br /><br />Patrick writes a hasty letter and sends a delegation of priests after Coroticus and his men to call them back from their wicked ways and return their Christian brothers and sisters to their homes. The priests were rebuffed and laughed at. So Patrick wrote a second open letter; a great rebuke, calling Coroticus and his men to repentance. If they do not repent, the letter calls all other Christians to excommunicate them and have nothing to do with their company or their wicked ways. In the letter he derides Coroticus and his men as “dogs and sorcerers and murderers, and liars and false swearers… who distribute baptized girls for a price, and that for the sake of a miserable temporal kingdom which truly passes away in a moment like a cloud or smoke that<br />is scattered by the wind.”<br /><br />Today, slavery is as great an issue as it ever was in Patrick’s day. In fact, there are more slaves today than there were at the height of the African slave trade or any other time in human history! This March 17, you can honour Saint Patrick by doing something to end slavery in our generation. You can become part of advocacy organizations like <a href="http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/">Not For Sale</a>, rescue organizations like <a href="http://www.ijm.ca/">International Justice Mission</a>, and after-care organizations like <a href="http://www.ratanak.org/">Ratanak International</a>. And pray for the 30 million people enslaved today, that they would see justice and freedom in our time.</div>Mike Wilkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12483259835437099571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733130249024872920.post-49609641221375276152011-12-06T12:45:00.000-08:002011-12-06T14:49:30.571-08:00Saint Nicholas and National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwSpLin5oYAaeJ8ZMknbS1GGqiPWHXtqs2JK-1MynxmAhUBpuzdVsR_9KAJ-NNWwlXB9MZYWV33laWCFq6nis9SXLpO3MLupIZw0q-DrJDqFRWU1avgV25LF7GEOXUeHLQDt53QpLG/s1600/st-nicholas-of-myra.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 242px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5683129160594607938" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwSpLin5oYAaeJ8ZMknbS1GGqiPWHXtqs2JK-1MynxmAhUBpuzdVsR_9KAJ-NNWwlXB9MZYWV33laWCFq6nis9SXLpO3MLupIZw0q-DrJDqFRWU1avgV25LF7GEOXUeHLQDt53QpLG/s320/st-nicholas-of-myra.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /><div>December 6 is <a href="http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/germany/">Saint Nicholas Day</a>! In Germany, children put out their stockings (or shoes) on the eve of Saint Nicholas and he fills them with fruits & candies (or coal). In my house we celebrate Saint Nicholas Day because we have our own Saint Nicholas (our twelve-year-old). I usually just wish him a happy Saint Nicholas Day and buy him some chocolate. Lately I’ve taken him out for lunch to celebrate his saint’s day.<br /><br />Another “tradition” that we’ve had on Saint Nicholas Day is to wake up to the radio reminding us that it is the <a href="http://www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/dates/vaw-vff/index-eng.html">National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women</a> in Canada. December 6 marks the anniversary of the murders in 1989 of 14 young women at l'École Polytechnique de Montréal. I’ve always had troubles reconciling the fun celebration of the patron saint of children with the remembrance of that terrible crime.<br /><br />Today, as <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/metromorning">Matt Galloway</a> reminded me of the memorial this morning, it seemed to make more sense. <a href="http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/who-is-st-nicholas/">Saint Nicholas</a> isn’t the Santa Claus of Coca-Cola ads, nor is he even Father Christmas. He was a real person living in the early fourth century A.D. As Bishop of Myra, located in modern day Turkey, he attended the Council of Nicea from which we have the <a href="http://http://www.creeds.net/ancient/nicene.htm">Nicene Creed</a>. Nicholas was a great protector of women. A story is told of a poor old widower with three daughters for whom he had no dowry. Without a dowry, the girls were destined to be sold into prostitution. In order to save the girls, and retain the widower’s dignity, Nicholas secretly provided the dowries by throwing bags of gold through the family’s window. (The gold supposedly landed in stockings or shoes drying by the fire.) You may have never thought of Santa Claus as someone doing what he could to stop the trafficking of vulnerable women, but Saint Nicholas surely did. He followed the example of his saviour Jesus in <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%208:2-11&version=NIV">protecting vulnerable women </a>and <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%207:36-50&version=NIV">honouring</a> them.<br /><br />So, we can celebrate Saint Nicholas Day and remember and take action on violence against women on the same day. You can remember Saint Nicholas and wear the white ribbon in his honour; and like Saint Nicholas, you can take action to protect women who are some of the most vulnerable to violence: those who are trafficked, especially in the sex trade. One place to start is where many people at <a href="http://runnymedechurch.org/">Runnymede Community Church</a> help out: supporting Vancouver-based <a href="http://www.ratanak.org/">Ratanak International</a> in their work to restore and rehabilitate Cambodian women and children from slavery in the brothels in Cambodia.</div></div>Mike Wilkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12483259835437099571noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733130249024872920.post-87754588814657328932011-09-27T09:26:00.000-07:002011-09-27T09:43:21.775-07:00Loving The Enemy<div>Loving the enemy, Blessing Those Who Curse You<br /><br />A friend of mine recently returned from the <a href="http://tedxtoronto.com/">TEDxToronto</a> talks. She raved about them, except for the talk given by a former politician who used the opportunity to give a campaign speech that began with taking pot-shots at our current mayor. My friend rolled her eyes and said the comments were a cheap laugh in the context of the TED crowd. Politicians are an easy target for a cheap laugh. Many of my progressive friends have been taking the opportunity to mock our current mayor on Twitter & Facebook. In the current climate, where we have a right-wing mayor, a majority conservative federal government, and the possibility of a conservative provincial government, what’s a “<a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/GTA/article/902903">Left-Wing Pinko Kook on a Bicycle</a>” to do, if not throw mean-spirited attacks and insults their way?<br /><br />The problem is that this is not the way Jesus teaches us to respond to “enemies,” or people we disagree with. What He says is, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” (Luke 6:27-28 NIV) We progressives might feel like we are hated, cursed and mistreated by some of our leaders, but we must respond in love so that we “may be children of our Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:45 NIV)<br /><br />As a response to the nastiness that has plagued American politics of late, the Christian community and magazine <a href="http://sojo.net/">Sojourners</a> has called their people to sign the <a href="https://secure3.convio.net/sojo/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=373">“Peace and Civility Pledge.”</a> As the nastiness seems to be migrating north, I’d encourage Christians in my city and country to read and commit to it as well.<br /><br />So what’s a Spirit-filled “Left-Wing Pinko Kook on a Bicycle” to do in Toronto? Put up and shut up? No, I believe that Christians have a call to speak prophetically to our rulers: see my previous post. The prophets of the Old and New Testaments did not just predict the future – they spoke God’s words and His ways to their rulers. John the Baptist was beheaded for calling the king to account. Jesus was not shy of telling the religious rulers where they were going wrong and He generally used very strong language to do so. We are to call our politicians to a better way, but we must do so with respect and humility. <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%204:25-5:2&version=NIV">Ephesians 4:25-5:2 NIV</a><br /><br />Does that mean that we must be humourless persimmon-sucking puritans? No! the prophets have a long history of using humour, drama, poetry and song to get God’s point across. Christians have a long history of turning our enemies’ insults into badges of honour: the names “Christian,” “Baptist” and “Left-Wing Pinko Kook on a Bicycle” were first given as insults!<br /><br />So, have fun! But as St. Peter said, “Treat everyone you meet with dignity. Love your spiritual family. Revere God. Respect the government.” (1 Peter 2:17 MSG)</div>Mike Wilkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12483259835437099571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733130249024872920.post-57602990428604848912011-09-13T16:22:00.000-07:002011-09-13T16:22:00.290-07:00Rob, Meet Isaiah<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjou2nHKo9TKqtcgtgNXFVkFSNoSHh9x9DvGkIHXs8lOgVVhmKOnNgf4ztdbmC_Mj6IXGP2ZxIoZGuOTp3pdpUT1rqVm1cHTPYCrStnF-Zn5W0jNRtW_PM-kA_hng8OP9-SVJM5jDLH/s1600/20101113-CNphoto.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 320px; height: 234px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5651942457672676386" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjou2nHKo9TKqtcgtgNXFVkFSNoSHh9x9DvGkIHXs8lOgVVhmKOnNgf4ztdbmC_Mj6IXGP2ZxIoZGuOTp3pdpUT1rqVm1cHTPYCrStnF-Zn5W0jNRtW_PM-kA_hng8OP9-SVJM5jDLH/s320/20101113-CNphoto.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Rob, meet Isaiah<br /><br />I woke up Monday morning to hear about the Fords’ proposed cuts to the Toronto city budget. The bullet points in the <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/torontocouncil/article/1052691--close-theatres-reduce-snow-removal-a-snapshot-of-proposed-city-cuts">newspaper</a> listed what’s on the chopping block:<br />● new affordable housing<br />● child care<br />● long term care<br />● libraries<br />● public transportation<br />● social services<br />● garbage removal<br />● police services<br />● street maintenance<br />● zoos and farms<br />● theatres, museums, and other attractions<br /><br />My first thoughts were not about the “no service cuts” promises in the last municipal election, or how these things are hardly gravy. My first thoughts were about how similar this list is to one of my favorite Scriptures about the city. It’s found in <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=isaiah%2065:17-25&version=NIV">Isaiah 65:17-25</a>. It’s a passage about what the archetypal city (Jerusalem) will look like when heaven comes to earth. It is a picture of God’s dream for the city.<br /><br />Here it is:<br />17 “See, I will create<br /> new heavens and a new earth.<br />The former things will not be remembered,<br /> nor will they come to mind.<br />18 But be glad and rejoice forever<br /> in what I will create,<br />for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight<br /> and its people a joy.<br />19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem<br /> and take delight in my people;<br />the sound of weeping and of crying<br /> will be heard in it no more.<br /> 20 “Never again will there be in it<br /> an infant who lives but a few days,<br /> or an old man who does not live out his years;<br />the one who dies at a hundred<br /> will be thought a mere child;<br />the one who fails to reach a hundred<br /> will be considered accursed.<br />21 They will build houses and dwell in them;<br /> they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.<br />22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,<br /> or plant and others eat.<br />For as the days of a tree,<br /> so will be the days of my people;<br />my chosen ones will long enjoy<br /> the work of their hands.<br />23 They will not labor in vain,<br /> nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;<br />for they will be a people blessed by the LORD,<br /> they and their descendants with them.<br />24 Before they call I will answer;<br /> while they are still speaking I will hear.<br />25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,<br /> and the lion will eat straw like the ox,<br /> and dust will be the serpent’s food.<br />They will neither harm nor destroy<br /> on all my holy mountain,”<br /> says the LORD.<br /><br />If I were to make bullet points for God’s dream city, based on this Scripture, they would look something like this:<br /><br />● a people that God delights in. Jeremiah 9:24 says that God delights in people that practice kindness, justice and righteousness. (Is. 65:17-19)<br />● good health for the very young and very old. This includes good health care, a healthy environment, and, since poverty and illness go hand-in-hand, a good standard of living. (Is. 65:20)<br />● good housing and home ownership. (Is. 65:21-23a)<br />● good jobs with livable wages, a connection between work and life and people owning the means of production. (Is. 65:21-23a)<br />● hope for the future - specifically, hope for our children’s future. This would translate into investment in education and not leaving an inheritance of debt. (Is. 65:23)<br />● an intimate relationship with God, which no government can legislate, but they can legislate the freedom to have such a relationship. (Is. 65:24)<br />● true peace and a sense of safety, a reduction in crime and conflict, and unity among all people. (Is. 65:25)<br /><br />I know the bullet points don’t match up exactly, but they are so close that I couldn’t help but think that the Fords are in danger of de-funding God’s dream for Toronto.<br />God’s vision for the city is heaven on earth; the Fords’ vision is lower taxes. The two visions seem to be inversely proportional.<br />Mike Wilkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12483259835437099571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733130249024872920.post-18487952574732079162011-04-26T10:08:00.000-07:002011-04-29T11:36:14.635-07:00Voting Our Prayers<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Nch-Mnn6F-N_r2sfwqCGAYNkHRbe6LFk1KUbd3W7m0qF1w0FzZ7EIx5FTRAveG6fo8CJfM3QkRbblwFDgAW8WEMQ21WtUZa397oKzSuu_tXzc8WGM-Ck0Wa4DoeWTYnDdHOcFgLh/s1600/jfp2.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 288px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 192px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5599944874118289810" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Nch-Mnn6F-N_r2sfwqCGAYNkHRbe6LFk1KUbd3W7m0qF1w0FzZ7EIx5FTRAveG6fo8CJfM3QkRbblwFDgAW8WEMQ21WtUZa397oKzSuu_tXzc8WGM-Ck0Wa4DoeWTYnDdHOcFgLh/s320/jfp2.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><div align="left">As children, those of us of “a certain vintage” began each school day praying the prayer that Jesus taught us.<br /><br /><em>“‘Our Father in heaven,<br />hallowed be your name,<br />your kingdom come,<br />your will be done,<br />on earth as it is in heaven. …<br /></em><br />Most of us prayed without thinking what we were asking for. “What would it look like if God’s reign came?” “What would it look like if God got what He wanted here and now?” I think it is pretty important to ask these questions, especially since God often gets us involved in the answer to our prayers. (See Matthew 9:35-10:8.) As we head to the polls this week, these questions are important if we want to be involved in God’s answers to the prayer He taught us. We can vote our prayer if we understand what we are praying for.<br /><br />So if God’s Kingdom came, if His will was done on earth as it is in heaven, what would it look like? What are we praying for? What are we shooting for? What does it look like when heaven comes to earth?<br /><br />I think one of our best pictures of Kingdom Come is found in a prophecy given through Isaiah five hundred years before Jesus taught us His prayer. It’s found in Isaiah 65:17-25. It’s a picture of heaven come to earth.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:78%;">17</span> “See, I will create<br />new heavens and a new earth.<br />The former things will not be remembered,<br />nor will they come to mind.<br /><span style="font-size:78%;">18</span> But be glad and rejoice forever<br />in what I will create,<br />for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight<br />and its people a joy.<br /><span style="font-size:85%;">19</span> I will rejoice over Jerusalem<br />and take delight in my people;<br />the sound of weeping and of crying<br />will be heard in it no more.<br /><span style="font-size:78%;">20</span> “Never again will there be in it<br />an infant who lives but a few days,<br />or an old man who does not live out his years;<br />the one who dies at a hundred<br />will be thought a mere child;<br />the one who fails to reach a hundred<br />will be considered accursed.<br /><span style="font-size:78%;">21</span> They will build houses and dwell in them;<br />they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.<br /><span style="font-size:78%;">22</span> No longer will they build houses and others live in them,<br />or plant and others eat.<br />For as the days of a tree,<br />so will be the days of my people;<br />my chosen ones will long enjoy<br />the work of their hands.<br /><span style="font-size:78%;">23</span> They will not labor in vain,<br />nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;<br />for they will be a people blessed by the LORD,<br />they and their descendants with them.<br /><span style="font-size:78%;">24</span> Before they call I will answer;<br />while they are still speaking I will hear.<br /><span style="font-size:78%;">25</span> The wolf and the lamb will feed together,<br />and the lion will eat straw like the ox,<br />and dust will be the serpent’s food.<br />They will neither harm nor destroy<br />on all my holy mountain,”<br />says the LORD.<br /><br />So how do we pray/vote using Isaiah 65 as a guide? There are themes in these verses that may or may not fit into a party’s platform.<br /><br /><em>Verses17-19</em> envision a people that God delights in. Jeremiah 9:24 says that God delights in people that practice kindness, justice and righteousness.<br /><br /><em>Verse 20</em> envisions good health for the very young and very old. This includes good health care, a healthy environment, and -- since poverty and illness go hand in hand -- a good standard of living for everyone.<br /><br /><em>Verses 21-23a</em> envision good housing for all and home ownership. They also envision good jobs with livable wages, a connection between work and life, and people owning the means of production. The end of 22 speaks of retiring with dignity.<br /><br /><em>Verse 23</em> envisions hope for the future; specifically hope for our children’s future. This would translate into investment in education and not leaving an inheritance of debt.<br /><br /><em>Verse 24</em> envisions an intimate relationship with God, which no government can legislate, but they can legislate the freedom to have such a relationship.<br /><br /><em>Verse 25</em> envisions true peace and a sense of safety, a reduction in crime and conflict, and unity among all people.<br /></div><br /><br /><div align="left"><br />When we pray “Your Kingdom come,” this is what we are praying for. When you vote on Monday, is it what you are voting for? </div></div>Mike Wilkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12483259835437099571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733130249024872920.post-58957291665801251712010-12-16T07:23:00.000-08:002010-12-16T07:32:07.375-08:00Oscar & Mary on ChristmasNo one can celebrate<br />a genuine Christmas<br />without being truly poor.<br />The self-sufficient, the proud,<br />those who, because they have<br />everything, look down on others,<br />those who have no need <br />even of God - for them there<br />will be no Christmas.<br />Only the poor, the hungry,<br />those who need someone<br />to come on their behalf,<br />will have that someone<br />That someone is God.<br />Emmanuel. God-with-us.<br />Without poverty of spirit<br />there can be no abundance of God.<br /> - Oscar Romero<br /><br />“My soul glorifies the Lord<br /> and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,<br />for he has been mindful<br /> of the humble state of his servant.<br />From now on all generations will call me blessed,<br /> for the Mighty One has done great things for me—<br /> holy is his name.<br />His mercy extends to those who fear him,<br /> from generation to generation.<br />He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;<br /> he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.<br />He has brought down rulers from their thrones<br /> but has lifted up the humble.<br />He has filled the hungry with good things<br /> but has sent the rich away empty.<br />He has helped his servant Israel,<br /> remembering to be merciful<br />to Abraham and his descendants forever,<br /> just as he promised our ancestors.” <br /> - MaryMike Wilkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12483259835437099571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733130249024872920.post-43235013730976441612010-11-04T11:24:00.000-07:002010-11-04T11:26:39.439-07:00Praying with the PublicanWe’ve been running God at the Pub at our neighbourhood pub for six or seven years now. Through all this time, the pub owner (let's call her Lydia) has been our host.<br /><br />In the first session we did, the pub was having a rough time. The smoking bylaws were in flux; while Lydia was (at great expense) renovating the upstairs of the pub as a smoking area, the law changed again and the bylaw officer told her she could not allow smoking in that space. Meanwhile, two large pubs in the neighbourhood were allowed to have smoking areas, so all the smokers were going there. As Arthur and I cleaned up one night, Lydia told us that she was having trouble making the rent. Arthur asked if we could pray for her; she said that she would really appreciate that, and we put our hands on her shoulders and prayed that business would turn around. I think that God was so surprised to hear a Baptist pastor and elder praying for the prosperity of a pub that He couldn’t say no! Soon after, the smoking laws changed so that no pubs could allow smoking, and "our" pub came out with a new menu. Now Lydia is run off her feet and doesn’t have any worries about making the rent!<br /><br />We’ve become good friends over the years. She will sometimes sit in on a session if she isn’t too busy. And every once in a while she mentions with fondness the time that Arthur and I prayed for her -- and how things turned around so quickly after that!<br /><br /><br /><br />A few months ago, Lydia was in a lot of pain from shingles. We told her that the following week was the Alpha healing evening and suggested that maybe she’d like to come. When the healing evening rolled around, I had forgotten completely about her shingles or our invitation. While we were praying for others for healing, Lydia came upstairs and was puttering around the bar while we were praying. I thought it was strange – normally she tries to be extremely quiet while we are having discussions or praying. (Okay, I’m slow.) We were going a bit late, and I thought she wanted me to settle the tab so she could go home. As I got up to pay, Linda Ruth suggested I ask Lydia if we could pray for her. I paid and asked if she would like prayer – she said that she would, but that she was late to meet someone. I said that it was okay and we could pray for her without her there. She said, “No, I really like it when you put your hands on me to pray!” So she stayed and the small group of us laid hands on her and prayed that God would heal the shingles, take away the pain and let her get some rest. You could tell that she was deeply touched – we all were. And I’m still praying madly that God will show himself to her through healing.<br /><br /><br />I wrote the above last spring. God gave Lydia immediate relief from her pain and she is now completely healed. At the end of the course, she came to our final Alpha evening in one of the leader's homes. She knows that God had a hand in her healing, but she still has some hurdles to get over before she makes that step into the Kingdom - keep praying!Mike Wilkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12483259835437099571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733130249024872920.post-7630533509715448612010-04-15T09:07:00.000-07:002010-04-15T09:12:00.030-07:00Proclaiming the Kingdom in 2010<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 9"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 9"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:/Users/user/AppData/Local/Temp/msoclip1/01/clip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:donotoptimizeforbrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Wingdings; panose-1:5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0; mso-font-charset:2; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 268435456 0 0 -2147483648 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} h1 {mso-style-next:Normal; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; page-break-after:avoid; mso-outline-level:1; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-font-kerning:0pt;} p.MsoHeader, li.MsoHeader, div.MsoHeader {margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; tab-stops:center 216.0pt right 432.0pt; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} /* List Definitions */ @list l0 {mso-list-id:1752433617; mso-list-type:hybrid; mso-list-template-ids:-1146969024 -1580805506 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693;} @list l0:level1 {mso-level-start-at:0; mso-level-number-format:bullet; mso-level-text:-; mso-level-tab-stop:36.0pt; mso-level-number-position:left; text-indent:-18.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} ol {margin-bottom:0cm;} ul {margin-bottom:0cm;} --> </style> <p class="MsoNormal">"Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." – John 20:21-23</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">N.T. Wright, in his book “The Challenge of Jesus,” is trying to understand how we apply this passage to our lives 2,000 years later
<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">He says this:</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The human race has been in exile; exiled from the garden, shut out of the house, bombarded with noise instead of music. Our task is to announce, in deed and word, that the exile is over: to enact the symbols which speak of healing and forgiveness, to act boldly in God’s world in the power of the Spirit. As I suggested earlier, the proper way to expound the parables today is to ask: what should we be doing in God’s world that would call forth the puzzled or even angry questions to which parables like these would be the right answer?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">At the risk of trespassing in areas I know little or nothing about, let me simply hint at some ways in which this might work out. If you work in information technology, how is your discipline slanted? Is it slanted towards the will to power or the will to love? Does it exhibit the signs of technology for technology’s sake, of information as a means of disadvantaging those who don’t have access to it by those who do? Is it developing in the service of true relationships, true stewardship, and even true worship, or is it feeding and encouraging a society in which everybody creates their own private, narcissistic, enclosed world? Luther’s definition of sin was “homo incurvatus in se:” humans turned in on themselves. Does your discipline foster that, or challenge that? You may not be able to change the way the discipline currently works. You may be able to take some steps in that direction, given time and opportunity, but that isn’t necessarily your vocation. Your task is to find the symbolic ways of doing things differently, planting flags in hostile soil, setting up signposts which say that there is a different way to be human. And when people are puzzled at what you are doing, find ways, fresh ways, of telling the story of the return of the human race from its exile, and use those stories as your explanation.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Or suppose you work in fine art, or music, or architecture. Is your discipline still stuck in the arrogance of modernity? Or, more likely, is it showing all the signs of the postmodern fragmentation, the world which declares that all great stories, all overarching systems, are power-plays? Is your discipline run by people with a strong political agenda, so that (say) unless you’re a committed Marxist they don’t think you can be a serious artist? Your calling may be to find new ways to tell the story of redemption; to create fresh symbols which will speak of a home for the homeless, the end of exile, the re-planting of the garden, the rebuilding of the house. I knew a young artist who became a Christian at Oxford, and struggled with tutors who despised him for it. His answer, to his own surprise, was to start painting abstract icons. They were spectacular and deeply beautiful. He didn’t tell his tutors what they were until they had expressed their surprise and delight at this new turn in his work, drawing forth from him quite fresh creativity which they couldn’t help but admire. Then, when they asked what was going on, he told them the story.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">So we could go on. If you are to shape your world in following Christ it isn’t enough to say that being a Christian and being a professional or an academic (to address these worlds particularly for the moment) is about high moral standards, using every opportunity to talk to people about Jesus, praying for or with your students, being fair in your marking and assessment, and honest in your speaking. All that is vital and necessary, but you are called to something much, much more. You are called, prayerfully, to discern where in your discipline the human project is showing signs of exile, and humbly and boldly to act symbolically in ways which declare that the powers have been defeated, that the Kingdom has come in Jesus the Jewish Messiah, that the new way of being human has been unveiled; and to be prepared to tell the story which explains what these symbols are all about. And in all this you are to declare, in symbol and praxis, in story and articulate answers to questions, that Jesus is Lord and Caesar isn’t; that Jesus is Lord and Marx, Freud and Nietzsche aren’t; that Jesus is Lord and neither modernity nor postmodernity are. When Paul spoke of the gospel he wasn’t talking primarily about a system of salvation, but about the announcement, in symbol and word, that Jesus is the true Lord of the world, the true light of the world.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">From N.T. Wright, “The Challenge of Jesus” p.143-4</p> Mike Wilkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12483259835437099571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733130249024872920.post-10608701922450499942010-04-13T12:03:00.000-07:002010-04-13T12:06:36.706-07:00<p style="margin: 0pt;"><span style="font-family:arial;">Good News!</span></p><p style="margin: 0pt;"> </p><p style="margin: 0pt;"><span style="font-family:arial;">If “convincing people of their need” is not our first step in proclaiming good news to the poor, what is the first step? (See last post) I think that there are two answers to that. </span></p><p style="margin: 0pt;"> </p><p style="margin: 0pt;"><span style="font-family:arial;">First, I do believe that <i>everyone</i> needs the Gospel, and when we listen to people, sooner or later they might explain to us when and how the Gospel sounds like good news to them. I remember in a discussion in university, Don Posterski said, “Evangelism is listening.” I think that he was right: evangelism is about listening to our friends, and listening to the Spirit to hear where the Good News sounds like good news. </span><span style="font-family:arial;">This kind of listening is hard to do among the poor if we continue in a power-imbalanced relationship with them. We need to be </span><span style="font-family:arial;"><i>with</i></span><span style="font-family:arial;"> the poor to listen to them. We serve with and among the poor. We cannot listen if we are only providing a service to the poor (as "benefactors") and then stepping back again, out of relationship.</span></p><div style="margin: 0pt;"> </div><div style="margin: 0pt;"><span style="font-family:arial;">The second starting point is not just a proclamation but a <i>demonstration</i> of the Gospel. I’ve been musing about Paul & Silas’ interaction with the jailer in Philippi as described in Acts 16. Paul & Silas are beaten and jailed for negatively impacting some businessmen’s bottom line by freeing a slave girl from a demon. In chains, they sing praises to God. God shakes the jail so that the doors fly open. In those days, if a jailer lost his prisoners, he would suffer the sentence of the prisoner or he would be killed. Paul & Silas’ jailer sees that the doors have been opened and he pulls out his sword to kill himself rather than die at the hands of an executioner. Paul calls out, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!" </span><span style="font-family:arial;">The jailer got a torch and ran inside. Badly shaken, he collapsed in front of Paul and Silas. He led them out of the jail and asked, "Sirs, what do I have to do to be saved?" </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Aren’t those the words that we’d all love to hear? “What must I do to be saved?” That is when the Gospel becomes good news to the ears of the listener.</span></div><p style="margin: 0pt;"> </p><p style="margin: 0pt;"><span style="font-family:arial;">How does the jailer get to that question? He is a pagan jailer – any understanding that he might have of the One God, or of Jesus Christ, would have come through possibly hearing the content of Paul & Silas’ hymns of praise. He comes to the question because of encountering the <i>power</i> of God and the <i>kindness</i> of Christians. The only thing that he knows about the God of Paul & Silas is that He can open jail cells. The only thing that he knows about Jesus’ followers is that they just saved his life by sacrificially staying in the open prison. Knowing these two things, he wants "in" – he wants to follow, too.</span></p><p style="margin: 0pt;"> </p><p style="margin: 0pt;"><span style="font-family:arial;">I believe that if we bring our friends to a place where they can encounter the power of God & the sacrificial kindness of Christians, they are much more likely to ask that question, “What must I do to be saved?” In ministry to the poor, this means that we need to express all the gifts of the Spirit with them – God shows His power through healing, prophesy, words of wisdom and knowledge, Spirit-empowered help and encouragement. If nothing else, we can introduce people to the powerful presence of God through prayer. It also means that our kindness to the poor must go beyond charity. We must learn to “spend ourselves on behalf of the poor.” (Isaiah 58:10) Paul reminds us in Romans 2:4 that it is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance. Most people will experience God’s kindness through the kindness of Christians.</span></p>Mike Wilkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12483259835437099571noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733130249024872920.post-13962479441060936252010-03-18T14:29:00.000-07:002010-03-18T14:33:04.691-07:00Good News?Last April, at the <span style="font-style: italic;">Mobilization to End Poverty</span> in Washington, DC, I was in a post-conference panel discussion on theology and social justice. One woman, who worked in a medical clinic for the poor in the US, asked (with a great deal of angst) about the ethics of sharing our faith with the people that we are giving aid to. She voiced an issue that I hear a lot from those who serve the poor: “Is foisting our beliefs on those who are in need what we are supposed to do?” “People have come to us looking for food, good health, a job, a place to live; they didn’t come to be preached at!” “There is a power imbalance in social services. We have what they want--do we force them to listen to our sermon before we give it to them?” These are good questions.<br /><br />Jesus, in his first public words in Luke’s gospel, quotes from Isaiah 61:<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> because he has anointed me</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> to proclaim good news to the poor.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> and recovery of sight for the blind,</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> to set the oppressed free,</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."</span> (Luke 4:18-19)<br /><br />This is widely seen as Jesus' mandate for ministry and his mandate for the Kingdom he is proclaiming. If this is Christ’s mandate, then it is also the Christian’s mandate. Then why is it so hard to proclaim good news to the poor?<br /><br />I think that one of our difficulties is that we have been exposed to a “sales model” of evangelism. When we are selling a product to someone, we first need to convince them of their need for the product. We follow a paradigm like this: “You may not know it, but you could have gingivitis! Gingivitis is bad; it could kill you, or worse, give you bad breath! Our product cures gingivitis. You need to buy our product.” We have been "selling Jesus" the same way that Johnson and Johnson sells mouthwash! The thing is, “you are a sinner in danger of the fires of hell” doesn’t sound much like good news – even if you are not poor.<br /><br />Jesus doesn’t use the sales model of evangelism. He doesn’t try to convince the poor of their need for God. The only people he does try to convince are the religious rulers. He assumes that the poor already know their need.<br /><br />Maybe those of us who serve the poor would have less of a problem proclaiming good news to the poor if our gospel sounded like good news to the poor! More on that to come…Mike Wilkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12483259835437099571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733130249024872920.post-35295196435688008592010-01-18T14:24:00.000-08:002010-01-20T12:58:11.158-08:00Haiti<meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 9"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 9"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:/Users/user/AppData/Local/Temp/msoclip1/01/clip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:donotoptimizeforbrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:StarSymbol; mso-font-alt:"Arial Unicode MS"; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:auto; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} @font-face {font-family:"DejaVu Sans"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 3 8 4 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-419414273 -771686913 41 0 -2147483137 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Nimbus Sans L"; mso-font-alt:Arial; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} @font-face {font-family:"\@StarSymbol"; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:auto; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; mso-hyphenate:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:AR-SA;} h1 {mso-style-next:Normal; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; page-break-after:avoid; mso-outline-level:1; mso-hyphenate:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-font-kerning:0pt; mso-fareast-language:AR-SA;} p.MsoHeader, li.MsoHeader, div.MsoHeader {margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; mso-hyphenate:none; tab-stops:center 216.0pt right 432.0pt; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:AR-SA;} p.MsoCaption, li.MsoCaption, div.MsoCaption {margin-top:6.0pt; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:6.0pt; margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan no-line-numbers; mso-hyphenate:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:AR-SA; font-style:italic;} p.MsoList, li.MsoList, div.MsoList {mso-style-parent:"Body Text"; margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:6.0pt; margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; mso-hyphenate:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:AR-SA;} p.MsoBodyText, li.MsoBodyText, div.MsoBodyText {margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:6.0pt; margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; mso-hyphenate:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:AR-SA;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-parent:""; color:navy; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} span.Bullets {mso-style-name:Bullets; mso-style-parent:""; mso-ansi-font-size:9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:9.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family:StarSymbol; mso-fareast-font-family:StarSymbol; mso-hansi-font-family:StarSymbol; mso-bidi-font-family:StarSymbol;} p.Heading, li.Heading, div.Heading {mso-style-name:Heading; mso-style-next:"Body Text"; margin-top:12.0pt; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:6.0pt; margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; page-break-after:avoid; mso-hyphenate:none; font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Nimbus Sans L"; mso-fareast-font-family:"DejaVu Sans"; mso-bidi-font-family:"DejaVu Sans"; mso-fareast-language:AR-SA;} p.Index, li.Index, div.Index {mso-style-name:Index; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan no-line-numbers; mso-hyphenate:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:AR-SA;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">This is the message from Sunday - I thought it was worth posting here.
<br /></span></p><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 9"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 9"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:/Users/user/AppData/Local/Temp/msoclip1/01/clip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:donotoptimizeforbrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:StarSymbol; mso-font-alt:"Arial Unicode MS"; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:auto; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} @font-face {font-family:"DejaVu Sans"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 3 8 4 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-419414273 -771686913 41 0 -2147483137 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Nimbus Sans L"; mso-font-alt:Arial; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} @font-face {font-family:"\@StarSymbol"; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:auto; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; mso-hyphenate:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:AR-SA;} h1 {mso-style-next:Normal; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; page-break-after:avoid; mso-outline-level:1; mso-hyphenate:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-font-kerning:0pt; mso-fareast-language:AR-SA;} p.MsoHeader, li.MsoHeader, div.MsoHeader {margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; mso-hyphenate:none; tab-stops:center 216.0pt right 432.0pt; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:AR-SA;} p.MsoCaption, li.MsoCaption, div.MsoCaption {margin-top:6.0pt; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:6.0pt; margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan no-line-numbers; mso-hyphenate:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:AR-SA; font-style:italic;} p.MsoList, li.MsoList, div.MsoList {mso-style-parent:"Body Text"; margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:6.0pt; margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; mso-hyphenate:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:AR-SA;} p.MsoBodyText, li.MsoBodyText, div.MsoBodyText {margin-top:0cm; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:6.0pt; margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; mso-hyphenate:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:AR-SA;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-parent:""; color:navy; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} span.Bullets {mso-style-name:Bullets; mso-style-parent:""; mso-ansi-font-size:9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:9.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family:StarSymbol; mso-fareast-font-family:StarSymbol; mso-hansi-font-family:StarSymbol; mso-bidi-font-family:StarSymbol;} p.Heading, li.Heading, div.Heading {mso-style-name:Heading; mso-style-next:"Body Text"; margin-top:12.0pt; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:6.0pt; margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; page-break-after:avoid; mso-hyphenate:none; font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Nimbus Sans L"; mso-fareast-font-family:"DejaVu Sans"; mso-bidi-font-family:"DejaVu Sans"; mso-fareast-language:AR-SA;} p.Index, li.Index, div.Index {mso-style-name:Index; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan no-line-numbers; mso-hyphenate:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:AR-SA;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">
<br /></span></p><meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 9"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 9"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:/Users/user/AppData/Local/Temp/msoclip1/01/clip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:donotoptimizeforbrowser/> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:StarSymbol; mso-font-alt:"Times New Roman"; mso-font-charset:128; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:auto; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} @font-face {font-family:"DejaVu Sans"; panose-1:2 11 6 3 3 8 4 2 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-419414273 -771686913 41 0 -2147483137 0;} @font-face {font-family:"Nimbus Sans L"; mso-font-alt:Arial; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; 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mso-style-next:"Body Text"; margin-top:12.0pt; margin-right:0cm; margin-bottom:6.0pt; margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; page-break-after:avoid; mso-hyphenate:none; font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Nimbus Sans L"; mso-fareast-font-family:"DejaVu Sans"; mso-bidi-font-family:"DejaVu Sans"; mso-fareast-language:AR-SA;} p.Index, li.Index, div.Index {mso-style-name:Index; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan no-line-numbers; mso-hyphenate:none; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Arial; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language:AR-SA;} @page Section1 {size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">Our response to Haiti: Where is God in Tragedy?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";" lang="EN-US">La Presse reporter Chantal Guy was in Port-au-Prince when the quake struck. She shares this exclusive report with the Toronto Star, Thursday Jan 14 2010:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";" lang="EN-US">PORT-AU-PRINCE–On the highways and the streets, they are walking, by the hundreds, in silence.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";" lang="EN-US">This kind of silence is rare in Port-au-Prince.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";" lang="EN-US">Some bear their dead, covered in sheets, on stretchers. They don't know where to go.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";" lang="EN-US">Those who aren't walking sit in groups in front of homes that are no longer livable, scattered in waves all the way to the gardens of the legislature, where makeshift camps have sprung up.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";" lang="EN-US">"God is angry," a man calls to us.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";" lang="EN-US">A woman's long wail pierces the air from the mountain. Just one.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";" lang="EN-US">…<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";" lang="EN-US">From where I'm writing, the starry sky is cloudless. Earlier we heard people praying and singing. Yes, there are many prayers in Port-au-Prince – a city where the words "God" and "Jesus" are everywhere.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";" lang="EN-US">One might think they can't hear.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">While many of us responded with shock and deep concern, often we have that nagging question of “Why?” in the back of our heads. Why does this happen?<span style=""> </span>Like Chantal Guy, you might be angry with God and say that he is not there, he is not listening.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">Some of you might have heard, and been horrified by, Pat Robertson’s answer to the “Why?” question.<span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">This is a quote from Robertson on the day after the tragedy:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyTextIndent"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-US">Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III, or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the Devil. They said, we will serve you if you'll get us free from the French. True story. And so, the Devil said, okay it's a deal.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">Robertson believes that God has cursed Haiti because of that supposed pact with the devil over two hundred years ago. All of Haiti’s troubles, including this earthquake, are punishment from God.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="" lang="EN-US">Haiti’s History<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">The tragedy of Haiti — which, along with the Dominican Republic, makes up the island of Hispaniola — begins with Christopher Columbus's first voyage to the Americas. Estimates of the island's Taino population at that moment are as high as eight million. Eighteen years later, the native population was about 50,000.<span style=""> </span>By time the French came, in the second half of the 17th century, there were no natives left at all. They had been worked to death, murdered and decimated by European disease. The French took the western third of the island and named the territory Saint-Domingue.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">The French turned the colony into a plantation economy, powered by slave labour. The wealth Haiti generated for France was enormous. In 1776, it was generating "more revenue than all 13 North American colonies combined."<span style=""> </span>By 1789, the colony supplied three-fourths of the world's sugar.<span style=""> </span>But that wealth came on the backs of the slaves that produced it. 29,000 African slaves were arriving in Haiti every year, just to keep the population stable. One third died within three years of their arrival.<span style=""> </span>Those that lived suffered the whip, rape, and terrible tortures. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">In 1791, the slave uprising began. Thirteen years later, the French had been routed and the new leaders reclaimed the island's Indian name, “Ayiti.” According to one historian, it is the only example of "an enslaved people breaking its own chains and using military might to defeat a powerful colonial power."<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">Independent Haiti started with a devastated economy and infrastructure as well as the hostility of much of the rest of the world's rulers.<span style=""> </span>The Haitians had burned the French off the island. The US and Europe isolated Haiti. Soon it was an era of gunboat diplomacy, with Germany, France, England and the US sending ships into Haitian waters to enforce their demands.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyText">Twenty years after independence, as the king's <span style="" lang="EN-US">King Charles X </span>warships cruised just over the horizon from the Haitian capital, a French emissary demanded 150 million gold francs in exchange for recognizing the new republic. The implicit alternative was invasion and re-enslavement. </p> <p class="MsoBodyText">It was a huge sum, about five times Haiti's annual export revenue. Haiti's then-president reluctantly agreed, taking on a crushing debt. <span style="" lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">The US was the main aggressor against Haiti: it sent warships to Haiti at least 30 times from 1849 to 1915. From 1915 to 1934, the Americans outright occupied Haiti. After the Americans left, twelve years of repressive stability followed. Then a period marked by military coups culminated in the army's installing Dr. François Duvalier in 1957.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">"Papa Doc," and his son Jean-Claude ("Baby Doc") would rule Haiti until protests forced the latter dictator to flee in 1986. In 1982 a Canadian parliamentary committee had described their rule as a "kleptocracy."<span style=""> </span>Both tyrannical thieves were propped up by the US because of their anticommunist rhetoric during the Cold War.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">The military took over and ruled Haiti, except for a few months, until 1990 when Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected. Seven months later, the military staged another bloody coup, and Aristide soon went into exile.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">In 1994, Haiti was occupied by a multinational force that was dominated by US troops. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">Aristide resumed his presidency until 1996, but he was elected again in 2000. In early 2004, the opposition was in military control of a large part of Haiti. Aristide was forced from power in February; he said he was kidnapped by the US.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">A multinational interim force with eventually 3,600 troops was formed. Canada played a major role in this force.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">That year, floods in May and September claimed 5,000 Haitian lives. Others died in the continuing political violence.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">In 2008, Haiti was once again devastated, this time by storms and hurricanes. At least 800 people died and a million were left homeless. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">Back to this strange idea that Haiti was <b>cursed</b> because of a pact with the devil – the slaves who revolted would have followed their African animistic religions. Merged together, and along with some aspects of Christianity, these religions became Voudun or Voodoo.<span style=""> </span>The Haitians may have said prayers and made sacrifices to their gods before going into battle, but, as violent and terrible a religion as voodoo is, it is not devil worship – a pact with the devil would not have been in the Haitians’ worldview.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">And it only takes this simple reading of Haiti's history to realize that God has not cursed Haiti – the so-called “Christian” nations of France, Britain, Germany and the US have cursed it, though.<span style=""> </span>The reason that Haiti is the poorest country in the Americas is because the West has kept it that way, punishing these upstart slaves for trying to win their freedom.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">The reason that the storms of 2008, and the earthquake of 2010, have caused such damage and loss of life in Haiti is because of the poverty.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <h1><span style="" lang="EN-US">Why?<o:p></o:p></span></h1> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">It is so easy to turn to the question, “Why,” at a time like this.<span style=""> </span>“Why does this happen?” “Why does God let it happen?” “Why does God make it happen?” <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i style=""><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoBodyText">The survivors of the earthquake, camped overnight in St. Pierre's Plaza, Port-au-Prince, sang a hymn whose lines say, </p> <p class="MsoBodyText"><i style=""><span style="" lang="EN-US">God, you are the one who gave me life.
<br />Why are we suffering?<o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><span style=""> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">I'm not so sure that I have a good answer to that question, except that our world is broken and there are times that her brokenness rears its head very violently.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">Asking “Why?” can get us into the place of the man who cried “God is angry!”, or the journalist who said “God is deaf!” or Pat Robertson who would blame this tragedy on the Haitians themselves and on God. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">Maybe the better question is “<b><i>Where</i></b> is God?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">Two preachers wrote eloquently about this in their blogs:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">Jim Wallis:<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoBodyTextIndent2"><span lang="EN-US">I also want to say a word about God and evil. Pat Robertson said that Haiti’s earthquake was caused because of the country’s “pact with the devil.” I don’t even know what he means, nor do I care. But I want to say this: My God does not cause evil. God is not a vengeful and retributive being, waiting to strike us down; instead, God is in the very midst of this tragedy, suffering with those who are suffering. When evil strikes, it’s easy to ask, where is God? The answer is simple: God is suffering with those who are suffering.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">John Piper <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-US">Jesus in Haiti<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-US">After the Earthquake – <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-US">Do you consider safety, or your health,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-US"><span style=""> </span>A sign from me?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-US">I am not awed by might, nor struck by wealth,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-US"><span style=""> </span>Or poverty.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-US">O, I am struck! And crushed. Buried, I wince,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-US"><span style=""> </span>And dying, pray,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-US">A sympathetic Priest in Port-au-Prince,<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-US"><span style=""> </span>Even today.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-US">But there, in those United States the boot<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-US"><span style=""> </span>Is on my face.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-US">“Saul, Saul,” I ask, “Why do you persecute<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-US"><span style=""> </span>And not embrace?”<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-US">Your King, I lift my arms to you in peace<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-US"><span style=""> </span>And patient grief;<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-US">And summon now to Haiti enemies<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="EN-US"><span style=""> </span>For my relief.</span><span style="" lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="" lang="EN-US">God is with Those who Suffer <o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">Jesus is there – he says, “</span>I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. </p> <p class="MsoBodyText">... ”Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” - Matthew 25</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="" lang="EN-US">What should we do?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="" lang="EN-US">In Romans 8, Paul, speaking of natural disasters, says that the whole earth is groaning as if in childbirth. He says: “</span>The creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.” (Romans 8:19)</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The groaning is the time for us to reveal ourselves as children of God – children of the compassionate One, the merciful One, the loving One.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <h1>Reveal yourself</h1> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Pray – God says to Moses in Exodus, “I have heard the groaning of my people.”</p> <p class="MsoNormal">He says in the Psalms: "Because of the oppression of the weak and the <b style="">groaning</b> of the needy, I will now arise," says the LORD. "I will protect them from those who malign them." (Psalm 12:5). Pray for food and water supplies, for coordination and wisdom for the NGO workers on the ground, for comfort for those who mourn, for justice for Haiti.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Give – We have a connection to Haiti Partners. Donations to World Vision are matched dollar for dollar by the Canadian government. The Royal Bank of Canada has also instituted a donor matching program.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Continue your support – We have a lot of past to make up for! Keep up your support for Haiti; help as we work among the Haitians in the Dominican Republic; support Haiti Partners; come to the book launch on January 24 (www.haitipartners.org); advocate for Haiti. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Remember – We so quickly forget about tragedies. Haiti could have used this much attention before the earthquake! It has already fallen off the top trending twitters. Keep the story alive.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Support – Let the Haitians in Canada that you are acquainted with know that you are with them.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></p> Mike Wilkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12483259835437099571noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7733130249024872920.post-61642514949776659962010-01-04T11:29:00.000-08:002010-01-04T12:17:31.968-08:00Full of Hot Air<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">I’ve wanted to start a blog for a while now, mostly as a place to write about how the Spirit-filled life relates with everyday life, and in particular connects with social justice and compassion.<span> </span>I finally tried to start a few months ago, but got stymied at the first step of creating a blog – naming it.<span> </span>I kind of knew where I wanted to go with the blog, but had no idea what a good name would be. </span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">“Mike’s Blog – good eats here” was likely already taken.<span> </span>I thought of a bunch of names as I mused, “Spirit Moves” being my favorite, which incidentally is a fantastic CD by <a href="http://www.myspace.com/fergusmarsh">Fergus Marsh</a>.<span> </span>I’m not sure Ferg would have appreciated me stealing his title, and since I’m hoping his wife, Lynn, will write every once in a while, I think he’d find out about the theft.<br /></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;">So I’ve sat on it for a while.<span> </span>But then on Epiphany Eve eve, I had my own epiphany!<span> </span>I wanted to talk about the Holy Spirit in everyday life – spirituality where the tire hits the road, as it were.<span> </span>The Greek word for spirit, wind, breath and air is "pneuma" (if you are Rob Bell, you spell it “nooma”).<span> </span>So there you have it -- I have a name! Pneumatic Tire.<span> </span>I may change it to Pneumatic Tirade though…</span></span></span></span></p>Mike Wilkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12483259835437099571noreply@blogger.com0