ContemplativeJourney

In an amazing twist of literary construction, we began our sermon today on the topic of 'How to Have a God-Centered Family,' and ended with the subject of tithing. I just love my new church, and my Pastor. During February, Pastor and his wife have been sharing about healthy and godly relationships, and doing a fabulous job of it.  As we finish up the series, our focus was turned to our relationship with God, and how to put and keep Him first. We began with Matthew 6:33, a verse that never gets old. It is so simple, and yet the promise is so complete. Plucked from the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, arguably Jesus' most 'famous' sermon, in some ways this verse encapsulates the core of how we are to live our lives... But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given unto you as well. It becomes more complicated when we begin to unpack what the verse means, because I think most followers of Jesus spend the majority of our l

" Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world."  Ephesians 6:11-12 The seeds of this particular blog were planted on the day I saw just a snippet of the video taken of the Jordanian pilot as he was burned alive inside a cage. There are no words in our language to do justice to the horror of that image.  Sometimes we become numb to these images of evil. Perhaps we must be numb in order to cope. On this day however, for me, I felt a physical wave of nausea come over me. Unspeakable evil, a heartless desire to see another human suffer.  The ability to 'produce' that person's suffering for personal gain...how can this happen? Today, a still photo of Coptic Christians from Egypt. 21 of them, standing in water just slightly