This is very disturbing, and breaks the heart, considering how much has been raised for the victims of Haiti’s earthquake. The original blog post is here.

Injustice

Let me explain to you the anger surging through me as I sat in the back of our pickup truck at 2:00 AM with the limp form of a child draped over my legs.

Travel back with me to 1:15AM.

Whimpering…sobbing….in the gentle, hesitant high pitch of a child. In the distant corner of the courtyard of our hospital, under a tarp. She is trying to be quiet. She knows it is dark in the hospital, and people around her are trying to sleep. Mewing like a small, injured kitten. Tears run down her cheeks. Her legs are pulled to her abdomen. Heat rises off her febrile form, burning. Her lower jaw trembles as a wave of rigors shakes her small body. Blistering fever. Continue reading ‘very disturbing (Haiti relief)?’ »

Not sure who wrote this, or where its from, but it may be a prayer for you…

KNOTS PRAYER

Dear God,

Please untie the knots
that are in my mind,
my heart and my life.
Remove the have nots,
the can nots and the do nots
that I have in my mind.

Erase the will nots,
may nots, and
might nots that find
a home in my heart.

Release me from the could nots,
would nots and should nots
that obstruct my life.

And most of all, dear God,
I ask that you remove from my mind
my heart and my life all of the am nots
that I have allowed to hold me back,
especially the thought
that I am not good enough.

Amen.

If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law [Galatians 5:18]
Paul said that walking according to the Spirit is not license: an excessive or undisciplined freedom constituting an abuse of privilege. As a Christian you may see the phrase “You are not under the Law” in Galatians 5:18 and exclaim, “Wow, I’m free! Walking in the Spirit means I can do anything I want!” Not at all. In the previous verse Paul wrote, “You may not do the things that you please.” Being led by the Spirit doesn’t mean you are free to do anything you want to do. It means you are finally free to live a responsible, moral life–something you were incapable of doing when you were the prisoner of your flesh. [Neil Anderson]

Apparently a company in Germany is marketing these garage door covers.
What do you think of the last one?
Click to enlarge…

“We do not start our Christian lives by working out our faith for ourselves; it is mediated to us by Christian tradition, in the form of sermons, books and established patterns of church life and fellowship. We read our Bibles in the light of what we have learned from these sources; we approach Scripture with minds already formed by the mass of accepted opinions and viewpoints with which we have come into contact, in both the Church and the world.…

It is easy to be unaware that it has happened; it is hard even to begin to realize how profoundly tradition in this sense has moulded us. But we are forbidden to become enslaved to human tradition, either secular or Christian, whether it be “catholic” tradition, or “critical” tradition, or “ecumenical” tradition.

We may never assume the complete rightness of our own established ways of thought and practice and excuse ourselves the duty of testing and reforming them by Scriptures.”

(J. I. Packer, “Fundamentalism” and the Word of God [Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1958], pp. 69-70.)

On this Valentine’s Day, I think of those who are experiencing this dream, as well as those whose dream has crashed. This beautiful video portrays the story that most of us dream about, but so many do not attain. The dream is not an illusion, and its something worth fighting for. But it is impossible without God’s help, without humility and grace on our part, and without determination from both partners to love with God’s kind of love: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. [1 Corinthians 13:4-8]

The LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. [Psalm 147:11]
Not only does God love us, we were created to love God.
To love God with our whole being – with heart, soul, mind and strength.
To love God with joy, with pleasure, not just out of duty or obligation.
This is essential to our human nature, we were designed to love God this way.
We function best when we are loved by God, and love God.
We are dysfunctional when we miss out on God’s love, and do not love God.
I know what it is as a parent to love a child, and the wonder of being loved by my child.
How much more God, our Father, loves to be loved by those that He loves!
Can you hear the Lord asking you, like He asked Peter, ‘Do you love me?’

One of the most profound truths that we believe about God is that God loves us!
God – creator of all, source of life and consciousness, ultimate Being behind the universe.
This God is a personal God, a God that relates to us as persons, and loves us as children.
The bible describes our connection to God using the most intimate language possible – as a father, a friend, a lover, a husband.
It was love that led God to create us, and it this love that does not give up on us!
I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. [Jeremiah 31:3]
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [John 3:16]
I just wanted to remind you of this amazing thought – that God loves you.
Do you live with this awareness, do you know and feel that God loves you?

One day this will be Valerie and I, making beautiful music together!
Fran & Marlo Cowan (married 62 years) playing impromptu recital together in the atrium of the Mayo Clinic. He turned 90 in February. The song is Old Grey Bonnet.

When I watch this, it resonates with my thoughts regarding the church.
What do you think?