. . . the fruit of the Spirit is
love
joy
peace
patience
kindness
goodness
faithfulness
gentleness
and self-control.
There is no law (Jewish Law) against such things.

 What person perceives (i.e., knows and understands), what passes through a person's thoughts except that person's own spirit?

So too, no one discerns (comes to know and comprehend) the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

. . . .

Not that I have already attained or have already been perfected, but I follow after it so that I may lay hold of that for which I was seized by Christ Jesus. 

I do not count myself to have attained, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 

I press toward the goal to the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

living water

I am made in the image of God, not your image of God.

Reclaiming Jesus

The Holy Spirit's job is to bring about love into our lives.

So often we sit in our churches or we sit in our pews and we go through the motions, but we forget that the Holy Spirit's job is to wake us up in the morning. The Holy Spirit's job is to wake us up and to give us words of utterance that will make a difference; to call us to something bigger than ourselves, something that is God.

Jesus said God is love.

And love is God!

So wherever love is there is God - right there in the midst of you.

And those disciples who gathered in ther room that day, perhaps expecting, perhaps not expecting, perhaps anticipating, perhaps not anticipating, wherever they were in their own spiritual journey, in their own spiritual capsule at that moment, felt an awakening of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

And as the doves came, and as the winds blew, they were sent then out into the world not to keep this missage to themselves but to keep it for the world to know that God is Love.

And that's another cool talk with God our Senior Pastor shared.

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An Extraordinary Adventure

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It is easier to walk a tight rope when there is a net beneath it. For many everywhere there is no net there and yet must cross the river of fire, preferring not to wander caves of quiet desperation, delusion and deciet, scribbling legacies of regret on ruins - cracked cobblestones; a landfill; fire flies; leaves left loose in the wind - history's graffiti. We choose to transcend!

"How do we cultivate young people who have the idealism, and the ambition, and the drive, and the passion to start their own journey to bring about meaningful and positive social change?"

You are altogether beautiful, my love;
    there is no flaw in you.

King Solomon

What is your move?
Share your experience.

"I am the door. If anyone enters through Me, that one will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.   The thief does not come, except to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." Jesus, Son of Man, Prince of Glory, Redeemer.

Who made the mountains? Who made the trees? Who made the rivers flow to the sea? Who sends the rain when the earth is dry? Who made the flowers to bloom in the spring? Who made the song for the robins to sing? Who hung the moon in the starry sky? Yes, all that and way much more! Our mind. Our body. Our spirit. Our soul.

Where is your river of fire?

Being fully functional and wholly human!

Rivers of Fire

Caleum non animum mutant, qui trans mare currant.

Foxes have no need of wool, given charge of the hen house; it is the chickens that must discover what their feathers are made of, for they would soon prove themselves fecal, if huddled hoping for the foxes' teeth to fall out. And would prove themselves feasts, pleading their charge to have a change of heart. And would prove themselves feckless praying for a lion's roar, if just that and nothing more. There is a river of fire in that hen house. There is a river to cross! Or trust their bones will inspire a wiser regeneration.

Let me wax poetic for a moment or two while we open our eyes en route.

A certain petulant thought frequently invaded my mind whilst I was a boy, which I found quite easy to crush and blow into oblivion through the joys of magical youthfulness.

Having then trekked across valleys then up mountains, and in observing a certain pregnant mountain's labor, and that whilst I was lumbering into manhood, I found it quite easy through the magic of learning to reassemble that thought, remold it, thence to crush it again, thus to bury it deep beneath ashes of ignorance.

Aye, but then came a moment, methought I saw the specter of that crushed thought floating this way from a distance. Or was it just a cloud? Hilarious naievete! Smoke streaming from a laborious mountain's pain?

Perhaps it was merely a trick of mind wearied at the sight of a desert heat in the distance.

Perhaps I ought to train my eyes closer home and return to that strange visage later - that boyish thought - just in case it was rising to fetch wisdom into this new day.

I waxed poetic.

This, though, is no specter. And no poetry! Truth to power, this is an unvarnished NOTICE from present reality - a pregnant mountain's pain:

• 130 million girls are without education
• one billion women are without access to a bank account,
• 39,000 girls became child brides today
• women everywhere are paid less than a man for the same work

• #MeToo
• #Enough
• #WeCanFixThis

Can we really?

Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes we can. We can transform those rivers of fire into flames of fire. There is a great big difference. Oh, wait a minute, but what are the odds you will? What are the odds I will? What are the odds we will?

A lot depends on who, what and where one is! Doesn't it? Let's see.

In Flight of The Fused Monkeys we observe a powerful leader forcefully reminding one of his sons who is poised unawares to face life's ruthless gauntlet of a certain fierce reality many ignore, forget or are cajoled into. "My son," he said, "if you are not mindful you will inhabit someone else's dream. A mindless boy can set his life aside and when he is a man forget where he had set it and spend an awful time searching everywhich way to find it, for if he doesn't search for it he will regret it, and if he doesn't find it, he will hate himself for it." Too many, perhaps, take their cues for life and living from the habits of animals, forgetting the magnifcence of the human creation. "You are not a prawn," he told his son. "You're not a shrimp. Though at times I have my doubts, you are not an imp. You are not a dog. You are not a cow. You are not a cat. You are not an eel. You are made of sterner stuff than these. You are a prince. The blood of Titans flows through you. Out there, beyond the gates, dribbling fools burning with jealousy and hatred will not hesitate to take everything from you! I am your father. You are my son. Hear me well. You have what it takes; I gave it to you."

So, how about us? How about you? Homo sum. Humani nil ame alienum puto. Why would we absorb into our beings those narratives others project onto us about us when the mere projection is a telling of the evil that it is - their narrative.

Should we not reframe our minds befitting the mastery of a Great Creator's splendor? Must we float with fishes? Caleum non animum mutant, qui trans mare currant. I happen to know we have a choice. What do you know?

"I give them eternal life. They shall never perish, nor shall anyone snatch them from My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them from My Father’s hand. My Father and I are one." All things are possible. Start with what is just outside your comfort zone. Believe. Act upon it. Step outside and breathe.

Parturient montes. Nascetur ridiculus mus. Blame my mother, if blaming is your thing; she thought it important for me to know a little latin. And as you no doubt know, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Or so they say!

Parturient montes. Nascetur ridiculus mus. This well known quotation is an ever so economic coinage from Horace's Epistle to the Pisones, offering us this hilarious piece of wisdom translated: "The mountains will go into labor, and give birth to a ridiculous mouse."

I 've seen that mouse.

I witnessed the mountain's labor. Oh, dear me! Haven't you?

That certain mountain is in labor again, but not the mountain we're headed to.

When I was a boy, as I began telling you, at a certain point there was turmoil everywhere around. Turmoil upon turmoil upon turmoil. Pretty much like it is all around us now - only different - but really the same! Except for weapons of choice. Very, very, very different. Lies and deciet gallore. Very much the same. And problems! Same. And pain. Everywhere pain! Yep, the same. Well, to a boy it seemed the same. It felt the same. If it walks like a duck and talks like, well you know. Except there was no good place for a boy to duck and hide. Oh, dear me. And there was no water in the glass. Heck, there was no glass! You had better have your tongue hanging ready when it rained. Mana from heaven. Holy. Holy. Holy. Lord God Almighty. Thank you, Jesus. Pure water is sweet when you're thristy. Believe me. That's its secret sauce. Thirst! Now you owe me.

Well, as I was telling you, I would look around at all the turmoil wondering, even aloud at times, "what's wrong with these people, why are they putting themselves and us through all this useless trouble beating each other up like this?"

I asked. And I got answers. And I disagreed. My very being revolted at the responses.

"No! No! No! It's not that hard," I'd answer back. "The fix is easy. Just stop! Stop! STOP! Take a breath, blink, and it's over. Easy. Hug somebody and smile. Easy. Very easy. Try it. You'll see."

Poor boy! So Naive!

That's what they called me - naive - then they plunged right back into 'turmoiling' worse than before!

"But you did stop it for a moment, didn't you, to talk to me?"

You're going to get yourself hurt! Real bad!

That's what they would tell me then plunge right back into 'turmoiling' again! Lies. Deceit. Problems. Pain. And more pain. Raging fires! Oh, boy. That's why I wondered if there was any wisdom in that cloud, wisdom regarding all these mice running rampant through our streets. That poor mountain has got to be exhausted, I told myself. Well, indeed there was, that's why we are heading to the lean side of the mountain. It's gonna be something ever so special. Ooooh-wee! Phenomenal.

"Knowledge that takes you not beyond yourself is far worse than ignorance." Elif Shafak.

Something To Consider

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You are

What POWER!