The GOOD News: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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him. THAT'S IT IN A NUTSHELL.
THE whole chebang IN A NUTSHELL
"‘Love the Lordyour God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment.And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
'Twas all so NEW & DIFFERENT, not everyone quite got it.
". . . John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, 'He has a demon.' The Son of Man came eating and drinking , and you say, 'Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.' But wisdom is proved right by all her children."
Jesus the Christ
(Luke's account)
{ a "secret" . . . learning }
{ a "secret" . . . mindset }
{ a "secret" . . . growing }
"To those of you who are listening," Jesus explained, "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect payment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be paid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."
The full story told, (the entire bible's conversation into which we are invited), leads to Jesus the Christ.Oooh, what a story!
Jesus, the One Exemplary of this NEW MINDSET, delivered enlivening nourishment to whoever is willing to freely partake. Enormously practical & 'nutritious' when nurtured it turns out.
It is proven wise TO NOT GET STUCK re-living finished chapters of completed stories. (Wisdom.) And proven wise TO NOT willynilly adopt storied habits of unfinished folks for whom and after whom Jesus is shown to be THE COMPLETED ONE. (Wisdom.) And proven wise to RENEW our mind, exfoliating deeply engrained plantation-mindsets. (Wisdom.) It is proven wise to keep listening, for God is STILL SPEAKING. (Wisdom.) Meanwhile, our story continues. Rejoice in patience. Enjoy embracing a set of new essential skills - 01. We may find them daily useful.
CRACK THE NUT
My Friend,
if you take my words to heart, if you set store by my commandments, turning your ear to wisdom, turning your heart to understanding, yes, if your plea is for clear perception,
if you cry out for understanding, if you look for it as though for silver, search for it as though for buried treasure, then you will understand what the fear of the Lord is, and discover the knowledge of God. For the lord himself is giver of wisdom, from his mouth issue knowledge and understanding.
A Sparkling Gem
We are humans. Marvelously made. Privileged with this gift of life. To thrive, to grow, honoring this privilege, it is useful to get good nourishment for fruitful growth. It is useful to acquire and develop human skills to be in community with humans.
An encounter with God, assurance of glory, commitment to follow, do not imbue a human with ever better human skills. It is useful for such skills to be acquired, cultivated, and employed. Jesus did.
A person who is rude, for example, does not automatically become unrude by being saved or sanctified or spirit-filled. Worse, they may mine scriptural words (out of context) to justify rudeness. Add, one person's privilegeness is another person's rudeness, and another group's rudeness is some community's bold & truthful frankness. You see?
If one is habitually negative (or positive), there is no automatic flip at the aha of goodness and mercy. The habit remains until duly rehabilitated.
We do ourselves well (then better) by acquiring and improving human skills continually. When we know better, we can do better. None of us is exempt. We live and work in fraught learning environments.
We've got awesome company.
Luke Six & Seven
⛲
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
The Appostle
Before you speak
to me about your religion,
first show it to me in how you treat other people;
before you tell me how much you love your God,
show me how much you love all His children;
before you preach to me of your passion for your faith,
teach me about it through your compassion for your neighbors.
In the end, I'm not interested
in what you tell or sell as in, how you choose to live and give.
Cory Booker
Nicolette Sowder
"Give me the wild children with their bare feet and sparkling eyes. The restless, churning climbers. The wild ones using their outside voices, singing all the way home. Give me the wonder-filled, glorious mess makers dreaming of mountains and mud, aching to run through a field of stars."
Heal the broken heart - Free the oppressed
Love your Neighbor as Yourself
A tough conversation (Learn. Un-learn. Re-learn.)
- Love your Neighbor as Yourself -
Isaiah, the Prophet
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners."
Bishop Gene Robinson
"It's funny isn't it? That you can preach a judgmental and vengeful and angry God and nobody will mind. But you start preaching a God that is too accepting, too loving, too forgiving, too merciful, too kind . . . and you are in trouble."
Desmond Tutu
"You may be surprised at the people we find in heaven. God has a soft spot for sinners. His standards are quite low.."
Dear God, grant me victory today over all that assails. Help me square up to even the greatest challenges and claim authority over them, unafraid. Amen.
A signature element of love, joy and peace is listening (being heard and feeling heard).
The Art of Listening
Ways to be successful whatever your endeavor!
1. Joyful Folks
2. Who Believe in You
3. Who Know Your Worth
4. Who Inspire You
5. Who Share Your Vision
6. Who Want You to Succeed
"It was not enough to come and listen to a great sermon or message every Sunday morning and be confined to those four walls and those four corners. You had to get out and do something."
The Journey - Your Voice Illuminated - Our Global Digital Radio Show & Podcast. We stop at exotic places, meet fascinating folks with intriguing stories and novel solutions to some of life's tricky problems. We play a few games too, and track remarkable characters of three classics: ILICET - A Time To Begin Again (True Story) SBL Series: 2:26 AM, The Gathering (Matchbox Mystery) and Flight Of The Fused Monkeys (5-Star Series). Life is beautiful and full of surprises. Breathe! Along our journey of life and learning we challenge ourselves toward the reaches of our highest ideals: to be our best, do our utmost, achieve our finest, wherever necessary and practicable redesigning the contours of possibility, reshaping human capability. Join our posse. We are changing the game! We welcome your perspective. Enjoy top dramatic, inspirational, mystery, scifi, and true stories. Live. Love. Laugh. Look. Listen. Lead. Learn with us.
