Into The Light

Let's make the best of it before it ends!

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The future is for me to know and for you to come and see

Jesus

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Discipleship

being intentionally showing what it means to be a follower of God through everyday life whether that means doing things together, sending the one being discipled off into a new thing, or simply talking through an experience (to me debriefing is also closely tied into discipleship and even a part of it sometimes)

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Receiving Well

I often think that to give well we must receive well. But actually to receive something well, we must also be giving well. 

As reflected by the woman who broke the alabaster jar for Jesus, giving is the reflection of thankfulness and joy. She gave really well! And because she gave well, she will receive with a similar attitude even though she actually may not be sure what she will be receiving. In giving, thankfulness and joy are not expectant and demanding of getting something in return. Rather giving is a response to love, which leads to giving joyfully and thankfully. In other words, openness in giving should mean openness in receiving. 

One thing we can be sure of though: like children, we can be sure what we receive from our loving father is going to be good!

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Boundaries

Just as God gives us boundaries out of His love for us, keeping and honoring boundaries is the outward expression of our love. 

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Pry me off dead center

O persistent God,

Deliver me from assuming your mercy is gentle.

Pressure me that I may grow more human

not through the lessening of my struggles

but through an expansion of them

that will undamn me and unbury my gifts.

Deepen my hurt

until I learn to share it

and myself openly and my needs honestly

Sharpen my fears

until I name them and release the power I have locked in them

and they in me.

Accentuate my confusion

until I shed those grandiose expectations

that divert me from the small, glad gifts

of the now and the here and the me.

Expose my shame where it shivers,

crouched behind the curtains of propriety,

until I can laugh at last

through my common frailties and failures

laugh my way toward becoming whole.

Deliver me

from just going through the motions

and wasting everything I have

which is today,

a chance,

a choice,

my creativity,

your call.

O persistent God,

Let how much it all matters

Pry me off dead center

So if I am moved inside

to tears

or sighs

or screams

or smiles

or dreams,

they will be real and I will be in touch with who I am

and who you are

and who my sisters and brothers are.

- Ted Loder, Guerrillas of Grace.

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We never sink lower than Christ can descend

Erik Raymond

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Good leaders, and friends, increase our authority and vulnerability, even while they carefully assess how much authority and how much vulnerability we can stand

Strong and Weak by Andy Crouch

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"Death is the last enemy not just because it takes life but because the fear of death prevents real life. The fear of loss has robbed our world of more life and more flourishing than any actual loss we could ever suffer."

Strong and Weak by Andy Crouch

We lose life to live the real life. Or else we lose it all.

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Leadership begins the moment you are more concerned about others' flourishing than you are about your own

Strong and Weak by Andy Crouch

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For this is what the Lord says: ‘I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; with your own eyes you will see them fall by the sword of their enemies. I will give all Judah into the hands of the king of Babylon, who will carry them away to Babylon or put them to the sword.

Jeremiah 20:4 NIV

The terrors we see are our terrors. We are our own terrors as well as a terror to those around us. We may not see how we are but God shows us and he redeems us from that.

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I exploited...

“As you drift up and to [Exploiting], those who depend on you for love, friendship and support sink down [to Suffering]” - Strong and Weak by Andy Crouch

This makes sense now when I look back at the suffering that happened in all my relationships. When I wanted to take control or take more authority over something I lacked vulnerability and made others vulnerable. Idols cause this imbalance of authority and vulnerability. THIS is why idols lead us away from true love. And whenever friends became vulnerable, they entered into suffering because of the ways I wanted to take control of relationships. In the pursuit of intimacy, an idol is made and those around me suffered. 

In the beginning it felt great to be close to people and I felt so much freedom because of the thing I thought I had and control over. However, that was never the case, I was not free but a captive to the idol I made. In the midst of all this friends suffered because of the lack of true love. 

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Idols know and care nothing for the exchange of authority and vulnerability that happens in the context of love-and the demonic powers that lurk behind them, and lure us to them, despise love

Strong and Weak by Andy Crouch 

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To disengage from the profound needs of those caught in suffering is to reject the call to bear the image of God. We all began in the protection of paradise, but attempting to make that safety our final state will in fact consign us to hell

Strong and Weak - Andy Crouch

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The one who embodies flourishing is the one who is authoritative yet vulnerable, strong yet weak, bold yet humble, and has lost life to live - that one is Jesus, he is the living paradox

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The real test of every human community is how it cares for the most vulnerable, those like Angela who cannot sustain even a simulation of independence and autonomy. The question is not whether Angela alone is flourishing or not-the question is whether her presence in our midst leads us to flourish together

Strong and Weak by Andy Crouch 

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Shameful death gives life

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Do you love me?

Jesus