Two Tents

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 62; 145, 2 Samuel 7:1-17, Acts 18:1-11, Mark 8:11-21

A man goes to a psychiatrist. “Doc,” he says, “you gotta help me. I can’t sleep. One night I dream I’m a wigwam, and the next night I dream I’m a tepee.” The psychiatrist thinks for a minute and then she says: “I think the problem is you’re two tents.”

Tents figure prominently in two of today’s readings. In Acts, we learn that Paul was a tentmaker by trade – though the word translated as “tentmaker” could also be interpreted as leather worker, tailor, etc. In Samuel, the time has come to plan for a temple, a permanent home for the God of Israel who has been traveling and living in tents for over 400 years.

There’s a subtle but important shift in thinking when our God stops wandering with us and puts down roots. We start to think of the Holy of Holies as a destination where once it was a traveling companion. The rest of the world, while still part of the miraculous creation, loses potential to become a temporary center of our faith.  Church becomes a place we go, rather than an inescapable community we are all called to carry through the wilderness.

Imagine being responsible for hauling God from place to place. Not in a Lost Ark face-melting kind of way, but in the sense of undeniable presence. Would your attitude toward school be different if God was waiting whenever you opened your backpack? What would work be like if unzipping your laptop case filled the room with a holy glow? How would you feel about your purchases at the mall if God got a peek when you opened your wallet?

Church may be a focal point, but God is present in all those places and more: every nook and cranny, every canyon and plain. Everywhere. When we open our doors, our mouths, or our wallets the God we worship can be seen. If what dwells in our hearts doesn’t align with the God who inhabits the world, we’re going to lose some sleep. But when it’s the same tent inside and out, our peace is secured.

Additional Reading:
For thoughts on today’s passage from Mark, see Here’s Your Sign, Curveballs, and So. Much. Bread.

Comfort: God is always with you.

Challenge: Pick one object – like your wallet, briefcase, etc – and for the next week each time you open it take a moment to be aware of the presence of God.

Prayer: God of all creation, I will worship you at all times and in all places. Amen.

Discussion: Where  or when do you most strongly feel the presence of God?

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Leadership Qualities

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 108; 150, 2 Samuel 6:12-23, Romans 14:7-12, John 1:43-51

Today’s reading from Samuel begins with King David retrieving the ark of God from the household of Obed-Edom. David had ditched the ark there because he was afraid of it after Uzzah (one of the men transporting the Ark) was killed by God’s wrath for touching the ark to steady it. Only after the house of Obed-Edom prospered because of the presence of the ark did David once again desire to take it into his city.

This is not David’s finest leadership moment. As king, he had every right to make the choices he did, but as a leader responsible to his people he chose poorly. Good leaders delegate, but they don’t delegate risks they wouldn’t be willing to take themselves. Worse, once the presence of the ark proved to be not just harmless but actually beneficial, he wanted it back. Kind of like a boss who delegates you a project because s/he doesn’t want to be blamed if it goes south, then takes the credit when you manage to make it a success.

David’s heart tried to be in the right place. As the ark was carried into the city, he dressed in the simple garment of the priests, and danced in joy beside his people.  It was a genuine humility of spirit. Of course it’s easier to humble yourself when your people are in a happy place. Kind of like that same boss who took credit for your project later sitting with your and your co-workers in the cafeteria to let you know s/he is just ordinary folk.

David had his many, many flaws but he was still the anointed of God. People who are uniquely qualified to lead are not exempt from mistakes. Those unique qualities might even make them likely. Does that excuse them though? Often the best way we can serve them when they fall short is with an honest but loving reaction. Merely ignoring them can lead to unpleasant consequences from the top down, and allowing no room for mistakes lacks forgiveness. When we have a choice between punishing and fixing, let’s choose well.

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Invitation: Between The Lines

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When I was a kid – junior high and high school aged – I made money in the summers by mowing grass. I mowed lawns all over the neighborhood. In retrospect I undercharged, so that may have been why I had so many customers. Most places I used my own mower and gas. One day the husband of an older couple only two doors down from my house asked if I would do his lawn. He normally did it himself, but he was laid up for a few weeks because of a surgery. I hauled my mower over got started. Though they were on the same block, their back yard seemed really long, especially compared to other lawns I did. When I was done, he said: “You got everything, but those lines aren’t very straight.”

At the time I was a little confused. This wasn’t a ballpark. By the next afternoon the stripes wouldn’t even be visible. But apparently they were important to him. As a myopic thirteen-year-old with a push mower, those were about as straight as I was going to get them. He hired me a second time, and I slowed way down to get the lines straight as I could. In my mind, it was tedious and frustrating. When I was done it seemed markedly straighter than my previous effort and I asked him how I did. He shrugged and said, “A little better I guess.” I was deflated.

When he asked a third time, I thanked him but told him I had too many lawns to add another customer. To this day, I have no idea why straight stripes with less than a 24-hour lifespan were so important to him, but if I met my thirteen-year-old self I would tell him to stick with it.

In a weird pre-adolescent way, I felt unfairly judged. But in my own way I was judging him. After all, he did ask me back twice, and I was the one who severed the relationship, at least on a lawncare level.

To some people, it makes perfect sense that straight mowing stripes are important. To other people, they will never be important. We’re not going to understand each other on this controversial subject. Yet we all have to keep mowing.

We seem to get stuck on the idea that we have to understand each other to coexist peacefully. Certainly we should make an effort, but sometimes we just won’t. Sometimes we just need to agree the grass needs tending, and deal with each other’s quirks.

As we gather around Christ’s table, we’re not all going to agree on everything. We will feel very strongly about some of these areas of disagreement – we may even think they should be obvious to anyone calling themselves a Christian – but there are much bigger things we need to accomplish together.  Maybe when you’re recovering after surgery and I bring you a casserole, you would have preferred a salad. Maybe when you makes posters for the bake sale, I would have preferred stenciled letters over freehand. So what? In the end we’re working for the same cause.

During the Thirty Years War in the seventeenth century, Lutheran theologian Rupertus Meldenius wrote: “In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity.” You may have heard it attributed to Augustine … but let’s not make a thing out of it.

Our Essential is Christ’s table. Let’s start by gathering around it freely and charitably. We’ll work the rest out … or we won’t. The table remains.

May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

Hitting the Mark(et)

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 122; 149, 2 Samuel 5:22-6:11, Acts 17:16-34, Mark 8:1-10

Some churches approach evangelism like a marketing campaign, while others consider this tactic crass. Demographic analysis and ad campaigns may not seem spiritual, but they can get butts in the seats. Prayer groups and one-on-one meetings may seem more spiritual, but risk becoming insular activities which impact only existing members. Trite as it sounds, a healthy approach lies somewhere in the middle.

Paul knew a thing or two about marketing. When he spoke to the Athenians, he used familiar phrases from Greek poets and philosophers to support his position. When modern churches try to appear relevant by co-opting current trends, they aren’t as far from Paul as we might think. In Paul’s Greece, a person’s choice of philosophy was a social statement as much as a system of thought, so Paul knew to keep his references culturally savvy. He chose to “speak their language.”

When churches speak a lot of “Christianese” their insider language is meaningful to members, but leaves outsiders feeling excluded. Think what “slain in the spirit” sounds like to a non-Christian.  A church should not resemble a club with a secret password.

Critics of Christian culture – including many Christians – often point to “relevant” marketing efforts as a sign of desperation or insincerity. If Paul is our example of effective evangelism – and if he isn’t, who could be? – such critics might want to temper their judgments. On the other hand, a packed house does not necessarily indicate spiritual success. A large congregation means nothing if its members are not challenged to fully live the Gospel because its leaership fears doing so might negatively impact the collection plate or the head count. Conversely, a small congregation is not by default virtuous or successful, especially if it isn’t reaching out to the greater community.

A successful congregation is one that shares the Good News in ways people can understand and are attracted to, without compromising its message. The primary goal is never numbers-driven. If we follow Paul’s example, we will see that presenting the unexpurgated Gospel message in a sincere but relatable way is the only marketing plan we need.

Additional Reading:
For more thoughts on today’s passage from Acts, see The Unknown God.

Comfort: Some of the best evangelism is simple truth, plainly spoken.

Challenge: Check your church’s promotional material for “Christianese.”.

Prayer: Compassionate God, teach me to share Christ’s message. Amen.

Discussion: What kind of evangelism do you best respond to?

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group. You’ll be notified of new posts through FB, and have the opportunity to share your thoughts with some lovely people. Or feel free to comment here on WordPress, or even re-blog – the more the merrier!

“… but I liked Jesus before he was popular.”

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 88; 148, 2 Samuel 5:1-12, Acts 17:1-15, Mark 7:24-37

There’s a feeling you get when you’re in on something special before it really takes off. Like an amazing band who still plays venues small enough for its members to linger over a beer or two with fans after the show. There’s a tension between wanting to share it with the world so it can get the attention and success it deserves,  and relishing the intimate experience of enjoying it with the secret club of people who appreciate it right now.

As a narrative, the Gospel of Mark races. Jesus goes from novelty act to cult favorite to budding superstar rather quickly. By the time he travels through Sidon and heals a man of deafness and a speech impediment, he’s finding it almost impossible to make time for himself. He still has his inner circle, but spends most of his time among the crowds who flock to him. It’s under these circumstances that he asks the man not to speak of the healing, but like everyone else this man who couldn’t speak suddenly couldn’t shut up about Jesus.

When something becomes popular, some early fans inevitably grow resentful. They mock later fans, imply the quality has declined, and start tossing around ideas like “selling out.” Some of that may be true – no one is prepared for the difference between hoping to cover the cost of traveling to a gig and selling out stadiums, and it has an effect. But by Good Friday, the chants of fans devolved into calls for an execution without so much as a farewell tour.

Sometimes the core of what we love stays the same, and it’s our perception that’s changed by all the hype and backlash. The core message of the Gospel is both personal and universal. We share it because we love it. When people use it to make a ton of money and move a lot of merch, we may become disillusioned – or we may be caught up in the frenzy – but that’s not the Gospel. Every once in a while, we need to unplug to rediscover the basics which originally moved us.

Additional Reading:
For more thoughts on today’s passage from Mark, see Whom do you Trust, The Truth About Crumbs and Dogs, and Generosity and Grace.

Comfort: When pop-culture-Christianity drags you down, you can always revisit the original material for renewal.

Challenge: Talk with some friends about what elements of modern Christian culture seem authentic to the Gospel, and which seem more about marketing it.

Prayer: Hear my prayer, O LORD; give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness; answer me in your righteousness. (Psalm 143:1)

Discussion: What’s something you liked before it was popular?

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Dual Citizenship

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 143; 147:12-20, 2 Samuel 4:1-12, Acts 16:25-40, Mark 7:1-23

Paul had the uncommon fortune of being both a Roman citizen and a Jew. When his jailers and the magistrates above them realized he was a citizen, they immediately regretted the public beatings and unfair imprisonment they had heaped upon him, as it was illegal to treat citizens that way.

What if Paul hadn’t been a citizen? Would we feel differently about the injustice of his treatment? Should we feel differently? If it was wrong for him, how could it be less wrong for someone who didn’t share the same accident of birth? After all, the Jewish people didn’t set up camp inside Roman territory; the avalanche of empire left them aliens in their own homes. They weren’t immigrants; they were immigrated upon.

Immigration and citizenship continue to be thorny issues. Many nations, the United States included, have different sets of laws for citizens and non-citizens. Yet in our formation, we too spread like the Roman empire, alienating , dislocating, and slaughtering native peoples. Their story is not so different from the story of Paul’s people, yet because it’s now our territory and we’ve established our laws we don’t think of it the same way at all. Do we believe God is persuaded to accept this double standard by the lines we draw (and redraw) on His borderless globe?

We convince ourselves of our own compassion by saying the “good” immigrants follow the law, but the rules for entering – or staying in – a nation change a lot once the inhabitants decide they are civilized enough to lock the doors, even with someone else’s belongings still in their living room. Immigration regulations are often no more than a matter of timing – of our current cultural prejudices codified into law.

Christians don’t have to agree on how to handle something as complex as immigration and citizenship, but our views should be shaped more by the teachings of Christ than by nationalism, fear, or politics. The law cannot become our refuge from inconvenient mercy. None of us are born or even naturalized to the Kingdom of Heaven; we are admitted by God’s grace.

Additional Reading:
Read more about today’s scripture from Acts in Surrender.
For thoughts on today’s passage from Mark, see Not the heart but the stomach.

Comfort: No matter where we go, willingly or unwilling, we are home in Christ.

Challenge: Read about the history of immigration in America. Chances are you belong to some group that was once considered undesirable.

Prayer: O LORD, God of my salvation, when, at night, I cry out in your presence, let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry. (Psalm 88:1-2)

Discussion: Immigration is a very politicized topic. Is your faith ever at odds with your politics?

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group. You’ll be notified of new posts through FB, and have the opportunity to share your thoughts with some lovely people. Or feel free to comment here on WordPress, or even re-blog – the more the merrier!

Doubly Free

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 65; 147:1-11, 2 Samuel 3:22-39, Acts 16:16-24, Mark 6:47-56

Slaves were common throughout the Roman empire, but one day Paul and company encountered an extraordinary slave girl: she was possessed by a demon who told the future, which made her owners a lot of money. For days she followed the disciples, declaring “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.” When an annoyed Paul cast out the spirit in the name of Christ, her owners – furious about the loss of their treasure – accused the disciples of unlawful practices. Silas and Barnabas were beaten and jailed.

We don’t know the fate of the slave girl, but she is a potent symbol of what it means to find freedom in Christ. At the most basic level she was freed from the spirit which possessed her, much like we find freedom from our old lives through the miracle of grace.

She was also freed from that which made her exploitable. When we embrace what it means to be forgiven and loved by God, we release those things which the world can use to take advantage of us. The world is always ready to exploit our guilt, fear, anger, and weaknesses.  When instead we offer it repentance, a love which casts out fear, forgiveness, and a strength derived from Christ, the world no longer knows what to do with us. If it can’t use us for ill-gotten gains of power and wealth – and if it suspects we are spreading the good news that no one else has to be enslaved by greed and violence either – it will do its best to discredit and silence us.

When we don’t fear what the world fears, the world fears us.

Like the slave girl, we are doubly free … but that doesn’t guarantee our physical safety or freedom. To the contrary it may put both in danger. Yet Paul and the disciples who knew Christ couldn’t imagine choosing anything but that dangerous freedom.

Can we?

When we can’t be exploited, and we love too much to exploit others, we are living in the Kingdom and confounding the world.

Additional Reading:
Read about today’s scripture from Mark in Riding Out The Storms.

Comfort: In Christ we find true freedom.

Challenge: We’ve done this challenge before, but human trafficking is a huge problem that needs more awareness. Find out if there are an resources in your community to combat human trafficking. You may want to start at traffickingresourcecenter.org .

Prayer: Do good, O LORD, to those who are good, and to those who are upright in their hearts. (Psalm 125:4)

Discussion: Which of your fears or weaknesses do you feel are particularly vulnerable to exploitation by the media, advertisers, or people seeking power?

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group. You’ll be notified of new posts through FB, and have the opportunity to share your thoughts with some lovely people. Or feel free to comment here on WordPress, or even re-blog – the more the merrier!

Hero Worship

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 54; 146, 2 Samuel 3:6-21, Acts 16:6-15, Mark 6:30-46

In recent years one trend among churches and pastors trying to stay relevant is developing a sermon series around a piece of current pop culture. Movie franchises like The Matrix and The Hunger Games, with their philosophical, theological, and social commentary, inspired church posters and promotions bordering on copyright infringement. As we move through the story of David, doesn’t it really lend itself to the Game of Thrones treatment? With their convoluted revenge schemes, magical elements, epic battles to unite a kingdom, and elements of lust and treachery, 1 and 2 Samuel sometimes seem only a dragon away from the high fantasy saga.

One reason for GoT’s popularity is its realistic portrayal of good versus evil. Few if any characters are solidly one or the other, but a mix of both. The heroes have moral flaws, the villains have redeeming traits, and good doesn’t just fail to win the day, it literally goes up in flames We still have a general sense of who the heroes and villains are, but also a sense that could change any time.

David is certainly the hero of his story, but as he approaches his seat on the throne of Israel, he has done terrible things and will do more. Anointed by God he may be, but so were the man he replaced, and the man who replaced him. Heroes – whether Biblical, athletic, financial, or fantastic – are tricky things. Because we admire them so, and often because they are the embodiment of our tribe, we tend to give them a lot of credit and cut them a lot of slack where it is not due. That’s how we end up with tragic situations like the one at Penn State, where its football heroes were so untouchable they were allowed to ruin the lives of young men.

Heroes are fine, but hero-worship … not so much. Whether it’s David, Jon Snow, or Joe Paterno we don’t do ourselves – or them – any favors by overlooking their flaws. Rather than search for excuses to justify their shortcomings, let’s find reasons not to make the same mistakes ourselves.

Additional Reading:
Read reflections on today’s scripture from Mark in You Feed Them! and No Excuses.

Comfort: We do have a true hero in the person of Jesus Christ.

Challenge: Be as objective about people you admire as people you mistrust.

Prayer: O save your people, and bless your heritage; be their shepherd, and carry them forever (Psalm 28:9)

Discussion: Who is one of your heroes, and why?

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group. You’ll be notified of new posts through FB, and have the opportunity to share your thoughts with some lovely people. Or feel free to comment here on WordPress, or even re-blog – the more the merrier!

The Rule of Lawlessness

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Today’s readings (click below to open in new tab/window):
Psalms 57; 145, 2 Samuel 2:1-11, Acts 15:36-16:5, Mark 6:14-29

Today’s passage from Acts introduces Timothy, a young disciple who had a Jewish mother and a Greek father. Paul wanted to take on Timothy as a protégé, but he knew the observant Jews he wanted to reach would never listen to a Jew who followed Greek customs, so he had Timothy circumcised. This may seem contradictory to the stance he’d taken only a little while before, when the leaders of the church decided Gentiles did not need to be circumcised to follow Christ.

Were there rules or weren’t there?

For an evangelist who preached that we are saved by grace and not deeds, Paul had an awful lot to say about how we should behave. What is the proper role of rules in Christian life? Rather than try to create rules about rules (which sounds like a sure way to induce Inception-level brain cramping), let’s consider some context.

Foregoing circumcision for the gentiles was a matter of inclusivity for fellow believers – of not using the same law Israel had failed to uphold as an excuse to exclude. With Timothy, Paul wanted to do whatever was necessary to reach the as-yet-unconvinced Jews. Timothy’s credentials as a believer were already firmly established. He and Paul were motivated not for his salvation, but for the salvation of others.

Perhaps that’s a good guideline for what rules matter. We can’t function as a community – secular or religious – without some commonly understood boundaries. In secular society the rules are mainly about personal rights and property. In Christian community, the rules – which we are each meant to enforce on ourselves, not others – are about embodying love for God and neighbor.  We are to embrace service and reject exploitation. The rules Jesus laid out for us were rarely (never?) quantifiable like a business transaction or a tax, but rather qualitatively transformed how we think about God and each other.

We don’t behave in specific ways to earn love; we behave in ways that express our eternal gratitude for God’s unearned love. The burden is light because it has not been forced upon us, but chosen by us.

Additional Reading:
For more thoughts on today’s passage from Acts, see Entrance Exams and It’s complementary, my dear Christian.
Read a reflection on today’s scripture from Mark in The Staircase.

Comfort: We are freed from the law and bound by love.

Challenge: No rule today. Create a challenge for yourself – one that you believe will express gratitude to God.

Prayer: Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts. (Psalm 85:8)

Discussion: What kinds of rules are important to you? What kinds are not? Why?

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group. You’ll be notified of new posts through FB, and have the opportunity to share your thoughts with some lovely people. Or feel free to comment here on WordPress, or even re-blog – the more the merrier!

The Person My Blog Thinks I Am

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A week or so ago, the 600th daily devotional posted to Comfort and Challenge. Because we were camping with family, it was scheduled in advance and went live while I slept. A couple days ago I remembered I’d reached that milestone, with that same mixture of bewilderment and amusement I get when I pass my exit ramp because I’m singing along to the radio.

Putting up a celebratory graphic seemed less urgent than it had at 500 or 100 posts. I settled for being happy to have not yet faltered in this little project, and getting that much closer to number 735 at the end of this liturgical year.

But something seemed different. Reflecting on whether or not I should bother noting what’s really only another number made me realize that all this blogging has had an effect on me. Have you ever heard the JW Stephens quote, “Be the person your dog thinks you are?” Well somewhere along the line I’ve become invested in being the person my blog thinks I am.

All this writing about peacemaking, forgiveness, judgment, generosity, community, and hypocrisy is actually being read by a few people. Some I know personally, some I know via social media, and some I can’t say I know at all. But it matters to me whether they think I actually try to live out the values I write about. Not because I’m worried about their opinion of me (well, not primarily – I’m only human), but because I have foolishly been bold enough to imply my character has been improved by my faith. If that influence is all words and thoughts and bears no fruit, I’m not doing right by God – like a fig tree that won’t produce figs. That didn’t end well for the tree.

The changes have been subtle, but real. So what’s changed?

I’m more restrained on social media. I certainly have my political and social beliefs and like everyone else think they are obviously correct, but reconciling has become more important than convincing. If I feel I should contribute to the conversation, I’m more interested in telling you my story and asking about yours than preaching about what the right story should be. I won’t tell you why you can’t be a Christian and support Issue X or Candidate Z, but I’ll explain why I can’t. And I’ve also just become a lot less opinionated, at least in forums that are about spreading division.

I’m learning to forgive faster. Forgiveness as a process differs for everyone, but the rancor of the last election and its fallout really hit home. For the first time in memory, our family is not all on the same political page, and it feels personal (it wasn’t). It’s a stark example of how people with equally good intentions can come to radically different decisions. Let’s just say I wasn’t on the winning side, and it was really tempting to wrap myself in the comforting blanket of victimhood. But thinking about what I’d read and written over the first year of the blog didn’t allow for that. It didn’t allow for thinking I should push until other people budged. It only allowed for figuring out how to live in love.

I need a church. A few years ago I left the church I was attending and became part of a home church. That peacably ran its course a few months ago, and I’ve been without any formal Christian community since. What’s odd to me is all this delving into scripture has left me far less interested in selecting a community based on its creed or denominational theology but on how it lives the Gospel. My theology is decidedly progressive, but I’ve learned even progressive congregations can be protectionist and more about theory than practice. I’m not all that interested in formally joining a denomination or even signing on for membership in a congregation. But I’m not good at finding ways to spread the gospel and feed the hungry on my own, so I’m willing to make some theological concessions for a local community that guides me in clothing the naked and visiting the sick.

There’s more, but this is long enough. I am grateful to everyone who has read and/or commented, because that’s encouraged me to keep going. I am a better person because of you – because of God working through you. It’s said that writers ultimately write for themselves. Before I write, I try to remember to pray to find words that honor God and benefit readers. Though I hope it’s not the case, if the only reader I’m benefiting is myself, this is totally worth the effort.

Peace and thanks!

Join the discussion! If you enjoyed this post, feel free to join an extended discussion as part of the C+C Facebook group. You’ll be notified of new posts through FB, and have the opportunity to share your thoughts with some lovely people. Or feel free to comment here on WordPress, or even re-blog – the more the merrier!