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Showing posts from July, 2011

A Child - No More, No Less

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It’s bittersweet that this is the last Friday in July and the month’s posts which focussed on identity are over today. Over the past 8 posts (each Tuesday and Friday), we talked about being under the standard of heaven , being a saint , being in Christ , being a new creation , being covenant people , and being adopted .  We’ve covered many areas of identity but we’ve only gone ankle deep in understanding the full identity of who we are as Christians. We could go on (but we won’t). If I have one wish for humanity, it would be to understand who we are in Christ. If we understood, the church would be unstoppable and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. If we understood who we are in Christ, lives would be re-formed and we would walk in power and authority. If we understood, then the promises of Deuteronomy 28 would be manifest. If we understood, then we could know that we stand in worship and watch the victory that the Lord will bring ( 2 Chronicles 20 ). Every year on Decem

I Had a Dream...

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I had a dream on Sunday, July 24. In the dream, I was looking at a People magazine and instead of the usual celebrity gossip and humanity stories, the entire magazine were descriptions of people’s churches, much like our topic this week on Kingdom Bloggers . I thought to myself, “How did David know this was going to run in People magazine the same week we were writing about it on our blog?” And I marvelled at how widespread the interest in finding a church was that even People magazine was printing stories along the same theme. I believe there is a day coming when the harvest is great and those people who see Jesus, the hope of the nations, will be looking for a church that will disciple them. How marvellous that will be. Until then, step into the shoes of Kingdom Bloggers writers for a Sunday and experience what we experience.

Jesus Was a Bastard and Why That's Good News

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Have you ever wondered how Jesus felt around Joseph’s family while he was growing up? I’ve heard many sermons on how Mary was/is an excellent example of forsaking your own reputation for Jesus, and yet, I’ve never contemplated how Jesus might have felt. Yes, I’m sure it was difficult for Mary but more so for Jesus, I would think. He was a bastard, the one who didn’t belong, not like James his brother. Joseph might have accepted Jesus, but he had an angelic visitation, which is fairly compelling I’m sure. His family didn’t see or hear from an angel, what was their reaction? Did the grandparents splurge on birthday and Christmas gifts for Jesus, the same as his siblings – the real children of Joseph and Mary? I wanted 4 children but when I discovered that I couldn’t have [more] children (the story is told here ) and that my one child was a miracle – I contemplated adoption for about 3 seconds and decided I couldn’t do it. I love my Boy - so much that it feels like the love is using al

One for All and All for Me?

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The North American church gives Satan too much credit. Every time something goes wrong in our society, churches and families we think Satan has had his dirty hands in it all. The truth is Satan started something a while ago, and we have done the rest. Now he can sit back and watch us implode on ourselves and he hasn’t even had to do anything. It’s quite a genius plan - divide and conquer.  Even Jesus said even a house divided against itself will not stand. Genius, did I say that already? How, you might ask, is Satan dividing us? Denominations and doctrinal issues notwithstanding, individualism is killing us. We are designed for corporate relationship. Yes, I know, becoming a Christian is an individual decision that every man, woman and child must make, blah, blah, blah. But once the decision is made, we are born into a family, a body, a nation – all of which must bypass the individual for the effect of the whole. That’s kingdom living. In our western culture, we have difficulty to gr

What's Your Favourite Worship Song?

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It’s Wednesday, and you know what to do: head over to Kingdom Bloggers and read this week’s theme on favourite worship songs. There are so many great worship songs – both old and new that it’s hard to pick a favourite. Instead of making a definitive choice, I prefer to comment on the worship song that is most meaningful for me at the moment. It changes, depending on what God is doing in my life. When we get in the car, my Boy insists on making me turn up the volume to listen to Misty Edwards’ song, People Get Ready . My Man might comment that his favourite is Michael W. Smith’s song, Blessed Be Your Name – not because it’s really his favourite but it never fails that in the two times a year that he comes to church with me, that song is in the line up – and has been for the past 5 years. At least it’s familiar to my Man and he can sing along with everyone else. If you want to know what my favourite song is and why, check out today’s post at Kingdom Bloggers .  Misty Edwards, Peo

Releasing the New Man Puts Sin to Death

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It's been just over a month that you and I have had a relationship and I think it's time we make a decision - do we keep it between you and me, or should we open it up to other people. That's what I thought too. So, we're opening it up to other people and the first up is my brother by the same Father. I met David Johndrow the same way I'm meeting many of you - through a blog. We share a mutual love for Matt Appling's blog, The Church of No People . I liked his comments there, so I started lurking around his blog too. David has great vision and insight. I've learned a lot from him and I hope you'll love what he has to say here, and then be sure to check out his blog, Fire & Grace . ************* There are many way in which we identify ourselves. As Christians we have a new identity, but somehow we've been taught to live like sinners. As humans we do have frailties which the word of God has not yet been able to eradicate; some of that is due

Friends with Benefits

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I’m writing poolside, watching my Boy and his BFF tackle an inflatable Ogopogo (the Canadian version of the Lochness Monster, who according to myth lives in the Okanagan Lake). I like his friend and I give kudos to my Boy for picking a good friend. Good friends are important. They can either encourage us to do good things, or they can bring destruction upon us. We are still exploring the theme of identity, which has been our topic for the entire month of July (if you’ve missed some of the previous posts, click here or here to get caught up). If God says something is not good, we’re wise to take notice. In the first chapter and a half of the Bible everything God made was called good but in Genesis 2:18 God says something is not good for the first time – it’s not good for man to be alone.  Hold up. Is God saying that man, in this case, Adam, needs more relationship than just God? Hmm, that’s an interesting thought to ponder. Since I can’t cover the theological implications in less th

Make Your Joy Complete

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Guess what? It’s Wednesday, your dog’s favourite day –hump day so head over to Kingdom Bloggers for this week’s instalment of Joy, brought you by the letters J, O, and Y. According to dictionary.com the definition for joy is 1 . the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure; elation. 2 . a source or cause of keen pleasure or delight; something or someone greatly valued or appreciated. 3 . the expression or display of glad feeling; festive gaiety. Jesus’ joy was complete (John 3:29) and he wants our joy to be complete (John 15:11). Make your joy complete by reading the full week of testimony at Kingdom Bloggers .

I Am What is Right with the World

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A tweet read, “What’s wrong with the world? I am because I am a sinner.” I disagree. I’m a saint and I am what is right with the world. If anyone who believes Jesus died for our sins and is resurrected and we share in his resurrection life is a saint and you are also what is right with the world . Together, we can change the world. Unfortunately you don’t qualify if you are a sinner; saints only for this particular mission. Oops. Did I make you feel uncomfortable? Did I just include you in a bold-faced claim that you don’t want to be made accountable for? Do you feel like I’ve blasphemed the Lord by saying I’m not a sinner? If so, you may want to cover your eyes and rock back and forth until you hear the men with the padded cell buckle me into a straightjacket and take me away.  The problem with making a claim – any claim - we must accomplish it lest we be called hypocrite. Being called a hypocrite is obviously worse than sinner because no one admits to being a hypocrite. No, we don

I Was Here

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My Boy sleeps on the edge of the top bunk and he lives reckless like Amy Winehouse before a stint in rehab. He was five when he had his first public art show. Not satisfied with paper or canvas, my Boy works with rocks and metal because he wants raw and fierce - like America’s Next Top Model makeovers. I nearly missed the entire live performance. But like any artist who’s worth their weight in marbles, my Boy signed his name to his art or at least he was two thirds of the way through his name when I noticed what he was doing. He used his eagle eyes and feral tracking ability to find the sharpest rock before immortalizing himself on the shiny, black bumper of a brand new Mustang. Excellent. It makes a momma proud. Five hundred dollars later to have the scratches buffed out I was still perplexed that my Boy wanted to sign his name to the evidence of his crime spree. Stupidity notwithstanding, no matter what, we yearn to be significant; to prove we exist. I am not any different than my

You Must Do What I Tell You - it's the law

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Today is my birthday and you should do everything I tell you to do – I’m pretty sure that’s a command in the Bible. I love my birthday so much that not celebrating birthdays is the #1 reason I couldn’t convert to be a Jehovah Witness. I love celebrating me, God loves celebrating me, and you should love celebrating me also. Since it’s also Wednesday, you should click over to Kingdom Bloggers and check out my latest post and while you’re at it, leave a comment and show me some love. Oh, and if you’re wondering how old am I turning? Let’s just say, I haven't reached the Promised Land.

Get Your Flag On

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Nobody loves their flag more than Americans. No matter where you go in the USA, at least 1 in 10 homes have a flag pole to proudly and patriotically fly their country’s flag. The ratio seems to be higher in trailer parks – perhaps those people are more American? Yesterday, July 4, many Americans celebrated their independence from Britain by having a barbeque, eating dessert decorated like the Star Spangled banner, watching an array of pyrotechnics and of course, waving their flag. Flags, or banners, are an important symbol of our identity, the theme we are exploring for the whole month of July. When I see someone with an American flag, I know certain truths about them: I understand what language they speak, where their citizenship is, what their standard of living is, what freedoms they have, and so on. Likewise, if anyone sees my Canadian flag, people will know what standard I live under. The same is true for the German flag, the Korean flag or any other country flag. Your flag sa

Who Are You Really?

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I am Canadian and today is Canada Day. In a few days, our American neighbours will celebrate Independence Day (their national birthday, not Will Smith’s movie) and I thought it was an appropriate lead-in to July’s theme of identity. Who are you really? Like any nation, the world (and by world, I mean Americans) has a stereotype of Canadians: we’re nice and say ‘pardon me’ all the time, we’re very serious and don’t cut loose very often, we can skate and play hockey even in the summer, we live in igloos and drive a dogsled to work, there is snow year-round, we say ‘oot and a boot’ and ‘eh’, we speak French, and we eat maple syrup on everything. Some of it is true (we’re generally nice people and we do say ‘pardon me’) but most of it’s not. Canadians have a sophisticated sense of humour (perhaps that’s why Americans don’t understand it). We poke fun at ourselves quite a bit; something Americans can’t seem to do. Blessed are we who can laugh at ourselves for we shall never cease to be