O.K., I haven't posted lately. My day job as a real estate appraiser has reared its ugly head. My appraisal software was changed and would no longer run on our dated computers. We have 7 computers at the office, some of which ran on Win98 which is no longer supported in our appraisal software. So, new computers, new software, days of downloading, and working out bugs....yuch... Which brings me to my point. Often, I don't like change.
Change can bring anxiety, unknowns, risk.... Yet, when we work thru change, we often find things better than before. God is continually taking us on journeys of change. We are constantly being poured from vessel to vessel. I have been reflecting back to the traumas of our transition out of institutional Christianity into the freedom of simplicity. Gone are the budget. Gone are the problems of maintaining a building. Gone are the politics of leadership. Gone are the days of having to prod people to keep programs going. Gone are the days of fellow believers sitting in rows watching and not participating. It is all just a faint memory. As Suzy & I prayed together last night, we reflected back, thanking God for the change (and freedom) He has brought to our lives!
I am thankful for the changes that I often resist. I am thankful God doesn't leave us in a stagnant place. Like Moab in Jer. 48:11 we are often undisturbed on our “lees”. Thank you Lord for disturbing our ways of life and pouring us from vessel to vessel!
Mickey Mooney
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
...initiative...
Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner John 5:19
Why do we do what we do? What is the motive for the ministry decisions we make? I am on many mailing lists of both IC and simple church practitioners. Thru them I see such a huge spectrum of activities aimed at advancing the Kingdom of God (I assume..). How much of it all (my own endeavors included) actually has its genesis in the Heart of God? Here is a brief look at some of Jesus’ initiatives as recorded by John.
John 5: 30“I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
John 8: 28So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.
John 8: 42Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.
John 12: 49“For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.
John 14: 10“Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.
John discloses one thing that Jesus modeled doing from His own initiative. He made the choice to lay His life down.
John 10: 18“No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
We can choose to lay down our goals, our agendas, our programs, our desire for success, our ministry aspirations, our lives… Then maybe we will be freed up and available to follow thru on assignments of His choosing!
mickey mooney
Why do we do what we do? What is the motive for the ministry decisions we make? I am on many mailing lists of both IC and simple church practitioners. Thru them I see such a huge spectrum of activities aimed at advancing the Kingdom of God (I assume..). How much of it all (my own endeavors included) actually has its genesis in the Heart of God? Here is a brief look at some of Jesus’ initiatives as recorded by John.
John 5: 30“I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
John 8: 28So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.
John 8: 42Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.
John 12: 49“For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.
John 14: 10“Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.
John discloses one thing that Jesus modeled doing from His own initiative. He made the choice to lay His life down.
John 10: 18“No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
We can choose to lay down our goals, our agendas, our programs, our desire for success, our ministry aspirations, our lives… Then maybe we will be freed up and available to follow thru on assignments of His choosing!
mickey mooney
Monday, May 5, 2008
productivity
www.networkvine.org
Today is a frustrating day. I am wrestling with a old adversary. ....productivity....
I feel sandwiched between two kingdom principles. On one hand there is the principle of Grace. We are not under law. We can not earn the Fathers love or favor. The relationship is freely extended to us (thank you Jesus!).We can rest in Him. By virtue of the relationship, He will ask us to do certain tasks (provided we learn to HEAR Him). We should gladly respond to that Voice and trust that a continued sequence of objectives will fill our lives per Divine intent.
On the other hand there is fruitfulness. Things are designed to be fruitful. The first recorded command from God to man was "be fruitful...." Granted this referred to reproduction (which most humans have little problem with) but the principle is extendable. Jesus threatened the tree that bore no fruit. He stated that everything reproduces after its kind. I have this nagging residence deep in my soul that pushes me to be productive. I want my life to count. I want to be like David who "after accomplishing the purpose of God in his generation, slept with the fathers".
Today I am "antsy". I am feeling like I have very little going on that is a contribution to the Kingdom of God. I could go out and do "some good thing" but it wouldn't be in response to Pappas' command . I don't minimize doing good, doing what we know to do, etc - I do those things. But they simply don't reward the same way as Hearing from God and following thru. I don't "wait" well.
...Father, help us all in our frustration. Help us in our human attempts to hear and follow you. You know our weakness. You know our simpleness. We so look forward to shedding the remaining effect of fallen-ness that fogs our vision and hearing.... thanks for understanding...
mickey mooney
Today is a frustrating day. I am wrestling with a old adversary. ....productivity....
I feel sandwiched between two kingdom principles. On one hand there is the principle of Grace. We are not under law. We can not earn the Fathers love or favor. The relationship is freely extended to us (thank you Jesus!).We can rest in Him. By virtue of the relationship, He will ask us to do certain tasks (provided we learn to HEAR Him). We should gladly respond to that Voice and trust that a continued sequence of objectives will fill our lives per Divine intent.
On the other hand there is fruitfulness. Things are designed to be fruitful. The first recorded command from God to man was "be fruitful...." Granted this referred to reproduction (which most humans have little problem with) but the principle is extendable. Jesus threatened the tree that bore no fruit. He stated that everything reproduces after its kind. I have this nagging residence deep in my soul that pushes me to be productive. I want my life to count. I want to be like David who "after accomplishing the purpose of God in his generation, slept with the fathers".
Today I am "antsy". I am feeling like I have very little going on that is a contribution to the Kingdom of God. I could go out and do "some good thing" but it wouldn't be in response to Pappas' command . I don't minimize doing good, doing what we know to do, etc - I do those things. But they simply don't reward the same way as Hearing from God and following thru. I don't "wait" well.
...Father, help us all in our frustration. Help us in our human attempts to hear and follow you. You know our weakness. You know our simpleness. We so look forward to shedding the remaining effect of fallen-ness that fogs our vision and hearing.... thanks for understanding...
mickey mooney
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