Jesus and Me ... and the Cats

John 15:1-5 Colossians 2:6-10 He has told you, human one, what is good and what the Lord requires from you:  to do justice, embrace faithful love [mercy, kindness], and walk humbly with your God.          Micah 6:8 (CEB) In the latter half of 1739, a number of people, convicted of their sin and need for redemption, came to John Wesley seeking his time, teaching and counsel on how to flee the "wrath to come."  In other words, how does one live a righteous life that pleases God.  Besides forming small groups in which they could study and grow together in Christ, Wesley gave them three general rules:  do no harm, do good, and attend upon the ordinances of God. Today, we finish our series on the General Rules of the United Methodist Church with "attend upon the ordinances of God." Rueben P. Job, in his book , Three Simple Rules -- a Wesleyan Way of Living, writes:  "Ordinance is a strange word to our ears.  But to John...

John 3:14-21 Acts 10:34-38 He has told you, human one, what is good and what the Lord requires from you:  to do justice, embrace faithful love [mercy, kindness], and walk humbly with your God.         Micah 6:8 (CEB) In the latter half of 1739, a number of people, convicted of their sin and need for redemption, came to John Wesley seeking his time, teaching and counsel on how to flee the "wrath to come."  In other words, how does one live a righteous life that pleases God.  Besides forming small groups in which they could study and grow together in Christ, Wesley gave them three general rules:  do no harm, do good, and attend upon the ordinances of God. In responding to the question, "What is good?", we continue series about the general rules of United Methodism with "do all the good you can. The movie, Les Miserables (based on Victor Hugo's novel of the same name), opens with Val Jean working as a slave laborer in a French penal...

Luke 9:23 Philippians 2:6-8 I Kings 19:19-21 This Lenten season finds me chewing on Luke 9:23:           Jesus said to everyone,   “All who want to         come after me must say no to themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow me.  (CEB) A few years ago, we were studying this verse, Luke 9:23,  in a Bible study I was leading.  When I asked what this verse meant to people, the general consensus among the group was that it meant that each day we shoulder our burdens, our sufferings and our sorrows and stoically soldier on.  We accept what befalls us and do our best to try get through another day without too much damage to ourselves and others. I don't think that's what Jesus was talking about. Just as the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike, life happens to us all.  Auto accidents, debilitating genetic conditions, life-threatening illnesses, loss of homes, jobs and loved ones, the c...

Galatians  5:13-23 Micah 6:8 Common English Bible  He has told you, human one, what is good and what the Lord requires from you:  to do justice, embrace faithful love [mercy, kindness], and walk humbly with your God. In the latter half of 1739, a number of people, convicted of their sin and need for redemption, came to John Wesley seeking his time, teaching and counsel.  This was the beginning of the Methodist movement in England and the general rules of the Methodist Societies:  do no harm, do good, and attend upon the ordinances of God. In responding to the question, "What is good?", we begin a short series about the general rules of United Methodism with "do no harm," a simple rule that focuses doing nothing that harms ourselves and others nor dishonors God and the sacrifice Christ made for us. I believe that everything we do or say has an impact on those around us and on the world in general.  It's like dropping a pebble in a pon...

Psalm 84:2-4 Luke 12:6-7 John 6:37-39 I came home on Sunday after lunch to find a crowd of starlings and a lone mourning dove splashing in the snow melt water in the eaves of the garage. The mourning dove and I are not strangers. Built into a corner of my deck is a bird table (flat, open bird feeder). I often see the same, single dove out there, usually sharing it with a noisy crowd of sparrows. English house sparrows and starlings are not native to North America. Brought over from England because immigrants missed their songs, both are often considered pest species. Myself, I have a kind of love/hate relationship with sparrows. There's a reason male sparrows are “bulls.” They are the bullies of the bird feeder. The males, in particular are very territorial and aggressive. I've watched them chase other birds away from bird feeders, and then they make a mess as they pick through and discard seeds they don't want. They're also really noisy, esp...

Micah 6:6-8 James 2:14-26 "... We entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."                                                           2 Corinthians 5:20b We can be reconciled with an estranged loved one or friend.  We can can reconcile our differences.  We can even reconcile our bank accounts, but what is involved in living in reconciliation with God? Remember a time when we manually reconciled our bank accounts?  Maybe some of you still do.  We called it "balancing" our checkbooks.  Every month when our bank statements came in the mail, we would go through our checkbooks making sure the money we deposited minus what we spent was the same amount on the statement. Living in reconciliation with God requires the balancing of the "and/both" nature of the community God created for us to live i...