Jesus and Me ... and the Cats

Exodus 18:13-23 I Corinthians 12:4-11 "All God's creatures got a place in the choir Some sing low and some sing higher, Some sing out loud on a telephone wire, Some just clap their hands, or paws, or anything they've got now." ("All God's Creature's Got a Place in the Choir" by Bill Staines.  Watch Celtic Thunder's performance of this song at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqm-S9J1s_k) It would be pretty foolish for me to try to sing the "Hallelujah Chorus" from George Frederic Handel's Messiah all by myself .   It takes a full choir singing six part harmony to do it justice.  Add a full orchestra and that's when the full power and majesty of this classical piece comes to life. (Listen to the London Philharmonic Orchestra and chorus:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZueoezKK0RA) Jethro, the Midian priest, visited his son-in-law, Moses, to see how the Exodus was going.  He watched Moses spend all day, d...

Christian is not a hobby nor is it a form of volunteerism, something we do during our spare time when we choose to do it. Christianity is not a "religion."  It's not about trying to get the attention of an uncaring god and saving ourselves by following rules and rituals or being morally superior to everyone else. Christianity is a journey of faith, a 24-7 lifestyle that is based in relationships:  a loving, active relationship with God through Jesus Christ and a loving, compassionate relationship with the rest of the human race, the whole human race.  Christ died on the cross for everyone, not just for a chosen blessed few. Christianity is about becoming perfect in the love of Christ for God and for our fellow humans.  Christ is the epitome of God's love for us:  unearned and undeserved, unconditional, self-sacrificing. and other-centered. As Christians, it not about us; it is always about the other. Perfection, therefore, is not saying or doing the wron...

Exodus 3-4 If we're too comfortable in our comfort zones, we probably need to get out of them more. If we're feeling uncomfortable in our comfort zones, God is putting the fire to our feet to get moving. Exodus 1:8 tells us that a new king took power in Egypt who didn’t know Joseph, the Israelite under whose wise administration and leadership had saved that nation from unduly suffering from a seven-year regional drought. The king felt threatened by the descendants of Joseph and his brothers who still lived in Egypt. He made them the targets for his hate and fear, and the Hebrews were ruthlessly oppressed into slave labor.  They cried out in their suffering to God, and God heard them. His answer was Moses.  It probably always had been. Moses.  He was born a slave and raised to be a prince of Egypt. He became a fugitive after killing an Egyptian overseer who was beating one of his relatives.  A man on the run, he fled Midian where he made w...