Jesus and Me ... and the Cats

DAY 11:  PLAY Once you’ve spent some time with the word, focus on how the word could bring meaning into your life. Once you’ve experienced the significance of the word in your life please share a photo, poem, blog post, or even a simple comment on how you applied the meaning of that world to your life.

DAY 10:  CONTEMPLATION Once you’ve spent some time with the word, focus on how the word could bring meaning into your life. Once you’ve experienced the significance of the word in your life please share a photo, poem, blog post, or even a simple comment on how you applied the meaning of that world to your life. Article:  Spirituality -- A Guided Path http://www.rethinkchurch.org/articles/spirituality/a-guided-path

DAY NINE Living Into Significance is a 30 day share experience on social media where anyone can join us in being intentional to take a few minutes in a day and reflecting on a single word. Once you’ve spent some time with the word, focus on how the word could bring meaning into your life. Once you’ve experienced the significance of the word in your life please share a photo, poem, blog post, or even a simple comment on how you applied the meaning of that world to your life.

SCRIPTURE  I Timothy 1:12-17 Luke 17:11-19 In the later years of my life, my dad showed me what an “attitude of gratitude" looked like. He greeted each day with joyful expectation as if it had delightful wonders in store for him, and he was going to relish every minute of it. He was humbly and sincerely grateful for everything he had and anything anyone did for him. He was no saint, but he knew how to be grateful. Sometimes, though, to make a difference in the world, it takes more than attitude; it requires action as well, as we turn gratitude into a verb. One of the opening scenes of the movie, “Pay It Forward” begins with a dark and rainy night. A young crime reporter is cruising the streets, listening to a police scanner. He perks up when he hears that a bungled burglary in an upscale suburban neighborhood has turned into a hostage situation. Arriving at the scene, he leaves his car to see if he can get information from th

LIVING INTO SIGNIFICANCE  DAY 8:  MEANING Living Into Significance is a 30 day share experience on social media where anyone can join us in being intentional to take a few minutes in a day and reflecting on a single word. Once you’ve spent some time with the word, focus on how the word could bring meaning into your life. Once you’ve experienced the significance of the word in your life please share a photo, poem, blog post, or even a simple comment on how you applied the meaning of that world to your life.

LIVING INTO SIGNIFICANCE  DAY 8:  MEANING Living Into Significance is a 30 day share experience on social media where anyone can join us in being intentional to take a few minutes in a day and reflecting on a single word. Once you’ve spent some time with the word, focus on how the word could bring meaning into your life. Once you’ve experienced the significance of the word in your life please share a photo, poem, blog post, or even a simple comment on how you applied the meaning of that world to your life.

LIVING INTO SIGNIFICANCE  DAY 7     JUSTICE Living Into Significance is a 30 day share experience on social media where anyone can join us in being intentional to take a few minutes in a day and reflecting on a single word. Once you’ve spent some time with the word, focus on how the word could bring meaning into your life. Once you’ve experienced the significance of the word in your life please share a photo, poem, blog post, or even a simple comment on how you applied the meaning of that world to your life.

DAY 5:  CO-WORKERS Once you’ve spent some time with the word, focus on how the word could bring meaning into your life. Once you’ve experienced the significance of the word in your life please share a photo, poem, blog post, or even a simple comment on how you applied the meaning of that world to your life. 

DAY 4:  FAITH After reading these three different versions of Hebrews 11:1 and prayerfully meditating upon the word, "Faith", please respond. Hebrews 11:1 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) The Meaning of Faith 11  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 Amplified Bible (AMP) The Triumphs of Faith 11  Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]. Hebrews 11:1-2 The Message (MSG) Faith in What We Don’t See 11  1-2  The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.

Ecclesiastes 11:1-6 Luke 21:1-4 Bread -- sustenance; nourishment; the source of life, if you asked the widow of Zarephath; God's provision for us. Bread baking -- the warmth of home; the aroma of welcome and hospitality; the memories of meals with friends and family. Bread slang -- money; cash in the pocket; security; assets; property; investments. Money; cash in the pocket; security; assets; property; investments.  So when the Bible tells us to send out our bread upon the waters, are we getting risky investment advice, or is there more to it? Benjamin Franklin said there are only two things for certain in this life -- death and taxes.  I happen to think there are a few more, like the sun rising every morning in the east and setting in the east, the earth makes its yearly journey around the sun, and Murphy's law. Murphy's law -  if anything can possibly go wrong, it will.  That lovely sunny weather may go on longer than was expected and turn into a drought.  

DAY THREE:  CELEBRATION Living Into Significance is a 30 day  (a ministry of the United Methodist church) shared experience  where anyone can join us in being intentional to take a few minutes in a day and reflecting on a single word.  This will be in addiion to my usual post and I am looking forward to being in conversation with you. Once you’ve spent some time with the word, focus on how the word could bring meaning into your life. Once you’ve experienced the significance of the word in your life please share a photo, poem, blog post, or even a simple comment on how you applied the meaning of that world to your life. 

Living Into Significance is a 30 day  (a ministry of the United Methodist church) shared experience  where anyone can join us in being intentional to take a few minutes in a day and reflecting on a single word.  This will be in addiion to my usual post and I am looking forward to being in conversation with you. Once you’ve spent some time with the word, focus on how the word could bring meaning into your life. Once you’ve experienced the significance of the word in your life please share a photo, poem, blog post, or even a simple comment on how you applied the meaning of that world to your life. Here is the schedule of daily words for this month. Day 1:  OCCUPATION Article:  Can I find a job that has purpose?    http://www.rethinkchurch.org/articles/vocation/can-i-find-a-job-that-has-purpose

Living Into Significance is a 30 day (a ministry of the United Methodist church) shared experience  where anyone can join us in being intentional to take a few minutes in a day and reflecting on a single word.  This will be in addiion to my usual post and I am looking forward to being in conversation with you. Once you’ve spent some time with the word, focus on how the word could bring meaning into your life. Once you’ve experienced the significance of the word in your life please share a photo, poem, blog post, or even a simple comment on how you applied the meaning of that world to your life. Here is the schedule of daily words for this month. Day 1:  PURPOSE" Article:  "Created for a Purpose"    http://www.rethinkchurch.org/articles/vocation/created-for-a-purpose

I Kings 17:8-16 Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7 You are a control freak if you: "Help" other people drive - tell them what route to take, when to turn, where to park, remind them that the traffic light has changed. Devote a lot of attention and energy to keeping your personal   environme nt   organized. Give people a lot of "shoulds" and "oughts" - unsolicited advice, suggestions, and "constructive criticism." Have lots of personal rules, routines, rituals, and ceremonies. Arethe one who takes over and orders other people around when the situation seems confused. Dislike depending on others, accepting help from them, or allowing them to do things for you. Insist on "being right," having things done your way, or having the final word? ("Are You a Control Freak" by Karl Albrecht, PhD, www.psychologytoday.com) When these behaviors get in the way of living as the people God created us to be, what is to be done? Like

Exodus 12:21-27 2 Timothy 1:1-14 Whether it's a local church or a denomination, Christians everywhere have only one mission lived out in many ways -- to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world: "And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.    Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  (Matthew 28:18-20, NRSV) It is Christ's missional imperative to "Go Global." My father gave me the Bible and pocket watch of his father, a Methodist minister.  In the Bible, I event found notes from one of his sermons.  What treasures, since I never knew my paternal grandparents, but Dad shared lots of stories about them both. You probably have treasured objects and memories that have