I love attending to God's time. By it, He speaks into the places where the culture is simply sucking me dry. And so, in this time of Christmas chaos, God highlights Jesus, not in a manger with mooing, but in the temple for a little Hanukkah hardball. (John 10) Yet in the middle of this mugging, Jesus pulls back the veil on His relationship to us. His words bring comfort and they confront as well. For He presents who we are to be and yet, how we often fail to see. Questions arise: Does the Authentic Voice of the Shepherd reverberate in our innards? Or does the white noise that feigns life scream too loud to discern His whisper? In the hearing comes the Encounter. And in the
The Deck was a whole lotta fun on last night. Food was fabulous, laughter contagious and company bodacious. And then the Spirit of God powered the worship...Even better! When we honor God in praise and He honors us by Presence, it attains an atmosphere we engage, enjoy, and extend. And so in that 'air' many arose to acknowledge Kim last night. She is known by the King as both watchful warrior and beloved daughter, but this was no easy task for her. Yet while work for her, it was wonderful for us. Why? First of all, because a culture of honor is our ground zero and each story stood witness how Kim honors others. And secondly, to be blunt, because God has rigged the system
It's interesting to compare and contrast God's calendar and that of our culture. This particular biblical month, the 9th, is dynamically different. Far from any Xmas Rush or the sleep in heavenly sleep motif, the time stamped scriptures are awash in face-offs between light and dark. Highlighted passages in Ezra, Jeremiah, Haggai, Zechariah, and John's gospel clash people, issues and situations. Not surprising then, that the 9th tribe (Benjamin) embodies the conflict and embraces the collision. It starts at birth with opposing declarations: Son of sorrow or son of strength? The contrast reoccurs in the prophesies: Ravenous wolf or restful protector? Both, it would seem, apply:
