Welcome to The Show

-
In baseball, they refer to the major league as "the show." As in, if you went from the minors to the majors, you are now in "the show." In the church arena, I refer to Easter as "the show." It seems, with due cause, to be the most important and busy time of the year. It's the time of year that many people who have left church will visit with their families or simply because they feel that they need to be there. There are so many events in the month of April that it boggles the mind. It can give you the overwhelming sensation that you really need to be on your game. We don't. No lofty speeches about pursuing excellence from me. 

The beauty of the season can most wonderfully be seen from the lens of Lent. Of course, we all have these views of Lent that come from our various walks with the church, but Lent is truly a gift. I was recently reading through the lenten portion of The Liturgical Year. I am time and time again struck by the wonder of being asked to lay aside the trappings of this life to enjoy Christ. For some reason, we think of Lent as only a somber season of denial. There is great joy in sacrifice and setting down things to fully immerse ourselves in the joy of Jesus, the One and only.

“Lent is a call to renew a commitment grown dull, perhaps, by a life more marked by routine than reflection.” 
Excerpt from The Liturgical Year

I often tell about a story I read in a book by Corrie ten Boom on spiritual warfare. She was telling of the warfare that was going on around her and her sister Betsy at the concentration camp. They were being starved and barely had anything left in them to fight with. Corrie says that they decided to proclaim their involuntary starvation as a fast unto the Lord. The spiritual warfare and darkness ceased. I love this because they were not voluntarily fasting from something. They simply submitted a forced fast unto the Lord. Submit the thing that you are doing without to Jesus. Proclaim a fast unto the Lord. Release those you are awaiting emotional fulfillment from. Proclaim a fast.

Enjoy our Jesus.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Writer's Callous

-
Image
Alright, baby photo below. Quit emailing me! ;-) I remember having a writer's callous when I was five years old. In my adolescence I hated it. Now, I find it fascinating. Almost as long as I have been alive I have borne a mark that declares I am passionate about something in such a way that it bores into my skin. I have been blessed with wonderful Apple products to use and I still prefer writing things out. I heard Michelle Pfeiffer say David Kelley writes out all of his award winning shows on yellow legal pad. I like that. I prefer a journal and a real wood pencil (the kind that are stained, not the yellow ones.) There's something romantic about it to me. Writing is a choice medium in my relationship with God . I love to prayer journal. I pour out thanks for every minute that I get to spend doing it. In last weeks post I told you that God broke my Mac so I would spend some time alone with Him (then I can have it back in January). Shortly thereafter the enemy came in tel
Read more

David Crowder's House Restoration

-
Image
A recent edition of Waco Today featured David Crowder's six year renovation project(we had to go check it out). I said a quiet prayer that God would let our house be completed before six years was up for us and then I dove in to the details. David and his wife bought the home of the man who invented Dr. Pepper. It is encouraging to see something that took so much effort and energy come to completion. May we soon see the same thing. You can read the story of the Crowder renovation here .
Read more

Gomer: The Inspiration Board

-
Image
I saw this thing on HGTV once. People would look at these mega-money "inspiration rooms" and try to copy them on a thin budget. I decided I would copy this idea and begin to put inspiration points around the house. My first point is an inspiration board on the front of our house. Much of the paint on the front of the house has been scraped off. So I took it upon myself to sand a whole board down and prime it. She is a beauty. Now, people will be inspired from miles around and flock here due to the inspiration of this one bright white board. At the very least, it has inspired me to want to paint another one.  We had a lovely time of worship here on Sunday at our first night of House Church. The Holy Spirit was so tender with us as He led our hearts to repentance and praise. I am thankful for those the Lord brought here that night to sit in a simple place in a simple way to worship Jesus. Join us this Sunday at 5 p.m. If you are hurt, lonely, broken, or searching, please join
Read more