follow me..

Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Matthew 4:19

God has spared my life, given me a family, and every good thing I have. Recently we found out that a year long discussion on the possibility of serving with a particular group in a particular place will not work out. We certainly were excited to have some sense of where the immediate future was moving towards, as I am about to finish college. So this news has been sad for us.

But, I am stirred on by the reality that Jesus has called us first and foremost to follow him. Where he takes us is really secondary. We are called to become like Jesus, make disciples as we move about this world, and seek to glorify God in the opportunities He has given us. We are longing to follow Jesus, and be pleasing to God in west kensington, and in philadelphia.

Kristy and I feel the loud drum beat for overseas missions, we believe we can make the kind of sacrifices required, even enjoy it, we believe He made us to spread his message to the poor and the lost. As we look out at the opportunities there may be, we invite you to pray for us as we seek to follow Jesus, and encourage you to follow Him as well.

Spirit of the Liturgy

The fact that we find Christ in the symbol of the rising sun is the indication of a Christology defined eschatology. Praying toward the east means going to meet the coming Christ. The liturgy turned toward the east, effects entry, so to speak, into the procession of history towards the future, the New Heaven and the New Earth, which we encounter in Christ. It is a prayer of hope, the prayer of the pilgrim as he walks in the direction shown us by the life, Passion, and Ressurection of Christ. Thus very early on, in parts of Christendom, the eastward direction for prayer was given added emphasis by a reference to the Cross. This may have come from linking Rev. 1:7 with Matt 24:30. In the first of these, the Revelation of St. John, it says: "Behold, he is comming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, ever one who pierced him, and all the trives will wail on account of him, even so Amen." Here the seer of the Apocalypse depends on John 19:37, where, at the end of the account of the Crucifixion, the mysterious text of the prophet Zechariah (12:10) is quoated, a text that suddenly acquires a wholly new meaning: "They shall look on him who they have pierced." Finally, in Matthew 24:30 we are given these words of the Lord; "Then on the Last day will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man comming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." The sign of the Son of Man, of the Pierced One, is the Cross, which has now become the sign of victory of the Risen One.

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
Pope Benedict XVI

The Faith of Abraham

I want to compile and share previous thoughts of faith of Abraham. They will be in five post's to come.

The faith that hears, the faith that receives, the faith that trusts, the faith that knows, and the faith that acts.

You can read about Abraham from Genesis 11:10-25:11. An incredible amount of space given in scripture, you can also find helpful illumination from the NT writer's in Hebrews 11:8-12, Romans 4:1-4, James 2:20-24 as well as other places.

If you have any insight/resources you want to share with me before I start posting these reflections, hit me up.

MLJ

May 27


The world is but a broken toy, Its pleasure hollow - false its joy, Unreal its loveliest hue (W. S. Gilbert)


Our Lord is saying (Matthew 6:19) that worldly treasures do not last; that they are transitory, passing, ephemeral. 'Change and decay in all around I see...... where moth and rust doth corrupt'.

How true it is. There is an element of decay in all these things, whether we like it or not ... These things never fully satisfy. There is always something wrong with them; they always lack something. There is no person on earth who is fully satisfied; and though in a sense some may appear to have everything that they desire, still they want something else ...

There is another way of looking at the effect of moth and rust spiritually. Not only is there an element of decay in these things; it is also true that we always tend to tire of them ... That is why we are always talking about new things and seeking them. Fashions change; and though we are very enthusiastic about certain things for a while, soon they no longer interest us as they did ... The last fact, therefore, about these things is that they inevitably perish. Your most beautiful flower is beginning to die immediately you pluck it. You will soon have to throw it away. That is true of everything in this life and world ... Things develop holes and become useless ... the most perfect physique will eventually give way and break down and die ... However wonderful and beautiful and glorious things may be, they all perish. That is why, perhaps, the saddest of all failures in life is the failure of the philosopher who believes in worshipping goodness, beauty and truth; because there is no such thing as perfect goodness, there is no such thing as unalloyed beauty; there is an element of wrong and of sin and a lie in the highest truths. 'Moth and rust doth corrupt.'

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, ii, pp. 88-9

Friend or Foe?

Been thinking a little about the "world." How are we called to relate to it. Friend or foe? Dying to it or dying for it? How can the two go together.

John 3, God so loves the world / 1 john 2 Anyone who loves the world, God's love is not in him

James 4 friendship with the world is enmity with God / Philippians 2 shine like light's in the world

Perhaps God's love, and our sympathy with God (holiness) looks like loving the world sacrificially with the eye to redeem it, not to make it our ultimate home as it is. The eye of faith looks with love, and see the glory its lost, and the glory that could be returned, even as at the same time, the eyes of faith are not infatuated with the world, but crucified to it, as the world as it is now, is rotting, and passing.

As John says

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."

It's like we live now under a long eclipse, but the moonlit darkness that casts its shadow on us all will pass? Will where we love now correlate to where we will live forever?

The real question I ask is, how does dying to the world, become the greatest 'love of all' for the world? (doesn't that seem odd?) What does the Resurrection have to do with it? And how do we enter ourselves into that sacrifice? I welcome your feedback.

CT Image Blog

A planetary nebula designated NGC 2818, photographed by the Hubble Telescope. By NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning the first day.

Genesis 1:1 - 5

(One of my Favorite Blogs..)

Turning to the Father's

I've enjoyed this podcast for awhile (till I washed my mp3 player in the wash a few months ago :(.. )

This comes from the Greek orthodox church, they introduce you to some of the early desert monks of Egypt and others doctors of the church from Asia minor. While the western church (catholic tradition) has traditionally placed an importance on organization, and administration (which is important), the eastern church (orthodox) has an incredible heritage of worship and devotion.