Misquamicut

Carolyn and I arrived at the beach around mid-morning after a leisurely drive down through Sterling, Voluntown, and North Stonington via routes 49 and 201. We had our beach chairs, a new beach umbrella (the first we've ever had), a small cooler, blanket, and a bag of books. It was sunny, breezy and comfortable- lots of sun and surf and not too many people. We alternately chatted and read, took a walk, got some salads for lunch, read some more, and I took a little nap on the blanket in the sun in the later afternoon.

Kingdom Thoughts

The “beatitudes” begin and end with the same phrase, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Does this mean, “for theirs is eternal life” or “they will live forever in heaven after they die?”

Or, is it something in addition? The Word tells us that we have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. Notice the tense- have been. In some sense we are already in the kingdom of God. We are citizens of the kingdom now. There is a great deal more to come, but even now, in the midst of all kinds of craziness, we are kingdom citizens.

Jesus also said, “Woe to you when all men think well of you.” Does being a kingdom citizen mean that those around us won’t always understand us? …agree with us? …respect us? Does it mean that we should be different? …and that some won’t think well of us?

There may be a price to be paid for living as a citizen of the kingdom. Is this the “cross” that he told us we have to carry?

Osama

Last night we watched a film called, Osama. It was made in Afghanistan after the Taliban was forced from power. The title does not refer to the terrorist, but to a twelve-year-old girl, and her experiences living under the Taliban. The actors and actresses are amateur actors and all residents of Afghanistan.

It portrays a brutally abusive combination of tyrannical religiosity and governmental power. By portraying the dehumanization and abuse of women under the Taliban's version of Islam, it becomes a powerful statement of how much Christianity has done for the status of women and their quality of life in history.

Southern Decadence

Did you know that there is an annual event called "Southern Decadence," drawing between 100,000 and 300,000 for a week in New Orleans over Labor Day weekend?

Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia tells us that the event:

...is marked by widespread public nudity, parades, bead tossing and street parties. The festival is highly sexual in nature, with overt advertising insinuating (though rarely outright stating) that public sex will be common and liquor flowing heavily.

Go to the Wikipedia site for more info...then draw your own conclusions.

mike@hisfeet.org

Here's an interesting email from Mike Peters:

There is a HUGE difference between "becoming a Muslim" -- and "giving your life to Osama Bin Laden"... The first is likely just an ideology (which might involve wearing veils, dietary restrictions, and certain "moral" laws) -- the other involves a complete LOSING of Yourself. It AFFECTS not just external actions, but internal priorities & everything about your Life.

The same is TRUE with true Christianity... There is a HUGE difference between adopting "Christian values" -- and giving your LIFE to Jesus. Just as a Osama Bin Laden "disciple" is "up to something" because he's under orders and has instructions (way beyound 5 token prayers toward Mecca) --- so a disciple of Jesus is "up to something"... He is under orders and LIVES for Him who died for him, in a VERY practical & purposeful way.

When you give something away... It's NOT yours anymore! (Duh!). Giving your car away is NOT the same level as a "commitment" to put the best grade of gas in the tank... Giving your life away is not a structured or "moral" decision... It's an ownership decision! We GIVE our lives to the One we Pleged our lives to.... A day at a time... And hour at a time... A moment at a time...
Are you giving YOURS this moment? Or have you drifted back into living as if your life still belonged to you?

The GC

What is the Great Commission? What does it tell us to do?

Well, you may be surprised to hear, but among other things it tells us that we are to obey everything Jesus commanded us to do. And, we are to make disciples by teaching them to obey everything Jesus commanded. Check it out yourself- Matthew 28:19-20.

In fact, the GC gives us a pretty good definition of what a true disciple is- someone who strives to obey everything Jesus commanded. In this light, perhaps we all look pretty bad- how many of us even know what he commanded us to do and to be?

What is his "new" command? How did he respond when he was asked which are the two "greatest commandments?" What did he say to do when someone takes your possessions? (How're you doing?) What did he say in the first part of the sentence that concludes "...then your reward will be great and you will be sons of the most high?"

East Bay Bike Path

This weekend my daughter Emily and I drove to East Providence and spent the better part of the day biking the East Bay Bike Path. It was a beautiful day and there were some nice views of bays and salt marshes along the way. The path goes through several small towns. We stopped for lunch at a pizza place. A nice day.

Friendship

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, "What! You too? I thought I was the only one!"

-C. S. Lewis

Thursday Night at Fenway

Last Thursday we were at Fenway to see the Sox beat the Rays. This time we sat in the right field bleachers waaaayy back- about 4 or 5 rows from the top. It was a good time, as always. Before the game we had dinner in the "dining area" in the concourse under the bleachers. Only part of it is under the bleachers and the picnic table area is open to the sky and we could see out of Gate B into the street. It was the usual festive Fenway pregame atmosphere and the food was very expensive (and very mediocre), but hey...who goes there for the food? The fans in the right field bleachers are more mellow than those we sat near in the center field bleachers last year (that's a good thing) and we are farther away from the music loudspeakers (that's also a good thing). A couple of home runs landed in the bull pen, directly in front of us.

A Note From Millie

Greetings to All,

What a blessing to read the recent letter from Joe and everyone's insightful responses. But, I must confess they have stirred up some " wild thought's " of my own ... so I thought it would be good to try and put them down in letter form and share a few of them with you .... hopefully in doing so ,they may get some needful taming down...

To add to all this stirring in my heart , I recently watched a television documentary on the horrific war being waged on the people of Uganda, especially the woman and children.

The main focus was on a Christian missionary ( called by some a mercenary) Who believes that God has charged him to hunt down , eliminate and stop the leader of this poisonous and evil reign of shed that has been rampant for the past 20 years. ( Interesting side note: "That our so called, "Godly nation " "the self appointed defender of the weak and " has done little to intervene? ")

The eyes of these poor people ...speak louder then words of what they have suffered by the hands of this evil leader and his troops that consist of emotionally d children who are ripped from their parents at a young age , many witnessing the horrendous and of their families to be trained as machines in his army.

This evil man stoops to the lowest of horrid atrocities ,as to even have forced a very young boy to kill his own mother. This is only one of thousands of horror stories that are to gruesome to even imagine !

Then they interviewed a local woman who's husband, and babies were captured , unmercifully ed ...Only one of her daughters was spared ... to be sent on to the troops for prostitution ....she was just coming into womanhood at the early age of 12 !

Her story was painfully heart wrenching and was only one of so ... so many ! Each one filling my heart with more grief and pain to what these people have and are still going through in that country.

But, this one woman's words astonished me the most !!! Hers seemed to ring out like a "small voice crying in the wilderness" as she proclaimed , "that she and those who have witnessed and suffered such horrors "

MUST FORGIVE THEIR PERPRETATORS !!!!

She went on to say, " that forgiveness is the only way that can even begin to bring any form of healing to the horrific wounds and scars that has been suffered from this reign of for these past 20 years. She believes that this forgiveness must be coupled with the act of amnesty towards their enemy to put a stop to the flow of shed.

That revenge is not the answer. .Forgiveness is !!!

As I listened to this documentary, " the contrast of these two views seemed to reflect many of the attitudes of mankind today ,at times even my own "...

The one who claimed to follow Christ , felt led of God to physically fight and protect the weak, the widow and orphan. The other who did not proclaim outwardly to be a Christian ( and may have had some religious training or even some sect of Muslim background ) Yet , she clearly expressed in her words and her life story , the biblical Christian mandate to turn the other cheek and the understanding that we fight not against flesh and , but powers and principalities on high .....

Yet, both of these people ,equally believed with their whole heart that they have the answer to end the ugliness of war that surrounds them!

My first impression was to quickly judge the Christian mercenary strongly ...As believing, " we as Christians, naming the name of Christ should desire to follow the teachings of our Lord from the sermon on the mount ... to forgive and love our enemies and turn the other cheek ".....and also , to seek peace (as much as possible with all men) , not war

But I was surprised at what I found as I searched my heart more deeply and asked the question- " what would I do if I saw a small child being d and ed ... or one of my loved ones ..." as my only daughter being hurt ! " I think I would defend them onto ...like a mother bear defending her cubs ! .... " Yet , I understand that only God knows truly how I would react ...and I'm so grateful, that I have never had to face such a horrifying scenario.

But, this man is faced with this on a daily bases and has seen such evil as I hope to never witness in my lifetime... Thinking deeply about this took the wind out of my sails and humbled my quick judgement.

Also, I was reminded that many years ago, I was a zealously activist, ready to sacrifice everything to defend the unborn babies that have been ignorantly slaughtered by the millions and their spilled upon this land that is so called a " godly nation " ...(small ( g ) intended to emphasis the point.

No greater war has taken so many lives ! And at the time of my zeal ... I knew every scripture to defend my position as I'm sure this missionary man in Uganda is familiar with.

In due time the Lord graciously brought myself and family to a awareness that this was not our battle to fight against the outward sin that flowed from mankind... We were to guard our own hearts and go about our Fathers business of sharing the good news of our saviours grace , " from our lives and the words that we spoke "... when hearts are changed inwardly by the power of the Holy Spirit we would see the outward manifestations in others lives !

A young brother asked us at that time... "When the Lord walked amongst us in the flesh ...did he ever fight against the corrupt and evil government of the time ? Did he teach us to get caught up in political fervor and go about to change unjust laws in the patriotic arena of the world ? .. or did He ever instruct us, as his people to set up a earthly reign of government ? We could only answer No ...Which the Lord used to jolt our stand that was already on shaky ground.
Jesus went about His fathers work" of establishing a "heavenly kingdom " that starts in the hearts of man by His transforming power and grace of the cross and can only be understood with the this new and transformed heart.

It seems that much of what "religion" proclaims today is just the opposite"...teaching "that by changing the outward that the inward will follow ... but our Lord taught us , " what is in a mans heart will make itself manifest outwardly.

"The issues of life flow from the heart." It seems to be that age old issue of teaching man to obey the commandments of the law and all will be well in Christendom ....versed believing and trusting in the grace of our Lord to transform our hearts and lead us in his mercy to walk in all His ways.

As I continued to think upon what the people of Uganda are going through , I had to ask myself what situations have I had to face in my life ,on a much smaller scale and how have I reacted... ? How have I handled it when a brother or sister has misunderstood me , spoken wrongly of me? Do I forgive readily ? Do I harbor any unforgivingness, bitterness or even hatred in my heart ? Do I see as my Lord does ....."that HATRED is as !!! "

How sobering when I judge my own heart before I attempt to judge anothers !!!

And as I ponder the global work of our father ...I can't even begin to comprehend how he is orchestrating all the powers in this world ....using the governments, leaders ,... and even the evilness of mankind to His ultimate plan of His return and resurrection of His Bride, the church....

Sharing all these " wild " thoughts with you has made me more keenly aware to guard my heart more carefully as the time grows closer ... It is so easy to be caught up with the cares and things of this world and sadly it is sometimes much easier to take up a cause to fight against then it is to consistently live the biblical Christian life of "loving one another as Christ has loved us."

Someone once said: Wars are fought on the battlefields of the globe, but they are waged first in human heart.

I would like to conclude my wild thoughts from a qoute from our brother Joe: "May we not be conformed to this age but be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2 Rather that we acquiesce to the Spirit of God as we are admonished to "not be conquered by evil, but to conquer evil with good". Romans 12:21 May the Lord keep you in perfect in peace.[end quote] .

May we always have a tender heart and pray for one another, for those in leadership positions and for our brothers and sisters who suffer such great hardships ! And yes, even for our enemies ...

Blessings In Christ,
from Millie