Dealing with Tragedy, Dan Pursley, 3/24/14 -- Ruth 1:1-22

Embracing brings redemption

Incarnate Love, Tim Knipp 3/16/14 -- Phil. 2:5-11

Incarnate Love, Tim Knipp 3/16/14 -- Phil. 2:5-11

Don your Christ-colored glasses
        and
               look at one another
                            through them;
He did not use His power
    for gain
           but
               lay down
                     for others to walk upon;
        emptied Himself
                   to fill us.

Incarnate one,
       who enters another's eyes
             and
                  walks in their shoes.

He didn't have to do it -
           He chose
                   to lay aside His crown,
              His rights
      as Royalty;
             held out His wrists to be tied,
          His back to be lashed,
                His palms to be speared
             to splintered wood
           in a 
splintered world.

This is love.

  The ears are a conduit
             to the eyes;
                    listening is love in motion.

Enter my world.
          Look beyond the facade
     I wear.
               Touch my tender spots 
        with concern
            and grant me dignity
                       beyond 
                             my utility.

See me.
    Enter my world.
                      Incarnate.

Accepting our Limits - Tim Knipp, 3/9/14

Accepting our Limits - Tim Knipp, 3/9/14

Preparing the ground -
         pruning back,
walking perimeters...

Out of the dust,
       God breathed
             and planted us.

Choose trust
          (eat-eat) 
and live,
      or grasp
         for immortality
      (choke-choke)
and die.

Accepting limits,
   falling backwards
onto the
    breath of God
takes courage.

Fighting boundaries,
     striving for
             super-hero status -
       even with impeccable motives -
                is futile.

The morning after miracles,
         hands grasped,
mouths gaped -
         Jesus moved on.
                     "This is why I came."

Make a "to don't list"
              to hedge you in
            against those temptations
       that pull you under
                and farther
                         from your soul's shore.

Tired, with blistered
       and dusty feet,
                Jesus sat.
       These bodies
                need our care
                     and daily maintenance.
No more three page run-on sentences;
we need commas,
               margins
            and
periods of rest.

Sometimes the walls
           are out of our control.
Live in trust
          within those limits.
                 Don't bang your head 
         against the walls -
        explore them,
                 know them,
                     and live within them...
                                  for now.

Original springtime 
         in the perfect Garden,
               a robin warbles
         while rich loam steams
                  with the sun's breath.
Adam and Eve
            reach up 
                     and outside their limits,
          grasping for more
                  and
            fall.

From palatial splendor
           and equality with God Himself,
                 Christ empties himself
                    and
           steps down
                 into our limits
                     to
                        serve.
                                    This is why He came.

Healthy Conflict - Carlo Furlan - 3/2/14

James 1:19, 20

Healthy Conflict - Carlo Furlan - 3/2/14

Spewing marshmallows,
         we rage.
                In stiff-necked
                  rebellion
                      we deny and
                                    attack.

Listen -
    cage the tongue
              and temper.

Shields up,
        daggers ready,
              I face the attacker
         or,
              given half a chance, 
                           flee the arena.

Listen -
        seek to understand
                     before
                           being understood.
Reflect -
       be a mirror.
               Not a solid surface,
                    but a pliant one,
                           absorbing
                               and
                   checking for
                           accuracy.

Give dignity,
         even to
                 an attacker.
    Face to face,
       with fortitude,
                allow the words to fall
       not only on your ears
            but into
                 your spirit.

Breathe.

See Christ in their eyes
                      and
                           in your own.


Recall how far short
               you fall
                     before condemning.

And breathe.

Let your words be few,
            be sorry
                   and sorrowful for wrong.

Seek forgiveness 
      and 
           restoration.

And breathe.