Spirit Gives Birth To Spirit

 “’…All these commandments I have kept,’ the young man said. ‘What do I still lack?’ Jesus answered, ‘ If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me. ’ When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.” I am sitting in Starbucks on Black Friday at 5:30 am.  There are cars frantically racing about outside on destinations to shopping malls and big box stores that promise deals for Christmas shopping. I don’t have the money to do likewise. That our society makes a holiday out of consumption is indicative of the consumption that drives our capitalist economy. But yesterday I spent the day in thankfulness with my family at Thanksgiving dinner.  We spent time with others whom we love, thankful for their comfort, and I thought upon all the gifts God had given us.  One blessing from earlier this year is this laptop.  I received a bonus at work from my new organization.  It is

              How to people come to know God?  It is different for everybody to some extent, but there are commonalities to most Christians' walk.  Usually, people in the United States were introduced to some sort of contact with a religious institution when they were children.  It may have been through and Aunt or Uncle, maybe a grandparent, or their parents may have taken them to church on Christmas and Easter.  Many had parents that attended church regularly and they grew up among their peers in Sunday School.  I think the majority of kids then fall away from these fledgling beliefs in their teenage years.  This is very common and it is often an outgrowth of establishing their independence from their parents and family.  But then something happens.  God begins to woo them back. Through senses, interactions with others, a spiritual book, perhaps even some tentative reading of scripture, God makes them aware of himself.  And then they inevitably go through some trial.  Trials lik

              Just who was Jesus?  That is a very complicated question. To most Christians, he is the divine son of God.  But this is based on a certain reading of scripture that is not necessarily shared by all. Exactly what does it mean?  This is not common to all, and is in fact different for every Christian. Who did his disciples say he was?  Jesus asked this of his disciples in Luke 9:18 – 9:22. “Once when Jesus was praying by himself, and his disciples were nearby, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They answered, “John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others that one of the prophets of long ago has risen.” Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Christ of God.” But he forcefully commanded them not to tell this to anyone, saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, and be killed, and on the third day be raised" (Luke 9). The “Christ of God” tr

I woke up at 9:00 this morning, threw some clothes on and headed out the door.  I was meeting with the a ministry leader at 9:20 that morning because I had expressed an interest in joining their care ministry at my new church. Just before I left, I sent him a letter that I had written that week for a young man who I had visited in the adolescent psych unit at the hospital.  I thought it would give the ministry leader some insight into my interactions with my care receivers, as I had been a Stephen Minister for 5 years and a lay chaplain at my previous church. When I got there, I sat down with the ministry leader.  We got to talking and I asked him what he did for work previously.  He said he was a pharmacist.  Then he said something that perked my ears: He said his first rotation was for a Psychiatric Hospital in Ohio.  He said there was razor wire around the high wall surrounding it and double locked doors on every ward.  I asked him if it was for people with mental issues that had co