Transformation Blog

I had to post this early this week.  It so describes what it is like to follow the Lord, to live in the dark because I am under the shadow of His wings, and put one foot in front of the other.  This is Mary in a new light for me.  How about you? Cindy Advent 4: Saying Yes to God Posted on December 17th, 2012 by Ruth Haley Barton in eReflections Lectionary Readings for December 22, 2012: Micah 5:2-5a; Psalm 80:1-7; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-55 Advent Calendar (Cycle C) and guidance for using the lectionary In the fourth week of Advent we begin to move beyond waiting and preparation to a deeper sense of the immanency of Christ’s coming. Anticipation is high. The fourth Sunday of Advent is traditionally the Sunday when the story of the Annunciation is read as the Church gathers and the drama of the Incarnation begins to unfold. In the middle of this drama is a young girl named Mary who is pulled onto center stage as she is confronted with God’s will for her life.  The archa

This Advent, more than any in recent times, we need courage to go forward and meet the challenges that face us as individuals and as the Church.  Mental illness, as in the cases of many mass shooters, is an issue that is still virtually unaddressed in terms of the average family being able to deal with it.  No simple change to health care is going to to solve it, nor is the prison system.  NAMI is making inroads.  But the spiritual state of our nation is badly damaged, and there needs to be major restoration of the heart of the gospel in our churches.  There needs to be prayer--real prayer.  There needs to be comfort--a taking in of the wounded and the weak--by a church transformed by the Holy Spirit.  Otherwise we are helpless. (John 15:5) I am reposting this Advent blog from the Transforming Center in Illinois. It gave me hope today.  God bless you all this week. Cindy Advent 3: A Time for Courage Posted on December 10th, 2012 by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun in eReflections Lec

These are so good that I MUST pass them along!  Enjoy! Advent 2: He Must Increase, I Must Decrease Posted on December 3rd, 2012 by Rory Noland in eReflections Lectionary Readings for December 9, 2012: Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 1:68-79; Philippians 1:3-11; Luke 3:1-6 Advent Calendar (Cycle C) and guidance for using the lectionary The lectionary readings for this second Sunday in Advent tell the story of John the Baptist. The prophet Malachi describes him as the “messenger of the covenant,” the one sent to prepare the way for the coming Messiah (Malachi 3:1). The first Gospel reading is the passionate prayer recited by John’s father, Zechariah, at the birth of his son (Luke 1:68-79). The second Gospel reading depicts John fulfilling the ministry he was called to do: He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, “The voice of one crying out in the wil

This coming Sunday is the First Sunday of Advent.  I'm wondering if you would share an Advent Meditation with me over the next few weeks?  I don't know about you, but I have found the last few weeks to be stressful, and my soul is in need of a long drink from the Fountain of Life. I received a booklet from Renovare called "God with Us", an Advent devotional.  In my quest for refreshment for my soul, I have begun reading and pondering the thoughts in it.  I find that my darkened mind is beginning to experience some of the Light spoken of there. The little book uses the format provided by the Advent Wreath tradition.  Each Sunday morning for the 4 weeks prior to Christmas, a candle is lit.  Each candle represents one aspect of the Advent season, encouraging us to 'wait' for the birth of Jesus in that light. The first candle of the Advent Wreath is the Hope Candle.  Israel had been promised a Messiah--a deliverer--who would set them free and restore their n

I've been thinking about Pastor Tony's sermon yesterday, especially the video on "Footprints-Revisited". If you didn't get to see it, please take time to look at the video and get ready for a laugh--it surprised us all, I think.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djdFq42J3uc God is not someone who abandons us, but He does want us to walk forward with Him in faith.  Early in our Christian walk, He encourages us, feeds us with the sweetness of the Spirit, gives us glimpses of what it will be like to be mature in the Spirit.  We are all fired up, ready to change the world for Jesus! Of course, we are not mature Christians at that stage, no matter what we might think.  But everything to do with God is such a "rush" that we may think more highly of ourselves than we should.  If you are reading this, it is probably because you have come through that stage of Christian growth and may be wondering what on earth happened??   You may have been involved in praye

We have been on a quest to find out what image of God we hold in our hearts, and asking God not to just repair, but transform our concept of Him. Because this is Mother's Day, I am thinking of my God-Image and how it was influenced by my perceptions of my mother.  I've also asked God to search my heart, and the hearts of my children, for how I may have influenced my children's image of God for better or worse.  It's been a humbling experience this morning. I've spent quite a bit of time discovering where my perceptions of my mother have crossed paths with my concept of God through spiritual direction and therapy, but this morning the Lord began bringing to my mind the ways in which He is replacing my fractured concepts of 'mother' with His perfect mothering. The nature of God as a mother is presented in great beauty and strength in Scripture as well as in the animal kingdom...  Every day I look at alpacas as they mother their crias.  The hover

Studying the book of Colossians has already been an amazing experience, and we are still in Chapter 1! While reading Colossians 1: 9-12, we looked more closely at what it was that Paul was praying for the Colossian church, and found a prayer that has a WIDE application. One of the questions we ask as we read is "What is the invitation from the Holy Spirit to me in this section?" I found an invitation to pray for people like Paul prayed for the Colossians.  Listen to his prayer: 9  For this reason also,  since the day we heard of it (the faith and love of the Colossian church) ,  we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the   knowledge of His will in all spiritual  wisdom and understanding, 10  so that you will  walk in a manner worthy of the Lord,  to please Him in all respects,  bearing fruit in every good work and   increasing in the knowledge of God;   11    strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaini

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22  that, in reference to your former manner of life , you lay aside the old  (False) self , which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,  23  and that you be  renewed in the spirit of your mind,  24  and put on the  new self , which in the has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.  Ephesians 4:22-24 Pastor Tony talked this weekend about who God is, and who we perceive Him to be.  He said, “You will never rise above your image of God.”   That really struck me. Scripture tells us that we are God’s workmanship, made in His likeness and image, and that we are being conformed once again to His image by the Holy Spirit through all of the circumstances that come our way in this life…which is full of hope and comfort, if you know who God is. But what if our image of God was formed by less-than-perfect people and circumstances in our early childhood?  The truth is that almost without exception, the “image of God” that we carry in our heart

Come and sit with me at the foot of the Cross for a few minutes.  It's a peaceful place-- a place where we come to realize that there was never anything to worry about in the first place.  We can sit here with Jesus amidst the weeds of our lives and just ... be.  And it's ok. This next week is a week of remembering Jesus' path to the Cross.  We remember His resolute journey.  Luke says, "He turned His face to Jerusalem".  He knew where He was going and why, and He did not turn away.   Jesus calls us to not "turn away" from ourselves.  Just has He had to deal with fear and dread as He walked obediently toward His death, He calls us to continue, unflinching, in our quest for the whole self He made us to be. Last week we talked about the Shadow Self in each of us--the hidden parts of our hearts represented by the low scores on our Myers Briggs tests.  I have been meditating on my hidden places.  None of them is as extreme as my inclination to Int