Tag Archives: evangelization

What’s It Like

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Being an Evangelical Catholic is like telling your story to the world. In other words, it’s speaking from your heart knowing no matter who might be listening; the story would be the same. It’s knowing what you heard is the truth because it’s the same truth any believer would have heard. It’s about learning some life lessons, seeing yourself in them and learning from the experience. One of my lessons is this.

When I was in the world, making my way as a wage earner I was intently focused on the rewards of my labor. I wanted the prestige work, the money and all the trimmings. I was so focused on the gifts, I forgot about the Giver of Gifts. I was so focused on me I forgot about Him. As I came to realize it was me focused on me, I got a glimpse of His Grace; it had been Jesus all along. Some one told me, we are all guided missiles on an ever-correcting course, and I actually understood some of what that meant. I was getting part of the story, at least enough to turn and look.

What I saw, was amazing; hiding in plain sight so to speak. A confirming and reassuring state of mind was making its present felt, I was heading toward a Baptism of Desire. The apprehensive aspects were fading away and the yearning and eagerness were providing the energy. This was beginning to get exciting. The possibilities were endless, this sure seemed like the vista vision I was looking for. I was about to be forgiven. Forgiven for the pain and confusion I had caused. Forgiven for being the small person I so dearly protected.

It was only after I had joyously jump on the band wagon, had taken my victory lap and stood in the adulation of my many admirers that it hit me like the five-gallon ice cold shower of gator aid; I had done it again. The same old me, just amped up, the same circuits, the same electric, the same old stuff. I had missed again. It wasn’t about me and my forgiveness; it was about Him and His Divine Mercy. It wasn’t what I was getting; it was what He was giving. OK, strike two; what’s next, I don’t know. I know where He is leading me, I don’t know how he will get me there, but I’m going with Him anyway.

What’s It Like I

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Questions are…more important than answers

Good questions make better answers…than good answers make.

Why would I say this; because our minds armed with reason, logic and hopefully some intelligence struggles forward, forever marching forward to find an answer? Finding a definitive answer in an infinite universe; good luck with that. With this in mind, let’s admit even the best of answers needs some qualification. If we listen closely to what’s being said, isn’t there a “both this and this also” added or implied to each answer. As resolute as it might sound in the beginning, I believe we look for something more. I offer you this, as complete as the answer may be, as firm as the ground may seem to be, we don’t bask in the glory of the answer like a tourist on the beach. Even the finest “ah ha” moments are short lived…..We quickly move our sight to the next horizon. Our new found revelation becomes another stone in our neatly laid road, another brick on the wall, another freshly packed pigeon hole.

So be honest, isn’t asking “what and how” a lot more exciting than putting the last piece of the puzzle together. Don’t we want “uncertainty” to have a calming effect on us rather than an unsettling one? Isn’t “I’m not sure” and “I don’t know” more engaging than the answers we are standing on? Doesn’t life remind us that the journey is more important than the destination? Isn’t the answer a far gone conclusion? Isn’t the Lord leading us all to heaven; isn’t the answer, we don’t know how He will get us there, but we are going with Him anyway.

It Is I

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In this stage of my life, when I can say with some confidence that I have done all the hard stuff, one simple truth still needs to be explored. That the obvious sometimes goes unnoticed and what we take for granted isn’t always what we expected it to be.

We have often heard it said, that God will never give us more than we can handle. As reassuring and comforting as this sounds, it’s simply not true. It’s more that, God will never give us more than what He can’t handle. In every moment of every moment we have a choice. We can cry out to our Lord God or we can try it on our own. We can turn to Him for Providence, Protection and Guidance or we can turn away in ignorance or bitterness. We can put more faith in our Faith, than faith in ourselves. We can turn to our Lord God and listen in the silence of our hearts for these simple words…..It Is I.

Fear and Joy in the Lord

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For me, the biblical view is paradoxical out of necessity. Not because it is blatantly contradictory, which it is sometimes, but more to the point it brings many meanings to mind, great and small, penetrating and at times whimsical. Ask yourself, how could the truth be understood? It is obvious and self evident because it is the truth.

The truth appeals to everyone’s best intentions, highest ideals, and is the most sought after goal. The truth speaks to every aspect of the human experience regardless of the human experience. Jesus taught in parables, poets and song writers in metaphors and analogies, leaving the truth hidden in the inspiration of the moment. If its true and it is, God uses our unique life histories to bring us close to Him, then the truth must be draw on the experiences broader than our own; again the delightful web of paradox.

 

For me this paradox is found in the moment a soldier realizes all the things in life which are worth dying for are all the same things in life which are worth living for. Understanding our intent is not to redefine the words, but to refine the knowledge. Yet the biblical lens demands a distinctive portal and a focused vision. So God doesn’t help the ones who need the most hope; God hopes the ones who need the most help, for God’s hope is for sure and for certain. We don’t struggle with belief and unbelief; we are conflicted between belief and obedience. The world is not divided between good and evil, evil is the absence of good not the opposite of it. Can it be, we seek God until He finds us? God’s grace and unconditional love has been given to us without measure, yet in the moment of self realization we simultaneously receive and accept His gifts. Every one believes in the Lord, the question becomes do you trust in the Lord.

 

My brothers and sisters in Christ, you have spoken to my heart and now I will speak from my heart. There is no greater joy in this world than the fear of the Lord. From the Old Testament witnesses to the Holy Twelve who followed Jesus in fear and awe; all who glimpsed His majesty trembled in fear and cried for joy. To experience the presence of His power, to know in that moment the splendor of His creation, to realize our place in His design is as fearful as it is joyous; a joy which began before time, is now and will forever be. The mighty hand of the Lord lifts us as it stretches out over us. The cosmos exploded from His law into the laws of physics and we were there. He made us as His creation, in His creation and we were there. We were made to yield to His power and to be His power.