Show me the path where I should walk, O Lord
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. I trust in You, my God! Show me the path where I should walk, O Lord Point out the right road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me for You are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in You. Remember O Lord your unfailing love and compassion which you have shown from long ages past. Forgive the rebellious sins of my youth…Archive for relevant magazine
deep and wide
My youngest daughter really loves to sing that song… you know how it goes “Deep and wide, deep and wide, there’s a fountain flowing deep and wide!”. Let me tell ya – she really loves that song. WIll just burst out screaming it sometimes too…
I just read a recent RELEVANT MAG article called ‘Leaving the Tidal Pool’ that I really liked. Go read it but here’s the ending:
Life is not about being set aside or stuck swimming in a holding tank until we can be released into the ocean as it should be. It is about swimming the ocean we have.
I guess there’s nothing wrong with the tidal pool. We can learn a lot and grow in there, but there’s a whole world out there beyond the pool! Maybe we are to study and learn as ‘little ones’ in our tidal pool and when we are ready, to venture out. But I wonder if too many times we choose not to go out of their tidal pool because we want to feel ’safe’ or something.
Then I came across this Youtube video [HT - Church for Men Florida]:
It’s not about just going to church on Sunday and doing the “status-quo”! And the good thing for us is that we can have this personal relationship with God – and even with all of our screw-ups and weaknesses we can do all kinds of things in this ocean (but there’s the thing – I don’t think it’s us that are doing it – it’s God and he gave us a part of His work)! Because between you and me, I’m really sure I can’t get very far in that ocean especially considering how really deep and how really wide it is … but with God? I can’t even imagine.
RELEVANT articles about the poor and the homeless
Another post I wrote linked to a RELEVANT Magazine article, which got me subscribed to their feed. A lot of great stuff. I wanted to specifically link to two:
What if the Church decided to take back the responsibility of social relief from the government? What if entire congregations of able-bodied men and women took the place of organizations and government programming and actually “became” the hands and feet of Jesus? What if we began learning the holistic ministry of Christ, reaching people through the tangible and the spiritual? What if we were the first group to arrive and the last group to leave any area where there is pain, destruction and brokenness? What if the need for various programs and outreaches become non-existent because ministering to the poor and broken around us became as much a part of our daily life as eating, sleeping and breathing?
Some of what was written in this article was exactly why I went down to Monroe Park… noticing that there are clothes and jackets and shoes that I seriously haven’t used in over a year!
The Homeless Evangelist
I have no idea what I’m going to do from day to day. Some nights I’m sleeping on the streets with the homeless simply because I don’t want to leave, and other nights I’m sleeping on the floor inside a million dollar mansion trying to convey the compassion of Christ to a confused businessman I may have met on the streets. I just wake up and go wherever He leads me. Its like Mary told the servants at that party in Cana, “Whatever He tells you to do, DO IT”.
My best suggestion is just go. It’s the last command we got from Jesus. He will make very clear the path that you should take. Talk to a homeless person. Sleep in the cold one night you find yourself complaining. Do something impractical, uncomfortable. By all means, if your church has a community outreach, get involved, but don’t limit the compassion of Christ to a once a month paper bag feed. Stick around long enough to find out names, stories and needs.
I don’t know what to say – but wow. Really listening to God and doing it. I don’t see how I can do exactly what he is doing (in particular since I have a family), but given whatever our situation is, I just love his suggest to “just go”. Open your eyes to God and follow what God is telling you to do. I’m not sure at all where He may be leading me but I’m going to try to just go and follow where He leads me. And next time, I’m bringing some friends from church and some stuff that others have (well, I should say hopefully still are making available since I haven’t picked it up yet!home) donated 
