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TAKIN'-UP-TUESDAYS…
Thank you for sharing in this spiritual journey. Its purpose: to help each of us to a holier wisdom than our own in this season of selecting local, county, state, and national leaders. We pray God’s guidance for candidates, ourselves, and all who will live
with the decisions we make and the directions follow. |
*** CLICK HERE FOR AN OUTLINE OF THE PROGRAM WITH HELPFUL HINTS ***
We use 3 historic spiritual disciplines: FASTING, PRAYER, PETITION for God’s direction.
FASTING. Tuesdays, Sept 3 - Nov 5, FAST all or a portion of the day, as you are moved.
The Goal: to get a sense of being emptied of self, more filled with God.
HINTS:
Hints:
Hints:
FASTING. Tuesdays, Sept 3 - Nov 5, FAST all or a portion of the day, as you are moved.
The Goal: to get a sense of being emptied of self, more filled with God.
HINTS:
- Set a doable goal for each Tuesday. Some may want to start small, then progress. Example: Fast (skip) 1 meal, or at least postpone it, then work to fasting/skipping 2 meals, or all .
Remember, it’s just 1 day a week. (Yes, YOU could choose more.)
Do hydrate. Water and most juices are okay. Caffeine? Naaa!
Health, age etc. DO matter.
USE Skipped meal-time to THINK/PRAY ABOUT/FOR THOSE WHO SEEK TO LEAD (ANY/ALL LEVELS) AND WHERE THEY PLAN TO LEAD US. - Prepare and inform yourself spiritually. Read Scripture. We’ll give you examples. Read a devotional. Read/sing a hymn or song of faith. Or use other means.
Move a little “outside yourself” and closer to God! - Try to stick with your schedule, stay with your plan.
Hints:
- Offer your very own. As we fast to be emptied, pray to be filled with God’s presence.
- Strive to include the needs, hopes and lives touched by the leaders we select.
OK to include yours, just don’t stop there. - To understand others’ needs, take weekly time to learn more about what challenges us, local, national, global. Sample some new sources of information, not just your favorites.
- Pray in a place where you feel both comfortable & stretched to draw nearer to God.
Hints:
- Try not to “coach God” on how to answer prayer. (Yes, this IS tough.)
- Petition God to enlist you in every outcome rather than you enlist God.
GOD’s perfecting power-for-good and for grace-for-all guides all prayer.
We use 3 historic spiritual disciplines: FASTING, PRAYER, PETITION for God’s direction.
CLICK HERE FOR AN OUTLINE OF THE PROGRAM WITH ** HELPFUL HINTS **
THIS WEEK… A few Resources.
From The Bible: Check out: Psalm 121; 2 Chronicles 7:14; Matthew 22: 34-40.
From The United Methodist Hymnal: 481, St. Francis’ Prayer; Hymn 578, God of Love and God of Power.
From The Upper Room Devotional Guide, the daily entry or another that inspires you to reflect and pray daily.
We use 3 historic spiritual disciplines: FASTING, PRAYER, PETITION for God’s direction.
CLICK HERE FOR AN OUTLINE OF THE PROGRAM WITH ** HELPFUL HINTS **
THIS WEEK… A few Resources.
CLICK HERE FOR AN OUTLINE OF THE PROGRAM WITH ** HELPFUL HINTS **
THIS WEEK… A few Resources.
We’re entering our second week. So… how are you doing?
By now, some of us have begun our discipline of fasting. We’ve done 1, 2 or 3 meals or the whole of Tuesday remembering to hydrate across our chosen period. Even if we’ve just felt called/able to postpone our intake, we’ve shared that experience of feeling emptied of self…to feel more filled with God in Christ. So it is we move through this important season of preparing to chose leaders from the most local to the most wide-reaching levels of life together.
FASTING. Tuesdays from Sept. 3- Nov. 5, FAST all or a portion of the day, as you are moved.
The Goal: to get a sense of being emptied of self, more filled with God.
As you move through this Tuesday, consider a Word from the Lord,
“Yet even now,” says the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning [from your deepest heart aches and hungers] and rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repents of evil.” Joel 2: 12-13
PRAYER. As you pray this week for a holier wisdom than your/our own in this season of selecting local, county, state and national leaders…
Try to focus on some particular segments of those who will be touched by our leaders.
"God has showed you, O God’s man [God’s own], what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6: 8
PETITION. As you ask God to enlist you (and us all) rather than you (we) enlist GOD in the choices we make in this season, consider the words of one of our historic hymns, as GOD’s perfecting power-for-good and for grace-for-all guides all prayer.
By now, some of us have begun our discipline of fasting. We’ve done 1, 2 or 3 meals or the whole of Tuesday remembering to hydrate across our chosen period. Even if we’ve just felt called/able to postpone our intake, we’ve shared that experience of feeling emptied of self…to feel more filled with God in Christ. So it is we move through this important season of preparing to chose leaders from the most local to the most wide-reaching levels of life together.
FASTING. Tuesdays from Sept. 3- Nov. 5, FAST all or a portion of the day, as you are moved.
The Goal: to get a sense of being emptied of self, more filled with God.
As you move through this Tuesday, consider a Word from the Lord,
“Yet even now,” says the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning [from your deepest heart aches and hungers] and rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repents of evil.” Joel 2: 12-13
PRAYER. As you pray this week for a holier wisdom than your/our own in this season of selecting local, county, state and national leaders…
Try to focus on some particular segments of those who will be touched by our leaders.
- Examples:
- How will children in our area be touched by the decisions of leaders we choose?
- OR: What new things will come to our community. Or, what might be corrected?
- OR: For what can we perceive God desires that our leaders can advance?
"God has showed you, O God’s man [God’s own], what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6: 8
PETITION. As you ask God to enlist you (and us all) rather than you (we) enlist GOD in the choices we make in this season, consider the words of one of our historic hymns, as GOD’s perfecting power-for-good and for grace-for-all guides all prayer.
“Refresh thy people, on their toilsome way;
lead us from night to never-ending day;
fill all our *lives with love and grace divine,
and glory, **laud and praise be ever thine.”
*choices, **honor
lead us from night to never-ending day;
fill all our *lives with love and grace divine,
and glory, **laud and praise be ever thine.”
*choices, **honor
We use 3 historic spiritual disciplines: FASTING, PRAYER, PETITION for God’s direction.
CLICK HERE FOR AN OUTLINE OF THE PROGRAM WITH ** HELPFUL HINTS **
THIS WEEK… A few Resources.
CLICK HERE FOR AN OUTLINE OF THE PROGRAM WITH ** HELPFUL HINTS **
THIS WEEK… A few Resources.
We’re entering our third week. So… how are you doing?
By now, we hope, we’re well-begun and deepening our experience of fasting. If you’re not, and should choose to use prayer and petition alone,, give yourself permission to do what works for you in the service of the greater purposes at hand.
This week a different way of helping you with spiritual resources. As a picture’s worth 1000 words, let these images deepen your fasting, quicken your prayers and perfect your petitions as we consider who and what our leaders serve… from nearest by to farthest distant.
By now, we hope, we’re well-begun and deepening our experience of fasting. If you’re not, and should choose to use prayer and petition alone,, give yourself permission to do what works for you in the service of the greater purposes at hand.
This week a different way of helping you with spiritual resources. As a picture’s worth 1000 words, let these images deepen your fasting, quicken your prayers and perfect your petitions as we consider who and what our leaders serve… from nearest by to farthest distant.
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“Lead, kindly Light,” the hymn implores.
May such be so in this choosing season.
Many and much will be touched we cannot entirely imagine by ourselves.
Thank you for your faithfulness. Now, some of us have begun our discipline of fasting. We’ve done 1, 2 or 3 meals or the whole of Tuesday remembering to hydrate across our chosen period. Even if we’ve just felt called/able to postpone our intake, we’ve shared that experience of feeling emptied of self…to feel more filled with God in Christ. So it is we move through this important season of preparing to chose leaders from the most local to the most wide-reaching levels of life together.
FASTING. Tuesdays from Sept. 3- Nov. 5, FAST all or a portion of the day, as you are moved.
The Goal: to get a sense of being emptied of self, more filled with God.
As you move through this Tuesday, consider a Word from the Lord,
“Yet even now,” says the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning [from your deepest heart aches and hungers] and rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repents of evil.” Joel 2: 12-13
PRAYER. As you pray this week for a holier wisdom than your/our own in this season of selecting local, county, state and national leaders…
Try to focus on some particular segments of those who will be touched by our leaders.
"God has showed you, O God’s man [God’s own], what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6: 8
PETITION. As you ask God to enlist you (and us all) rather than you (we) enlist GOD in the choices we make in this season, consider the words of one of our historic hymns, as GOD’s perfecting power-for-good and for grace-for-all guides all prayer.
May such be so in this choosing season.
Many and much will be touched we cannot entirely imagine by ourselves.
Thank you for your faithfulness. Now, some of us have begun our discipline of fasting. We’ve done 1, 2 or 3 meals or the whole of Tuesday remembering to hydrate across our chosen period. Even if we’ve just felt called/able to postpone our intake, we’ve shared that experience of feeling emptied of self…to feel more filled with God in Christ. So it is we move through this important season of preparing to chose leaders from the most local to the most wide-reaching levels of life together.
FASTING. Tuesdays from Sept. 3- Nov. 5, FAST all or a portion of the day, as you are moved.
The Goal: to get a sense of being emptied of self, more filled with God.
As you move through this Tuesday, consider a Word from the Lord,
“Yet even now,” says the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning [from your deepest heart aches and hungers] and rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repents of evil.” Joel 2: 12-13
PRAYER. As you pray this week for a holier wisdom than your/our own in this season of selecting local, county, state and national leaders…
Try to focus on some particular segments of those who will be touched by our leaders.
- Examples:
- How will children in our area be touched by the decisions of leaders we choose?
- OR: What new things will come to our community. Or, what might be corrected?
- OR: For what can we perceive God desires that our leaders can advance?
"God has showed you, O God’s man [God’s own], what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6: 8
PETITION. As you ask God to enlist you (and us all) rather than you (we) enlist GOD in the choices we make in this season, consider the words of one of our historic hymns, as GOD’s perfecting power-for-good and for grace-for-all guides all prayer.
“Refresh thy people, on their toilsome way;
lead us from night to never-ending day;
fill all our *lives with love and grace divine,
and glory, **laud and praise be ever thine.”
*choices, **honor
lead us from night to never-ending day;
fill all our *lives with love and grace divine,
and glory, **laud and praise be ever thine.”
*choices, **honor
We use 3 historic spiritual disciplines: FASTING, PRAYER, PETITION for God’s direction.
CLICK HERE FOR AN OUTLINE OF THE PROGRAM WITH ** HELPFUL HINTS **
THIS WEEK… A few Resources.
CLICK HERE FOR AN OUTLINE OF THE PROGRAM WITH ** HELPFUL HINTS **
THIS WEEK… A few Resources.
To help each of us to a holier wisdom than our own in this season of selecting local, county, state and national leaders, we fast. We pray. We petition God’s guidance for candidates, ourselves and all who will live with the decisions we make and the directions that follow. By using these three historic disciplines, we hope to find and offer spiritual solace in a challenging time. We hope to find a guidance that news, information and advocacy cannot give us by themselves. We open ourselves, perhaps even those whom we touch, to new possibilities for grace and for good.
There’s a hymn by Shirley Erena Murray that invites,
Come and find the quiet center in the crowded life we lead,
find the room for hope to enter, find the frame where we are freed:
clear the chaos and the clutter, clear our eyes, that we can see
all the things that really matter, be at peace, and simply be.
Come and find the quiet center in the crowded life we lead,
find the room for hope to enter, find the frame where we are freed:
clear the chaos and the clutter, clear our eyes, that we can see
all the things that really matter, be at peace, and simply be.
When you enter your Tuesday fast, in whatever form and duration you’ve chosen, the emptying you experience has the capacity to help you find that quiet center. Especially in this selecting season when, at every level, would-be leaders are shouting, “Look at me! Look at these issues (and not others)! Look out for your own (needs, wants, cares), not so much others.” Fasting opens us, clears the clutter, calms the chaos. It invites bodily stillness for spiritual insight.
Prayer comes in many forms. Aloud or unspoken, private or shared, decompressing or energizing.
It can both mediate and mobilize. Perhaps before you pray today, our hymn may be of help,
Silence is a friend who claims us, cools the heat and slows the pace,
God it is who speaks and names us, knows our being, touches base,
making space within our thinking, lifting shades to show the sun,
raising courage when we’re shrinking, finding scope for faith begun.
It can both mediate and mobilize. Perhaps before you pray today, our hymn may be of help,
Silence is a friend who claims us, cools the heat and slows the pace,
God it is who speaks and names us, knows our being, touches base,
making space within our thinking, lifting shades to show the sun,
raising courage when we’re shrinking, finding scope for faith begun.
We’re only a month from the official day of leader selection and direction setting. May we be bold to “cool the heat” and invite others to do the same. But as we are given to see it, may we also find and spread “raising courage when we’re shrinking and (a wider) scope for faith begun.”
At this halfway mark in our souljourn of “Takin’ Up Tuesdays
In the Spirit let us travel, open to each other’s pain,
let our loves and fears unravel, celebrate the space we gain:
there’s a place for deepest dreaming, there’s a time for heart to care,
in the Spirit’s lively scheming there is always room to spare!
In the Spirit let us travel, open to each other’s pain,
let our loves and fears unravel, celebrate the space we gain:
there’s a place for deepest dreaming, there’s a time for heart to care,
in the Spirit’s lively scheming there is always room to spare!
Petition, asking God-in-Christ to do or undo, to move or set aside, to affirm or overturn, is among the most consequential acts of faith (or unwitting faithlessness). True when personal, truer still, the more of God’s children and creation are touched. The old saying’s so, “Be careful what you ask for, you might get it!” Magnify that where community, state, nation, all peoples and nations are at stake. So as we pray, as we petition God in this season of selection, may we be mindful as our “loves and fears unravel (before God).” May we dream more deeply and closely the very dreams of God, with heart to care, and room to spare, for all God’s own, everywhere.
We use 3 historic spiritual disciplines: FASTING, PRAYER, PETITION for God’s direction.
CLICK HERE FOR AN OUTLINE OF THE PROGRAM WITH ** HELPFUL HINTS **
THIS WEEK… A few Resources.
CLICK HERE FOR AN OUTLINE OF THE PROGRAM WITH ** HELPFUL HINTS **
THIS WEEK… A few Resources.
We fast: to help each of us to a holier wisdom than our own as we selecting local, county, state and national leaders, We pray. We petition God’s guidance for candidates, ourselves and all who will live with the decisions we make and the directions that follow. By these three historic disciplines, we hope to find and offer spiritual solace in a challenging time. We hope to find a guidance that news, information and advocacy cannot give us by themselves. We open ourselves and those whom we touch, to new possibilities for grace and for good. Our Souljourn (our faithful journey) is now in week five. We’re learning. FASTING, whether in full or in part opens us, clears the clutter, calms the chaos. It invites bodily stillness for spiritual insight. PRAYER, aloud or unspoken, private or shared, can both mediate between us and mobilize among us. And our PETITION, in this season of leader selection, is to align ourselves deeply and closely with the very dreams of God, for all God’s own, everywhere.
These are the spiritual disciplines that guide us, Takin’ Up the Tuesdays, now through Nov. 5th.
Consider in this selecting season, by what standards may people of faith measure those who seek to lead us? Some familiar words that might guide us. We rarely consider them in this context. But that may be the best reason to lift them just now …
“Rejoice in the Lord always; I repeat, Rejoice! Let everyone know your patience and strength.. The Lord is not far but near. Put aside your anxiety in everything by prayer, petition and thanks. Let your requests be made known to God. And the very peace of God that passes all understanding will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. [IN THIS SEASON OF SELECTION] think about these things at the top of your list: whatever is true, honorable, just, pure; whatever is lovely, gracious! If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things [as you choose leaders.] Do what you have learned, received, heard and seen in [those who’ve shown you the Gospel]; and the God of peace will be with you.” Inspired by Philippians 4: 4-9 (KMHV)
It might serve us, our families and friends well… to consider the very purposes of governing leaders at every level, in every task. Scripture helps us. In brief, here are some things to ponder:
Commonly noted Scriptures, by appearance: Leviticus 19:15, Psalm. 82:2–4, Matthew 22:21
(Caesar and God), Romans 13: 1-10, I Tim. 2:2, I Peter 2:13-14. In broad summary:
God ordained the institution of government (all levels & expressions), defines its role & purposes.
Its fundamental purposes: to bring justice, curb our inclinations to sin (to limit our bad choices); to punish evil and actually promote good. Our unchecked desire for sin and its consequences in chaos are met by God’s desire to replace chaos/discord with shared dignity and peace. God wills for us good and not harm. Biblically, ruling authority is God’s answer to a fallen world.
“The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong” (Romans 13:4). The government is also to defend its people from external or foreign threats. Paul commanded Timothy and all believers to pray for rulers so we might live “peaceful and quiet lives.” (1 Timothy 2:2).
If all this doesn’t seem to you to be “the whole story” note: the Bible agrees. From ancient to New Testament days, leaders and governments are themselves flawed (fallen) and are called to account by the prophets, Christ himself, (and yes, even Paul). Leaders, governments and the governed (us!)… we need to enlist and monitor one another to bring God’s will to pass. (Earth… as in heaven, prays Jesus.)
This week, as we empty ourselves… to be filled with God… as we pray… we are invited to ponder. How do each of our leader-candidates align with the high purposes to which they feel called in the offices they seek? None, of course, will be perfect. Neither are we. But we pray God will so invite us to God’s own purposes. We pray our selections may do God’s will for us all, “good and not harm.” And perhaps for our communities and nation, what Christ prays for the church, “That they may all be one.”
These are the spiritual disciplines that guide us, Takin’ Up the Tuesdays, now through Nov. 5th.
Consider in this selecting season, by what standards may people of faith measure those who seek to lead us? Some familiar words that might guide us. We rarely consider them in this context. But that may be the best reason to lift them just now …
“Rejoice in the Lord always; I repeat, Rejoice! Let everyone know your patience and strength.. The Lord is not far but near. Put aside your anxiety in everything by prayer, petition and thanks. Let your requests be made known to God. And the very peace of God that passes all understanding will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. [IN THIS SEASON OF SELECTION] think about these things at the top of your list: whatever is true, honorable, just, pure; whatever is lovely, gracious! If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things [as you choose leaders.] Do what you have learned, received, heard and seen in [those who’ve shown you the Gospel]; and the God of peace will be with you.” Inspired by Philippians 4: 4-9 (KMHV)
It might serve us, our families and friends well… to consider the very purposes of governing leaders at every level, in every task. Scripture helps us. In brief, here are some things to ponder:
Commonly noted Scriptures, by appearance: Leviticus 19:15, Psalm. 82:2–4, Matthew 22:21
(Caesar and God), Romans 13: 1-10, I Tim. 2:2, I Peter 2:13-14. In broad summary:
God ordained the institution of government (all levels & expressions), defines its role & purposes.
Its fundamental purposes: to bring justice, curb our inclinations to sin (to limit our bad choices); to punish evil and actually promote good. Our unchecked desire for sin and its consequences in chaos are met by God’s desire to replace chaos/discord with shared dignity and peace. God wills for us good and not harm. Biblically, ruling authority is God’s answer to a fallen world.
“The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong” (Romans 13:4). The government is also to defend its people from external or foreign threats. Paul commanded Timothy and all believers to pray for rulers so we might live “peaceful and quiet lives.” (1 Timothy 2:2).
If all this doesn’t seem to you to be “the whole story” note: the Bible agrees. From ancient to New Testament days, leaders and governments are themselves flawed (fallen) and are called to account by the prophets, Christ himself, (and yes, even Paul). Leaders, governments and the governed (us!)… we need to enlist and monitor one another to bring God’s will to pass. (Earth… as in heaven, prays Jesus.)
This week, as we empty ourselves… to be filled with God… as we pray… we are invited to ponder. How do each of our leader-candidates align with the high purposes to which they feel called in the offices they seek? None, of course, will be perfect. Neither are we. But we pray God will so invite us to God’s own purposes. We pray our selections may do God’s will for us all, “good and not harm.” And perhaps for our communities and nation, what Christ prays for the church, “That they may all be one.”
We use 3 historic spiritual disciplines: FASTING, PRAYER, PETITION for God’s direction.
CLICK HERE FOR AN OUTLINE OF THE PROGRAM WITH ** HELPFUL HINTS **
THIS WEEK… A few Resources.
CLICK HERE FOR AN OUTLINE OF THE PROGRAM WITH ** HELPFUL HINTS **
THIS WEEK… A few Resources.
We fast to help each of us to a holier wisdom than our own as we select local, county, state and national leaders, we pray. We petition God’s guidance for candidates, ourselves, and all who will live with the decisions we make and the directions that follow. We hope to find and offer spiritual solace in a challenging time. We open ourselves and those whom we touch to new possibilities for grace and for good. Our Souljourn (our faithful journey) is now in week six.
We FAST, in full or in part (by now you’ve decided your course) to open ourselves, clear the clutter, calm the chaos. Bodily stillness for spiritual insight.
We PRAY, aloud or unspoken, private or shared. Prayer mediates between us and mobilizes among us. It emboldens us to consider and act faithfully.
We PETITION God in this season of leader selection, to enable us to align ourselves deeply and closely with the very dreams of God, for all God’s own, everywhere.
These are the spiritual disciplines that guide us, Takin’ Up the Tuesdays, now through Nov. 5th.
We are now within a month of the time of leader selection at every level of governance. Remembering, as we lifted last week, that Scripture provides sacred purposes for those who lead, and yes, even for us who follow, the meeting-place for us all is in service to one another and to what is often-termed the Biblical image of “the Peaceable Kingdom”.
This week, we invite you to fast, pray and petition with these concerns and opportunities in mind and on your heart.
We FAST, in full or in part (by now you’ve decided your course) to open ourselves, clear the clutter, calm the chaos. Bodily stillness for spiritual insight.
We PRAY, aloud or unspoken, private or shared. Prayer mediates between us and mobilizes among us. It emboldens us to consider and act faithfully.
We PETITION God in this season of leader selection, to enable us to align ourselves deeply and closely with the very dreams of God, for all God’s own, everywhere.
These are the spiritual disciplines that guide us, Takin’ Up the Tuesdays, now through Nov. 5th.
We are now within a month of the time of leader selection at every level of governance. Remembering, as we lifted last week, that Scripture provides sacred purposes for those who lead, and yes, even for us who follow, the meeting-place for us all is in service to one another and to what is often-termed the Biblical image of “the Peaceable Kingdom”.
This week, we invite you to fast, pray and petition with these concerns and opportunities in mind and on your heart.
- Pray for each and all the candidates, being certain to lift a “good word” for those of each office and of each and all political parties. (Yep, even those with whom you disagree).
- Pray with thanksgiving for the families of the candidates, remembering especially the sacrifices they are making in offering loved-ones for public service.
- Pray that each candidate of each office will, him-or-her-self, also seek God’s guidance. Be bold to ask that each be given at least one cause, purpose or program to champion that they themselves might not choose, but that will serve the community/state/nation in a way that pleases the heart of God.
- Pray that all who are eligible will vote, and that they will ask God’s guidance as they do so.
- Pray that every voter will both sense the privileged responsibility of voting and the real consequences to others than themselves as the result of their choices.
- Pray that the decisions we make together may be ratified after our season of selection by a shared determination to serve along with our leaders for the common good and the greater vision of hope and help for all.
And for ourselves in this sacred time,
may it be that what we sometimes sing with our lips,
we may apply to our own choices,
“It is the cry of my heart to follow you.
It is the cry of my heart to be close to you.
It is the cry of my heart to follow
all of the days of my heart.” (T. Butler)
may it be that what we sometimes sing with our lips,
we may apply to our own choices,
“It is the cry of my heart to follow you.
It is the cry of my heart to be close to you.
It is the cry of my heart to follow
all of the days of my heart.” (T. Butler)
We use 3 historic spiritual disciplines: FASTING, PRAYER, PETITION for God’s direction.
CLICK HERE FOR AN OUTLINE OF THE PROGRAM WITH ** HELPFUL HINTS **
THIS WEEK… A few Resources.
CLICK HERE FOR AN OUTLINE OF THE PROGRAM WITH ** HELPFUL HINTS **
THIS WEEK… A few Resources.
SOME WHO READ THIS HAVE BEEN WITH US FROM THE START; OTHERS, JUST BEGUN. WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST FRIENDS, THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS TO DATE.
We FAST, in full or in part (or if we are prayer partners only we pray for those who fast) to open ourselves, clear the clutter, calm the chaos. Bodily stillness for spiritual insight.
We PRAY, aloud or unspoken, private or shared. Prayer mediates between us and mobilizes among us. It emboldens us to consider and act faithfully.
We PETITION God in this season of leader selection, to enable us to align ourselves deeply and closely with the very dreams of God, for all God’s own, everywhere.
These are the spiritual disciplines that guide us, Takin’ Up the Tuesdays, now through Nov. 5th.
We are now within a month of leader selection at every level of governance. Scripture provides sacred purposes for those who lead, and yes, even for us who follow, the meeting-place for us all is in service to one another and to what is often-termed the Biblical image of “the Peaceable Kingdom”.
This week, a different guidance, not directly from Scripture classic devotionals or hymns. Instead, a scene from a James A. Mitchner novel, The Source! It’s the sprawling story of what we broadly call Palestine, the Middle East, Israel, the Holy Land. Included, a tragic story from the Crusades. An Arab/Muslim father and son have repaired to the Castle Keep, that most secure and remote of readouts. The invading Crusaders are clanking and clanging the stairs. Father and son know their end is near and the elder seeks to comfort the younger. The boy will not perish before asking the question of the hour.
“Father, why did it come to this?”
The father answers in a piercing sentence!
“Because it was our destiny to be ruled by stupid men.”*
Kindly translate “stupid” as unwise or perhaps (willfully) unknowing, “men” not necessarily as gender-specific but as power-acquisitive.
Across the 50 years since I first read this, 25 election cycles local to national have brought this scene to mind. Both for its caution… and for its counsel.
First this: it is NOT our DESTINY but our CHOICE that brings us our leaders.
Second: it is our openness to wisdom, not our willfulness in self-interest that saves us. Wisdom here, from the Biblical “Sophia," the knowing that derives from God’s Spirit speaking to our own.
Third: it is ever the next generation that pays the debt its forbears incur. Biblically, “The sins of the fathers [parents] are visited upon the sons [children] unto the third generation.”
THIS WEEK is a sacred time to thank God that we are a people blessed by choice, not driven by blind “destiny”! We choose our leaders, not they their followers. Let us who fast seek to be emptied, or at least diminished, in our appetites principally to serve our own self-interests as we vote. And let us petition God in Christ to remind us in our elective choices that it was the children in his lap to whom Jesus looked and said, “to these… belongs the Kingdom [and the ‘kin-dom’] of God.” We choose… for them.
We FAST, in full or in part (or if we are prayer partners only we pray for those who fast) to open ourselves, clear the clutter, calm the chaos. Bodily stillness for spiritual insight.
We PRAY, aloud or unspoken, private or shared. Prayer mediates between us and mobilizes among us. It emboldens us to consider and act faithfully.
We PETITION God in this season of leader selection, to enable us to align ourselves deeply and closely with the very dreams of God, for all God’s own, everywhere.
These are the spiritual disciplines that guide us, Takin’ Up the Tuesdays, now through Nov. 5th.
We are now within a month of leader selection at every level of governance. Scripture provides sacred purposes for those who lead, and yes, even for us who follow, the meeting-place for us all is in service to one another and to what is often-termed the Biblical image of “the Peaceable Kingdom”.
This week, a different guidance, not directly from Scripture classic devotionals or hymns. Instead, a scene from a James A. Mitchner novel, The Source! It’s the sprawling story of what we broadly call Palestine, the Middle East, Israel, the Holy Land. Included, a tragic story from the Crusades. An Arab/Muslim father and son have repaired to the Castle Keep, that most secure and remote of readouts. The invading Crusaders are clanking and clanging the stairs. Father and son know their end is near and the elder seeks to comfort the younger. The boy will not perish before asking the question of the hour.
“Father, why did it come to this?”
The father answers in a piercing sentence!
“Because it was our destiny to be ruled by stupid men.”*
Kindly translate “stupid” as unwise or perhaps (willfully) unknowing, “men” not necessarily as gender-specific but as power-acquisitive.
Across the 50 years since I first read this, 25 election cycles local to national have brought this scene to mind. Both for its caution… and for its counsel.
First this: it is NOT our DESTINY but our CHOICE that brings us our leaders.
Second: it is our openness to wisdom, not our willfulness in self-interest that saves us. Wisdom here, from the Biblical “Sophia," the knowing that derives from God’s Spirit speaking to our own.
Third: it is ever the next generation that pays the debt its forbears incur. Biblically, “The sins of the fathers [parents] are visited upon the sons [children] unto the third generation.”
THIS WEEK is a sacred time to thank God that we are a people blessed by choice, not driven by blind “destiny”! We choose our leaders, not they their followers. Let us who fast seek to be emptied, or at least diminished, in our appetites principally to serve our own self-interests as we vote. And let us petition God in Christ to remind us in our elective choices that it was the children in his lap to whom Jesus looked and said, “to these… belongs the Kingdom [and the ‘kin-dom’] of God.” We choose… for them.
We use 3 historic spiritual disciplines: FASTING, PRAYER, PETITION for God’s direction.
CLICK HERE FOR AN OUTLINE OF THE PROGRAM WITH ** HELPFUL HINTS **
THIS WEEK… A few Resources.
CLICK HERE FOR AN OUTLINE OF THE PROGRAM WITH ** HELPFUL HINTS **
THIS WEEK… A few Resources.
Can you believe it? Tuesday, October 22. Already? And so it is. Our season of selection has begun. Ballots are already being cast and received locally and across our landscape. But in our “Takin’ Up Tuesday’s” our calling abides, even intensifies as Nov. 5 approaches.
We fast: to help each of us to a holier wisdom than our own as we select leaders, local to national.
We pray. We petition God’s guidance for candidates, ourselves and all who will live with the decisions we make and the directions that follow. We hope, we reach, for spiritual solace in a challenging time. We open ourselves, open all, to new possibilities for grace and for good. Our Souljourn is now in week eight!
SOME WHO READ THIS HAVE BEEN WITH US FROM THE START; OTHERS, JUST BEGUN.
WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST FRIENDS, THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS TO DATE.
We FAST, in full or in part (or if we are prayer partners only we pray for those who fast) to open ourselves, clear the clutter, calm the chaos. Bodily stillness for spiritual insight.
We PRAY, aloud or unspoken, private or shared. Prayer mediates between us, mobilizes among us. It emboldens us to consider and act faithfully.
We PETITION God as we select leaders, to enable us to align ourselves deeply and closely with the dreams of God, for all God’s own, everywhere. These spiritual disciplines guide us.
We lift today two Scriptural passages that can help us sense the hour through which we pass.
Joshua 24:15
“And if you be unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua is saying farewell to his beloved Israel, having been with and helped lead them from bondage to exodus to the land God has promised. Together, they’ve shared an astonishing journey, seen, succumbed to and overcome all manner of hardship, challenge, temptation and, yes, triumph. Joshua gathers them, recounts how God has been with them through it ALL, and in this pivotal moment they have a choice to make. For themselves. For generations yet to come. For faithfulness to the Lord who has fashioned them. …As we fast, pray and petition in a moment of choice… will we review our people’s story? Examine it for the Holy Hand? And Heart?
Luke 19:41-4 And when Jesus drew near and saw Jerusalem he wept over it, saying, “Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes. For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did not know God’s moment when it came.” RSV, Phillips, KMHV
May the suggestion be at once gentle and yet urgent. The entire sweep of Scripture bears witness that God has a stake in human affairs because the earth is God’s creation and all its people are God’s children and in God’s likeness. It also insists we’re “fallen” and prone to sin (NT word, hamartia, meaning “off the mark”, wrongly directed, oft’ headed the wrong way.) So God reveals, offers redemption, presents us in Christ
the choice to repent, turn around, go aright in God’s sight. Thus God invites, urges us… to choose aright.
As a people, neighborhood to nation, choose leaders. (Vote.) From dog catcher (in some places) to district court judge, school board to Senate and House, even to the White House. NONE of these will be our new messiah, savior or even solution to every problem and progress we will place before them. But all of them and all of us are called to choose. To choices. Choices that will shape our lives and others, sometimes to our children’s. As we choose, may our goal be another sacred word. “…What does the Lord require of you?
To do justice, love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8
We fast: to help each of us to a holier wisdom than our own as we select leaders, local to national.
We pray. We petition God’s guidance for candidates, ourselves and all who will live with the decisions we make and the directions that follow. We hope, we reach, for spiritual solace in a challenging time. We open ourselves, open all, to new possibilities for grace and for good. Our Souljourn is now in week eight!
SOME WHO READ THIS HAVE BEEN WITH US FROM THE START; OTHERS, JUST BEGUN.
WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST FRIENDS, THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS TO DATE.
We FAST, in full or in part (or if we are prayer partners only we pray for those who fast) to open ourselves, clear the clutter, calm the chaos. Bodily stillness for spiritual insight.
We PRAY, aloud or unspoken, private or shared. Prayer mediates between us, mobilizes among us. It emboldens us to consider and act faithfully.
We PETITION God as we select leaders, to enable us to align ourselves deeply and closely with the dreams of God, for all God’s own, everywhere. These spiritual disciplines guide us.
We lift today two Scriptural passages that can help us sense the hour through which we pass.
Joshua 24:15
“And if you be unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua is saying farewell to his beloved Israel, having been with and helped lead them from bondage to exodus to the land God has promised. Together, they’ve shared an astonishing journey, seen, succumbed to and overcome all manner of hardship, challenge, temptation and, yes, triumph. Joshua gathers them, recounts how God has been with them through it ALL, and in this pivotal moment they have a choice to make. For themselves. For generations yet to come. For faithfulness to the Lord who has fashioned them. …As we fast, pray and petition in a moment of choice… will we review our people’s story? Examine it for the Holy Hand? And Heart?
Luke 19:41-4 And when Jesus drew near and saw Jerusalem he wept over it, saying, “Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes. For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did not know God’s moment when it came.” RSV, Phillips, KMHV
May the suggestion be at once gentle and yet urgent. The entire sweep of Scripture bears witness that God has a stake in human affairs because the earth is God’s creation and all its people are God’s children and in God’s likeness. It also insists we’re “fallen” and prone to sin (NT word, hamartia, meaning “off the mark”, wrongly directed, oft’ headed the wrong way.) So God reveals, offers redemption, presents us in Christ
the choice to repent, turn around, go aright in God’s sight. Thus God invites, urges us… to choose aright.
As a people, neighborhood to nation, choose leaders. (Vote.) From dog catcher (in some places) to district court judge, school board to Senate and House, even to the White House. NONE of these will be our new messiah, savior or even solution to every problem and progress we will place before them. But all of them and all of us are called to choose. To choices. Choices that will shape our lives and others, sometimes to our children’s. As we choose, may our goal be another sacred word. “…What does the Lord require of you?
To do justice, love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8
We use 3 historic spiritual disciplines: FASTING, PRAYER, PETITION for God’s direction.
CLICK HERE FOR AN OUTLINE OF THE PROGRAM WITH ** HELPFUL HINTS **
THIS WEEK… A few Resources.
CLICK HERE FOR AN OUTLINE OF THE PROGRAM WITH ** HELPFUL HINTS **
THIS WEEK… A few Resources.
O my goodness. We’ve reached the 9th of 10 “Takin’ Up Tuesdays”! The hour of selection is at hand. Our calling comes to pass at November 5th’s arrival. As we’ve said for just over two months…
We fast: to help each of us to a holier wisdom than our own as we select leaders, local to national.
We pray. We petition God’s guidance for candidates, ourselves and all who will live with the decisions we make and the directions that follow. We open ourselves, open all, to new possibilities for grace and for good. Our Souljourn (spiritual journey) is nearing our destination!
SOME WHO READ THIS HAVE BEEN WITH US FROM THE START; OTHERS, JUST BEGUN.
WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST FRIENDS, THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS TO DATE.
We FAST, in full or in part (or if we are prayer partners only we pray for those who fast) to open ourselves, clear the clutter, calm the chaos. Bodily stillness for spiritual insight.
We PRAY, aloud or unspoken, private or shared. Prayer mediates between us, mobilizes among us. It emboldens us to consider and act faithfully.
We PETITION God as we select leaders, to enable us to align ourselves deeply and closely with the dreams of God, for all God’s own, everywhere. These spiritual disciplines guide us.
Only a week now stands before us and that moment when entire communities, even the nation. And today, we may have come to a somewhat unexpected moment. A time to bring together two seemingly contrary lessons from our Lord. On the one hand Jesus says, “Beware of practicing your piety before others to be seen by them; ‘no reward from your Father in heaven for that. …when you give alms (extend yourself, from prayers to generosity), don’t blow your own horn to be praised by others. …Instead, don’t let your left hand know what your right is doing. Let it be in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Mtt. 6: 1-4 sel., Contemporary, KMHV
But then Jesus elsewhere counsels, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. You wouldn’t light a lamp and put it under a bushel basket, but on a light stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before all, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Mtt. 5: 14-16 KMHV
So… for Jesus’ sake, for God’s good pleasure, which is it? What do we do now… in this season of important choices? ‘Especially when so much contradictory information and advertisement, so much contentious conversation seems to surround us. The word “misinformation” masquerades as fact and the presence of untruth pretends to be what is so. Now what? From every persuasion and party, heart and household comes the hope for good guidance and concern for days to come.
How about we reconcile and follow the counsel of Christ? Let us recognize that Christ’s word about discretion, private prayerfulness and service is not to silence us but to sanctify our motives. He is telling us, “Don’t self-promote with God or one another, SERVE both for THEIR sake, not yours.” Next let each of us understand that we are called to be Light to the World. We ought not, dare not, hide our Light. It comes from Christ, but ours to be given away!
Therefore, it serves Christ, indeed all, neighborhood to nation, to SHARE WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED AND BEEN GIVEN BY TWO+ MONTHS OF PRAYER AND FASTING AS WE SELECT NEW LEADERS.
1. Tell somebody, everybody about your souljourn experience.
2. Share what may have surprised you.
3. Let folks know how you are different through this experience and how (if so) your choices for leaders may have changed, or perhaps why/that they did not.
4. Above all, encourage them to “Take it to the Lord,” before they vote and to “Trust in the Lord” when elections are done and new life together begun.
We fast: to help each of us to a holier wisdom than our own as we select leaders, local to national.
We pray. We petition God’s guidance for candidates, ourselves and all who will live with the decisions we make and the directions that follow. We open ourselves, open all, to new possibilities for grace and for good. Our Souljourn (spiritual journey) is nearing our destination!
SOME WHO READ THIS HAVE BEEN WITH US FROM THE START; OTHERS, JUST BEGUN.
WELCOME TO OUR NEWEST FRIENDS, THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS TO DATE.
We FAST, in full or in part (or if we are prayer partners only we pray for those who fast) to open ourselves, clear the clutter, calm the chaos. Bodily stillness for spiritual insight.
We PRAY, aloud or unspoken, private or shared. Prayer mediates between us, mobilizes among us. It emboldens us to consider and act faithfully.
We PETITION God as we select leaders, to enable us to align ourselves deeply and closely with the dreams of God, for all God’s own, everywhere. These spiritual disciplines guide us.
Only a week now stands before us and that moment when entire communities, even the nation. And today, we may have come to a somewhat unexpected moment. A time to bring together two seemingly contrary lessons from our Lord. On the one hand Jesus says, “Beware of practicing your piety before others to be seen by them; ‘no reward from your Father in heaven for that. …when you give alms (extend yourself, from prayers to generosity), don’t blow your own horn to be praised by others. …Instead, don’t let your left hand know what your right is doing. Let it be in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Mtt. 6: 1-4 sel., Contemporary, KMHV
But then Jesus elsewhere counsels, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. You wouldn’t light a lamp and put it under a bushel basket, but on a light stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before all, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Mtt. 5: 14-16 KMHV
So… for Jesus’ sake, for God’s good pleasure, which is it? What do we do now… in this season of important choices? ‘Especially when so much contradictory information and advertisement, so much contentious conversation seems to surround us. The word “misinformation” masquerades as fact and the presence of untruth pretends to be what is so. Now what? From every persuasion and party, heart and household comes the hope for good guidance and concern for days to come.
How about we reconcile and follow the counsel of Christ? Let us recognize that Christ’s word about discretion, private prayerfulness and service is not to silence us but to sanctify our motives. He is telling us, “Don’t self-promote with God or one another, SERVE both for THEIR sake, not yours.” Next let each of us understand that we are called to be Light to the World. We ought not, dare not, hide our Light. It comes from Christ, but ours to be given away!
Therefore, it serves Christ, indeed all, neighborhood to nation, to SHARE WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED AND BEEN GIVEN BY TWO+ MONTHS OF PRAYER AND FASTING AS WE SELECT NEW LEADERS.
1. Tell somebody, everybody about your souljourn experience.
2. Share what may have surprised you.
3. Let folks know how you are different through this experience and how (if so) your choices for leaders may have changed, or perhaps why/that they did not.
4. Above all, encourage them to “Take it to the Lord,” before they vote and to “Trust in the Lord” when elections are done and new life together begun.
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We use 3 historic spiritual disciplines: FASTING, PRAYER, PETITION for God’s direction.
CLICK HERE FOR AN OUTLINE OF THE PROGRAM WITH ** HELPFUL HINTS ** THIS WEEK… A few Resources. |
In the Presence of LIGHT…Souljourn 2024
LIGHT… governs us. It’s presence. It’s absence. It’s as obvious as when we feel like “getting up” or “going to sleep.” For us Believers, more deeply, it’s a spiritual thing. It’s the experience of God’s presence, the power and empowerment of God’s guidance. It pervades all, everything. No exceptions. …Especially for all who’ve shared in ten weeks of fasting, prayer and petition!
We have arrived at the need for shared Light in our local to national life. We call it Election Day. We can no more carve out our need for Light on that day than we can for any other. There is nothing partisan here! No blue or red, red or blue. Light, at least pure light, is the presence of all color and the absence of any perceived coloration. In these present days of partisanship, hypersensitivity, distemper, dissatisfaction and distress, division and not a little despair… we need Light. In the religious sense. The spiritual presence. There’s Hope here. Real Not pretense, prejudice, prevarication.
I give you two lines about Light, taken from our shared history and our ancient faith. "I do not despair of this country. The fiat of the Almighty - "Let there be light" –has not yet been spent." (Frederick Douglas)
This said in the moment of our greatest peril, the 1860s.
Then too, this line,"God has more light yet to break forth from His Holy Word." These words spoken on the dock at Leyden, Holland, 1620. ‘By pastor to the pilgrims, John Robinson. ‘Before their voyage of return to England, before their boarding the Speedwell and the Mayflower; before the Speedwell took on water and had to return to port; before the transfer of all passengers to the Mayflower. ‘Before that little ship passed through a great and stormy sea to an unexpected shore. ‘Before that shore became the near edge of a far-flung continental nation and an unimagined experiment in self-determination. "God has more light yet to break forth from His Holy Word."
THIS said to us, for us, before we were conceived, much less born.
LIGHT, said to us, for us, even in the moment of our greatest peril.
It is our privilege, and perhaps our first duty, to believe in the Light.
As Believers. From Genesis to Jesus.
Also as citizens of the shared community of our land.
Also as voters.
Before “issues”, before parties; before platforms; before candidates, slogans or lawn signs, or arguments with family members at holiday tables. First, LIGHT. Promised, proclaimed, perceived. Nowhere here will you see a syllable regarding your preferences of persons for positions. But I hope you will grasp that as best you understand, experience and perceive it, you will choose in favor of Light. Pray for it. Demonstrate it. Vote for it. ‘Offer it everywhere to everyone, regardless of the election’s outcome.
I close with a specific exercise we can all share. During the 7 Days, 3 before, the day of and the 3 days after November 5th, I urge you, PRAY FOR LIGHT, GOD’S LIGHT, in our communities, across our country, and throughout the period of election returns and responses. From our knees, let’s call all to prayers for 1) wisdom before we vote, 2) courage while we vote and 3) unity after we vote. Put a candle (real or electric) in your front window to let folks know what you’re up to! Invite others to do the same, from their knees to their windowsills.
Wouldn’t this be SOMETHING, something indeed. The fiat of the Almighty affirmed.
The promise felt in our midst. Rev. Ken
