M.C. Wright

Can You Drink The Cup

Every Wednesday evening at 6:30 we have a worship experience time called FUEL. What I love about this opportunity is the ability to get a mid-week refocus and mid-course correction so to speak. The experiences vary, but all of them have a tangible aspect to move beyond simply singing.

This week the theme was "Can You Drink The Cup" , we began with the following Scripture to set tone:

Luke 22:24-27 (CEV)
The apostles got into an argument about which one of them was the greatest. So Jesus told them: “Foreign kings order their people around, and powerful rulers call themselves everyone's friends. But don't be like them. The most important one of you should be like the least important, and your leader should be like a servant. Who do people think is the greatest, a person who is served or one who serves? Isn't it the one who is served? But I have been with you as a servant.”

After that, there was a table set for communion with a variety of different cups. Everyone was invited to come forward when they were ready to look at the cups, feel the cups, and then take one of the available sheets of paper, and go back and write which cup most caught their attention, and to note how and why they identified with that particular cup.

Below are some of the comments that people wrote about the cups they chose and why they most identified with each particular one.

Small Clay Cup

“I picked this one because of the quirky character on it. I have always felt a little out of step and I added the crack (to my drawing) …” – Randy

“The rustic mug because we have this treasure in vessels of clay and I just learned last week that it is okay if we’re cracked and leak a little and water the flowers on our way through life.” – Rob

“You are the potter, I am the clay – use me however you wish.

Pottery – intimately made, filled with imperfections, fragile even though made for honorable purposes.

(The cup was made in) Argentina – I have been there and back – a little tired, a little worn, but it’s still in one piece.” – Stacey

“Christ was a servant, earthy while here.
-    Multicolored
-    Crude/rough, yet smooth in spots
-    Needs a handle, it might break without it
-    Nothing fancy/plain
-    Not very deep
Creative, character, lower class – earthy, servant-like” – anonymous

Blue Plastic Cup

“I can’t put it into words, but I’m drawn to the blue plastic cup. Perhaps it’s because I am surrounded by children. This cup is perfectly good. It’s not fancy or fine, but it serves its purpose happily. It doesn’t
need to be bigger or better. It can be dropped and you can
pick it right back up and fill it again and again and again.” – Wendy

“Blue cup…
-    Doesn’t stand out to others
-    Can’t see through
-    Not the first choice
-    “Everyone friendly”
-    Tumble, but not break
-    Simple, safe” – Jaime

Styrofoam Cup

“You are not a disposable object to me. My love for your overflows.” – Bobby V

“I immediately went for the Styrofoam cup – it has no value, it is easily disposable – it’s trash. That’s how I feel most of the time but I was drawn to the goblet – so fragile and beautiful – God wants me to be beautiful and transparent like that – I want to be that too – I’m just afraid I might shatter first.” – T

“Styrofoam cup because it is disposable, so when my life is over I hope I have been a blessing to others.” – Tom

Espresso Cup & Saucer

“I chose the espresso cup because it was meant to hold hot drinks, there for the warmth of love dwells in it.

* It’s small, but it’s strong.
*The white stands for purity, but it’s banded in burgundy, therefore it’s banded in love, covered by the blood of Christ
* The saucer represents that the cup is surrounded and held and meant to be served to others.” – Tanya

“It is little and strong, stout and secure in Christ’s love with a secure saucer to catch the spills from being shaken.  Like He catches us when we are shaken.” – Kim

“     -    Small, but solid
-    Holds powerful espresso but wants to be bigger
-    Functional provider
-    Saucer to provide some foundation support
-    Non-obtrusive, but a little flash
-    Solid, can be reliable
-    Bold”   - Wendy

“     -    It’s made for serving
-    Small, because I have a problem with excess
-    Coffee cup, because I like coffee
-    Saucer, because I’m sloppy and it catches my mistakes” - Steve

Those are some of the great responses and meditations from FUEL last week. Perhaps you can look at the different cups and ask yourself the same question...which coup would you choose? What does the cup speak to you. Perhaps you could draw aside some time, grab some bread and wine and allow the living Christ to flood you with some much needed truth. As you think about the cup and all Christ has done for you, let His incredible love break out of the droning information of the day until you hear Him remind you that you are incredible, and that your very life brings a smile to the face of God.

I'll leave you with a lenten meditation from Henry Nouwen that we used at FUEL.

“Emptiness and fullness at first seem to be complete opposites. But in the spiritual life they are not. In the spiritual life we find the fulfillment of our deepest desires by becoming empty for God.
We must empty the cups of our lives completely to be able to receive the fullness of life from God. Jesus lived this on the Cross. The moment of complete emptiness and complete fullness became the same. When he had given all away to his Abba, his dear Father, he cried out, “It is fulfilled.” He who was lifted up on the cross was also lifted into the resurrection. He who had emptied and humbled Himself was raised up and “given the name above all other names.” Let us keep listening to Jesus’ question: “Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?”  – Henri J.M. Nouwen (Bread for the Journey)

May Christ in you be the point!

Dei Gratia,
Monty

Majesty-1

The word to meditate on and pray over for February is "MAJESTY." As you begin, watch and listen to Delirious. The song is titled "Majesty."  I will post some devotional thoughts in the next blog entry..

Here are the lyrics to start your journey:

Dei Gratia

Monty

Majesty (Here I Am)

Here I am humbled by your Majesty
Covered by your grace so free
Here I am, knowing I'm a sinful man
Covered by the blood of the Lamb

Now I've found the greatest love of all is mine
Since you laid down your life
The greatest sacrifice

Majesty, Majesty
Your grace has found me just as I am
Empty handed, but alive in your hands
Majesty, Majesty
Forever I am changed by your love
In the presence of your Majesty

Here I am humbled by the love that you give
Forgiven so that I can forgive
Here I stand, knowing that I'm your desire
Sanctified by glory and fire

Now I've found the greatest love of all is mine
Since you laid down your life
The greatest sacrifice

Written by Stu Garrard/Martin Smith ©2003 Curious? Music UK

The Dark Night of Mordor

It was a sinister feeling, foreboding, eerie, like the clenched throat and stomach you had when you were awash in your first scary campfire story. The tension was mounting about some story of a severed hand which was never found. That tidbit of information was beautifully wound into the factional account that the very place where the flames of the fire leapt into the oblivion of the night just happened to be the last place the severed hand was spotted before it used it's bloody digits to crawl off into the darkness of the night. Then..."Shazam!" a hand appears from nowhere and screams engulf the night sky!

That was the feeling that settled over me like a mist when I saw Sam, Bilbo and Smeagle at the Gates of Mordor in Lord of the Rings. The journey to Mordor was hard enough, but now a new courage was required of our reluctant heros.

The Dark Lord Sauron’s massive eye was ablaze atop the tower looking…searching…hungry. My first thought was, “man, don’t go in there, that’s nuts!” But in “there” beyond the great gate into the desolate plains of Mordor was the point of the quest, the conclusion, or at least, the next destination.

I have often felt that my soul is a very real depiction of the phantasmal Middle earth. The journey to the center of the soul, to deal with realm of Mordor, to dethrone the Dark Lord of myself who rules with an eye always wary, always watching, protective of what might be lost or exposed.

Truth be told, I think we long to dethrone the powers that rule the Mordor of our souls…we journey towards a God-centric life. We have adventures along the way that seem dangerous, risky, and life giving. There is change in the journey, and the goal of allowing Christ to destroy all the darkness within us through His light and truth propel us when we are tired, angry, lost and unsure.

But then we stand gazing at the massive gates that lead to Mordor. We cast our eyes out across the desolate and seemingly endless desert that stretches depressingly towards that burning eye in the center.

Our feet tremble a bit and then stop. “Do I really want to go there?” “Am I really ready for this last push?” “Is this really necessary, doesn’t God love me the way I am?” The civil war begins inside as the eye searches out our weakness.

All of the other roads we had traveled, though hard, were familiar. I could use the tools I had to survive, improvise, astound and move forward. Yet here, in this place, each trail was unknown, every hill seemingly insurmountable. None of the tools in my kit worked…this is a new desert, a very different desert unlike any land I had ever seen.

Darkness covered everything removing my courage the way an extinguished candle’s smoke races towards an opening. Where am I? Who am I?

St. John of the Cross calls this “The Dark Night of the Soul.” When we come into full contact with who we are, the same way Isaiah did when he was in the throne room of the Almighty. When he got a glimpse of the holy, he saw how unholy he was, he saw how powerfully the Dark Lord Sauron of Self ruled his interior.

The Dark night comes upon you when you have been on a journey, a purposeful journey, of knowing God. Not just doing the religious thing, the church thing, or the right thing, but doing the surrender thing.

When we truly engage the journey of following Jesus we will end up standing before many gates that lead to a place that Jesus longs to cleanse, free, and rule in the Middle earth of our souls. Each new gate, and each new dark night has its own level of foreboding attached to it. Each new dark night opens the gate to a new desert you have never traveled and the tools that got you through the last desert may not be effective in the new one.

Yet one thing remains the same…surrender…trust…light…not trust in some generic god that is here one day and gone the next. Not a weak hope that things will turn out okay in the end…Not a self manufactured light that is unable to shine into the darkest of places. Not a surrender that can easily be negotiated out of when the road is hard.

No, it takes the living Christ, illuminating a path that seems impossible to you in a land that is foreign to you on a journey that seems avoidable. Trusting that no matter how dark it gets on your journey, no matter how bad you look, how battered your body, in your heart you know God will never reject or abandon you. On this journey we surrender our plans and routes regardless of outcome, knowing God is with us.

Most turn around at the gate and never experience the journey to dethrone the king of self that rules over Mordor…and the same never experience the depths of love and light that come from facing those deep fears and going forward in the power, strength and person of Jesus Christ.

There is a reason your old skills and tools don’t seem to help much in this new land. If they did, you would not need Jesus, and until we fully grasp that apart from Christ I can do nothing, the Dark Lord of Self will always remain.

He is okay with some small victories here and there, but to loose the kingdom is where the battle truly kicks up. This happens when we burst through the gates intent on moving forward…dealing honestly with what we see in the recesses of our heart.

The only way we can ever get here, to face what comes out of the darkness, is to hold tightly to Christ, clinging to Him as if he were holding onto us as we dangled over an endless ravine.

If you find yourself at the gates sometime soon…go for it, you will never be the same!

Remember the brightest light comes after the darkest night. God is not done with you yet, let Him move you to the deeper life found only in Him, and when Mordor falls…you’ll be ready for the next adventure!

Dei Gratia
MC

Right Brain Left Brain Portal

Transport over to my after thoughts page to work on your right/left brain default!

www.mcwright.blogs.com/afterthoughts

Chronos...ravaging time

This morning as we looked at "Pause" as an ingredient needed to restore divine wonder in our lives, we talked about Chronos and Kairos...for a look at the painting by Goya and some after thoughts follow the link to my after thoughts page

click here

Dei Gratia
MC

Wonder

Do you remember when it happened? When you realized you were not little anymore. The mysteries were slowly being solved, and wonder began to dissipate like steam from a kettle.

As wonder diminishes, responsibility increased and the mysterious form of wonder turned into the be-puzzled type of wonder.

When wonder starts it's exodus from our souls, it leaves behind an empty space that we instantly begin addressing with items created to entice and products that come with a promise larger than the cosmos to fulfill every need, desire or want.

But they don't and we are left with a bunch of wonder-less stuff that really doesn't matter in the meta scheme of life.

Have you noticed that we even lose a sense of the Divine wonder we once had. In the book of Revelation Jesus deals with their loss of wonder. He says,

"I have this against you, you have abandoned the love you had at first." Rev. 2:4

The people were doing many of the right "religious" things. In fact Jesus said to them,

"I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary." Rev. 2:2-3

Isn't that wild. It sounds like they really have their doctrine down. It seems like they are testing people's teaching to make sure that it is good and true. They are even enduring hard circumstances for the name of Christ...come on, honestly, don't they sound stronger in their faith than you or I?

Yet Jesus was going to remove His incredible blessing from their midst because their hearts were cold. They had lost the wonder that comes with fresh and new love, unspoilt by time, definition and circumstances.

Two thoughts immediately hit my brain. First, it seems that all the Bible knowledge in the world, even if it is right, doesn't guarantee a relationship with God that is alive and relational. There is a knowing deeper than knowledge about God, it is to be in relationship with Him, to know and to be known by Christ. This is a transformational knowing. This knowing can grow cold and wonder-less if we don't pay attention, and keep doing the things that breathe life, mystery, love and knowing into the relationship, be it with God or others.

The other thought was one of grace. I am thankful for grace. Grace to me is the key ingredient of wonder. Grace allows me to come back to God when my heart has grown cold, and wonder has slowly been leeching out of my soul. Grace levels the playing field again, reminding me God longs to be in a wonder-filled relationship with us, and nothing can separate me from the love found in Christ.

When I understand grace, wonder is all around me. But that grace is not only about the grace given to me by God, but what truly keeps my mind focused on Christ is when I extend that grace to others. That is amazing, that is a wonder.

Perhaps the church at Ephesus (the one addressed in Revelation 2:1-7) that had lost a sense of wonder, lost it because their focus was diverted from experiencing and extending the incredible grace of God to others, and instead got focused on scrutinizing the letter of the law. Life, freedom and wonder are found in living and extending to others the Spirit of the law.

Paul tells us that a life focused on the letter of the law brings death, but a life surrendered to the Spirit brings life!

May you experience light, grace, life and wonder this Advent season,

Dei Gratia
MC

December 20/20 Challenge!

It has been a year of 20/20 challenges!T hanks for taking this journey with me, I hope they have stretched you and challenged you in so many ways! If you have spending the 20 minutes of God-talk, God-time each day, then I know there has be3en a morph in your soul, and the second half of the 20/20 challenge has hopefully stretched you in the missional realm!

As we come to the end of the year, I would like to challenge you with the first 20/20 challenge, which was to perform 20 acts of random kindness in December...

Believe me, you'll find plenty of opportunity to stretch into the kingdom of grace during the December shopping season...and you know what,y you'll feel good as you break the mold and become other-worldly through kindness, grace, and a life filled with wonder!

MC

30 Day New Testament Reading Adventure!

As promised I have a chart for us to take the 30 days of November and read through the entire New Testament together! This is going to be an exciting time to journey through the New Testament and allow it to infuse us all with faith!

the Bible tells us that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, and in Hebrews 11 we learn that without faith it is impossible to please God! That means that if we want to live a life that pleases God we need to live a life of faith...if we want to live a life of faith, we need to live a life that is infused with the Word of God.

As you read this month, allow God to work in your heart, and pray that you would experience His reality in your life like you never have before...and may your faith IGNITE!

click here

Download nt_reading_chart.pdf

for your 30 day reading chart

Illuminate Deo,
Pastor Monty

Burma In The News

Burma continues find itself in the world's eyes...Keep praying for our friends at "Free Burma Rangers" There fight continues and they need our prayers and support.  The BBC had this to report today:
Pastor Monty

 

Burma army 'recruiting children'  

The Burmese army is forcibly recruiting children to cover gaps left by a lack of adult recruits, says a report by a US-based human rights organization.                   

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says children as young as 10 are beaten or threatened with arrest to make them enlist. Burma has previously said it is working towards preventing the recruitment of children by the military. HRW has urged the UN Security Council to do more to punish Burma over its alleged use of child soldiers.                              

False documents                                   

The report, entitled "Sold to be Soldiers: The Recruitment and Use of Child Soldiers in Burma" says there are thousands of children in the Burmese military.

It claims that children are approached in public places by military recruiters and civilian brokers who have been promised cash rewards by the military.

"The government's senior generals tolerate the blatant recruitment of children and fail to punish perpetrators."  Jo Becker, HRW

The children are often beaten or threatened with arrest to force them to enlist, the report says. 

It is claimed that recruiting officers routinely falsify enlistment documents to register children as being 18, the legal minimum age for recruitment.

One child quoted in the report says he was forced to lie about his age when he was recruited for a second time. "When I said I was 16, I was slapped and he said, 'You are 18, answer 18.' "I just wanted to go back and home and I told them, but they refused."                   

'Blatant recruitment'                                      

The child recruits are deployed to battalions after an average of 18 weeks training, the report says.          

They are often reportedly sent into combat immediately, or forced to take part in activities, such as burning villages, which can be classified as human rights abuses.

Jo Becker, children's rights advocate for HRW, said Burma is "literally buying and selling children" to fill the ranks.                 

"The government's senior generals tolerate the blatant recruitment of children and fail to punish perpetrators," she said.                   

                   "In this environment, army recruiters traffic children at will."                   

Ms Becker said that the recent military crackdown had put off many of those potential recruits who were not already deterred by poor conditions and low pay.

"After deploying its soldiers against Buddhist monks and other peaceful demonstrators, the government may find it even harder to find willing volunteers," she said.

The Burmese ruling junta says it has formed a high-level committee to address the issue of child soldiers.                   

However, Ms Becker described the committee as "a sham", saying the government must address the issue head-on and demobilize all children.

International pressure                                     

There remains widespread international concern about human rights in Burma. Thousands of people are thought to have been detained following September's military crackdown.                   

The UN Security Council is due to meet soon to discuss the use of child soldiers in Burma. HRW has accused the Security Council of not taking any action to address the issue, despite stating repeatedly that it would consider targeted sanctions.

The group has urged the UN to impose travel restrictions and arms embargos if the situation does not improve.              

 

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/7069920.stm

Published: 2007/10/31 00:21:25 GMT

© BBC MMVII

20/20 Challenge October

  20/20 Challenge for October

The first half of the 20/20 Challenge remains the same; Spend 20 minutes of God-talk/God-time every day. This is so important. To begin seeing your spiritual, physical, and emotional life experience alignment with God, it takes a commitment to engage God's presence. So take 10 minutes at the start of your day to align your heart with God's... to let Him know you are available for whatever He impresses upon your heart during the day. Read the verse of the day on my blog, and ask God to begin showing you who He really is through the Scriptures you read. Then ask Him to impress upon you the who, what, where, when and why of the second prong of the 20/20 challenge.

This month as we pump-up our faith in the God's Gym series, lets turn our attention for the second half of the 20/20 challenge towards building our faith. Dedicate 20 minutes of your month to taking a faith-infused prayer walk around the church facility (or your place of worship if you don’t go to SVA).  As you walk, here are some things you can pray about:

Pray for growth, unity, love, stewardship, clear communication,
Pray for faith, and forgiveness to grow within your church body. 
Pray against division, personal agendas, misunderstandings, and hurt feelings.
Pray for your pastors, church staff, ministries, ministry leaders, volunteers,
Pray for the marriages, families and individuals represented within your church. 
Pray for giving to grow within your church - for individual's finances to more toward financial health and for individual's hearts to be open to giving back to God out of the provisions He give each of us.  Pray for God to reveal to you ways that you might join-in on what He is already doing at your church.  Thank God for what He is doing (and will do) in and through you and your church body.

Now you need to SOUND OFF and tell me what God is revealing to you through this faith focused journey; I love to hear your stories! Just click the comment link!

Illuminate Deo,
Pastor Monty

Phil. 1:6