Week 8 - Blessed are those who are persecuted

"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"

Matthew 5:10

Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers.  Francis Chan

1)  www.opendoorsusa.org has a World Watch List that continually reports which countries suffer the greatest persecution for their religious beliefs.  Download the list and pray for a different area each night.

2)  The Voice of the Martyrs is a nonprofit group that strives to make the world aware of the persecution  Christians suffer.  Go to their site at be-a-voice.net.  Become a part of Be-A-Voice network, then find the profile of a persecuted Christian and make a commitment to write to an pray for this person.

3)  Chances are, you sit with the same people at church or at work.  Try to switch it up this week and get out of the normal routine - sit in a different pew or invite someone different to lunch.  Get to know them, learn their story, show mercy.

4)  Go to christianfreedom.org and search under United States, Mexico, or UK to inform yourself about persecution near you.

5)  Visit persecutedchurch.org and order a free IDOP (International Day of Prayer) kit.  Use it to make your church or youth group aware of the needs of persecuted Christians around the world.

KE Week 7 - Blessed are the peacemakers

Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be call the sons of God (Matthew 5:9)

If peace is more than just the absence of conflict, what can we do to be active peacemakers?

1) Pick one or two people who have won the Nobel Peace Prize and reflect on the way(s) they used their gifts to improve our lives.  How can you create peace with your talents?

2)  The scriptures say its a good idea to "be quick to listen and slow to speak" (James 1:19).  This week hold your tongue in arguments, even when you think you are in the right.  Once you have listened, calmed down, and prayed about your response, then speak your mind.  Be in active peacemaker in a conflict.

3)  Give a friend a hug.  In fact, give a few.  Hugs are free.

4)  Todd Parr (a children's author) wrote The Peace Book, a book about the different ways peace can be made in our world. Buy a copy or check one out at the library and keep it with you.

5)  Chaos is a word that most people add to their vocabulary after having children.  Children aren't the most peaceful of all beings.  Volunteer to watch someone else's children this week or volunteer in your children's ministry this Sunday and give the regular volunteer a chance to hear the sermon.

6)  Consider people in your town who play an active role in peacemaking: police, teachers, civil servants, pastors.  Write them a letter of affirmation, make a donation, or prepare something special to show your appreciation.

KE Week 6 - Blessed are the pure in heart

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.   Matthew 5:8

"He that but looketh on a plate of ham and eggs to lust after it hath already committed breakfast with it in his heart."  - C.S. Lewis

Jewish laws stated many specifics about outward cleanliness but avoided specifics about cleanliness of the heart.   Are we simply following rules or are our actions guided by a pure heart.

1) Unplug from all media activity for a week as a means to simplify your life.  Instead of watching TV or surfing the internet, spend some time outside.  Seek God and listen.

2)  Visit your church when nobody is there. Pray in silence for the people of your community.  Pray for others' struggles and addictions as well as your own.  Light a candle to symbolize each person you raised up in prayer.

3)  Sign up for the accountability program at xxxchurch.com.  It doesn't matter if you have ever struggled with an internet addiction or not.  This is a safeguard against future temptation.  xxxchurch will help keep you accountable to having a pure heart when on the computer.

4)  Carve out space every morning to memorize Ps. 139:23-24.  Pray the verses for a week, asking God to reveal those area of your life that act as a block in your relationship with him.

5)  If you don't already have an accountability partner, seek out a trusted friend and set up times to meet regularly.  Use these times to share joys, struggles, temptations, and everyday life.  One of the main reasons God created the body of Christ was so we could encourage and support one another through this faith journey.

6)  Purity doesn't stop at the physical boundaries we set for ourselves.  It also involves how we treat our bodies and the earth around us.  You may love your bag of Cheetos, but for one week eat fresh foods.  Refill a reusable water bottle instead of wasting plastic disposable bottles.  See how purity comes in all shapes and sizes.

7) Take a candle to the people you prayed for this week.  Include a note explaining that you lifted them up in prayer.

KE Week 5 - Blessed are the merciful

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.  (Matthew 5:7)

Jesus says we will be blessed if we are merciful.  But being merciful isn't always easy, especially with people who don't deserve it.  I think this week will be the hardest yet for me.  

1) We all know a moocher or someone who owes us.  Forgive their debt, big or small, and forget about it.  

2)  Think about some pet peeves you have based on what others do.  Recognize that you have your own behaviors that drive others crazy.  Because of this, make room for others' quirks by refusing to whine about them.

3)  We've all had waiters or waitresses who forgot our drinks or messed up our order.  Maybe he or she was having a bad day.  Use some of your money to give a bad restaurant server a good tip this week just because you know that mercy is a good thing.

4)  Collect some money and give it to someone to pay their traffic fine.  Christ paid a price for us that we didn't deserve.  Practice this and be grateful.

5)  It's easy to be skeptical of beggars on the street.  Don't think about how they became homeless.  Show mercy by going to a local homeless outreach that feeds those who are hungry.  Smile and look for the stories behind the eyes.

6)  Hurry often short-circuits our ability to be patient.  Lack of patience then leads to a lack of compassion when others force us to slow down.  This week practice do some spiritual training in patience - drive to and from work, or wherever, without passing anyone.

7)  Completely unaware of other people's feelings.  Dominates conversation.  Throws you under the bus.  Can never admit to being wrong.  We all have friends who have tried our patience or has betrayed our trust.  Rise above the frustration. Be the friend you wish he or she could be and don't hold a grudge if that person doesn't seem to change.

KE Week 4 (Holiday Edition) - Blessed are those who hunger and thirst.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.  Matthew 5:6

Do not depend on the hope of results.  You may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps opposite to what you expect.  As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results, but on the value, the rightness, the truth of the work itself.  - Thomas Merton

The purpose of this week's experiment is to help us focus on the meaning of righteousness, translated to mean 'divine justice'.

1) In order to go after righteousness, some have found it necessary to remove themselves from the mainstream.  Jesus even drew back and isolated himself as a way to gather strength.  Take several hours away from your busy life.  Go to the park, a bench, the church altar, etc and limit the outside distractions like your cell phone.

2) Commit to reading three chapters of the bible this week.  Read them expecting to hear something being taugt from God.

3) Take notes on your pastors sermon.  Even better, try to make what you learned a part of life.

4) Take time to learn what issues are facing your local community council or parent teacher association.

5) Righteousness is being desperate for God and depending on him.  What are some things that you choose to depend on rather than God?  Make a list of those things and ask God for strength and wisdom to depend on Him instead of these things.

6) go to chainstorereaction.com and send an email to one of the stores asking them to do their part to end slavery.

7) When you choose to draw near to God and to hunger and thirst for righteousness, there is a price. That price is a longing to make things right.  Make something right this week.  Ask a friend for forgiveness, get over a grudge - whatever it is, make it right. 

KE Week 3 - Blessed are the meek

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth - Matthew 5:5

In a society constantly in pursuit of success, does meekness get in the way of succeeding?  Can a person be driven and meek at the same time?  Think of some examples of meek people who have been very successful.

This week's experiments:

1) This week, when you want to raise your voice, work to be gentle and soft-spoken instead.

2) Odds are you were pain in the neck of your grade school teachers.  But some of those teachers probably still stand out in your mind as being outstanding.  Write a letter to one, thanking him or her for being significant in your life.

3) Most churches have a maintenance or cleaning person.  This is an important and often overlooked ministry.  Make some cookies, bring a snack, or write a card to show your appreciation for what they do when nobody else is looking.

4)  Wait until they are gone and mow your neighbor's yard.  Don't let them know it was you.

5)  Choose the least likely person to be on your team.  If you have a dodgeball game or kickball game allow a gentle spirit to help you reach out to those who are often overlooked.

6)  Using your social network of choice, publicly praise someone else at least once a day.   Better yet, praise someone toward whom you feel competitive or jealous.

7)  What is your gift?  Are you a guitarist? Do you play piano?  Really good at math?  Whatever it is, offer your talents to help someone else - with no strings attached.

KE Week 2 - Blessed are those who mourn

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted (Matthew 5:4)

God promises to comfort those who mourn, no matter what we are mourning.  Maybe you mourn for a friend far from God, or maybe your mourn because of sin in your heart.  Maybe you mourn because you feel the weight of someone else's pain and suffering.  Take this week to think how God has shown comfort to you or someone you know.

Again, pick one and leave a comment about the experience.

1)  Watch the video "99 balloons" on youtube.com.  Consider how a child's short 99 days of life drew a community together in mourning.  Think about how the kingdom of God came to the parents, friends, and family.  Share the burden of mourning by getting helium-filled balloon and letting it go for those who are mourning.  If you are mourning, let it go as a symbol of the promise that God will comfort you.

2)  Go to tinyurl.com/cxljo8.  View the University of Heidelberg's Global Conflict Panorama.  Choose one of those areas to learn more about.  Pray for those who are mourning in that situation.

3)  Provide comfort to those who serve in the armed forces by sending a letter, package, or card.  

Go to: any soldier.com/wheretosend and follow the instructions under "what to send" and "how to send".

4)  Attend a hospital visitation with your pastor or youth pastor.

5)  Handwrite a letter to someone in your life who is struggling with a hopeless or depressing situation. Text them a prayer or give them a phone call this week.  Listen to their story and do your best to comfort them. Try to keep in mind that God will be doing a lot of comforting through you; it's by Christ that you can do all things.

6)  Ask three people what sins they think are most prevalent in our nation's population.  Then spend your quiet time this week allowing God to break your heart for those sins. 

KE Week 1 - Blessed are the poor in spirit

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven - Matthew 5:3

I want you to be concerned about your next door neighbors.  Do you know your next door neighbor? 
   - Mother Teresa

The experiments for this week:
(the study suggests each person within the group picking one and sharing about the experience):
     
1) Fast from food for a period of time as a way of making yourself aware of its physical and
emotional ownership over you.  Think about how important food is to us; then reflect on
Christ's suggestion that life is more important than food.

2) Skip a meal and use the money to go grocery shopping; then donate everything to the local food
pantry.  Try to buy things you would like, not just the cheapest stuff on the shelf.

3) Try being generous this week.  Instead of spending extra cash on new clothes or music, spend it
on a friend who doesn't have as much as you.

4) Sleep on the floor for a week.  Think about how life might be different if you didn't have a
comfy home.  Remember, with less of you, there is more room for God

5) Go to alexslemonade.com and give a donation to help fund cancer research for dying children.
Those who are sick often see God's kingdom much differently than we do.

6) Minimize your use of electricity - books instead of TV, line dry instead of tumble dry,
candlelight instead of 100 watts.  Consider donating to your electric company's poverty account.

7) Find something you feel that you can not live without and give it away.  Practice what it means  
to be dependent on God.

The instructions are to pick one but I am feeling extra ambitious and will go with numbers 2 and 6 (I just turned the lights off in my office).  I will post an update later in the week.

The Kingdom Experiment

The Kingdom Experiment was published in 2009 with a follow-up youth edition in 2010.  I stumbled across it while looking for some lesson planning material for the youth group here at FUMC.  The cover was trendy and it was on sale so I picked it up.

The format is for a small group to take part in an 8 week study on the Beatitudes.  Each week provides a couple of discussion topics but also challenges each person to take on an experiment in living out the week's topic.  For instance, The topic: blessed are the poor - one of the experiments is to skip a meal and use the money saved to contribute to the area food pantry or sleeping on the floor for a week as a lesson in what it is like to not have certain comforts.

I have developed a plan (the follow through is yet to be seen) to go through the book as my devotional time for the next 8 weeks or so and journal my progress on my blog.  Life happens so I may adjust this plan according to school, travels, etc.  I also invite others to follow along with me through this journey and share their own experiences along the way.

For the sake of simplicity, Oct 22nd will be the start date and I will start a new chapter each monday.

christmas tree lights

I've been trying to work on my attitude lately.  How do I interact with people?  Is the cup half full or half empty?  Attitudes are contagious, Is my attitude creating positivity or negativity in the world?  One of my favorite scriptures has been  James 1:19-20 "...let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God's righteousness."  It's good because it has forced me to look closely at my actions.  For example:

• how do I talk my waiter/waitress when service is slow
• listening to someone's story when I am already running late
• figuring out patience when a 4 year old is acting like a 4 year old
• conversations about the dreaded topic of politics
• I often complain about writing assignments but shouldn't I be thankful for that opportunity?

You get the point, the list could go on and on.  I will end with an appropriate quote because most of the things on the list have probably made me remember James 1:19 at some point.

"You can tell a lot about a person by the way they handle a rainy day, the elderly, lost luggage and tangled christmas tree lights." - unknown source

A few of my recent creations...

Five Things to Do to Make the World a Better Place

Five Things to Do to Make the World a Better Place by Gary Peluso-Verdend

1. Take a moment - respond rather than react
2. Treat yourself and everyone you meet as the Image of God that you are and that they are.
3. Learn to accept forgiveness and to offer forgiveness.
4. In a world drowning in data, learn what is saving knowledge and pay attention there.
5. Practice hospitality as Henri Nouwen defined it: Make a space in your life for others who are not like you without requiring that they become like you.


I wish I could take credit for this list but I am just not that insightful.  The list and other information about Peluso-Verdend can be found on page 196 of Banned Questions of the Bible.  That doesn't mean that I don't have an opinion about it though.

Think parenting on this one.  Parents are hesitant about teaching this lesson because they fear other people with be a greater influence than they are.  It's a valid fear because there is a lot of bad stuff out there waiting to suck people in.  We let other people's habits, politics, dress, religion, and even sports team affect how we choose to interact with them.  Nobody wants their child to go to Tuscaloosa so "Roll Tide" is not an acceptable phrase in my home.  Sound familiar? The same applies to immigration reform, healthcare, music, etc. - anything really.  We have become consumed with always having to be right instead of just enjoying that person's company.  I am as guilty as anyone on this one and it is taking a very intentional mindset to try to stop.

We too often forget that each person is a unique child of God and has something to offer the world. I am encouraged by reminders like this list and I pray that it finds a place in many more lives.

a quick read but a good one for the 4th.

I wanted to pass along, this is worth taking minute to read.  I especially like the next to last paragraph.

http://revjameshowell.blogspot.com/2010/07/jesus-and-july-4.html

weekend recap

As the weekend comes to a close, I am able to spend a few minutes to reflect on the highs and lows.  This is an exercise for parents to use with children that is based on highs and lows. At the end of the day a parent simply asks their child what the best and worst parts of the day were.  After that they look at ways God was a part of each.  A simple and effective form of bonding and evangelism.

Highs:  Re-learning to play Uno.  Not so much the game but the fellowship that went with it.  It was a chance to spend time with good friends with no discussions about schedules, agendas, goals, etc. Unfortunately, I also found out that I stink at Uno.

Lows:  A close friend of ours had to be flown to Charlotte after suffering a seizure.   It was a scary and stressful event for the family but the staff at CMC is top notch and he is doing much better today, praise God!

God moments:  I was reminded about the value of friends and family and how thankful  and fortunate I am to have both.  After Jesus' resurrection, Thomas wanted physical evidence that Christ was alive again and this weekend I witnessed plenty of proof that Jesus was alive in many people around me.

"Is any pleasure on Earth as great as a circle of Christian friends by a good fire?" - C.S. Lewis

"Nobody can tell your testimony as well as you can."

Julie and I attended a prayer service a couple days and this quote really stuck with me.  The message is simple enough but one that is especially difficult for people to follow.  I instantly felt convicted when I heard those words because that theme has been reflected in several of my messages of late.

In an effort to literally "practice what I preach", I hope this forum will help to reach a group of people who I may not be able to reach through my spoken words.

Simply put, this is a chance for me to share the stops in my life journey and to share these experiences that will ultimately "lead me back to home".