Transformed Mind

Luke 4:21-30 New International Version (NIV) 21  He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” 22  All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked. 23  Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’” 24  “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25  I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26  Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27  And there were many in Israel with leprosy [ a ] in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.” 28...

"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life." - John 5:39-40  Book of Kells image Jesus here is talking to the Pharisees, the religious folk of his time and isn't too happy with their arrogant blindness. It's the equivalent of being a PhD in political science, writing articles for professional journals about current political affairs, pouring into students the knowledge you've obtained and then one day a living US president walks in and you have no idea who they are. He says, "Don't you know who I am I'm the one you've been writing articles about, those economic policies were my doing, everything that's right with this country has my fingerprints on it. My staff have been pushing my agenda for years to get things done." And nothing, you're clueless. You actually think this guy is pulling your chain ...

This is too good to pass up. So my wife went back home to see our two nephews and one niece. Our niece, and God Daughter, is only 4 months, so she is still just a tiny thing.  Anyway, my wife gets back form the trip and receives a text from our sister-in-law.  Apparently the oldest, who is five, asked his mom when my wife and I were going to have a baby. She replied that she didn’t know because there wasn’t one in auntie’s tummy yet.  And here is the best line, his reply was, “Oh yeah, because God’s still making it!” There it is, child-like faith at its greatest and most innocent. Its statements like these that make me understand what Jesus was getting at when in Matthew 18 he says that, “ Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven .” When Jesus said these things the disciples were bickering over who would be the greatest. It is the child, who humbles or understands his or her place in the grand scheme of things that ...

Busyness, what’s the solution? First, we need to just stop. And by stop I mean turning off the phone/tablet/laptop, etc. Just power down, set boundaries for yourself on when you can and cannot do work at home, on when you will and will not answer calls.  It’s not sin to not answer calls as long as you respond in a timely manner. Pencil in alone time, time with God, and time with your spouse and family, time away from the rest of the world.  Busyness leads to burnout, which is a real problem, especially among clergy. So, we give ourselves space and then…prioritize. What are the priorities in life?  Personally, I put them in this order: God, spouse, kids/family, work.  Jesus definitely had God as his first priority for scripture states that, “…crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmaries. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.” [1] Yeah, you heard that right, Jesus knew that God was of the utmost importance and t...