Sacred Threshold ::

NT Wright on the Kingdom :.

“…We don’t know how the kingdom works. Take Jesus’ parables about seeds growing secretly and small seeds becoming mustard bushes and so on. The kingdom is always a surprise to us, which keeps us humble. The danger with “building the kingdom” language can make us very proud. “Building for the kingdom” keeps you humble. It says, “These are your tasks; you’ve got to get on with them. How God puts them into the eventual construct is completely his business.”

“…It dawned on me several years ago that when somebody says “no” to God and refuses to worship the God in whose image they are made, saying “I’m not going to worship that God,” then what happens to their humanness is that it progressively ceases to bear the image of God. You become like what you worship. You reflect the one you worship. It’s one of the great truths of spirituality…”

~NT Wright

(Thanks Prodigal Kiwis for the good quote!)

Even The Cats Pray :.

Joining the Song :.

Last night at Abbey Way--as customary--we held hands sang our Creed Song and then the Our Father. This moment of our service, gathered in two concentric circles around the altar, is a hallmark of our weekly worship. It is a holy, crazy time of children swinging their arms in delight, people interacting through accepting eyes and nodding hands, together proclaiming with our voices the prayer of the church.

"Our Father, who art in heaven..."

Something always catches my heart during this prayer. Sometimes my heart is touched by the richness of Kingdom truth. Other times there is a holy moment transpiring right before our eyes if we only are present enough to notice.

Last week it was two little people, both near the ripe old age of two, hand in hand entering the circle and its sacred madness, walking with us as we sang. Tentatively yet triumphantly they did it (!) and we all were part of it. This week it was a little guy named Samuel who at the ripe old age of two was singing the "Our Father" as his father held him in his arms. You can't get much better than that for an OH WOW MOMENT!

Sometimes I get discouraged in shepherding Abbey Way. There is so much to church planting, pulling and tugging at me each day. It can be overwhelming. But then something happens right in front of my eyes that is unmistakably a gift from God, the warmth of the Spirit's breath in my face. God presence is revealed in two little people joining the circle and taking their place or a little tiny voice singing the prayer that Jesus taught.

Something mysteriously grace-filled has been part of this journey from the very beginning. In and through it, I can see Christ.

Albertville Bus Crash :.

Early morning sleep was disrupted by an explosive noise. Quickly following the unknown thunder came the squeal and screech of sirens and the whirling of helicopter blades cutting the newly sun kissed morning skies.

The I-94 bus crash happened less than a half mile from my home today. With news reports slowly coming in, the buzz of helicopters and the flashing of emergency vehicles continues. The sky is chaotic. The noise is constant.

One fatality and many injuries are reported. Students on a companion bus wait in a local Catholic church. Parents gather in the Pelican Rapids High School in northern Minnesota for news of their children.

God be with those who wait. God be with those who are hurt. God be with those who grieve.