I had the wonderful opportunity to speak to the BRANDED UMY at First United Methodist Church of Wagoner, OK, last night. Thanks to Shyloe, Summer and everyone who was there!
Last night was the first of a seven-part series which deals with the question of “Who Does God See When God Looks at Me?” Each topic will be a partial answer to that question. The topics are
- Beloved (01/05/2011)
- Redeemed (Redeemable) (01/12/2011)
- Adopted (01/19/2011)
- Nurtured (01/26/2011)
- Desired (02/02/2011)
- Entrusted, and (02/09/2011)
- Discipled. (02/16/2011)
Look for additional posts dealing with each topic in the coming weeks!
Blessings,
Michael
Complexity.
Complexity isn’t just for holiday plans, anymore. Everyday life is getting more crowded, more intense, more overwhelming. It used to be that we only “thrashed” during the holidays. Now, every day is a struggle to juggle more commitments than we can count. One recent study compared the self-reported stress level of teens in the late 1930s in the United States and in the first decade of the 21st century. The results were alarming. Stress levels were reported to be dramatically higher in the Information Age than it was in the in the Great Depression!
Bandwidth overload?
When do you find yourself overwhelmed? More importantly, who gets ignored?
Something has to give. Do you drop something…or let everything suffer?
Relationships require attention to build and to grow. It doesn’t matter if that relationship is with God, friends, family or your self. So…do you just give superficial attention to many relationship, or really focus on a few?
The Forgettable or the Important?
When life gets busy, what commitments get tossed? We all do it. We all break commitments when we’ve over-promised. Can we do that less by committing to the important and forgetting the forgettable?
There’s a saying among time-management coaches: “Say no to the rest so you can say ‘Yes’ to the best.”
What Should You Cut?
I can’t answer that question for you. What I can do is encourage you to really think about what you value. What relationships are important? What relationships (people) are you ignoring for activities that will someday not seem so important?
Oh…about those teen stress levels: people with healthy relationships have lower stress levels than there peers.
A Place to Start
“Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mt. 22:39 )
Don’t start with your neighbor. Start improving your relationships by loving yourself.
That may seem like strange advice, at first. Try it. Commit to one month of taking care of yourself in these ways:
- Physically
- Emotionally
- Spiritually
Oh…and rank your commitments…and cut all but the most important. Then you’ll have time
- to take care of yourself,
- to love yourself, and
- to invest in your most important relationships.
Talk back!
Be sure to leave a comment! How have you ranked your commitments? How have you chosen to pare them down? How have you chosen to invest in your relationships by loving yourself?
It may be that there is someone who loves you so deeply that you dare to believe that you are worth loving and so you can believe that God’s love for you could be possible after all.
~ Mother Frances Dominica from Prayer
Think about how you express and understand love. Who taught you that those expressions are loving?
Some people learn that kindness, caring, accountability and responsibility are part of loving.
Some people are taught that yelling, screaming, physical abuse, hate-filled language and neglect are supposed to be “love.”
Either way, when we here the phrase “God loves you,” we interpret “love” through the lens of our experience. We look for that love to be expressed in those expected patters in our other relationships, too.
What do you understand “love” to be in your human relationships?
How do you expect God to love you?
How do you express love?
In order for God to make sense, do you need a new definition or, perhaps, a new human model?
/jmt
If I had eyes to see
as God sees,
Who would I be?
What would I see?
When,
with God’s eyes,
I turned
to look
at
Me?
© 2010 J. Michael Thurman
In the next few weeks I want to discuss a famous bit of the Bible with you. Before we do that, I want you to read it for yourself in as many versions and revisions as you need to…
While you do that… Think about this list of sayings as they impact our relationships with God, self, and others. The passage is Matthew 5:1-12. Here it is from the NIV:
1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:
3“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
I’m looking forward to the conversation and to better relationships in my life and yours!
Blessings,
Michael
Take a moment to compose a scene in your head of the most horrifying, gruesome, inhumane torture possible.
Got it?
Play the scene again. You need to remember it.
My scene has involved lots of things over the years. Pliers and finger nails. Flogging. Flaying. Scalding oil or water. Cuts filled with salt and vinegar. Electrocution. Drowning. Bankruptcy.
Remember your scene? Good. Play it again…
Now answer this question: Of all the people you know, for whom would you endure everything you just imagined?
Continue reading »
It was a really uncomfortable feeling. My wife and I worshipped on Sunday with a new gathering and…. Well… Some of the things we experienced there were really great. I can say that, as a group, the people gathered there love God, each other and strangers (who won’t be strangers for long). What could be uncomfortable about that? Continue reading »
We usually read this text to see how Jesus was tempted and how he responded. Let’s do that again, together, but with a goal of seeing what’s missing from the temptation experience.
Jesus was hungry, thirsty and tired. Stop for a moment and think about your own hunger. How do you act toward food when hungry? What about thirst? On a hot summer day or during a ball game or a workout, how do you react to thirst? What about fatigue? How do you act when tired?
Continue reading »
I hope you enjoy your time on the site and that something in these pages encourages your journey along the Way of Jesus. All thoughts here are my own and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts of others or of organizations with which I am affiliated. 
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