Category Archives: Uncategorized

Posted on

5 Ways to Really Love Your Neighbor As Yourself

by

LoveYourNeighbor.jpg

Who is My Neighbor?

Jesus answers this question with a famous story ~ He shares about a man who “was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead” (Luke 10:30) A priest, a Levite, and a Samaritan all saw the man lying on the road in need of help, but only the Samaritan stopped to help him. 

Matthew Henry reflects, “He was slighted by those who should have been his friends, and was cared for by a stranger, a Samaritan, of the nation which the Jews most despised and detested, and would have no dealings with.”

While his own people deserted him, help came to this wounded man from a most unlikely source. 

This story suggests to us that anyone God puts on our path in life should be considered our neighbor.

Not just the folks we go to church with…

Not just the folks our kids play with…

Not just the people who live beside us…

Not just the people who look like, act like, talk like, and think like us….

Preparing Our Hearts to Love Our Neighbors

Whenever the children in my daughter’s class stopped listening to their teacher this past year, they had to sing this little song:

“My eyes are watching , My ears are listening ,

My hands and body are still, and my mouth is quiet (shh!)“

We will only notice our neighbors and their needs if we do a few things:

1) Keep Our Eyes Open – I’m sure that the Good Samaritan story plays itself out numerous times every day in this world and lots of people are so distracted they never see the person in need. Let’s keep our eyes open to the people around us. That might mean putting our smartphones away for awhile.

2) Keep Our Ears Open – When people talk to you, really look them in the eyes and listen to them. We live in a very distracted culture. Many of us are juggling several balls at once. I know I am often looking at my almost-two-year-old out of the corner of my eye just to make sure she doesn’t drown at the pool…and that’s okay! But I can still focus on what the person in front of me is saying.

3) Don’t Judge Them – As Matthew Henry says, we should love them “without regard to nation, party, or any other distinction.”

4) Ask Yourself, “What can I do?”and Then DO IT! – What is in your hand? You may be able to provide groceries or a meal to someone who is hungry. You may be able to open up your door (and schedule) to someone who needs a friend. You may be able to watch someone’s child to give them a much-needed break. Like Nike says, “Just do it.”

5) Pray for Them – Spiritual needs are just as important as practical needs. Praying for your neighbors – those whom God puts in your path each day – points them to the True Provider who can supply all their needs (spiritual, emotional, social, physical). 

How can you better recognize and meet the needs of those in need around you? What do you think “loving your neighbor” really looks like?

Image Credit: Love Colour by Thor

 

 

 

Posted on

One Person Can Change the World: The Story of St. Telemachus

by

image I stood at the base of the Coliseum in Rome, Italy with a sense of sadness and awe. In the span of 500 years, it is estimated that 500,000 people and over 1 million wild animals were killed there – all in the name of entertainment.

One of the first questions I couldn’t help but asking myself while there was, “Why weren’t there more people who were outraged? Why didn’t the people demand that the killing stop?!”

Well, one man confronted this evil, demanded that the killing stop, and was martyred as a result. His name is St. Telemachus and here is his fascinating story:

In the early 400’s AD, a little monk named Telemachus from Asia (Turkey) felt led by an inner voice to go to Rome without knowing why. Following the crowds to the Coliseum, he witnessed two gladiators fighting. Stepping in between them, he cried out, “In the name of Christ, forbear!”

The crowds were so enraged someone was interfering with their entertainment they stoned Telemachus to death. When the crowd saw the little monk had died, they grew silent and left the stadium one by one.  When the emperor was informed of Telemachus’s death, he issued a decree to end the games.

Often we may see injustices happening in our world today and think, “What can I do? I am only one person and the injustice (or issue) is massive and systemic.” I am sure that there were many people who lived during the days of those games who knew that this continual killing was wrong but felt powerless to stop it.

Telemachus was not. He was gripped with a passion for truth, justice, peace, and righteousness that compelled him to speak and to act. He gave up his life, but as a result he saved thousands of people and animals who would have continued to be killed.

While we cannot all create a massive societal change in a matter of hours like Telemachus, we can all make a choice to follow his example.

1) Come humbly before God and ask for eyes to see the injustices and evil in our society. Sometimes, we may need to confess that we have become numb to certain evils that exist around us because we have become accustomed to them. I am sure that many citizens in Rome made excuses for their participation in the games.

2) Pray for passion and compassion towards those who are victims of such evil and ask that God would free you from any indifference or apathy in your heart.

3) Pray for a loving, thoughtful way to take action. Scripture says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” – Romans 12:21

St. Telemachus shows us that one person can make a difference. All that we think, say, and do will make an impact on those around us. Let’s choose to stand for what is right, even when it is not popular. 

Only God knows the influence and impact our words and actions will make.

photo credit: Zach Dischner 

Posted on

5 Reasons to Have a Day of Rest Each Week

by

imageI’ll never forget my first trip to Haiti over 10 years ago with my husband, Joel, and sister in law, Liz. We came to assist a pastor friend of ours who has a ministry primarily focused on prayer, teaching, and worship.

Our days were full as we traveled to various locations for ministry opportunities. The heat was extreme, we were on our feet most of the day, and we didn’t rest much.

We were told that the next day would be our “day off” – a Sabbath Day. But, we reasoned, we were only in Haiti a short time and surely we could be of use to someone that day. So we trudged over to a nearby construction project that was taking place and began to work.

The result was a clear exercise in futility. There wasn’t much organization and nothing we did seemed to help. After a few hours, we politely retreated as Liz wisely concluded, “We just need to take our Sabbath.”

Dallas Willard has said, “The command is “Do no work.” Just make space. Attend to what is around you. Learn that you don’t have to DO to BE. accept the grace of doing nothing. Stay with it until you stop jerking and squirming.”

1) Choose to set aside a day of rest each week to stop the “jerking and squirming.” Our culture seems to be worse about this than any other. We have a moment of peace and we grab our mobile devices, eager to occupy time. To fight this urge to constantly keep taking in new information is to gain time to reflect, observe, give thanks, unwind.

2) Choose a day of rest to gain more margin and allow yourself time to just “be” instead of “do”– As Mark Buchanan has said, “Most of the things we need to be most fully alive never come in busyness. They grow in rest.”

If we spend every day of the year striving to work, earn, impact, and create we don’t have any time to step back and admire what we have done. We don’t have time to just sit and watch it grow.

3) Choose a day of rest to take your hands off your life and let God give the growth. As 1 Corinthians 3:7 says so beautifully, “So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”

4) Choose a day of rest to give your mind and body the break they need. Many Americans are sleep deprived and over-stimulated. As John Piper said, “Now I think that the principle in the New Testament is that God ordains that one day in seven be restful. I think that’s a creation ordinance for our good, for our health.”

My last reason should have been first because it is truly the most important.

5) Choose a day of rest to set aside time for God. While the rest of our week is full of work and activity, our day of rest can include more of that which nourishes our spirit and soul: quiet, rest, time in God’s Word, time worshipping with other believers.

Do you set aside a day of rest each week? If so, what have you done to make this day different from the rest of the week? I would love to hear!

photo by Jimmy Brown

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...