JesusSpirituality

Folks Blasted Out of Their Homes

2008-10-13T20:17:00.000-07:00

Folks Blasted Out of Their Homes
Land in Our Church House
(this poem was inspired by evacuation shelter at Alamo Heights Christian Church of San Antonio, Texas in Sept 2008)

Like wind-blown leaves from the storms fury,
so these folk blasted out of their homes by Hurricane Ike
have landed in our church house.

We accepted them as God's children -- tired, shocked, even bewildered children.
Hungry they came -- too long without a change of shoes, socks, underwear
-- too long without a shower.

At our table they ate, in our showers they bathed. We found clothes for their bodies, shoes for their feet.

In the sanctuary the Good Book says,
"The righteous will ask him, 'Lord, when did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothed you? When did we see you sick or in prison, and go to visit you?

Then, the King will reply, "whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me."

------------------------------------------------ a personal comment-----------------

I never imagined hosting hurricane evacuees. We got ready for Hurricane Gustav, but no evacuees came to our area. Then elderly and ill evacuees came out of Corpus Christi arrived having left in anticipation of Hurricane Ike's landfall. But Ike turned and hit with a fury Galveston and the upper Texas coast. Out of the storm surge came the second wave of evacuees. These escaped or survived with only the clothes on their back, and with no change of clothes.

We all know that these disasters happen, usually in far away places. We watch the reports on CNN at an emotional distance. But when Ike hit close and evacuees came into our church, I was deeply moved. I wrote this prose poem soon afterwards. I had read the Scripture many times before, but in service in our evacuation shelter I found myself with other members and friends living out the very words of this moving Scripture.

Grace and peace,
Bruce Williamson
Senior Minister, Alamo Heights Christian Church

By Faith

2008-10-13T20:06:00.000-07:00

By faith we rise, by fears we falterr.
Afraid to try we move the boat about the docks,
when with a little faith we could go dashing through
waves, sea spray in our hair.

Over the wave, through the sea foam,
wind in you hair, joy in the air,
if only we dare, if only we dare.

Faith lives so close to courage;
surely they must be close kin.
By faith we rise, by fears we falter.

Move out beyond the docks, raise the sails
adventure awaits us,
if only we dare, if only we dare.
By fears to the dock we are nailed.
By faith we can rise if only we dare,
if only we dare.

In Loving Memory of My Father

2008-06-14T19:57:00.000-07:00

Albert Lenn Williamson
August 17, 1927 -- March 5, 1979

Saying Goodbye

"Years ago when joints were limber and muscles strong, I pledged a love that would not die. My dear,
I kept my word and would keep it longer, but for age and disease . . . It is now time for goodbye . . . I love you."

Father's Day

2008-06-14T19:07:00.000-07:00

God As Father In Hebrew Scripture

Out of the massive symphony of Hebrew Scriptures ( Old Testament,) only a quiet whisper
is heard of God as Father. In just seven scriptures out of hundreds of pages is God called Father.

Perhaps you have never seen these few scriptures. For a little Father's Day Bible study I have included them for you.

Deuteronomy 32:6 "Is not he your Father who created you, who made you and established you?"

Psalm 68: 5 "Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation."

Psalm 103:13 "As a Father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him."

Isaiah 63:16 "For thou are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us; thou O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name."

Isaiah 64: 8 "Yet, O Lord, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou art our potter; we are all the work of thy hand."

Jeremiah 3: 19 "And I thought you would call me, My Father, and would not turn from following me."

Jeremiah 31:9 ". . . for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my first born . . . "

To the best of my knowledge this is the complete list of Old Testament scriptures that speak of God as Father. If anyone knows of another Old Testament scripture that calls God Father, please share the scripture and its reference in the comment section.

Jesus Magnifies God As Father

It is Jesus who so greatly magnifies God as Father. Indeed, the fatherhood of God is one of the central teachings of Jesus.

Jesus makes "Father" the key concept of prayer. "Do not heap up empty phrases as the heathen do, or think that you will be heard because of your many words for your Father in heaven knows what you need before you ask him." Of course, the Lord's Prayer begins "Our Father in heaven."

To understand God as "Our heavenly Father" is to start a spiritual revolution. Old, crude concepts of God that picture the Lord as an oriental despot of cruelty and arbitrary power are displaced. Also,purely philosophical concepts seem like thin soup compared to God as Father. Here is feeling and compassion. Here is the waiting father who rejoices when the prodigal finally comes home. (Parable of the Prodigal Son is found in Luke 15: 11 - 32.)

Much spiritual insight can be gained simply by meditating upon God as Our Heavenly Father. Many difficulties both practical and intellectual can find their solution by meditating on God as Our Heavenly Father.

Happy Father's Day.

Your friend and blogger,
Bruce Williamson

two links of Clifton Hudgins

2008-06-09T22:00:00.000-07:00

My friend Clifton Hudgins has two blogs. They are:

Christianwesterns.blogspot.com and

churchreconcilliation.blogspot.com

You may want to take a look at these two blogs. The first is about western fictions with strongly Christian values.
The second blog is about reconcilliation after congregational conflict.

A Sacred Life

2008-06-09T21:52:00.000-07:00

I will kneel in prayer.
I will rise in power.
I will let my spirit soar.
I will let my heart hear songs of faith.
I will let my eyes drink in the sacred page,
the sight of the cross above me,
the varied beauty of the world about me.

Let us hold hands together.
Let us do some good in this world --
teaching the children,
helping the weak, or working for justice.
Let us embrace Jesus Christ as Savior.
Let us live, love, laugh, and become more than we were before.

And when it is time to die,
let me go on to God.
For long ago I found a home in the Lord.

I will kneel in prayer.
I will rise in power.

Praying For The Spirit's Fire

2008-06-09T21:44:00.000-07:00

Shall we not pray for some of the Spirit's passionate fire?
Shall we not ask for more light and love within us?
Shall we not ask for peace amidst chaos and confusion?
Could we not pray to be free from the mud of mediocrity?

And while we are asking for great blessings -- we could ask that even the mud and grim sparkle like diamonds, and if, that is not possible, that our souls would sparkle and our smiles shine -- never minding the mud.

Pray A While

2008-05-30T05:22:00.000-07:00

by Bruce Williamson

I thought I'd pray a while today. I really didn't have much to say. The children are fine, I am well, but still I wanted to pray -- with nothing to say. But I thought perhaps to God it would not matter. So I just sat in his presence like resting under a great oak tree. I don't know if this counts as prayer, but it felt right to me.

(Dated April 14, 2008 Bruce Williamson.)

The Crowded Planet

2008-05-30T05:07:00.000-07:00

The Crowded Planet

The Lord has put us on a crowded planet of fish and fowl, forest trees and prairie grass.
Shall we push all other creatures into extinction? Shall we eat everything we can chew and pave over the rest?

If we want a planet all to ourselves -- perhaps we should relocate? I hear the moon is empty,
and so is Jupiter and Mars.

Judgement Day

2008-05-30T04:54:00.000-07:00

Judgment Day

At last after centuries and millenniums the human race came to Judgment Day.
All humanity stood on an immense open square suspended in space. Stars twinkled above and below.

Several fights broke out, of course, among different clans and tribes. Several persons could be heard shouting at those nearby, "Now you will see that I WAS RIGHT!" And God said, "Did
you ever learn to share?"

2008-05-30T04:43:00.000-07:00

A Cannonball Into The River of Life

As an act of pure defiance
against all negativity,
let us smile for no reason at all,
sing an old hymn of faith, and
just plain stubbornly believe that
we're headed to a better place.

In the light of grace, let's be kind to
each other, and to ourselves. Sing
"Amazing Grace" for a verse or two.
Shout "Hallelujah!" with glee, as if
you had a rope swing on the Tree of
Life, and were doing a cannonball into the River
of Life.

Refuse to surrender your joy, your faith,
or your hope. Pray for blessings on others.
Laugh out loud. Tell a silly joke or story.
Kneel in prayer. Wiggle your toes in clover.
Seek the peace of God, and relax your body.

Live lightly and refuse to over stress your
brain. Let your faith be a bright, strong, and
defiant joy joy - - - that most folks can not understand.

Yes, "Hallelujah" . . . a cannonball . . . into the River
of Life. Amen.

For A Humble, Serving Church

2008-05-17T13:01:00.000-07:00

Lord, let your church clothe itself with humility,
gird itself with a towel and wash the dirty feet of this world.

Lead us to know that you oppose the proud,
but give grace to the humble.

We have too often sought to build up our own Kingdoms
of sect, denominations, ideologies and theologies.
We have sought more to make our names known,
instead of your love and grace in Jesus Christ.

We pray now to rreverence your Holy Name. We ask
that your Kingdom come, even if our little kingdoms decline.
Amen.

"And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast. To Him be the power for ever and ever, Amen." I Peter 5: 10

Small Gifts of Grace

2008-05-17T10:50:00.000-07:00

Dear Lord,
A smile, a bit of humor, a touch --
these are such small gifts in a hurting world,
And yet, ungiven the world you love
hurts more.

Tomorrow let the radiance of your joy and love shine
through me as I remember
to give the smallest of gifts
as sacramental fragments of grace
to a hurting world.

Mature Christian Living

2008-05-17T10:33:00.000-07:00

Mature Christian living is
not from guilt,
without the shadow of shame,

instead a buoyancy of spirit,
in kindness to myself and others,
in quiet joy --
service,
achievement,
creativity,
lasting love, and
reverence.