Next Right Step

In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. –Edward Mote

As hymnist Priscilla Owens put it: “We have an anchor that keeps the soul steadfast and sure while the billows roll, fastened to the Rock which cannot move, grounded firm and deep in the Savior’s love.”

I hope your thoughts are still being refreshed by the risen Lord Jesus! Jesus died and rose again to give us peace with God and the peace of God. “I want Jesus to walk with me. All along life’s pilgrim journey- O I want Jesus to walk with me.”

For your reflection –John 20: 1-9 -“He saw and believed.”

Alleluia! Christ is risen! Father, we exult in your glory! We rejoice, turning our thoughts to the One who lives, who is seated at your right hand above every power and authority and dominion.

He’s alive! Mary’s thoughts spun at the empty tomb: Jesus is missing! What happened? Who took his body? But we fix our eyes on the living Christ. Our thoughts don’t have to spin fruitlessly, hopelessly grasping at “reasonable” explanations. Because Jesus lives, we have hope. We are a new creation. We can look at life-giving thoughts, and speak words of wisdom and understanding. Because he lives, we have peace. The unknown doesn’t have to shake us. God is for us, and nothing can separate us from his love.

He’s alive! Peter’s thoughts, perhaps churned in regret: “I failed him. I said I would die for him, but I ran away. Now he’s gone.” But there is now no condemnation. Jesus has reconciled us to himself. We are seated with him at God’s right hand. Because he lives, we are free from the law of sin and death. We are forgiven. Period. Jesus’ blood has cleansed us, and because he lives eternally, this cleansing is powerful. Though our lives are hidden in Christ now, one day we will appear with him in glory.

He’s alive! John saw the same empty tomb –and believed. He might not have understood fully, but still he believed. He recalled Jesus’ promises, and seeing the evidence of the empty tomb, he trusted them more than his own thoughts.

He’s alive! WHAT ABOUT YOU? Jesus’ promise of life that never ends, a life full of grace and glory, freedom and endless joy. Though for a time we endure want and difficulties, we still fix our eyes on what is above, knowing what the empty tomb really points to. Christ is risen, and in him we now share in the promise of eternal life!

“Jesus, you’re alive! In you I live and move and have my being! Praise your name Lord Jesus.”

EASTER (N) EASTER –For Eastern Orthodox Churches, Easter 2013 falls on May 5. On Easter morning in those churches and the Eastern Catholic Churches of the Byzantine rite, those gathered will stand for the reading aloud of The Paschal homily (sermon) of St. John Chrysostom (d. 407A.D.). The sermon concludes with these resounding declarations of Christ’s triumph over death!

He that was taken by death has annihilated it!
He descended into Hades and took Hades captive!

He embittered it when it tasted His flesh!
And anticipating this, Isaiah exclaimed:
“Hades was embittered when it encountered Thee in the lower regions.”

It was embittered, for it was abolished!
It was embittered, for it was mocked!
It was embittered, for it was purged!
It was embittered, for it was despoiled!
It was embittered, for it was bound in chains!

It took a body and came upon God!
It took earth and encountered heaven!
It took what it saw, but crumbled before what it had not seen.!

O death, where is thy sting?
O Hades, where is thy victory?
Christ is risen, and you are overthrown!
Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen!
Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice!
Christ is risen, and life reigns!
Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in a tomb!

For Christ, being raised from the dead,
Has become the first-fruits of them that have slept.
To Him be glory and might unto the ages of ages.
Amen.

Look forward to see everyone Sunday! Psalm 37: 25-26 –“I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing.”

As my cup runs over, I must share the Lord’s bounty with the needy. I must send my family out to be messengers of mercy and grace, both in carrying the Good News and in being the hands of the Lord.

May God give all of you a double portion of his grace during this Easter season so that you can see his glory in a whole new way.

Peace to you,

tommy

Glory and praise to You, Risen Savior, for You bring light to our darkness, joy to our sorrow, and the fullness of love to our reluctant hearts.

Once and for all You have conquered sin and evil. In the glory of Your Resurrection we have been set free from all that keeps us from following You On this Easter Day, fill our hearts with Your Light and Grace that we might joyfully echo the words of Your Holy Angels: He is not here in the tomb. He is Risen! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Christ yesterday and today
the Beginning and the End
the Alpha
and the Omega
All time belongs to him
and all the ages
To him be glory and power
through every age and forever. Amen.

By his holy
and glorious wounds,
may Christ the Lord
guard us
and protect us. Amen.

May the light of Christ rising in glory
Dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds.

Why would Jesus say this? Did he really want his followers to ignore the poor? Of course not! He knew that Judas wasn’t really concerned about the needy—he was hoarding the money for himself. No, Jesus wanted to make sure that they didn’t miss out on the short time they had left with him.

As we begin Holy week, Jesus is saying something similar to us. In a special way , we “have” Jesus all week long. He knows that we will face lots of competing needs, distractions, and tasks. In a sense these are the “poor” that we may be tempted to use as an excuse for why we shouldn’t pour ourselves out on the Lord this week, just as Mary anointed Jesus’ feet.

Suggestion—Resolve to spend time with him every day this week. Start your day in prayer. Try to get to gatherings that focus on his resolve to give himself for us. Spend half an hour each day reading one of the passion narratives in Scripture. Seek out opportunities to help the real poor you know about—one of the best ways to meet Jesus face to face. Your duties will still be there when you return to them.

Don’t be afraid to rearrange your priorities for just these few days. You may need to put off an activity until later or give less time to your daily chores. Who Knows? You may even discover a more efficient way to get it all done!

That gathering at Bethany may well have been the last time that Mary and Martha and Lazarus saw Jesus before the passion and death. Thanks to Mary’s act of worship and love, the meal took on new and beautiful meaning. Her devotion to Jesus transformed the event into something that is still recalled two millennia later. God promises that if you pour yourself out on the Lord this week, you too can change the atmosphere in your home. So don’t worry about the distractions right now. They’ll be waiting for you next week. Just spend time with the Lord.

“ Jesus, help us to place you first this week. may we not get so busy with other things that we miss out on all that you have for us this Holy Week!”

Good day to All!

“The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand.” [Psalm 37:23]

What a promise—that my “next right steps” are laid out by You  as I study and absorb your Word so that even though I stumble, You hang on to my hand and support me through the problem that my disobedience has cause.

Praise You, Lord. Thank You for your mercy.

Prayer

O God, you have prepared fitting helps for us in our weakness –
Help us to receive their healing effects with joy and reflect them in a holy way of life.
This we pray through our LORD Jesus Christ, your Son, and our Savior. Amen.

Praise and honor to you, Lord Jesus Christ!

One does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes forth from the mouth of God. [Matthew 4:4b]

It is a privilege for us to break the bread together Sunday in Class.

“Beyond the sacred page we seek Thee Lord, Our spirits pant for Thee O Living God!” [Lyrics from "Break Thou the Bread of Life" by Mary A. Lathbury]

“Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be.” [John 6:35]

CHECK out this beautiful DAY!  God is so Good.

Love in Him,

-tommy

A Touch

Take this in from God’s WORD! Mark 1: 40–45. “Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touch him.” [Mark 1: 41]

In Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical The Phantom of the Opera, the title character is marred not only physically but emotionally as well. This poor soul had suffered a lifetime of rejection and a lack of human intimacy. In the end, the heroine Christine’s kiss reaches through his murderous rage and brings him to his right mind. In a similar way, when the leper in our text asks Jesus, “Will you make me clean?” he is not asking only for an acceptable physical appearance; he is also asking to be loved and welcomed by other people again.

How long has it been since this man had experienced the touch of another person? How long since he had felt the warmth of human companionship? Yet Jesus’ holiness overcame his isolation, just as it overcame the man’s horrible disease. Note that Jesus made it a point to touch the man, not simply speak words of healing over him. He reached out and drew him back into the world of fellowship and belonging. With one touch, he reconciled this man to everyone else.

What a beautiful picture! We know that human touch is vital to our emotional and spiritual balance. Think of how well an child thrives when he is held, caressed, and cradled by his mother. Think of how positively we all respond to a hand on the shoulder, a gentle kiss on the cheek, a warm embrace. Through simple touch, we can speak volumes about our love, acceptance, and companionship. What’s more, we can also speak volumes about God’s love and compassion!

So reach out and touch someone today. Don’t rely on the logic of your words. And don’t leave everything to God, thinking that he will sweep in and magically transform that person’s life. As St. Teresa of Avila said, “Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours.” You can minister (serve up) God’s touch to people today. You can show them through your own gestures that their heavenly Father loves them, treasures them, and welcomes them into his kingdom. You can heal the troubled and bring peace to the anxious. Sounds like next right steps for all of us mentors striving to help others!

Jesus, help us overcome the hesitation to reach out to those in need. Empower me to minister your healing touch. –td

QUOTES & NOTES

• “By ourselves we are not qualified in any way to claim that we can do anything. Rather, GOD makes us qualified.” –2 Corinthians 3:5 GOD”S WORD Translation (GW)
• Excuses are tools of the incompetent.. They build monuments of nothingness and bridges leading to nowhere. Those who specialize in excuses are seldom successful in anything else but making excuses. (Ouch!)
• “The service of the Lord is light, wonderful, and pleasant. It is an excellent thing to place oneself in the hand of a holy mentor, that he may direct one’s path through life”  (The rule of Comghall, Irish, 6th century)
• Psalm 119: 133 — “Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me.”
• LORD, keep us on the King’s Highway, walking resolutely and progressing according to Your will.
  Keep our minds, hands, heart, eyes, all focused on You, that our every action and word will declare Your Glory.
  Help us, Lord.

Being together Sunday on the Lord’s Day is the highlight of starting a new week in the right- next right step direction!

coram Deo
(“before the eyes of God”),

tommy

“It May Seem Like Friday Night—But Sunday’s on its Way”

I love those lyrics from the Christian artist Carmen! The Victory and the Hope we know in JESUS is why we sing and why we gather as children of LIGHT around the Table to share our LIFE in HIM. Make your plans to be with us! This week we are in The Refuge. Remember we are trying to finish up The 180 program by April 14th. Men and women groups will meet with your assigned table this week. Bring your workbooks and a willing heart to share.

“The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue” [Psalm 33:16-17]

There is no salvation in the power of man, not by his strength or by any of his agencies. I cannot be rescued by my own devising nor by the machinations of others. I am lost without YOU and YOUR grace.

Praise YOU, my Lord and master. –tommy

“Giving Up” is the Victory of Lent

How’s it going for you? Do you observe Lent? Lent is the 40 days from February 13th through March 30th. It is 40 days of “giving up” to the Lord, so that the lord may be “lifted up” in our lives. This is a time when we fortunately have to use the “big words” like: Glory, Grace, Mercy, Love, Thanksgiving, Repentance and Forgiveness of sins, Calvary and the Cost of Discioleship. This is because these “big words are being REALized in our lives by the very Spirit of Christ. And when this happens, there is no better way of talking about what God is doing than by these “big words,” these churchy, holy words, which are markers to call us on the right way and gifts to help us say in a small way what is really going on.

It all centers on Christ, who draws near to us with His crib, cross, and crown. And we draw near to him with a heart of devotion as we reflect on His way with us and among us. We draw near to Him in following His-example-inspiring activities like Fasting, Prayer, and Giving. We must “give up” to God because our hands are often too full to receive his intimate touch for us; our clinging hands too often remain closed to receiving even his smallest gifts.

Lent is a time for “giving up” to the Lord. It involves drawing near, our pressing in to know Him better, that he may increase with us, and even show us what “increasing with us” means. Let it slso be attended by hope, for he has promised if we draw near to Him, he will draw near to us. This wonderful, yet fearsome, yet marvelous promise of God’s drawing near is explained by James, the brother of Jesus. He writes: “…BUT {GOD} GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and he will exalt you.” (James 4: 6-10).

Although James was not likely observing Lent, it sounds like he was. The very attitudes and activities James commands for the church are Lent-like emphases. Drawing near to God has the highest rewards. It is connected with the process of humbling ourselves in the sight of the Lord. It is associated with giving our attention to the cleansing and purification of our hearts. It calls us to mourning (which can be expressed in fasting) before the Lord. It is true humility, for it is our rightful place before the Lord, and it has a promise: he will lift us up.

Lent is our stretching ourselves out before the Lord (crosfigell) as James exhorts. It involves times of fasting and reflection before celebrating the Resurrection of Christ –on Easter Sunday. The point is not to “do without something”, but rather to “give up something.” The focus is on Jesus and our connection to him. If we are “doing without,” it must be our “giving up” to Jesus so we may better see Him and know Him. We keep in mind that a wondrous side effect is spiritual freedom.. There is no greater freedom. And there is always an undertone of hope, for we have great promises.

“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up; Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”

Yes Lord—That’s what we want and need. –LH

Feel free to share some of you seasonal Lent practices/disciplines with me. I’d like to share some with the class. I love following the church calendar . It helps keep me focused on HIM. –tommy

I believe that I shall see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living.  -Psalm 27:13

There’s an old gospel hymn I can still sing by memory, “In the Sweet By and By.” A comforting thought.  But I have often heard the criticism that Christians are too “by and by” and not enough “here and now.”  When spoken by a skeptic, these are biting words that smack of wanting life’s pleasure–good or bad—to gratify our desires now, and dismissing the joys of the next life as some sort of boring fictional fluff.  In that sense, they are wrong.

However, in another sense, it is possible for us to concentrate so much on what we need, want, long and hope for that we totally lose sight of the LORD’s  goodness that surrounds us each day.  Our prayer list grows.  As one request is granted, another is added.

Let’s believe, with the psalmist, that we shall enjoy God’s goodness in the land of the living—TODAY.

For example, Martha Hill, Anthony, Mike Choley, my grandson Seth and I  are off to Discovery Place Wednesday for Todd Gilbert’s commencement to Stage 2 of his continued journey in recovery and spiritual change and growth. Thank you Dear Father for your goodness and mercy. Thanks to all of you, dear brothers and sisters, for your notes and prayers for this new friend!

For you, O Lord, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living.  How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?  I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.  I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.   -Psalm 116: 8-9, 12-14

Peace and Love.

Tommy

Our weekend training was a great success.  We have been meeting during Sunday school at Otter Creek with a great group from 9-10 each Sunday.  This will continue through the fall at which point we hope to reach out and invite men and women from recovery programs in Nashville.  They will be invited to our support group and then to join us in worship together.  This is pretty exciting!

SAVE THE DATE: Saturday, July 16th – Sunday, July 17th

Otter Creek Church in Brentwood is hosting a recovery ministry training weekend in July. This training will be conducted by Bill and Carole Hale from the North Atlanta church of Christ – a church that launched such a ministry and witnessed amazing transformations not only in the lives of people in recovery, but in the church, too.

We are extending invitations to church leaders in the Brentwood and Nashville area to learn more about serving the recovery community. Please plan on attending our training on Saturday, July 16th from 8:30 am to 12:30 p.m. and Sunday, July 17th 11:30 to 2:30 at Otter Creek Church.

Saturday July 16
8:30-9:00       Sign in
9:00-9:50        Session 1:  Why a ministry to the recovery community?
10:00-10:50    Session 2:  Considerations for a healthy outreach to the recovery community and the development of healthy partnerships.
11:00-11:50     Session 3:  Developing a recovery-friendly church experience for the “God Seeker” in recovery.
12:00-12:30    Session 4:  Introduction to MENTORING the backbone of the ministry to recovery

Sunday Morning July 17
9:00/10:30  Otter Creek Church Services
11:30              Lunch
12:30-2:30    Session 5:  The considerations and skills of mentoring.

This is exciting and I am really looking forward to it. Please don’t hesitate to call or email me. Looking forward to seeing you then.

Tommy Daniel