Glorious Guts for the Desperate Dead

No Guts (spilled out), No Glory - “Rather, Jesus truly feels our rebellion, our waywardness, our unwillingness to receive him as he hangs there alone on the cross and cries, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23: 34). (Scazero, Emo Church Health) -- We’ve been working through our material for the pre-season blogs.  This scripture and quote reminds me of several passages in the pre season blog material but one in particular that comes to mind as we contemplate “incarnational” listening, love, and services is: “The restless call of the wild for you and every other soul, is Christ’s beckoning, “come die with me.”   Unity with Christ and unity with His mission occurs through the cross.  To join his death is to join his mission.  To join His death is ironically to join His life.   The perfect rhythm of life is to allow Christ to delicately and persistently lead you to His cross.”  When I think about incarnation, our savior drills into my fear and self-protection – Take it up. Take up the glorious cross I’ve strapped to your back. Come die with me.

Potential Staff Activity? -- Finally, in your mentoring of people, one-on-one or in a small group, make a simple timeline with them from birth to the present. Ask them to identify and describe significant difficult or sad events in their lives. In one sitting you may learn more about their soul and life in God than you might have in one year. (Scazero, Emo Church Health) (Very intense bonding experience with folks. – Good driver week bonding exercise perhaps??? Maybe? Maybe No?)

Rev. MLK & Program -- “When you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of ‘nobodiness’;” —(Scazero, Emo Health) This quote from MLK captures the tragedy and sadness that accompanies systematic disenfranchisement.  Also, I felt this quote also captures the plight of many hearts exposed on Wednesday and Thursday night response time.  After reading that phrase I offered a prayer for honesty, vulnerability, compassion, and intimacy with Christ for Wednesday and Thursday night response times this summer.

Dead Men and Women Walking - I was deeply absorbed in his re-telling of the movie Dead Man Walking.  I definitely felt the power of the gospel when he finishes the story by writing “When he is strapped to the chair to be injected with lethal solutions, she tells him to watch her face . “That way the last thing you will see before you die will be the face of someone who loves you.” He does so and dies in love rather than in bitterness. (Scazero, Emo Church Health)

In the Ultra Packet, we write, “Focusing on the fullness of your creator is a daily discipline.  The more you focus on your creator’s fullness, the more you perceive your own emptiness.  As the creator fills the secret, empty recesses of your soul your countenance reflects the creator’s fullness.  Leaders and followers are desperately seeking those who carry on them the fragrance of Christ.”

The story inspires me to fall more deeply in love with Jesus because all around me dead men and women are desperately seeking a countenance that fills their death with love rather than bitterness.”