Jesus:
“Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the gift my Father promised which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit…You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes in you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Jude’s and Samaria and to the ends of the Earth.” (Acts 1:4-8)
Acts 1-12 gives us a number of examples of the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the life of the church. Too often people miss the point of the power.
1. Power to unify: Acts 2:1, 5-8
2. Power to Proclaim: Acts 2:32-33, 36-39, 41
3. Power to be the Church: Acts 2:42-47
4. Power for Miracles: Acts 3;12-13, 16
5. Power to be Witnesses: Acts 4:18-22, 33
6. Power to Impact Poverty through Generosity: Acts 4:32-33b
7. Power to Endure Suffering: Acts 5:40-42
8. Power to Die Faithfully: Acts 7:57-60, 8:1
9. Power for Mission: Act 8:4-8
10. Power to Change: Acts 8:17-20
11. Power to Break Cultural Barriers to the Gospel: Acts 10:27-28
12. Power for Judgement: Acts 12:21-24
In the Palm of my Hand
Your startled movement
catches my eye
The giant and the little
face to face
You’re first thought is fear
mine is only to save
You try to run
I catch you in my hand
You struggle to escape
I carry you gently to safety
You pee all over my palm
I release you in the pond
I feverishly wash my hands
wondering if this is
how God feels too?
“…your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.” -Psalm 139:10
We are blessed to have so many amazing artists, craftspeople, makers and bakers in our Church. Here is one of my favorite bookmarks created by
Christina Vilgiate Art at christinavilgiateart.com
“Do you have any family around for support?” I asked.
“Two of my brothers are dead from drugs. Two are alcoholics. No I don’t.” He said. “It’s been 5 days since my last drink…”
Conversations like these unfold over tacos and punch when we’re having dinner at the Adult and Teen Challenge Men’s Center.
There’s new faces every 3rd Wednesday of the month when our small band of brothers show up to eat with the men and provide worship and a word from the Bible in their chapel.
There’s faces missing.
Sometimes they are dead.
Sometimes they give up
or give in and bolt.
Sometimes I run into them
at another mission
or they show up on a Sunday.
Often they text or call drunk.
Anguish.
Sorrow.
Fights.
Complaints.
Brusied.
Bit.
“Who has anguish? Who has sorrow? Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining? Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns, trying out new drinks. Don’t gaze at the wine, seeing how red it is, how it sparkles in the cup, how smoothly it goes down. For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake; it stings like a viper. You will see hallucinations, and you will say crazy things. You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea, clinging to a swaying mast. And you will say, “They hit me, but I didn’t feel it. I didn’t even know it when they beat me up. When will I wake up so I can look for another drink?” Proverbs 23:29-35
If this was the only witness in the battle to rescue and restore lives I’d despair of motivation.
But God is greater.
Christ is saving lives.
The Holy Spirit gives power.
Recovery is possible.
“I’ve been 13 years sober” one of our outreach brothers shares as he opens the chapel service up in prayer.
“200 days sober!” is announced among shouts and clapping as a young fighter receives a coin commemorating the victory.
Signs of hope.
A young man bent over in a chapel chair heaving in waves of soul bleeding tears as prayer and prophecy fill the room.
A grandma who has come out of a long season of debilitating sickness and suffering in her body is laying hands on young men. The tears of motherly love and heartfelt faith anoint the carpet of the chapel.
The words of deep and meaningful gratitude are spoken like priestly blessings over us as we are enveloped in hugs with eye to eye sincerity.
I return home and go to bed with unopened texts from addicts left to be opened for the morning’s prayers and pleas.
It will never end.
Get help now:
I Had My Back To It
I had my back to it the whole time.
The beauty unfolding like a master painter in the throes of illumination,
a conductor madly possessed
and the cellist arched back in ecstasy’s arrival.
I had my back to it the whole time.
Your words held tightly close
like a winning hand in the bluff,
sufferings choked back
with a bit lip tell.
I had my back to it the whole time.
The answer left hanging in the air
waiting for the plea of prayer,
rivers ready to burst the bank
at generosity’s beckoned call.
I had my back to it the whole time.
Wisdom yet discovered
for lack of the search,
gold veins in undug earth
and unfashioned iron
next to a cold forge.
I had my back to it
A closer friend
resuscitated soul
satisfied lover
or repentant wanderer
all missed because…
I had my back to it the whole time.
-Eric Blauer (7/19/23)
“Havlicek made the significant discovery that a saintly bishop’s ruminations on the cosmos in Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables inspired one of Vincent’s most famous works, The Starry Night:
Victor Hugo wrote, “He was there alone with himself, collected, tranquil, adoring, comparing the serenity of his own heart with the serenity of the skies, moved in the darkness by the visible splendours of the constellations, and the invisible splendour of God, opening his soul to the thoughts that fall from the Unknown. In such moments offering up his heart at the hour when the flowers of night inhale their perfume, lighted like a lamp in the centre of The Starry Night…”
-William Havlicek, Ph. D , author of “Van Gogh’s Untold Journey”
Fyodor Dostoyevsky:
“Love the animals – God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled. Do not trouble them – don’t harass them, don’t deprive them of their happiness, don’t work against God’s intent. Do not pride yourself on superiority to the animals; they are without sin, while you with your greatness defile the earth by your appearance on it and leave the traces of your foulness after you – alas, it is true of almost every one of us!”
Did we forget there is a battle raging for the lives and souls of men and women of all ages?
“You are My battle-ax and weapons of war: For with you I will break the nation in pieces; With you I will destroy kingdoms…” Jeremiah 51:20
I had a morning dream picture as I was meditating on my week of mission outreaches and ministry opportunities.
It was a picture of a man bearing only a large battle axe, throwing himself upon the shields of a hoard of enemies.
It looked like a desperate but defiant act. It was a call to action within the knowledge of a seemingly impossible scenario.
I’m in a lot of different circles of mission, ministry and mentoring and one of the most concerning challenges I see is the rarity of a battle focused warrior.
“The warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting; they remain in their strongholds; their strength has failed; they have become women; her dwellings are on fire; her bars are broken.” Jeremiah 51:30
There’s too many men that have lost their fighting edge, the spirit of war has been replaced with timid pursuits, easy endeavors and listless lives. The horn of battle is sounded and few are roused to alarm.
The enemies of all that is good, beautiful and true have seized the most meaningful places of true power and lasting influence and there are few that feel hot blood boiling within them to retake the ground lost or stolen.
“The fords have been seized, the marshes set on fire, and the fighting men are terrified.” Jeremiah 51:32
Blades have been turned into fishing gear, recreation has replaced rescuing and entertainment has distracted the regiments.
Meanwhile the cities and communities of America are smoldering battlefields of countless lives destroyed by every type of sin and suffering.
“King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me. He has set me aside like an empty dish; he has swallowed me like a monster; he filled his belly with my delicacies; he has vomited me out.” Jeremiah 51:34
The frontlines are desperately waiting for reinforcements as the war weary are being pressed to bayonet proximity.
Too many Christians have settled into a peace that’s really an illusion built out of compromise, complacency and culpability.
We need a fresh move of repentance that awaken us from lethargy and lukewarm affections and breaks through the comfortable addictions that have turned us from the causes of Christ.
I tire of roaming believers who seek churches like house hunters on HGTV instead of glory hungry soldiers seeking death defying assignments.
When did we breed out the New Testament apostolic and prophetic spirit and replaced it with shopping list religion?
The whore of Babylon is in the business of castration and hysterectomies. She reduces us to mere shifting shadows of the image of God we were created to enjoy and reveal in this dark age.
Our betraying deconstructions are not hidden to Jesus as we mimick the “Surely it isn’t I” around our Last Supper confessions like a Judas planning our great exit from the fellowship of the called and confirmed.
Doubt and even denial are not the sisters of betrayal. They are the stumblings of the faithful, not the hangings of the dead.
It is long past the time for revelry, it’s the hour of decision. Who do you serve: Self, Satan or the Savior?
“He is famous for breaking the spirit of the powers that be and the kings of the earth will know him as the Fearsome One!” Psalms 76:12
(Art: Frank Frazetta ‘The Destoyer’)
“I was able to eat that bread with almost no teeth.” Note to self: make sure to serve soft bread at the mission.
That aside, the Lord offered himself last night as the lamb meal in the house whose blood saves us from the Angel of death.
Matthew 26:26-28
“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
Judas, John, Peter…Jesus, all types of men gathered at the last supper. Men leaning into Jesus, men with dark secrets and evil intentions lying and leaning away from Christ. Some men asking other men to speak to Christ for them.
The story gives us…a night, a table, Passover rituals, bread, blood, sins and betrayal. These elements provoke deep questions about one’s own true state as faithful friend or one who has a heart that would turn from Jesus.
Jesus retells and remakes the Passover story with men in the house, at the table, on the eve of the ultimate Passover when the First born would face death, pour out his blood and offer himself as the bread and blood that would save us from death eternal.
Last night hungry men at the Union Gospel Mission feasted on Christ.
Not Quite Spent
To my eye
the beauty has withdrawn
the nectar sweet,
passed
Withered and drooping limbs
face fallen,
the glory has departed
Animating life
waiting to unfold elsewhere
the fresh hues of dawning light
draw younger glances
Faded and forgotten
the aging flower’s bloom
or so it seemed…
The Dusk
heralds the hummers
gathering hidden gold
rustling deeper
seeing honeyed hope
Being spent
a matter of perspective
old soul an offering
even to the end
Eric Blauer 7/10/23
One of the fuses that lit the American revolution was the issue of taxation. I can’t imagine what those revolutionaries would think about us now.
Patrick Henry’s final thoughts about the Stamp Act Written on the back of Henry’s copy of the Stamp Act Resolutions was a message to posterity
The within resolutions passed the House of Burgesses in May, 1765. They formed the first opposition to the Stamp Act and the scheme of taxing America by the British Parliament.
All the colonies, either through fear, or want of opportunity to form an opposition, or from influence of some kind or other, had remained silent.
I had been for the first time elected a Burgess a few days before, was young, inexperienced, unacquainted with the forms of the House, and the members that composed it.
Finding the men of weight averse to opposition, and the commencement of the tax at hand, and that no person was likely to step forth, I determined to venture, and alone, unadvised, and unassisted, on a blank leaf of an old law-book, wrote the within.
Upon offering them to the House violent debates ensued. Many threats were uttered, and much abuse cast on me by the party for submission. After a long and warm contest the resolutions passed by a very small majority, perhaps of one or two only.
The alarm spread throughout America with astonishing quickness, and the Ministerial party were overwhelmed.
The great point of resistance to British taxation was universally established in the colonies. This brought on the war which finally separated the two countries and gave independence to ours.
Whether this will prove a blessing or a curse, will depend upon the use our people make of the blessings which a gracious God hath bestowed on us. If they are wise, they will be great and happy. If they are of a contrary character, they will be miserable. Righteousness alone can exalt them as a nation.
Reader! whoever thou art, remember this; and in thy sphere practise virtue thyself, and encourage it in others.
– P. HENRY
https://www.redhill.org/primary-sources/patrick-henrys-resolutions-against-the-stamp-act/
I just saw a a Bicolored Sweat Bee in our flowers.
“The bicolored sweat bee (Agapostemon virescens) is a common native bee throughout much of the U.S. It is fairly easy to recognize because its head and thorax are metallic green and its abdomen is striped (usually). White and black stripes mean it’s a female, while yellow and black stripes mean it’s a male. However, some females can have a solid green abdomen…The bicolored sweat bee is a solitary ground nesting bee. Each spring the female will dig a tunnel in an open patch of ground. Off the tunnel will be several branches. After building her nest, the female will gather pollen, take it back to her nest, form it into a ball with a little nectar and place it in one of the branches before laying an egg and sealing off that branch so each egg will have its own “room.”
Although it is a solitary bee, the bicolored sweat bee will sometimes nest communally. In these cases, several females may share the same entrance tunnel but then build individual branches off the shared tunnel with each of those branches having additional branches for the female’s eggs. In many ways, this is similar to our apartment buildings where multiple families share the same entrance but the building itself is divided into multiple individual homes.” -Backyardecology.net (stock photo)
Ascending up in your beauty
burrowed deep in the folds
lost in the dustings of glory
carrying all I can hold
Enveloped and hidden
yet busy
unaware of all this life
being spread
A brief flight only intended
eternity whispers what’s said.
-Eric Blauer 7/3/23
A picture of the spiritual lives of a gathered people. All responding differently to the light upon them.
“Life happens above all in the garden, it isn’t so sad” -Vincent Van Gogh