What we teach

I was visiting a church recently and walked through the halls in the kids area and came upon this visual.  Is it any wonder the church is rendered so powerless today.   When I use the term “church” I define it as the body or as the group of people who believe the gospel of Jesus.  He did not come to give you a get out of hell ticket!!!  He came to give us life and freedom.  It is sad really that we teach little children this fear tactic as a way to get behavior conformity.  This threat does nothing but create pretenders.  I wish it was different.   All the way around.  I wish the teaching was different and the visual’s more love focused.  I am such a dreamer.  Joni

Tea with Jesus

Did you know the number of spiritual disciplines is up to sixty something.   New one invented daily.  I can now add one to the list.  Tea with Jesus.  Almost exclusively tea time is called in the middle of the night.  Tea time might be related to menapause and a consequence of  hormone disturbance.   That doesn’t really matter since God created hormones He is not surprised by anything.   I should also let you know this could be related to a new book I am reading called God in the Yard (Spiritual practice for the rest of us.) by l.l. barkat.   None the less, unable to sleep awhile ago, felt the Holy Spirit whisper come and have a cup of tea with Jesus its your new spiritual discipline.  And I did it.  And it was somewhere past wonderful.  No words were spoken by me or Him.  Just a great cup of tea a little candle light a little King James and I was blessed and ministered by Jesus.  It never ceases to amaze me what spiritual union can do to the “simple things” in life.  As a child you learn there are 7 colors to the rainbow.  As a believer you learn the spectrum is infinite.  Spirit union seems to expand everything.  Wide open spaces ever increasing.  Absolutely amazing.  Let it be and have a cup of tea.   Joni M.

Tina’s version of the Lord’s prayer

Hi Daddy,

I want to know you, show me who you really are.

You have given everyone the opportunity to know you too;

So, do what you think is best above ( in your reality) and below (my experiences).

Thank you for taking such good care of us, we are never in need.

Keep us aware of your forgiveness towards us so that we can live that forgiveness out towards others.

Show me how you see me so I won’t live by a false identity.  Give me decernment when the enemy is telling me lies.

I want your agenda for my life!

You can do anything you want!  I will trust you.

Your love is so beautiful that it has set aflame a burning passion in me!

Yes, You are my Daddy!

Wii worship

 Wii Worshiping!  

My hubby and I had been very busy planning our 1^st annual Wii Olympics for our daughter, niece, nephew and their friends.  My sweet man had purchased all sorts of cute things to give away as prizes and trophies as well as organizing the event.   

Finally the night of our Wii Olympics was here and my hubby with all his bounty was set for the event.  As I sat at the dining room table with the other “adults” to watch the competition as spectators, I was hit with a sudden realization.  Daddy (God) gently spoke to me.  As I watched my Sweet Man bowl, ping-pong, row, arch, chop and punch with those kiddos, I knew then that God was redefining my view of worship.  God started showing me the true meaning of Romans 12:1.  

      “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life- your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it  before God as an offering.  Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.”  

God kept repeating to me “Now THIS is worship!”  It has been several months now since our Wii Olympics, but God is still revealing more to me.  As I sat down to write this, I decided to look up Romans 12:1 in the Message Bible.  As I read the commentary from the translator, Eugene Peterson, God confirmed my revelation:  

….We keep trying to confine worship to the sanctuary- to preaching, prayers, and parish announcement, to religious experiences.  But God is commanding us to extend it to home, work, neighborhood, and leisure.  Worship is the style of life in which our bodies become living sacrifices, offered up before God. 

     People have different skills, different strengths, different sensibilities.  God has given us one another so that we may have a shared life.  None of us can live the abundant life as hermits.  Nor can we live to the glory of God if we carefully pick whom we’re willing to associate with.  All who live are God’s creation and parts of the body of Christ.  We’re members of one another.  We exist in a family, together, not alone. 

     And Here’s how God wants us to live in such a family: worshipfully. 

     Life is full of financial inequities, and worship involves a generous response to the economic needs of others….It’s the offering of our total economic selves to the glory and service of God.  It means a liberal and generous assessment of other people’s needs in relation to our own….Worship isn’t a religious performance we sit back and enjoy; it’s an act in which we participate.  And as we participate, we’re changed…..Either we’re conformed to the world or we’re transformed by God.  And worship is what he uses to bring about that transformation.  

Looking to the needs of others and letting God live through us to meet that need, now THIS is worship.  I now see every moment of everyday as an opportunity to worship…it is something to which I look forward.  God has shown me that meeting a need doesn’t just mean writing a check, but it is entering into the other person’s life, their pain, their need and just being  there for them….sometimes it may even take a game of Wii to show them they are truly loved.

Tina Blaney

Love is never far from Danger

This is a quote from a comment on Lifestream.org’s  blog page. It really helped me through a struggle I was in with trusting God.
I have experienced a lot of sudden and tragic deaths in my life. Right now, my men, my three living sons and my husband are off galavanting around the Rocky Mountains. I am home alone working and hanging out with friends. The first night they were gone I found myself gripped with fear. And it started with a thought. The thought was, if they have an accident a rock slide or a car wreck or…my mind when a million different ways all bad all ending in death or injury. I would be left all alone permanently. My next thought was I would die. I would die. And by this point, I am not physically feeling well. Imagine that. And the fear in my mind was suffocating me. I went for a walk I pulled weeds I tried to read. Found myself reading a post on my friend Wayne Jacobsen’s blog. This is the quote:

Comment by kent | 2010/07/31 at 14:13:02
With each and every passing day I come to embrace this reality more and more…that LOVE IS NEVER FAR FROM DANGER. And it seems that the deeper Father’s love goes in us, the deeper the bruising also. And that the limp we are left with can serve a wonderful purpose. It really is a paradox. If we respond to Father’s work in us during these painful times, we seem to always come out the other side more healed and whole than we were before the painful season came upon us. Even when a bit of the resulting pain remains. It’s a mystery.

That statement, Love is never far from danger, was straight from the Father. All of a sudden my imaginations that were horrible were still horrible but now God was in the picture. Where before He was absent, now I could see a rock slide and my loved ones were not alone, the Trinity was there in the picture. And if something happened to me while they were gone He was with me and they would be comforted by Him. We would live. I would live. All of sudden, like it was a surprise, I found myself trusting God with our lives. I really did. Trust. He is healing my distrust from the sudden and tragic losses of my past. I am amazed and I find it quite miraculous and mysterious. A bit of the resulting pain remains but its lost its power of gripping me in fear and directing my reactions out of the fear. Relaxing into trust is spine tingling. Bottom line is Love is a mystery and is never far from Danger. Lovely, beautiful, wonderful mystery. Let it be. Let it be. “Do not be afraid “is impossible in my human strength, but with God more than possible. Its a reality that blesses my socks off.
Joni Menard

Living loved begins with you…

Found a book  it is  called Practicing the Presence of People by Mike Mason.  This is just an excerpt from one little chapter.  Its wonderful let it soak in.

Loving Yourself
….Isn’t it true that the way to know myself is not to look in the mirror, but to love someone? Why then a chapter on loving myself?
Because your self, redeemed in Christ, is what you love with. (I love that line)
The self is the tool with which you practice the presence of others. If you are not good at being yourself, you won’t be good at letting others be who they are.
Consider Jesus’ command, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The commands of Jesus are not like the commands of a general to his army; they are not like human commands at all. Rather, Jesus’ commands are plain statements of truth. A light goes on and you see the truth of the thing, and then you begin to do it as naturally as breathing. If you do not first see the truth, you will never obey the command. You cannot.
Jesus’ second great commandment implies that we will love others only to the extent that we love ourselves. The command might be better understood by putting the words “You will” in front of it: “You will love your neighbor as yourself”. That is, the feelings you have toward yourself will inevitable be projected upon others. If you do not love yourself, you will not love your neighbor. If you are not real to yourself, no one else will be real to you either. This is not a command as we normally think of commands; rather, it is the way things are. It is a natural law. You will not and cannot treat others any better than you treat yourself. Why would you?
It is a monstrous lie to think that I can be anything to others that I am not to myself. If I am not gentle with myself, I will not be gentle with others. If I am not generous to myself, neither will I give to anyone else. If I am plagued with guilt, be it ever so subltly, then I will be  harsh and judgmental with others. Moreover everyone around me will be aware of my critical nature, while I myself will be the last to know.
To the servant who put his talent to good use and earned ten more, the Master said, “Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities: (Luke 1:17). The first small matter we must look to is ourselves. Yet how many people ever learn to take goood care of this one poor, small thing? We want to help and heal the whole world, but we will not start with ourselves.
How can we know if we love ourselves? what is the sign? Its a simple: We’ll have lives that are characterized by being warm and full inside, happy and thankful.
WHAT? Who ever heard of such foolishness! Warm and happy—-in a world like this? Nonsense?
Yes, the extremity of our reaction gives us away. The degree of our shock will register how thoroughly we have bought the lie that it is not okay to look after ourselves. Far from feeling warm and content and full of gratitude, we spend our days being stressed, insecure, angry, sullen, or numb with genteel denial. And in this condition we continue to tell ourselves that we can work, love, be productive, smile, help others, make a difference. But its’s all a sickening lie.
The way to make a difference in this world is to become what everyone else is not: happy and full of life. It’s not enough just to point the way; we get to become the way, as Jesus was. He made it possible for us to have “the full measure of {His} joy” within us ( John 17:13). Why aren’t we filling up our tanks? Is it because we won’t admit we are empty? Are we so proud and neurotic that we cannot even believe that joy—real joy, irrepressibly bubbbling over —-is deservedly ours? Shutting ourselves off from this fullness, we have nothing to share with anyone else. Moreover, if we’re not filliing up with joy ourselves, it’s guaranteed we’re taking it from others. We are robbing each other blind.

True Story

I got this as an email:

“THE SITUATION
In Washington, DC, at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes.  During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About 4 minutes later:

The violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At 6 minutes:

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At 10 minutes:

A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly.  The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent – without exception – forced their children to move on quickly.

At 45 minutes:

The musician played continuously.  Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while.  About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace.  The man collected a total of $32.

After 1 hour:

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded.  There was no recognition at all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was
Joshua Bell,
one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.  Two days before, Joshua
Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $200 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

This is a true story.  Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:

*In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

*If so, do we stop to appreciate it?

*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made . . .

How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?”

Heart 2 Head

I am becoming more convinced all the time, that awareness of God works from the ”heart” (center of my union) to my head, not the other way around.  This week I was convicted by the Holy Spirit of something that I held in my heart and He showed it to my head.  The result was I felt my heart melting.  And I remembered a promise from the Old Testament:  ¹⁹And I will give them one heart [a new heart] and I will put a new spirit within them; and I will take the stony [unnaturally hardened] heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh [sensitive and responsive to the touch of their God] (Amplified Exekiel 11:19).   Trusting God with our hearts is the most difficult thing to do as a human being.  The lie that He is not trustworthy is so ingrained into our brains that trusting Him with our deepest parts feels like suicide.  This is a powerful experience to those willing to jump.   It is healing and restorative of our souls.

joni

What More Could He Have Done?

This blog is a quote from “Good and Beautiful God” by James Ryan Smith. He is telling a story about how Brennan Manning got his name. It is a wonderful depiction of God’s self-sacrificing love demonstrated through the act of one friend giving up his life for another.

While growing up, his best friend was Ray. The two of them did everything together: bought a car together as teenagers, double-dated together, went to school together and so forth. They even enlisted in the Army together, went to boot camp together and fought on the frontlines together. One night while sitting in a foxhole, Brennan was reminiscing about the good old days in Brooklyn while Ray listened and ate a chocolate bar. Suddenly a live grenade came into the foxhole. Ray looked at Brennan, smiiled, dropped his chocolate bar and threw himself on the live grenade. It exploded, killing Ray, but Brennan’s life was spared.

When Brennan became a priest he was instructed to take on the name of a saint. He thought of his friend, Ray Brennan. So he took on the name Brennan. Years later he went to visit Ray’s mother in Brooklyn. They sat up late one night having tea when Brennan asked her, “Do you think Ray loved me?” Mrs. Brennan got up off the couch, shook her finger in front of Brennan’s face and shouted, “Jesus Christ–what more could he have done for you?!” Brennan said that at that moment he experienced an epiphany. He imagined himself standing before the cross of Jesus wondering, Does God really love me? and Jesus’ mother Mary pointing to her son, saying, “Jesus Christ–what more could he have done for you?”

The cross of Jesus is God’s way of doing all he could for us. And yet we often wonder, Does God really love me? Am I important to God? Does God care about me? And Jesus’ mother responds, “What more could he have done for you?” . . . We were made in God’s image, and he willingly sacrificed himself for others. The more we come to know this God, and the more we understand our true nature, the more natural self-sacrifice will become for us.”

Picture frame

This picture was posted by a friend of ours on facebook, thank you Shyne.   I promptly sent it to the author of “So You Don’t Want to Go to Church” aka the Jake book, Wayne Jacobsen.   He probably gets a gazillion of these photo’s of church signs saying amzing things.  In fact Wayne has referred to some pretty horrific letters from believers all over the world blaming him and The Shack authors for leading millions astray and the eternal punishment for them will be severe.  I really liked his response.   Which is funny too.  But it was “gee I hope their wrong”.  And that honestly was my first thought when I saw this sign.  Gee I hope their wrong.  If church experience here is what heaven is, I so don’t want to go there!!!I agree with Wayne I wish we would not use the word “church” ( Jesus only used the word twice) for what it really is, and that is body of Christ.  SO since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed & marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body – Let’s just go ahead *BE WHAT WE WERE MADE TO BE* without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t. ~Romans 12:5 **That includes comparing myself to the person who came up with the words on this sign.  That’s a hard one for me, sometimes my arrogance amazes even me.  Joni