Here I Am

Sue sent an e-mail a few weeks ago and tacked on at the end of it she wrote, "Don't be afraid." It wasn't exactly in context with the rest of her e-mail so I paused and thought, "What does that mean?" Two days later I read in Mark: 5:36, "Don't be afraid. Just have faith." Then later that week as I was driving by a church in my neighborhood, the sign outside read, "Don't be afraid."

When I asked Sue about it later she said, "I was ready to hit the 'send' key without that in there, and he literally took over my fingers. That's why I didn't say anything else in explanation–I didn't really have an explanation."

"What does it feel like to have your own personal burning bush?"

Pastor Mike had an awesome sermon (How to Stay Calm in a Stormy World) on fear and he talked about how some of us have fears of our dreams not coming true.

Some fears are okay, some fears are learned. I fear snakes, dogs running at me (or maybe dogs in general these days) and depending on what it is I sometimes fear the known and the unknown.

One thing I don't fear: the truth. Just tell me the truth.

In the past I've said I just want to hear the burning bush.

What is your burning bush?

When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to look, God called to him from within the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.” (Exodus 3:4)

Seize the J

This is the kind of fast day I'm after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts.

What I'm interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.

Do this and the lights will turn on,
and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.

You'll call out for help and I'll say, "Here I am."

Isaiah 58:6-9 (The Message)