Through and Through
The New Testament envisions the Church being thoroughly saturated with ⏤ marinated in ⏤ the character and ways of Jesus. We take the Father's name. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. I think our sacraments point to this. In baptism, we are fully immersed into God's name (Father, Son, and Spirit). And in the Eucharist, we take Jesus's body and blood into the deepest parts of us. In Christ, and Christ in us. Through and through.
Status
And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name. ⏤ Phil. 2:8-9
At some point, money and agency are no longer matters of survival or even comfort. They morph into wealth and power, seized to ratchet up status. Worldly status. By contrast, Kingdom status comes from giving away (love is the gift of self), then receiving from God.
Face to Face and Side by Side
Some interactions are face-to-face. Your attention's on me, and I'm focused on you. Other times we're side-by-side, looking at the same thing and sharing our thoughts about it. With God, we need both. I need to see him seeing me. And, he and I need to exchange perspectives on what fills our view. Face-to-face and side-by-side will lead to shoulder-to-shoulder⏤participating together, working for something better.
- love
- Holy Spirit
- humility
- church
- politics & society
- mission & witness
- holiness
- parable & metaphor
- identity
- eternal life
- doubt & deconstruction
- leadership
- grace
- justice
- scripture
- spiritual life
- advent & christmas
- poverty & compassion
- imagination & creativity
- technology & ai
- knowing God
- human dignity
- faith & trust
- incarnation & cross
- kingdom of God
- community
- reconciliation
- spiritual formation
- epistemology
- prayer
- gratitude
- culture
- creation & nature
- discipleship