Transforming Together: Authentic Spiritual Mentoring

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

13-8 "Pray IN THE SPIRIT, at all times, on every occasion!" Eph 6:18

Sunday, January 27, 2013

13-7 The Whole Armor of GOD! Eph 6

Saturday, January 19, 2013

13-6 "STAND FIRM!" Eph. 6

Friday, January 18, 2013

13-5 "Who's our enemy, anyway?" Eph 6

Shoes....and more...

So, I'm sitting in a Starbucks somewhere in Portland, Oregon. The day is lovely; a pale winter sky, a light veil of thinning clouds....really nice on any day but especially welcomed in the dead of winter.  The comfort of one of the 'nice' chairs at Starbucks supports my back 'just so' as I navigate my mac notebook on crossed legs. As I look around it's obvious to me, as it is to those who glance at, then focus on my feet, that I'm from "somewhere else." Everyone, and I mean everyone (even the guy in the oversized red- tank-top and florescent green nike baggy shorts) is wearing boots...except me. There are leather boots with the zippered sides and pointed toes; the moccasin boots lined with dyed sheep-wool, the hunting boots with rubbered soles, the construction boot, black, scuffed and durable. There's even a guy in line with those fishing boots that are laced and h-i-g-h.  Everyone, literally, is wearing boots...except me. Coming from the Valley of the Sun in Arizona there's not a real need for boots...so I've elected to invest my shoe budget in 'cute' shoes. Right now I'm wearing my dark brown ones in honor of the winter season, right? I mean, they are brown....with a really cute buckle nestled right on top, showcasing the open-toes where my now nyloned big toe is peeking out in it's burnt red polish.  In Arizona it's cute and fashionable. Here it's eye-catching, and not in a good way.  Even as I write this I feel eyes passing over, reviewing and then gazing at my open-toed brown shoes...and not in a good way...

Different. Standing out. Unique. Words we hear daily. Words we like to think that might even describe us from time to time. After all, what's so great about being like everyone else?  Isn't that the core of 'fashion'....to create something new? different? eye-catching?  Yes......and no....if we're honest w/ourselves....being different causes others to notice, to glance, to look, to gaze....and to judge.

In most scenario's of life that's the goal: to be looked at...in the 'good' sense of the word. But what about spiritually? Do we truly, really desire to be 'different' to have others 'look at us' with eyes of contempt, perhaps disgust or even hatred?

We're called to be "new, different, transformed" in Jesus, aren't we? We quote Scripture, (or at least read it) that speaks of  that change, from the inside-out.   But do we truly want that and if we truly do, why do we try so hard to be like what is all around us? 

So, as you're sitting where you are, what are others seeing? Someone who looks like, talks like, thinks like, acts like, processes like, who is just like them? Or does their glance catch the glimmer of a 'buckle', the peek of deep color, the hope of something other than black? 

The choice, as always, is yours.

Romans 12:1,2 The Message
"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. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it w/o even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the Inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God bring the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you." 

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

13-4 "God's will in the workplace!" Eph 6:5

Monday, January 14, 2013

13-3 God's Will for FAMILIES: Eph.6:1

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

13-2 God's will for Husbands and Wives Eph 5

Thursday, January 3, 2013

13-1 "What is God's will for us, anyway? Let's find out!!" Eph 5:15