Journey 2009

Happy New Year . . .???
For some yes. For others no. Praying for Shalom is always good . . .

I will be wrapping-up "The 4 R's" with Reconcilliation later this month. I have started on it but I want to give it due, in-depth thought as the subject touches many aspects of the Journey. Some of those aspects will make some uncomfortable. All of the apsects bring their own challenges.

Forgetting what lay behind (but not the lessons learned or wisdom gained), I press on . . .

For 2009:

Something that resonates with me is what my friend Martin Scott brought to a small group of us about 2 years ago. And it is something I belive very revelant for this time:


Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Caesar Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, and Annas and Caiaphas high priests, the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. John went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, "He is a voice calling out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way for the Lord! Make his paths straight! Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be leveled. The crooked ways will be made straight, and the rough roads will be made smooth. Everyone will see the salvation that God has provided.'"
(Luk 3:1-6)

Things may seem to be out of control. Doubt and uncertainty around every corner. The shadow of fear seems to obscure all that is light and casts a cold, deathly pall of gloom upon everything.
Most who are in power either flaunt their corruptness or show little concern for the oppressed.
"Religious" leaders show more concern for keeping the 'status quo'; maintaining their "castles" (and keeping the "peasants" in their place) rather than developing a Kingdom vision/mission and equipping (and freeing) the body of believers.

BUT . . . All of the above is not the last word. For The Word has come. To those in the wilderness (the secret places, the hidden places. Places that are scorned, disdained or deemed "not important" by those of the world). To those who are seeking and listening, they know that the things happening are not the final "say so". No matter how crooked the path may seem, no matter how deep the valley or how high the mountain . . . The Word is in control and there is nothing impossible for The Word. "The Word" has a name . . . Emmanuel . . . Yeshua . . . Jesus.
His word shook all that could be shaken and broke all that could be broken.
The shaking and the breaking continues for 2009 . . . but do not fear. Lo, raise up your heads and look high. Your redemption draws nigh.