A Letter from Jail

-

In Honor of MLK Day:
T. S. Elliot said,
"The last temptation is the greatest treason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason."
Are the disciples of Jesus around the world too comfortable today?
Are we too passionate?
Are we too passionate about the wrong things?
What is the quickest way to get Christians committed to Jesus for the right reasons?
 
Letter From A Birmingham Jail
Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators."' But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contests. Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent--and often even vocal--sanction of things as they are.
But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust.
Perhaps I have once again been too optimistic. Is organized religion too inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world? Perhaps I must turn my faith to the inner spiritual church, the church within the church, as the true ekklesia and the hope of the world. But again I am thankful to God that some noble souls from the ranks of organized religion have broken loose from the paralyzing chains of conformity and joined us as active partners in the struggle for freedom.
Martin Luther King
Intensive Daily Bible Reading

If you have ten minutes, read Jesus from the Gospels.

(Read prayerfully seeking guidance from Jesus for your personal situation.)

If you have thirty minutes, read Jesus and the New Testament selection.

If you have forty minutes, read Jesus, the New Testament and a Psalm selection.

If you have an hour, read all the readings.

Think of this time as an intimate conversation with your Father in Heaven.

Listen for something of His love from His heart to yours today.

 

Date:
1/19/13
 

Read a chapter of Jesus :Matthew 19. 

Read a chapter from Acts:19.

Read a chapter from this New Testament Book:1 Corthinians 4.

Read a paragraph from a Holy Spirit inspired older teacher to a younger teacher:2 Timothy 1.3-14

Read a verse about the beauty of the Word of God:Psalm 119.19

Read a couple of chapters from the Old Testament:Genesis 36,37

Read a chapter from Wisdom Literature:Job 19

Read a Psalm:17

Read a few verses from Proverbs:19.1-4

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

9.4- Broken eggs.

-
Image
9.4- Broken eggs. I had been warned Don't try to carry too much in from the grocery store at once. Learn the hard way or the easy way. Why does the only thing that falls off is the most fragile? The carton was crushed. Several eggs were broken. I have learned to keep looking when a little frustration comes to stay alert. Some good can come out of something bad. Getting laid off from the wrong job can lead to the right job. Getting bumped from the wrong flight to get the right flight, five minutes later plus a free flight. Now I watch for the turn and learn from frustrating little things. Broken eggs. Scrambled eggs. Romans 12 14  Bless those who persecute  [ q ] you; bless and do not curse.   15  Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.   16  Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be  [ r ] haughty in mind, but  [ s ] associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.   17  Never repay evil for evil to anyone.  [ t ] Respect what is right
Read more

9.2- There was this grasshopper who appeared to be very old and very wounded.

-
 9.2- There was this grasshopper who appeared to be very old and very wounded. He drug himself along. Where he was amazed me. On the ground level at the gas station near Gordon Texas was dirt and oil and the danger of feet and tires. As I pumped 39.30 worth of fuel I wondered how did he get out of the dirt and danger to the safety of the top of the gas pump? As I get older I sometimes feel I am dragging along like a grasshopper. My spirit is fueled by seeing how my life includes my maker providing safety for me by the help of family, friends and strangers. Two such are my nephew, Lynn And Sheri Luttrell. He is a prof. at ACU and she the owner and leader of stepping Stones school. Got to spent two days of fun, 42 and homemade ice cream last week. Ecclesiastes 12. 12  Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years approach when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”;   2  before the sun and the light, the moon and the stars are darkened
Read more

9.3- I have been given a bed to go to sleep in where a window is high and laying on my back I can see

-
 9.3- I have been given a bed to go to sleep in where a window is high and laying on my back I can see the moon at times. Flat of my back I can choose to think of the maker of the moon. A space craft from India landed there yesterday near the south pole of the moon where they think there may be water. Once the greatest human who ever lived faced his hardest days. He spoke words of steady trust and submission to his loving heavenly Father, maker of heaven and earth. "If possible may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." Matthew 26. 39  And He went a little beyond  them , and fell on His face and prayed, saying,  “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You  will .”   40  And He *came to the disciples and *found them sleeping, and He *said to Peter,  “So, you  men  could not keep watch with Me for one hour?   41  Keep watching and praying, so that you do not come into temptation; the spirit is  [ p ] willing,
Read more