Monday, June 26, 2006

And that has made all the difference. : "what is the emerging church? Postmodernity"

A Little Searching and we caught up with Jess Moody. Thanks to Natala for drawing him into cyberspace (though I suspect he is there all the time).

And that has made all the difference. : "what is the emerging church? Postmodernity": "Anonymous said...

Noted that you mentioned me. Doris and I are retired, but working all the time. Old Jess Moody is eighty, and preaching every Sunday, and will be teaching at Palm Beach Atlantic (The university I founded 38 years ago.)Everything is great. We were blown out of our condo on the seventeenth floor, and are now living happily in a new condo here in West Palm Beach. Thanks for quoting me. Love to you, and praying deep, healing prayers in your behalf. I am expecting a miracle. You are special...Jess Moody, 3630 Whitehall Drive, W. Palm Beach, FL"

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Moody Blog: Jessays

Moody Blog: Jessays

Jess Moody last posted here in March, but it is worth reading - anything by Jess Moody is worth reading/hearing/celebrating.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Collecting my Thoughts: 02/01/2004 - 02/29/2004

It is good to see my friend's life remembered anywhere in the blogsphere. Thanks for the tribute:

http://collectingmythoughts.blogspot.com/2004/02/238-keep-your-friendsthe-columbus.html

My own offering is on my principle blog: Georgia on Pastortomsims.com

Saturday, June 03, 2006

The Grand Courtship

(Jeremiah 31:3 KJV) The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

Everlasting love. It is as much of a quality as it is an expression of duration. In fact, what makes God’s love endure is that it is durable, patient, passionate, and aggressive. That is the character of His love. God actively pursues the object of His love in the way described by Francis Thompson in his immortal poem, “The Hound of Heaven.”

God appears to us of old with this romantic word of wooing, He has been loving us all along. It is new only by its freshness. “Yes, I have loved you …” He affirms with conviction and passion, “and my love never ends.”

Not only does He love us, but He courts us. With loving kindness He reaches out to us and draws us to Himself. Loving kindness is an inadequate English translation of a Hebrew word, which is best translated, “covenant love.” It means that God’s own character, word, and integrity are at stake and that He loves us simply because He has chosen and committed to do so. He will not back down. He is relentless in loving us. It is about who He is that He loves so deeply.

God is a jealous lover—not in the immature sense of one who is insecure, but with the confidence of one who knows that He is the only one for us and that all other suitors are bent on our destruction. The jealousy of God is selfless and generous. He will settle for no less than the best for us.

Heroes and Overcomers

Real Heroes are Overcomers!

32And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. – (Hebrews 11:32-34, The Message, Copyright 2002, Eugene Peterson)

People who overcome great obstacles make great heroes. We stand back observing their lives and find hope that we can also overcome. People who seemingly live without problems offer us little encouragement. In our ignorance of their true struggles, we chalk up their successes to luck, privilege, or fate. The heroes of faith were people who faced tragedy, distress, doubts, and even disaster. Staring death in the face, the heroes of the Old Testament harbored a hope that God’s anointed would some day rise on the scene of human history as the champion of all who would follow Him to victory.

Hebrews 11 is our personal Easter story. Gathered in the grandstands of faith history are all the heroes of the past, present, and future. They are cheering for you as you run the difficult race that is yours and yours alone. Ahead of you, on the track, and yet somehow running beside you is your champion. Jesus has already finished the course and won the prize. He absorbed death in His own body and destroyed it.

Don’t look at your problems. Stop focusing on them with dizzying gaze. They do not represent the totality of your reality. Take courage from the overcoming heroes of the past and look to Jesus. Death has been conquered in Him and nothing else shall ever hinder you from the prize if you are willing to go for it.

1Do you see what this means--all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running--and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. 2Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed--that exhilarating finish in and with God--he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. 3When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!

(Hebrews 12:1-3, The Message - Copyright 2002, Eugene Peterson)