"Choose Life" Mastermind Series #1

19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,

Introduction

THERE ARE 2 WONDERFUL VISIONS OF RESURRECTION NEW LIFE THAT SPRING

FORTH FROM THE PENS OF 2 OF GOD’S AWESOMELY CREATIVE WRITERS AS WE

GATHER IN THIS 2nd SUNDAY OF EASTER CELEBRATION…THE FIRST IS OF A BRIDGE

FROM LIFE BEFORE TO NEW LIFE NAMED HERE:

“A bridge of silver wings stretches from the dead ashes of an unforgiving nightmare to the jeweled vision of a life started anew.” ― Aberjhani

THIS IS THE OFFER OF NEW LIFE, &FORGIVENESS WHERE HURT AND UNFORGIVENESS

ONCE HAD SWAY.....A NEW LIFE THAT BEGINS WHERE THE LENTEN JOURNEY BEGAN

IN ASHES AND SADNESS FOR OUR HUMAN CONDITION......ABERJHANI’S IS ONE

POET’S TRIBUTE AND VISION OF WHAT NEW LIFE OFFERS TO US BELOVEDS.....

A SECOND ONE IS OFFERED BY PRIEST/WRITER AND CONTEMPLATIVE BRENNAN

MANNING....AND HE CAPTURES FOR US THE VERY ESSENCE OF WHAT LIES AHEAD

FOR CHRISTIANS THE WORLD OVER, THE CHALLENGE TO LIVE OUT CHRIST’S CLAIMS

ON OUR LIVES, THE CHALLENGE TO BASK IN THE GLORY OF THE RESURRECTION AND

YET PULL OTHERS ON AND OUT INTO THIS NEW LIFE TOO....BRENNAN MANNING

DESCRIBES OUR CHALLENGE THIS WAY:

“For me the most radical demand of Christian faith lies in summoning the courage to say yes to the present risenness of Jesus Christ.” ― Brennan Manning

A PRESENT RISENNESS IN CHRIST, THOUGH WAR WAS RAGING BEFORE EASTER DAY

AND RAGES ON TODAY TOO, A PRESENT RISENNESS THOUGH HOPES CAN HARDEN

ALMOST AS FAST AS THEY CAN BLOSSOM.....A PRESENT RISENNESS IN CHRIST IS OUR

CHALLENGE BELOVEDS.....

THIS MASTERMIND SERIES THAT WE WILL ENGAGE OVER THE COMING 5 SUNDAYS

TAKES SERIOUSLY THE NOTION THAT OUR GOD IS IN CHARGE OF

EVERYTHING.......AND THAT IN EVERYTHING AND IN EVERY WAY GOD OFFERS US NEW

LIFE IN THE PRESENT RISENNESS OF CHRIST THAT WE CALL AND NAME THE

RESURRECTION......HOW BEAUTIFULLY THE PSALMIST REMINDS US THAT WE PURSUE

OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD BY EVEN REFLECTING ON WHAT GOD’S OWN

THOUGHTS MIGHT BE......WE CELEBRATE THAT GOD CAN RECEIVE US WITH ALL OUR

CURIOSITIES, OUR DESIRES AND OUR HOPES.....THE PSALMIST CELEBRATES THIS

WAY:

Psalm 139:17–18 ESV

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.

YOUR MIND MATTERS TO GOD

THEOLOGIAN ERWIN LUTZER WROTE:

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WORLDLINESS AND GODLINESS IS A RENEWED

MIND

WHEN WE FLIP THROUGH THE PAGES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT AND TURN TO

PAUL’S LETTER TO THE PHILIPPIANS WHERE IT READS:

Philippians 4:6–7 (ESV)

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

WE BEGIN TO APPRECIATE THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR MINDS TO OUR CREATOR,

WHAT’S MORE IS THAT GOD’S WANT OUR MINDS AND HEARTS AT PEACE WITH JESUS

CHRIST AT OUR CENTER......THOUGH OUR MINDS OUR ENGAGED IN A MIGHTY BATTLE

DAY TO DAY AND HOUR TO HOUR.......

OUR JOURNEY TODAY AND IN THE 5 SUNDAYS AHEAD WILL TAKE SERIOUSLY THIS

BATTLE IN THE LIVING LIGHT OF THE RESURRECTION.....THE BATTLE ITSELF IS REAL,

ONE THEOLOGIAN WROTE ABOUT THIS BATTLE THIS WAY:

THERE IS A BATTLE FOR YOUR MIND. EVEN THOUGH YOU SEEK THE LORD WITH

YOUR WHOLE HEART, YOUR THOUGHTS ARE GOING TO WANDER OFF FROM

KEEPING YOUR ATTENTION ON THE LORD. YOU’RE ENCOURAGED TO

UNDERSTAND

WHEN YOUR THOUGHTS STRAY AWAY. THAT THIS HAPPENS TO EVERYONE

HOW TO USE THE JESUS PRAYER TO CENTER YOURSELF AGAIN

IN ONE OF OUR EARLIEST GENERATIONS OF CHRISTIANS, CALLED THE DESERT

MOTHERS AND FATHERS, THEY DETERMINED THAT ONE WAY TO GET CENTERED ON

JESUS AGAIN, WHEN OUR THOUGHTS WANDER OR WE GET DISTRACTED IS TO USE

THE JESUS PRAYER....THE WORDS OF THE JESUS PRAYER ARE SIMPLE, YET

PROFOUND.....AS YOU CHOOSE AND RE-CHOOSE TO BRING JESUS BACK TO THE

CENTER OF YOUR LIFE, YOUR HEART AND YOUR MIND TRY THIS IN THE WEEK AHEAD,

USE THIS PRAYER AS A MANTRA TO REPEAT AGAIN AND AGAIN:

“LORD JESUS CHRIST, SON OF GOD, HAVE MERCY ON ME

IT IS IN PRAYING THIS PRAYER, THAT MY HOPE IS: YOU WILL BE ABLE TO FILL YOUR

HEART AND MIND WITH THE POWER OF THE RESURRECTION....THE POWER TO KNOW

CHRIST LIVES IN A WORLD AND TIME WHERE SO MUCH DEATH AND DESTRUCTION

COMPETES FOR THE ENERGIES OF OUR HEARTS AND MINDS ALL DAY LONG....

IT IS MY PRAYER, THAT WHEN YOUR PRAYER IS…THE JESUS PRAYER..YOU WILL

EXPERIENCE AGAIN, THE PEACE THAT SURPASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING

YOU WILL GAIN A SENSE OF HOPE WHERE DESPAIR MIGHT OTHERWISE THREATEN

YOU.......

IT IS MY PRAYER THAT AS YOUR PRAY, THIS COMPELLING AND SIMPLE PRAYER, YOU

WILL GAIN A SENSE OF CONFIDENCE WHERE FEAR MAY OTHERWISE GRIP YOU

WITH HESITATION AND POWERLESSNESS....THIS JESUS PRAYER, THEN, CAN BE A

TOOL FOR YOUR MENTAL STRENGTH, YOUR SPIRITUAL ASSISTANCE, AND YOUR FAITH

FORTIFYING SORTA’ LIKE KELLOG’S CORN FLAKES FOR YOUR SOUL

REAL RESURRECTION HELPS US CHOOSE LIFE

MY PRESBYTERIAN COLLEAGUE LOOKED OVER HER LIFE TO REFLECT ON THE PLACES

SHE NEEDED THE FULL IMPACT OF CHRIST’S RESURRECTION TO REIGN AS REAL

RESURRECTION FOR HER......SHE WROTE ABOUT IT SO POIGNANTLY THAT I HOPE IT

HELPS YOU TOO....I HOPE IT HELPS YOU SEE PLACES IN YOUR OWN LIVES WHERE

RESURRECTION CAN RENEW, RE-SPARK AND RE-IGNITE YOUR WALK WITH THE GOOD

LORD TOO.....REV KARA ROOT WROTE OF RESURRECTION:

It had better be real.

As real as the contractions that ripped new life from my body.

As real as the rattle that strangled life out of JESUS’ OWN BODY.

I've GOT no use for a spiritual resurrection.

If Hope for the drowned, damaged, disfigured, disowned,

is emotional ease,

if the pain of flesh and bones

is answered with mystical comfort,

if Guns are stronger than god, then count me out.

But tell me that Death Loses,

tell me that Life Prevails,

and not in the abstract, but in pulsing blood, flowing tears, thumping heart,

then the Resurrection is Hope for us all.

FOR ISRAEL IN THE TIME OF DEUTERONOMY TO “CHOOSE LIFE” MEANT TO CHOOSE

TO ADHERE TO THE LAWS OF GOD, THE LAWS OF YAHWEH THAT HAD BEEN PUT

BEFORE THEM.......TO CHOOSE LIFE MEANT TO SERIOUSLY, ARDENTLY AND

PASSIONATELY PUT FORTH THE WAYS THOSE LAWS LIVED IN THEIR HEARTS.....

ONE COMMENTATOR ON THE TEXT WROTE:

THE WORD ‘LIFE’ HERE HAS REFERENCE TO MUCH MORE THAN PHYSICAL LIFE

OR THE BEATING OF THE HEART. THE LANGUAGE OF LIFE INCLUDES THE IDEAS

OF GOOD HEALTH, DAILY BLESSINGS, HAPPINESS AND FRUITFULNESS. IT

MEANS TO BE STRONG IN BODY AND MIND AND SPIRIT, TO THRIVE IN ONE’S

PERSONAL LIFE AND IN ONE’S RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHERS......

THESE ARE ALL COMPONENT PARTS OF WHAT IT MEANS FOR US TO LIVE

ABUNDANTLY IN THE LIGHT OF THE RESURRECTION....

OVER THESE 5 WEEKS TO COME WE WILL EXPLORE THESE AND MANY MORE

DIMENSIONS OF RESURRECTION LIVING IN CHRIST’S LIGHT.....

CHOOSING RESURRECTION LIFE IS CHOOSING VICTORY

PHILLIPS BROOKS, THE FAITHFUL PREACHER, AMERICAN EPISCOPAL CLERGYMAN

AND AUTHOR, LONG THE RECTOR OR HEAD PASTOR OF BOSTON’S TRINITY CHURCH

AND THE ONE WHO WILL BE EVER REMEMBERED FOR VISITING BETHLEHEM DURING

A CHRISTMAS SEASON AND COMING HOME TO WRITE, “O LITTLE TOWN OF

BETHLEHEM” SUMMED UP THIS RESURRECTION LIFE AND VICTORY THAT WE SHARE

THE GREAT EASTER TRUTH, HE WROTE, IS NOT THAT WE ARE TO LIVE NEWLY

AFTER DEATH, BUT THAT WE ARE TO BE NEW HERE AND NOW BY THE POWER OF

THE RESURRECTION

A SECOND AND SOLID ENCOURAGEMENT WAS GIVEN TO US AGES AGO BY OUR MOST

FAMOUS

PROTESTANT REFORMER, THE FAITHFUL AND WITTY MARTIN LUTHER....IT IS TRUE,

CHRIST’S VICTORY, BELOVEDS, IS THE OVERCOMING OF MORE THAN JUST DEATH,

IT’S THE OVERCOMING OF THE LAW, SIN, OUR FLESH, THE WORLD, THE DEVIL, DEATH

HELL AND ALL EVILS, AND THIS IS HIS VICTORY HE’S GIVEN TO US...

THIS MASTERMIND SERIES IS DEDICATED TO THE WAYS OUR MINDS WILL SOMETIMES

PLAY TRICKS ON US.....ON THE WAYS OUR MINDS MUST BE USED TO POINT US TO, IN

AND THROUGH THE WAY OF FAITH....A FEW SHORT YEARS AGO, A TIME MAGAZINE

COVER STORY ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING CARRIED THIS HEADLINE, “BE WORRIED. BE

VERY WORRIED!” THE ARTICLE ITSELF ENCOURAGED PEOPLE TO BECOME BETTER

STEWARDS OF OUR ENVIRONMENT......OUR PRESENT CHALLENGE TO KEEP FACING

THIS GLOBAL PANDEMIC SEEMS TO ACCEPT THAT WE WILL ALL WALK AROUND WITH

A MEASURE OF ANXIETY WHETHER WE’RE MASKED OR NOT, AND WE ALL KNOW THAT

GLOBAL TERRORISM REMAINS A THREAT IN SPITE OF VARIOUS EFFORTS THAT HAVE

BEEN BROKEN UP, BROKEN DOWN AND ACTUALLY PREVENTED FROM HAPPENING....

OURS IS A NEW AGE OF ANXIETY IT SEEMS…NEW LIFE IN THE RESURRECTION HASN’T

COME TOO SOON FOR US BELOVEDS.....

IS THERE BAD NEWS IN THE STORIES FROM LAST WEEK? SURELY THERE IS

ARE WE LIKELY TO GET MORE BAD NEWS IN THE WEEK AHEAD? POSSIBLY IF NOT

PROBABLY WE WILL.....

THOUGH WE CAN’T STOP BAD NEWS FROM COMING IN......WE CAN MASTER OUR

MINDS, WE CAN ADJUST OUR REACTIONS, WE CAN EMPLOY TOOLS THAT HELP OUR

FAITH FULFILL US IN WAYS THAT IT MAY NEVER HAVE BEFORE.....

THE RESURRECTION TEACHES US AS CHRISTIANS, BELOVEDS, THAT AS MY FRIEND

ADAM HAMILTON HAS WRITTEN, “KNOWING THAT JESUS WILL HAVE THE FINAL WORD

SHOULD GIVE US COURAGE WHEN WE FACE THE PROBLEMS OF OUR TIMES, IN OUR

FAMILIES, IN OUR COMMUNITIES…IN ALL OUR TODAYS AND ALL OUR TOMORROWS”

JESUS CHRIST WOULD NOT HAVE US HIDE OUT IN A CAVE.....OR STAY SECLUDED IN

OUR HOMES.......CHRISTIANS DON’T HAVE TO BURY OUR HEADS AND SAY WE DON’T

CARE ABOUT THE PROBLEMS WE FACE......

RESURRECTION IS GOD’S SIGN, BELOVEDS, OF VICTORY OVER DEATH, SIN AND EVIL....

RESURRECTION IS GOD’S ASSURANCE THAT WHEN WE SING:

MY HOPE IS BUILT ON NOTHING LESS

THAN JESUS’ BLOOD AND RIGHTEOUSNESS

I DARE NOT TRUST THE SWEETEST FRAME,

BUT WHOLLY LEAN ON JESUS’ NAME

ON CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK I STAND, ALL

OTHER GROUND IS SINKING SAND

ALL OTHER GROUND IS SINKING SAND...

WHEN WE SING IT, WE CAN BE ASSURED, WE CAN BE LIFTED UP.....WE CAN STAND

TALL IN OUR FAITH AND NOT GIVE IN TO SADNESS AND ALL THE BAD NEWS THAT

SEEMS TO KEEP COMING........

HELP US O LORD GUARD OUR MINDS FROM WORRY.....HELP US TRULY, DEEPLY AND

SINCERELY TRUST YOU, O GOD, WHEN ALL ELSE AROUND US SEEMS TO BE IN

PERIL......HELP US, O GOD, USE OUR MINDS TO GLORIFY YOU.......SHINE YOUR

GLORIOUS, RESURRECTION LIGHT SO ALL MAY SEE AND SENSE AND FEEL YOUR

POWERFUL RESURRECTION HOPE THAT LIFTS ALL HEARTS AND MINDS THAT RECEIVE

IT.....ESPECIALLY YOUR BELOVEDS CONNECTED WITH OUR FAITH COMMUNITY THE

UNITED CHURCH OF MONTBELLO....LET US PRAY......

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