Monday, August 27, 2007

Rainy morning

Isaiah 11 (NIV)

1
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -

3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;

4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

5 Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling [a] together;
and a little child will lead them.

7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,
and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.

9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.


Hosea 6:3 (NAS)


"So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD
His going forth is as certain as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the rain,
Like the spring rain watering the earth."

Sunday, August 26, 2007

News

Children News - international news about children.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

from USA Today: Food for Thought

My husband found this article in USA Today. Food for thought.

"Culture-blind"

More from Children Matter:

"Understanding what Jesus says about children is at the heart of being a true disciple of Jesus." (p. 39)

"How could Jesus help their culture-blinded eyes see the reversed values of God's kingdom? 'Jesus . . . took a little child... (Luke 9:47-48)" (p. 40) What wonderful imagery!

"The Greeks and Romans viewed children as raw material to be formed, or uninformed beings to be educated. Jews believed children needed teaching and discipline so that they would learn to live like their ancestors and the adults in the faith community. However Jesus holds up children as teachers for adults. Within the kingdom of God adults are challenged to be open to learn from children and others who are the least." (CM p. 42, they footnote Strange, Children in the Early Church)

How do we know when we have culture-blinded eyes and culture-deaf ears? How does our own culture see children in contrast to the way God sees them? The way we hear the words of Jesus - are we culture-deaf, as well?

Father, Son, Holy Spirit we bless You. Heal us.

Friday, August 24, 2007

The Incarnation

from Children Matter :

"Jesus did not walk onto the human stage as an adult; Jesus came as a baby and lived out a complete childhood. He experienced helplessness, loving care, obedience to parents, and the process of growing in divine and human favor (Luke 2:52). The incarnation powerfully affirms the significance of childhood." (p.38)

I've always thought it curious that Jesus laid His life down when he was 33 years old and didn't live to become a grey-beard and we know so little about those first 30 years and so much about the rest. Dying so young meant half his life had passed when he was 16. So He spent half of His life with us as a child and a teenager. Not to idolize that time in our lives, but it's curious in a time when adults were of more value than children. We don't even really know if Jesus had great parents or lousy parents, we just know that God chose them.

It's a neat quote.