Ministry Matters™ | Blog | Don't Give 'em What They Want

Ministry Matters™ | Blog | Don't Give 'em What They Want

Shane Raynor offers this interesting insight into church "Strategies"

Mysticism

Jesus’ teachings were never popular, simplistic, repetitious verses to be mumbled weekly as a means to satisfy an unapproachable and unknowable deity. Rather, His teachings challenge each of us to make friends with the Spirit within each of us so that we might experience the living eternal presence of a loving God. Jesus message was clear: each of us has a personal connection to the creator of the universe who wishes us to call Him Father. If we will but move past the things of earth, past the illusion that we are at home here, and that we can have both the things of earth and the joy of heaven, our souls will lead us to higher levels of communication with God. God speaks to each of us who intentionally opens a channel of communication with him. Mysticism is nothing more than shutting out the world long enough to listen to God—high voltage prayer.

Christ's disciples were the first Christian mystics because they followed the discipline Jesus taught them. All but one of Jesus’ disciples was martyred for their determination to spread his teachings; however, their voices were so impassioned and their “truth” so authentic, they changed the world. Converts to the disciples’ metaphysical message began to communicate with a holy presence which could not be understood or seen by people who maintained their allegiance to the world. Nonetheless this presence was real and tangible to these followers who fell in love with and gave their lives for Jesus and his Father.

Saints of every time period are those who take themselves out of the world in order to hear God. It is called a life of contemplation. Many of our well-known saints—Saint John of the Cross, Saint Theresa of Avila, Saint Francis, Hildegard of Bingen, Mother Theresa, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and Thomas Merton are all well known Christian mystics. Mother Theresa, Teilhard de Chardin, and Merton were all mystics of the twentieth century. Like the prophet Elisha who ran from the world to live in a cave, these people shut themselves off from the world in order to hear “the still small voice of God.”

If anyone thinks this is an easy life, try sitting patiently until God speaks to you. Most of us can’t even quiet ourselves long enough to watch a rainbow or sunset from start to finish or to stay with a fire long enough until the embers die, let alone to sit long enough to not only recognize God’s voice but also to slog through our skepticism and disbelief. Can you imagine anyone announcing to his or her spouse, church, or community, “I have decided to become a Christian mystic.” We would immediately be pummeled with questions like: how will you buy bread? If we answered “Man does not live by bread alone,” clearly we are following our Lord’s teachings; even so, our friends and neighbors would think us mad just as they did Saint Francis a thousand years ago.

There was a time in human history when being “one who communicated with God” was considered a holy calling and those who accepted the call holy people. Jewish rabbinic communities supported men who devoted their lives to study. In early Christianity, monasteries became places for people to leave the world behind and to devote their lives to contemplating the nature of God. Almost all cultures have had medicine men, saints, and holy lepers. These cultures valued men and women who were willing to receive God through the really hard work of self-surrender and meditation because with that commitment miracles, healing, and faith grew among the people. Christian mystics brought not only God’s word but also often supernatural and unexplainable acts to the physical world. Why then has Christianity become less and less accepting of this evocation? My thought is that often the voice of God is frightening to those who have not committed themselves to receiving Him. Religion comforts the worldly with rote sayings and oaths that make a personal relationship with God impossible for many.

When Michael and I first talked of collaborating on a book of meditations, I readily agreed to do so because I enjoy creative worship projects. Before long, I realized that Michael was transmitting God’s desire to be God With Us in his poetry. Michael was being led to a whole different level of Christian writing. He was literally transcribing messages from the Holy Spirit as have other mystics through the ages. There have been moments when I read one of Michael’s poems that my eyes sting and my body burns; my heart lays heavy with a grief for being away from heaven. I “get the power” of Michael’s words, but I can’t hold onto them. They aren’t so easily absorbed and categorized into my thought process. I have to sit as he has with the idea that my soul needs to be in communication with God and that communication is not so easy to come by. It takes practice. It takes commitment. It takes desire to say as Saint Francis did “My God and my all.” How we will proceed with this work is beyond my imagination and Michael’s control. Clearly, his soul has found a way to adore the Father with such wisdom that both Michael and I are simply audience to his work. I am reminded of the scripture “You don’t have because you don’t ask and you don’t ask because you don’t know how to ask.” In Michael’s striving to know God, he has apparently asked the right questions because the floodgate’s of Heaven are open to him. These writings are not for the spiritually immature who think their tradition will save them; it is for the spiritually hungry who know they are missing something their religion isn’t giving them. Those who resonate with Michael’s writing should see them as a stepping stone to their own inner wisdom, their own God within.
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Introduction by Maggie McCary to "Soul Insights: Christians Bridging the New Age" - http://ChristiansBridging.com

Your Reward

I wrapped you in my loving arms
More than you received, you gave that love to others
Knowing you would always be filled up with my love
You held my hand through times of great tribulation
You stood with the great truth at your side
And now this shall be your reward

Go forth in life and accept the goodness I shall lay in your path
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from Soul Insights: Bridging the New Age for Christians
by Michael R. Martin, CLS
with Maggie McCary

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Posted using BlogPress app on my iPhone

The Addict's Prayer

You woke me up
To this new day
Clean and sober
With thanks I pray

You gave me life
And when I stumbled
You brought me here
To make me humble

Brothers and sisters
Who've been there, too
It's death or life
And I chose you

So thank you, Lord
For this new day
Clean and sober
These things I pray.






copyright (c) Michael R Martin 2011
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Posted using BlogPress app on my iPhone

The Trinity

In our lives, think of the Trinity in terms of Christian action:
Father, Son & Holy Spirit = Head, Hands & Heart

Father: Study the scriptures – don't read but truly study them, dig around. Use your head to come to know God

Son: Like Jesus, give your life, your hands to the service of God

Holy Spirit: Give your heart to God so that you might bring light and love into the world around you.

My Farewell and Hello

As i led my last service at the United Methodist Church in Saranac Lake, the scriptures gave me strength and led me to know I was on the right path. I have been suffering by ignoring my call and holding back. That is done.
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Isaiah 49:3-5

He said to me, "You are my servant, Israel,
and you will bring me glory."
I replied, "But my work seems so useless!
I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose.
Yet I leave it all in the LORD's hand;
I will trust God for my reward."
And now the LORD speaks—
the one who formed me in my mother's womb to be his servant,
who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him.
The LORD has honored me,
and my God has given me strength.

Matthew 28:18-20
Jesus came and told his disciples, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Psalm 40:1-4
I waited patiently for the LORD to help me,
and he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the pit of despair,
out of the mud and the mire.
He set my feet on solid ground
and steadied me as I walked along.
He has given me a new song to sing,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see what he has done and be amazed.
They will put their trust in the LORD.
Oh, the joys of those who trust the LORD,
who have no confidence in the proud
or in those who worship idols.

1 Corinthians 1:4-9
I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus. Through him, God has enriched your church in every way—with all of your eloquent words and all of your knowledge. This confirms that what I told you about Christ is true. Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
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My Farewell

"After 10 years as voluntary praise service music minister for the First United Methodist Church in Saranac Lake - and at a time when I'm told there would only continue to be a Praise Service if it is run voluntarily and entirely unsupported by the Church - I have decided to accept a position as Music Minister at a non-denominational service held every Sunday 10AM at St. Joseph's Addiction Treatment & Recovery Center in Saranac Lake. St. Joe's was founded by the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement and is Roman Catholic. The service, however, is non-denominational and INCLUSIVE, under the Roman Catholic Womanpriests initiative (http://www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org/). The worship is being led by ordained Christopher Courtwright-Cox and is offered for St. Joseph in-patients and open to the outside public.

I welcome this position as an opportunity to pursue my calling in music and ministry in an open, supportive environment. I've served as guest minister at St. Josephs on several occasions, so I know the power of the Holy Spirit moving in a room of souls crying out for a greater closeness with God. It is regrettable that for most of the years I served the First UMC, the Praise Service was rarely treated as a legitimate part of this Church's ministry. Nevertheless, I took my role seriously, spent many hours each week preparing for each service, and maintained a high standard as a UMC CERTIFIED LAY SPEAKER. While some may think that certification is just a title, it represents a certain level of discipline and study undertaken by the individual, as well as a vote of confidence by one's home church and peers.

I value the friendships I have made, and the experience gained while serving. I wish you all well. I hope that you will take the time to come check out our service one Sunday. Perhaps, too, I will be back as a guest musician or minister at YOUR church some time in the future. And, lastly, this might be an opportunity for this Methodist Church to examine its priorities and actually develop a coordinated worship plan. I'd be happy to participate in such an effort."

We shall (can) all prophesy

Acts 2:17-18 (AMP)
And it shall come to pass in the last days, God declares, that I will pour out of My Spirit upon all mankind, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy [*telling forth the divine counsels] and your young men shall see visions (^divinely granted appearances), and your old men shall dream [^divinely suggested] dreams. Yes, and on My menservants also and on My maidservants in those days I will pour out of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy [*telling forth the divine counsels and ^predicting future events pertaining especially to God's kingdom].

*G. Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon
^Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon