tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-117536312024-03-12T23:23:10.999-05:00Walking in the Spirit of Grace<b>Rumblings and ramblings on all things of interest to me</b>Gary Kirkhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.comBlogger241125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753631.post-74333443448750967172014-02-18T11:34:00.000-06:002014-02-18T11:34:00.324-06:00Radical Gratitude<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 300 16px/25.59px Helvetica, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; margin: 0px 0px 20px !important; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
No one receives anything — not by work, not by worth, not by wit — unless it is a gift.</div>
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<strong style="color: black; font-weight: 400 !important;">There is only one category for everything that exists: Gift.</strong></div>
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<strong style="color: black; font-weight: 400 !important;">Self-made men don’t exist — only God-given gifts.</strong></div>
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<strong style="color: black; font-weight: 400 !important;">When you’re overwhelmed with the goodness of God<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em style="font-style: italic;">to you</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>— you overflow with the goodness of God<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em style="font-style: italic;">to others.</em></strong></div>
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Gratefulness doesn’t make us blithe little pollyannas. Gratefulness doesn’t make us comfortable –<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em style="font-style: italic;">it makes us radical. </em></div>
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<strong style="color: black; font-weight: 400 !important;">The radically grateful can never stand for injustice</strong><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>–<em style="font-style: italic;">- because they are moved by radical grace.</em></div>
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<strong style="color: black; font-weight: 400 !important;">You can’t know grace and not be moved.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em style="font-style: italic;">Grace starts movements.</em></strong></div>
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<strong>Grace is a<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em style="font-style: italic;">catalyst.</em></strong></div>
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You haven’t discovered fire until you’ve discovered grace. When grace touches you, it combusts you and you become one unstoppable flame.</div>
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Right there, I want to beat my chest like a drum, like a repentance, like a call:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><strong style="color: black; font-weight: 400 !important;">Real gratitude doesn’t make you apathetic — it makes you a real<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em style="font-style: italic;">activist.</em></strong></div>
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Real gratitude isn’t an anesthetic — real gratitude makes you<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em style="font-style: italic;">catalytic.</em></div>
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<strong style="color: black; font-weight: 400 !important;">When gratitude to God revolutionizes your life, God uses you to revolutionize the world.</strong></div>
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<strong style="color: black; font-weight: 400 !important;">It’s why God said to give thanks in everything.</strong></div>
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<strong style="color: black; font-weight: 400 !important;">Radical Gratitude<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em style="font-style: italic;">is</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>the attitude of the revolutionaries.</strong></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Ann Voskamp</span></div>
Gary Kirkhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753631.post-31710212373123958592014-01-06T14:42:00.001-06:002014-01-06T14:42:25.677-06:00Obedience<span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Jesus' core message was that God is neither a powerless weakling nor a powerful boss, but a lover, whose only desire is to give us what our hearts most desire. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">To pray is to listen to that voice of love. That is what obedience is all about.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">The word "obedience" comes from the Latin word </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">ob-audire,</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"> which means to listen with great attentiveness. Without listening we become deaf to the voice of love. The Latin word for deaf is </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">surdus. </b><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">To be completely deaf is to be </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">absurdus,</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"> yes, absurd. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">When we no longer pray, no longer listen to the voice of love that speaks to us in the moment, our lives become absurd lives in which we are thrown back and forth between the past and the future.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #404040; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Henri Nouwen</span></span></div>
Gary Kirkhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753631.post-92082432772378894932013-12-19T13:36:00.000-06:002013-12-19T13:36:17.805-06:00Pleasing Others<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y4vQLEkcWGs/UrNJk34H1oI/AAAAAAAAAe4/hw9Hm12Y2u4/s1600/sweet-donkey-face-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="303" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y4vQLEkcWGs/UrNJk34H1oI/AAAAAAAAAe4/hw9Hm12Y2u4/s320/sweet-donkey-face-1.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was an old man, a boy and a donkey. They were going to town and the boy was riding the donkey, with the old man walking alongside. As they rambled along, they passed some old women sitting in the shade. One of the women called out, "Shame on you, a great lump of a boy, riding while your old father is walking." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The man and boy decided that maybe the critics were right so they changed positions. Later they ambled by a group of mothers watching their young children play by the river. One cried out in protest, "How could you make your little boy walk in the hot sun while you ride!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The two travelers decided that maybe they both should walk. Next they met some young men out for a stroll. "How stupid you are to walk when you have a perfectly good donkey to ride!" one yelled derisively. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So both father and son clambered onto the donkey, deciding they both should ride. They were soon settled and underway again. They next encountered some children who were on their way home from school. One girl shouted, "How mean to put such a load on a poor little animal." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The old man and the boy saw no alternative. Maybe the critics were right. They now struggled to carry the donkey. As they crossed a bridge, they lost their grip on the confused animal and he fell to his death in the river. And the moral, of course, is that if you try to please everyone you will never know what to do, it will be hard to get anywhere, you will please no-one, not even yourself, and you will probably lose your ass.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Gary Kirkhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753631.post-37723695332271837852013-10-28T09:56:00.000-05:002013-10-28T09:56:08.637-05:00Just Say No!You can do it!<br />
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<em>The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of contemporary violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is to succumb to violence.</em><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Thomas Merton</span></div>
Gary Kirkhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753631.post-69987866147996009402013-10-04T12:24:00.002-05:002013-10-04T12:24:55.429-05:00God of Great Affection <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wS9a76KrbWc/Uk74rt2bKnI/AAAAAAAAAco/pGr9LusIxH0/s1600/dog_tail_legs_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wS9a76KrbWc/Uk74rt2bKnI/AAAAAAAAAco/pGr9LusIxH0/s320/dog_tail_legs_2.jpg" width="320" /></a><em>The Old Testament tells the story of God rescuing fallen humanity and even when he had to break into human history to deal with the destructive power of sin and preserve a line that could receive his grace. People saw God’s passion and its occasional severity as proof that he was angry with humanity. I used the analogy of my wife bridging a relationship with battered, stray dogs that showed up at our house in Visalia. Instead of rushing to us, they cowered in the bushes or in the darkness, afraid we would harm them, too. Winning a dog that has been abused takes some time. You have to work with their hunger to invite them closer to you until they can begin to believe that you are not out to hurt them but help them. </em><br />
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<em>And then this thought came to mind, “The Old Testament is the story of God’s rescue told from the dog’s perspective.” I hadn’t thought of it that way before, but the more I’ve meditated on it, the more I like it. That’s why there seems to be differences between the Old and New Testaments. While God has not changed, our perception of him changes greatly through the Incarnation of Jesus. </em><br />
<em>Before we saw him through our eyes and our mistaken conclusions. Just like the Old Testament writers who saw God through their grid of shame and fear and deemed him a terrifying judge. Their words reflect it. We’ve got to understand they write from a place of fear and rejection, which only makes it all the more miraculous when they get a glimpse of the loving and gracious God whose “love never fails”, whose “lovingkindness is better than life”, and whose “mercies are new every morning”. They were torn between a God of great affection and the blindness of their own guilt and shame. </em><br />
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<em>Thankfully, Jesus comes to tell us and to show us what God is really like. He’s not angry with us for our sin, but sees us as harassed and helpless and wants to rescue us from our bondage into his life. He woos us into the Father’s affection and prepared a way for us to be at rest in his presence, confident that he wants us there, as he untangles the mess we’ve made of our lives. The writers of the New Testament tells us that same story of rescue told from the dogs’ perspective who are now inside the house. In Christ they found peace with God and no longer needed to cower in the bushes as they had become at home in him.</em><br />
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<em>We all undergo that same process, don’t we? Abused by sin and fearful that God would either ignore us or punish us, we cower in our own self-effort or self-pity, hoping against hope that he’ll be good to us, but too overwhelmed by fears to come to him. And yet, he keeps reaching out to us until we can finally be won into his affection. </em><br />
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<em>Then when we are won into his affection, we can hold a more complete view of God and even in those moments where God is intense and severe in setting us free or keeping the world in check, we see that as an expression of his love, not his anger or rejection of us.</em> <br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://lifestream.org/blog/differing-views-god" target="_blank">Wayne Jacobsen</a></span></div>
Gary Kirkhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753631.post-33283313875734681022013-09-25T12:26:00.003-05:002013-09-25T12:26:33.579-05:00Solitude<span class="bqQuoteLink">Solitude is not something you must hope for in the future. Rather, it is a deepening of the present, and unless you look for it in the present you will never find it.</span><br />
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<span class="bqQuoteLink"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Thomas Merton</span></span></div>
Gary Kirkhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753631.post-74168972958013607222013-07-26T07:01:00.001-05:002013-07-26T07:01:39.948-05:00Don't look back<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can laugh at my behavior<br style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />That'll never bother me<br style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Say the devil is my savior<br style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />But I don't pay no heed<br style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />And I will go on shining<br style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Shining like brand new<br style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />I'll never look behind me<br style="border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />My troubles will be few</span></span><div>
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Gary Kirkhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753631.post-40384196196165629802013-07-22T15:00:00.001-05:002013-07-22T15:00:40.967-05:00Down Around My PlaceAwesome song by John Hiatt. <br />
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<em>And I put my faith in you<br />Did you make that error too?<br />Bound to fail that he might show his grace<br />Down around my place</em><br />
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Gary Kirkhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753631.post-3564542584462684672013-06-03T12:58:00.000-05:002013-06-03T12:58:09.269-05:00Let me be your God<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>God says to you, "I love you, I am with you, I want to see you come closer to me and experience the joy and peace of my presence. I want to give you a new heart and a new spirit. I want you to speak with my mouth, see with my eyes, hear with my ears, touch with my hands. All that is mine is yours. Just trust me and let me be your God."</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Henri Nouwen</span></div>
Gary Kirkhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753631.post-69149618075519860582013-05-29T21:47:00.002-05:002013-05-29T21:48:14.033-05:00LeningradDon't know what they are saying, but catchy tune...<br />
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<br />Gary Kirkhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753631.post-35174060170087491042013-05-15T16:41:00.000-05:002013-05-15T16:41:04.155-05:00Your heart is greater!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The choice you face constantly is whether you are taking your hurts to your head or to your heart. In your head you can analyze them, find their causes and consequences, coin words to speak and write about them. But no final healing is likely to come from that source. You need to let your wounds go down to your heart. Then you can live them through and discover that they will not destroy you. Your heart is greater than your wounds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Henri Nouwen</span></div>
Gary Kirkhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753631.post-58673260397838977252013-05-02T13:57:00.001-05:002013-05-02T13:57:22.738-05:00Idleness<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WyTUtKu5tWE/UYK2-HIIe5I/AAAAAAAAAac/rfwctlVPa2U/s1600/peace,_be_still-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" lua="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WyTUtKu5tWE/UYK2-HIIe5I/AAAAAAAAAac/rfwctlVPa2U/s200/peace,_be_still-large.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Idleness? When a violent storm is raging; when our enemy is so close that our very lives are in danger; when everybody else around us is frantic with hyperactivity; idleness is not a natural response. Yet surely it is indeed to an “idleness” of sorts that we are all called. For the person who wants to know triumph in the struggle, this idleness is indispensable. Those who are weary with fatigue are in no position to strike the fatal blow against the enemy. It is in a certain idleness that we find our strength. It is the spiritual practice of sitting still, silently staring into our Father's face. It is from that place that we find the strength we need to face the tasks life presents. It is from that place that we move into action out of supernatural power. Indeed, it is from that place that we find our very identity and destiny for time and eternity. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Steve McVey</span></div>
Gary Kirkhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753631.post-2236493297114148622013-04-28T17:29:00.002-05:002013-04-28T17:29:32.530-05:00Love gives<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Faith receives, love gives. No one will be able to receive without faith. No one will be able to give without love. Because of this, in order that we may indeed receive, we believe, and in order that we may love, we give, since if one gives without love, he has no profit from what he has given.</span></span><div>
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Gary Kirkhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753631.post-86916737074423101752013-04-21T21:00:00.000-05:002013-04-21T21:00:02.715-05:00Shelter me<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; color: #474747; line-height: 23px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everybody needs a little place they can hide <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Somewhere to call their own <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Don't let nobody inside <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Every now and then we all need to let go <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />For some it's the doctor <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />For me it's rock and roll <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />For some it's a bottle <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />For some it's a pill <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Some people wave the bible, cause it's giving them a thrill <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />Others point their finger if they don't like what they see <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />If you live in a glass house, don't be throwing rocks at me <br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" />We all need a little shelter</span></span><div>
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Gary Kirkhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753631.post-8148767705183044162013-04-05T05:27:00.002-05:002013-04-08T12:08:20.007-05:00Da Guvna<div style="text-align: center;">
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Gary Kirkhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753631.post-27156671754238227452013-03-31T08:39:00.001-05:002013-04-10T16:21:53.934-05:00Wisdom from HollywoodThere is wisdom in old Hollywood westerns that has application in life, for example:<br />
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One should always ride low and in the middle of the posse.<br />
<br />Gary Kirkhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753631.post-53902654549407955062013-03-24T09:17:00.000-05:002013-03-24T09:17:00.778-05:00Cat Fights<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cat fights are always fun, but this fight was pretty much over when one cat demonstrates his ninja skills and threatens to deliver a Chuck Norris round house kick</span>.<br />
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<br />Gary Kirkhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753631.post-42725862465076108532013-03-22T20:26:00.005-05:002013-03-28T12:48:08.305-05:00Bad Ass<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Gary Kirkhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753631.post-41668501984269666802013-03-22T11:30:00.002-05:002013-03-22T11:30:21.361-05:00Dare<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Dare to be grateful for every good thing. And dare to know it’s all good. That’s what God does: God works everything for good.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Dare to never make pain invisible but dare to say injustice is intolerable. This takes courage. This takes Christ.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Dare to give up clarity — because God gives a call. Dare to give up life road maps — because God gives a relationship.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Dare to live without answers — because God gives His hand.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Dare to live by faith — not by feelings, formulas, facts or fences.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Nothing is impossible with God.</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;">Ann Voskamp</span></div>
Gary Kirkhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753631.post-81549032350462280502013-03-17T09:19:00.000-05:002013-03-17T09:19:04.785-05:00Rare Pre-ban Slingshot for Sale<a href="http://www.armslist.com/posts/1268228/chattanooga-tennessee-misc-for-sale--rare-pre-ban-sling-shot-and-ammo" target="_blank">Funny...illustrates absurdity by being absurd.</a>Gary Kirkhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753631.post-29606243573957672082013-03-16T17:31:00.001-05:002013-03-16T17:31:30.353-05:00First Things First<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.292969); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">God’s first priority is not to clean up our sins; it is to help us learn how to live in his love. His cleansing makes that possible even where we still feel entangled in sin. Certainly he wants the cleansing within to untwist our self-indulgent ways, but that only happens as the fruit of living loved. Because we are clean we can live in him. As we live in him his fruit grows in us to displace the waywardness of our old ways.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Wayne Jacobsen</span></div>
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</span>Gary Kirkhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753631.post-36065754362242462232013-03-13T11:48:00.001-05:002013-03-13T11:48:08.746-05:00ChangedRascal Flat's song, "Broken Road" meant a lot ot me when I first learned about grace. This song speaks to me as well...<br />
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Gary Kirkhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753631.post-45613712352355997092013-02-27T11:57:00.002-06:002013-03-16T17:32:33.655-05:00Beyond the walls<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Throughout the world an unrelenting hunger to know the life of Jesus is inviting thousands of men and women beyond the structures of religious performance into a meaningful relationship with him that is transforming their lives. And even though they’ve been marginalized by false accusations, they are learning to follow the Shepherd instead of the voices of those who want to use fear to draw them back into dependency on religious structures or leaders.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;">Wayne Jacobsen</span></div>
Gary Kirkhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753631.post-44070036583088597552013-02-25T11:22:00.000-06:002013-02-25T11:22:14.909-06:00Life Everlasting<div class="MsoPlainText" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BbbS4YkUuc4/USucfI7o0jI/AAAAAAAAAYc/OahEWpasklQ/s1600/spring_river_wallpaper-t2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><em><img border="0" gsa="true" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BbbS4YkUuc4/USucfI7o0jI/AAAAAAAAAYc/OahEWpasklQ/s320/spring_river_wallpaper-t2.jpg" width="320" /></em></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>The justice of the scribes, who perfectly understood the letter of the law, was not sufficient to gain anyone admittance to the Kingdom of Heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was necessary for the law to be fulfilled in spirit and in truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was necessary that men should be perfect in the law, not by exterior observance of precepts but by the interior transformation of their whole being into sons of God.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>In Christ we die to the letter of the law so that our conscience can no longer see things in the dead light of formalism and exterior observance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our hearts refuse the dry husks of literal abstraction and hunger for the living bread and eternal waters of the spirit which will spring up to life everlasting.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;">Thomas Merton</span></div>
Gary Kirkhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11753631.post-42830655451719575282013-02-22T18:38:00.002-06:002013-02-22T18:38:29.736-06:00Wild Kingdom<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-composition-fill-color: rgba(175, 192, 227, 0.230469); -webkit-composition-frame-color: rgba(77, 128, 180, 0.230469); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(26, 26, 26, 0.296875);">If animals had my problem...</span><br />
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