Psalms 116

I love the LORD, because He has heard
My voice and my supplications.
 2Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live.
 3The pains of death surrounded me,
And the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me;
I found trouble and sorrow.
 4Then I called upon the name of the LORD:
"O LORD, I implore You, deliver my soul!"
 5Gracious is the LORD, and righteous;
Yes, our God is merciful.
 6The LORD preserves the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.
 7Return to your rest, O my soul,
For the LORD has dealt bountifully with you.
 8For You have delivered my soul from death,
My eyes from tears,
And my feet from falling.
 9I will walk before the LORD
In the land of the living.
 10I believed, therefore I spoke,
"I am greatly afflicted."
 11I said in my haste,
"All men are liars."
 12What shall I render to the LORD
For all His benefits toward me?
 13I will take up the cup of salvation,
And call upon the name of the LORD.
 14I will pay my vows to the LORD
Now in the presence of all His people.
 15Precious in the sight of the LORD
Is the death of His saints.
 16O LORD, truly I am Your servant;
I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant;
You have loosed my bonds.
 17I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And will call upon the name of the LORD.
 18I will pay my vows to the LORD
Now in the presence of all His people,
 19In the courts of the LORD's house, In the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD!


v.17
thanksgiving is the only thing left...
Heb. 13:10
We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.  11For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp.  12Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.  13Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach.  14For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.  15Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.  16But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.


You see, now that Jesus has fulfilled the Law and the Patriarchs, we are in an age of Praise and Thanksgiving. That's what this Psalm was feeling when he wrote that his rendering unto the LORD would be taking the cup of salvation! See? His Service was to Recieve! His Sacrifice was to say Thank You!


This is what Isaiah is saying in Is. 30:15

15For thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel:
" In returning and rest you shall be saved;
In quietness and confidence shall be your strength."
But you would not,



There are just so few who will take up the faith to believe in and trust in and rely on the Grace of Jesus Christ and bear the fruit... this is the narrow way, and the Psalmist was on it! Didn't "get it", but was on it! Wow!

And that's how the Kingdom is, so often. We're in it and don't even get it: like the Tax Collector in Luke 18. Like the Thief on the cross in Luke 23.

I mean, this is amazing! And the "arrived" crew, they were washed up, didn't know it, and HATED Jesus... makes you tremble to consider yourself a religious/devout/christian person, eh?

Hurricane Damage

it was wierd to sit outside and "enjoy" the wind, last sunday. We thought it was just a blustery day, until shingles started to ruffle up like the feathers of a bird on the church building next door... off they started coming, skittering down the street...

tree limbs and power lines started to come down, too.
and the power goes off.
on all 4 sides of the block there were power lines down, or at least on 3...

we got in our cars and headed to chipotle, according to plan, not understanding that it was a friggin hurricane...
we ate the last of the chipotle's food and came home. we were their last customers before closing. we were sooooo hungry, too.

home we came. Judy was leaving for a week the next morning at 4 something.
I spent till late on the roof next door, trying to protect it from what I thought was sure to be rainy weather. No rain yet, thanks be...

some 5 days later, there are still many people without electricity...
many of our friends have been working and going to school withouth electricity at home...

and let me tell you something i saw.
night 1: fear in the city.
people got flat out afraid.
there was a run on gas
and people were agitated
and there were fights in the street that day, too...
right across the street from my house...
...some sort of ongoing feud between neighbors...

but that night, after working on the roof i was soooooo thirsty and just wanted some gatorade and maybe a beer, adn we headed out to find a convenient store... everything was black. no lights. we finally got to an area with power and it was chaos. people with a wild look in their eyes, all agitated and buying all the gas.

made me wonder why i wasn't worried at all...
but i don't expect things to go well. and i'm always grateful when they do.

hey, let's think and pray about this stuff...
and let's think and pray about the people in Galveston and other parts of Texas whose homes are ruined and who have to start over. I mean, are they all losing their jobs and everything?

what is going to happen to their family situations?
shall we take them in?

...a pastor?

hey, you know what? i teach from the Bible, about Jesus and stuff. that's kinda weird because i'm also a bit of a shlemiel. sometimes this hits me as weird enough to point out...

poster child for the term "grace".

the pastor thing, though? What? Well, this much I know: people need the Lord... I'm down with helping out any way I can.

Lew

being a jesus person

you know what? I'm a jesus person. yeah. and i'm a kind of a pastor/bible teacher. yeah... but you know what? No, I'm not.

I'm not a skater, either. The list goes on and on...

what i really am is a kid. God's kid. Made by him, loved by him, walking (and falling) with Him...

This is all there really is. I'm God's kid. Jesus is why.

If you want to know what it's all about, get into Jesus. Forget the wack stuff that may confuse you from the American church-world, and get into Jesus. He's got the answers... Heck, he is the answer, Himself...

Jesus.

read this for more...

Manifesto Material

because people have lately been "coloring me" with the "house church" "brush", i've felt moved to provide a little "manifesto" material to help "clarify". If you want to paint, go for the Jesus-colored crayon. That is my biggest hope-- that I'd be something like Jesus, somehow. By His grace alone, I am and will be...
Here we go:

I have had a passion to equip people to live in an authentic church life, wherever they are.  Since by God's hand we have landed here in Northside, I've had the last 4 years spent in discipling folks in the city...  

Living a life that abides in Christ 
bears fruit that lasts
telling the truth
being the church, together
as a family
in obedience to our Lord's commands
every 
day 
working with our hands to have something to share
living quiet, humble lives
being godly 
husbands
wives
sons
daughters
brothers
sisters
workers
friends
at home
at work
speaking and spreading the Word of the Lord
everywhere around us
like a fragrance...  
watching our life
and our doctrine
closely 
in hopes of our own salvation
and that of our hearers

This is the root stuff of  my teaching, my writing, my living (O God that I would really LIVE with God, from God, unto God), 
and this is the root stuff of our life in Northside.  

No, we don't have a "mission" to "reach" some people group that is delineated by geography, economy, race or any other earthly measure.  We have a commission to preach everywhere to everyone and to make disciples that would bear lasting fruit...  We are blown by the spirit, as the testimony of every person who has found the Lord in our small group shows...  

Almost every single person in our group has been led to the Lord, or has been significantly discipled, or brought to growth in Christ, through another person in our church.  There is very little about our church that could hinge on any single person or personality, and almost nothing for which we could ever take any credit, though we do each take a certain pride in good work that we do from time to time.  This is a Biblical pride and not a stink to God.  

everywhere is our mission field. every person is our people group, starting with ourselves. We preach the gospel to ourselves, too.

may the Lord renew your heart!