Sunday at "Mark in da Park" we looked at Matt chapter 4; verse12 & following..It was amazing, considering various translations of the Greek words behind the English ones: Kingdom, Heaven, preach/ proclaim, repent, (to which we could have added: "at hand" & "gospel/ Good-News", and we could have noted that Jesus left his home village, and moved..verse 13). But it struck me that the most important thing is the spirit that impelled or led him forward, the spirit of the God who IS love (Matt4:1). With that in place, then all the technologies, or methodologies (like memory, meditation, message, the acts of heralding and teaching, the terminology/vocabulary employed in communication), have a place as well; but without the spirit/ motivating-force, impetus, being right, all the rest is useless. That spirit (of God), or motivating impetus (of love), is primary. Our ways of connecting, our technologies, though essential, are secondary.
After lunch a couple of us talked about spiritually helpful technologies, and practiced one (memorization) [that was a means to another (meditation)], with another bit of scripture. Here it is: Rom 12:1&2 (Dave & Paul; 16April23)
Therefore, I urge you,
brothers and sisters, in view
of God’s mercy, to
offer your bodies as a living sacrifice,
holy and pleasing to…
to God – this is your true
and proper worship. Do ..
Do not conform to
the pattern of this world,
but be
transformed by the renew-
-wing of your mind. Then you
will be able to..
to test and approve
what God’s will is –
his good, please-
-sing and perfect will.
Romans twelve verses one & two
U 'K ?..
..
Me too!
To put more creativity (& fun) into it, one can add rhythm, play a tune, etc.. e.g. (audio, versions with piano). and [ (an)other version(s) accapella, version with piano, final (so far) version with piano]
Now, once it is crammed into our mind (memorization), we can have a week of meditating on it, slowly going over it in our mind, like a cow chewing its cud, letting it into us, and noting what it says? Who to? (singular and plural? etc) What does that mean to practice? How do you live that? (Practically?). But being led by that spirit of love/compassion is by far the most important thing.
Lucas, thinking back on our time together as a group last night, I recalled that I made a deal about technologies (like scripture memorization & meditation, & clarifying our message & our understanding of it), being essential, but secondary. Then I only spoke about what was secondary. But on Sunday, as we had discussed Matthew 4, it had struck me that the most important thing is the spirit that impelled or led Jesus forward (Matt4:1), the spirit of the God who IS (not just "loving", but) love. With that in place, then all the technologies, or methodologies (like memory, meditation, message, the acts of heralding and teaching, the terminology/vocabulary employed in communication etc.), have a place as well; but without the spirit/motivating force, impetus, being right, all the rest is useless. That spirit (of God), or motivating impetus (of love) is primary. Our ways of connecting, our technologies, though essential, are secondary. I can only be at peace with half-finished projects, and people (like me), when I am partnering with Yahweh's creative, loving spirit. Could you please pass this message on to your people for me?
Oh, and this is a blog post on what I mentioned last night, if anyone is interested: https://the-euangelion.blogspot.com/2023/04/the-world-that-most-of-us-look-on-is.html
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