What a good blog, and oh so true.
I must get this to my e-mail address if it is possable to transfer a blog.
One of them is on sa and can go to your blog.
Praise God for you.
And thanks for the post.
Oh my goodness! Here you’ve gone and done it again! I don’t know how you do it but you are constantly and consistently composing written masterpieces. I believe that this is just as beautifully heartfelt and honest as anything you’ll find in any of the OT Books of Poetry. All the talk of brokenness, depression, embarrassment, and humilliation, led me to a passage in Philippians in which Paul speaks of these very same trials and how we ought to respond to them. I don’t normally go to Eugene Peterson’s The Message but today just out of curiosity I wanted to see how verse 20 read. I’m awfully glad the Holy Spirit nudged me in this direction. I was greatly rewarded! Here is Philippians 1: 18–21 from The Message.
So how am I to respond? I’ve decided that I really don’t care about their motives, whether mixed, bad, or indifferent. Every time one of them opens his mouth, Christ is proclaimed, so I just cheer them on! And I’m going to keep that celebration going because I know how it’s going to turn out. Through your faithful prayers and the generous response of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, everything he wants to do in and through me will be done. I can hardly wait to continue on my course. I don’t expect to be embarrassed in the least. On the contrary, everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They didn’t shut me up; they gave me a pulpit! Alive, I’m Christ’s messenger; dead, I’m his bounty. Life versus even more life! I can’t lose.
Once again, another beautiful post. God has truly graced you with a poetic spirit!
I hope and trust that I am not being presumptuous in posting this response. it seems to me the Society of Broken Vessels ought to be, and is, the Church. It’s just that some vessels are more obviously broken than others. I once read an article (how i wish I could find it again) written by a pastor who insisted that serving the needs of disabled persons in our congregations was not just an obligation, but in fact a privelage. Honestly, I was dumbstruck at that notion: really, a privelage? But did not Jesus say: “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” (Matthew 25: 40)
We all need to be members of a local congregation whose members will value and enjoy us as members. This is true for our sakes as well as for theirs. For who would not desire to hear those words from their King? And who am I to deny them that privelage?
i am really struggling to write this, and I may yet hit “cancel” rather than “post.” All too often, my insistense on independance is stubbornnNess of pride. All too often in my weakness I hide rather than ask for help. If only i could truly believe what Jesus said, and humbly grant that privelage to my brothers and sisters in Christ. Today I can only cry, Lord, ”...I believe; help my unbelief.” (Mark 9: 24)
i think the matthew passage is not merely a description of future events. I bbelieve that it is also a promise. Jesus will not forget the kindness that is shown by one child of God to another. Therefore we should seek out that local congregation which sees itself to be a Society of Broken Vessels and confidently approach our fellow believers in Christ’s words. Then as we partake in such giving and receiving, we can rejoice and be glad, for our God is good, and all goodness flows from him.
Hello my dear brethren,
It truly humbles me to see that what little I write on this blog can be of so much blessing. Recently I told a brother in the faith that our LORD is the God of multiplication, because the proclamation of His things and of His message propagates as pollen is spread out by the honey bees. Hallelujah, blessed be the name of the LORD.
Scott, your faithfulness and courage is an inspiration to the rest of us. If I may be so bold and state this publicly, your understanding of being able to transcend imprisonment through the Spirit and for the glory of God is a true gift. You know all about this, as your body imprisons you far more severely than the way my body imprisons me.
Dear Vlad, I am glad that you did not hit the cancel button when you wrote your comment. Your words brought us a different perspective on brokenness, and you even touched on a very sensitive and, unfortunately, rather painful subject, namely, the subject of how many disabled and ill people are isolated and ignored in their own congregations.
When I wrote this post, I was thinking about those of us with illnesses and disabilities that render us housebound, or bring us physical pain, or isolate us. But you are right, Vlad, in the end, every believer is a broken vessel in one way or another.
Thank you all for your responses and the enrichment they bring to all of us.
In Christ,
Zoraida
Anothe good post. Thanks again.
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