Pastor Wrinkles: The Glory Of Story Pt. 4

Rick Warren starts His best-selling devotional ,The Purpose Driven Life, by saying “It’s not about you.”

And the Bible says the same thing this way,

Psalm 24

Of David. A psalm.

¹ The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
    the world, and all who live in it;
² for he founded it on the seas
    and established it on the waters.

³ Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
    Who may stand in his holy place?
⁴ The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
    who does not trust in an idol
    or swear by a false god.

⁵ They will receive blessing from the Lord
    and vindication from God their Savior.

All our lives are meant to be about Jesus. Whether we acknowledge Him or not He is the central character in the story of every life. Our very identity will be tied up in how we consider God and His son Jesus. At the end of time we will come to glory and we will be called either friends or enemies of God.But whatever role we choose to play God will get glory from our choices.

It is written:

“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
    every tongue will acknowledge God.’” So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. Rom. 14:11,12

As author Isaac Bashevis Singer says, “Life is God’s novel. Let him write it.”

Quotes Pt. 29

“Sometimes it takes falling apart to see exactly how or what loosened the mortar. Sometimes we find we are responsible for the how & the what. As unpleasant as it is when it happens, one cannot help but appreciate these times for what you learn serves as a beacon. Of course this is only half the battle. Which means you’re already half way there.”
― Colleen Truscott Fry

I’ve been thinking a lot about roads I’ve walked down. The “How’d I get heres?” and “What if I had chosen differentlies?” have been many. Maybe it’s the turn of the New Year. The season calls us naturally to reflection…reevaluation.

I’ve made a lot of mistakes. The roots of those errors go back years and I feel like I’m just getting a grip on how the actions of the young J have effected this old J. In the midst of it all I am being swallowed alive by this grace that will not let me go.  I don’t understand how, yet I know that Jesus has all well in hand. He is using the life of this poor sinner made saint for His glory. In the midst of the reducing I have walked through Jesus has made me all His. My failures and faults He has absorbed into His mercy. He has made my mess a message!

Most laws condemn the soul and pronounce sentence. The result of the law of my God is perfect. It condemns but forgives. It restores – more than abundantly – what it takes away.
Author: Jim Elliot

 

If he did it for me, HE will most assuredly do it for you!

Never give up. No matter what has been lost God can restore!

Pastor Wrinkles: The Glory Of Story Pt 1

Here is the first excerpt of Pastor Wrinkle’s New Year sermon.

When I first learned I would be preaching this baptism service I prayed and sought God as to what he would have me bring as an offering to this service. I heard the words “the Glory of Story” and that has become the title of my message today.

This morning as each of the baptismal candidates entered the water they were asked to give a brief testimony or story about how they had gotten to the place of deciding to follow Jesus with their lives. At every baptism my understanding of how real God is becomes renewed. The stories shared do something deep inside of me that reinvigorates my faith.

We humans have a fascination with story. We each like different kinds of story: Some like adventure, some romance. Others enjoy a good mystery and some like the rhythmic cadence of war stories. Whichever genre is our favorite we learn best from the examples encased within its words and the pictures it draws.

 

Activist and theologian Robert Mcafee Brown said “

Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today.

 

And Dr. Pamela Rutledge of the MediaPsychologyResearchCenter says,

 

Stories are how we think. They are how we make meaning of life. Call them schemas, scripts, cognitive maps, mental models, metaphors, or narratives. Stories are how we explain how things work, how we make decisions, how we justify our decisions, how we persuade others, how we understand our place in the world, create our identities, and define and teach social values. ”

What stories have most influenced you?