notes from lisa...

 I wish we could be a color-blind society; acknowledging and accepting of all cultures. Skin color has nothing to do with who any of us are. Unfortunately, that reality is not a lived experience in this nation. Skin color tells nothing of the heart within any of God’s children.  Black Americans (others, too, but I'm speaking about the experience that I know, at the moment) have longed to fit in, but were never invited. Whenever we have shown up, we're reminded that we cannot be a full participant. There's no permanent seat for us at the table. Our "seat" is brought in and removed, based on our adherence to the (invisible, but very real) line that has been drawn for us in America.  (Please don't stop reading--this isn’t a post about race). It's about how we must be reconciled to God and one another [ 1 John 3:10 GNT  " Here is the clear difference between God's children and the Devil's children: those who do not do what is right or do not l...

     Most, if not all of us have traditionally been taught that God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for sexual immorality. That is not quite accurate. [Ezekiel 16:15 is a really good example of the sequence of sin]--that the beginning of sin is pride , arrogance and not caring for or about "your sister". Read, slowly Ezekiel 16:48-59, *verse 56, NKJV].       What I think we miss with this simplified reason for the destruction of sin (in us) is that all sin has a root. If we deal with the root it will positively impact the health, growth, and well-being of the entire organism--whatever or whomever that may be. Sodom and Gomorrah didn't start out with sexually deviant behavior... no one does . We have to first think that we know what's best for us--only then, will we do anything to achieve and maintain our comfort. That’s pride. " Anything " is all the sin that we struggle with; not understanding that, sins are a symptom  (of something much deep...

 I'm not sure Jesus would approve of the way we treat our neighbors.  I think Fred Rogers was onto something with his little song, "Who are the people in your neighborhood...they're the people that you meet each day...". But, our neighborhood is global, and our neighbors include all of humanity --"even unto the ends of the earth". It's easy to lose track of that fact, when you can't see and may never know someone.  Still, if we recognized the world as a neighborhood and everyone in it as our neighbor--because we are ALL "made in the Image of God and after His Likeness ". Each person is the apple of God's eye. I love what Max Lucado wrote: "If God had a refrigerator, YOUR picture would be on it". We seem to have trouble making the connection between ourselves and others who may look, speak different than us--or have cultural differences that we may not share or understand. When we forget that those people who may be very dif...