Showing posts with label suffering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label suffering. Show all posts

29/05/2021

1 Corinthians 12

Concerning Spiritual Gifts

1 Corinthians 12 
Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,and to still another the interpretation of tongues.11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
Unity and Diversity in the Body

12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.

15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. 

But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 
29 Are all apostles? 
Are all prophets?
 Are all teachers?
 Do all work miracles? 
30 Do all have gifts of healing? 
Do all speak in tongues? 
Do all interpret? 
31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.
Love Is Indispensable

And yet I will show you the most excellent way.

03/06/2019

Franciscan prayer of discomfort

May God bless you with discomfort at eay answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless  you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with tears to shed  for those who suffer with rejection, starvation and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.
May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference  in the world so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.
And the blessing of God who creates, redeems and sanctified be upon you and and all you love and pray for, this day and for ever.
In the name of Jesus Amen!

10/05/2018

Experiencing trials



Type here for the link to CrossPointe Church Westerville Ohio


29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.




1 John 16:33




33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

 1 Thessalonians




1 Peter 1:6 
In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials



James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

18/01/2013

Love one another!

heidi bakerThis week has gone so fast and it has been really nice.  As I am now working nearer home, I have more time to indulge in some reading before I tackle marking and planning in the evening. Over the years, I have become a fussy reader, call it choosy, I do not want to waste time to read rubbish, it goes the same with newspapers, magazines or blogs.
Another habit of mine is that if I like a book a lot, I will read and enjoy so much of it and then stop reading and keep it for later..I am not sure why I do that. Do you do that too? Could it be that I need to be reassured that come to the crunch, I have got something really good to enjoy! 
Before Christmas, I read a beautiful book called Song of a Stranger that gives you interesting pointers on how you can be faithful to God in a non-Christian society without compromising your beliefs (I quote) and somehow I stopped before the last chapter, The Best is still to come. 
Before the New Year, I ordered 2 books on amazon, Compelled by Love by Heidi Baker that I have nearly finished and Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer that I cannot wait to start. Also, I have been reading on and off a French book called 'Les Aristocrates', well-written, light and humorous  by Michel de Saint Pierre.
So Tuesday night, I read Compelled by Love and I got very emotional.  In the war-torn, poverty-stricken country of Mozambique, Heidi Baker and her husband have experienced God's miraculous provisions and witnessed the transformed hearts of people caught in desperate life-or-death situations.  (I quote) I could not stop reading and that evening as I still had to do marking and planning, I went to bed rather late! 
So, what is your best read? Do you have any particular reading habits? Have an excellent white week-end!

1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
John 13:34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

20/01/2012

Holocaust Memorial Day: 27 January




There is a pledge you can sign on the HMD website: sign our pledge to make your commitment to ending discrimination. Holocaust Memorial Day provides the opportunity for everyone to learn the lessons from the Holocaust, Nazi Persecution and in the subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur and  Srebrenica.


Let us pray for a peaceful solution to every world conflict so that those atrocities never happen again, in Jesus-Christ. Amen. A verse comes to my mind: Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28