“Turn aside and look…”
date posted: Sep 1, 2009
In reading “Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership” by Ruth Barton, Exodus 3:2-4 has really jumped out at me. “There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight”. When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush.”
God spoke to Moses only after Moses took time to ‘turn aside and look’ at the burning bush. The lesson for each of us is this: are we taking time to turn aside from the regular, incessant rhythm of our day and look at a burning bush in our own life? As stated by Barton, a burning bush is a most ordinary object that becomes extraordinary because it is on fire with divine activity.
The difficulty for many of us is that we are so busy dealing with life’s urgent needs or with future thinking that we miss the ordinary elements of our lives in which God is presently at work. If we do not take time to turn aside and look, we may be missing God’s voice calling to us.
How does one turn aside and look? It probably looks a bit different for each of us. But I wonder if it always includes time of quieting one’s soul. To quiet your soul you could begin by taking prayerful time to look at your life this past week. Name the ways God has been present in you life. If you’re not remembering or seeing them….ask God to remind you – they are there, we simply need to quiet ourselves to see them.
As we begin to see the burning bushes that existed in our life this past week – bushes that we didn’t take time to turn aside and watch and wonder at – we can ask God what He intended us to hear/know/learn from Him. As we hear the Holy Spirit’s counsel, wisdom, and guidance, our soul will respond. We become quieted and will more likely see other burning bushes in our lives. ….and thus maybe, just maybe, we’ll hear God calling to us.
I encourage you….even challenge you to:
•Begin paying attention to the burning bushes in your life. Where and what is God doing presently – right now – in your life?
•How can you quiet your soul – how can you make time to turn aside and look, not only around you, but within you?
•What is it God wants to speak to you…about what is God calling out to you?
Pastor Sherrie Hittler
Adult Discipleship & Community Groups
Election Night
date posted: Nov 10, 2008
Last night I stayed up until midnight to watch the returns. Early in the evening, the Presidential race was shaping up to be a lopsided victory for the Democrats. Locally, I watched with interest the local races for the State House and for Congress. I was proud of our own Leland Prebble, who fought a good fight and received a good vote despite losing to a more experienced opponent for the Michigan State House. Leland ran a positive campaign and was cited in the Jackson Cit Pat for contributing to a clean race that focused on the issues. Thank you Leland!
As I watched the Obama celebration taking place at Grant Park in Chicago, I was thankful that our nation had reached the point where an African American could be elected President. It was a moving scene to see so many people of so many ethnic backgrounds dancing and hugging and celebrating together. Such a scene is inconceivable among other countries in the world where ethnic and tribal differences lead to predictable violence after every election. We are still a great nation.
I did not vote for Barack Obama. I was, and continue to be troubled by his stated philosophy and voting record on issues concerning the sanctity of life. He has pledged to reduce the rate of abortion in America. Let’s keep him accountable on that promise. I am concerned about his lack of experience in so many things, especially foreign policy. Our nation is now navigating where we never would have imagined just a few years ago. We have moved several steps towards socialism with unprecedented and untested government intervention in the financial markets. Our Michigan auto industry has now reached the point where it will not survive without government bailout. We are bogged down in a war that is being carried out on more fronts than we have personnel and resources for. These are just some of the many gargantuan challenges facing our new President.
We are under a scriptural mandate to pray for and respect our leaders. President Bush and President-elect Obama need our prayers as well as our critical engagement in the democratic process.
Unlike either Democrats or Republicans, we who carry the name of Jesus are under a scriptural mandate to stand for the full compliment of Kingdom values. As we read and reflect on scripture together, these values include, but are not limited to – the sanctity of human life in every context, the care for the poor and marginalized in the world, the dignity of persons by holding everyone accountable as moral beings and contributors to society, justice, the protection and preservation of marriage and family, racial equality and reconciliation, wise stewardship of the earth and its resources, generosity over greed, humility and gratitude over arrogance, peacemaking over aggression.
As followers of Christ, let us leave off unfair, inaccurate and derogatory attacks against those candidates or parties we may not agree with. Let’s not be moved by those who would make a living or gain a hearing based on their slanderous attacks and paranoiac claims, including those who spread their caustic message on the airwaves. These have no place among God’s people.
Our allegiance is to God, and to his call to holiness and truth telling. It is our duty to vote. Now that the election is over, it is also our duty to stay engaged with our leaders by praying for them, hearing them out, challenging them, and letting our thoughtful opinions be known.
Pastor Mark