Jonathots Daily Blog
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Many years ago, I sensed a voice within me, encouraging me to go out and share my heart and abilities with the world. Some people would say it was the voice of God, while others would probably insist that it was just me, declaring my own bidding.
I don’t care.
I heeded the call, and that decision has taken me on an exotic adventure.
If faith is what we believe
And love is what we feel,
Then hope is the desire to feel what we believe.
I spent yesterday morning in Milton, Wisconsin, at a church called Hope.
I did not go there looking for God. I found Him some time ago.
I went there looking for people–especially people who are interested in breaking out of the repetition of religious and social blandness.
After 40 years, I have found things about people which really set them apart and give them the advantage Jesus intended them to have:
1. People should be welcoming.
It may be hard to do, but it is even more difficult to wait for friendship to appear instead of stepping forward to cause it.
2. I look for people who have nothing to defend.
Don’t forget–trying to defend something makes you defensive. And being defensive makes you a target for criticism rather than the fort of solitude you envision yourself to be.
3. I look for folks who are listening.
Learning never happens without listening, and honestly, listening never happens as long as we’re flapping our jaws, complaining.
And also, there is a quality in human beings that must be brought to the forefront for us to escape animalism or the notion that we’re “little gods.”
4. I look for folks who can be touched.
To be touched, you have to admit that another fellow-traveler can come along and reach in and tickle your heart.
Here’s the beautiful part to my story:
Yesterday morning at Hope Church, I found such people.
Oh, they tried to hide out at first and pretend they were bound to their traditions and their loyalties to programming, but after a while they realized how beneficial it is to free themselves from the responsibility of being religious, and allow themselves to be children of God.
- The Gospel is not for weaklings.
- It’s not for people who want to follow the crowd.
It is a message for intelligent people who are fully aware that if they pursue the same path as the world around them, they will get the same result, which seems to be a collision of indecision and bedlam.
I was blessed to be with the folks at Hope.
They are shepherded by a fine gentleman with a tender heart and an increasing desire to be swept away by a great wind of Spirit.
I leave them with one better piece of news:
Whenever you walk through the doors of your sanctuary, develop the determination, the attitude and the will to refuse to leave that building … without being totally inspired.
The producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this wonderful, inspirational opportunity
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Jonathots Daily Blog 