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MissionAccess
Celebrating Disability Ministry Worldwide
Tough Love
The Lord Loves The Upright
Greetings & Blessings Faithful Followers of Team MissionAccess Worldwide! Methinks that our Awesome Lord hath given me a very timely message indeed! But I do believe it is not just for me alone, but for ALL of us in what appears to be a pivotal time in not just our church, but also in our nation, and our world.
Our Scripture Focus Verse is found in the OT Book of Micah 6:8 (NIV)
8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Ah! I believe that in this one simple yet profound verse Our Awesome Lord is giving us His template for how best to properly rise up to the challenges we all face.
Theologian Martin Luther likened the struggle between justice and mercy to a drunken peasant who fails to straddle his horse if he leans too heavily on either the stirrup of justice or of mercy (1). Growing up I learned this delicate balance courtesy of my pugnacious pony Pepper who defied every effort to correct or control her (hmm I resemble that remark).
So how shall we remain upright?
The key is BALANCE.
Oh Precious Peeps! May the fullness of both justice and mercy prevail in all our efforts as we walk humbly for His Glory indeed.
In His Accessible Grace,
Linda
(1) Blog: The Drunk Peasant | Christian History Institute
PHOTO SOURCE: Shea Fam Archive
Empty The Shelves
Fill Them With Your Glory, Lord!
Greetings & Blessings Faithful Followers of Team MissionAccess Worldwide! After two decades, one too many plumbing fiascoes, and relentless daily scooter-battered abuse, it became now glaringly apparent that the worn-out carpeting in our home must be replaced. Having secured all the necessary means to achieve this goal, we were then faced with a mind-blowing directive: EMPTY THE SHELVES! What seemed like a normal, everyday request become for me a Herculean task. I confess: that stuff represents far more of my self-identity than I care to admit. So much so that my realization of what’s really going on inspired a poem entitled “Empty Shelves” that you may be able to relate to:
The ”stuff”! It must be cleared away!
(For better “stuff” to come?)
Nooks and crannies, don’t delay
Let’s strip your surface dumb
“But that’s my…” I gasp aloud
“Restore it NOW! ASAP!”
Do not remove the sacred shroud
That hides the tender trap
They say I’m more than just my stuff
“It’s what’s inside that matters!”
Whatever. Still, I find it rough
To let go of the tatters.
In Hebrews 4: 12 ESV it says: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Oh precious Peeps! Whether it’s fig leaves, overstuffed shelves, or whatever your clever disguise, let His Word strip you of your trappings, heal you, restore you and set you free indeed.
In His Accessible Grace,
Linda
PHOTO SOURCE: Thacker Fam Archive
Let The Rebirth Begin!
Let The Rebirth Begin!
Greetings & Blessings Faithful Followers of Team MissionAccess Worldwide! Let’s explore a trend called “dechurching” which accounts for a mass exodus from churches small and large nationwide over the past 25 years.
However, this did not happen overnight. In fact, in 1972 41% of Americans attended church every week. But by 2021, that declined to 24%. But wring not your hands nor gnash your teeth in fear! Rather, let us lift our hands in praise for the opportunity set before us to be active participants in the rebirth of an even more powerful, personal and persuasive Church Family worldwide in the future.
In the book “The Great Dechurching: Who’s Leaving, Why Are They Going, and What Will It Take to Bring Them Back?” authors Jim Davis, Michael Graham, and Ryan Burge offer encouraging news to help reverse this trend. In fact, for 51% of those surveyed, it may be as simple as asking them to church.
So… Let’s ask them! Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV encourages us to:
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
In His Accessible Grace,
Linda
PHOTO SOURCE: a1183373-5d0e-4df3-a902-d73052edf2c6.__CR0,0,300,300_PT0_SX300_V1___.png (300×300) (media-amazon.com)
Free Indeed
Free From Haircare Bondage Indeed
Greetings & Blessings Faithful Followers of Team MissionAccess Worldwide! As we ponder what lies ahead on this whacky road we’ve trodden together, let’s talk FREEDOM (one o’ my fav topics). But where does it come from? And what does it mean to be truly free?
(Hint: gotta go to the Bible for that):
JOHN 8: 36 ESV “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
Consulting a commentary from scholars far more learned than I is always advisable, so here from Pulpit Commentary on biblehub.com:
“The incarnation of the Son of God as a veritable Son of man emancipates the soul fettered by the tyranny of nature and baffled by the mastery of time and sense, inasmuch as it discloses the august majesty of its own origin. Essential freedom accrues to him who knows that sin is pardoned, that death is vanquished, that the prince of this world is cast out.”
Bottom line: we are free.
OK, so we are free. Free from what? “Free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8: 2). What’s that? According to Romans 6: 23 ”The wages of sin is death.” But what does that mean? That’s referring to not just physical death but ETERNAL separation from God. That alone should cause us to tremble! However, in our current post-modern culture, the fear of God has largely been removed which we see play out daily in increasingly disturbing ways.
I confess to writing in a journal not so very long ago that “I want to do what I want to do when I want to do it!” Oh precious Peeps! That’s NOT freedom! In fact that’s the very definition of bondage. But the Good News is that while we are yet in the Land of the Living, there remains an opportunity for us to share the freedom offered lovingly to all who choose to believe in the One who sets us Free Indeed.
In His Accessible Grace,
Linda
PHOTO SOURCE: Thacker Fam Archive
Beauty For Ashes
Rejoice in His Beauty for Ashes!
Greetings & Blessings Faithful Followers of Team MissionAccess Worldwide! As we wave a fond farewell to Bartimaeus Baptist Temple’s (http://BBTemple.org) Homecoming #65, I am so honored to share a vision of what I believe Our Awesome Lord has prepared for us in the future.
Spoiler Alert! It ain’t retirement! Far from it.
In fact, I believe that we are entering what we’ll look back upon as the beginning of the Golden Age of our ministry.
Why do I say this? Because if we look back in scripture, we uncover something very similar that happened for God’s chosen people as recounted by the Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 61: 3 (NASB 1995):
“To grant those who mourn in Zion,
Giving them a garland instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
The cloak of praise instead of a disheartened spirit.
So they will be called oaks of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”
For context I include this commentary from BiblePortal.com:
“’Beauty for ashes’” is a promise to God’s people that He planned to get them out of their troubles and eventually send them the Messiah. This is clear from the background and context of the verse. Christians can still find hope and encouragement in these verses when they are going through hard times.”
Every year our Homecoming coincides with our national remembrance of 9/11/01 when we are reminded of the ashes. But behold the strong towers of defiance that rose up in their place! In the same way, I believe our weathered sign so eloquently captures the Beauty For Ashes that yet await our continued ministry efforts in our Golden Age to come. A Golden Opportunity for you to join us indeed!
In His Accessible Grace,
Linda
PHOTO SOURCE: BBTemple.org Archive
Play Ball!
Pastor David Whitmore with Bob Sorge in September 2009
Greetings & Blessings Faithful Followers of Team MissionAccess Worldwide! This season, let’s try something a little different, shall we? In fact, I was totally convinced that the Lord had given me a completely different message to share when this one fell right into my lap! The significance of that you shall see shortly.
This is a word of wisdom from Bob Sorge, a dear longtime friend of Bartimaeus Baptist Temple. No stranger to disability, Bob is a prolific author of disability ministry classics such as Pain, Perplexity and Promotion: A Prophetic Interpretation of the Book of Job, The Fire Of Delayed Answers, and Secrets of the Secret Place: Keys to Igniting Your Prayer Time with God. He masterfully crafts an especially encouraging message to people like you and me affected by disability who really struggle with questions like: “Lord is this really Your will for my life?” and “Are You still listening to me?”
May you be uplifted by this word in due season indeed:
I Am With You // Bob Sorge – YouTube
In His Accessible Grace,
Linda
The Joy Of Holiness
Dr. J. I. Packer
Greetings & Blessings Faithful Followers of Team MissionAccess Worldwide! Meet J. I. Packer, who went Home to be with the Lord in 2020, full of years at the age of 93, here speaking on Personal Holiness:
What a timely message as we enter a brand New Year! May I be so bold as to suggest that we focus not just on the principles but rather on The Joy of Holiness. Many times throughout the Old and New Testament we hear echoes of holiness but find it first as a command here:
44 For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, because I am holy. (LEV 11: 44 NASB)
Let’s look more closely at two key words:
#1 CONSECRATE: to devote to a purpose with or as if with deep solemnity or dedication.
#2 HOLY: dedicated or consecrated to God or a religious purpose; sacred.
Note that “holy” is repeated twice, signifying its importance to Our Awesome Lord & Savior. What better time than now to recommit our hearts, our minds, and our lives and unleash the Joy of Holiness exceeding abundantly!
In His Accessible Grace,
Linda
IMAGE SOURCE: j i packer – Search Images (bing.com)
Formed Into Love
#GBK Indeed!
Greetings & Blessings Faithful Followers of Team MissionAccess worldwide! Langston Hughes, legendary poet of the Harlem Renaissance of the 60s, penned the timeless poem entitled “Tired”:
I am so tired of waiting,
Aren’t you,
For the world to become good
And beautiful and kind?
Let us take a knife
And cut the world in two-
And see what worms are eating
At the rind. (1)
What’s crazy is that I started seeing the words “good and beautiful and kind” popping up everywhere! In fact it is the title of an excellent book by Rich Villodas: “Good and Beautiful and Kind: Becoming Whole in a Fractured World.” Rich is the Brooklyn-born lead pastor of New Life Fellowship in Elmhurst, NY. His book is a very personal testimony of how to live out our faith, not just by what we are doing, but how we are doing it. It all comes down to one pivotal question:
“Am I Being Formed Into Love?”
Here’s how it works: before you say anything, before you do anything, ask yourself “Is It #GBK? (Good? Beautiful? Kind?)” Think of it as a shortcut to Being Formed Into Love.
Oh Precious Peeps! It doesn’t have to be big. Or profound. But that’s exactly how we make a difference in this fractured world. Because even in this rotten world—no, let me rephrase that—especially in this rotten world, we are desperately needed to be #GBK for His Glory indeed.
In His Accessible Grace,
Linda
Today IS Someday
Time Is Precious Peeps!
Greetings & Blessings Faithful Followers of Team MissionAccess worldwide! Usually I begin with an audio or video clip but when I did a search for today’s lesson entitled “Today Is Someday” all I came up with was a song by Mariah Carey, an on-line gift shop and an RV park! So I guess the Lord is telling me to MOVE ON and get to His Word ASAP!
“But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.” (2 Peter 3: 8 NASB)
At the time of the writing of this letter, 30 or 40 years had already passed since Christ’s resurrection, so people were questioning whether Christ was really coming back or not. And now today, 2000 years later, well maybe up ‘til just months ago, people were saying the same thing about the return of Christ. But now with what we see playing out in Ukraine, scoffers ain’t scoffin’ no more! And while there is still time, I pray that they take full advantage of God’s generous offer of salvation indeed.
That’s where we come in Peeps!
Though God has Eternity, for us Time is Limited and Time is Precious. So remember that Today IS Someday! His Heart is revealed in the very next line: “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3: 9 NASB)
Therefore Precious Peeps, let us rise up and boldly share the Good News of Jesus Christ while there is yet precious time left here in the Land of the Living for His Glory.
In His Accessible Grace,
Linda
Happy New Revival!
#LETUSWORSHIP Sean Feucht
Greetings & Blessings Faithful Followers of Team MissionAccess worldwide! Here’s a Joy Bomb to usher in New Year 2022 indeed: New Years Eve Recap – Miami Florida – Sean Feucht – YouTube
That was none other than Sean Feucht of #LetUsWorship, an evangelistic firestorm launched to combat the tyrannical 2020 Cali lockdowns aimed to silence our God-given right to worship and praise our Awesome Lord. Born humbly on the Golden Gate bridge, lo and behold just over a year later #LetUsWorship rang in the New Year with a mighty roar on the freedom-loving shores of Miami, Florida.
According to Sean, so far they have shared the Good News of Jesus Christ with nearly 500,000 people nationwide and have witnessed 40,000 professions of faith! And they are just getting warmed up.
My prayer is that we see God’s magnificent hand orchestrate a Happy New Revival right here in Dallas, TX! Here is our focus verse:
ISAIAH 22: 22 NASB
“Then I will put the key of the house of David on his shoulder;
When He opens, no one will shut,
When He shuts, no one will open.”
I truly believe that Dallas is ripe for revival, but the key is with us, with our hearts.
Revival starts with our personal confession of how we are simply falling short of the Glory of God with a sincere recommitment to repent and pursue holiness at all costs in the future. May our humble prayers unleash a Revival that spreads farther and faster than any virus indeed!
In His Accessible Grace,
Linda
PHOTO SOURCE: https://d38trduahtodj3.cloudfront.net/images.ashx?t=ig&rid=CoastalCarolinaFair&i=sean-night-square.jpg