Ministry in Motion

Chances are you’ll see a bunch of folks walking around with shmootz on their foreheads this Wednesday. I’ve been asked, Pastor: Where can I find 'Ash Wednesday' in the Bible? My answer: You can’t, it’s not there. Crickets. My reply coupled with their silence is almost like permission not to participate in Ash Wednesday.   However, I do share this: Ashes are spoken of in the cannonical writings. Two uses are worth exploring. They include:   Repentance  &  Mortality . These two may very well be the Siamese-Twins, the dual themes of Ash Wednesday. They speak of harsh realities, contrition and death. Uncomfortable topics for most of us.    Repentance. The Bible frequently speaks of “repenting in sackcloth and ashes.” Jesus spoke of repenting like this in  Matthew 11:20-22 . In the Hebrew Scriptures there is a tradition of donning ashes as a sign of penitence - this predates Jesus. Job repents “in dust and ashes.” Other OT Scriptures touch on the dusty subject too

T he Prodigal Son. This may be Jesus’ greatest parable. I wrote about this story last week. It’s a powerful revelation of the heart of the Father — the heart of God and  unconditional love . This is the thing the Pharisees knew nothing about, it’s why their souls were lost and their theology skewed. The Pharisees were like the older brother inside the father’s house, never understanding what’s going on in the Father’s heart. In the gospel of Luke , the prodigal son doesn't return home because of a renewed love for his father. He comes back home simply to survive because he ran out of money and is $tarving. And his father is perfectly fine with that!  Just come home.   God just wants you home.  @richvillodas ~BZ #MininstryinMotion   #Pkes   Facebook   Twitter   Instagram   Home   Email

Decades ago, academics, futurists, journalists and even government agencies cast their predictions of what would happen by the year 2020. What if any predictions do you recall that would be in place by 2020? Space vacations; two tix to the moon? Mars exploration by man; My Favorite Martian Hydrogen fueled cars; are they a wash out? Robots as personal assistants; Alexia! Is this the droid I'm looking for? In   1550ish,  Nostradamus supposedly wrote about 2020 saying: “ In the city of God, there will be a great thunder. Two brothers torn apart by Chaos while the fortress endures.   The great leader will succumb. The third big war will begin when the big city is burning. ”   Is this quatrain to be interpreted as a possible new World War. 2020 — New struggles, new triumphs and new discoveries they’re all on the horizon for us this year and beyond.   I find myself asking where is Christianity headed? What will being a christian in 2020 lo

“When someone is impatient and says, 'I haven't got all day,' I always wonder,  How can that be? How can you not have all day? George Carlin Maybe impatience is the hallmark of immaturity. It’s like the droning cry from children in the backseat – “Are we there yet?”   We know that impatience is not reserved just for children. We adults can be pretty impatient too. Check your pulse next time you have to wait in the checkout line designated for 10 items or less and the customer ahead of you has 12, or 15. Possibly patience is a lost art. I’ve read that   impatience is the essence of foolishness; that patience is the heart of wisdom. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. ‘For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. Luke 15:20, 24 If we were to unpack the entire story of the Prodig

John Cacioppo   [1] of the University of Chicago, who does incredible work on loneliness, says that the only real biological advantage we have over most other species is our connection, our belonging; our ability to collaborate, plan and be in relationship.   art by shari jones What does belonging look like for you? The need to belong, sometimes known as   belongingness, refers to a human emotional need to affiliate with and be accepted by, members of a group.  Maybe belonging for you is having a depth and connection within your family of origin, the family we were born to or adopted into.  Some seek connection through excluding others, or relationships that are rooted in extremism, or just deciding to disaffiliate altogether - they connect by being off the grid...  The multiple platforms and proliferation of social media has intensified a sense of belonging. Online connections, sometimes faceless and nameless, give the illusion of connection. Hopefully

My parents were a product of the American Depression , the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world, lasting from 1929 to 1939.   I was raised thinking that life was a competition and a matter of acquisition, a game to see who can get the most. But this is a lie. Life is not a game; life is a gift. The purpose of life is not to win with the most; the purpose of life is to learn to love well. Are we hard-wired to love or is it learned? Yes, both, I think. We’re wired to connect; viscerally we want to love, be loved and belong. Religions have been structured around the concept of  altruistic  love. The Abrahamic religions all command us to “love thy neighbor as thyself." Sometimes we lose sight of this and get caught up in the trivialities, the minutiae. Learning to love well, loving with intentionality, can be difficult. The idea of loving others and being loved sounds so good, so noble, so worthy.   Over nearly three decades in ministry I’v