Sermon: IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH – A Lesson in the Nature of Worship by Nik Godshall

Worship is a process. There are some things that you have to learn to surrender. Coming to Jesus is the most freeing, wonderful privilege we get to enjoy as Christians. This type of worship takes honestly. Honesty is the birthplace of genuine worship. The natural reaction to vulnerability is put up walls and wear a mask.

Exhibit: MARVELS AND MIRAGES OF ORIENTALISM

Why is she so special? Because most of the women in this exhibit of North African art, culture and people primarily portrayed white women as bejeweled favorites of the African rulers and as the recipients of services from "lower" black female co-servants. The majority of brown and black women were portrayed mostly as hard laborers (evidenced by muscled arms kneading the smooth supple skin of the lounging white women) or entertainers. The Tangerian Beauty is the one black woman in the WHOLE exhibit who was not depicted in a sexually exploitative manner, or in a physically unattractive way (i.e. as a dismissive curiosity) or as a servant. The bias of most of the works on display was so oppressive, I grew angrier throughout the exhibit. This got me to thinking of how black women have been portrayed in fine art throughout the ages around the world. Why is she so special? Because most of the women in this exhibit of North African art, culture and people primarily portrayed white women as bejeweled favorites of the African rulers and as the recipients of services from "lower" black female co-servants. The majority of brown and black women were portrayed mostly as hard laborers (evidenced by muscled arms kneading the smooth supple skin of the lounging white women) or entertainers. The Tangerian Beauty is the one black woman in the WHOLE exhibit who was not depicted in a sexually exploitative manner, or in a physically unattractive way (i.e. as a dismissive curiosity) or as a servant. The bias of most of the works on display was so oppressive, I grew angrier throughout the exhibit. This got me to thinking of how black women have been portrayed in fine art throughout the ages around the world....

How Does Forgiveness Work?

Forgiveness is a new way of looking at others. It is a radical and countercultural perspective on life. If you believe in forgiveness—that God forgives even though he is not obligated to, and that we’ll have the best kind of life if we hold other people in our lives with a loose grip—then you will see people for what they can be and what they were intended to be, rather than simply as they are. Forgiveness means looking at people who have wronged you and deciding that you’d like to set things right—but in the end, you’re not going to play God. Forgiveness is a decision and a process. You can release someone from obligation to you personally, even though the smoldering fires of resentment may keep burning in you for some time to come. {Click to read more.}

Devotional: Got Your Back

If one of your fellow Israelites falls into poverty and cannot support himself, support him as you would a foreigner or a temporary resident and allow him to live with you. Do not charge interest or make a profit at his expense. Instead, show your fear of God by letting him live with you as your relative. Remember, do not charge interest on money you lend him or make a profit on food you sell him. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

Devotional: Blissful Blessings

If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you the seasonal rains. The land will then yield its crops, and the trees of the field will produce their fruit. Your threshing season will overlap with the grape harvest, and your grape harvest will overlap with the season of planting grain. You will eat your fill and live securely in your own land. I will give you peace in the land, and you will be able to sleep with no cause for fear.

Lessons learned from Lance Armstrong

People feel betrayed when their idols fall and break. They would rather glue the idol back together instead of exploring their unreasonable need to aspire to an image created by someone else for someone else. People can only be manipulated to the extent that they want to believe the lie.

SONG & VERSE: You Give Good Love

During a conversation with a friend earlier today, manipulators and controllers became a topic. I call it a spirit of manipulation and control since I know people from every area of my life who have submitted to it. It's a destructive spirit that has been prevalent in many people whose wills have collided with mine.