A Word From Father Jim
As a Church we spend a lot of time focusing on what God has done in the past (and rightly so). In his Word we read of his mighty deeds and even the most hardened heart secretly cries out for God to move in our world in the same way today. The incredible thing is that God wants to move in the same way in our world today and he wants to do it through us – in our homes, our cities, our nation and the world. You and I are the instrument of his will upon the earth.
A healthy church is a church that is centered in the living Word of God, the Bible. The Bible is our compass and as Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16 (NLT):
"All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right."
But if we spend all of our study examining what the Biblical generations did and not applying it to our own day and time, it becomes little more that a historical exercize. (Please don't get me wrong all Bible study is good, but we should go deeper and apply it to our current situation.) Other than just asking, "What happened here?" or "Why did they do this?", we must also ask, "What are you saying to me in this passage Lord? What are you revealing to me in this passage that affects my life and the life of the Church now?"
You and I are living in the age of Joel 2- right now!
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. (Joel 2:28-29)
This is happening all around us; it is happening in our parish. God is on the move as he prepares the Church, you and I for the final harvest of the ages. But that means that we must look beyond our current paradigm into what God is doing and where he is leading us. It means that we look differently at situations that we are facing and ask, "Lord, what are you saying to me here? What would you have me to do? How am I to pray?" In Amos we read that the Lord does nothing without revealing it to his prophets, and God's revelation is available to each of us. All we need to is ask.
“For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets. The lion has roared; who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken; who can but prophesy?”(Amos 3:7-8)
God is on the move and he's coming to our town!
Shalom!
Jim+