MAC KIRK

I Corinthians 12:7 Epistle = TEAM . Together Everyone Accomplishes More This was a saying that one of my Chaplain friends used that was an outstanding preacher, mentor and unifier. He and I worked together in the Protestant Service in the main chapel at the 2nd Division Headquarters in South Korea about 25 miles north of Seoul. He had a lot of those sayings but this one stuck with me. So is this a Biblical idea? How can we be TEAM? Berean Study Bible "Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good." Sunphero is the Greek word, meaning to bring together or be profitable . The Spirit gives as He wills individual gifts to all for the building up of the body of Christ. Much like sports, Christianity is a together team effort , not an individual shining above the others. The only individual that should shine is Christ. But the question remains, how can we be team and not just little lights that flicker or don't light much at all....?

http://www.pauline.org/Resources/Forgiveness-A-Catholic-Approach/Start-Forgiving-The-Process#40112-step-two-dont-get-stuck

Visiting an Old Story and Seeing a Simple Message Luke 15:11 The simple things in life are the best, good friends, good conversation, perhaps a good glass of wine....We all seek to have simple and not complicated lives. The simplest truths of the Scriptures are the most comforting and at the same time most challenging. In this reading there is grace, love and forgiveness from the Father to the wayward son , and the journey of that son to the home he should have never left by coming to himself. There is also a dark picture of the elder son who did not think the younger son deserved to be forgiven. Today I want to focus on one thing in this story---the picture and lessons of forgiveness and grace shown by the Father to the repentant younger son. What does forgiveness look like ? Why should we forgive? Are we to forgive, or be like the elder son who "was angry , and would not go in" ( 15:28) Why should we forgive others? Why should we show compassion? We s

Romans 8:17 "If so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together." Romans 8:17b " There is a ministry of adversity that we shall neglect at our peril....In times of stress and difficulty we learn afresh our dependence upon God. When things are going well, we have confidence in our capacity to look after our own affairs. We feel that we can do it alone. But when obstacles hedge us in on every side, the conceit fades out: we measure our frailty and cry aloud for help. We are not the mighty creatures we had foolishly supposed for all of us are within the hand of God. And that is a discovery worth making..." from W.E.Sangster, These Things Abide: Devotional Meditations in Dark Day, 1940 The great English Methodist W. E. Sangster above gives us as the cover says, " beautiful and soul-searching meditations ...to all who in these dark days are burdened with anxiety and sorrow." As I was working on this unfortunately this week we h

Unity Psalm 133 Psalm 133 paints a beautiful picture of unity and being together as brothers/sisters in our faith. It is good and pleasant . It is like the ointment that ran down Aaron the priest. This oil is described in Exodus 30:23 ,myrrh, cinammon and calamus. I have not seen this kind of oil, but it must be delightful in texture and smell. The other picture is of the dew ," as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion" When brethren work together the idea is that of the beautiful dew that comes upon the morning in the mountains. We too are happy when we see that on our lawns and grass in the morning for it gives moisture to them. It is a fresh smell in the morning. When I choose to exercise I certainly do not do it in the extreme heat of the afternoon. I love the morning dew and cool . Unity is attractive as the dew and the ointment put on the high priest in his service. As the Psalmist said, "good and plea

Jonah chapter 4----The Chapter We Would Not Write One outcome Jonah that Jonah feared was that God would be gracious unto Nineveh and they would repent, and He would not destroy the city. He was all too happy to say, " Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown."3:4 He was glad that God was going to execute His judgment on the people of Nineveh, for they deserved it. They were not godly people. They did not deserve God's love as Jonah said in 4: 2," I pray thee O LORD, was this my saying...I fled to Tarshish..for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repented thee of the evil." This is not the ending I expected either. Jonah is so angry, white hot anger 4:1 it says that " he prayed unto the LORD" . If this is what you are going to do God, then, " I beseech thee, take, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live." 4:3 He is mad because He gave the