Time

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From Ecclesiastes Sermon by Shane Hipps.


This is a paraphrase but this opened me.

The mind convinces us that the past and the future are real, but they aren't.

They are figments.

The past is a figment of our memories. Sometimes we remember it wrong, sometimes we forget it, and if we forget it..... does it exist? And if we remember it (especially when it's wrong)....does it exist? The past isn't here anymore...it doesn't exist. It has set sail and it is asking us to let it go.

The future is a figment of our imagination. The future has not yet arrived.....it doesn't exist.

The only moment that is real, that actually exists....is the moment right now.

This is IT. When you rest in this knowledge....this wisdom....this awareness... you can have access to the Heart, and the Heart contains l'olam (the Eternal see ecclesiastes 3v11).

Now is the only forever/eternal. It is timeless.

Now, this moment, is the only thing that exist, and when you can rest comfortably in it, it opens into the heart. This present moment is the only domain of the Heart and the Heart is the container of the infinite, indestructible LOVE of GOD.

Forgetting the Past and ignoring the Future is one of the ways that we participate with the Master.

This is a reflection of a timeless truth that we all know, but forget all to easy.

with Love and in the moment, ryan

Trojan Horses

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The enemies within allow the external enemies in.


Your heart is a fortress/a temple/a home for the spirit/the you.... and it has to be protected. Some people argue that this is naive and immature, but it merits a discussion.

You have a part of you that is vulnerable to endless joy and endless sorrow. This part is heavily defended. It is structured around many evolutionary defenses. Your mind, body, and soul are built and created to protect this "youness" and to keep shielded it from the evils/hurts/sin/the separation.

But you are, at times, the enemy of you without knowing it. You allow the defenses to be weaken or you are deceived by something/someone to weaken it yourself.

This is what sin is. It is the trojan horse for the soul.

Working with a wide age range of kids, youth, adults, and sages...I've seen it happen countless times. There is something tiny but toxic about sin. It weakens your defenses and it's good at it. Many righteous (meaning in right standing with God in this context) men/women have fallen prey to this gifted horse.

It always presents itself as harmless and we see it as a nice addition to our identity. The when your soul is at rest....that gifted horse opens up to an assault on you.

You rebuild/refortify but your weaken by the attack and because of this you allow a different one in and so on and so on.

I've heard excuses about watching Tosh.0, Family Guy, seeing this movie, going to this party, lying about this small thing, disobeying authority over small things, etc, etc, etc.....

....and that's just the excuses I have said to myself.

People sin because they want to on some level. Everyone thinks that they can control a little sin or an occasional sin. We believe we control it, but in that mindset we lose control and we are too weak to defend the divine within us from the "undivine" we invited in.

May you be slow to act and quick to think/pray/mediate. May you understand your strength/deFENCEs and recognize where your walls are vulnerable. Recognizes those big beautiful Trojan horses for the deception they create in your heart.

-ryan

Casting Director....

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I was taking notes yesterday and a random thought popped into my head. Random thoughts in my head during sermons aren't usually random, but rather sparks. Sparks by looking a people, hearing certain words, and the environment of worship.


So....

Yesterday the thought of the role of God in your life and it's display like a movie or sitcom. I thought of a dichotomy of roles.

I pictured one where God/Jesus is listed first. That He is in every scene and the camera is following Him around. God is the protagonist, the hero, the funny guy, the glue....

This is where most of "say" He is, but our lives shine light to a different casted role for God.

The second is where He is listed last, but not last because we think He is irrelevant.

I watch the show Community all the time and it makes me laugh as the list Chevy at the end but they include the word "and" to give it weight. The "and" makes Chevy, though listed last, seem mysteriously important. The show isn't about him, isn't surround by his character, isn't glorifying the actor or his character.... it just saying...."We think it is important to think Chevy is important" or "He's kind of a big deal, but not really".

I think this is where God is sometimes...at the end, but with the "and".

Like Chevy, God was famous, but we've taken Him out of the starting role. This is an issue with veteran Christians. We forgot that it's more than pitching God some half-handed respect from time to time. It's about putting Him back in the leading role.

I fall victim to this from time to time.

...."oh yeah, let's pray"....."I'll give with the next paycheck"..... "that was an awesome service and oh yeah, God is great too"

Don't list Him last and tell Him you'll get the "and" and that's important. It is to a washed up actor like Chevy....not God

-ryan

Creation or the Fear of....

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It's hard to write, to speak, to create.... honestly anything that your soul puts an impression on.


That's why we have to do it.

We were created to create and yet it is so hard somedays to put yourself out there.
....there's the fear of rejection
.....theres's the fear of being ignored
......then there's the fear of people actually listening to you

I think we are all instinctively creative in some form or fashion, however, we are conditioned to be fearful of it.

I admire people historically, but more importantly, I admire people that are around me that overcome that fear and put their "art" out there without fear (or at least overcoming it). I also admire those that put it out there without expectation.

They just release their "muse" to the ether. Period. They aren't looking for compensation, reward, respect, or admiration. Those I aspire to be like are those that do so much and require/expect zero praise.

I respect my father, Dr. Orin Smith, Lynn Zimmerman, Marla Kitchens, Bill Dean, Lindsay Roberts, Brian & Heather Nekola, and many many others that do what God has created them to do. They create more HEAVEN and they overcome the fear of doing so.....mostly because the fear of NOT creating is worse.

Motivation for a NEW y(ou)ear.

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Since they didn't bother to acknowledge God, God quit bothering them and let them run loose. And then all hell broke loose: rampant evil, grabbing and grasping, vicious backstabbing. They made life hell on earth with their envy, wanton killing, bickering, and cheating. Look at them: mean-spirited, venomous, fork-tongued God-bashers. Bullies, swaggerer, insufferable windbags! They ditch their parents when they get in the way. Stupid, slimy, cruel, cold-blooded. And it's not as if they don't know better. They know perfectly well they're spitting in God's face. And they don't care -worse, they hand out prizes to those who do the worst things best!

Those people are on a dark spiral downward. But if you think that leaves you on the high ground where you can point your finger at others, think again. Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself. It takes one to know one. Judgmental criticism of others is a well-known way of escaping detection in your own crimes and misdemeanors. But God isn't so easily diverted. He sees right through all such smoke screens and holds you to what you've done.

Roman 1.28-2.2 the Message

Check yourself and don't compare your actions to others. Others isn't the standard/meter stick/canon/example/what you are suppose to be.


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