Jim Preisig

Prayers for Anneli

It hardly seems posslble, but our little girl is off to Costa Rica for a summer of study. Since she is now 21, she bristles just a bit when I refer to her as my little girl - but those of you who are fathers will undoubledy understand.

She is studying for 2 month at a University in Costa Rico, with all of her classes in Spanish. Living with a wonderful family, I suspect that she is having the time of her life.

Her mother and I would cherish your prayers for a tremendous experience and a safe return home! She just left on Friday and we are already missing her terribly. So is our old dog, Rex.

Worship Recap: Speak Life #2

Liar, Liar

Speak Life 2

Eph 4:15

 

Open: Crabby Culture -

 Sticks and Stones – Taming the Tongue, toughest thing

 

Speak Life! Offer a blessing in an uncivil world

 

Liar, Liar – Jim Carey – Dostoevsky quote –

 

Dostoevsky wrote in The Brothers Karamazov: "The important thing is to stop lying to yourself. A man who lies to himself and believes his own lies becomes unable to recognize the truth, either in himself or in anyone else, and he ends up losing respect for himself as well as for others. When he has no respect for anyone, he can no longer love, and in order to divert himself, having no love in him, he yields to his impulses, indulges in the lowest forms of pleasure, and behaves in the end like an animal, in satisfying his vices. And it all comes from lying, lying to others and to yourself."

 

 

Scripture: Eph. 4:15

 

 

Speak…

         2 Samuel Tamar & Amnon – David enraged, but he does nothing.

 

        Dietrich Bonheoffer Quote: Picture & Quote

 

No choice but to speak, for to remain silent is to be complicit

 

In the store – shocked, stunned by a mother’s comments to child. Should I have spoken?

 

 

The Truth…

         Kentucky Marksman – drew the target after firing . Subtly, what we do. We see the truth, miss what others see.

 

Karl Manheim, Ideology & Untopia.

 

Today – every truth is accepted. No standard to judge. So called authenticity

 

         My truth to live out… Not mine, what I believe of Christ

 

 

In Love….

         Fredrick Buechner – dad’s suicide.

 

         The guy from the T-Bones

 

 

Speak Life! Here you will find words of comfort to strengthen you in your journey of faith. Here you will find words lifting you up, not words tearing and bringing you down. At this table you will never be pointed in the wrong direction. Unlike crabs we Christians are not to pull each other down, but to help each other up. We live out the law in love--"we weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice."

 

Like Christ we speak Grace & Truth!

 

So For us?

 

Start to speak up!

Speak the truth, your truth

In Love!

By doing so - Speak Life! A blessing, not a curse!

 

Next Week: Memorial Day Weeking - Last Words

Do You Remember Miss Lillian Carter?

Since he’s still around, most folks remember Jimmy Carter. Although not popular as a president, his standing among presidents seems to be on the ascendency.

 

Whatever you think about President Carter, it was his mother, Miss Lillian, that I really liked. She had a disarming southern charm, and an incisive wit.

 

One time a reporter was pushing Miss Lillian on her son’s reputation for honesty. With a measure of challenge the reporter asked, “Miss Lillian, do you mean that he (Jimmy) never told a lie?”

 

"Well, I reckon he might have told a little white lie now and then," she replied.

 

The reporter pounced: "Do you mean that white lies are okay? Just what do you mean by a white lie?"

 

"Well," drawled Miss Lillian, "Do you remember when you came in this morning and I told you how glad I was to see you...?"

 

What white lies do you tell? Ever wonder why? Is it to avoid a deeper truth?

 

Come to The Summit this weekend and we will explore what it is like to live in truth!

 

Speaking the Truth in Love

Speaking the Truth in Love

 

One of the keys to living within God’s love and grace – and living richly – is to live in the truth. I still remember when I read The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky and stumbled over this quote. Read it carefully, as I believe Dostoevsky is touching upon profound, biblical truth. He wrote:

 

"The important thing is to stop lying to yourself. A man (sic) who lies to himself and believes his own lies becomes unable to recognize the truth, either in himself or in anyone else, and he ends up losing respect for himself as well as for others. When he has no respect for anyone, he can no longer love, and in order to divert himself, having no love in him, he yields to his impulses, indulges in the lowest forms of pleasure, and behaves in the end like an animal, in satisfying his vices. And it all comes from lying, lying to others and to yourself."

 

What would it mean to live in the truth?

 

What would change in the way we live? Love? Or experience life?

 

Please join me this weekend in worship as explore speaking the truth in love.

 

Liar, Liar

Remember the Jim Carrey movie, “Liar, Liar?”

 

It follows the life of a fictional attorney who seems to lie instinctively – about everything. The plot twists around his relationship with his young son, to whom he lies routinely. As can only happen in the movies, this attorney is blessed/cursed with the inability to tell a lie – to the judge, to the traffic cop, to his wife, son, and faithful secretary. The results are hilarious. The premise is provocative.

 

What would your life be like if you spent a full 24 hours without telling a lie. No fibs, no white lies, no seemingly innocent half-truths.

 

What would that be like for you?

 

More tomorrow, in anticipation of worship this weekend!