Isaiah 55: Invitation to the Thirsty

So I've been feeling the strain of working two jobs, over fifty hours a week. Life is hectic trying to balance a life of servant leadership to everyone. I had a rehearsal on Thursday and just felt too dry to offer anything to those under my care. Last night, I had some time at Black and Brew in Lakeland to just sit and think. And read.

I usually avoid the prophets in the old testament. Nothing against them, I just prefer something that sounds relevant to my life, like Paul. Well, I flipped to a random page in Isaiah and found this passage:

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.

You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grom the pine tree, and instead of the briers the myrtle will grow. This willl be for the Lord's renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed.

This says two things to me: first, that we are being invited to God just to take food and drink because we have need. He's not asking for a tithe or hail Marys or fasting or anything that religion says we need to do to "earn" the love that was shown to us. He just wants to give to us of himself. The second is that when we have taken from him, we will be so overjoyed that we're gonna run around naked shouting and rejoicing and all of creation will be rejoicing, too. We'll be so happy and peaceful that it will be impossible to hide.

I pray that today you find some time to kneel before God and drink of his spirit and become refreshed.

Youtube Channel

Right, so in preparation for the new launch, I've attempted a Youtube page. And yes, there are some poorly-written, poorly-shot videos on there. Just wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing. Here's the url: http://www.youtube.com/user/BeymerFusion
Not sure if I know how to do a hyperlink. Suggestions?

So... 23 days. I can't believe it! However, the first gathering is a DO-NOT-MISS kinda thing. We're shooting video, getting some awesome music going, and living in the now. Not sure what "living in the now" means, but this is going to be big.

Coming Home

I was just talking to someone today about how I view Christianity. It turned out to be a loaded question that started a huge debate, but I'd like to start where we ended our conversation. To me, being a Christian is having a relationship with God. Just like with other humans, we do things with and for them to show that we love them. I verbally affirm my wife that I love her. I encourage people I work with. I converse with anyone and try to be pleasant and open to listen. And I think that's where relationship with God starts: trying. We try, as idiotic as it may sound, to talk with God. We try to do things for him. And when we try, the attitude we should have is one of humility. Love is the verb that says, "I choose you over me." If we are loving God and humbling ourselves enough to allow God to be in charge of life, we are practicing relationship, which is the basis of Christianity.

As a church body, we are not looking to condemn. I know it may seem like that sometimes, and I know that people get hurt by people in the church who claim to have a relationship with God. We are in no way perfect. We struggle with the same issues you do. As a community of believers, we want to explore the idea of God. We want to seek new avenues of worship and adoration of our creator and Lord. As a staff of Fusion at Beymer, we want to say a huge welcome to anyone who may be seeking God, or even a real relationship with another human. Let's discover the potential for "iron sharpening iron," for holistic worship, for brotherly love. We're excited to begin on this path and hope you join in and enrich our lives as much as we hope to enrich yours.

Peace.