Enjoying the Journey – Don’t Fear the Falls and Don’t
be “Hostel” to New Things - Purity 886
Purity 886 11/11/2022 Purity 886 Podcast
Purity 886 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo a bright midafternoon sun shining over
one of the “natural” wonders of the world comes to us from yours truly as I
decided to make the best of the somewhat long drive to Buffalo by going to
Oswego last night Wednesday and by skipping along the coast of Lake Ontario
along the Great Lakes Seaway Trail for a time yesterday before making a bee
line for Niagara Falls. The welcome
center for the American Falls may be under construction, and it may have been
“offseason” but there were no lines, the crowds were small, and the observation
deck was open and didn’t require a ticket!
Add to that the bright afternoon sunshine and I really couldn’t have
asked for more as my trip to the Falls was the climax of my decision to enjoy
my journey to Buffalo.
Well, It’s Friday and although I am not sure what I
will do with the hours between now and when I check in as a volunteer for the
Evening with David Jerimiah Event at the Key Bank Center at 3:30pm, I wanted to
take the time to encourage all who read or hear this message to occasionally
force yourselves to enjoy the journey by being intentional in trying new things,
doing things differently occasionally, and appreciating the way to your next destination.
When I travel I am normally pretty destination
driven. IF I’m going to X, let’s get to X and let’s get to X as soon as possible! But on occasion, not too often mind you, I
will make the intentional decision to go a different way, not concern myself
with the travel time, and to stop and see and appreciate things along the
way.
When I first heard about tonight’s event in Buffalo,
I got the sense that this would be a wonderful opportunity to “be spontaneous” and
to do a small act of service to the man and ministry that delivered “THE MESSAGE” that saved my
soul and began my new life in Christ.
Even though I
could have just used today’s holiday – Happy Veterans’ Day – Thank You For Your
Service – to drive out to Buffalo in time to make the event, I decided to leave
Wednesday evening and use a personal day yesterday so I could take some time to
visit my alma mater’s city, and to just
see where the Lord lead me as I slowly moved west to Buffalo.
Okay maybe I wasn’t completely spontaneous
because I was responsible in scheduling
the time off from work and did book my stay at the Knight’s Inn in Oswego and
the Hostel Buffalo Niagara well in advance. But other than making sure I had a
place to lay my head before going, I decided to take my time and to take a more
scenic route and to stop at Niagara Falls before going to my 2 day hostel home in
Buffalo.
So yesterday, after dropping off an old fraternity
shirt I have no use for in the mailbox of the new Psi Phi Gamma fraternity
house on West 4th Street, I went to the Oswego Marina and drove
along the Lake Ontario shore up to the SUNY Oswego Campus. I took a few pictures of the lake behind
Riggs and Johnson Hall and then set the GPS for Niagara Falls.
But I quickly realized that the GPS was going
against my desire to drive along the coast, so I decided to put in Sodus Point as
a destination and try to keep the lake close.
I had a great morning driving around soudus bay, to the point and then
stayed on lake road, making stops at B.Foreman Park, The Lakeview Shelter at
Webster Pier, and the Irendequoit Bay Outlet Pier and Beach. But when I reached the Seabreeze Amusement
Park, my leisurely pace, the unfamiliarity where I was, my desire to visit Niagara
Falls and to get to the Hostel Buffalo Niagara before 5pm, all caused me to take
the GPS’s quickest route to the Falls.
As I headed south and realized I had only gone as far west as Rochester
I was a little disappointed because I wanted to take the long way around to
Niagara Falls initially but my stopping to smell the roses had taken time and I
had a date with the Niagara Falls. So I hit the thruway with enthusiasm,
driving very fast, and made it to the Falls around 2 pm.
The Falls were as magnificent as ever and I took
some time to intentionally sit on a park bench to enjoy the view and to thank
the Lord for the wonderful weather and all the wonderful sights I had seen thus
far, and of course to thank Him for where He has brought me in life.
And of course, when you think about how good life is
because you are experiencing pleasant circumstances you naturally think about
the people you love. So I thought about my wife TammyLyn and sent her some
photos to let er know that I was thinking of her and that I wished she was with
me and that I loved her.
After some anxiety over finding a place to park my
car, I eventually made it to the Hostel in Buffalo, which admittedly is a new
experience and caused a bit of anxiety too!
Think college dorm room, meets fraternity house,
meets army barracks, and maybe a bit of the apartment on “Friends”… The Hostel
Buffalo Niagara is a laid back pad man, can you dig it…
Okay, I’m a nerd and as I planned this spiritual pilgrimage
I decided to intentionally step out of my comfort zone and stay at a hostel. Hey if you are going to try new things you
actually have to plan new things and do them so, I am doing it.
And although my anxiety level was up, because Mr.
Spontaneity hasn’t stayed in Buffalo before and couldn’t reserve parking,
WHAT!, I have now, this morning, settled down, now that I have gotten some sleep and my horror movie fears
of murder, theft, and sexual assault at the hands of strangers were baseless.
I am currently in the “Lounge” typing this out and
may even be so bold as to do the podcast if no one else is around….
Anyway, I am alive and well and looking forward to
this afternoon and tonight’s event where I will be able to serve, worship,
praise, and thank the Lord for who He is and for all that He has done.
So, it is my prayer that all who hear this will enjoy
the journey of this life by connecting with God thought faith in Jesus Christ
and then by travelling with God everywhere you go. And even if you have fear and anxiety of
doing new things or doing things differently, let me encourage you that when you
do them with the Lord, you never have to worry because He will never leave you
and He will guide you in the way you should go.
So keep walking and talking with God, it’s the only way to travel!
Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible
Promise Book for Men”.
This morning’s meditation verse is:
Hebrews 12:11 (NLT2)
11 No discipline is enjoyable
while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful
harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.
Today’s
verse tells us a hard truth but reminds us of a greater purpose.
Today’s
verse tells it like it is: discipline is painful! Some of the changes that will help us to
become more like the people God made us to be will require some concerted
effort to renew our minds and possibly shape our bodies to accomplish. The changes that we want and the deeper
relationship with God requires that we be disciplined in instituting solutions
and in the regular application of Biblical wisdom through Bible study and
prayer.
Developing
new habits and crucifying the flesh can be a daunting task but if we remain diligent
in our seeking the Lord and in doing what He directs us to do, we will
eventually create new godly habits and see significant results as our minds are
renewed and our hearts are surrendered to God.
So
discipline might be painful but as today’s verse assures us, it will reap a
peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in the way. So keep
at it, keep pursuing the Lord and the person He wants you to become.
___________________________________________
As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I
always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to
assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s
“Discipleship”, also known as “The Cost of Discipleship”
As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage all to purchase Bonhoeffer’s books for your own
private study and to support his work. This resource is available on
many websites for less than $20.00.
The
Sermon on the Mount
Matthew 6
On
the Hidden Nature of the Christian Life
The Hiddenness of Practicing Piety concludes
Asceticism is
self-chosen suffering; it is passio activa, not passio passiva, and, therefore,
most vulnerable. Asceticism is constantly threatened by the godless, pious wish
to make oneself equal to Christ through suffering. One’s own claim to take the
place of Christ’s suffering, to complete the work of Christ in suffering,
namely, killing off the old self in us, is also lurking dormant within
asceticism. In this, asceticism usurps the bitter and ultimate seriousness of
Christ’s work of salvation. Here asceticism makes a dreadfully harsh show of
itself. Voluntary suffering should serve only better ministry and deeper
humility on the basis of Christ’s suffering. But here it becomes a terrible
distortion of the suffering of the Lord himself. It wants to be seen; it
becomes a merciless living reproach to other people, for it has become the path
to salvation. In such “public” ostentatiousness, its reward is really
squandered, because it is sought from other people.
“Put oil on your head
and wash your face” could likewise become an opportunity for subtle pleasure or
self-praise. But that would misinterpret it as a disguise or mask. Jesus,
however, says to his disciples that they should remain humble in the voluntary
exercises of humility, that they should never burden others with such
exercises, using them as a reproach or a law. Instead, they should become
grateful and joyous that they are permitted to remain in service to their Lord.
What is meant here is not the cheerful face of a disciple seen as a Christian
stereotype, but the proper hiddenness of Christian deeds, the humility which
does not know of itself, just as the eye does not see itself, but only others.
Such hiddenness shall be revealed one day, but only by God, not by oneself.[1]
---------------------------more
tomorrow------------------------
Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage
Breaker”, "Freedom in Christ" series of Discipleship Classes via the
mt4christ247 podcast!
at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts
(https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154). The mt4christ247 podcast is also available
on Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartradio, and
Audible.com.
These teachings are also available on the
MT4Christ247 You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MT4Christ247
Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and
to be encouraged.
My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian
encouragement via her Facebook Group: Ask, Seek, Knock (https://www.facebook.com/groups/529047851449098 ) and her podcast Ask, Seek, and Knock on
Podbean (https://feed.podbean.com/tammalyn78/feed.xml)
Encouragement
for the Path of Christian Discipleship
[1]
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship,
ed. Martin Kuske et al., trans. Barbara Green and Reinhard Krauss, vol. 4,
Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003), 160–161.
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