Does Anybody Hear Her?

If judgment looms under every steeple
If lofty glances from lofty people
Can't see past her scarlet letter
And we've never even met her

Never even met her

Does anybody hear her? Does anybody see?
Or does anybody even know she's going down today
Under the shadow of our steeple
With all the lost and lonely people
Searching for the hope that's tucked away in you and me

Does Anybody Hear Her? - Casting Crowns

Love God, Love Man and make Disciples. So the mission statement goes. There is much talk of loving man - loving the community, loving our neighbours and loving our friends. There is much planning and discussion - of programmes, of committees and resources. All of which are good and important.

The heart of the matter however is the matter of the heart. Do we as a church community really love others? Are we able to love - to look past the scarlet letter, to really see and hear and to lovingly embrace? By doing so, then we can share the hope that is tucked away in you and me - the hope that is Jesus.

Ollie
Dec 2007

Window in the Skies

The shackles are undone,
The bullets quit the gun,
The heat thats in the sun,
Will keep us when there's none.

The rule has been disproved,
The stone has been moved,
The grave is now a groove,
All debts are removed.

Window in the Skies - U2

Ah... Christmas... with the many activities and giving of gifts. Friends meeting up; the afternoon conversations; the shopping sprees; the late night suppers. Sometimes in the midst of all this activities, we forget the essence of Christmas. That is God becoming man. Jesus became one of us - a baby with ten fingers, ten toes, crying to be fed, burping - human.

Immanuel. God with us. Jesus provided us a Window to the Skies - a glimpse of who God is.

Fast forward 33 years. A Cross. A mother wailing. Disciples despairing. A whisper of "It is finished". A death. And then three days later - The stone that has been moved, and the grave that is empty. The rule has been disproved and all debts removed. Opening a window to the Skies above - the way to God through Jesus.


Ollie
Dec 2007