Habakkuk

The short book with the funny name comes up again.  I love Habakkuk!  A short book with a powerful witness, Habakkuk himself is almost a parable.  Great statements aside, the outline itself is superb.

Witness to an invasion, in the "old world" style of brutality and extermination, Habakkuk survives.  He reflects, lifts  up a controversy with the Lord, then a praise.  But it is the concluding hymn/poem that is the wonderful affirmation:  even if ALL the benefits disappear, I will JOY in the Lord.

The foundation is faith, and faith trumps material measurements.  Now, is that something our age seems to need?

Take another look into Habakkuk.  Comments are welcome.  Slow comments shape next year's visit with Habakkuk.  Quick comments might shape this Sunday's early-service sermon.

Bryan

Finding Parables

Generation after generation, rabbi after rabbi, the stories taken from life illustrated God's message for people who trusted only the spoken word. Vivid images, poetry, insights that changed and focused lives, and created traditions.

No other of the rabbis ever approached the skill of one, the Master teller of parables. From the mustard seed to the mountain that could move, Jesus evoked images that stuck in the mind, more shaping than a simple listing of facts.

I'll find some new parables, some parables from the saints and solitary folk of the Christian tradition, and some that you will suggest, from time to time.

One Sunday morning, in the polite moments as folks leave church, a man thanked me for a very specific statement. I hadn't said it. I asked my wife. Nope, you didn't. Well, he needed to hear it and the Spirit shaped the moment. It happens. It's a blessing. Let's share more than we thought we already knew!

I'll always BCurious........

Thanks, Bryan