I {LOVE} Sunday::to bring glory to God forever and ever...

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly
than all that we ask or think,
according to the power at work within us,
to him be glory in the church
and in Christ Jesus
throughout all generations,
forever and ever.
Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21

With the Sunday Community at Lisha's #GiveMeGrace

I {LOVE} Sunday::to praise the LORD...

 

By this all people will know...

I use every resource at my disposal to identify this heron whose image I captured this weekend as he waded in and out of the water and snatched a blue-tipped damsel fly out of the air.

Every bird identification tool I use confirms he's a tricolored heron - from the white plume on his head to his overall contrasting plumage, but that yellow on his chest and abdomen throws me. Every resource I've referenced indicates that plumage should be white, not yellow, yet, he's clearly a tricolored heron.

Years ago, we entered a church where we were warmly greeted by a gentleman wearing a kilt and whose graying hair was fashioned into two long braids that hung down to his waist. It was an introduction to a church and worship service that was foreign to us in many ways.

We recognized elements in this church that were clearly Christian - from the pastor's bible-based message to the music and order of worship, but other characteristics, though not contrary to Scripture, were simply outside our experiences and the Christian worship service mold we knew. 

There are a multitude of differences in the ways we, as those who call ourselves Christians, look and work and live and worship that are outside our individual experiences.  

I pray that my distinctions still point clearly to a life in Christ and the truths of Scripture as I endeavor to hold onto the very words of Jesus in my relationships with others. 

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

John 13:34-35

At the center...

With a couple of hours before I needed to keep an appointment in Immokalee, I left Susan's and drove a few miles south to Ave Maria, a new community in SW Florida, I'd longed to see.     

Open in 2007, Ave Maria has an intriguing history that began when Tom Monaghan, the founder of Domino's Pizza, envisioned creating the first major Catholic university in the United States in more than 40 years.

Much like towns in the middle ages, it was determined from the beginning of this university town's development that the Oratory of Ave Maria, soaring more than 100 feet and with a seating capacity of 1100, would be located in the center of the community. The church would be the town's focal point, obvious to visitors from the moment they turned off the highway toward town and the cross atop the church's arched roof stood before them.

As I drove slowly through this pristine, newly landscaped town with little traffic and where only a few people could be seen walking across campus or otherwise moving about, I felt as though I'd entered another world. Not a retreat center, but an entire town of stores, schools and neighborhoods, built around a church.

I'm not Catholic, but the picture of the church at the center of all activity is an awe-inspiring one. It's a visual reminder of the way I am to live with Christ at the center of every thought, decision, and deed. 

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen
Romans 11:36