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DrSamRima
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Name: Sam
State: Minnesota
Metro: Minneapolis
Interests: Sue ... Family, Writing, Upland Bird Hunting with "Blade", Working out, Transformation, Spirituality, Books, Innovation, UK, The Sea, fountain pens & journaling ...
Expertise: Not much!
Occupation: Education/training
Industry: Education/Research
Message: message meEmail: email me
Website: visit my website
AIM:  samrima2
Member Since:
5/27/2004
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| Minneapolis, MN
''I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: if
there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God. You just rejected
Him from your city.''
-- Pat Robertson, Nov. 2005
I'd
like to say to the good Reverend Pat Robertson, "You are an
irresponsible BUFFOON! Please Grow-up, you are making me sick!"
-- Sam Rima, Nov. 2005
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| Minneapolis, MN
Terrible Tragedy ...
My new TA, Sam Larson called yesterday after noon from Waco with the
news of this tragedy. Sam was in attendance at the service and Kyle
Lake was his close friend and mentor, in fact Kyle was the person that
challenged Sam to consider seminary and ministry. Pray for Kyle's wife
and kids as well as Sam and the other young people that Kyle had such a
profound eternal impact on ... Thanks! Sam
The Rev. Kyle Lake, 33, was stepping into the
baptistery as he reached out for the microphone, which produced an
electric shock, said University Baptist Church community pastor Ben
Dudley. Water in a baptistery usually reaches above the waist, said Byron Weathersbee, interim university chaplain at Baylor University. Lake was pronounced dead at Hillcrest Baptist
Medical Center, nursing supervisor Pat Mahl said. The woman being
baptized apparently had not stepped into the water and was not
seriously injured. Pastors at University Baptist Church routinely
use a microphone during baptisms, said Jamie Dudley, the wife of Ben
Dudley and a business administrator at the church. "He was grabbing the microphone so everyone could hear,'' she said. "It's the only way you can be loud enough.'' About 800 people attended the morning service,
which was larger than normal because it was homecoming weekend at
nearby Baylor University, Dudley said. Lake had been at the church for nine years, the
last seven as pastor. He had a wife, Jennifer, a 5-year-old daughter
and two 3-year-old sons. At a remembrance attended by about 1,000 people
Sunday night at First Baptist Church, Ben Dudley told the UBC
congregation that they would move forward as a church. "I don't know how, when, why, where or what's
going to happen, but we will continue as a church in the community
because that is what Kyle would have wanted,'' he said. | | |
| Minneapolis, MN
Continuing with the theme of mission and life purpose from Tuesday, I
am convinced that the key to living our purpose has to take place in
the context of eternity. More than just living out my purpose in the
here and now, "under the sun," I realize more and more the necessity of
living daily, moment-by-moment, in the reality of eternity. Mine is an
eternal purpose that cannot be contained by this temporal world. This
morning I read "What
greatness has been assigned to every moment of our life! I am His for
eternity, which for me is lived out in the instant. Living eternity in
the instant is what gives our days strength, purpose, greatness and
fascination. The beginning of eternal happiness is EXACTLY at this point
..."
My
focus is to live each and every moment with that kind of eternal
perspective ... conscious of the world beyond this one and the
revolution of the Kingdom! Tomorrow I'm going to share some thoughts on
the elements necessary for true Spiritual Revolution to be kindled and
what it will take before we see a genuinely radical kind of movement
sweep the church and the world!©
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| Minneapolis, MN
In my reading this past weekend I read a selection from Dr. Robert Sokolowski where he states that the concept of mission or purpose is intrinsic to the concept of person.
As such, much of our identity as "persons" seems to be derived from
the purpose we have in life, whether that be as a stockbroker,
mechanic, student, wife, parent, or any other number of roles we sense
that we have. However, in the truest sense, it is only our transcendent
purpose - our divine purpose - that can complete our sense of identity
as humans created in the likeness and image of God. Sokolowski writes, "The
divine 'purpose' we are given in life, what in the mind of God each
human being is meant to be, is a participant in the mission of Christ.
Jesus was completely identified with his mission and so was a person in
the fullest sense possible; he was nothing but his mission, which
reflected his eternal procession from the Father in the Holy Trinity."
He goes on to say that other human beings, created by Christ in God's
image, acquire a mission, and as a result a personal identity, by their
relationship to the mission of Jesus. Rather than wasting our time
trying to find our identity in a mere profession or occupation, we need
to understand our true Calling or purpose in Christ and then allow our
profession or occupation to become a manifestation of our part in the
mission of Christ - that is the only place where true identity,
serenity, and passion can be found.
If you're searching for your part in the mission of Christ, you might want to connect with the folks at Leadership Vision
.
Their mission is to help you understand how God has created you and how
you can begin to discover the purpose for which you were created. I
highly recommend their events as life-changing discovery experiences.
Also, you might want to check out my book Leading From the Inside Out, particularly the chapter on "Connecting With Your Calling." However you choose to do it ... Just Do It! Discover your purpose and role in God's Kingdom Mission, you'll never be the same!© | | |
| Minneapolis, MN
I
have been reflecting on how Jesus had his focus on others during his
earthly ministry -- not necessarily the religious club members of his
day. When he launched his public ministry in his hometown by reading
from the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah and then stating "This Scripture has come true today, before your very eyes,"
the people were impressed with his eloquence and "the gracious words
that fell from his lips." But, the praise and adulation was short-lived
... extremely short lived! In the next moments Jesus said to the
people, "Probably you will
quote that proverb, physician, heal yourself, meaning why don't you
do miracles here like the ones you did in Capernaum?" Then Jesus
has the audacity to say that though there were many widows in Israel
during the time of Elijah, he went to a widow in Sidon (no doubt an
Arab, non-Jew) and that though there were many lepers in Israel during
Elisha's time, he went to heal Naaman, a Syrian (Arab, non-Jew)
instead. Jesus was indicating that his ministry would also be to
outsiders and the actual enemies of Israel. At this notion the
previously adoring crowd is said by Luke to have become "furious" and
jumped up to mob him and attempted to actually throw him off a cliff!
How quickly the fickle crowds will turn we we state our true intentions
of reaching out to the social outcasts and un-lovelies of the
world. "What about us?" the church members will cry! "Who will
meet our needs?" the 40-year Christians will whine. That's when we need
a refuge that will enable us to maintain our integrity in ministry and
fidelity to the true Gospel of Christ.
Jean-Pierre de Caussade has written, "Where shall we find a safer
refuge than in the maternal bosom of His loving Providence? That is
where one's heart should rest as in its beatific center. Outside the
center, there is neither peace nor real repose, nothing but excitement,
bitterness, anxieties of heart, sorrows in our present life and dangers
for our eternal salvation." In the storms of ministry I need to set my
anchor in the bosom of the Savior who weathered a storm or two during
his ministry here on earth. See you in the harbor!©
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