The Savage Five

Head on over to  Dayton Women In The Word   to read today’s post: Hidden In Christ For The Win

All of you together are Christ's body, and each of you is a part of it.  1 Corinthians 12:28 NLT The more I am part of the Body of Christ the more I see it as a gift from God.  However, when individuals in the Body of believers think independently of the concept of the Body then an entitlement attitude arises in hearts and minds that is like cyanide to their spirits depriving the larger Body of Christ. en·ti·tle·ment inˈtīdlmənt,enˈtīdlmənt/ noun the fact of having a right to something. "full  entitlement to  fees and maintenance should be offered" synonyms: right ,  prerogative ,  claim ;  More the amount to which a person has a right. "annual leave entitlement" synonyms: right ,  prerogative ,  claim ;  More the belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment. "no wonder your kids have a  sense of entitlement " En...

na·vel-gaz·ing ˈnāvəl ɡāziNG/ noun self-indulgent or excessive contemplation of oneself or a single issue, at the expense of a wider view. Satan's fall had everything to do with his excessive contemplation of himself.   Take a look at the way he speaks in Isaiah 14:12-14 "How are you fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How are you cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ' I will ascend to heaven: above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the  clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. We too are in jeopardy of falling out of fellowship with God and others when we continually focus on ourselves, at the expense of a wider view of the church and the church's mission. So often people get wrapped up in their daily lives that they don't ...

I recently donated my blood.  I gave a part of myself so that someone else may have a better chance of living.  I came to this decision because my blood type is O negative. O negative blood cells are called "universal" meaning they can be transfused to almost any patient in need.  Individuals with O negative blood can only receive O negative blood in an emergency situation. Being the universal blood, O negative blood is usually the blood that they carry on medical helicopters so that they don't have to think before giving blood in a life or death situation.  O negative blood is also the safest type to administer to newborn infants with under developed immune systems.   Needless to say, O negative blood is a liquid offering to some who are in jeopardy of losing their lives.   Jesus Christ's self sacrificing liquid offering was poured out as a sacrifice so that ALL MANKIND would LIVE and not die.   Leviticus foreshadows the i...

"Human weakness is a place where the powers quickly exploit."     ~ Rande Greene~ 2 Corinthians 4:7 NLT We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.  This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.   Like a pot that has been broken from the moisture trapped in its porous material during severe temperature changes, so too our weaknesses can cause fissures in the apparent integrity of our lives. However, the incredible thing about our brokenness when our lives are hidden in Christ is that like him, our weaknesses are the same place where the powers are disarmed, defeated and humiliated! Colossians 2:6-15 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith,  just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.   See to it that no one takes you captive by philo...

"Babies need their milk or they will die.  They are pretty inflexible when it comes to being fed!"                                                                                                                               ~Rande Greene 1Peter 2:2 Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation.  Cry out for this nourishment,  One summer while visiting family in Iowa, my mom came back from a friend's house with a baby robin that had fallen out of its nest in a wind storm.  It had nary a feather in sight except for some fuzz sticking off the top of its head.  It's eyes wer...

Each March I wait eagerly for the appearance of the crocus.  The crocus is a perennial that sprouts from a corm, a rounded underground storage organ of the plant that consists of a swollen stem base covered with scale leaves. Whenever I see the first crocus I feel like a kid again, who with eager expectation, has patiently endured the bitter winter once again only to be encouraged by the appearing of this little jewel of a flower. This precious little flower has been sought after for centuries as one particular species dons  the favored buttery spice saffron on its long crimson stigma. A stigma plays a pivotal role in a flower's reproduction.  The stigma of a flower is usually covered with a sticky substance that acts as a landing zone that traps pollen by hairs, folds and a waxy substance.  Once trapped here the pollen travels down a tube and fertilizes the flower's ovule. Interestingly enough the dictionary provides 2 definitions for stigma: stig·...

As the dormancy of winter is infiltrated by new growth and the hibernating life within, I can't help but think upon the truth of the gospel that from death life "springs" . I just lost both my Grandfather and Father so death has been an apparent reality in my life as of late.  Through this process I am learning to trust the Lord and His Word in an entirely new manner. I know that He is good and He will do what is right as He is righteous in all His ways.  The grief however, doesn't seem to comply with truth and trust, as it appears out of nowhere like an invasive storm or intrusive wave that unexpectedly crashes onto the beach of my heart.  A beach where I was just sitting and trying to enjoy the view of life. This morning I felt the presence of the Lord in His creation as I heard the birds singing before the dawn of the sun. I read the priestly blessing : Then the LORD said to Moses,  "Tell Aaron and his sons to bless the people of Israel with t...

I recently became a life guard.  In the early mornings I go and guard lives, watching and waiting for the individuals I am guarding to either, make a poor decision that would put their lives in jeopardy or waiting for something to happen to them that is beyond their control or capacity to reason. Part of being a life guard entails creating scenarios in your mind as the individuals you are guarding are swimming... creepy I know but it doesn't bother me.  At times I imagine an elderly man having a heart attack in the deep end with a deep water workout belt on.  How will his body react in the water when he is unconscious, how will I respond? A life guard's job is an important one and one must be on "guard" ready to respond and be present in the midst of an emergency within 20 seconds. As I scan the pool, watching the morning swimmers, who have been coming to swim laps for over 30 years, I contemplate the necessity of the existence of the lap lines in the pool a...

"A person that grows beyond the thought of what serving God will cost, enters rarefied air."   ~Rande Greene Rarefied air is not dense but thin and it refers to the air of the high peaks, air that belongs to or is reserved for a select group of individuals.  With it comes the connotation of exclusivity. Abraham entered into this rarefied air.   Hebrews 11 shows us that Abraham not only had faith but vision.  He had spiritual eyes to see into a future of promise as He obeyed God. He went out, not knowing where he was going.  By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents... For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations , whose architect and builder is God. My middle son has always had a deep intense drive to know where we are going next.  If he had his druthers he would have me write out a fixed schedule each day with times of departure and arrival included so that he could hold me accountable.  ...

When I was a child my family did not have a television. My grandparents however, lived just a block from our house.  I spent many days and nights there as my parents were working in order to keep our basic needs met. I watched my fair share of Bonanza, Andy Griffith, Lawrence Welk and Bugs Bunny , as these were just a few of my grandparent's favorites.  Alongside these classics I was exposed to many of the commercials during that time which usually had some sort of catchy jingle, like the one for Toyota that my mom refurbished in order to use at the dinner table, "You asked for it, You got it, Now eat it!"  But one commercial would prove to have an enormous bearing on my life as I tried to live my life my way. We all understand that repetition is how we learn language and companies and organizations like Mutual of Omaha worked diligently during the late 70's early 80's to formulate catchy tunes or repetitive use of words to make an impression on the ...

The book of Leviticus  offers the reader a proverbial blood bath.  The mention of blood tops out at 66 times in Leviticus (once for every book of the Bible?).  While reading it aloud to my youngest son yesterday we couldn't help but become a little animated as we recited the repetitive nature of the text: ... and Aaron's sons shall throw its blood against the sides of the alter. There is a whole lot of pouring, throwing, sprinkling, dipping and wiping of blood.  We couldn't help but imagine these priests, dressed in their ornate and beautifully bedazzled robes in service to God, covered in blood. We wondered if the stench outside of the Tabernacle was great and if there were flies all around the priests as they performed all these sacrifices. What a sight that must have been!  All for the sins of the people to be atoned for!  Their sin was ever before them, day in and day out.  There was no escaping the stench and the sight of death tha...

"He is the center and the circumference of the church and its life."               ~Rande Greene Circumference means a "carrying around" and it is a "special case" of perimeter.  Our lives should model this mathematical declaration that my Pastor made yesterday during his message. Jesus Christ should be at the center of our lives because whatever is at the center will determine the path of our lives and how and what it falls into a natural orbit around. Colossians 2:6-10 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord,  so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established  in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.  See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy  and empty deceit, according to human tradition,  according to the elemental spirits of the world,  and not according to Christ.   For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,...

“Like the Earth orbits around the Sun, we orbit around what we love.”                                                                                                      ~ Rande Greene An orbit is the gravitationally curved trajectory of an object such as a planet around a star, which follows an elliptical orbit with the central mass being orbited at a focal point of the ellipse.                                                                                                   ...