Abundant Living, Second Thoughts

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Jill English Johnston

As we settle into our new home and new community, we, of course, are looking for a church home. Abundant Living requires belonging to a community of believers where we can worship, learn, grow, and serve. We are currently attending worship at a local church we have been several times before.

The messages do not disappoint. It is currently a series on Living Values: Unity, Inclusivity, Grace, Truth and Faith, Prayer, Every Believer a Minister, Family, and Neighborhood. We also attended the church’s Discovery class which provided an opportunity to understand the central doctrines, vision, mission goals, and values of the church.

So what are we looking for as we look for a church home?

Of course we’re looking for a community with a passion for Jesus. He is the author and perfector of our faith. He is essential.

“Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,” 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

We’re looking for a community with a passion for the Kingdom. We have been saved for a purpose, for God’s glory, for God’s Kingdom, the Kingdom breaking into the world now, and the Kingdom to come.

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10

“And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18

We’re looking for a community of diversity, because we know that the Coming Kingdom will include people from all nations. How can we be prepared to be a part of a diverse kindgom, if we are not part of a diverse community now?

“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.” Revelation 7:9

We’re looking for a community with a heart for missions. God has a heart for the world, a heart for the poor, a heart for the oppressed. His Kingdom is upside down from the world and confounds reason. In His Kingdom, the poor, the oppressed, the widow and the orphan are cared for. In His Kingdom, the last shall be first. In His Kingdom, God uses the foolish and weak things, rather than the wise and strong.

“Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will protect them from those who malign them.” Psalm 12:5

“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” 1 Corinthians 1:27

“Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” Mark 9:35

Tim Keller says in his book, Ministries of Mercy: the Call of the Jericho Road, as quoted by Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert in When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor, “the kingdom is the renewal of the whole world through the enterance of supernatural forces. As things are brought back under Christ’s rule and authority, they are restored to health, beauty, and freedom.”

One day, Christ will return. Until then, we have an earth to be stewards of, justice to ensure is equal, mercy to show, and the opportunity to walk humbly with our God.

“He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

We want to be part of a community that continues to grow spiritually, never stops learning, and identifies and encourages the gifts and contributions of every person.

There is no perfect church this side of the Coming Kingdom, but once we find our church home, we hope we will be part of seeking the Lord, praying diligently, and doing what God has called us to do as part of a community of believers.

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Practical Living Step Three

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Jill English Johnston

It is a bit of a challenge to train the family members to recycle. I continually pull out cans, plastic and boxes from the kitchen garbage and put them in the recycle bin. As we recycle, I start thinking about some practical ways in which we can reuse some of the packaging items. It is amazing how much (over)packaging companies use. (I have decided that buying lunch meat and cheeses from the deli counter may be a greener option since some of the stuff sold in the deli case have ridiculous packaging). Many of the plastic canisters of food products from the club stores make for great bins in the pantry. Glass bottles with narrow necks can be used as water globes for plants (instead of buying the expensive novelty ones). And tin cans can be crafted into cute little luminaries to decorate the porch or patio (I’m still working on the last one). Of course, as I use up my commercial cleaning products, I clean the spray bottles and use them for my homemade versions. We bought (no, didn’t make – a bit too much of a challenge) a tumble composter from one of the aforementioned club stores. Since we tend to eat a lot of fresh ingredients, and have also been doing a lot of trimming and pruning, it is filling up rapidly. I considered purchasing one of the fancy compost buckets for the kitchen from a home store, but decided I could actually make that. Using an empty large plastic coffee container, I purchased the charcoal lid inserts made for the commercial product, drilled a ring of holes in the plastic lid, and velcroed the inserts inside. It fits nicely and conveniently (and smell free) under the kitchen sink. In theory, I’ll have some homemade compost for our garden (of course, I was never that successful composting in MS, so we’ll see).
The husband and I spent the last couple of days constructing a raised bed garden area in the back corner of our small yard. It is approximately 12×15 feet in size. Now we’re filling it with good soil (from a nearby soil specialty business). Some RAIN for those future veggies we hope to plant would be awesome. I will have to restrain myself (although the drought helps) and start small and manageable. I would love to experiment with a couple of winter crops. I just haven’t decided what yet.

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Practical Living Step Two

Posted on August 13, 2011 by Jill English Johnston

Using the clothes line is going pretty well.  I use a quarter cup of vinegar in the rinse cycle of the wash as a fabric softener.  It really makes a difference.  The clothes dry quickly in this dry Texas air and the dryer heat doesn’t wreak havoc on my clothes.  Best of all, I don’t have to worry about those “hang dry” clothes being accidentally dried in the dryer.  There’s also some therapeutic in those moments outside hanging the clothes on the line.

I’ve also started switching over to greener cleaning products.  I’m using up the store brands that I have on hand and then recycling the bottles for my homemade green products.  Most of the recipes are pretty simple and use only a handful of ingredients.  It’s cheaper in the long run (a gallon of vinegar and a big box of baking soda goes a long way, is far better for our health and the environment than the bottles chemical cleaning agents and costs less than commercial “green” cleaning solutions).  There are plenty of recipes on various environmental friendly sites on the internet to try out. 

Even though we are in the midst of a very unpleasant drought, I am thinking about the garden I want to plant.  I would love to have a yard filled with fruit and vegetable bearing plants.   Since there isn’t an established garden plot or flower/herb beds in our yard, I can use this unplantable time to prepare the areas and the soils.  We have a location on the north side of the yard that receives plenty of sunlight and has a fairly decent slop toward the center of the yard.  With a little work, we can put in a couple of raised terraces for the main garden.  I also have some flower beds on the east side and west side of the house that I’d like to fill with Texas hardy plants, flowers and herbs.  In the front yard, I’d like to xeriscape as much as possible, installing rock pathways and gardens and replace the current plants with more Texas hardy plants and cacti. 

Today, Jon and I visited a local store that specializes in organic garden products including compost, mulch, soil blends, fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides and soil amendments.  Of course, going green in gardening means not polluting the environment with artificial fertilizers and synthetic toxic pesticides.  I think this store has become a new favorite.  Organic gardening (and any gardening, I guess) does mean learning, experimenting, trying, failing, assessing, trying again.  I’m sure I’ll have plenty of trying again, but that’s part of the fun, right?

 
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Abundant Living, First Thoughts

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Jill English Johnston

A friend often talks about the abundant life the Jesus offers: “… I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. (John 10:10 NKJV). This has resonated with me as I seek to love, serve and disciple others as my Lord commands me to do.

What does the abundant life look like? In the white, middle to upper class, American church culture, we have our ideas of what that means. After all, we have been raised on the American dream. White picket fence, big yard, two cars in the driveway, two smart beautiful children that we tuck snugly into bed each night, fulfilling jobs, college fund, retirement fund, and so on. Granted, most of us don’t necessarily quite meet that, but you get the idea. Is that the abundant life Jesus talks about?

But what about others? What about the young single mom living in the inner city? What is the abundant life supposed to look like for her? Or the immigrant coming to America to find a better life for his family. What does the abundant life look like for him? How about further away? The young child in a war torn country who is now responsible for his younger siblings because his father has been killed and his mother died of disease? What could an abundant life look like for him? Or the teenage girl in the third world country who was sold into prostitution as a child by her father? What could an abundant life look like for her?

I’m currently reading the book “When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor” by Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert. As I’m reading the first few chapters, I consider my question, “what does the abundant life look like on (fill in the blank).” I have sought to help others in different ways, whether spiritually, financially, or with regards to health & fitness or eduction, but I often wonder, am I really helping? Might I actually be trying to create or shape people into my own image, whether it’s my own children, or those I seek to love, serve, or disciple?

What does the abundant life actually look like?

Because I get the feeling that it doesn’t look like what I expect it to look like. Obviously, the”right” answer is to look to Jesus, that we are to become like Him and help others become more like Him. But shouldn’t we be wary? Might our culture have distorted who we see Him to be? As I read this book, and study God’s Word, I hope to explore these questions. How do I I really “help” others, show them, lead them, point them, to the abundant life Jesus promises? And really, what will that abundant life look like on them?

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Practical Living Step One

Posted on July 24, 2011 by Jill English Johnston

The book, Serve God, Save the Planet, includes some practical applications that I hope I can incorporate into our home. Since recently moving to central Texas, one of our first challenges will be water conservation. Since I hope to plant herbs, vegetables, and maybe fruit trees/bushes, I will need to find plants that grow well in the regional climate; specifically heat and drought tolerant plants (visits to the local nurseries rather than box stores). I also need to identify ways to capture rain water (rain barrels) and recycle water that we use every day. The second and coinciding challenge will be energy conservation. Our two-story house has electric central heat and air which is by far the greatest energy hog (especially during the long Texas summers). However, I know there are other energy hogs (such as the clothes dryer) and many energy vampires in our home that need to be rooted out and neutralized (if not tossed out). Thankfully, our house has a great north-south aspect that provides excellant breeze opportunities during the spring. I want to install some screen doors to maximize the free comfort the breezes can provide. After moving in, I had my husband install a clothes line in the back yard and have begun the age forgotten tradition of hanging clothes out to dry. Unlike the humid coast of Mississippi, the dry air of Central Texas, along with mega doses of sunshine, dries our clothes faster and fresher than the dryer ever could. Not using the dryer is our first major change. Now, what might be next?

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