Journey of a Sojourner

“Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in your beautiful little house where you have no gays or minority groups anywhere near you. Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved and Jesus loved the poor and Jesus loved the broken.”

— Rich Mullins

Reblogged from:  phil0kalia

(Source: lillabet)

“The darker the night, the brighter the stars, The deeper the grief, the closer is God!”

- Fyodor Dostoevsky

Reblogged from: orthodoxwayoflife

“It is no new thing to fall in the mire, but it is an evil thing to lie there fallen. Bravely return again to that place from whence thou camest: the Enemy mocked thee falling, but he shall know thee stronger in thy rising.”

— The Life of St. Mary the Harlot  (via shortbreadsh)

Reblogged from:  ruthtastic

This will be a somber post.  I would like to express my sincere condolences for those who were effected by the shooting in Colorado today.  Many are hurting right now, trying to make sense of it all.  We need to pray hard and long for these folks.  This will be a turning point in their lives one way or another.  It is also a time to remember to pray for our country, for the nations of the world… because this type of thing is running rampant throughout.

     Pray that people may find comfort in Christ.  Show those around you the love that Christ has shown you.  People are hurting.  People want love and to be shown love.  Unfortunately we tend to be caught up in our political and religious views, our everyday living, jobs, family, etc… where we tend to forget about loving the people who need it. 

    We need to remember that Christ said:

“For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink:  I was a stranger, and ye took me in:  Naked, and ye clothed me:  I was sick, and ye visited me:  I was in prison, and ye came unto me.  Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee?  Or thirsty, and gave thee drink?  When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in?  Or naked, and clothed thee?  Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”

     Let us not forget these words.  And lastly pray for the man who did the shooting…  I don’t know what evil was in his heart, or how it came to be there.  He needs our prayers too.  Maybe if someone would have reached out to him in love at some point before this happened, maybe this outcome would not have happened.  I do not know.

O, Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner…

Peace to you all.

“Hold on to Jesus
Tell Him about everything
Your dreams and your troubles
Pure hearts desire one thing
And mine is to know You
Mine is to break down
And shatter to pieces
And lose everything I’ve found

I’m learning that nothing worth anything is cheap.
I’m learning the path is thin and the grade is steep,
And that the altars where we lay ourselves will crack when tested
And that there’s only one that turns our hearts to gold

Hold on to Jesus
Tell Him about everything
Your dreams and your troubles
Pure hearts desire one thing
And mine is to know You
Mine is to break down
And shatter to pieces
And lose everything I’ve found

I’m finding that I’m not who I once thought I was
I’m finding I’m powerless to obtain Your love
And that the only gifts I bring to You are rags and failures
And through a strange exchange You’ve made them myrrh and gold.

Hold on to Jesus
Tell Him about everything
Your dreams and your troubles
Pure hearts desire one thing
And mine is to know You
Mine is to break down
And shatter to pieces
And lose everything I’ve found”

-O.C. Supertones

O Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner…

True.  This also goes for our faith, for our pursuit toward God.

“‎If you wish to be calm do not read rebellious books or pamphlets that mention Church matters, since you are not responsible for such serious affairs. You have need of books that will assist you in your repentance. If you want to help the Church, correct yourself and immediately amendment is made to a small part of the Church. Naturally, if everyone did this, then the Church would be put in order.” 

- Elder Paisios the Athonite

Isn’t that so true…  This is wisdom I need to keep in mind myself.

paflingo:

“The greatest single cause of Atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge these with their lips and walk out the door and deny it by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”

—

dc Talk

Actually the quote is:

“The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”

And was said by Brennan Manning.  And was used by DC Talk on their “What if I Stumble” song.