The Prime Gardener

"Although we have done everything we can to separate ourselves from other people, from creatures large and small, from the land and its waters and from God, God has never left us. God the Gardener comes every day, bucket and hoe in hand, to water and weed the soil of our lives. Through God's care, people, pastures, hills, meadows and valleys can sing together for joy (see Ps 65). God has sought always to feed us and gladden our hearts and to make the created world shine (see Ps 104)."

Quote is from Making Peace with the Land: God's Call to Reconcile with Creation (Resources for Reconciliation)" by Fred Bahnson, Norman Wirzba, Bill McKibben 

  http://a.co/9oY27r0

Photo is of a gardener at Orchid garden and butterfly museum in Maymyo Botanical Garden 

On Being Missional?

"Strategic planning, never taught as a principle in the Bible, is at the very center of much of the work of today’s churches. Goals, missions, plans, and budgets are set, and all contingencies are avoided. Essentially, there’s nothing wrong with this, but what did we learn from that parable? The Samaritan was not obliged to do good. He permitted himself to be touched by the suffering of a fellow human and responded using what he had at hand. He didn’t ask questions – he loved and acted.
For more from this intriguing article, see:
 "The Unplanned Church: How a Brazilian congregation finds renewal by interruption"

 link: HERE


Juan de Flandes, Christ and the Caananite Woman, c. 1496

Earthbound

"To understand Jesus properly, we have to appreciate how his living makes possible the transformation of our own. God became incarnate in Jesus Christ to show us and welcome us into what creaturely life is ultimately about and for. This means that salvation is not about