I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will, rank me with whom you will;
put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by you or laid aside by you,
enabled for you or brought low by you.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things
to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
you are mine, and I am yours. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.
Storyline is participating in The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night Walk on October 24th in Dallas.
We’ll be walking on behalf of our neighbors’ daughter, Salomea Paez, who is battling leukemia. Please pray for Salomea’s healing.
If you want to give to the cause, click here and check out the Light the Night fundraising page. You can give online right there.
I highly recommend The Good and Beautiful Life to anyone interested in living a good life.
This book is the second of three in an Apprentice Series by Jim Smith (the first about God; the last about community). Smith is the protege of Richard Foster, author of the widely-read Celebration of Discipline.
Smith approaches character formation and the pursuit of happiness by examining the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). He compares the (true) narratives there about the good and beautiful life with false cultural narratives many of us believe and act upon.
For instance, one false narrative associated with the pursuit of the good and beautiful life says, “When someone hits us, we hit them back harder.” The narrative of Jesus, however, is “kingdom jujitsu”: subversively serving those who would intend to harm us, loving our enemies, and, in many cases, taking the course of non-violent resistance.
Smith submits that when we examine our personal narratives in light of Jesus’ narratives and engage in spiritual practices in the context of community, we make ourselves available to the power of the Holy Spirit to change us.
I think he’s on to something. I’m looking forward to journeying with my friends in the Storyline Community this fall to experience more of the good and beautiful life.
Click on the picture of the cover if you’re interested to purchase it.
See this article by our friend Robert Foster on “Understandings of Justice in the New Testament.”
Storyline partnered with Richardson East Church and the Ferguson Road Initiative this Sunday to paint over graffiti at St. Francis Park and another location nearby.
Our service together was part of a larger, area-wide event led by Richardson East Church called “Church Has Left the Building.” Hundreds of volunteers around metro Dallas served together as an affirmation that our work for justice is as much an act of worship as participating in a worship service.
In the Storyline 