Grateful to be home!  I had a productive and rich time in the "High Country" of North Carolina.  Cool temps, even some snow made for a relaxing, contemplative and most of all fruitful time of writing. This is the inside of the chapel in the Valle Crucis Hermitage...


 

I spoke on Sunday of being imprinted with the Gospel.  I have reflected on that a great deal and know there are many layers to the identity we have when we become a new creation in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17)  Our very being is changed and transformed.  This works itself outward from our core into our actions and behavior.   Often Christianity is pitched as bunch of "dos and don'ts" and although there are expectations on our behavior we do not start there.   We start with an internal change and as we grow in Christ, as we learn the scriptures, as we pray,  we are conformed to the image of Christ.   Chief among this "imprinting" is that we be come like Christ, loving  like He loves. This is how the world will know we belong to Jesus - by the love we have for one another. 

Our witness for Christ is not merely biblical propositions, data and information that will convince someone of the truth of the Gospel.  Our witness begins and is found in kindness, mercy, forgiveness, those things invite people into the Kingdom.

May God continue to imprint us with His love.  May this transformation take place in us and through us, each and every moment; each and every day. 

in the mission,