Name

yes, joy follows obedience,
and perspective is a gift.

[more to come]

actually, the following is the more that i promised...

Henri J.M. Nouwen.
i am blessed by his heart.
and i am learning from his testimony.

"I am telling you all this because I am deeply convinced that the Christian leader of the future is called to be completely irrelevant and to stand in this world with nothing to offer but his or her vulnerable self.

"...when [Jesus] was asked to prove his power as the Son of God by the relevant behavior of changing stones into bread, he clung to his mission to proclaim the word he said, "Human beings live not by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

"We keep hearing from others as well as saying to ourselves that having power - provided it is used in the service to God and your fellow human beings - is a good thing. With this rationalization, crusades took place; inquisitions were organized; indians were enslaved; positions of great influence were desired; ...splendid cathedrals, and opulent seminaries were built; and much moral manipulation of conscience was engaged in. Every time we see a major crisis in the history of the Church, such as the Great Schism of the eleventh century, or the immense secularization of the twentieth century, we always see that a major cause of rupture is the power exercised by those who claim to be followers of the poor and powerless Jesus...

"The long painful history of the Church is the history of people ever and again tempted to choose power over love, control over the cross, being a leader over being led...

"One thing is clear to me: the temptation of power is the greatest when intimacy is a threat. Much Christian leadership is exercised by people who do not know how to develop healthy, intimate relationships and have opted for power and control instead. Many Christian empire-builders have been people unable to give and receive love.

"Powerlessness and humility in the spiritual life do not refer to people who have no spine and who let everyone else make decisions for them. They refer to people who are so deeply in love with Jesus that they are ready to follow him wherever he guides them, always trusting that, with him, they will find life and find it abundantly."

and i guess these are only a few of the lines that captured my attention [i might as well just have reiterated the whole book]. however, the heart stands out in all 80 short pages, and this heart is one surrendered and humble. and it is not that everyone needs to give their lives to the lifestyle that Henri Nouwen chose, but should everyone seek to have a heart like Jesus as Nouwen did? i think yes.

and i am so BLESSED to have been able to serve and worship under this kind of leadership. i am blessed by the heart of Jesus that i have seen reflected. i am blessed by the need, not to be relevant, spectacular, or powerful, but to have healthy, intimate, and vulnerable relationships. to give and receive love. for real. like Jesus. the greatest blessing that i wouldn't trade for anything.