This week ... actually - later today, we will be discussing chapters 1 and 2 - "Rembrandt and the Younger Son" and "The Younger Son Leaves" from Henri Nouwen's book, "The Return of the Prodigal Son".

Excerpt from Chapter 2:

"The soft yellow-brown of the son's underclothes looks beautiful when seen in rich harmony with the red of the father's cloak, but the truth of the matter is that the son is dressed in rags that betray the great misery that lies behind him. In the context of a compassionate embrace, our brokenness may appear beautiful, but our brokenness has no other beauty but the beauty that comes from the compassion that surrounds it."

Study is 7:30 p.m. @ my place.

Blessings,
Deji.

Posted by Deji Osinulu at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thought it might be nice to add a splash of color to the site :-) Enjoy ....

Posted by Deji Osinulu at 12:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hi all,

We are starting on a new series for the Wednesday night Bible study tomorrow (Wed., 5/24). In this series, we will be looking at the parable of the "Prodigal Son" (Luke 15:11-32) using Henri Nouwen's book - "The Return of the Prodigal Son".

The book is an examen of sorts, of Henri's encounter with Rembrandt's depiction of this well known story in a painting (after which the book is named). I have, over time, had this book recommended to me by a number of people and I am really looking forward to getting to read the book as part of this study. If you have read the book, feel free to leave a comment on your tthoughts about it.

Study is at 7:30 p.m. at my place. Let me know if you have any questions or need directions.

Grace & peace,
Deji.

Posted by Deji Osinulu at 9:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A thought I had a while back regarding the passage about Jesus washing the feet of His disciples in the upper room (see John 13:1-17) and His interaction with Peter at that time. In that conversation Jesus tells Peter "Unless I wash you, you will have no part of me" and after Peter very enthusiastically asked for a not just a foot wash but a bath - "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean."

My thought is this - Is our walk with Christ pretty much like this? In the sense that, does the fact that we are in this world means that our "feet" will inevitably pick up quite a bit of dirt as we walk through life, so that even though we have been bathed (saved and justified by Christ's death and ressurection) we will still need to constantly have our feet washed clean of the detritus of sin that we pick up constantly?

So ... do your feet need a wash? Do mine?

Just a thought. Feel free to leave yours in the comments section :-)

Posted by Deji Osinulu at 4:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Got word the other day about this new Blog - GodSecret.com

Godsecret is an alternative to bring in the light of God and show others our daily testimonies in a new and creative way.

There are two objectives for this blog:
1. To challenge ourselves to worship and glorify God in a different way.
2. To communicate our testimonies to the world. in a different way.

As you know, all of us can't sing - but we still sing in service every Sunday. Some of us don't feel comfortable about sharing our private testimonies with others ~ here's your chance to do it anonymously,
all while honoring God. This is a unique opportunity to speak to the world about God's truth.

Check out their Blog and send them a postcard. It is anonymous so you might even be able to share those places where God is still at work in you and you still struggle with :-)

"For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; ..." - Rev. 12:10b-11a

Posted by Deji Osinulu at 3:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So I guess the long delayed follow-up would be - "This love of which you speak ... how the heck do I get to have and/or nuture it??". We all, to some degree or another, feel that we do have that love in us but there are times when we feel that it has not yet grown into fullness that it can and should. We don't feel that it is quite able to see us through rough times yet or that it has grown into that unashamed "I love Christ and I don't care what you think of me for it" state that we sometimes see in others and wonder at.

So, how do we nurture the growth of this love for Christ, this "Agape"?

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." - John 13:34-35

These were some of the last instructions that Christ gave us before going to the Cross. Well yes, that only makes sense ... if we are Christians we should love each other. Sounds pretty simple and straightforward, right? (Is it really? Think about the different fellow Christians that you know ... not just the ones you like).

And that is just scratching the surface. In the parable of the Sheep and the Goats (in Matt 25) we find:

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"

We grow in love through our practice of it, even when we are not feeling very loving towards the recepient ... perhaps especially at this time. Now here's the hard part - we ought to love for love's sake not so we can feel like we are good people or better people and not so that we can cash in on our deposit of good deeds.

It is not always easy, our reasons sometimes get jumbled up and we are not quite as pure in our motives as we ought to be. To that I'd say just start somewhere and let God's grace and mercy take care of the other stuff. It is His grace that brings the purity to our love and in the recognition of our failings even in the area of showing love to each other and to Him, we let Him love us through Himself and through others.

Posted by Deji Osinulu at 8:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)