Peace Treatments

There's a reason only God can search out and transform the human heart.  While we try to search out and discern the condition of our own hearts, it's futile, mostly because of our tendency to justify what we find in there.  Therein lies the deception, and why the Word says that the human heart is deceitful above all things.  When I search out my heart, find something there I don't like, it's easy for me to justify why it's there, why I need it, why it does me well to keep it.  It is easy to believe my own justification because then it allows me to keep the thing I found, and it is that justification that deceives me. For this reason I am so very grateful for my Father who puts His finger on my heart, touches the thing that He wants to change, and opens my eyes to the justifications that would deceive me.  He truly is a loving, caring Father, always intent on de-cluttering the crap that I have become complacent ...

Jesus said "You have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not murder and who ever murders will be in danger of the judgement.  But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement." (5:21). What is the best guess for why one would be angry with a brother or sister without a cause ? Envy.  Usually, generally, the person who is the target of envy has no clue they are being envied; the anger of the person who is envying them is without a cause.  Now, in the mind of the one who is envying, there is plenty of "cause", but in every single circumstance I can think of from scripture, none of the ones who were angry and murdered or did evil against their brother or sister, did so with a cause.  Cain killed Abel because he envied his relationship with God.  Cain had no cause to be angry. Joseph's brothers sold him because they envied his giftings and place in their father's heart.  The brot...

James 3:13 - 17 contains one of the most powerful disclaimers against envy found in scripture...and links it hand in hand with disunity, discord and lack of peace in the Body.   Considering that the early church in Acts were "all in one accord" (Acts 3:42-45) unified in their devotion to Christ and service to one another, one assumes that envy had not taken hold to dis-unite them.   As a result, the early church saw incredible fruit...thousands of people saved in such short time, along with miracles, signs, and wonders. My Ungers Bible Dictionary defines envy as "that malignant passion that sees in another qualities that it covets, often resulting in hate of their possessor".    Is it not evident that envy that manifested in hatred sent Jesus to the cross?  Matthew 27:18 says "for he knew (Pilate) it was out of envy that they (the Pharisees) handed Jesus over to him". Envy kills...Cain was envious of Abel's relationship with God. ...

Restorative action Restorative justice Justice Peace Forgiveness Recovery Transformation Transformative justice Shalom...how God always intended it before we messed it up.  In 2003 I heard a still small voice whisper "justice" and thus began my journey. Step in this direction.  Just one step.  Never knowing where it would take me, never knowing just  how it would unfold.  Losing the grace to take my market career to the successes I know it could go, and gaining the grace to surrender all to whatever God has in store.  They say each journey of discovery starts with a single step.  My single step took me into some real deep healing of some real deep wounding and I was truly born again. In 2010 the still small voice got louder.  Time for preparation, time for training, time for equipping, time for capacity building, time for getting serious.  These next  steps took me into mediation, coaching, leadership and trauma ...

Woke up early this am and went downstairs to pray.  As often happens, I fell asleep mid sentence and had several dreams.  As very occasionally happens, I woke up with a bazillion thoughts racing around my brain, some of which took the leap from the head to the heart while I was still rubbing sleep from my eyes. I'm beginning to think this is how Holy Spirit talks to me.  During my waking hours my mind is so pre-occupied I only hear Him in the fog between sleep and wakefulness. Anyway, I gotta get these down....the thoughts that took the leap... Is it possible to forgive without Holy Spirit? Do we forgive first so that we can then love or do we love first so that we can forgive? And again,  can we do either without Holy Spirit grace and power? Does the motive behind our forgiveness matter much to God?  If I forgive because my church upbringing has inculturated a sense of duty to forgive,  what then is my forgiveness borne out of - se...

I admit, I've been caught up in the possibility of God working a miracle in Rwanda and wonder if that is what has compelled me to want to go there.  When I hear of things like reconciliation villages between Hutus and Tutsi's, and restorative justice Jesus style, I think the world is going to see something like they've never seen before ... love and reconciliation at work on an impossible scale and I get excited...what with me being a sucker for reconciliation and all. But apparently it's not all that true.  There is some forgiveness there, sure, and even some authentic reconciliation but mostly (apparently) the reconciliation that is occurring in Rwanda is "imposed"..expectations pressed upon a Christian people in a self declared Christian nation so that peace and order are maintained.  It brings to mind words like "accommodating" and "compromise"... or even worse, images of a numbed out, frozen smile, that hides behind the kind of che...

Following on the metaphor that our lives are a patchwork quilt, it seems to me that when we turn and look at the patchs that have already unfolded, we begin to see patterns.  Events, circumstances, words, deeds, people, et al that were lessons or threads or patchs of material that went into the making of our quilt.  And often we see how those previous patchs influence us today. Take being an adjuster for instance...I deal with all sorts of people, from all walks of life, in every socio-economical sphere, in every nation, creed and colour...and I love it.  The favourite part of my job is sitting at the kitchen table with someone new to Canada and asking them to tell me their story.  While I appreciate the differences in cultures,  at the end of the day, I value each and every person I meet and can say that I have never had a racist or bias bone in my body.   I've always made a point to learn about someone's culture, and unpack...