authority

challenging the powers

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
Christ Preaching, called La Petite Tombe, Rembrandt, via Wikimedia commons
 
 
Vulnerable God,
    you challenge the powers that rule this world
    through the needy, the compassionate,
    and those who are filled with longing.
 
Make us hunger and thirst to see right prevail,
    and single-minded in seeking peace;
    that we may see your face
    and be satisfied with you,
  through Jesus Christ.
 
Janet Morely British author, poet, and Christian feminist
 
___________________________
 
 
Looking at his disciples, he said:

“Blessed are you who are poor,
    for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now,
    for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now,
    for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
    when they exclude you and insult you
    and reject your name as evil,
        because of the Son of Man.

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And now unto Him who is able

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
 
And now unto Him who is able to keep us from falling.
And now unto Him who is able to lift us from the fatigue of despair
    to the buoyancy of hope.
And now unto Him who is able to solve the race problem
    if we will cooperate with Him.
And now unto Him who is able to transform this cosmic energy
    into constructive force.
Now unto Him who is able to transform this midnight of injustice
    into a glowing daybreak of freedom and justice.
To Him be power and authority, majesty and dominion,
    now, henceforth, and forever more. Amen.
 
Martin Luther King, Jr. 1929 -1968, American pastor & civil rights leader
_____________________________________
 
 
Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, 
    and to present you faultless 
    before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
To the only wise God our Saviour, 
    be glory and majesty, dominion and power, 
    both now and ever. Amen.

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reveal your divine authority in Palestine

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
 
 
O rulers be prudent, O judges be disciplined.
Lord, many enemies desire to terminate the people of God in the Middle East.
They throw bombs at churches and blast our holy sites.
Their leaders are like Cain, Ahab, and Herod 
    because they unhesitatingly seek to kill their brothers and sisters.
 
Mercy has become extinct, and there is no compassion in their hearts.
    They destroy unity and make smiling illegal.
    All the refugees and the weak ones are crying out.
O Lord, your helpless boys and abandoned girls are suffering.
    They have been slaughtered like sheep.
Didn’t you promise to build your church?
Why don’t you listen?
 
Palestine, Syria, Egypt and the Arab world are crying out to you.
Please take away this cup.
Speak to the kings and make them reconsider.
Convince them to fear your anger and stop exterminating your people.
 
O Lord, give us great leaders.
Where is the wise Solomon? Where is David, the man after your own heart?
Where are Cyrus and Daniel who spread justice and peace?
O Lord, declare your holy anger against evil systems 
    that champion murder and defilement.
 
Have mercy on sinners but eradicate evil systems.
Deliver sinners but destroy oppressive systems.
Please annihilate slavery, bigotry, colonialism, neo-colonialism, 
    Nazism and dictatorships!
Please destroy every system that is rooted in sin.
 
Why don’t you reveal your divine authority 
    and destroy wickedness in every evil system?
May your people everywhere be able to live lives of quietness and tranquility?
You are the best judge!
 
Yohanna Katanacho, 1967 – , Palestinian Israeli evangelical theologian
 
____________________________
 
 
Why do the nations conspire
    and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth rise up
    and the rulers band together
    against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
“Let us break their chains
    and throw off their shackles.”

The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
    the Lord scoffs at them.
He rebukes them in his anger
    and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
“I have installed my king
    on Zion, my holy mountain.”

I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:

He said to me, “You are my son;
    today I have become your father.
Ask me,
    and I will make the nations your inheritance,
    the ends of the earth your possession.
You will break them with a rod of iron;
    you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”

Therefore, you kings, be wise;
    be warned, you rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear
    and celebrate his rule with trembling.
Kiss his son, or he will be angry
    and your way will lead to your destruction,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
    Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

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prayer about back surgery

/ Eric Mathews / Leave a comment
image / James Tissot / Wikimedia Commons
 
Lord Jesus, some of my friends have had back surgery 
    and others are soon to have it.
They are hoping for complete healing.
They are like the Paralyzed Man who was brought to Jesus.
 
But things aren’t going as we had hoped
    and we are concerned about their wellbeing.
Lord, they know you and have received your salvation;
    they have enjoyed a transformed life because of their new birth.
They know and believe that you alone have the authority to forgive sins,
    and that it is not harder for you to heal the body than it is to save the soul.
 
Jesus, we want to be like those four companions 
        who brought the Paralyzed Man to you,
    offering up our prayers on the altar of our hearts 
        just as they lowered the man through the hole in the roof
            placing everything at your feet.
 
Lord Jesus, we ask you to demonstrate your authority again;
    we beg you to speak the word of healing upon the bodies of our friends,
  and as they “take up their mats and walk”
    we will all joyously proclaim your amazing grace!
 
EM
 
__________________________
 
 
Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

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