Conversation With One Another and With God

Spiritual Maturity Should Manifest (Translate Reflect) In Ones Day-To-Daysocial Life. This Opening Line By Lucas Come Sets The Tone For The Pagesahead. It Sets The Tone For The Journey You Are About To Embark On. It Maysound As If The Book Is About An Inward Journey In Which We Are To Absorband Yet The Book Is About Sharing And Giving As We Receive. The Life Of Thedisciples Is Exactly About This. Jesus Took Time To Have Conversations Withhis Disciples And With The People He Encountered. In This Book Lucas Seeksto Take Us To The Basics And The Basis Of Life. We Are People Who Are Createdto Be In Community And To Be A Community. This Is A Concept That Has Beenlost In The 21St Century. Even Though Our Faith Calls Us To Be A People Wehave Instead Chosen To Be Influenced By The World.The Virtue Today Is To Be The Best At The Expense Of Others. It Is An Isolatingand Lonely Way Of Doing Life. Conversations With One Another And Withgod Is Carefully Designed To Call Us Out Of Our Shell To Share Our Storiesand Maybe Only Then Will We Have Meaningful Connections. This Is Thefirst Thing That I Want To Bring Forth As You Begin To Read This Enrichingbookbeing Called Out.The Book Itself Is Realistic As It Tackles Some Of The Issues That We Deal Within Life As Ordinary Believers Who Seek To Be Faithful Disciples.Have You Ever Pondered The Question Of Focusing On God? Is This Notsomething We Struggle To Do Most Of The Time? Richard J. Foster Knowsthis Truth As He Reminds Us That The World Is Always Screaming Trying Todraw Our Attention. He Says In A Culture Where The Landscape Is Dottedwith Shrines To The Golden Arches And An Assortment Of Pizza TemplesFasting Seems Out Of Place Out Of Step With The Times. (Foster R.J.: 1978:Celebration Of Discipline: The Path To Spiritual Growth: 41) And Yet On Theother Hand Jesus Is This Gentle Voice That Does Not Nag; This Voice That Isoften Drowned By Consumerism Selfish Promises Momentary Success Andmany Other Things That Offer Us False Hope.14 Forewordlucas Invites Us To Focus On Positive Things. Those Things That Enable Lifenot Just For Us But Others As Well. This Is Another Profound Lesson For Usespecially In The Southern Africa Today. For Us To Grow Deeper In Love Withgod We Need To Grow Deeper In Love For Others As Well. This Way Of Doinglife Helps Us To Wipe Our Tear Off And Begin To See Other Peoples Tears. Weoften Focus On Ourselves And End Up Drowning In Our Own Sorrow Andmisery Without Any Sense Of Being Aware Of What We Can Still Do; Not Onlyfor Ourselves But Equally Motivated To See Our Potential In Journeying Withothers.The Life Of Jesus Is Marked By A Journey That Takes Him To The People Tobe With The People. It Is Marked With People Being Drawn To Jesus. Jesus Isreceptive Embracing And Loving.I Enjoy Lucas Perspective Of Jesus As A Better Place. Do We Ever Get Toa Place Of Taking Jesus Seriously Such That Our Lives Are Founded On Him?What Would Our Lives Look Like If We Were To Put Jesus At The Centre Of Howwe Do Life? Could It Be That We Would Begin To Treat One Another Graciously?Could It Mean That We Would Allow Justice To Flourish And Inhumane Habitsshrink To Almost Non-Existent? We Often Say We Are Made In The Image Ofgod. Do We Really Understand The Depth And The Breadth Of This Phrase?It Means God First And God Last. It Means Living Within The Presence Ofgod. It Means Living Not As We Please But As God Would Be Honoured. Itmeans Taking God Seriously Than Wanting To See How Much God Takes Usseriously. We Live In A Culture That Seeks Recognition As If God Sometimesforgets About Us. And Yet The Reality Of Gods Holiness Comes From God Notthinking God But You And I.Therefore God Will Not Promise To Love Us And Then The Next Minute Hurtus. God Never Plays Games With Us. God Takes Us Seriously All The Time.God Takes Us Seriously Even At Times When We Ta