Category: 40 Days of Blessing Previews

Posted in 40 Days of Blessing Previews

Religion is….

Posted on by Rev Bill Crawford

I was sent this youtube clip today:

A few nits I would pick:

Jesus had issues with “religious men” not the Religion of Judaism – which is given by God in books like Leviticus.

Jesus absolutely had problems with self righteousness – but he also had huge issues with people’s lack of personal holiness.

Also:
The author seems to have his favorite groups to pick on – no telling what his motives are (my guess is he actually is hardest on groups he belongs to) but “there are none without sin, no not one.”

BUT!

All that aside this clip is a powerful mirror that can expose our own personal fall into self righteousness. It is a reminder that the expression from scripture, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’ likewise means – “I can do no worthy thing without Christ strengthening me.”

The Blessing Life begins when we acknowledge our “inability” and embrace God’s “ability”.

Come with me on this journey and get locked into the 40 Days of Blessing project. If you are not a local there will be daily devotions on this website that you can engage in. If you are local then; get the prayer guide, get in a small group, and (if you don’t have a church family) come and see us on Sunday.

All are welcome to the 10:10 am breakfast at 522 Green St. Thibodaux, La 70301. We will discuss and roll out the program fully at that time.

Posted in 40 Days of Blessing Previews

How do we do 40 Days of Blessing?

Posted on by Rev Bill Crawford

The “how” of 40 Days of Blessing is part of its genius. It’s as simple as one, two three. On the 15th we will hand out the devotional guides for the program at our

1) We daily receive the blessings of God from his word.
2) We return that blessing to God as we praise his Glory.
3) We reflect the blessing to others.

All you have to do is give God 15 minutes of your day.

If you want to expand the blessing you can put into active action throughout each day (simple ideas will be given each day). You can also join in a small group and discuss the blessing of God with a group of folks on the same journey. Additionally the sermons at First Presbyterian of Thibodaux will be focused on the topic and there will be devotional materials placed on this site throughout the 40 Days.

You decide how involved you want to get but be ready to encounter the blessing life!

Posted in 40 Days of Blessing Previews

Why 40 Days of Blessing?

Posted on by Rev Bill Crawford

40 days is a good biblical number and there are so many misconceptions out there about the blessing of God. This is a needed and timely program to reorient the Church to a proper relationship to the God of the Universe we know as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Blessing of God is his love not our wealth:

1 John 4:10-11 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

To quote the author Gerrit Dawson:

It’s all about love.
Plain and simple.
Deep and wide.
The blessing of God upon us and our blessing of one another both arise from love and create love.

So this project about blessing is not about how to get more of the life we’ve dreamed up for ourselves as desirable. It’s not about expanding our sales territory, getting in the path of windfalls from the universe….

We’re after knowing, living and sharing the love that is at the heart of all things. That’s the only life of blessing worth talking about.

Romans 5:8 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Blessings to you!

Posted in 40 Days of Blessing Previews

What Is The Blessing Life?

Posted on by Rev Bill Crawford

The Blessing Life is first of all a devotional shared at First Presbyterian Church of Baton Rouge last year during Lent. Secondly it is an as yet unpublished book authored by Rev. Gerrit Dawson of First Presbyterian of Baton Rouge. A dear friend and deep thinker who loves God and the Church. So let me begin by quoting Gerrit:

“A blessing is not simply what you say before a meal or after someone sneezes. A “real blessing” is no just having everything work out the way we want it. And blessing is certainly not to be defined merely by how cool the stuff is that comes to us. Of course all those things are part of the true meaning of blessing. But they are merely ripples on the surface of the deep ocean of God’s blessing to us, indeed to the whole world, in Christ Jesus.”

Or as I summarize it – “Jesus is the most important person you can know”. The incarnation is the blessing of God the question for us all is “Are you experiencing the incarnation as a personal blessing?”

Sunday the 15th we will begin to open the doors to the Blessing Life and we will be sneaking some peeks over the next 10 days.

May you truly be blessed.