LITMIR.BIZ

God's word begins with the tree of life and the tree of knowledge watered by a river nourishing Eden. As it ends with the image of a tree by a river appearing in heaven, the redeemed who have stood as «a tree planted by streams of water, bringing the fruits of the spirit, and birds and animals of every kind find shelter» are healed by its leaves. In the ecology of trees, we find the believer, rooted in living water, lifting to the heavens, sheltering others, and bearing fruit. From communities of pines and oaks of the North American continent, to the solitary baobab silhouetted on the African savannah, to the restoration of Israel's cedars in Asia, trees are being felled under a darkening warfare to silence God's words. Every year an estimated 100,000 Christians die for their faith. Hundreds more suffer loss of home and jobs. Churches burn and worshippers are slaughtered. Jesus is being argued in the courts and classrooms. His believers are imprisoned and beheaded. Our Trees of Life combines the tangible world of trees around us with an image of God's concern for us in a world increasingly hostile to his word.

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The prophet Jeremiah, mourning his people in the city of Zion, spoke of the balm that could heal them. He foresaw the physician and he asked, «Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?» The message of Jesus has been in North America for centuries, yet past history with the first nations of the land has left many native people thinking they have to choose either to be an Indian or to believe in Jesus. Jeremiah said, «The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.» How, then, do we bring the balm of Gilead to the most oppressed group on the continent where women and children are suffering the highest rates of violence? When Jesus forgave a prostitute, when he offered living waters to the woman at the well who had six failed relationships, and when he healed a crippled woman, he showed us how he would build his church from the brokenhearted among all people. Journey to the Edge of the Woods visits women sharing concern over the degradation of our daughters, sisters, mothers, and friends in a world of intensifying confusion of the creation of male and female identities.

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After five centuries of oppressions committed in the name of Jesus, many hearts have hardened toward the name of Christ on the part of many of those native or original to the lands we now call America and Canada. The imposition of residential schools, removal policies, and forced adoptions left many angry about white man's religion, confused about a savior who would promote such violent ripping apart of families, deceitful taking away of lands, and forced assimilation away from natural heritages.
Acknowledgment has been made and apologies given. In Canada large amounts of compensation are being paid out to survivors and their communities. But what does Scripture say about culture and what can original treaties teach us about healing from our shared history?
In an era when America and Canada are being called to return to God, Mending the Broken Land provides a meeting ground in an ecotone of cultures as diverse as nature's meadows. Drawing on the example of the governance of a first people of the northeast, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, it witnesses a new generation in a process of healing aligning with the teachings of Christ.

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Keeping the Sabbath is the only commandment God called holy and said to remember. The moment the women light the Sabbath candle, we glimpse the boundless realm of the world to come as all work is put down and we meet with the Lord. The flame reveals our distinctions and makes known our gifts, a flame that spoke from Mount Sinai, led the Israelites through the desert, consumed offerings, and anointed the new church. Jesus said, «Come.» Let anyone who hears this say, «Come.» He opens his kingdom with generous hospitality, an invitation to a place at the table for anyone called to reconcile the wild and natural branches of the olive tree. Under the shared commandment to know God, the radiance is drawing together a family at his table in an unprecedented movement bringing Jew and Gentile into the one new humanity Jesus prayed for us to be. Sabbath is the only ritual listed in the ten commandments. In it he has set a table before us in the presence of the enemy who tried to divide the wholeness of the body of Christ, the feminine importance in bringing light, and the sacredness of heritage.

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Within each of us are emotions that scale the heights of praise then sink so deep we are beyond the reach of light. In those depths we hold a notion that we cannot lift ourselves out, but there must be a power that can save. «Follow me,» Jesus said. From the first immersion that birthed earth from water, to the Hebrew mikveh that requires baptism in a natural body of water, to the Pentecost immersing believers into the age of the church, water is the signature of God. The ocean is the heartbeat of earth, covering 70 percent of the planet, pulsing warmth to the continents, wearing the moods of the sky, answering only to heaven. As the ocean becomes laden with contaminants and the bonds of family unravel, science and scripture merge in an ongoing conversation about the water that both separates and unites humanity. More Than the Sound of Many Waters reflects the challenge for us to let go of the shore, entirely submerge, breathless and weightless, transforming beyond the shallows into the covenant of salt. The water of judgment is held back as the people of God pass through.

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