27 Apr a change of name; Jesus, Grace, Me and Art

I have been thinking, or more accurately, God is stirring something in me along these lines above.

I am changing the name of this blog because I have been thinking;

• I am not a theologian
• I am not educated by any significant institution. I am mostly self educated which means I know little bits about a few things in a flaky sort of way.
• I am no expert on any bible subject. All I do know is that the message of ‘Grace’ which I believe is ‘The Gospel of Jesus Christ’ has turned my whole Christian thinking upside down .
• My personality is more to the introverted side of the ledger. I am also an arty visual sort of person and mostly just want to be left alone. I am quite happy in my own company for large portions of the day. This does not mean I do not like people I do, I enjoy a chat. I just get tired and a bit nervous if I am stuck in a group for longer periods of time, say over three hours.

Because of the above points I find it hard to accept the notion that the so called “Great Commission” was spoken for and to me personally. Let me explain. Matthew is essentially a kingdom message for Israel to take the gospel to the nations and this command at the end of Matthew was to eleven disciples who became the apostles who, with Paul established the church which is a wonderful manifestation of His Grace. I am not an Apostle, or an evangelist, or prophet or teacher or pastor.

But I am a child of the King, or a lamb of the great Shepherd who’s essential task is to believe and hear His voice who therefore experiences the abundant grace of Jesus, who makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside still restful waters (I have all that I need, and I rest and drink rather than work and sweat). He comforts me even in my mortality for He has promised me abundant eternal life where I feed at His table and my cup runs over and His grace will touch all areas of my life and those around me. I believe as a live my every day ordinary life even my life in the arts, gardening, cooking, looking after the grandkids, or what ever I do, I will experience all His goodness and mercy, in fact they will search me out and I will dwell with Him forever.

Anything outside of this, for instance,  allowing ourselves to be cloned to someones idea of what we should be doing will probably lead to a gross christianese clone which will lead to a path of dead works and wasted effort. Much better to just let Jesus be reflected through our individual personalities after all He formed every one of us and He is a master gardener who will tend to the vine and grow much fruit in our lives. That is the reason I am changing the name of this blog.There are others that can more accurately divide the word and communicate ‘The Truth’ which is in fact ‘The Grace of Jesus’. I will just write how this manifests in my own life and the insights that I find along the way.

See Psalm 23

P.S.

I and my wife Hilary have sold our apartment and am now living in the Wairarapa. We have purchased a house in Masterton (about twice the size of our apartment). The house comes with a 1500 square metre corner section so lots of garden for me to play in.

Because of the distraction of searching out a place, selling our apartment (I marketed it myself and it was contracted after two days of being on the market), buying our new home, packing up, moving, setting up a new place this blog has been lying dormant. I am now settling into my new routine and a new town (almost rural) lifestyle. I am hoping to have regular updates on my reflections on the grace life and my life in the arts and anything else I may be thinking about.