While I have the luxury and privilege of a free time table unencumbered by (incoming) work responsibilities, I shall continue to write in an attempt to induce proper flow of thought. I need it, to put my Sunday message together.
As some of you know I went to a doctor to address my fears earlier this year and found out that while I don’t have rabies, I had high levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol. The good doctor prescribed medicine and supplements for me – well, it was mostly supplements, and at least one ‘medicine’ (Atomzet) that directly addresses the cholesterol.
You would think that the dizziness and the ‘ball and chain’ of pills would get me to take my food intake seriously (again) – but, well, it’s been more than 2 months since that July checkup, and I could say I could do a whole lot better.
This isn’t to say I didn’t do anything.
I started moving again. I’m proud to share that I’m almost done with a workout challenge that had me doing burpee after burpee, push-ups, pull-ups and squats, six days a week for an entire month… and I have another workout challenge (along the same burpee-centric theme) lined up for this coming October. I stopped, or at least greatly reduced my alcohol intake, and while I’m still musing over buying an iQos gadget in place of cigarettes, I’ve stopped smoking regularly since.
When I say I could do a whole lot better, I still have issues of quantity and quality. I’m back to looking for something sweet, a dolce after every savory meal. I used to eat once, if not twice a day, but now I’m snacking again.
I’m telling folks that I’m working on getting my finances back in order, and setting a deadline of December 30, 2026. I might as well set that deadline for me working on getting my body back in order – in terms of food intake, and physical output.
In fact, I may also want to go ahead and set that deadline for me getting my mind back in order. Might as well. I just realized that we’re not only moving from one month to another, but one quarter to another… and this may very well be the best time for me to just dump all of this so I could start this transition week (from September to October) right, and start it well.
Before I go any further, let me just, actually, unload and flow.
Thank You, Lord, for the reading of Your Word.
Psalm 87
The Glories of the City of God
A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A Song.
First off, Psalm 89 is 52 verses long… so I went for Psalm 87.
1 His foundation is in the holy mountains.
2 The LORD loves the gates of Zion More than all the dwellings of Jacob.
3 Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God!
Selah
I read ‘the City of God‘ and immediately thought of His presence. Also, was reminded – no matter what we’re thinking and doing in this world, and in this fallen reality, we ought to keep in mind: God is always with us, and we are always with Him. He is in our lives, just as we are in His light… and, in His city.
As the song goes – Great is the Lord, and worthy of all praise. Great is the City of our God, the Holy place. He is as His city, as His presence – He is the joy of the whole earth; And as such, we not only speak, but sing glorious things.
4 “I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to those who know Me; Behold, O Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia: ‘This one was born there.’ ”
5 And of Zion it will be said, “This one and that one were born in her; And the Most High Himself shall establish her.”
6 The LORD will record, When He registers the peoples: “This one was born there.”
Selah
This is to say that we are not merely new creations – In fact, when we go ahead and declare that we are new creations, this ought to automatically also entail that we have been transferred from darkness into the kingdom of the Son of His love. Or, when we say we are born again, here we ought to consider that we are also born into a new location, a new foundation.
Our being in Christ is part of our identity.
7 Both the singers and the players on instruments say,
“All my springs are in you.”
I thought I’d share on that before I go ahead and recall what we actually discussed during the service.
I noticed that for some reason, there were a bunch of folks wearing green… And we didn’t really talk amongst ourselves, it’s just that for some crazy reason I’ve been seeing pine green, sea green shirts.
Made me look up the Biblical significance of green, and the obvious themes were that of growth and hope. What fascinated me was the Liturgical use of green. Priests were to wear green after Epiphany (the celebration of Christ’s baptism) and after Pentecost (the remembrance of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit) – both moments were known as ‘Ordinary Time’.
With that being said, I thought I’d tell folks that we’re to continue to grow, even after pivotal events – in our case, even after the intense events of the Anniversary week, we will continue to grow.
For some reason Jardine decided to share about the death of their family dog, in a way testifying… as part of his offering exhortation. I took a jab at it and said that I understood it all as him saying, ‘my dog died, let’s give!‘
But of course, I used that line as an opening for another observation. One line from the song Available by Elevation Worship, introduced by the team, goes Broken as my life may be, I will give you every piece.
It was also in line with a song that’s been resonating with me lately, Yes I Will by Vertical Worship: Yes I will lift You high in the lowest valley, Yes I will bless Your name, Yes I will sing for joy when my heart is heavy.
Finally, Daniel shared that Even If by MercyMe was what got him through the trials in his own work:
I know You’re able and I know You can Save through the fire with Your mighty hand, But even if You don’t, My hope is You alone
It’s as if to say that the Holy Spirit brings us to worship in our dark and low times. I thought I’d encourage the congregation before I went any further.
Transitioning from Q3 to Q4 2026, and we’ve come a long way.
Expectations:
Q1 – Year of bearing much fruit
Q2 – Be still, and dwell in Him
Q3 – Drill down into the Word… Rooted in Christ.
Reality:
Q1 – Let’s naturally bear fruit!
Q2 – Anniversary. Mothers Day. Fathers Day. It’s not as exciting as I thought, and there’s more to it.
Q3 – Before bearing fruit as a branch, walk in Christ, being rooted in Him.
Hitting Rock Bottom
- The first starter incident
- The second battery incident
- The promise
Stone Rock Simulator
- The promise to the push
- The push… to the pushback
- The reminders
- Andrei – It all brings us to trusting in Him
- Cheng – (trust in Him, and) Get started with something. Something’s better than nothing.
- And in getting started, stop chasing. Mercy and goodness follow you.
- Ptr Joedy – God is the Restorer of all we lost
- Dox – Similar season. 1 Thess 2:2 “remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father”
- The blessing is already yours. The opportunity is already there. The doors are already opened. And no one can shut it. Look unto our hope, step out in faith. Provision is already prepared for you.
- Eras – You’re already elite.
- Jopet – You aren’t starting from zero, you’re stepping into the next chapter backed by our Abba who is always good, who provides constantly, and loves you passionately! Standing with you in prayer my brother. You’ve got this, and He’s got you!
- Daniel – Young bloods may have a generational advantage as this is their era after all but we are veterans and we offer stability, loyalty and trust.. We have gone through a lot of seasons and we still stand firm by the grace of God.. He who is above all things is with us now and always brother.
- Ptr Poppo – Ephesians 4
6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.Colossians 2:6-7
1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. Ephesians 4:1-6
The points I told the congregation were towards the conclusion of the matter: We are not only rooted, but we are rooted together.
When we say we are rooted, we are saying we’re rooted with the rest of the body of Christ, helping each other. Sure, we receive revelation on our own – praying, praising, reading the Word, and so on – but there are things we could only learn from each other, from the words of others.
It doesn’t matter whether we see each other physically or interact online – we are rooted together, meaning we grow in the faith, together.
We’ll keep exploring this as we transition into the final quarter of this year.
Focus on worship for the first Sunday of October… and then, just run with it.
To God be all glory, praise, worship and adoration, yesterday, today, tomorrow, unto forever.
Amen. Amen, and Halleluyah.
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