This song is for Nicolas T. Video: Little Big Man (Arthur Penn, 1970) How can you buy or sell the sky? What a strange idea to me. If we don't own the freshness of the air, how can you buy it? The perfumed flowers are our sisters, the deer, the horse our brothers. The shining water that moves in the streams is the blood of our ancestors. Our ways are different You leave your father's grave, your birthplace is forgotten. And when you have conquered, you move on. For you, a plot of land is the same as the next one, For you're a stranger who comes in the night And takes whatever he wants. But you shall pass too and sooner than other tribes. You will contaminate your bed and One night suffocate in your own waste. Our ways are different You leave your father's grave, your birthplace is forgotten. And when you have conquered, you move on. Our ways are different When all the beasts are gone, man will die from loneliness. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected Text freely adapted from the following letter, sent by Chief Seattle of the Dwamish Tribe in Washington to U.S. President Pierce in 1855. This letter illustrates the dignity, wisdom, and environmental awareness of the American Indians. "THE GREAT CHIEF in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. The Great Chief also sends us words of friendship and good will. This is kind of him, since we know he has little need of our friendship in return. But we will consider your offer, for we know if we do not so the white man may come with guns and take our land. What Chief Seattle says you can count on as truly as our white brothers can count on the return of the seasons. My words are like the stars - they do not set. How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them? Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man. The white man's dead forget the country of their birth when they go to walk among the stars. Our dead never forget this beautiful earth, for it is the mother of the red man. We are part of the earth and it is a part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters; the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat of the pony, and man--all belong to the same family. So, when the Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land, he asks much of us. The Great Chief sends word he will reserve us a place so that we can live comfortably to ourselves. He will be our father and we will be his children. So we will consider your offer to buy our land. But it will not be easy. For this land is sacred to us. This shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you land, you must remember that it is sacred, and you must teach your children that it is sacred and that each ghastly reflection in the clear water of the lake tells of events and memories in the life of my people. The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father. The rivers are our brothers, they quench our thirst. The rivers carry our canoes, and feed our children. If we sell you our land, you must remember, and teach your children that the rivers are our brothers, and yours, and you must henceforth give the rivers the kindness you would give any brother. We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on. He leaves his fathers' graves and his children's birthright is forgotten. He treats his mother, the earth, and his brother, the sky, as things to be bought, plundered, sold like sheep or bright beads. His appetite will devour the earth and leave behind only a desert. I do not know. Our ways are different from your ways. The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the red man. But perhaps it is because the red man is a savage and does not understand. There is no quiet place in the white man's cities. No place to hear the unfurling of leaves in spring, or the rustle of an insect's wings. But perhaps it is because I am a savage and do not understand. The clatter only seems to insult the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around a pond at night? I am a red man and do not understand. The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of a pond, and the smell of the wind itself, cleansed b

• published: 03 Apr 2010
• views: 2777

Grace Compass Church 7 Steps to More Spiritual Conversations Here is what I do to engage people in a spiritual conversation: 1. Make it a priority. Be intentional 2. Pray for the opportunities. 3. Get out into the community. 4. Cultivate relationships. 5. Learn to ask good questions. 6. Look for God’s work in people. 7. Guard your heart. Effective Evangelism Training Power of the Holy Spirit emphasizes learning God’s vision for evangelism, and developing a passion for personal evangelism. This evangelism conference also seeks to develop practical evangelism skills in cooperating with the Holy Spirit. The course uses a lot of the principles we teach about cooperating with the Holy Spirit and conversational evangelism, based on Phillip and Ethiopian Eunuch. Phillip And The Ethiopian Eunuch By EvangelismCoach • April 24, 2007 Acts Conversions Let’s look at an “easy conversion,” that of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts Chapter 8. This conversion was as simple as picking a ripe mango ready to fall from a tree. It’s not so much about the Eunuch as it is about Phillip being God’s tool to help the man come to faith. The fruit is ready The Fruit is Ready These are the kinds of evangelistic conversations I love because a person has been prepared by the Lord to this point, and I get to be the one God uses to bring that person into the kingdom. It reminds me that God is the Evangelist, that the Holy Spirit goes before us to prepare the way, and that when we are obedient to His promptings, the Lord can use us. The passage: Acts 8:26-40. Phillip had been directed by the Lord to go on a scavenger hunt. “Go to the south road, the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” Phillip was then prompted to go and stand near a chariot that was on the road. Phillip hears a man reading a particular passage from the book of Isaiah. Phillip asks if he understands. The man’s response: “How can I unless someone explains it to me? Please tell me who the prophet is talking about.” Phillip began there and told him the good news about Jesus. The eunuch believed, he took baptism, and went on his way rejoicing, never to see Phillip again. Reflections: A seeker: We know from the text what Phillip didn’t know at first. This man had been coming from Jerusalem, where he had been to worship God. Phillip didn’t know him, but found a man reading out loud from the Old Testament. This man shows all the signs of one who is spiritualy thirsty. • He had reworked his schedule to go to Jerusalem on his own. • He was reading from the Scripture. • He wanted somebody to explain what he was reading. • He was willing to search for the truth. • He was willing to understand. This man was hungry for the things of God. He was spiritually thirsty. Prepared by God. All he needed was a person to help explain. An evangelist. The Lord used an obedient Phillip to help this man into the kingdom. Both sides always balance God worked both sides of the equation, so to speak, putting Phillip and the spiritualy thirsty eunuch in the same place at the same time. This positioning is the Role of the Holy Spirit in Evangelism. All Phillip had to do in this encounter with a stranger was to obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit. In other words, Phillip got to work with God. Phillip didn’t • need to pry open a hard heart like a can of beans. • have to waste hours of conversation about the existence of God. • need to get the Eunuch to the starting point of a Gospel Script All the talk in the world could not replace the work of God that prepared the eunuch ahead of time. Luke on summarizes the conversation as “the good news about Jesus”. This was not a Scripted Evangelism Conversation. So what? For one brief afternoon, the stories of these two strangers intersected. Phillip was doing his ordinary routine when the Lord prompted him to go to specific place. The eunuch was simply going home after a pilgrimage. But at one moment, their paths crossed and one man’s destiny was changed. It is my desire that you spend time asking “God where are you at work?” It’s much easier to cooperate with God’s activity, rather than wasting hours of argument prying open a locked heart. The key is that Phillip noticed “THAT” Chariot. God underlined the chariot and Phillip positioned himself. We know that God’s Spirit is at work in us as believers, training us, teaching us, and transforming us. But, I also want to point out how the Holy Spirit prepares the way for evangelism to occur naturally. Consider Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch. Clearly the Spirit of God was at work in the life of the Eunuch. • He had gone to Jerusalem to worship. • He was reading Scripture. • He wanted someone to explain Scripture to him. The eunuch had a spiritual thirst, created by the Holy Spirit, and he was busy searching to slake that thirst. He was like the merchant looking for the fine pearl. Easy Conversati

• published: 27 Apr 2009
• views: 0

This song is for Nicolas T. Video: Little Big Man (Arthur Penn, 1970) How can you buy or sell the sky? What a strange idea to me. If we don't own the freshness of the air, how can you buy it? The perfumed flowers are our sisters, the deer, the horse our brothers. The shining water that moves in the streams is the blood of our ancestors. Our ways are different You leave your father's grave, your birthplace is forgotten. And when you have conquered, you move on. For you, a plot of land is the same as the next one, For you're a stranger who comes in the night And takes whatever he wants. But you shall pass too and sooner than other tribes. You will contaminate your bed and One night suffocate in your own waste. Our ways are different You leave your father's grave, your birthplace is forgotten. And when you have conquered, you move on. Our ways are different When all the beasts are gone, man will die from loneliness. For whatever happens to the beasts, soon happens to man. All things are connected Text freely adapted from the following letter, sent by Chief Seattle of the Dwamish Tribe in Washington to U.S. President Pierce in 1855. This letter illustrates the dignity, wisdom, and environmental awareness of the American Indians. "THE GREAT CHIEF in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. The Great Chief also sends us words of friendship and good will. This is kind of him, since we know he has little need of our friendship in return. But we will consider your offer, for we know if we do not so the white man may come with guns and take our land. What Chief Seattle says you can count on as truly as our white brothers can count on the return of the seasons. My words are like the stars - they do not set. How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them? Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people. The sap which courses through the trees carries the memories of the red man. The white man's dead forget the country of their birth when they go to walk among the stars. Our dead never forget this beautiful earth, for it is the mother of the red man. We are part of the earth and it is a part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters; the deer, the horse, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadows, the body heat of the pony, and man--all belong to the same family. So, when the Great Chief in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land, he asks much of us. The Great Chief sends word he will reserve us a place so that we can live comfortably to ourselves. He will be our father and we will be his children. So we will consider your offer to buy our land. But it will not be easy. For this land is sacred to us. This shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you land, you must remember that it is sacred, and you must teach your children that it is sacred and that each ghastly reflection in the clear water of the lake tells of events and memories in the life of my people. The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father. The rivers are our brothers, they quench our thirst. The rivers carry our canoes, and feed our children. If we sell you our land, you must remember, and teach your children that the rivers are our brothers, and yours, and you must henceforth give the rivers the kindness you would give any brother. We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on. He leaves his fathers' graves and his children's birthright is forgotten. He treats his mother, the earth, and his brother, the sky, as things to be bought, plundered, sold like sheep or bright beads. His appetite will devour the earth and leave behind only a desert. I do not know. Our ways are different from your ways. The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the red man. But perhaps it is because the red man is a savage and does not understand. There is no quiet place in the white man's cities. No place to hear the unfurling of leaves in spring, or the rustle of an insect's wings. But perhaps it is because I am a savage and do not understand. The clatter only seems to insult the ears. And what is there to life if a man cannot hear the lonely cry of the whippoorwill or the arguments of the frogs around a pond at night? I am a red man and do not understand. The Indian prefers the soft sound of the wind darting over the face of a pond, and the smell of the wind itself, cleansed b

• published: 03 Apr 2010
• views: 2777

Grace Compass Church 7 Steps to More Spiritual Conversations Here is what I do to engage people in a spiritual conversation: 1. Make it a priority. Be intentional 2. Pray for the opportunities. 3. Get out into the community. 4. Cultivate relationships. 5. Learn to ask good questions. 6. Look for God’s work in people. 7. Guard your heart. Effective Evangelism Training Power of the Holy Spirit emphasizes learning God’s vision for evangelism, and developing a passion for personal evangelism. This evangelism conference also seeks to develop practical evangelism skills in cooperating with the Holy Spirit. The course uses a lot of the principles we teach about cooperating with the Holy Spirit and conversational evangelism, based on Phillip and Ethiopian Eunuch. Phillip And The Ethiopian Eunuch By EvangelismCoach • April 24, 2007 Acts Conversions Let’s look at an “easy conversion,” that of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts Chapter 8. This conversion was as simple as picking a ripe mango ready to fall from a tree. It’s not so much about the Eunuch as it is about Phillip being God’s tool to help the man come to faith. The fruit is ready The Fruit is Ready These are the kinds of evangelistic conversations I love because a person has been prepared by the Lord to this point, and I get to be the one God uses to bring that person into the kingdom. It reminds me that God is the Evangelist, that the Holy Spirit goes before us to prepare the way, and that when we are obedient to His promptings, the Lord can use us. The passage: Acts 8:26-40. Phillip had been directed by the Lord to go on a scavenger hunt. “Go to the south road, the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” Phillip was then prompted to go and stand near a chariot that was on the road. Phillip hears a man reading a particular passage from the book of Isaiah. Phillip asks if he understands. The man’s response: “How can I unless someone explains it to me? Please tell me who the prophet is talking about.” Phillip began there and told him the good news about Jesus. The eunuch believed, he took baptism, and went on his way rejoicing, never to see Phillip again. Reflections: A seeker: We know from the text what Phillip didn’t know at first. This man had been coming from Jerusalem, where he had been to worship God. Phillip didn’t know him, but found a man reading out loud from the Old Testament. This man shows all the signs of one who is spiritualy thirsty. • He had reworked his schedule to go to Jerusalem on his own. • He was reading from the Scripture. • He wanted somebody to explain what he was reading. • He was willing to search for the truth. • He was willing to understand. This man was hungry for the things of God. He was spiritually thirsty. Prepared by God. All he needed was a person to help explain. An evangelist. The Lord used an obedient Phillip to help this man into the kingdom. Both sides always balance God worked both sides of the equation, so to speak, putting Phillip and the spiritualy thirsty eunuch in the same place at the same time. This positioning is the Role of the Holy Spirit in Evangelism. All Phillip had to do in this encounter with a stranger was to obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit. In other words, Phillip got to work with God. Phillip didn’t • need to pry open a hard heart like a can of beans. • have to waste hours of conversation about the existence of God. • need to get the Eunuch to the starting point of a Gospel Script All the talk in the world could not replace the work of God that prepared the eunuch ahead of time. Luke on summarizes the conversation as “the good news about Jesus”. This was not a Scripted Evangelism Conversation. So what? For one brief afternoon, the stories of these two strangers intersected. Phillip was doing his ordinary routine when the Lord prompted him to go to specific place. The eunuch was simply going home after a pilgrimage. But at one moment, their paths crossed and one man’s destiny was changed. It is my desire that you spend time asking “God where are you at work?” It’s much easier to cooperate with God’s activity, rather than wasting hours of argument prying open a locked heart. The key is that Phillip noticed “THAT” Chariot. God underlined the chariot and Phillip positioned himself. We know that God’s Spirit is at work in us as believers, training us, teaching us, and transforming us. But, I also want to point out how the Holy Spirit prepares the way for evangelism to occur naturally. Consider Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch. Clearly the Spirit of God was at work in the life of the Eunuch. • He had gone to Jerusalem to worship. • He was reading Scripture. • He wanted someone to explain Scripture to him. The eunuch had a spiritual thirst, created by the Holy Spirit, and he was busy searching to slake that thirst. He was like the merchant looking for the fine pearl. Easy Conversati

• published: 27 Apr 2009
• views: 0