Direct Access

Good morning everyone,

I hope you are all well and warm this morning! It in warm in the office. It looks like a snowstorm of paper has descended on my desk. However, I will be working on that momentarily. I took the Trinity Tribe on an outing on Monday to the fruitcake factory. We had a wonderful time! Please join us next trip! Email or call the office with any suggested trips that we could take. I would love to go to Seagrove and look at pottery, but that would be more fun when it is warm. So, if you have an idea for an inside trip, please let me know!

Yesterday I joined the Young Clergy Council for a general meeting with the Bishop. We had a fruitful conversation. I will write about those discussions later. I have something else burning on my fingertips today!

I was going through the mail this morning and decided to take a long hard look at our phone bill. It seems so high, as do most bills these days. I found something interesting on page 10 of 10. A third party had billed us for something that I couldn't figure out, so I called CenturyLink. They were very helpful. It was indeed for a suspicious charge, but I have it all straightened out now. However, it took me talking to four people at three different companies to get it all straightened out. Isn't it nice that God doesn't work that way? You and I can go straight to God with our prayers. You don't need me to pray for you (though, I certainly do). Priests' prayers are no more holy that yours or mind. You don't need a saint to whisper in God's ear for you. Through Jesus becoming our brother, we have full access to God.

In John 15, Jesus says 7 "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." But we find instruction in the Old Testament as well like in Jeremiah 29:13, "13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

Let's be bold today and pray what is on our hearts to God. We get direct access. We don't need third-party prayers. Through our brother, Jesus, we get direct access that is available 24/7. God is good!

Come, Holy Spirit

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful,
and kindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created
And you shall renew the face of the earth.
O God, who has taught the hearts of the faithful
by the light of the Holy Spirit,
grant that by the gift of the same Spirit
we may be always truly wise
and ever rejoice in his consolation.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.