{"id":30938,"date":"2022-10-19T17:54:26","date_gmt":"2022-10-19T21:54:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=30938"},"modified":"2022-10-19T22:16:30","modified_gmt":"2022-10-20T02:16:30","slug":"worship-wednesday-big-love-small-moments-jj-heller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/debmillswriter.com\/?p=30938","title":{"rendered":"Worship Wednesday – Big Love, Small Moments – JJ Heller"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Photo Credit: Heartlight<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cLove the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,\u201d and \u201cyour neighbor as yourself.\u201d<\/em> – Luke 10:27<\/a>
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“I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received: with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,<\/em> and with diligence to preserve the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”<\/em> – Ephesians 4:1-3<\/a>
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What beauty we know in the love of Jesus – talk about BIG LOVE!<\/p>\n

Even from the cross, He appealed to the Father to forgive those who sought to destroy him saying, “Forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing!” [Luke 23:34<\/a>] He calls us to that same kind of love.<\/p>\n

Often, big love is rolled out in one small moment after another small moment after another. We’ve all experienced that and hopefully we’re all in lives of executing those small moments for others.<\/p>\n

I’d like to showcase two sets of folks who demonstrate such love. I don’t know them personally but they loom large in my social media.<\/p>\n

1) Tony and Karen Vick<\/strong> were married<\/a> in 2015. Two years later, Tony was diagnosed with ALS<\/a>. I came across their story on Instagram @thekaregiver<\/a>. Karen is her husband’s primary caregiver and also manages her own small business. Every day she posts videos (on their various platforms) – videos that give a glimpse of small moments in their lives. Whew! So much love. Both from Karen to Tony and vice versa. Even a devastating, terminal disease like ALS can’t keep us from communicating love to others. They both do this so beautifully. Pray for them, too, as you get to know their stories.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Photo Credit: Russell Colburn, Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n

The Karegiver on Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Photo Credit: The Karegiver, Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

Tony and Karen Vick – Faith Over Fear – Video<\/a><\/p>\n

2) Stan Mitchell<\/strong> – Stan Mitchell<\/a> is a pastor and the son of this beautiful lady in the picture. His mom, Mrs. Shirley, was a church organist for 40 years but now struggles with dementia. Still, with minimal prompting, she sings the beautiful old Gospel songs many of us grew up with. Such a blessing in these waning years of her memory…and life. [Check out Rev. Mitchell’s Facebook page for some of that sweet singing of hers.]\"\"<\/a>Photo Credit: Stan Mitchell & his mom – Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

Rev. Mitchell founded GracePointe Church in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2003. Under his leadership, in 2015, GracePointe moved to be completely inclusive of LGBTQ+ persons in the church family. Then a great upheaval followed within the church body. The church has survived and flourished, in a different direction than the beginning.<\/p>\n

I’m not really sure what all Stan Mitchell does professionally but he seems to work with churches around our country in consultation to help them love better those in the LGBTQ+ community. Rev. Mitchell describes himself actually as progressive and liberal, cis-gender and heterosexual. He is also the fortunate son of Mrs. Shirley.<\/p>\n

How I first came across Rev. Mitchell I couldn’t tell you. Maybe it was through a mention from seminary professor and thought leader Karen Swallow Prior<\/a>. Ever how he came to my awareness, in our fractured world, I am learning from him on a big love within small moments. He has the wordsmith skills of a writer and preacher. He is quite clear in what he believes and his goal seems to be prompting us, as Christ-followers, to love those in the LGBTQ+ community …bigger.<\/p>\n

[Most all of you who read this blog regularly know I’m fairly conservative in my thinking. I take the Scripture quite literally. In some camps of Christian theology, there does seem to be a disconnect, unfortunately, in the truth and grace conversation. We either lean heavily one way (toward truth\/knowledge) or the other (toward grace\/mercy). I want to learn how to love well (big) without compromising the truth of God’s Word. That gets revealed by our focus and decisions made in the small moments of every day life. There is the challenge.]<\/p>\n

Worship Wednesday – Until Unity – Francis Chan<\/em> – Deb Mills<\/a><\/p>\n

Stan Mitchell’s Facebook posts pop up often on my Facebook newsfeed…thanks to that unknown social media giant’s algorithm. I read them to see the videos of his visits with his mom. Hearing her sing those old Gospel songs, even with memory darkened by dementia. I read them for what he says about people with whom he has counseled in and about the LGBTQ+ community. He is probably not someone I’d know, but he is giving me food for thought about how to love big…a particular population of people who don’t feel loved by churches who also love the Scripture.<\/p>\n

We have these two commandments that Jesus calls the greatest. Just two.<\/p>\n