10I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Mary in Luke chapter 1 mentioned her soul magnified the Lord and her spirit rejoiced in God her Savior. When we are feeling overwhelmed by our circumstances, even the stresses of the holiday season, we can take a few moments and allow God to shape our perspective and for Him to overshadow us, to overwhelm us with His love - I think that is the state in which He desires for us to abide. He wants to be in control of our lives, living squarely in His love and rejoicing in His presence, knowing that is the place in which we can experience what He has in store for us.
In Luke chapter 1, verse 35, the angel brings a promise to Mary:
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
"The All New Mickey Mouse Club" ran from 1989 to 1996 on the Disney Channel and there are quite a few familiar names in the list of alumni. Britney Spears. Justin Timberlake. Keri Russell of "Felicity". Christina Aguilera. Ryan Gosling. And...Matt Morris.
You know - Matt Morris! C'mon. Matt Morris was a clean-cut boy, an Episcopalian from Denver. The New York Times profiled him recently. After the show ended, he worked as a songwriter, his compositions recorded by big names like Ms. Aguilera, Mr. Timberlake and Kelly Clarkson.
But, Matt Morris is now known as Teo Bishop, who attempted to keep up a career in pop music, but beginning about three years ago, he began a rise to prominence in the Pagan community.
But, Matt Morris is now known as Teo Bishop, who attempted to keep up a career in pop music, but beginning about three years ago, he began a rise to prominence in the Pagan community.
He had begun to study the ways of the Druids. He joined the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, a British order. In 2009, using the pen name Teo Bishop, he began blogging about his new spirituality, and in late 2010, he kicked off what became his main site, Bishop in the Grove.
Bishop in the Grove became popular with Pagans of different traditions, its comments section a virtual meeting place. At its peak, Mr. Bishop said this week, the site got as many as 10,000 unique visitors a month. At Pagan gatherings and conventions, he was a treated like a celebrity — and more so because in July 2012 Teo Bishop came out as Mr. Morris, merging his two public identities. He also changed his name legally.
In that post, Mr. Bishop told of an encounter with a woman, probably homeless, sitting next to her shopping cart. He gave her some food. “God bless you,” she said to him. That exchange stayed with him, and he soon felt himself called back to God — to a Christian conception of God.
About three weeks ago, he attended an Episcopal church in his hometown, Portland, Ore. He decided beforehand that he would hold nothing back, that he would pray the liturgy despite lingering misgivings about Christianity. “ ‘I am just going to give myself over to it, not intellectualize it,’ ” he told
He also wrote, “I’m overwhelmed with thoughts of Jesus...Jesus and God and Christianity and the Lord’s Prayer and compassion and forgiveness and hope. ... I don’t know what to do with all of this.”
Overwhelmed! And, he doesn't know what to do, but I would encourage you to pray that God will show Matt, aka Teo, what to do - there are obviously some issues with which he has to deal in his life - how will that affect his relationship with his "husband", who encouraged him to investigate Druidry in the first place? How great will the pressure of his former Pagan compatriots be?
I think there are several takeaways from this story - for one thing, I can't validate whether or not that Teo has been born again or is even following a brand of religion that could be called Biblical Christianity, so there's not an endorsement here of his experience. But, he does remind us that people can change. That's something that we can keep in mind - people can embrace God's light and even turn to Christ, and then we can pray and rely on Him to do His work in people's lives. I gave a list from 1st Corinthians yesterday about patterns of behavior that God calls sin - Phil Robertson paraphrased that Scripture in his interview. And, the good news is that we can be transformed by the power of God.
If we are overwhelmed by the Spirit, then we consider the implications of completely relinquishing control to Him. I think that so often we accept Christ, we are born again, and then we live our lives in our own strength with a degree of a God-stamp on it. He wants to completely take control of our lives, but He will not override our will. So in the process of sanctification, of becoming more like Jesus in our thoughts and behavior, we recognize that we must demonstrate a willing heart so that He will be more evident in every area of our lives.
I think there are several takeaways from this story - for one thing, I can't validate whether or not that Teo has been born again or is even following a brand of religion that could be called Biblical Christianity, so there's not an endorsement here of his experience. But, he does remind us that people can change. That's something that we can keep in mind - people can embrace God's light and even turn to Christ, and then we can pray and rely on Him to do His work in people's lives. I gave a list from 1st Corinthians yesterday about patterns of behavior that God calls sin - Phil Robertson paraphrased that Scripture in his interview. And, the good news is that we can be transformed by the power of God.
If we are overwhelmed by the Spirit, then we consider the implications of completely relinquishing control to Him. I think that so often we accept Christ, we are born again, and then we live our lives in our own strength with a degree of a God-stamp on it. He wants to completely take control of our lives, but He will not override our will. So in the process of sanctification, of becoming more like Jesus in our thoughts and behavior, we recognize that we must demonstrate a willing heart so that He will be more evident in every area of our lives.
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