Tony's Posterous http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com Life is not a problem to be solved, it is a playful adventure to be lived. posterous.com Wed, 29 Jun 2011 09:37:45 -0700 Taking Up Our Crosses http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/taking-up-our-crosses http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/taking-up-our-crosses

Another devotional thought from one of my favorite authors, Henri Nouwen.

Jesus says: "If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him ... take up his cross and follow me" (Matthew 16:24). He does not say: "Make a cross" or "Look for a cross." Each of us has a cross to carry. There is no need to make one or look for one. The cross we have is hard enough for us! But are we willing to take it up, to accept it as our cross?

Maybe we can't study, maybe we are handicapped, maybe we suffer from depression, maybe we experience conflict in our families, maybe we are victims of violence or abuse. We didn't choose any of it, but these things are our crosses. We can ignore them, reject them, refuse them or hate them. But we can also take up these crosses and follow Jesus with them.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/226341/Tonypic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36F0hokeE2ad Tony Manjarrez Tony's Tony Manjarrez Sat, 12 Feb 2011 14:16:37 -0800 Words That Feed Us http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/words-that-feed-us-0 http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/words-that-feed-us-0 This is good word for our soul, heart and mind. Another good insight from Henri Nouwen.

When we talk to one another, we often talk about what happened, what we are doing, or what we plan to do. Often we say, "What's up?" and we encourage one another to share the details of our daily lives. But often we want to hear something else. We want to hear, "I've been thinking of you today," or "I missed you," or "I wish you were here," or "I really love you." It is not always easy to say these words, but such words can deepen our bonds with one another.

Telling someone "I love you" in whatever way is always delivering good news. Nobody will respond by saying, "Well, I knew that already, you don't have to say it again"! Words of love and affirmation are like bread. We need them each day, over and over. They keep us alive inside.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/226341/Tonypic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36F0hokeE2ad Tony Manjarrez Tony's Tony Manjarrez Sun, 06 Feb 2011 07:31:25 -0800 Returning to God's Ever-Present Love http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/returning-to-gods-ever-present-love http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/returning-to-gods-ever-present-love These are words from Henri Nouwen. Great insight. Read on…

We often confuse unconditional love with unconditional approval. God loves us without conditions but does not approve of every human behavior. God doesn't approve of betrayal, violence, hatred, suspicion, and all other expressions of evil, because they all contradict the love God wants to instill in the human heart. Evil is the absence of God's love. Evil does not belong to God.

God's unconditional love means that God continues to love us even when we say or think evil things. God continues to wait for us as a loving parent waits for the return of a lost child. It is important for us to hold on to the truth that God never gives up loving us even when God is saddened by what we do. That truth will help us to return to God's ever-present love.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/226341/Tonypic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36F0hokeE2ad Tony Manjarrez Tony's Tony Manjarrez Fri, 24 Dec 2010 12:02:52 -0800 Holding On to the Christ http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/holding-on-to-the-christ http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/holding-on-to-the-christ

Henri Nouwen is one of my favorite authors. This is one of his daily devotions fitting for today.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Tony

Holding On to the Christ

Life is unpredictable. We can be happy one day and sad the next, healthy one day and sick the next, rich one day and poor the next, alive one day and dead the next. So who is there to hold on to? Who is there to feel secure with? Who is there to trust at all times?

Only Jesus, the Christ. He is our Lord, our shepherd, our rock, our stronghold, our refuge, our brother, our guide, and our friend. He came from God to be with us. He died for us, he was raised from the dead to open for us the way to God, and he is seated at God's right hand to welcome us home. With Paul, we must be certain that "neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nothing already in existence and nothing still to come, nor any power, nor the heights nor the depths, nor any created thing whatever, will be able to come between us and the love of God, known to us in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39).

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/226341/Tonypic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36F0hokeE2ad Tony Manjarrez Tony's Tony Manjarrez Thu, 23 Sep 2010 07:47:13 -0700 The Father's Love http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/the-fathers-love http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/the-fathers-love The Father's Love…

It is not reserved for those who are well-known mystics or for those who do wonderful things for the poor… [It is for] those poor enough to welcome Jesus. It is for people living ordinary lives and who feel lonely. It is for all those who are old, hospitalized or out of work, who open their hearts in trust to Jesus and cry out for his healing love. – Jean Vanier

Exert from: Brennan Manning - the furious longing of God

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/226341/Tonypic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36F0hokeE2ad Tony Manjarrez Tony's Tony Manjarrez Sat, 28 Aug 2010 13:03:55 -0700 Discovering more about Grace http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/discovering-more-about-grace http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/discovering-more-about-grace

More and more everyday I am grateful for the saving grace that is mine and for us all through Christ Jesus. The reason is because I’m becoming more aware on a day-by-day basis of how much I need a Savior and not just day by day, but quite literally, on a moment-to-moment basis. My problem has been one that is paramount to a lot of Christians and not just to myself, and that is, acceptance. Accepting that which we cannot do for ourselves. We enjoy and even pride ourselves on being self-made in our jobs, education, relationships, and even our walk with Jesus. This seems to be the American way. So to accept the gift of Grace that comes only through Jesus Christ completely opposes the nature of being self-made that is inherit in too many of us.

Anyway, this morning as I was reading I came across this amazing summation of grace from a book by Paul Tillich “The Shaking of The Foundations”. This is what he says:

“To be struck by grace does not mean that we are simply making progress in our moral self control, in our fight against special faults, and in our relationship to others. Moral progress may be a fruit of grace, but it is not grace itself.

“Grace strikes us when we are in great pain and restlessness. It strikes us when we walk through the dark valley of a meaningless and empty life… Grace strikes us when our disgust for our own being, our indifference, our weakness, our hostility, and our lack of direction and composure have become intolerable to us.

“Sometimes at that moment a wave of light breaks into our darkness and it is as though a voice were saying: ‘You are accepted. You are accepted by that which is greater than you. … Do not seek for anything; do not perform anything; do not intent anything. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted.’

“If that happens to us, we experience grace. After such an experience we may not be better than before, and we may not believe more than before, But everything is transformed.”

I love this! Our relationship with Christ is not about striving and moral reasoning. It is a fruit of the spirit that comes from our day-to-day relationship as we grow and mature through interaction with the Father through prayer. It’s one thing to know Jesus loves us, and another thing to realize it! My prayer today is that all of us would come closer to this place of realization.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/226341/Tonypic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36F0hokeE2ad Tony Manjarrez Tony's Tony Manjarrez Tue, 13 Jul 2010 12:05:16 -0700 The Wounded Healer http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/the-wounded-healer-0 http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/the-wounded-healer-0

Henri Nouwen was a great thinker and follower of Jesus. I love how he is able to convey deep thoughts that stir the heart and mind with just a few words. Listen to what he has to say today.

The Wounded Healer

Nobody escapes being wounded. We all are wounded people, whether physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. The main question is not "How can we hide our wounds?" so we don't have to be embarrassed, but "How can we put our woundedness in the service of others?" When our wounds cease to be a source of shame, and become a source of healing, we have become wounded healers.
Jesus is God's wounded healer: through his wounds we are healed. Jesus' suffering and death brought joy and life. His humiliation brought glory; his rejection brought a community of love. As followers of Jesus we can also allow our wounds to bring healing to others.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/226341/Tonypic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36F0hokeE2ad Tony Manjarrez Tony's Tony Manjarrez Wed, 26 May 2010 11:36:56 -0700 A Definition of the Gospel http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/a-definition-of-the-gospel http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/a-definition-of-the-gospel This is an excerpt from Eugene Peterson's book, "Traveling Light" where he describes the definition of the word Gospel.

It is the unexpected, fresh, surprising good news that God is not angry or indifferent or impersonal, but that God loves us and has provided the means for our salvation. That love and that salvation are at the center of absolutely everything, and from that center all of life is lived.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/226341/Tonypic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36F0hokeE2ad Tony Manjarrez Tony's Tony Manjarrez Sat, 08 May 2010 14:36:09 -0700 Mac Tips | Apple Mac Training http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/mac-tips-apple-mac-training http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/mac-tips-apple-mac-training

via 1on1plus.com

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/226341/Tonypic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36F0hokeE2ad Tony Manjarrez Tony's Tony Manjarrez Tue, 27 Apr 2010 11:03:00 -0700 True Friendship http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/true-frienship http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/true-frienship

This is a blog I wrote about a year ago and thought I would post here again. These are Just Thoughts.

John 15:15 I no longer call you servants, because a master doesn’t confide in his servants. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.

We often put unnecessary weight on our friends by requiring that they fulfill some need we might have in our life. We might say, “I need you to be this for me, or to do that for me”. The list can be incessant. But in essence, the demands we place on one another because of our own weaknesses and/or insecurities, is a subtle form of idolatry. What we are really demanding is, I need you to be God for me. The very thing the Father provides, we seek it in others. Jesus says, because I call you friend, everything the father has told me, is yours! In other words, now that we are friends, everything that I am, you get! Wow! No weight there, just life!

Jesus in this verse is modeling true friendship. Friends don’t put unnecessary weight on one another they exchange life! It is a true give and take by the very nature of who we are. Whatever gifts or talents we naturally posses get transferred to the other person by way of living life together in true unity. As we learn to live life together in true friendship, both parties benefit by one another’s giftedness.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/226341/Tonypic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36F0hokeE2ad Tony Manjarrez Tony's Tony Manjarrez Tue, 20 Apr 2010 01:06:00 -0700 Best Baked Potato Ever! http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/best-baked-potato-ever http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/best-baked-potato-ever

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This is the best baked Potato Ever. I posted the recipe on TasteFresno.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/226341/Tonypic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36F0hokeE2ad Tony Manjarrez Tony's Tony Manjarrez Mon, 19 Apr 2010 11:10:21 -0700 Freedom Attracts http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/freedom-attracts http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/freedom-attracts

Freedom Attracts
When you are interiorly free you call others to freedom, whether you know it or not. Freedom attracts wherever it appears. A free man or a free woman creates a space where others feel safe and want to dwell. Our world is so full of conditions, demands, requirements, and obligations that we often wonder what is expected of us. But when we meet a truly free person, there are no expectations, only an invitation to reach into ourselves and discover there our own freedom.
Where true inner freedom is, there is God. And where God is, there we want to be.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/226341/Tonypic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36F0hokeE2ad Tony Manjarrez Tony's Tony Manjarrez Sun, 11 Apr 2010 07:52:37 -0700 Authority and Obedience http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/authority-and-obedience http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/authority-and-obedience

Authority and Obedience
Authority and obedience can never be divided, with some people having all the authority while others only have to obey. This separation causes authoritarian behaviour on the one side and doormat behaviour on the other. It perverts authority as well as obedience. A person with great authority who has nobody to be obedient to is in great spiritual danger. A very obedient person who has no authority over anyone is equally in danger.
Jesus spoke with great authority, but his whole life was complete obedience to his Father, and Jesus, who said to his Father, "Let it be as you, not I, would have it" (Matthew 26:39), has been given all authority in heaven and on earth (see Matthew 28:18). Let us ask ourselves: Do we live our authority in obedience and do we live our obedience with authority?

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/226341/Tonypic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36F0hokeE2ad Tony Manjarrez Tony's Tony Manjarrez Thu, 25 Mar 2010 09:24:57 -0700 Sharing Our Solitude http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/sharing-our-solitude http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/sharing-our-solitude

Sharing Our Solitude
A friend is more than a therapist or a confessor, even though a friend can sometimes heal us and offer us God's forgiveness.
A friend is that other person with whom we can share our solitude, our silence, and our prayer. A friend is that other person with whom we can look at a tree and say, "Isn't that beautiful," or sit on the beach and silently watch the sun disappear under the horizon. With a friend we don't have to say or do something special. With a friend we can be still and know that God is there with both of us.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/226341/Tonypic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36F0hokeE2ad Tony Manjarrez Tony's Tony Manjarrez Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:58:57 -0700 A Still Place in the Market http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/a-still-place-in-the-market http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/a-still-place-in-the-market

A Still Place in the Market
"Be still and acknowledge that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). These are words to take with us in our busy lives. We may think about stillness in contrast to our noisy world. But perhaps we can go further and keep an inner stillness even while we carry on business, teach, work in construction, make music, or organise meetings.
It is important to keep a still place in the "marketplace." This still place is where God can dwell and speak to us. It also is the place from where we can speak in a healing way to all the people we meet in our busy days. Without that still space we start spinning. We become driven people, running all over the place without much direction. But with that stillness God can be our gentle guide in everything we think, say, or do.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/226341/Tonypic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36F0hokeE2ad Tony Manjarrez Tony's Tony Manjarrez Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:46:12 -0700 Not Breaking the Bruised Reeds http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/not-breaking-the-bruised-reeds http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/not-breaking-the-bruised-reeds

Not Breaking the Bruised Reeds
Some of us tend to do away with things that are slightly damaged. Instead of repairing them we say: "Well, I don't have time to fix it, I might as well throw it in the garbage can and buy a new one." Often we also treat people this way. We say: "Well, he has a problem with drinking; well, she is quite depressed; well, they have mismanaged their business...we'd better not take the risk of working with them." When we dismiss people out of hand because of their apparent woundedness, we stunt their lives by ignoring their gifts, which are often buried in their wounds.
We all are bruised reeds, whether our bruises are visible or not. The compassionate life is the life in which we believe that strength is hidden in weakness and that true community is a fellowship of the weak.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/226341/Tonypic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36F0hokeE2ad Tony Manjarrez Tony's Tony Manjarrez Tue, 16 Mar 2010 15:22:10 -0700 YouTube - OK Go - Here It Goes Again http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/youtube-ok-go-here-it-goes-again http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/youtube-ok-go-here-it-goes-again

via youtube.com

Great fun video!

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/226341/Tonypic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36F0hokeE2ad Tony Manjarrez Tony's Tony Manjarrez Sat, 13 Mar 2010 09:13:53 -0800 Absence That Creates Presence http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/absence-that-creates-presence http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/absence-that-creates-presence

Absence That Creates Presence
It is good to visit people who are sick, dying, shut in, handicapped, or lonely. But it is also important not to feel guilty when our visits have to be short or can only happen occasionally. Often we are so apologetic about our limitations that our apologies prevent us from really being with the other when we are there. A short time fully present to a sick person is much better than a long time with many explanations of why we are too busy to come more often.
If we are able to be fully present to our friends when we are with them, our absence too will bear many fruits. Our friends will say: "He visited me" or "She visited me," and discover in our absence the lasting grace of our presence.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/226341/Tonypic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36F0hokeE2ad Tony Manjarrez Tony's Tony Manjarrez Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:41:24 -0800 Bringing Our Secrets into the Light http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/bringing-our-secrets-into-the-light http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/bringing-our-secrets-into-the-light

Bringing Our Secrets into the Light
We all have our secrets: thoughts, memories, feelings that we keep to ourselves. Often we think, "If people knew what I feel or think, they would not love me." These carefully kept secrets can do us much harm. They can make us feel guilty or ashamed and may lead us to self-rejection, depression, and even suicidal thoughts and actions.
One of the most important things we can do with our secrets is to share them in a safe place, with people we trust. When we have a good way to bring our secrets into the light and can look at them with others, we will quickly discover that we are not alone with our secrets and that our trusting friends will love us more deeply and more intimately than before. Bringing our secrets into the light creates community and inner healing. As a result of sharing secrets, not only will others love us better but we will love ourselves more fully.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/226341/Tonypic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36F0hokeE2ad Tony Manjarrez Tony's Tony Manjarrez Sat, 20 Feb 2010 11:22:32 -0800 Home - Ken Hurley Music http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/home-ken-hurley-music http://tonymanjarrez.posterous.com/home-ken-hurley-music

via kenhurleymusic.com

Ken Hurley just released his latest CD. Absolutely amazing. You can purchase it from his website.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/226341/Tonypic.jpg http://posterous.com/users/36F0hokeE2ad Tony Manjarrez Tony's Tony Manjarrez