Touchpoints on Witness

Touchpoints on Witness

Touchpoint: Do not doubt, but believe

Stop Calling Me That

“If we do not experience doubt than we will not experience faith. Faith is not a lack of doubt or fear. Faith is a step taken in the face of great doubt and fear on our journey. In this, we will come to believe. Our mind will experience new things, and our brain will create new pathways (patterns) that are unique to our journey.”
A picture of the 12 disciples to illustrate the concept This Teaching Is Difficult for Touchpoint for 8/18/21

Dinner Party

John 12:1-8 Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the…
Touchpoint: The whole armor of God; image of a man in old-fashioned armor

War No More

“When the temptations come, we may want to draw the sword of warfare, but let’s remember the words Jesus said to Peter when he struck the soldier who threatened Jesus: “Put your sword away, shall I not drink the cup?” Our sword is not the weapon of warfare, but the Word of God which declares us to be people of peace, with armor used to protect our inner truth and protect ourselves from embarking on an unfortunate spiritual insurrection… and doing it in the name of Jesus.”
Touchpoint: The Walk to Emmaus; watercolor painting of three men on the road in sunset by Bonnell

The Risen Bread of Life

“The comedian in me wants to believe Jesus had a great sense of humor with his disguise. Jesus starts walking ahead of the two men and they say, “Dude, come with us. It’s late and we all need to eat.” Jesus’ plan is working perfectly! No more parables, no more feeding them with a spoon. No more pulling grains of wheat to quench their hunger, no more seeds to scatter. No more lessons on how a stalk of wheat grows. The Bread of Life has fully risen and it’s time for the feast of life!”
Touchpoint: Cloud of witnesses. Image is painting of the Transfiguration by Armando Alemdar Ara

Earth, Water and Fire

“In this unimaginable heavenly experience, I love the human part of the story. Peter was terrified and doesn’t know what to say. So, he offers to build dwellings for the three on the mountain. What else would a guy say who has heard about the Ark of the Covenant, the Temples… the tents where God lived? He just was stunned in the moment. I seriously had to stop and laugh. The writer must have had fun writing, ‘Peter didn’t know what to say!’ In the awkward silence, as they gazed up at the three prophets whispering to each other, somebody had to bail everyone out!”
Touchpoint: Fishers of Men; watercolor of disciples with nets in the water beside a boat

Catch and Release

“Satan is called the Prince of the Air. Of the air! What a joke! Evil and all its negativity does not have power except that which is given. It demands a response and receptivity to give it breath. Until then, it is just air. Spirit is breath. The breath we breathe. Evil has lost an eternal battle and simply annoys us in its desperate, vulnerable state.”
Touchpoint: Come and See. Illustration in chalk of Jesus calling two disciples.

You’re Soaking in It!

“What Jesus was bringing was peace, no more religious destruction, or death… a life that is forever. Jesus brought life. Jesus brought life into the temples. He brought life into the homes of the ailing. He brought life to the seas and to the valleys, to the mountain tops and the desert floors. Jesus brought life. Jesus did not choose life. Life was not chosen. He was soaking in it.”

Jesus at the Waffle House

“I don’t believe that God works in mysterious ways. I believe, our mysterious God works in familiar ways; we just need to open our eyes. That’s what it means to experience the second coming of Christ. For me, it is to be able to see Christ in others. Christ in this moment, where matter and spiritual connect. For me, it’s not what we believe about the future that matters, it’s how we experience the Second Coming of Christ breaking through.”
In whom we live and move and have our being Touchpoint, Detail from Tree of Life, © Mary Fleeson

Look Out!

“We can’t sit on our fannies and expect people to come to us (salt lick). We must meet others where they are at. Flavor their lives where they are at. We must connect to others in their language and concepts.”
God with Us Touchpoint - oil painting of the Transfiguration of Jesus

The Highs and Lows

“I once had a professor who said, “Most people would rather be right than alive.” And what he meant by that, is most people live for the sake of trying to justify themselves and their actions and beliefs, rather than simply being involved in the stuff of life. With all of its highs and lows, joys and sorrows.”
with-god-all-things-are-possible, Sermon on the Mount in watercolor, Beatitudes

With God, All Things are Possible… Yikes!!!

“This is why Paul calls the cross foolishness and a stumbling block. The unacceptable one has chosen the unacceptable, the weak, the foolish and low-lifes. The unaccepted one has chosen to become unacceptable, weak, foolish and lowly. And in so doing, proclaims loud and clear that there are no ‘unacceptables.’”
There are no god-forsaken people Touchpoint Fishers of people

Where God Makes God’s Home

“The one who we say is “Immanuel, God with us,” the one who we say is “The Word made flesh,” the one who we say is “God in our presence” … This one makes his home in a god-forsaken land with god-forsaken people. Which can only mean one thing – there is no god-forsaken land, and there are no god-forsaken people.”
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