A Time Between Times

Saturday, March 22, 2008
All I can tell you is this: the time between Jesus’ crucifixion and His resurrection must have been one horrible (and then some!) experience for those who loved Him. In their minds (and rightly so!), all was lost; the One in whom they had placed their trust was dead and His body sealed away in a tomb, a borrowed one at that. Their sense of loss was overwhelming, not to mention that they were scared witless because they were certain that, as His followers, they would be next in line for some terrible form of death. From what they could see, those who hated Him had won and won big time. There is no wonder that they scattered!
Then, there was John (the disciple whom He loved), and Mary (His mother), and Mary Magdalene (the one out of whom He had cast out seven demons [see Mark 16:9]; I can assure you that no one else experienced the level of grief they experienced, and I can also assure you that each of them had completely different experiences. John’s relationship with Jesus was, indeed, intimate but it was very different from His mother’s intimate relationship with Him. Of course, Mary Magdalene’s relationship with Him was different from either that of John or His mother—very different. She loved Him, to be sure, but she was never able to express her love for Him, as did John and His mother, as least not the way she really want to express it. I might also add this: Jesus’ love for John was different from His love for His mother, and His love for Mary Magdalene was different from His love for either John or His mother. He loved Mary; you can take that to the bank!
From what I can tell, after His resurrection, He revealed Himself first to Mary Magdalene, and to be honest, I cannot tell who was most excited; to be sure, both were beside themselves! For Jesus it was a “piece of cake” but for Mary Magdalene, getting to that moment was the most difficult, arduous three-day journey of her life; for reasons known only to her and to Jesus, she somehow had that inner-knowing that death could not hold Him and she refused to believe that it would, which is why she made her way to that tomb so early in the morning! When she saw Him, their verbal exchange was a mere two words—one apiece: “Mary”; “Rabboni!” Sometimes words just get in the way of what really needs to be said!
Anyway, Jesus loves you, too; He really does! The truth is He is head-over-heels in love with you AND He really does want to reveal Himself to you; He wants to reveal to you the Resurrected Christ—He really does! Oh, sure, you might be thinking that He has already done so, but take it easy, as you probably haven’t seen anything yet. It is already late on Saturday night, so keep watch and watch carefully.
Remember: it is late Saturday night and Sunday IS coming!

And We Call it Good Friday!

Good Friday morning, March 21, 2008
Somewhere in the neighborhood of 2 millennia ago today, Jesus was crucified, and we (those of us who speak English and live on this side of the cross) call it Good Friday! For some reason, I have a difficult time believing that His followers (those who lived on the other side of the cross) saw this particular Friday as a being anywhere close to a good one. The truth is the day of Jesus’ crucifixion was a nightmare for them—every second of it. Strangely, the only person who got any pleasure out of this day was none other than God Himself! Listen to the words of the prophet, Isaiah, keeping in mind that God is eternal (He lives on both sides of the cross simultaneously!): “But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering, . . .” (Isaiah 53:10). Go figure!
The truth is “Mourning Friday” would better describe what Jesus’ followers did on the day of (and the couple of days following) His crucifixion. In their minds, all was lost and they were frightened (actually scared-to-death!) and angry (infuriated is a better descriptor), not to mentioned confused, as in “termite in a yo-yo confused.” They were mourning (what was to them) an incredible loss! Try as we might, it is very difficult, if not impossible, for those of us who live on this side of the cross, to even imagine what they went through on the day of Jesus’ crucifixion, and it is, certainly, impossible for us to begin to comprehend what Jesus went through on this Good Friday.
Now, listen to these words: “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him” (Isaiah 53:5-6). And we (those of us who speak English and live on this side of the cross) call it Good Friday and for Good reason— “. . .and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24). Hallelujah for the cross and for the Christ of the cross!
“Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb! Redeemed through His infinite mercy; His child and forever I am.” Although those are not my own words, they surely do come from my heart!
Remember: it is Friday and Sunday IS coming!

PS: We will have a Good Friday service at Grace Christian Fellowship tonight at 7:00 and you are invited. If you cannot attend (for some of you distance might be somewhat of a problem!), please pray for us as we gather to celebrate the cross and the Christ of the cross.

Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday evening, March 20, 2008—the first day of Spring!
Those of you who know me well, know that I have a strong affinity for the Eucharist—the Lord’s Supper, if you prefer, even Holy Communion—so much so, that it is celebrated every Sunday at the church were I am pastor. Over the course of the years that this has been true, I have had several conversations with other pastors about the fact that we celebrate it every Sunday morning and, inevitably, I get this response: “I just don’t know how you have the time to fit it into every Sunday’s service!” Obviously, what they are really saying is this: other things are more important.
To be honest, I fine it a bit strange that they always have time to fit their sermon into each Sunday’s service, not to mention singing, announcements, children’s sermons, and who knows what else. Why most even have time to fit 45 or more minutes of Sunday School into each Sunday’s service. The truth is many protestant churches celebrate Holy Communion so infrequently, that the congregants could not possible view it as being very important at all. This is sad, especially in light of the place of importance that Jesus gave to it on that Thursday night, just prior to His crucifixion on Friday.
Listen carefully to His own words: “And while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom’” (Matthew 26:26-29; emphasis, mine). Surely, it goes without saying, that when Jesus instituted this “supper,” telling the disciples to “do this in remembrance of Him,” He meant for it to have a place of high priority (actually, highest priority!) every time the church met together, from that point forward.
It is difficult, if not impossible, for me to comprehend how the church can know that Jesus referred to the wine of the Eucharist, as being His blood, and the bread of the Eucharist, as being His body, and at the same time treat the sacrament, as if it is of little or no importance in the life of the church. I just do not get it!
Tonight, as I write this, I cannot help but wonder what would happen within the Body of Christ, should its members begin to give the Lord’s Supper the place of prominence it deserves, the place of preeminence Jesus gave it. I will tell you this: Jesus loves this table and He holds it in very high esteem.
I suppose I should also remind you of this: it was in this “last supper” that Jesus washed His disciples feet, thus Maundy Thursday; it was in this “last supper” that the King of all Kings, the Son of God, the creator of the universe, sat as the most humble man ever to live, demonstrating to each of us what it means to be His follower.
Maybe some of you should sit down with your pastor and let him (her) know that you would like to see him begin to give the Lord’s Supper the place of preeminence that Jesus gave it. Just for the record: after years of celebrating it every week (often several times per week), it has NOT become a mere ritual. The more frequently I celebrate the supper, the more precious He becomes.
Remember: it is Thursday and Sunday IS coming!

It is Wednesday and Sunday IS Coming!

Wednesday afternoon, March 19, 2008
Obviously, I cannot be sure but it is my guess that the following passage took place on the Wednesday just prior to what we call Maundy Thursday: “And it came about on one of the days while He was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes with the elders confronted Him, and they spoke saying to Him, ‘Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?’ And He answered and said to them, ‘I shall also ask you a question, and you tell Me: Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?’ And they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet.’ And they answered that they did not know where it came from. And Jesus said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.’” (Luke 20:1-8).
Don’t you just love it when Jesus corners the chief priests and the scribes and the elders and beats them at their own game? Oh, they were determined to get Him to say (or do) something that would give them legitimate reason to put Him to death, and the truth is they really thought they had finally cornered Him, leaving Him with no way out. I love this line:”THEY CONFRONTED HIM” (vs. 1b)! Can you imagine being so dim-witted, so ill-advised, so religious, as to confront the One to whom The Creator of the universe had given all authority in heaven and on earth (see Matthew 28:18)? Well, they were just that dim-witted and ill-advised—religious to be precise.
Now listen up: religion will make a fool of you—every time and all the time! It will elevate your pride to such an extent that you will attempt to do the same kinds of foolish things these religious leaders attempted to do! It will propel you into the utter ridiculous, leaving you looking just as foolish, if not more so, than these chief priests, scribes, and elders looked. By the way and just for the record, they knew they looked foolish (which was very humiliating!), as was evidenced by the fact that they reasoned among themselves, finally deciding (and wisely so) to take the easy way out in answering Jesus’ question! Actually, they were concerned with much more than looking foolish; specifically, they were terrified that Jesus’ followers would stone them to death (see vs. 6). What a turn of events!
Notice this: Although Jesus was in the midst of the toughest week of His earthly life, knowing full-well what was in front of Him (not to mention, having to deal with these religious idiots, who constantly harassed Him), we do not find Him whining and blaming; instead, He is preaching the gospel in the Temple! Wow! Incredible!
Now listen up again: please do not allow your religious friends (and you do have some!) to persuade you to become religious during the rest of this week, and get so caught-up in doing what the religious do, that you miss what He is doing and end up looking as foolish as the aforementioned religious leaders looked. His death, burial, and resurrection have nothing to do with colored eggs, new dresses, white suits, lilies, drama productions, musical performances, and Sunday dinners (By the way, I am not against any of these; in fact, I am for them but not if they serve to distract me from celebrating the freedom Jesus purchased for me through His death, burial, and resurrection).
It is Wednesday and Sunday IS coming, so rest in His finished work and celebrate Jesus!

The Indescribable Gift!

Friday, March 14, 2008
This is what Jesus said concerning His relationship with the Law and the Prophets: “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). On the surface, this seems simple enough: Jesus came, not to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. What could be complicated about that? Nothing, IF you understand what He meant by “fulfill”.
In this perspective, I am not too concerned about the “prophet” part of what Jesus is saying; instead, I am calling your attention to what He is saying about the Law—the Law of Moses, to be exact. You know, the Ten Commandments (by the way, can you list them?)!
In order to understand what Jesus meant by His fulfilling the Law, we first must know God’s purpose for the Law, and in my opinion, the Scriptures are clear: (1) To give us knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20b); (2) to define sin (Romans 3: 7); (3) to give sin power (Romans 7:8b; 1 Corinthians 15:56); (4) to arouse sinful passions (Romans 7:5); (5) to show us sin’s exceeding sinfulness (Romans 7:11); and finally (6) to be a school-master to lead us to Jesus, who is our righteousness (Galatians 3:24). Did you notice what is obviously absent in my list? It is absent because God never intended for the Law to make us righteous. Strangely, this is what Paul said: “And the Law came in that the transgressions might increase; . . .” (Romans 5:20). In other words, the best the Law can do is to stir-up disobedience by giving sin it power and to, thereby, drive us in utter desperation to Jesus, who is our righteousness.
If you will notice, Jesus raised the standard of obedience much higher than the one raised by the Ten Commandments. A quick look back to Matthew 5 will give evidence to this: “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court’ but I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; . . .” (vs. 21-22a; emphasis, mine); “You have heard that it was said, ’You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart” (vs. 27-28; emphasis, mine). Notice that He repeats this four more times in this 5th chapter of Matthew and, then, ends the chapter with this: “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (vs. 48). Are you getting the picture? Jesus came to give to us by His perfect obedience what we could never earn by our futile attempts at perfection, in in doing so, He fulfilled the Law, it purpose and its requirement!
Although most do not seem to know it, I think this is why we celebrate Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Resurrection Morn!
You think about it and, as you think, cease striving to earn His indescribable gift!



PS: I might add this: if you are so foolish, as to think that you have (through your own efforts) reached God’s standard of perfection, then you are of all people most foolish!

A New & Better Covenant!

Wednesday morning, March 12, 2008
This is what God said through Jeremiah, the prophet: “The time is coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people. . . . For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Jeremiah 31:31-34; NIV).
It is unmistakable: God entered into a NEW covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, a covenant UNLIKE the first covenant He entered into with their forefathers, when He led them out of Egypt. What is it about this that is so difficult to understand? Why does the church insist on its members living in the Old Covenant, when God has provided a new and better covenant?
Listen to what the writer of the letter to the Hebrews has to say about this: “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted with better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. . . . When He said, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is read to disappear” (Hebrews 8:6-7; 13). [vss. 8-12 are his quote of Jeremiah 31!]
These are two very distinct covenants—one the covenant of Law and the other the covenant of grace—yet, the church for the most part refuses even to acknowledge the existence of the latter—the covenant of grace—even though the first has become obsolete. In spite of the fact that the Scriptures plainly teach that the second covenant, the Covenant of Grace is a much better covenant, with better promises, the church does everything in its power to keep its people living under the tyranny of the Covenant of Law. The reasons are several—
First, most church leaders do not understand the nature of the New Covenant and they do not because their eyes have been blinded to truth.
Second, because their eyes have been blinded, their understanding of the New Covenant is distorted; consequently, they do not to trust their congregants to live in the freedom the New Covenant provides. In their minds, if the congregants should be released from the Law, which is what the New Covenant does, they would sin all the more, licentiousness becoming the norm of the day. Somehow, they fail to recognize that the Law gives sin it power (see Romans 7:5-8).
Third, most church leaders honestly believe that obedience to the Law, especially the Ten Commandments, is equated with Godly living; consequently, most church leaders, insist on requiring obedience to those commandments. Somehow, they have failed to see that the Law was given, not to make us righteous, but to lead us to Jesus, who is our righteousness. The obvious fact being overlooked: we cannot keep the commandments, certainly not to the standard required, which is perfection. Anything less than perfection is total failure. Go figure!
Fourth, most church leaders seem to have failed to realize that Christianity is NOT a religion, whose success is measured by how perfectly its participants obey the Ten Commandments, but a relationship with Jesus, whose success is measured by how perfectly He met the Law’s requirement in our behalf.
Now, I have a question: Why don’t you take this to your pastor and ask him to read it and to give you his opinion of it. Doing so, just might open your eyes to something that will forever change your life.
Finally, I do have one more question: Are you living in the Old Covenant of Law or in the New and Better Covenant of Grace?
Feel free to let me know, as I really am interested—

A New and Better Way!

Saturday morning, March 8, 2008
On this particular Sabbath, Jesus went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees (a member of the Sanhedrin!) to have lunch and, as you might imagine, lunch was short-lived. As he entered the house, He practically stumbled over a man who was suffering from dropsy (we would call it edema today; in his case, severe edema), which meant that this man probably had heart and kidney problems, even pulmonary problems. In other words, he was sick and needed to be in the local hospital—yesterday!
This is the question Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees (what a group!) who were carefully and closely watching Him, hoping to catch Him violating one of the Ten Commandments (truth is I think it was a set-up!): “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not” (Luke 14:3)? Whatever else you might conclude from His question, you can rest assured that He knew what their answer would be, no doubt about it! Just for the record, He also knew that “Remember the Sabbath Day to Keep it Holy” was one of the Ten Commandments! What they did NOT know, that He knew very well, was this: He is not only Lord of the Sabbath, He IS the Sabbath!
If my memory serves me correctly (which is doubtful!), in their effort to interpret and apply this particular commandment, the Jews came up with 210 rules that told them what they could and could not do, not the least of which made it clear that it was unlawful to heal on the Sabbath, which was exactly what Jesus was about to do, even though He was well-aware of the law and of the consequence of violating it—death!
Interestingly, their response to Jesus’ question was silence—deafening silence—even though they were lawyers and leaders of the Pharisees—members of the highest court in Israel. Funny what silences idiots and fools!
Anyway, Jesus did not hesitate; instead, he took hold of the sick man, healed him, and sent him on his way. I can only imagine the fury that was churning in the minds of these religious bigots; the last thing they wanted from this “set-up” was for this man to walk away completely healed, especially, against the backdrop of Jesus’ question.
As you have probably already guessed, Jesus broke the silence , and He did so with this rhetorical question: “Which one of you shall have a son or an ox fall into a well, and will not immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day” (vs. 5)? Again, they responded with silence [“And they could make no reply to this” (vs. 6)] because they knew that Jesus knew what they would do, and they also knew that an honest answer would betray their own inability to keep the very laws they required others to keep.
Sadly, what they did not know was this: Jesus came to usher in a new and better way, to take away the first (covenant) in order to establish the second (covenant) [see Hebrews 8:6 and 10:9]. To be sure, in the Old (first) Covenant, the Sabbath was supposed to be a day of rest from work (one of the many ways men attempted to please God); HOWEVER, in the New (second and better) Covenant, the Sabbath is no longer a day, but a Person, who has done all the work for us, a Person in whom we eternally rest from our labors and efforts at keeping the commandments.
Now, I want you to notice something, something very significant: These men took the business of keeping the Sabbath Day holy very seriously, life and death seriously; consequently, when Jesus healed this sick man on the Sabbath, He took an incredibly bold stand, one that could and did bring Him much grief. Why did He do this? He did because He came to take away the futility of attempting to please God by maintaining certain standards of behavior AND to establish a new and better way, by doing for us what we could never do for ourselves—meeting the Law’s requirement of perfection in our behalf. “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did; sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Sprit” (Romans 8:3-4).
By the way, are you taking a stand and spreading the good news about this new and better way, or are you hiding behind the façade of being a keeper of the commandments? If you are doing the former, you should know because the religious are giving you hell, just as they did Jesus; if not, they love you with all of their hearts.

Imitating Holiness

Friday afternoon, March 7, 2008
This is what Jesus said to a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness CAUSED BY a spirit (she was bent double and could not straighten up at all!): “Woman, you are freed from your sickness” (Luke 13:12). This is what Jesus did to this woman after he set her free from her sickness: “And He laid His hands upon her. . .” (vs. 13a). This is what this woman did in response to Jesus’ words and touch: “. . . Immediately she was made erect again, and began glorifying God” (vs.13b). Wow! This is about as good as it gets! Simple, straightforward, no hoopla! I love it!
It is intriguing to me that we seldom identify any sickness, as being caused by a spirit; it is as if we have become so sophisticated in our theological ideating that we have somehow decided that “spirits” no longer exist, even the Holy Spirit. Sadly, most of the precious few, who do still believe in the Holy Spirit, have so discounted His Person and His Power, that they know nothing of this aforementioned woman’s experience.
The fact is because of modern medicine this woman would have been treated much more differently today, and from what I have seen, she would have gone to her grave in this terrible condition. Please do not assume that I am condemning modern medicine because I am not; instead, you can rest assured that I thank God for it, especially in light of the church’s attitude toward the Holy Spirit. Neither do I want you to go to the other extreme and refuse to see your doctor because “you have such faith in the Holy Spirit’s desire and ability to heal your sickness.” In my opinion, in either case you would be walking in fear, not in faith.
The truth is I have no idea, as to whether this woman was walking in fear or in faith, but I do know that in her case it really did not matter because Jesus had decided to heal her and that was that and nothing was going to stop Him, not even the “spirits,” with all of their “power”! Yes, I know that this throws a wrench in the theology that some of you hold dear but, hopefully, it will be a good thing. We desperately need to get over ourselves and to submit our lives to Him, accepting the fact that He does as He pleases, irrespective of our opinions and our dearly held beliefs.
Now, I have said all of that, so I can say this: Most of us are so caught-up in our dearly-held beliefs, our “inerrant” theological paradigms, that we miss the everyday miracles of the Holy Spirit; we are so convinced that “spirits” no longer exist, that we refuse to see the exorcism that takes place right before our eyes; we are so convinced that the Holy Spirit is a figment of someone’s imagination, that it never occurs to us that EVERY healing, every exorcism, and every erect spine is the direct result of His intervention.
Take a look at the response of the religious leaders, the synagogue officials, to this incredible act of mercy and grace, this exorcism, this miraculous healing: “And the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the multitude in response, ‘There are six days in which work should be done; therefore come during them to get healed, and not on the Sabbath day’” (vs. 14). It is quite easy to see the folly of another, is it not? This synagogue official was convinced that he was “right” and Jesus was “wrong”; in fact, he hated Jesus but he loved the Law of Moses, so much so, that in his mind, keeping the Sabbath day holy was far more important than this woman’s healing.
Sadly, I am afraid that this is true for most modern-day Christians; to put it mildly, most look and act much more like this synagogue official than the healed woman—trying to imitate holiness, rather than accepting our need for a healer. This synagogue official was so busy trying to imitate holiness, that he wasn’t even aware that his condition was worse, much worse, than the woman’s; at least, she knew that she needed a healer, so much so that the Sabbath was fine with her.
Are you aware of your need for a healer? Are you willing to accept Him on His terms, or must He come on yours? When the pain gets severe, any old Sabbath will work, even if it involves an exorcism! And by the way, holiness cannot be imitated!

I Will NOT Deny You!!

Thursday morning, March 6, 2008
This is what Jesus said to His disciples, just prior to Gethsemane, the place of crushing: “You will all fall away, because it is written, ‘I shall strike down the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.’ But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee” (Mark 14:27-28). This is what impetuous Peter said in response: “Even though all may fall away, yet I will not” (Mark 14:29). This is Jesus’ rebuke to Peter: “Truly I say to you, that you yourself this very night, before a cock crows twice, shall three times deny Me” (vs. 30). This is Peter’s reaction: “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You” (vs. 31a)! I think you know the rest of the story; however, this is the ending line: “And immediately a cock crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had made the remark to him, “Before a cock crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And he began to weep (vs. 72).
Not too long ago, I was listening to an addiction counselor, as she spoke to a group of addicts, and in the listening, I heard her say something that has stuck with me: “Addicts do not know how to live life according to life’s terms.” She went on to explain the reason: the addict thinks he/she is “right” and everyone else is “wrong”. As you might imagine, my mind thought, “WOW”!
As you probably know by now, I tend to examine everything in light of the Scriptures (one of my quirks!) and this was no exception. My mental response was immediate: if this is true, then all Christians must be addicts because we certainly do not know how to live life according to life’s terms. To be sure, most of us are thoroughly convinced that we are “right” and everyone else is “wrong” and the evidence is plenteous!
As I continue to muse, I made a bit of a correction and concluded this: For the most part, Christians do not know how to live life according to God’s terms and we do not because we believe (far too often) that we are “right” and He is “wrong,” and the evidence of our stupidity is abundant. IF we could just learn that He is ALWAYS right and live life according to His terms, rather than our own, we wouldn’t have to listen to the crowing of nearly as many roosters.
Peter, as you can see from the text, was convinced that Jesus was wrong about his falling away; it simply would not happen. Notice, however, that Jesus was more than convinced that, when the heat was turned up, Peter was going to tuck his tail and run like a scalded dog. You know who won and you know it wasn’t Peter! I was about to tell you that I wonder how Peter felt when he heard the rooster crow, but the truth is I know and I do because I have been there and done that—not once but several times (it does seem that one such experience would have been enough for anyone, but we know better, don’t we!).
Anyway, I do want to remind each of us that He really does know what He is talking about, every time and all the time, and it would behoove us to listen to Him and to follow His lead, even when it seems so contrary to what we think is truth. I think Peter honestly believed that he would die with Jesus before he would deny Him, which is why it was so difficult for him to accept the warning that Jesus gave to them. Notice, too, that the “falling away” was really not the issue, as Jesus had that covered; instead, the issue was whether or not Peter would accept the fact that Jesus loved him enough to warn him that he was about to make a fool of himself, not because he would deny Jesus, but because he refused to humble himself and admit that he was wrong and Jesus was right.
I think this is the issue for you and for me, as well—

Whom then Shall I Fear?

Thursday morning, February 21, 2008
I read these very encouraging words this morning: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; whom shall I dread? When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, my adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. Though a host encamp against me, my heart will not fear; though war arise against me, in spite of this I shall be confident. One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to meditate in His temple. For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; in the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock. And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me; and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord” (Psalm 27:1-6; NASB).
Wow! When it comes to a morning boost, this ain’t too shabby! Obviously, I do not know what is going on in your life, but I am willing to bet that you will find this passage very encouraging and timely. Unless you are in a coma (if you are you aren’t reading this anyway!), you are well-aware that we live in a fallen world and the prince of darkness is having a field day. He really believes that he is winning (slow to learn, in my opinion!) but he is not; Jesus has already won and we have been made more than conquerors—not just conquerors but more than conquerors!
I really love these words from Psalm 139: “If I say, ’Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to Thee, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to Thee” (vs. 11-12). That revelation really does energize this truth: The Lord is my light and my salvation; consequently, I have no reason to be afraid, even when it seems that my enemies are waging a war against me, a war that is devouring my flesh, a war so intense that the darkness seems to be overwhelming me! You consider this: darkness is not dark to Him and the night is a bright as the day (the noon day!); in fact, darkness and light are alike to Him!
You see, regardless of what might be going on in your life, even if you are thinking the light around you is quickly becoming darkness, these are the facts: (1) Jesus is The Light of your life; (2) with Him, even the darkest of dark is as bright as the noon day; and (3) consequently, the darkness cannot overwhelm you, nor can your enemies destroy you. In other words, you have no reason to fear and every reason to be confident because He will conceal you, hide you, and lift your head above your enemies! Wow!
Notice the Psalmist’s use of the words “fear” and “dread”. It seems that he is relating “fear” with our dealings with darkness and “dread” with our dealings with enemies. In any case, most of us can readily identify with both terms. For example, I dread having to prep for a colonoscopy (a gallon of “go-lightly” is definitely an enemy!) but I am not afraid to prep. On the other hand, fear can come when you are sitting in your basement, watching the weather channel advise you of an impending tornado, and the last words you hear before the lights go out and you find yourself sitting in total darkness is that the monster is headed directly for your house!
And then we remember: the Lord is my light, the defense of my life, and my salvation; whom then shall I dread and whom shall I fear? Indeed, I will sing praises to the Lord for He is faithful and true; not to mention, darkness and light are alike to Him and He has made His enemies His footstool!
He really is Lord!

The Power of Darkness

Monday, February 18, 2008
In all probability my mind is too tired for me to attempt writing this but for some reason I feel compelled to do so; hopefully, it will be beneficial to someone. Of course, there is the possibility that I am doing it for my own well-being and catharsis; if so, please be patient with me (I am old, you know!).
Anyway, last night was quite interesting, to say the least, especially the part when the tornado was passing into River North and in very close proximity to our house. This is the second time this has occurred in the past couple of years, which is more than enough for me. Thankfully, we (Annis and I) escaped untouched, except for a few hours without electrical power, which was no big thing because it gave me an excuse to go to bed around 8:00! It was a bit eerie, I must admit, watching the TV and seeing the hook of the rotation moving in our direction, so much so that Annis insisted that we move into the basement. Of course, about the time we sat down to turn of the TV the power went off and there we sat in pitch darkness, as in the complete absence of light, or so it seemed.
To be honest, I really wasn’t afraid but I was thinking about how dark the darkness was, so much so, that for a moment I almost forgot why we were in the basement. In that darkness, I could picture the churning of the winds above our house, things completely out of our control, roofs being lifted off houses, trees being thrown around like toothpicks, people being covered over with debris—the utter devastation that one sees following most tornados (Thankfully, when the lights came back on, things didn’t look nearly that badly!).
As I told you earlier, we went to bed around 8:00, which was when my thinking changed, and I began thinking about the power of darkness, i.e. the power that Satan has, as he works in his dominion—the world of darkness. Sometimes I think we forget that we have an enemy, the prince of darkness, who does everything he can to destroy us, and always working in darkness. I thought about the many people he has deceived into believing his lies, lies that look so much like the truth, that distinguishing between the two is very difficult. The truth is his lies are often much more appealing than the truth, as they were with Adam & Eve; consequently, we are easily deceived. Sadly, when we are deceived, we do not know it; otherwise, we would no longer be deceived.
From what I have been able to observe, he is a master at enticing us to make foolish choices, choices that on the surface have all the appearances of being the correct ones, but whose consequences reveal that they were anything but the correct choices. I think Israel learned this lesson more than once. On one occasion they got tired of waiting for Moses to return from the mountain, so they decided to make their own God. At the time, it seemed like the correct choice; but trust me on this one, it didn’t take them long to discover the truth. On another occasion, they decided that they wanted meat to eat, instead of manna, and God gave them want they wanted; however, well you know the rest of that story!
Yes, I know that making wise decisions is not always an easy task, especially in light of the fact that none of us has a crystal ball; however, I also know that many of the decision we make are simply foolish choices, choices that no one in his/her right mind would make, choices that can only result in severe consequences. I mean, if you should jump in front of a speeding freight train, would you expect to walk out on the other side singing, “The Chattanooga Choo Choo”? If you should jump out of an airplane, without a parachute, at 30,000 feet would you expect to land on your feet and walk away singing, “Stay Off My Blue Suede Shoes”? I don’t think so!
I can only hope that you will believe this: you have an enemy who has the power to convince you that you can succeed in this life by doing your own thing, instead of submitting to your creator; in fact, he can make “doing your own thing” much more appealing that submitting to God’s will and way for your life. Of course, somewhere down the road, you will have to face that fact that the consequences of your choice give evidence to its foolishness.
And remember this: he loves darkness and he does so because he is evil!

Some Things I Have Learned Along the Way

In light of the fact that I not only just celebrated by 66th birthday, but also am approaching my 60th year, as a Christian, I thought it appropriate that I share with you some of the things that He has taught me along the pathway of my journey, truths that for the most part did not come easily because in order for me to accept them, I had to set aside what I was taught, as a young Christian, by well-meaning significant others—things that I held as being very sacred:

1. God’s purpose for His children is to drive us to that place in which we find more pleasure in Jesus than we find in anyone or anything else and He will do whatever He knows to be necessary in order to accomplish that purpose. Those who believe that God’s purpose for us is to give us health, wealth, and prosperity in order to make us happy are deceived, and very much so.

2. God never intended for His church to use the many and varied tactics it uses, such as Sunday schools, drama productions, children’s ministries, youth ministries, rock bands, orchestras, coffee shops, gymnasiums, et al, to attract people to Him. As strange as it might seem, He intended for the gospel to be the truth that attracted people to Him, and, I might add, He has never placed Himself in competition with any rock band, youth ministry, slick tongued preacher, or anything else, for that matter, and He never will.

3. God did not design the modern-day plan for evangelism; He has, certainly, allowed it but it is not His design. The fact is God would never design any plan that exalts man and attempts to make Him a victim, which is in fact what most of protestant evangelism is about today.

4. The teachings of Jesus were never designed to be goals for which we strive; instead, His teachings were designed to further confirm the Law’s purpose—to define sin for us, to show us its exceeding sinfulness, and to drive us (in desperation, I might add) to Jesus as our only Savior—and in so doing, to fulfill the Law’s purpose.

5. God intended for us to spend large amounts of time in solitude; consequently, He did not devise the popular and controlling plan that requires us to be so busy doing His work that we would have no time for solitude. His plan offers us the opportunity and the time to spend our lives resting in His finished work—the work of redemption, so that we would not be distracted from spending large amounts of time in solitude. The truth is most of the “work of the Lord” with which we busy ourselves should be terminated immediately. Of this you can be sure: there has yet to live the man or woman who knows God intimately, who does not spend large amounts of time in solitude.

6. God did not design prayer to be the tool we use to manipulate Him into changing His mind so He will give us what we want. Much to the contrary, God intended prayer to be the means by which we find our way into submission to His will, regardless of whether or not it is what we desire. The truth is this: most prayer is selfishness shrouded in religion, even fasting prayer.

7. God loves the Eucharist (the Lord’s Supper); consequently, He did not design it to be merely a memorial symbolized with saltine crackers and grape juice. Much to the contrary, He intended for the Eucharist to be just that—the giving of thanks by a believer. This Eucharist is expressed through the eating of unleavened bread (the body of Christ) and the drinking of wine (the blood of Christ), signs that become through the work of the Holy Spirit true food and true drink in the life of the believer—true, spiritual nourishment. The Eucharist is not about what man can do for God; instead, it is about what God has done for man.

8. The most difficult part of living the Christian life (other than I cannot live it) is maintaining the courage required to take the risk of living in intimate relationship with other believers. To be sure, the desire is ever-present; however, I have come to believe that it might be easier to live as a hermit (well, I don’t really believe that—yet!).

9. Every one of us is self-centered and, consequently, we do very little (if anything) out of pure motives. Virtually, everything we do, we do with some selfish purpose in mind, even though it is often very covert; consequently, it is very difficult to trust man—even those, who call themselves Christian.

10. God never intended for the church to be another arm of corporate America, whose purpose and mission (although disguised in so-called not-for-profit ministry) is to make money, at the expense of the very people to whom it claims to minister; instead, He intended the church to be the Body of His Son, Jesus, whose purpose is to die, in order that others might live.

11. God intended for the Scriptures from Genesis to the Revelation to be His revelation of Jesus, not a rule book for successful living and the sooner we realize this, the clearer our revelation of Him.

12. Worship is not something we do for God or for His children; instead, it is something we do because He is God and we are His children, and this tells me much about most of what the church calls worship.

In the Batter's Box!

Valentine’s Day, 2008 (Thursday),
Some things are just too good not to share with others and the following is one of them; it is one of the responses I received from a long-time and dear friend in regard to yesterday’s perspective (I am sharing it without her permission, so please pray that she doesn’t demand a royalty!):

Bless you, dearest Mac. I wish that I could tell you I have no idea what you are talking about, but alas, I do. I am also ready to concede that this curve ball batting practice is most assuredly the "normal" Christian life. At least it is if I accept that He is sovereign, and I do. It has been the tenor of my life for the past....oh, a lot of years. I suppose in my own life, it is His way of reminding me that I have absolutely NO control over what He deems necessary to bring into my life....the only thing over which I have absolute control is my willingness (or unwillingness, as the case may be) to surrender to whatever He has for me in this particular "at-bat." I want to also rush to assure you that I am not speaking to you from the spectator's stands....I am in the batting cage at the moment. The most consistent message I have been getting from Him of late is, "Don't be afraid, I'm here." My first reaction to that is, 'Well, why don't You DO something about this mess?" But he points me back to the first phrase above. I guess that’s when I realize that He's all I have, then, and ONLY then do I also realize that He's really all I need. God's kinda like that, ain't He?

Wow! This is what I call creative writing at its finest, not to mention, incredibly honest, the kind of honesty that makes most religious folk nervous! If she were my student, I would give her an A++ and that is for sure! To tell you the truth I am jealous; however, because it is “righteous jealousy,” I think God is OK with it, so don’t worry about my having to get right with Him. Now don’t turn your nose up at my notion of “righteous jealousy”; if He permitted “righteous indignation” then surely He permits “righteous jealousy”! Anyway—
After reading and listening to your responses to my recent perspectives, and now with the added perspective of “Foxy Roxy” (my friend’s alias), I am convinced that we could put together quite a baseball team, if we were of a mind to do so. Since most of us are already in the game, it shouldn’t be too difficult! Because I played first base for all of my baseball career, I will go ahead and claim that position and leave the others up for grabs. I do not think, however, the position we play really matters; what matters is whether or not we have the intestinal fortitude to stand in the batter’s box to face curve ball after curve ball from a Pitcher, who seems to have no control. Yes, I know that He has perfect control but when I am standing in the batter’s box, it seems that He is out of control, at least much of the time. My friend’s “Don’t be afraid, I’m here” sounds really good, when I am sitting in the bleachers watching the game from afar; however, when I am in the batter’s box, it sounds more like, “Duck, you fool; this is going to be a bean ball!”
Isn’t it your time to bat? I certainly hope so, and Lord knows I hope you are better at it than I (but I am old, you know, not-to-mention, nearsighted)!!

Walking on Water, Levitating Rocks, and Curve Balls

February 13, 2008
It seems like a month has passed (even though it has only been two days) since I wrote my previous perspective, the one in which I brought up the subject of anomalies. I ended it with these words: Today is another day and life will go on and The Creator is still The Creator, even though He sometimes throws us a curve ball by placing an anomaly in our paths, if for no other reason than to see how we will react to the abnormal (or is it the normal?)! Go figure!
Thankfully, I continue to believe that The Creator is still the Creator, even though He does throw us curveballs on occasion. Actually, when I ended that perspective, I really thought that life was about to calm down for me and things would quickly get back to “normal” (whatever that is!). Trust me, that thought was short-lived; I didn’t even have time to adjust. I went from an incredible (albeit, momentary), sense of relief to an almost overwhelming sense of “What? Another curve ball? So soon?”. As if that were not enough, in just a short while, I was asking the same question again! And then again! All in the same day!
Now please understand that I am neither asking for sympathy or for clarity; instead, I am simply trying to communicate to you that there are times in our lives, as believers, when trusting that God has your best interest at heart is about as easy as walking on water or levitating a rock or hitting a curve ball, for that matter! Just for the record: I cannot walk on water; I cannot levitate a rock; and at my age, I won’t even stand in the batter’s box to attempt to hit a curve ball. Now, if you still have questions, as to the ease with which I have been practicing Christianity over the past several months, and especially the past 48 hours, I cannot help you.
For most of my life, I have been able to handle adversity and handle it well; however, when it involves people I love and care about (which is most of the time) and it is coming at me like machine gun fire (as it has been doing of late), especially over an extended period of time, well, just let me say that I am not as good at it, as I once was.
Just for the record: practicing Christianity, at least for me, means that I wake up every day to die, in order that others can live; that I make it my ambition to treat others as being more important than myself; that I do not merely look out for my own interests, but also for the interests of others; that I spend my life serving others, rather than expecting to be served; that I trust Him to do exceeding, abundantly above all I could ever ask or think; that I never allow myself to be distracted from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Jesus; and, finally, that I do all of these, as I rest in His finished work.
As I think about what I just wrote, it is obvious to me that the most difficult part of my practicing Christianity lies in my purposing not to be distracted from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Him; it seems that, over the past several months, distractions have been as plenteous as sand gnats, late in the afternoon on a south Florida beach. Most of the time, you cannot see the blasted creatures coming but, trust me, when they arrive, they do distract! What was intended as a pleasant afternoon of fishing one of the mangrove areas for snook, turns into a miserable, wretched fight against stinging, pesky, innumerable creatures, much like the demons of hell—a distraction for sure!
In the end, I do know in whom I have believed and I am persuaded (absolutely convinced) that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that Day! Although, it doesn’t always feel like it, I do know that He is good, always good, and I also know that He will only allow for that which He deems best to come into my life, even though it might appear, as anything but the best.
Yes, I do know that things could be much worse, and I do know that most people have it much worse than I; however, I must admit that I could use a break (at least that is my opinion) from some of the “stuff” of life that has tried so very desperately to distract me from the very thing I love most—the simplicity and purity of devotion to Jesus.

An Anomaly!

Monday morning, February 11, 2008
As some of you know, I am, among other things, an embalmer (my license is almost as old as I am; well, not quite, but it is so old that I no longer have to do continuing education! I guess the lawmakers figure that embalmers as old as I am can make it to the finish line without having to learn something new!).
Having said that, I assume that each of you, especially if you are as old as I am, knows what an anatomical anomaly is but in case you do not, I will tell you: it is simply an abnormality, an irregularity in anatomy. For example, it is normal for your left foot to be on the end of your left leg; however, when your right foot shows up on the end of your left leg you have, well you have an anomaly, not to mention a limp (I guess you can tell from that that anomalies usually cause other problems).
Anyway, since my days at the University of Minnesota ( a lifetime ago!), I have loved the study of human anatomy; in fact, my pathology professor did his very best to get me to continue my studies at the U of M and earn my PhD in anatomy (sometimes I wish I had listened!). To say it succinctly: I marvel at the way God created our amazing earthsuits! To study human anatomy and not to believe in God is an oxymoron--at least! Listen to this embalmer: no one but God could have made these incredible bodies (yes, I know that some seem to look a bit better than others
Strangely, on occasion it seems that He forgot to tighten a screw or to drive a nail all the way in, like when your right foot shows up on your left leg, and these anomalies really do intrigue me! Inevitably, I wonder: "God, why did you do this?" Sometimes, I can figure out the reason but most often I am clueless. I mean, why in the wide-world would The Creator give someone three kidneys or forget to install both ovaries? I do not have a clue and since He is The Creator, I usually don't fuss much over it, not to mention that it is none of my business, nor did He consult me!
Occasionally, in the process of embalming a body, I run across an anomaly and when I do, I find myself wondering how surgeons deal with them; I mean, I am dealing with a dead body and they are dealing with live ones (hopefully!). Think about it: In the process of a surgical procedure, the surgeon makes an incision to open the belly, expecting to find the gall bladder but instead he sees the appendix; trust me, that is one thing for an embalmer but quite another for a surgeon!
Actually, not long ago I stumbled upon an anomaly that would have been a challenge, a real challenge for any surgeon (in light of the fact that their patients are still pumping blood!) and, to be honest, it created somewhat of a problem for me (even in light of the fact that my patient was no longer pumping blood!)—the right jugular vein was about 3 times the normal size and it presented with a bifurcation that I had never, as in NEVER, seen before. Why did God do this? Why did this life-threatening anomaly lie just below the surface of the skin, probably without anyone but God ever knowing of its existence? What kept this vessel from rupturing and bringing instant death? I am clueless.
Anyway, the longer I live the more I realize that there are as many anomalies in Christianity, probably even more, as there are in these earthsuits that God created. All-too-often we fully expect to see the “normal” only to be surprised by the abnormal. Actually, I think I have come to believe that the “abnormal” is actually the “normal” in Christianity. Let me put it this way: I have studied Christianity longer than I have studied anatomy and, consequently, should be able to recognize the “normal” but so often what presents is anything but what I believe is normal. Maybe I just have things upside down, downside up!
To be honest, at this point in my life, I am always looking for the anomaly because I just know that it will present itself—especially in Christianity but also in embalming—and I figure it is wise to be on the lookout for the inevitable. Yesterday, however, I guess I had let my guard down just a bit, and in a moment, what I thought was going to be a “normal” Sunday afternoon proved to be anything but—
Today is another day and life will go on and The Creator is still The Creator, even though He sometimes throws us a curve ball by placing an anomaly in our paths, if for no other reason than to see how we will react to the abnormal (or is it the normal?)! Go figure!

Not to Baptize or to Use a Slick Tongue!

Tuesday morning, February 5, 2008
This is what Paul (the apostle), had to say concerning God’s reason for his existence: “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, that the cross of Christ should not be made void. For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:17-18). Incredible words, especially when read in light of the fact that they came from the man who loved the church more than any other person (except Jesus!) who has ever lived.
His “God did not send me to baptize” would not fit well in most protestant churches, especially the evangelical variety. From what I have been able to observe, getting people baptized (usually with no regard for the preaching of the gospel) is the single most important mission of most churches, and for this reason—churches are in competition with one another and the evidence of growth lies in the numbers of baptisms. Obviously, Paul would not qualify to be the pastor of most churches, and he certainly would not qualify to serve on a church growth committee. Go figure!
For Paul, the main thing was always the main thing—the preaching of the gospel! For him, nothing was more important, not even getting people baptized; His “Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel” make this unmistakable clear. Sadly, the church has veered off course, so much so that in many churches Jesus is never even mentioned, much less is the gospel preached; consequently, people by the thousands (literally) are weary, frustrated, and disappointed with church, and, as a result, they are leaving, looking for life in other places.
For me, Paul’s “. . .not in cleverness of speech” is very significant and it is for this reason: In most cases, the church would never consider someone, who did not have a “slick tongue”, i.e. the gift of eloquence; yet, Paul tells us that God did not send him to preach the gospel using a slick, clever, eloquent tongue. In other words, God sent Paul to impress the people with the gospel, not with his eloquence. Funny how God chose Moses, one who, by his own admission, did not have anything even close to the gift of eloquence, to be the one who would speak in His behalf to the Pharaoh. Surely, Paul’s point is evident: the gospel, not man’s clever speech, is the power of God for salvation! “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation. . .” (Romans 1:16a). The preacher probably should be ashamed of many things, especially his lack of eloquence, but NEVER of the gospel because it is God’s power for salvation (I am tempted to elaborate upon that but I will save it for another “perspective”).
Now, listen up: “that the cross of Christ should not be made void”! I love it! Paul is telling us that God did not send him to baptize, or to preach the gospel with a slick tongue, and He did not because He knew that the church, with man at its centerpiece, would become just what it has become. The fact is this: baptisms and slick tongues are two of the main reasons people are so disenchanted with church. You think about this—really! [For the record: I am not meaning to imply that baptizing believers should be avoided, but I am meaning to imply that “getting people baptized” has become more important than the preaching of the gospel!]
Why have church leaders allowed such foolishness to go on within the church and for so long? Paul has the answer: “For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness. . .” Any more questions? THE WORD OF THE CROSS IS FOOLISHNESS TO THOSE WHO ARE PERISHING and, consequently, the word of the cross will not be allowed in the “church of the perishing”.
There is more, however, and it is this: “. . .but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God”. Wow! I really like this: to those of us who are being saved, the word of the cross (the gospel) is the power of God (for salvation!). Can you see what this does for us? It eliminates all the stress of trying to get people baptized by using a slick tongue to persuade them to “walk the aisle”! In other words, the success of the church rests on God’s shoulders, not ours. Our privilege is to simply preach the gospel—the offensive word of the cross—both in season and out of season!
Now for the question of the day: Has it dawned upon you that the same Christ who sent Paul to preach the gospel has also called you to preach the same gospel and to do so without your becoming its centerpiece? If it hasn’t, I trust that it will—soon!

Just thought I would remind you of what you already know—

Maybe I Am Just Confused!

Saturday morning, February 2, 2008
The truth is I will probably never figure out why Jesus added the last part to the text I used in my last perspective (Luke 17:6-10), and I am certain that I do not know its relationship to faith (at least not in the present!), so I will move on to the next turn in the road, which is this: “Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you. [But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.]” (Matthew 17:19-21). Hmmm—what can I say?
This is the way I see it: The disciples have just returned from the Mount of Transfiguration, which to say the least was no shabby experience. The must have been on a spiritual high and ready to kill another Goliath, to walk on water, to raise someone from the dead, to handle snakes, to turn water into wine, and to see another burning bush; however, they were asked to cast a demon out of some father’s son and they failed to geterdone! To add to their embarrassment, the father quickly gave up on them and took his son to Jesus, telling him that His disciples were pretty much out of the loop, as far as casting out demons was concerned and, thus, begged Him to have mercy on his son and heal him of his dreaded misery.
You do not have to be very smart to realize that Jesus was just a tad frustrated not only with His disciples, but also with the boy’s father. Listen to how Jesus responded: “O unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me” (vs.17). A bit scathing, I would say! His “How long shall I put up with you” sounds exactly like something I heard my Mother say (more than once!) to both of my brothers in their earlier years, and trust me on this—she said it in such a way, as to make you wonder, if she wasn’t about to throw them out of the house (She never did it but I do remember thinking it would be in their best interest to keep a bag packed, just in case!).
I am of the opinion that these disciples wished they could have somehow dropped into a hole in the ground and disappeared—as in out of sight—but that was not to happen; instead, they would remain for the Grand Finale—one the probably never forgot (probably still remember it!). Notice how the show ended: “And Jesus rebuked him, and the demon came out of him, and the boy was cured at once” (vs. 18).
Then the debriefing: “Why could we not cast it out?” Jesus answer was clear, succinct, and easily understood, even by a moron: You couldn’t cast it out because you are too stupid! You will not pay attention; you will not listen to anything I tell you; you do not trust anything I tell you; you are full of pride; and, well, you are just plain stupid!
Well, that is not exactly what He said but it is close enough for hand grenades and horse shoes, which is closer than any of us should want to get to demons! This is actually what He said (just for the record): “Because of the littleness of your faith; . . .” (vs. 20a). Well, I cannot speak for them but I can tell you that I am well aware of the “littleness” of my faith, especially when it comes to doing things that I know I cannot do—walk on water, turn water into wine, move mountains, cast out demons, handle snakes!, raise the dead, heal the sick, dance, especially dance!
To tell you the truth I was of the opinion that my “little” faith was enough because regardless of how little it is, it is His, if I have any at all, and His is supposed to be enough for anything and everything—even dancing! Maybe I am just confused. Go figure!

If Only: Faith Like a Mustard Seed!

Thursday morning, January 31, 2008
This is what Jesus said to the apostles in response to their request for Him to increase their faith: “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’; and it would obey you. But which of you, having a slave plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come immediately and sit down and eat’? But will he not say to him, ‘Prepare something for me to eat, and properly clothe yourself and serve me until I have eaten and drunk; and afterward you will eat and drink’? He does not thank the slave because he did the things which were commanded, does he? So you too, when you do all the things which are commanded you, say ‘We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.’” Hmmm! I think I understand the apostles’ question and I also think I have some (not much, but some) insight into the first part of Jesus’ answer, but what in the wide-world does the second part of His answer have to do with faith, especially increasing faith?
In the first place, the context of this question is important: “Be on your guard! If you brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him” (vs.3-4). In light of this, I can easily see why they asked Jesus to increase their faith; otherwise, they would never live up to this requirement. If “faith” and “trust” are kin folk (relatives), then I have no problem understanding their request for more faith! I mean, this is a pretty tall order: if your brother sins against you seven time a day (with the implication being for several days in a row!) and comes to you each time, asking for your forgiveness, then forgive him (note that nothing is said about the gravity of any of the offenses!). What else could they have said but, “Lord, increase our faith (if you expect us to obey this!)”!
Jesus’ initial response (“If you had faith like a mustard seed . . “) is really not too difficult to understand. Notice that He did NOT say, “If you had faith as small as a mustard seed. . .”; instead, He said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed. . .”, which in my opinion is somewhat different. Yes, we know that a mustard seed is a very small seed (about 1mm in diameter) but the size of one’s faith is not Jesus’ point. His point is this: Even when our faith, like a mustard seed, is infinitesimally small (which is most of the time), even smaller than a mustard seed, we can expect these small seeds of faith to produce incredible results. In other words, the fact that you have faith is enough, more than enough to enable you to forgive your brother seven times a day for seventy days, or more, if need be.
You see, if we have any faith at all, it is His faith, not ours, and this means that we have all faith, the kind of faith that moves not only mulberry trees, but also mountains, the kind of faith that enables us to believe the absolutely unbelievable—Jesus died that we might live in perfect relationship with Him, glorify Him, and enjoy Him for ever! Just for the record, it is much easier to believe that a mulberry tree will respond to our command and uproot itself and replant itself in the sea, than it is to believe that life is in Jesus. Well, it is until—until He gives you the faith to believe and, then, you can do no other because His faith ALWAYS produces His desired results!
If you had faith like a mustard seed. . .! Listen up: YOU DO, if you are His!



(Because I am out of space, I will continue tomorrow, if He gives me something to say! If ONLY I had faith like a mustard seed!! (=:

Follow Me and I Will Make You Fishers of Men

Wednesday afternoon, January 30, 2008

This is what Jesus said to Peter and Andrew, as they were casting their net into the sea, fishing for sea bass or speckled trout or whatever might have been swimming, in the hopes of bringing in a huge haul to help feed their families: “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). Hmmm, say what now? Surely, this thought passed through their minds: “Do you mean that you want us to leave our vocation, to stop doing the ONLY thing we know how to do to earning a living, in order to follow you and begin doing something about which we know nothing?” Even if it didn’t, it should have! I mean, it is one thing go be bi-vocational (have something else to depend upon, in case this new venture fails!), but it something else to altogether leave a sure thing in order to pursue some pipe dream.

Regardless of my opinions and feelings, this was their response: “And they immediately left their nets, and followed Him” (vs. 20). There was none of that, “Let me first tell my family goodbye” or “Let me first bury my father” or “Let me first get my bills paid” or “Let me first put my boat in dry dock”—none of that; instead, they immediately left their nets and, obviously, their vocation and stepped in line to follow Him and to become fishers of men (I doubt that they had any idea, as to what that meant!), a journey that launch them into a career that would carry them much farther down the road of life, than they ever dreamed. Even so, to my knowledge, they never looked back, wishing they could return to “fishing for fish,” as Israel looked back, wishing they could return to the “garlics and leeks and onions” of Egypt. Yes, Peter was impetuous and he did color outside the lines a few times, but he was committed to the journey and to the leader of the journey. John was too clingy, and he, too, colored outside the lines on occasion, but he, too, was committed to the journey and to the leader of the journey.

You see, most of us struggle with this passage because it is so difficult for us to imagine how these men managed to leave everything and follow Jesus, especially with such haste; however, it is even more difficult for us to imagine how we would follow their example, should the call come. Well, just for the record—YOU AND I HAVE BEEN CALLED TO THE SAME CALLING!

Realizing the dangers of paraphrasing Scripture, please allow me to take the risk and suggest that Jesus could have said this (who knows, maybe He did!): Follow me because I have something better for you to do with your life—something much better—something that will profoundly affect your life and the lives of those that come after you, and that “something” is this: I will teach you how to be My witnesses not only at home, but also to the ends of the earth.

Regardless of your or my vocation, Jesus has something better for us to do with our lives than to spend them trying to earn a living! Hold on and don’t run away! Earning a living is a good and Godly thing—a necessary thing—however, there is more, so much more, but, unfortunately, most of us get so involved in and dependent upon “catching our own fish” that we never even realize that He has something better for us to do—something much better.

His call is simple, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men,” and there is no higher calling, and, I might add, you probably won’t even have to abandon your vocation in order to obey!

More of Corporate America?

Tuesday morning, January 29, 2008

This is THE ACCURATE MODEL of the early (very early, as in newborn) church: “And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostle’s teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles” (Acts 2:42-43; emphasis, mine). For some reason, we have been led to believe that there are better models than this one, as it evidenced by the popularity of today’s “church modeling syndrome.” Of course, this is understandable (albeit regrettable), especially in light of the competitive atmosphere that exists today among churches.

In my opinion, the Holy Spirit was well-aware of what He was doing when He gave birth to the church and established it as a living organism within our world, a living organism with a mission and a purpose—to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. Sadly, this mission and purpose has long-since been abandoned and replaced by something that looks so much like competitive corporate America, that one would be hard-put to distinguish between them.

The tragic end of this mindset is a “church” whose mission and purpose is no longer to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever, but to reach the masses in an effort to increase income and to, thereby, have enough money to finance the programs and staff that are necessary to succeed in such a competitive environment. Of course, this is never admitted; instead, the goal of reaching the masses is done under the disguise of evangelism, which just might be the worst of all sins.

There is no wonder that so many people are leaving “church” with no plans of ever returning! It is no surprise that so many Christians—very sincere Christians—are frustrated, aggravated, and disappointed with “church”! Look at the obvious: the people who work in corporate America (for the most part) are long-past burned out from the treadmill of performance, weary from trying to reach the just-out-of-reach goals, and exhausted from attempting to maintain balance between family and work, not to mention fearful of losing their jobs. It is my guess that the last thing the really want from their local church is more of corporate America.

Anyway, in my opinion, it is time (actually, past time) for the Church to return to its roots—fellowship, worship (that sense of awe!), teaching the Word, and the sacraments—to that place where HE is glorified (not man!) and the Bride enjoys HIM forever—the genuine work of the Holy Spirit and not the manipulative efforts of man!

The fact is the church should be a haven of rest for the weary, not another place of frustration, aggravation, and disappointment; after all, Jesus died to set us free not only from sin, but also from its power—the power that fuels the competitive spirit of what we call church today, the power that drives us away from that place of intimacy with Him, wherein we find rest for our weary souls—and that for this good reason—that He might empower us to rest in His finished work.

Simply, simple church, as I see it!

REJOICE: Your Name is Written in Heaven!

Saturday morning, January 26, 2008

This is what Jesus said to those He sent out as frontrunners (His disciples plus the “seventy others”), in response to their enthusiasm: “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightening. Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all power of the enemy, and nothing shall injure you. Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven” (Luke 10:18a-20). Hmmm, it is my guess that when one has this kind of authority, it is terribly difficult to stay focused on what is really important, which is probably why He has not given most, if any, of us this kind of authority. Well, now that I think about it, maybe He did give us this kind of authority but we let it go to our heads, even before we used it, and, consequently, we lost it. In either case, I have NEVER seen this kind of authority used in ANY believer’s life, not yet anyway; however, I am continuing to wait and to watch!

As you can tell, these “frontrunners” (as I call them) were very excited and enthusiastic about this new-found authority (I, certainly, do not blame them!); listen to what they said to Jesus: “And the seventy returned with joy, saying, ’Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name’” (vs. 17). Interestingly, however, Jesus, Himself, was also excited—very excited; take a look at His response: “At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit. . .” (vs. 21a; I would love to have witnessed this!].

Now listen to the words He used to express His enthusiasm: “I praise Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and intelligent and didst reveal them to babes. Yes, Father, for thus it was well-pleasing in Thy sight. All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is, except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (vss. 21-22). And turning to His disciples, He said privately, “Blessed are the eyes which see the things you see” (vs. 23). The first part being enthusiastic praise (probably even dancing!) for any and everyone to see and to hear; the last part being a private, whispered comment to the twelve; albeit, an powerfully, explosive word of encouragement.

Again, with this kind of authority and with these kinds of words of encouragement, it would probably be very difficult to stay focused on what is really important, thus His—REJOICE, NOT IN THESE THINGS, BUT IN THE FACT THAT YOUR NAMES ARE WRITTEN IN HEAVEN!

You know, when all is said and done, only one thing really matters and that one thing is this: Jesus chose to reveal Himself to us and, thus, to write our names in Heaven, in the Lamb’s Book of Life. It is one thing to be chosen to receive such incredible authority, and it is another to be chosen to have eyes to see what most never see, but it is quite another to have been chosen to have your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life!

So, I would say this: do not rejoice that you have been given authority over the spirits, or that you can see what others miss; instead, rejoice in the fact that your name, that’s right—YOUR NAME—has been written in Heaven!

Wow!

No More Excuses!

Friday morning, January 25, 2008

This is what Jesus said (at the Pool of Bethesda) to the man who had been sick for 38 years: “Do you wish to get well” (John 5:6b). The sick man’s response, although ridiculous, was this: “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me” (vs. 7). This is how Jesus responded to his ridiculous statement: “Arise, take up your pallet, and walk” (vs. 8). This is how the man responded: “And immediately the man became well, and took up his pallet and began to walk” (vs. 9). There was this one “minor” problem: It was the Sabbath Day and it was unlawful for this man (or any other man, for that matter) to carry his pallet on the Sabbath Day, as doing so was considered work (talk about ridiculous!).

Sometimes (actually, most of the time) we are so busy judging others for their failure to maintain our standards, which we believe are also God’s standards, that we completely fail to see the miraculous, even though it is happening right before our eyes. It might be to our benefit to accept the fact that our standards are not always His standards, and it will surely be to our benefit to accept the fact that judging others is God’s business, nor ours; at the very least, we might see more of the miraculous.

In my opinion, Jesus’ question is more than intriguing; surely, He knew that this man wanted to get well, or was it the other way around and He knew that he was enjoying his sickness? Probably the latter; however, in either case, he was about to be healed—like it or not! Notice that this sick man did not say, “Yes, I want to be healed!”; instead, he responded with that all-too-familiar excuse—”Woe is me because nobody will help me!” In case you missed it, I will tell you: Jesus put an immediate end to his excuse! He could no longer say that his well-being depended upon others being more considerate of him.

I must say this: although the Pool of Bethesda was a very legitimate place of healing (at the right time), it was inadequate for this man and it was because he could not (or was unwilling to) get into the pool and, as we might imagine, none of the others were going to help him because they were more interested in getting themselves into the pool than they were in getting him into it. Fortunately, Jesus paid the pool a visit—the only person on the planet, who was more interested in others that He was in Himself!

Now, for the really difficult part: as far as we know, Jesus chose to heal this man and only this man, leaving the rest, as they had left the man Jesus healed—to fend for themselves. You remember the rules of the pool, I feel sure; only the first person to get into the pool, when the waters were troubled, was healed—the rest were left to deal with their malaise the best they could. Disappointing, to say the least! Interestingly, for the very first (and last) time, two people were healed at this annual “Pool of Bethesda” event. I say this is difficult because for the life of me, I cannot understand how Jesus managed to pull this off, without causing a riot, and I, certainly, do not know how He did it without leaving the rest feeling that He was unfair, disinterested, and without compassion.

Well, He almost caused a riot among the Pharisees, as they were not happy with His healing on the Sabbath and they made it quite clear—”For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus because He was doing these things on the Sabbath” (vs. 16). “For this cause, therefore, the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him. . .” (vs. 18a).

I do have this question: Has Jesus intervened in your life and put an end to your excuses? If He hasn’t, He will, so be prepared with a not-so-ridiculous response.

Relationships

Wednesday morning, January 23, 2008

This is what Jesus said (out of His foreknowledge and resulting concern for you me!) in a prayer He prayed just prior to His betrayal and ultimate crucifixion, a prayer He prayed because it was very important to Him that we live together in healthy relationships not only with the Triune Godhead, but also with one another: “. . .that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me. And the glory which Thou has give Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me” (John 17:21-23). From what I have been able to observe and experience, it is a good thing—a very good thing—that Jesus prayed this prayer; otherwise, the witness the Body of Christ makes, concerning healthy relationships, would be much worse than it already is, and that would be a bad thing—really, bad!

Whether or not we like it, Jesus’ prayer makes it abundantly clear that Christianity is about relationships; namely, God’s relationship with us, our relationship with Him through Jesus, and our relationships with one another. Surely, there is no getting around the fact that we must become proactive in our quest to enter into the kinds of relationships that Jesus desires for us, both with Him and with one another. As you know, He paid a terribly high price to clear the way for both!

In our proactive quest to enter into these relationships certain “hurdles” always seem to present themselves, hurdles that appear much too high for us to hurdle. As a result, we tend to shy away from healthy relationships by hiding in the shadows of our own fears and the resulting insecurities. Again, I am very thankful that Jesus prayed this prayer and for obvious reasons!

As you know, these paralyzing, controlling fears tend to surface anytime we feel that someone is getting too close to us and, therefore, might find out our well-kept secret, the secret that has been controlling us for far too long—should you really get to know me, you would not like me, and if you did, something would be wrong with you!

Our hiding places are those places of emotional insulation that lie behind the facades of pretense, places that keep me inside and you outside, places that keep me just out of range of your snooping, eagle eye. These hiding place take many and varied shapes, such as anger, control, passivity, indifference, and, especially, denial.

Deep down inside, fear has convinced us that, if our facades are removed, the real truth about us will be revealed, leaving us naked and exposed before the very people from whom we are hiding—the people we least want to find out the truth—the end result being the very rejection that we so desperately want to avoid.

When a person lives and breathes to protect himself from the very thing for which his heart cries—to know and to be known—you can bet that he will (sooner, rather than later) finally give up in the aftermath of burnout and begin to look for “fantasy island” —the place far-removed from those who would threaten to exacerbate his already-intense fear of rejection. Sadly, this is where most Christians live—every moment of every day!

Remember this: Jesus prayed for us, specifically about this issue of relationships, so hold on for the ride and go ahead and give up the fight—He wins!

On the Subject of Humility

Saturday morning, January 19, 2008

This is what Jesus said to His disciples concerning their desire for Him to feed the hungry multitude: “You give them something to eat” (Luke 9:13a). This was there response: “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people” (vs. 13b).

As you remember this “multitude” consisted of 5,000 men, plus women and children, which by anyone’s standards, is quite a crowd to feed, especially when the nearest McDonalds is half-way around the world and not yet under construction! They did suggest that a trip to the local supermarket would be beneficial, but Jesus didn’t seem to be too impressed with their idea; in fact, from what I can see, He completely ignored it! Apparently, He had better, more exciting plans.

In my mind, this is one of those occasions, where Jesus wanted His disciples to get a first-hand look at just how dependent they were upon Him. The truth is by the time they made the trek to the local supermarket, bought the food, returned to the site, cooked it, and, well, you get the point! Even a casual look at the five puny loaves and two soggy fish convinced them of their helplessness. They knew and they knew very well that they could not feed this multitude—period.

You know, as I read this story and meditate upon it, for some reason, the word “humility” comes to my mind. To be sure, these disciples were about as humble as a proud peacock, at least most of the time, but this was not one of those times. The fact is, pride was not a part of this party, and that is for sure—Jesus saw to it. I mean, when you are facing the daunting task of feeding 5,000 hungry men, plus women and children, and all you have is five loaves and two fish, pride is out to lunch, maybe even to supper!

To complicate matters even more, these guys are with Jesus (you know, the creator of the universe) and He is the one who is telling them to get off their duffs and use whatever they have to feed the multitude, while He apparently wanders off to have a quiet time. Again, I can only imagine that these guys were practicing humility, the kind of humility that makes one well-aware of his lack of resources!

Now, you might be wondering why I (of all people) would be commenting on the subject of “humility” when humility is not one of the first things you would notice about me (probably, not even the second or third), and if you are, here is the answer: Although I might not project humility, I am well-aware of my dependence upon Him, specifically that I will not make it through the day, much less Home, without Him. You see, I do not equate humility with passivity or compliance or tameness, even meekness; instead, I believe humility is recognizing and accepting my absolute dependence upon Him, and doing so in the light of His holiness.

Whether or not I like it, this is where He has me living: I am well-aware that the meager resources I have can contribute nothing to His “you feed them” directive to me. Trust me on this: if He doesn’t come through for me, as He did for the twelve in our text, I will not make it, and I know it very well.

This is what God said: “But to this one I will look, to him who is humble of spirit, and who trembles at my Word” (Isaiah 66:2b).

At least, you cannot say that I did not tell you!