One is the Loneliest Number

 One is the Loneliest Number

  Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.  Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone?  A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (New Living Translation) 

(I usually like to post a verse from the ESV or RSV (old) translation on these, but I felt like the NLT said this a little more directly.)

Hey, everybody! Sorry for the long drought between posts, but times have been extremely busy over the last couple of years with massive amounts of random stuff getting in the way. I’ve missed you on line (all two or three of you) and am ready to share some random thoughts and musings once again.

Have any of you tried to do a hair braid? I used to try to braid my wife’s hair, when it was longer, before a softball game. She will be the first to tell you, and I agree, that I suck at braiding hair. Three handfuls of hair should not be possible with only two hands! Yet, it seems to be done all the time. When her hair was braided, it stayed out of her way, and let her play without that distraction. Somehow, all those loose hairs came together and stayed put. (at least when I didn’t do it) 

As the world is emerging from Covid hibernation, people are getting back out and experiencing being with other people again. Going to concerts, movies, church, work, even just shopping, is a chance for freedom and getting out of the house. Here’s my problem though. I’ve always been a bit of an introvert. I LIKE being at home. When I was working, shopping, worshiping and even leading worship from home, I was in my element. Mask, so what? It just let me, when I had to, preserve a little seclusion. Only reveal what I had too. It felt….comfortable. Safe.

Now, I was never totally alone, because my wife was there with me. I’m pretty sure she liked when I got out, so she could have some time herself! But being alone has its problems. If everything is going well, it’s fine. When everything is going bonkers, you’re shouldering all that weight on your own. And it can be massive. 

Our natural state, mine included, is actually in communion. In communion with God, and in communion with each other. Even in God, Whose image we are made in, there is communion within Himself…Father, Son and Holy Spirit….Three in One. 

So, why do I hesitate? Partially because my sarcastic attitude reaches out to myself most often. I feel like if I’m around people long enough, they will find out I’m a fraud, not worthy, not good enough. Music? I fake my way through so much, it’s like a new song by the time I’m done. A thirty plus year journey of working in Accounting Departments? I flunked Basic College Math in college. Christian? Let’s just say when Paul said “I do that which I would not do”, I totally get it. 

So, it’s easier to hide. Be the anonymous Facebook voyeur.  Even posting a blog is a little out of my comfort zone. But I am called to sing songs God has given me. Called to speak in public, when He presents an opportunity. To share, to the best of my understanding, the Word He gives my heart to share.

 Some community is easier than others. 

Good friends that I know see my faults, and care anyway. 

Churches whose purpose is to save the world around them, not pronounce judgement. (C. S. Lewis expounded “Mere Christianity”. That is, not “Christianity and” whatever popular cause or concern. Christianity and Social Justice, Christianity and Crime, Christianity and Nationalism. All good, but when the cause overtakes the Christianity, then both are lost.) 

My sweet Camp Bluebird, where the bond is love of each other, in spite of all differences. Maybe even because of. 

We must commune together, it is only right. We must also be willing to accept, and love each other. See their faults, true, but as Thomas Merton said, see beyond that to the God inside them. Love them. Just as He loves us, His created, and He in us as well. 

We are one in the Spirit.

We are one in the Lord.

We are one in the Spirit.

We are one in the Lord.

And we pray that all unity will one day be restored.

And they’ll know we are Christians by our love. By our Love.

Yes, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

 

Amen

 

Return To Your First Love

This blog is taken from a sermon I gave at New Beginnings Fellowship back on 8/22/2021. I've edited a little to make it more readable. I write a lot better than I speak!

Good Morning, New Beginnings! New Beginnings-wow. That seems to me even more appropriate now. With Dan Shapley's moving on to the new ministry he's been called to, our church is at a time of new beginnings. We get to see where we are and where we want to be, or more truthfully, where God wants us to be.

My first thoughts to today were to look at the letters to the seven churches mentioned in Revelation, to see if there was anything there that might point the way. And like a lot of Revelation, it was a bit confusing! But here's the basic breakdown:

Ephesus: pros-good works, tested and rooted out false apostles, enduring patiently

                 cons-abandoned your first love

Pergamum: pros-holding fast even in Satan's home

                     cons-followed the ways of Nicolaitans

Thyatira: pros-good works, love, faith, service and patient endurance

                cons-listened to Jezebels false prophets

A couple of the churches came out pretty well:

Smyrna: "You will have tribulation, but remain faithful and gain a crown of life"

Philadelphia:- good works, held fast, kept His word and not denied His name

And then:

Sardis: You have works, but are dead not alive

Laodicea: You are neither hot nor cold. You are like warm and I will spit you out of my mouth.

Wow. Trust me, you do not want to get into a spitting contest with God. You WILL lose.

So, what can we take away from this? Does New Beginnings want to be a church of good works? That sounds wonderful, and was praised in most of these churches, but most of the churches with good works were also still found lacking. The trouble with good woks is we often can lose sight of Who we are doing these for. We can begin to believe that We are contributing to another person, when we as a church are supposed to be reaching out to show God's love to the world, not our own. By the way, did you know Satan loves good works? He loves anything that can keep you so busy, you don't have time for God.

But doesn't the book of James say "Faith without works is dead?" Yes, but he is saying that good works come out of your faith. Good works in themselves cannot produce Faith. First Corinthians mentions we can have all sorts of good works and gifts, but without love, we'd be just so much noise. Think Buddy Rich on a cymbal rampage!

Are we then to follow strict rules and laws to achieve holiness? Aren't we supposed to be Holy as He is Holy? Yes, we are, but there are problems with this approach too. First off, we can never achieve holiness through the law. Paul says in Romans that law is there to point out our sinfulness, to show that no one can reach God's level of holiness. ALL have sinned and ALL fall short of the Glory of God. Second, we forget that these laws are for us, and try to force them on others, when we can't follow them ourselves. Remember don't try to remove the mite from your brother's eye, without first taking the log out of your own? As to righteousness, Christ said no one was better than the Pharisees, and you know how that ended up. So, if we are to be Holy as He is Holy, it has to come from something or someone other that what we can produce ourselves.

Back to the churches. Several times, it is mentioned they have abandoned their first love and need to return. So, what does that mean exactly? Does it mean returning to that euphoria of when we first come to Christ? I don't think so. Not everyone experiences Christ in the same way. Some have an overwhelming sense of peace, some a joyful excitement. Charles Wesley experienced a "warming of the heart". I myself felt as if my heat had God's hand on it, and turned it around in side of me. like night to day. With some it's not even a single moment, but a gradual acceptance. So, to return to our first love, we have to go deeper than ourselves, deeper than something we can produce.

I John 4:10 says "In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (Looked up the word - Jesus was the atonement, He came to pay the price for our sins. It's as if someone were found guilty of a crime, and received their sentence, but someone else served that sentence. Our sentence from sin was death, and His death paid that price for us)

So if we are to return to our first love, it goes beyond us, and into the one whose total, complete and passionate love was FIRST there for us. Why do we need to be based in God's love for us? It seems simple but is so often forgotten. The next verse in I John says "Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." Does that mean just other Christians? Nope. Check out the next verse. "No one has ever seen God, if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us." We are here to share God's love with the world. Not just with good works, because good works without God's love, is just trying to look good in front of others. Look what we did! Not just with righteous lows, because following laws of God without God's love is just oppression, of ourselves AND others, and Jesus came to set us free.

So how does New Beginnings return to its first love? By understanding love is not based on us, but on God. Not having God as a part of us, but us being wholly inside of God. When we return to our first love, we are not returning to an emotion, but to a person. A living person, the total embodiment of that first love, Jesus.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Colossians 1:18 He is the beginning, the first born from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent.

1 John 1:1-3 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of LIfe - the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and made manifest unto us - THAT which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us, and indeed OUR fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our JOY may be complete.

So, what will be our "New Beginnings"? It must come through prayer, through listening to God above, not what we just want to hear, and it must come through His Love.

So Faith, Hope and Love abide, these three. But the greatest of these - is Love.

Who's your Moma?

 

Happy Mother’s Day! Sorry, that just doesn’t sound right to me. I almost never say “Mother”-too pretentious. Mom is only slightly better, but in my head, it’s stretched out and whiney- “Mommmmmm!” No, as a true Son of the South, the word for the woman who gave me life is “Moma”. Yep, as is “If Moma said it, that’s all you need to say.” And the phrase that strikes fear into the heart of every man and boy, “If Moma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!”

Proverbs 31:27-29

She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her Children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also praises her; “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.”

That’s a pretty awesome scripture but have any of you read that full chapter? It’s a listing of the attributes that call this woman blessed. It reads like about 5 job descriptions all rolled into one big, huge job. That is a pretty difficult model to live up to, so I’m thinking we should look to other models to see what we should be looking for “blessed”.

Let’s start at the beginning:

Eve: Moma “Ground Zero” – let’s see, gave her husband some bad fruit, kids squabbled and competed against each other. One actually killed the other. But to be fair, no one had ever been a Moma before – no Dr. Spock or What to expect when you’re expecting-not even a Moma to call and ask, “WHAT IS GOING ON??!!”

Sarah (Abraham’s wife): Lied to the King of Egypt about being married, laughed when God said she would have a child, drove her maid out to the dessert to die out of jealousy-ok, maybe not her.

Rebecca (Isaac’s wife): helper her son Jacob trick his brother out of his birthright, then helped him trick Isaac into giving his blessing-got Jacob sent out to the country to get a wife to let things cool down. Jacob married…

Rachel: who when they were coming back home, stole from her father’s house and when the father’s men came to search her tent, covered it all up, gut under the blanket, and said they couldn’t come in because she was “in a womanly way.”

Ok, striking out here. Let’s get out of the Patriarchs:

Bathsheba: wife of David, man after God’s own heart, right? Moma to wise King Solomon-hmm, affair, pregnant, David had husband killed, child out of wed lock died.

 

Ok, New Testament. Let’s look at the main Moma of all, Mary. I mean that’s perfection, right? Blessed above all women and all that? God Himself chose her to carry and nurture His Son-Yet…

When Jesus was 12, they did go a full day’s journey before realizing He wasn’t with them. I mean left at the store is one thing, but they didn’t find him for another 3 days.

Another time-The wedding at Cana is considered Jesus first miracle and marked a change in His ministry as He began to let people know who He really was. So, what happened? In John, chapter 2:

The family was at a wedding feast, and due to either poor preparation or REALLY thirsty guests, they ran out of wine. Major faux paus there. So, Mary goes to Jesus and tells Him “They have no wine.”. Jesus says “What has that got to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” What does Mary do? Tells the servants “Go do whatever my son tells you.” Now Jesus is kind of roped into it, cause a good boy does what Moma says, right? Honor your father and mother? So, first miracle, water into wine.

Interestingly enough, some people think this may have started His ministry earlier than He intended. In Matthew, there’s the story of Jesus casting out demons from a wild man. The demons actually have enough guts to ask Jesus “Are you casting us out BEFORE THE APPOINTED TIME?” so they asked to be cast into a heard of pigs instead, which did NOT sit well with the townspeople. So typical, they have a man cured of his madness, and they’re worried about livestock. Course there’s also the fact that these good Jewish townsfolk had a herd of pigs, but that’s another story.

You can look all through scripture to find the perfect wife, Moma, woman, or man for that matter, and other than Jesus, they just are not there. Truth is God has a history of using people that have been broken, used or hurt. It is in that brokenness that His strength shows through. So how did these women, and others in the Bible get to be women that could be called blessed?

 

They knew that ultimately; God was in control. Eve, with all her troubles and heartache, never lost sight of the promise God made, that salvation would come through her descendants; In cursing the serpent, God said the serpent's destruction would be through Her Offspring. Even after the death of Abel, she believed and trusted God’s purpose. She knew God would make a way.

Mary never lost sight of that either. God chose to do something with her that by nature was impossible, she knows what the people would think of her, but in spite to the fact that there was no way this promise could be fulfilled, God made a way. Even when the wise men told her” A sword would pierce her own heart also” she believed. Even when she saw Jesus hanging from the cross and telling John to take her as his own mother, she knows God would make a way. And three days later, what a way He made.

 

You don’t have to be the perfect “Leave it to Beaver” mom, pearls and heels ready, multi-tasking better than the best CEO. You do the best you can, you put it all in God’s hands, and you trust God enough to leave it there. I remember a preacher once telling me “In prayer we leave our problems at the feet of Jesus. Trouble is we tend to pick them back up on the way out”. Trust that the Lord will do as He said. Trust that God will make a way.

Course, I’m not just talking mothers now. All of us tend to try to make things happen on our own, and the trouble with that is we, on our own, will always fail. That’s because we try to fit our plans into God’s will, and not His plans into ours. God will make a way, usually in spite of what we do!

So, here’s to all the “Mothers”, the Mommmmms, the Mama’s-We love you, we appreciate all you do, and we place you in the light of God’s love. And for every moment of doubt, don’t worry. God will make a way.

 

 

 

Passover

 Passover began last Saturday, and is ending this Saturday. It is possibly the Holiest of traditions in Judaism, if any one thing can be more holy than another. It is also one of the strongest links between Christianity and Judaism. When Jesus sat with His disciples for a "Last Supper", it was a Seder meal. Both meals are commanded to be observed. The Seder annually, the Last Supper "as oft as ye shall...". Both meals are meals of remembrance. the Seder for remembrance of God's deliverance from slavery, the Last Supper in remembrance of the One who broke the bonds of sin and death to which we were enslaved. It has occurred to me (this IS Thoughts & Musings, after all) that we have other connections to this meal and Holy Week as well. Holy week being that time between Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem and His Easter Resurrection. If I'm wrong, it will not cause any great chasm in the faith, I just found them interesting.

Sunday - Christ's entry into Jerusalem. Shouts of "Hosanna in the highest!" "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" These rang out as Jesus rode into Jerusalem. During the Seder meal, just at sunset, the matriarch of the family will rise, light he candle and say "Blessed are you, our God, Creator of time and space, who enriches our lives with holiness, commanding us to kindle the (Shabbat and)holiday light." This or a variation of, is done before each Holy Feast. Thus thru the woman, who would carry the seed of salvation, God enters.

Monday - Cleansing of the Temple. Jesus enters and sees the money changers and charlatans and all those who would use the House of God for their own power and profit, making it unclean. He puts cords together to make a whip, and chases them out, saying "My house shall be called the house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves." During preparation for the Seder, a house must be cleaned of all leaven. Not a even a mouse sized scrap is to be left. Traditionally, the leaven is collected the day before the Seder, taken outside, and burned. This way, the house is cleansed, and God can enter in.

Maundy Thursday - Probably our strongest connection, but in this let me put in two parts.

The Bread - "This is my body which is broken for you." During the Seder, there are three Matzot (unleavened bread) separated from each other by cloths or napkins. On of these is broken, and hidden (called the afikomen) which the children will then spread out to find during the meal. The child that does find it brings it back to the patriarch of the family, and the negotiations to turn it over begin! Once a price is agreed on, the patriarch redeems the hostage afikomen and the broken Matzot is made whole again.

The Wine - "This cup is the new covenant in my blood." In the Seder, four cups of wine are consumed, each for a representation of God's deliverance. "I will bring out." "I will deliver." "I will redeem" "I will take" (Exodus 6:6-7) But scripture says the cup Jesus took was after the supper. A fifth cup of wine is poured and untouched during a Seder, that is the cup of Elijah. It is left untouched in honor of the prophet, who according to tradition, would arrive as an unknown guest to announce Messiah. Some believe, myself included, it was THIS cup he raised and said "This is my blood."

These are just a few, but I think you see what I'm saying. A pastor years ago told me that the Old and New Testaments are not two books, but one. Everything in the Old Testament points to and is fulfilled in Jesus, and all that Jesus was, is and is to come, shines a greater understanding of all before. God took His time sending us His son, so that the world could better understand Him, like children first learning discipline to growing into the knowledge of how to do right on their own. He is still waiting on returning to us, so that not a soul that CAN be saved will be lost.

The Seder tradition now ends with the words "Next year, in Jerusalem!" I would add "Next year, in the New Jerusalem!" Even so, come Lord Jesus!

Lent - Hope, Peace, Joy, Love

 

285 Days until Christmas! As slow as 2020r was, you’d think it was already here. We’ve had at least 3 seasons in the last month – Winter, Spring, and Monsoon. CS Lewis said “because man enjoys a change out of the routine, god created seasons, and because man liked consistency, He put them in the same order every year.” I don’t thing Middle Tennessee got that memo.

So, what season is it now? We’ve gone thru that fat baby with the arrows season. Pollen season is up us. St. Patrick’s day is almost here. Baseball, Basketball, Hockey, even FOOTBALL Season! Already had Fat Tuesday, although every day is Fat Tuesday for me. Ah yes, it’s the season of LENT! (no not lint, like your belly button, LENT.)

So, what is Lent? Lent, compared to Advent, is often treated like the ugly, drunk step-cousin at a family reunion. You know, the type you have to invite, but you sit him way back in the corner, and far away from the bourbon balls. Advent is joyful anticipation, Lent like fearful suspense. Advent like “God’s gift to us”, Lent like “You gonna get it!”. Advent is all neat and organized with candles and trees and greenery, and lent is messy, bloody. And we don’t like to think about that.

But Advent and Lent are not step-cousins, they’re more like identical twins. Advent prepares us for the revelation of God’s Gift to Mankind by Jesus birth, and Lent prepares us for it’s true realization by His suffering, death and glorious resurrection!

So how do we prepare in Lent? Tradition says to deny yourself during that 40 days, so we tend to look at lent more like a punishment. But that sacrifice is only good if it leads you to contemplate His coming glory of Easter. So, I’d like to suggest a slightly different way to look at Lent.

Advent is all neat and divided up into separate weeks, each contemplating a different aspect of Jesus birth – Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love. Let’s look at Lent with each of these not through a manger, but through a cross.

Hope: 2 Corinthians 1: 9-10 – “Indeed, we felt we had received this sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. On Him we have set up our hope, that He will deliver us again.”

We tend to look at the cross as a sad event in the Easter story, and truthfully, it should tear your heart in two the suffering that Jesus went through. But that cross is not a symbol of despair, but HOPE. It is a symbol of death, but that death was for the death of our sins, so that we might LIVE in Jesus Christ. Our hope, our only hope, is through that cross. To take it up not as a punishment, but as His Salvation.

Peace: Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

So what’s so peaceful about a cross? Granted nothing from outward appearance. But that’s the point. This peace doesn’t come because of the circumstances around you, it comes in spite of the circumstances around you. The first part of these two verses says that peace comes by prayer and supplication, but the cross is HOW we are allowed to pray at all. The cross is our doorway into the Throne Room of God. The cross allows us to petition Him face to face. The cross was instrumental in the peace of our Salvation. Jesus.

Joy: Psalm 30:5 “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”

Joy. Wow. That’s a hard concept when thinking about a cross. In the Garden of Gethsemane, when praying to the Father, Jesus stress was so great the He even sweat drops of blood. Some would even bring up that from the cross, Jesus cried “My God, my God, why have you forgotten me?” He was in terrible anguish and pain. But was this a cry of abandonment? Follow me down this rabbit hole for a moment. If I sing “Amazing Grace”, then stop, what’s the next thing you think? “How sweet the sound”, right? Songs have a way of doing that, especially very familiar songs. You hear one line, and the rest comes to mind. Now we go a little further, and we also know that the book of Psalms is a collection of songs and poetry often used in the synagogue for worship. In those Psalms, I’d like to bring up Psalm 22. The first verse of Psalm 22 is “My God, my God, why have you forgotten me?” Naturally, that song would come to the hearer’s mind. What are some of the other verses?

Verse 8 – “He trust in the Lord, let Him Deliver Him.”

Luke 23: 38 “He saved others: let him save himself.”

Verse 14 – “I am poured out like water, all my bones are out of joint.”

John 19: 34 “But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear and at once there came out blood and water.”

Verse 18: “They divide my garments amongst them. For my clothing they cast lots.”

Luke 23: 34 “And they cast lots to divide his garments”

And later in verses 27 & 28? “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD and all the families of the nations shall worship before you, for kingship belongs to the LORD and He rules over the nations.”

This Psalm is and was then considered a prophecy of the coming Messiah. It was written around 1000 BC, well before crucifixion was a thing, yet it described it accurately. This psalm was well known to the crowd around Jesus cross. So when Jesus shouted “My God, my God, why have you forgotten me”, what do you think was the first thing to come to the crowd’s mind? This wasn’t a cry of agony, but a song of VICTORY! This was a laugh in the face of Satan. This was Jesus saying, you thought you had me, but this cross is how I win! This was JOY! Joy because of a cross! “Weeping may tarry through the night, but Joy comes in the morning.” Or like the old saying goes, “It’s Friday night, but Sunday’s coming!”

Love – John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

God so loved the world. In spite of all mankind had done, in spite of man willfully turning from Him and taking on sin, God willfully took on the sacrifice of blood to bring us back. The cross was the only option. Adam knew the effect of sin was death, and only a perfect sacrifice, His perfect sacrifice, could remove that sin. God so loved the world. So perfectly, so deeply, so desperately loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son. From the Christmas miracle of God becoming flesh, fully human and fully God, to the Easter miracle of death, burial, and resurrection victory, God so loved the world.

Now that may cause some to see the cross as an endpoint. A line in the sand, an ultimatum even. “Ok, I’ve done my part. I’m not doing any more. You’re either with me or against me.” Look at the attitude of a lot of Christians, and you know what I’m talking about. But that’s not what the cross represents. Look at the very next verse in John, verse 17:

“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.”

The cross is not a line in the sand, not an ultimatum, it’s an open door. It’s God saying, I’ve removed all the barriers, come home. Some people will misuse this verse to say there is no Hell. A loving God wouldn’t send someone to Hell after all that. Hear me out, that is not what this verse is saying. Now I’m gonna give you the other side of the coin. Make no mistake, there is a Hell. But it’s not God’s will to send you there. God’s gift was for all sin, everyone’s sin. Cause guess what? Everyone has, and everyone will sin. In the book of Romans, Paul says “All have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.” And there’s no sliding scale on sin, either. A Man who beats his wife and kids and me flipping off somebody in traffic are equally sinners in the eyes of God. And God equally loves us and equally gave Himself for us.

So why is there a Hell? Because the love of the cross is an open gift, to either take or refuse. God loves His creation of mankind so much, that He wants all to accept Him, that not one would be lost. He loves His creation so much, that He allows us the choice to say yes or no to Him, and respects the decision we make. Even though His heart breaks when we do not accept His offer. God so loves the world, that He doesn’t control us, He doesn’t force us, He opens the door with the cross and asks us to come in, return to Him. “Amazing Love, how can it be, that Thou my God should die for me?”

Hope, Peace, Joy, Love. These are the things that I would ask you to consider for Lent.

Hope, Peace, Joy, Love. These are given to us by His glorious cross.

 Hope, Pease, Joy, Love. Choice.

Have you chosen? What will you choose? Eternal life or Eternal Death? Heaven or Hell? It is your free will to choose. The cross has opened the door. Will you go in?

 

 

 

Peace beyond understanding

When I first “re-found” Jesus in 1979, I had a chance to go to a Spiritual Learning Camp called CFO. It was really quite a experience. Amazingly gracious people, strong in the Lord, putting up with all us Newbies, who thought we knew it all. Anyway, one of the spiritual exercises was to try and use whatever talent you had create something to express and share Christ. (craft, poem, etc.)

Well, I wasn’t sure what to do, I’ve never been very craft oriented, other than eating glue at a young age. Was a little afraid of poetry, because my spelling was awful. So I decided to try and write a song. It was one of the first times I had attempted songwriting, and I’d never tried to write a “Christian” song.  But try I did. It borrowed rather shamelessly from Ronnie Milsap songs of the late 1970s, but I made it through. Part of the chorus went:

“Is the Lord at the top of your life, what a blessing it is to believe,

That if we give to Him our everything, there’s so much more to receive.”

I think it is safe to say, I’m glad I kept trying to get better with songwriting after that! But that song is still special to me because it reminds me of what it felt like to be brand new in my Christian walk. The joy. The feeling for being loved so much it was overwhelming at times. And most of all, the peace. All of these things seemed to completely envelop me, and I walked in them, even though none of the circumstances around me had changed, the Father God, Savior Son, and Guiding Spirit were now protecting me, they were my shield and my trust.

 

I have to say, I had a great deal of trouble finding what I felt God would want me to say today. We were all so ready for 2020 to be gone, even as it ended with a Christmas Day bombing on Second Avenue. More colorful expressions have been created for this past year than I can ever remember. And before we get the final “See ‘ya” out of the way, our nation’s Capital building is sieged.  While there is a joint session of both House and Senate. Not by enemy nation, but by Americans! I was shocked, then I was mad, then I was enraged. More so than I have been in quite a long time, and I’ve got a pretty good temper when it gets loose. Where is the peace now?! Where is my shield?! WHERE IS GOD?!?!

 

My wife, smart woman that she is, left me stew for a bit. (By the way, you don’t know how lucky and blessed I am to have as patient a woman as Barbara by my side. She can wait until after my outbursts and still stays by me.) then I remembered my prayer book. The Book of Common Prayer. This was given to me by a friend that has known me bad and good since 1978. And as far as I know, still hasn’t told some of the things he knows about me. I digress. In the prayer book is this prayer for our country.

 

Almighty God, who has given us this good land for our heritage; We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of thy favor and glad to do thy will. Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogancy, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion in one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with the spirit of Wisdom those to whom in thy Name we entrust the authority of Government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to thy law, we may show forth thy praise among the nations of the earth. In time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness; and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail. All which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

And there it was, ”in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail.” Our joy is in Him. Our hope is in Him. Our PEACE is in Him. I’ve forgotten so often that fist love. It was time to let Him speak. I want you to read out loud the verses below. Out loud. Not because its fun to control people like that (ok, maybe a little 😊) but because there is no greater power than God’s word when spoken aloud.

 

Isaiah 26: 3

You will keep in perfect peace
    those whose minds are steadfast,
    because they trust in you.

Psalm 4:8

In peace I will lie down and sleep,
    for you alone, Lord,
    make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 85:8

I will listen to what God the Lord says;
    he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants

Isaiah 9:6-7

And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.

Isaiah 26:3

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you

Isaiah 55:12

You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

Philippians 4:7

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

And from our Lord:

John 16:33

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have PEACE. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Overcome this world. Overcome this world! Dear church, we are in this world, but not OF this world. Our peace cannot come from anything this world can give. Our Joy is in Him, our Hope is in Him, our PEACE is in Him - alone. He came from a throne to a manger, and became flesh and blood, and only a power that great can take us and free us from this world, Only a power that great can grant us a peace so amazing that it goes beyond understanding. The circumstances don’t change, but His PEACE changes us.

Maybe you don’t know that peace. Maybe you’ve never been embraced by that love. Open your heart to Him. Come to Him as a little child. Simply trust, and give Him, like the song said, your everything. There’s so much more to receive.

 

The Tree Wise Dudes - an Epiphany repost

 From a few years ago, but worthy still...the scene is one night in Babylon...

Melchior - Gentlemen, thank you for coming! But why are there just two of you?

Caspar - Because no one else would give up a good night's sleep to listen to your ravings, Melchior.

Balthazar - And why are we here in the middle of the night, instead of our soft warm beds?

M - Look to the sky...over there...and tell me what you see.

B - Sooo Dramatic!

C - OK, I'll bite. Sky, stars. Same as at the beginning of time, same until time's end. Again, why are we here, Melchior?

M - Look to that one star, the bright one.

B - So, it's bright. It's just the north star. No, wait, that's the eastern sky. Then maybe a planet or sun we hadn't noticed?

C - You could have told us this in the morning. Why now to tell us of a star?

M - Because it is not A star, it is THE star.

C - (pause) The one from the Jewish prophecies.

M - The same.

B - How are you sure?

M - I've been watching the sky since this star appeared. It did not move into place, it appeared. And since then, as the other lights have moved and danced across the sky, THIS star took a different path, straight and true. And for the last week, has not moved at all. This is the place. We follow the star, we find the KING!

All of this is conjecture, of course. What we know from scripture is that men came from the east, sidetracked to King Herod's palace, found Jesus, gave gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, and after a warning dream, dodged Herod on the return trip. (Which did not make Herod a happy boy.) Everything else is tradition and supposition. That these men were not Jewish is probable, but they may have had servants who were, thus their knowledge of the prophecy of a Messiah/King.

Jesus is not a God of just Jews, or just Christians, but is a God of all. John 3:16 says "God so loved THE WORLD.". He was not here for just a subset of society. We are not seen by God as the classes and groups we have placed ourselves and others in. Our only two classifications are "All have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God." and "Those who are born of water & spirit.". Remember, too, that being part of the latter doesn't exclude you from the former! Treat all as God's creation. Love all as your bother/sister. Seek God, and offer the gift of yourself. And try not to let Herod catch you!