Luke 22 :: A Look of Love

Luke 22

Sorry for my delay yesterday.  Rhonda had big birthday and I got a bit side-tracked.  I'm back today though and there was a lot in the reading this morning.  There is one section that has always stood out to me about the reading today, and it all centers around Peter's denial of Jesus.

It's easy for me to look at Peter and see myself or see others I have know that have gone a different direction with their lives.  I know the feeling of saying one minute, "I'd die for you," and the next minute, "I don't know him."  I have made those commitments and I know the frustration of the inability to follow through.  I have no problem identifying with him.

For the past several weeks, I have worked really hard at trying to learn new things about Jesus in the readings and not necessarily about me.  When I started, I wanted to see him more clearly.  In this section, I want to understand Jesus more clearly.  I locked into verse 33 when Peter responds to Jesus words of warning to them, "Master, I'm ready for anything with you.  I'd go to jail for you.  I'd die for you."  Isn't this what every leader wants to hear?  Don't you know you are a good leader when your followers tell you this?  Jesus does something, I'm not sure I would have done.  He knows that Peter wants to believe what he is saying, but he also knows that Peter cannot follow-through with his promise.  In fact, he knows that before the next day, Peter will break it.  It would be easy to read into Jesus' words a bit of "Yeah, whatever Peter, you won't even make it a day," but that is not what happened.  He starts with this little phrase, "I say to you."  This phrase is a deeper connection to Peter.  The Message translates the phrase as "I'm sorry to have to tell you this," and I believe that gets more to the heart of Jesus' response.  He was disappointed and his love for Peter was no less because he knew what would happen.  I like that...a lot.

Then later in v61, after Peter's three denials, Luke says that Jesus "turned and looked" at Peter.  Not with anger nor with pity.  The little phrase here is also important to understand Jesus better.  The phrase is used metaphorically when someone looks at another with the mind.  In a very real essence, Jesus was looking into Peter, not just at Peter.  Jesus knew what Peter had been through and he knew what Peter would become.  I believe that this "look" had a sense of hope in it for Peter, and that made it even worse for him at that moment.

I want to be this way.  I want to have this sort of love for people around me.  When you screw up, I want to look at you this way - not with disappointment, not with anger, not with I-told-you-so, but with hope.  God has bigger plans for you than your failures yesterday, today or even tomorrow.  His gaze into you is filled with hope and promise for tomorrow.  Maybe you've never seen a look like that.  Maybe you've never been told, "It doesn't matter...I love you anyway."  If that's true, my prayer for you is that Father will show you that through someone today.

Luke 11 :: If You Can't Say Something Good...

Luke 11

I was no different than most kids I know.  When I was a kid my mom used to tell me, "If you can't say something good, don't say it at all."  I may have even thought, at one point, that this was one of those "bible verses" that aren't found in the bible.  But Jesus didn't seem to follow this teaching.  At the end of Luke 11, Jesus appears to be fed up with the religious leaders.  His harshest words up to this point are not given to a thief, a prostitute or a murderer.  Nope.  They have been reserved for good, religious people - the Pharisees.  These were the ministers of the day.  As a pastor today, I must look closely at these words that Jesus had for these people.

Check out the list of warnings Jesus gives to these strict, religious people:

• Hypocricy - v39-41
• Inequality - v42
• Pretentiousness - v43
• Impossible Demands - v46
• Intolerance - v47-51
• Exclusiveness - v52

Did you know that Pharisees were originally a group of normal, laymen, who desired to separate themselves from impure things and people?  I believe that their original intent was not much different than the small group of guys who go and meet for breakfast every week to help ensure that each one is living the standard to which Christ calls us.  Eventually these men became leaders in their faith.  Once there they began to impose on people things that Jesus never meant to be imposed.  I am blown away by the intensity in the words of Jesus.

All of us struggle with each of these things, don't we?  We can't really cast stones at the Pharisees because our own behavior often looks very similar.  Underneath the strong language of Jesus, is a man with a very deep connection to the people the Pharisees are offending.  The value that those people have to Jesus is what causes him to be so stern.  I see a bit of a momma-bear image at the protection Jesus has for the poor and the vulnerable.  This has been consistent in the life of Jesus from the very beginning.

How are we to respond?  Are we advocates for the poor and the suffering?  Are we standing up for the rights of people who cannot stand?  Are we creating opportunities for everyone to come to Jesus, in spite of their bondage to sin today?

Remember that Luke is the same man, who in Acts 15, recorded James' speech to the Jerusalem church, where he said “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. (19)" 

Luke 3 :: Now & Later

Luke 3

As I read through the first six verses today, I was reminded of these:

Do you remember these candies of greatness?  The problem I had with the Now & Later was that when you put the candy in your mouth NOW, you sure weren't going to finish it until LATER.  Those candies were hard.  Now they have soft versions of the candy that is much better.  But what does that have to do with the first six verses of Luke?  Glad you asked.

The baby born in chapter one is now grown up and making quite a stir along the Jordan River (I'm sure Cameron has a story about standing right where John preached!).  He underlines his message of life-change and the forgiveness of sins with words from the Old Testament prophet, Isaiah:

Thunder in the desert! 

"Prepare God's arrival! 

Make the road smooth and straight! 

Every ditch will be filled in, 

Every bump smoothed out, 

The detours straightened out, 

All the ruts paved over. 

Everyone will be there to see 

The parade of God's salvation."

When Isaiah wrote these words for the Israelites, there was no Messiah on the horizon.  The Messiah was not in a back room and just about to bust onto the scene.  When they heard these words, they were definitely LATER.

So now John is quoting these words, but the people have heard this already.  They had been longing for this day to come and no one had spoken a word from God for 400 years.  The people hearing this did not know anything but anticipation and now they are being told that what they have been waiting for all this time is now here.  We know that the Messiah was in their midst, but they didn't know that.  For them, it may have been, "Yeah right.  We've heard this before."  It's still LATER, but it's really NOW and they just don't know it yet.

When we read it today, we may be tempted to hear it like they did - as LATER, also.  When Jesus comes back he will smooth the roads, fill in ditches, smooth out bumps, straighten out detours, pave ruts over...what a parade that will be!  For us the LATER is definitely the NOW... & LATER.

I love this because this is what makes the good news good news.  We don't have to wait until we die, but Jesus brought the kingdom of heaven here to earth and our eternity.  Because of Jesus, we don't have to settle for potholes and detours, in hope for a better tomorrow LATER.  We can have a better today.  The hungry can get food NOW, the thirsty can get water NOW, the captive can be set free NOW, the blind can see NOW, the crippled can walk NOW.  That's good news.

But why do we still settle for potholes and detours?  It doesn't appear to be about Jesus as much as it is about us.  There are definitely things that seem to be LATER things, but I'm afraid that by focusing on LATER that we may be missing out on the NOW.  How can we be about the Father's business on earth as it is in heaven?  

But those are just my ramblings for today.  What did you see?

If you want to dialogue, but don't want to post, feel free to email me here.

Luke 2 :: Pigeons and a Prophet

Luke 2

I have experienced forty-one Christmases.  I could have easily resigned myself to reading through chapter 2 and getting it out of the way early.  But, I wanted something new.  I wanted to see something differently than I had every other time I had read this chapter, or had it read to me during a Christmas Eve service.  I expected something a little more this time.  And I wasn't disappointed.  Two things jumped out at me that had never done so before.

First, verses 21-24:

21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived. 22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”

I always thought that 22 and 21 happened on the same day.  Today, I discovered that there was a 33 day gap between these two verses.  When a child was circumcised, the mother was declared unclean for 33 days (66 days if she had a girl - I know, it seemed odd to me too).  At the end of the 33 days, was a purification ceremony where the mother would offer her child to God as a sacrifice, then, in essence, purchase him back with an offering.  If the family were wealthy, they would offer a lamb, but if they were poor, they would offer two dove or pigeons.  How incredible that the Son of God only required 2 doves or pigeons!  This is just one more instance of God's insistence of the Savior of the World being firmly rooted in the world - everything from here would be a step up.  He is rooting the identity of the King into the poor and the desolate - whether it be a feeding trough or two pigeons.  This King is different.

Second, verses 33-38:

36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then had been a widow for eighty-four years. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

Up until the angel appeared to Zechariah in chapter one, it had been 400 years since God had spoken.  400 years!  Think about that for a second.  400 Years!  Nothing.  I cannot fathom the silence of God for that long.  I may feel like God doesn't speak to me over a period of time, but during that time, I can see that God is speaking to others.  This was not that way.  This prophet, Anna, is a woman - a widow for 84 years!  Talk about feeling that your prayers are bouncing off a ceiling.  She had been a faithful anticipator of the coming of the Messiah in dead silence for her whole life.  Now, she hears!  Now, she sees!  Now, she thanks God and told everyone else who was waiting for the Messiah.  How many times do I feel like cashing in when I don't hear from God for a few weeks when I am searching?

I believe Luke includes the story of Anna for a couple of reasons.  I believe that he wants to set the tone for Jesus' view of women and the value of the widow.  We will see this occur more throughout the life and ministry of Jesus, but for now, it's just a hint of what is to come.  I also believe that Luke highlighted the value of patience and active waiting.  Anna did not waiver in her anticipation for the Messiah, even though her life had been hard and long.  Her consistency allowed her to see clearly when the day did arrive.

What about you?  Did you learn something about Jesus today?  Did you learn something about you?

Have a great day!

Romans 15:17-22

Romans 15:17-22 (The Message and TNIV)

"I have no interest in giving you a chatty account of my adventures, only the wondrously powerful and transformingly present words and deeds of Christ in me that triggered a believing response among the outsiders." v18

If anyone had reason to tell stories of his adventures, it would have been Paul.  However, it is a bit refreshing to read his words and hear behind them a humility that deflects any personal accolades and puts the spotlight squarely on the work of Christ in the "outsiders."  I've often wondered what it was that kept Paul so focused on his calling that he could endure all of the suffering for the sake of the Message, and I think I see a glimpse here.

When the story is always about us, the end approaches rather quickly.  We get discouraged and we lose sight of the ultimate Hero.  When the story is about Christ and his works and his deeds, then there is an endless supply of encouragement, hope and empowerment to do what he has called us to do.

I know this to be true, but I am still trying to find the secret to keeping the story about Him and not about me.  I still struggle every day with making the main story my story.  How about you, are you finding ways to win occasionally and find some of that encouragement and hope and empowerment?

Romans 15:8-13 :: A Good Bridge

Romans 15:8-13 (The Message and TNIV)

My reading came a little late today, but I still got there and I'm glad that I did.  I like music and I particularly like songs with a good bridge.  The song I am singing often throughout my days is "I Will Follow" by Chris Tomlin.  We did this song for the first time at our last gathering.  I like every word of the song, but I particularly like the bridge.  There is something about singing the words "If this life I lose, I will follow you" followed by the bridge: "In You there's life everlasting/In You there's freedom for my soul/In You there's joy, unending joy/ And I will follow."  I love the build that a good bridge gives to an already good song.

For me todays reading is like a good bridge.  I like how Paul has spent his whole letter pointing out how the work of Christ has made us all equal.  No one is better than the other.  No insiders or outsiders, just people in need of God.  Now he points us to what could be - when insiders and outsiders come together!

As I read this, I think about where I live and who I am still separated from because of my own prejudices and arrogance.  One day, we will worship together.  One day our differences will be put aside and our common voice will echo the renown of the One who has unified us.  What a day that will be!

Romans 11:11-15 :: Wrongs Turned Right

Romans 11:11-15

Matthew Henry says, “The gospel is the greatest riches of every place where it is.”  Paul is using the Israelite people to show the Gentiles that God takes even the worst of situations and turns them for good.  There failure was not fatal, and God will use it for even greater good when they return to their first love.

This is a pattern for God throughout history.  What we think should be counted as loss, Father turns to gain.  This picture of the Israelites is really a picture of human history.  The first humans, Adam and Eve, failed, but through them, God brought salvation to all of us.  David chose not to go to battle with his soldiers, saw a man’s wife bathing, had sex with her, then murdered her husband...then denied it even happening.  Can you imagine a world leader doing that today?  Yet, Scripture is clear to point that our Savior comes through the line of this very same David.  Then Christ, steps in and turns our failure around.  He sets everything right, while we are still wrong.  It really is amazing.

Do you still think it’s possible for God to redeem your wrongs, or do you think your mistakes are too big?  Do you have friends that struggle with Christianity, not because of God, but because of things they have done or are doing in their past?  This paralyzation is not from God, but from the enemy who desires nothing more than keep you from being who God wants you to be and living in the freedom of his setting-all-things-right.

I accidentally posted this portion yesterday.  My apology if it seemed to make no sense to you....

Have you ever thought about how the mistakes of some open the door for many other people sometimes?  I have talked to many people who came to a faith-based relationship with God later in their life who looked at another person as an incredible example because they could understand their mistakes because they had made them also.  If you have been prone to bad choices in your life, God can use those bad choices as an open door for others if you let him.  If he can do that with bad choices, imagine what he can do with right choices!

Don't Spoil the Surprise...

Romans 10:11-13 (The Message and TNIV)

This Sunday, I will be teaching from the readings for the next two days.  I'm going to save most of my thoughts until Sunday, but I do want to highlight this verse:

“No one who trusts God like this—heart and soul—will ever regret it.” (11)

What does this verse mean to you?  Whatever comes to your mind...  The TNIV puts it this way,

“Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” (11)

Thoughts?  Comments?

Romans 8:31-39 :: Unconditional means Without Conditions, Right?

Romans 8:31-39 (The Message and TNIV)

I love today's reading.  This is one of those passages in the bible that speaks into the darkest place of my heart.  That place where I feel inadequate to handle what is coming at me.  That part of me that feels like I can't go another day.  That part of me that wants to give up the fight.  If it bothers you that one of your pastors has that place in his heart, then you might want to stop reading now and move to another blog where a pastor doesn't.

For someone like me, the preceding verses about how God knows everything about us could be a little intimidating, considering the things I think in that place. What keeps it from being intimidated is right at the beginning of today's reading.  "With God on our side..."  No matter my failures, my insecurities, my own dysfunctional self, God is still on my side.  He's in my corner.  He has my back.  And no matter who or what stands up against me, he can kick their...yeah that's right, he can!  Nothing can come between his love for me and my lack of love for him.  Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture.  Do you hear that?

This carries some incredible weight in my life for two reasons: First, it impacts the way that I love myself.  Nothing I have done, am doing or will do can drive a wedge between me and his love for me.  Nothing.  Second, it impacts the way that I love others around me.  Nothing they have done, are doing or will do can drive a wedge between them and his love for them.  Nothing.  Therefore it shouldn't for me, either.

Can you imagine the splash we could make in the lives of others if we lived this out?  We live with wedges between us and others because of what they have done, don't we?  Imagine if those were gone.  Imagine not having that twinge of discomfort when Muslim man enters the plane after you've taken your seat, because the wedge is gone.  Imagine not cracking a joke to your friends when a gay man walks in to the restaurant where you are eating, because the wedge is gone.

Imagine opening your home to your neighbors even thought they believe differently than your family, because the wedge is gone.  Imagine spending a weekend serving the less fortunate and most vulnerable, because the wedge is gone.  Imagine speaking the truth in love with your co-workers, because the wedge is gone.

What are you imagining being different because there is no wedge between others and your love for them?  What might be different if you realized that the wedge between you and God is completely gone?

Romans 8:18-30 :: "Easy for you to say..."

Romans 8:18-30 (The Message and TNIV)


There is much more in these verses than I want to cover in a blog post.  Three main topics make up these ten verses:  environmentalism (v19-21), suffering (v22-28) and election (v29-30).  Due to space here, I want to look specifically into the middle section and our response to suffering.  I may hit another one later today, though.

I think we have to back up to the beginning verse of the section to get the umbrella thought Paul lays over his explanation.  I personally like the TNIV better here, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”  It’s easy to get caught viewing the grand story God is writing from a lower perspective.  One that sees life from the underside - the sickness, the sadness and the suffering.  We can be confident that no matter what we are going through now, it pales in comparison to what is coming.  What an incredible testament to hope.

Verse 28 may be one of the most often quoted and misused verses in all of the bible.  If I read it in the TNIV (“We know that in all things God works for the good...”), I have a bit of twitch.  That is the quote that gets thrown out when someone we love has just been diagnosed with cancer, been in a car accident, lost a child or some other instance that a Christian cannot explain.  It feels like a platitude that distances us from the suffering of others and offers an insufficient excuse for bad things happening.

Because of this, I’d much rather read from The Message.  He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our eager condition, and keeps us present before God.  That’s why we can be so sure that in every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good (27-28).  What an amazing hope.  We don’t have to sugar coat the bad things that happen in our lives.  When bad things happen, we can confess that life sometimes sucks and we don’t always have an answer.  We can sit with a friend and mourn with them and let them bear their grief.  In the end, we know that God can take a terrible situation and manipulate it for good in the life of someone who has trusted their life to him.  He always works “every detail” into something good, but we sometimes have to wait to see it.

Is my assessment of verse 28 fair?  Have you found comfort in this verse in times of suffering personally?  Maybe you have offered this verse to someone else in their suffering.  What was their response?  If a person does not have a “love for God,” do you think God is not working the details of their life into something good?

Feel free to focus on another of the sections in this passage.  Maybe God wants you to wrestle and engage with something different today.

Romans 7:21-25 :: Law of God and law of sin

Romans 7:21-25 (The Message and TNIV)

Paul is now bringing this issue to a close.  In these verses he is clearly summarizing what has gone before in chapter seven.  Paul sees two laws at war in his life - the divine law of God and the law of sin.  He sees himself as a captive in this war and that he clearly does not have total victory.  The depths of Paul’s situation can be heard in the statement, “I’ve tried everything and nothing helps.  I’m at the end of my rope.”

There are points where Paul seems to be leading us somewhere.  Issuing rhetorical questions to create a yearning in us for the answer.  No doubt, Paul understood the struggles personally, but there definitely appears to be a destination to his questions.  Is there no one who can do anything for me?  Isn’t that the real question?

In verse 25, Paul removes the curtain with a huge “Tada!”  The answer is that Jesus Christ can and does.  Jesus is the one who acted to set things right for us with God.

So Jesus does what we can’t do on our own.  Jesus does what the law couldn’t do.  Jesus makes everything right.  Really?  How?  Since becoming a Christ-follower have all these struggles disappeared in your life?

Romans 3:21-24 :: Facebook and Faith

Romans 3:21-24 (The Message and TNIV)
Romans Reading Plan

But in our time something new has been added.  I like this but...I cannot lie.  Okay, maybe that wasn't the way you wanted to start your Monday morning, but c'mon...laugh a little!  Seriously though, I have been waiting for this small three-letter word since day one of our reading through Romans.  This is where it all turns.  This is where we are introduced to hope.  This is where the bridge is built and reconnections are made.

Do you remember life before Facebook?  You know that life where you simply wondered what your friends from high school were doing, but didn't want to exert the effort to track anyone down.  FB made it easy to reconnect with friends that we have lost touch with over the years.  Reconnections are great (in most instances).  One of the things I like about going to see my in-laws is the fact they live in the town where I spent 6-12 grades.  I always see old friends when I go back and when I get to see that one friend I haven't seen or heard from in 20 plus years, it's really nice.

Paul is introducing us to an opportunity to reconnect.  For nearly three whole sections, Paul has built a case that no one is good enough to be reconnected to God.  We all start out in the same boat, at the same starting line, with the same problem - sin separates us from God.  Now we have a chance, though, to reconnect because "something new has been added.

The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us.  We have seen that the Law was given to show us our sin, but it didn't fix it.  The Law simply showed all of us that none of us are capable of "setting things right" between us and God.  We can't make a phone call or send an email on this one.  That said, God provided Jesus to do what we could not and cannot do.  We were "incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us," so He did it for us.  He put Jesus in our place.  No Jesus' rightness is accredited to us.  By putting our trust and life in Jesus, we can reconnect with God.

He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be.  ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!  What a way to start my day and my week!  This is a reconnection that changes everything.  It changes me.  It can change you.  How did he get us out of the mess?  The work of Jesus Christ, while here on this earth, is the means for our reconnection and our trust and faith in him and his way for us is our way of receiving it.  At the risk of sounding cheesy, God has sent every one of us a "friend request" and it sits in our inbox waiting an action - to accept or to ignore.

In the next few days we are going to dive deeper into the sacrifice Christ made on our behalf and why that was the only option for our reconnection to Father.  For today, what is it about today's reading that makes you pause?  Does any of this make you smile?

Romans 2:5-11 :: Real Life Awaits

Romans 2:5-11

Paul is not letting up.  Can you feel Paul shaking you?  "Wake up, wake up!"  This sense of entitlement is viewed by Paul as a direct enemy to the early church.  He is making it crystal clear that it doesn't matter where you are from or where you've gone to school or who your parents are, but that each one of us has a responsibility for our own pursuit of life.

We aren't entitled to anything either.  Just because we are part of a church plant, or live in the bible belt or because our parents took us to church.  We have a responsibility to seek and find on our own.  I was reminded of a bumper sticker that reads, "Christians aren't perfect, just forgiven."  While the statement may be true, the arrogance that can accompany that statement is what Paul is fighting.  "Just forgiven" implies that we can be imperfect and it doesn't matter because Christ's forgiveness entitles us to a free all-you-can-sin buffet.  This is not the case.

My favorite line in this passage comes at the very end..."God pays no attention to what others say (or what you think) about you.  He makes up his own mind (v11)."  That rocks in so many ways.

Anyone Getting Excited?

Today, we had our weekly staff meeting and as we discussed what we have been reading in Romans, it got me excited about where we are heading this fall.  I was wondering if any of you were also anxiously expecting something?

Check out these two passages:

"As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth:  it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." 

- Isaiah 55:10-11 (TNIV)

"For the word of God is alive and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." 

- Hebrews 4:12 (TNIV)

If we really believe the bible to God's written word to us, then we must believe these words to be true.  If we believe these words to be true, then an embarking on a book like Romans must be met with some sort of anticipation, right?

What are you anticipating?

Acts 28 :: Finale Week

Acts 28 in The Message and TNIV translations

It's only fitting that we get to Chapter 28 in the middle of Finale Week, right?  Sunday night, all the Lost questions were answered.  Monday night, Jack ran off into the sunset.  Tuesday night, Gibbs came back from Mexico and is in a pickle.  Last night, Lee DeWyze took home the prize.  For me personally, not one of those finales lived up to the hype.  Each time I was left wanting more - more action, more answers, more resolved.

Chapter 28 of Acts isn't much different for me.  I read the chapter and finished wanting more - more action, more answers and more resolved.  I wanted to see Paul before Caesar - that's what we've been waiting for isn't it?

That said, I did have one phrase that rang out a little louder than everything else as I read the chapter.  The phrase is found at the end of v. 20:  I'm a hostage here for hope, not doom.

Have you ever considered your current difficulties to be part of your life for hope?  Don't we often look at our difficulties and ask, "God, why me?"  We assume that our difficulties are here for our doom.  Paul saw things from a different perspective.  He saw that there was something out there that was much larger than his current circumstances.

Can you imagine how our lives would be different if we saw our "trials" as a means for hope?  How would those around us view us?  What kind of church would we be?  What kind of grace would we lavish out on others?  I want that.

Hope:  I can cope with the difficulties of life and death because of the hope I have in Jesus Christ.

Acts 25 :: Politics, Politics

Acts 25 in The Message and TNIV translations

I feel like I am watching a bad episode of Law & Order.  We are getting the courtroom scenes, but none of the investigation going on with the detectives who are trying to prove the truth.  In every scene, the prosecution offers up "evidence," the defendant says "Objection," and the ruling official says "Sustained."  Nothing sticks, nothing is found, nothing happens.

There is a line in chapter 24 relating to Felix and how he was trying to handle the Paul-situation.  In verse 22, Luke writes, "But uncertain of his best move politically, he played for time."  It seems that this has been  the decision every time.  Nobody views the truth as a good "political move."  The Jews are powerful...too powerful.  The state is being run by the church and the church is corrupt - actually blind to the truth.

Today, we are reintroduced to Festus - he was the wavering official back in Jerusalem.  He gets a second chance to get this thing right.  He gets to Caesarea and finds that this old case is back in his lap.  Still not wanting to deal with it, he offers to send Paul back to Jerusalem, but Paul says no thanks and would rather gain the audience of Caesar.  Before sending Paul to Caesar, King Agrippa visits.  The King agrees to hear Paul's side of the story.  So the scene is set and the story will be told one more time.  How will this one end?  We'll see in the next chapter.

At this point in our reading, the story seems to have outgrown the chapters.  "Lather, rinse and repeat" is what I keep feeling.  The same Paul, a different court and the same result: back in prison."  The story, however is about to reach its climax.  I can feel it coming down to a close.  I can see the collision between good and evil.

Acts 13 :: Long Conversations

Acts 13 in The Message and TNIV translations

The most obvious stand out for me this morning as I read chapter 13 was Paul's clear presentation of the Gospel - the Good News of Jesus...the rescuing of a father's children.  I thought as I read that, "Where has that message gone?"  I thought of the unofficial church growth mantra for planning messages, "There three things people want to hear about:  sex, end times and will there be sex in the end times?"  Our messages as churches have been reduced to our needs as people and often not given any more power than Dr. Oz's latest visit to the Oprah show.  I wonder how our church will be different if the Gospel was central in all of our teachings...

The less obvious stand out is continuing to ring in my ear.  In verse 43, Paul and Barnabas hung around talking with people after Paul's message and "urged them in long conversations to stick with what they started, this living in and by God's grace."  As a conversationalist, I love this.  There is nothing I like better than sitting down and having a good long conversation with someone about things that matter - like endurance and grace.  The problem for me is that my time doesn't allow for this.  I have worked myself into a dilemma, one that you may also be familiar with.  I have no margin.  I get up early, go to the office early, work later than I plan, get home and start on job #2.  I do make time to eat with my family and have a little time with them before putting them to bed and moving on to job #3.  I go to bed tired and I wake up tired, only to start the whole day over again.  I tell myself this is just a season, but how long does a "season" last before it becomes a "lifestyle"?  This hasn't always been the case.

With little discipline and perhaps more prayer, I believe that my choices can be better made to create the desired margin - space for long conversations, space to sit and visit with you perhaps and space to share the important things in life with others - again.

What are your stand-outs from this chapter?

Matthew11::Unforced Rhythms of Grace

Matthew11

How could this paragraph not stand out to me this morning?

28-30"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

I often find it easy to complain.  Easy to complain about the state of Christianity today, the state of the local church and the state of my life.  Underneath the criticism lies an honest exhaustion though.  I have been a Christian for 30 years, so I should be hitting my prime with this following-Jesus-thing, right?  Instead, when it comes to faith, I am more often tired and worn out than I am refreshed and rejuvenated.  I find myself longing to get away - not always to get away with Jesus, but to just get away.  I need Jesus to show me how to recover my life, how to take a real rest.  I need to learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I want a faith that fits me correctly and isn't so heavy.  I want to live freely and lightly.

Is this kind of life possible?  Are you experiencing it?  There are moments and seasons where I live in this. Everything seems to work.  I'm not talking about everything being good because some of these times have included difficulties in my life of some sort - sick friend, death of a family member, loss of a job, etc..  It's easy to mistake unforced rhythms of grace for prosperity.  The bible talks about us sharing in the fellowship of Christ's sufferings - not sure about you, but I don't like suffering and fellowship together.  When it's all working the way God intended, it's good.  When it's not, I find that it's an issue with me - with my view, with my position or with my expectation.

What is it that is good?  For me it's good when I find myself wanting to talk to Father.  It's good when I find myself satisfied by His Word.  It's good when I see Father working in little things around me, like in the grocery store or at the park.  It's good when I experience the presence of Christ in the midst of difficult days.  It's good when I rest in His provision for my life instead of longing for more.  It's good.

What about you?  Have you ever experienced these unforced rhythms of grace?  When is it good for you?  

Core Virtue :: HOPE

I can cope with the hardships of life and with death because of the hope I have in Jesus Christ.

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 6:19-20

Great ancient civilizations often used the metaphor of an anchor, but only here do we find it in the New Testament. A ship that is firmly anchored is safe from drifting idly in the ocean - position and safety are secure. For the Christ-follower, our hope is a stabilizing force in our lives. Hope is not simply wishful thinking, like "I hope the Astros can win a game against the Rangers." This hope that the writer of Hebrews is referring to is the hope of a re-established relationship with God through the sacrifice of Jesus. This hope is as real to us as the promise of God was for the Jews. The hope/promise of a new relationship with the God of all gods is the hope that allows us to cope with the hardships of life and with death.

Over the past year, we have buried two grandmothers, a friend's father, and a friend's unborn baby. Death is on thing that has the tendency to strip us of our hope for tomorrow. Normally this only lasts for a while, but in extreme cases hope can be lost for much longer and can become debilitating. When I was in high school, I had a good friend lose her grandfather. She was close to him and was taking the loss very hard. One night, I took her out to our local hospital, and we went to the nursery. We spent about half an hour watching the babies move wiggle and cry and sleep. When one life ends on this earth, there is inevitably one new life beginning. I told her that there is no place where we see more hope than in newborn babies. For those of us trying to find hope in the darkness of real life, hope is the light that lets us really see. The same is true for the hardships of life.

What coping mechanisms do you use to get through dark days of real life? Are you letting the sacrifice of Jesus be the anchor that your drift-prone soul needs?

Other competencies related to Hope :: Salvation by Grace, Personal God, Giving Away My Life

KidsKreed :: I am trusting that with God the best is yet to come!

Talk to your kids about God being in control. Ask them questions about what things worry them and how that makes them feel. Assure them that Jesus cares about them and our hope is in Him, not in the circumstances we find ourselves. We are not going to be okay because things are good in our life, and we are not going to die because things are not good in our life. In spite of the circumstances, God is in control and we can trust that.

Core Practice::Single-Mindedness

I focus on God and His priorities for my life.

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

Matthew 6:33 (TNIV)

Ever heard a sentence that just didn't seem to give you enough information? I feel this way about Matthew 6:33. But? But what? All these things? All what things? As well? As well as what? This is simply a verse that begs us to read the verses before it. So...

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life ?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Well okay, now we've got something significant to discuss. But gives a contrast between two worldviews. First, is the world of the pagans who ruthlessly pursue selfish desires of the flesh with no regard to anyone or anything but themselves. "What shall we eat?" "What shall we drink?" "What shall we wear?" This worldview is a consumptive view of everything. Get more, get more, get more. Everything is seen through the lens of today and how can we keep up with those around us. Today, this view manifests itself much the same way. Our families stretch themselves beyond their means in order to get certain things. "Where shall I live?" "Where shall my kids go to school?" "What shall I drive?" "What league will my kid play in?" "Where will we go on vacation?" These are just some of today's questions that rattle around within this world view. But...there is an alternative.

Jesus tells his followers to not pursue those things because he is faithful to provide you with what you need to live. He offers an alternative worldview. "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness," he says. The kingdom of God is now. It's seeing life through an eternal lens, rather than a temporary one. It's recognizing that what we do today is an investment in our future, the future of our family and the future of our community. God's kingdom is bigger than our experiences today. When we realize that, we are able to focus on His priorities for our lives. His righteousness has been offered to us. By focusing on his righteousness, we stop demanding perfection from ourselves and from others. His righteousness allows us to love others unconditionally. His righteousness allows us to experience his personal nature. His righteousness covers up our unrighteousness. His righteousness covers up our neighbors' unrighteousness.

Now we can relax. We don't have to be so uptight because we know that Father will take care of us. He will provide. This doesn't mean we cease to work, but it does allow us to break free from the tyranny of the temporary. Because we have a bigger view of our situations than just today, we can rest in the comfort of his priorities for our lives. Those priorities are seen throughout the pages of the Bible, as people embrace the Jesus way of life.

Single-Mindedness: Flows from the foundational belief that God is personal and that he cares about our daily lives. The fruit of single-minded living is found in the list of virtues.

Kid's Q&A:

Big Idea: I love God by focusing on His plan for me.

Hand Motion: Hands on sides of face around eyes signifying focus.

Have you ever had something that you couldn't get out of your mind? What was it? How did it affect you during the day? When we get something "stuck in our mind" it influences everything we do during the day.

How do you think focusing on God's plan for you would affect your day? It might change the way you answer your teacher when she asks you to do something. It might change your response when your parents say to clean your room. It might change the way you think about that video game that you "can't live without."

We can trust God's plan because He promises to take care of us. Just as the birds don't spend time worrying about their clothing or where they will get food, Jesus wants us to know that we don't have to worry about those things either. We focus on Him and He takes care of that stuff.