Sunday Recap - Caleb the Beast!

"The mountains shake before Him, the demons run and flee.
At the mention of the name 'King of Majesty'
There is no power in hell or any who can stand
Before the power and the presence of the great I AM!"

Hallelujah, Holy Holy
God Almighty, the great I AM
Who is worthy, none beside Thee
God Almighty, the great I AM.

My heart is still singing this today (and I occasionally let my voice participate)!  Worship is such a joy for me because when I have the opportunity to celebrate who God is and what God has done, my faith is strengthened and I am reminded of the totality of God.  It gives me courage, strength and peace.

As we read through Joshua last week, it seems that Joshua gets all the publicity as the leader of Israel and for having faith enough to call out for the sun to stand still.  But if you want another role model in faith, Caleb is a spiritual BEAST!  Caleb was with Joshua as a spy 40 years before when they had their first opportunity to take the promised land.  Even though he recognized that in that land there were giants who made them look like grasshoppers and strong fortified cities, he told the people not to be afraid.  They should go take the land because the Lord was with them.  They didn't listen to Caleb (and Joshua and Moses) and suffered for the next 40 years.

Now 45 years later (Caleb was 85 years old!), after the land was generally conquered Caleb was given his portion of the land.  It was the area of land in which the descendants of those very giants he saw all those years before still lived.  This octogenarian looked up in that hill country where the giants were and with great excitement went after those giants with everything he had.  Age didn't stop his zeal for the Lord, or his trust in the Lord.  That is the kind of faith I want, but oftentimes decide not to live.

Yes, that kind of faith is a decision.   It shows itself in action.  Not a foolish rush into the enemy's line, but the passionate actions of doing what God wants us to do.  With no excuses.  Just believing that what God would have us do is possible not because of us, but because of God.

 If God has planned it, God will empower it!

An Apprentice of Jesus,

Kevin

October 7 Recap

Thanks, Del, for the great job in bringing us to worship "The Famous One!"  Of course the horns and all the musicians and singers made it a special worship for me.  It is so important to celebrate our God, allowing us to remember what God has done!

And a special shout out to our tech team, YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!  Even in the craziness of technology going haywire, you kept calm and worked the problems.  Thanks for all of your hard work.

What do we do when God shows up?  We often think that we would cheer like we would for the conquering hero coming home.  Or perhaps we would bow in solemn respect.  Maybe even quake in fear like so many did in the scriptures when they came into the presence of God (maybe everyone in the Bible did this!)  And sometimes we weep.  How can we not when we come face-to-face with the hopelessness that we see all around us?

And yet we, much like the Israelites going to the promised land, are so focused on our own fears and insecurities that all we want (all we crave) is for God to take care of us and do all the work of our faith life.  We refuse to take hold of the promises given to us AND to work at the responsibilities given to us.  We have allowed discouragement and fear to drive our focus back onto ourselves.  We have decided that since our needs have not been met in the way we want that it would have been better if we were back in a different land following a different God.  We don't put it that way, but we do give ultimatums to God to meet our needs while we neglect to take the steps to live life God's way.  And we defiantly shake our fists at God and say, "We will not do what you have said!"

Why do we act this way?

• Fear drives us more than God's greatness
• Although we believe in God we do not TRUST God.
• We believe in a small God and live as if God cannot...
• Selfish Craving (sensuality) drive our decision-making.
• We end up being Monday morning quarterbacks for God's actions (or non-actions), as if we know more than God.
• We forget God!

 Will you trust God this week, or will you let other things drive your relationship with God?

An Apprentice of Jesus,  Kevin

Why Have Rules and Laws?

There are so many ways in which we legislate our lives with rules and laws.  For instance, diets create the laws, or boundaries, of what we can and cannot eat (although most of operate on the "see food" diet - if I can see it I eat it).  We decide what we can and cannot watch on television, how late we should stay up at night, how our day should be scheduled and what our friendships will look like.  These are all boundaries that we create. 

We cannot go anywhere without being under the watch care of boundaries set for us by laws, ordinances, regulations, religions or families.  Sometimes these are written laws (speed limits) or sometimes oral (you have to eat all your vegetables before you leave the table).  Driving (speed limits), workplaces (appropriate attire), eating establishments (no shirt, no shoes, no service) and parks (keep pets on a leash) all place boundaries on our lives.

Week 5 of the story offers a glimpse at not only what rules God has given for us to live by, but why we have those rules.  Imagine this new nation, now living on it's own after being slaves for hundreds of years, now building a community for living together.  They must have had at least unwritten rules for their life together in Egypt, but they were ruled by both the national rules of Egypt AND the slave masters who ruled over them with whips.  These were the models of what life together might look like now that they were on their own.

Along with that, if God was going to come and live with them (for the first time since Eden!), there needed to be an understanding how life was to be lived.  There has to be some common base of right and wrong.  How do we live life together in community?  Who decides these rules?

For Israel, God begins HIS community by creating the rules which will govern their lives.  As you read through them this week, and we talk about them on Sunday, we can see the wisdom and power of these boundaries for our lives.

An Apprentice of Jesus,

Kevin

Week Four Recap

Sunday was a good Sunday, but one of those where it seemed everyone was a little sleepy.  Thank you Jacob for leading worship.  And thanks to the whole tech team for all that you do each and every Sunday to make Sunday work.  There are so many people involved each and every Sunday and each one of them plays an important role in our gathering together.  THANK YOU TO EACH ONE OF YOU!

After seeing how God interacted with people during the Exodus (Chapters 1-17) I began to wonder what my interaction with God is usually like:

• Am I like Moses, who tried to talk God out of choosing him for a particular task, but ultimately said yes?
• Am I like Pharaoh, who saw the power of God but continued to fight against God?
• Am I like the people of Israel, who could never keep the memory of God's moving in their lives in front of them, so that when things did not go well their faith disintegrated into a cacophony of complaining?

I am sure I have responded to God in all of those ways during my life, but I hope that over time my responses to God have matured in the same way we have seen the faith of Abraham, Sarah, and Joseph mature over time.  If we do not see a maturing in our faith we need to be asking why this is so.

On this Tuesday I am praying for a maturing of my faith and yours.  God is as big and powerful as we have been reading during this past month.  Knowing that, and keeping that in front of us, is helpful in the maturing of our faith.

An Apprentice of Jesus,

Kevin 

Week Four - Moses

Tomorrow we look at the familiar events surrounding the Exodus.  There is so much to look at when we read about the story of God's deliverance of His people.  We usual preach or teach these events as separate events, but the more I understand God's upper story, the more they make sense as one story.  Everything that happens in Exodus 1-17 (and beyond) has to do with God working for the redemption of ALL people, even though God is seeking to free Israel from the Egyptians.

This part of the God's story deals with:

• God's calling of Moses to a specific task
• The power struggle between Pharaoh and God (is was only a struggle for Pharaoh)
• The painfully slow way the people of God would follow God whole-heartedly.
• Bringing back God's people to the promised land.

Tomorrow (Sunday) we will talk about this during worship and see how huge God is!

See You in the morning!

An Apprentice of Jesus,

Kevin

Week 3 Recap - Sept 16

Getting together at Judson is always a joy for me and worship is one of my passions.  So Sunday was great.  I appreciated the worship that Dave put together and loved Creig's song from "Joseph and the Amazing Technocolor Dreamcoat."  It really set up the story of Joseph for us.

It is so difficult for us to look at life through God's eyes.  I believe that what helped Joseph through his difficult times was an "upper Story" perspective.  God gave Joseph those dreams of a future which Joseph seemed to keep in front of him not make whose slave he was, nor what prison he was in.  He never seemed to curl up in a ball and quit, even when he ended up in prison for doing the right thing.

What do we do when things don't go well for us.  We complain, whine, get depressed (that's me!), ask God "why?", shake our fist at others and God, give up, fake it or even seek vengeance.  Of course we have our eyes on our own circumstances, lower story.  In Hebrews we are told to "run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith..."  What do you look toward during your difficult times?  Try looking at God's upper story, his plans, promises and purposes.  Life seems to be easier when we do that!

An Apprentice of Jesus,

Kevin 

Joseph Week 3

I am looking forward to tomorrow as Judson meets for worship.  Joseph will be our focus as God's Story is being revealed in the scriptures.  I wonder how often we feel that God's plans have been thwarted in our own lives by the evil of others, or by the temptations around us.  This is a sign of our own weak view of God.  Not only does God not see circumstances the way we do, but God is powerful enough to work creative solutions to the problems that we see as impossible to solve.

These 12 grandsons of Abraham didn't seem to always carry the same kind of faith that Abraham had, but God still had a covenant to keep and a plan to complete.  Nothing gets in the way of God completing His plans.

An Apprentice of Jesus,

Kevin

Another Awesome Week!

Sunday was exciting for the Mohrman family as Chris Mohrman (husband of Sherri) baptized two of their children: Katelyn Fazekas and Abby Mohrman!  Thank you Jeff for leading worship and all the Tech team people who had to deal with a number of glitches on Sunday.  We all appreciate your hard work!

In week 2 of the story God uses an elderly childless couple to begin His new nation.  It is beautiful to see the process of faith refined in Abraham and Sarah.  They had their roughest times of faith when they focused on only the story around them, what they could see and experience.  They sometimes didn't take into account that God is working in ways we don't anticipate.  And our greatest moments of faith come when we really trust that God will accomplish HIS purposes in HIS time by HIS power.  We, like Abraham and Sarah, sometimes think we have a better plan than God.  Why do we think we know better than God?

The good news is that God is patient as our faith is refined.  We don't have to stay in the place we are in faith.  Is there something that you can do today that is a step of faith in GOD'S plan for you?  Don't fear.  Don't doubt.  Don't change God's plan.  Just take that one step and see what happens.

An Apprentice of Jesus,

Kevin

God Builds a Nation - Week 2

I always look forward to Sundays.  It's just about the worship, but about being WITH God's people and seeing how Judson seeks to encourage all who come.  Looking ahead to this Sunday we have another baptism during the second service (awesome!), and will focus on Week 2 of the Story - God Builds a Nation, which is the events surrounding Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

That is a lot of material to cover in one morning (all the more reason to be involved in a connect or community group), but we will focus on the agreement, or covenant that God makes as he seeks to create a people who will be a blessing to all other people.  As the Old Testament continues to tell the story we will see how difficult it was for the people in God's nation to see themselves in this way.  They saw themselves as set apart for protection, not set apart for blessing others.  Sounds a little like the church, doesn't it?

When God calls us it is so easy to begin to have a sense of entitlement (You owe me, God) and isolation (I don't want to be around bad people).  We see the first part of the covenant - "I will bless you and make your name great," but forget the second part - "in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."  There becomes a tendency to ask God to continue to bless us, but a failure to ask God to bless all the families around us.  Even good Christians seem more concerned with what we receive from God than what God wants to do for others who are currently away from God.

Well, there is so much more we learn through this part of the story.  This is God's story.  How is your story connecting with God's story?

A Good Beginning

Sunday was a chaotic day of worship!  Thanks to Caris and her team for leading us and the Diaconate for all of the work they did with communion, baptism and praying for people.  Congratulations to Charles Schultz, Daniel Smith and Matt Nolan on their baptisms!  Make sure you pray for those who were sitting near you on Sunday.  We are in this journey together!

We looked at the beginning of Creation through the fall and then to the Flood, understanding that these events that are described are not just written to tell us what happened, but why things are the way they are.  Haven't you looked around and asked how things have gotten to be so horrible?  Where is God in the midst of all the evil that is in our world?  The first 9 chapters of Genesis reveal the answers to these questions, and begin to look ahead to God's answers for these problems.

We already have seen how easy it is for we humans to decide we know better than God what we need.  We eat that fruit from the garden daily knowing it causes death, yet rationalizing that God must not have meant it since the fruit is pleasing to our eyes, smells great and is good for food.  We quickly turn to our own desires and talk ourselves into thinking that it is God's will for us.  How wrong we are and the consequences are devastating.

But God does have a way for us.  We don't need to stay in this place.  The best that we can offer will not be enough to save us.  Adam and Eve were perfect and blew it.  Noah was blameless and fell short.  But God is working to bring all people back to him, with a great deal of patience.

The beginnings explain the predicament we find ourselves in and help us to understand why the world is in this place.  We also can see that God is working, even when we don't see anything happening.  Hang in their as you walk through this week.

An Apprentice of Jesus,

Kevin

Beginnings

The beginning.  Where every story starts is the beginning.  We try to be artistic and begin in the middle and do flashbacks, but the middle of the story makes no sense without the beginning.  So the beginning is where we begin as we look at God's story, and how our story connects to God's story.  This first week we look at three main parts of the Story:

1. Creation
2. Decreation
3. Destruction

Everything else in God's Story comes back to these events. 

• Knowing there is a creator gives us a completely different understanding of the world and the purposes of humanity.  
• Knowing that humans are designed with the image of God makes humanity different than all other animals, possessing the possibility of a relationship with the One whose image we bear and holding the responsibilities that go with that relationship.
• Knowing that the best of humanity can fail reminds us that we cannot save ourselves but we need a Savior.
• Knowing that there is consequence to disobedience should remind us of the seriousness with which we need to listen to God's words to us.

The foundations of the world lay with these events.  As we seek to understand these events, the issues of our day will make much more sense.

The Story Begins...

At Judson we begin a 31-week chronological journey through the Bible, with the goal to help individuals know more intimately God's story, and how to align our Story with God's story.  Each week I will be blogging twice - early in the week as a recap of the past week's message and later in the week to look ahead to the next chapter of God's Story.

I find it quite interesting that God's story begins with God creating all things culminating in the creation of man in God's image, and yet man spends so much time trying to create God in man's image.  I often hear people describing God and God's desires for our lives in contradiction to the Bible, which is our canon, or measure and rule of faith. We think God should be like this.  Or we feel that God would do that.  And yet, those same people would not read the Bible.  And if they did they will often shrug off the passages that contradict their understandings and focus on what they think or feel. 

One quick glance at the Old Testament and you would see a consistent message not to create or follow Gods of our own making.  We may not carve images of wood or stone and physically bow down to them, but we do follow the gods we create based on what we want God to be like.  Maybe it is time to read the whole story so that instead of creating and re-creating God to fit into our story the way we want, we can discover God's story and align our story to God's Story.

This week's readings are: Genesis 1-4 and Genesis 6-9.

John 9-10

Jesus again tells us he is the light of the world, right before he opens the darkened eyes of a blind man,  which helps the man to see but doesn't give him complete clarity about what happened.  This man doesn't know where Jesus is and guesses that he is a prophet.  The only thing he is sure about is that before he met Jesus he was blind.  After he met Jesus he could see.  And that alone, with no other theological argument, is enough for this man to believe and follow Jesus.  More than that, it is enough for him to invite these religious leaders to also follow Jesus.  Why do we feel we do not have a story to tell or the confidence to invite others to Jesus?

It is also evident to me that Jesus understanding of life is different that how we often view life.  Abundant life mentioned in verse 10 has nothing to do with riches and "stuff."  It is all about the kind of life Jesus showed to us: where the blind are made to see and light shines in dark places.  It is a life in which wine can flow from water jars and truth can set us free.  The kind of life where you get more life when you give your life away.  I am sure most of us have not fully understood the kind of life that Jesus would have us live.  Fortunately, we can change.  Right?

John 7-8

Chapter 7 really deals with the conflicts with the Pharisees in that Jesus seeks to avoid the confrontation as much as possible.  He is not seeking it out, but recognizes the desire of some to kill him.  The Pharisees even attempt to have him arrested, but as Jesus teaches those sent to arrest him are impressed with Jesus so they decided not to arrest him.  Nicodemus also speaks up to defend Jesus to an extent when he reminds the other leaders that a man must first be given a hearing before being judged.  It is interesting that those who claim to be those who keep the law, turn away from the law when it doesn't suit their purposes.

In Chapter 8 we get another glimpse of the theme of light and darkness when Jesus says, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life."  But I also love the story of the woman caught in adultery as it gives us a clue as to how we should treat people who are caught in sin: not a public spectacle, but the offering of forgiveness and the call to not sin any more.  In a legalistic way the Pharisees were right to stone her.  But the heart of the law reveals God's desire to have behavior corrected, not simply punished.  Punishment is easy.  Correction and walking with the repentant is much more difficult.

John 5-6

As the crowds got bigger, Jesus got more concerned.  He understood that he was being followed for the wrong reasons.  People didn't understand.  They wanted to make him king by force - to overthrow the government.  They wanted Jesus to fit into their picture of Messiah as a world leader.  And when Jesus perceived this, he went on the attack and taught them more plainly.  He never trusted himself to the crowd. 

And the crowd left, leaving the twelve disciples standing there alone shocked at the turn of events.  Just 24 hours before they were basking in the glory of the miraculous feeding of 5000 people who were ready to go to war for Jesus.  Now everyone was gone.  The disciples themselves may have had their doubts.  But Peter answered Jesus' question about whether they wanted to also leave by saying, "You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and come to know that you are the Holy One of God."  Their belief was stronger than the miracles and the peer pressure to renounce Jesus. 

How do you answer Jesus question, "Do you want to go away as well?"

John 3-4

I like the description that Jesus gives concerning his coming and how people will respond to him: "The light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light..."  Although we may see the light as a positive thing for our lives, for those who are trying to hide things, the light is a bad thing.  Jesus may be rejected and they will continue on their way.  John the Baptizer said it this way: "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him."  There will always be people who do not believe.  But we need to keep shining the light to those around us.

There is, however, a strong focus on belief in these two chapters.  Many Samaritans believed and the official whose son was healed believed, along with his whole household.  Jesus ministry seems to be gaining momentum and if you were reading the story without knowing the ending you would think that thing could not ever get bad, except for a little foreshadowing when Jesus left the area near Jerusalem because the Pharisees had heard that he was making more disciples than John.  There is a sign that warns us of danger ahead.

John 1-2

John's gospel has a completely different feels from the other gospels.  From the beautiful flowing words of 1:1-14, we see a little different perspective of Jesus.  John begins not with healings and forgiveness offered, which challenging the religious leaders understandings of faith and encouraging everyone else, but with calling disciples, a miracle involving wine at a wedding and then an in-your-face clearing of the temple of all the religious trappings which change the feel (and purpose) of the temple courts.  This pictures more of Jesus on the attack, rather than Jesus just doing ministry and the religious leaders try to put him down.

But the focus John's gospel is in the first chapter in which he describes Jesus as the light come into the world.  No matter what happens, the darkness cannot extinguish the light.  Even at the darkest points of ministry the light still shines.  Even at the crucifixion the light still shines. 

The chapter describes Jesus as Word always existing and becoming flesh to dwelling with man.  This affirmation of Jesus divinity is important not just in fighting the Gnostics of Jesus' day, but in talking about Jesus today.  Jesus is not just a good teacher who challenged the religious leaders of the day.  He is God.  And in that there can be no compromise.

Luke 22-24

It seems that Jesus is always having to remind the disciples who he is and what he has come to do (and be).  The disciples were trying to redefine Jesus in their own image of what the Messiah should be, in the same way the Pharisees and other leaders of the Jews were doing.  It must have been hard for them to have their whole understanding of the Messiah be uprooted and changed. 

One example is Jesus needing to deal with their dispute of who is the greatest among themselves (We've never seen that in a bunch of Christians have we?)  I guess it must be part of our nature to desire the positions of authority and to compare ourselves with one another. The disciples were already molding the movement of Jesus into the pattern of contemporary religious renewal movements and structures.   Jesus answer is classic: "I am among you as the one who serves." (v. 27)  Servanthood is the key, not authority.

After Jesus was raised from the dead, the disciples again tried to redefine Jesus by telling the women that they were telling an idle tail, even though Jesus told them on at least three occasions that he would rise from the dead.  Jesus had already given them the model of resurrection, but they were changing the model to something they could control and understand. 

They were learning, though, and did stay in the city until the received Power from on high.  (We'll have to wait for that story for the book of Acts)  How easy it is for us to create God in our own image, to make God more digestible for us.  But when we do that, we might miss out on the amazing things that God wants to do. 

Luke 20-21

As someone listening in to the conversations between Jesus and the religious leaders of the day, the rebel in me admires Jesus in your face style of not succumbing to the temptation to please everyone.  I admire it because, as a middle child, my tendency is to try and please everyone.  I don't want anyone angry with me.  But that often leads to doing and saying things that comprise what should really be done or taught.

There are others who are able to not worry about pleasing others.  When we are like this, we should not be surprised when we are crucified ourselves.  Jesus was honest and forthright with people, and really with an "in-your-face" attitude sometimes.  It did cost him his life, though.

It is easy to see and understand why these leaders wanted to get rid of Jesus.  They saw Jesus as teaching something wrong and you are to remove the wrong teaching from your presence.  The problem is that they were wrong.  Jesus was right.  And they killed the one who came to save them.

That's what I read this morning.  What about you?

Luke 17-19

Just some snippits that caught my eye this morning, mostly reminders of the life God desires of us:

• If your brother sins against you seven times in one day you must forgive him.
• Your faith has made you well.
• We need to receive the Kingdom of God like a child.
• To the rich young ruler - "One thing you lack....."  I wonder what I lack?  (I am not referring this to salvation, of which I am assured through the cross, but to living out my faith)
• Three times Jesus has told his disciples about his upcoming death and resurrection.  When it happened they still didn't get it right away.  I wonder what things I am this dense about.
• The people were hanging on Jesus' words, but the leaders and principal men of the city were trying to destroy him.  I guess leaders don't always have it all figured out.

Those are some things that I heard this morning as I read.   What were you reminded of as you read this passage?

Luke 12-15

I missed blogging on Saturday so we have 5 chapters to think about today!  How about a few bullet point thoughts:

• Anxiety (worry) should not be part of the Christian life!  Worry indicates a lack of trust in God.  This has as much to do with God's provision as it does in doing the things God would have us do.
• Not everyone is going to appreciate our faith, nor is everyone going to come to faith.
• There is a cost to following Jesus.
• Jesus has come to take on the issue of lostness in our lives.

Of the three parable in Luke 15, most people like the story of the prodigal son the best, and I love the picture of a waiting and loving father.  But there is something about leaving the 99 sheep in the open country to find the one who was lost.  And then carrying that sheep back on his shoulders, a smelly job!  It reminds me that doing ministry with those who are lost isn't always as comfortable as being the Father waiting on the porch for your son to come home.  We need to get our hands dirty and be willing to have our senses offended, and then physically bring home the lost sheep. 

I need that reminder.  How about you?

Luke 10-11

Two things were impressed into my mind as I read:

• Three times Jesus talked about the importance of hearing AND responding to the Word of God (or the words of Jesus).  Jesus hearing as those sermons and being in all those Bible studies and memorizing all of those verses don't mean a whole lot if you do not allow them to create action in your life!
• The power of our prayer life is dependent upon our seeing God's response to our prayers as filled with Compassion (as a Father) and Power (he is able to do what we ask).  What do you think about as you prayer for others?  I believe the way in which we pray and what we pray for show our attitude toward what we think God is supposed to do.  
• We do  pray for our needs and the needs of others.  
• We do pray that God keeps us from temptation, although I am not always sure we partner with God as to what we put in our lives to keep us from being tempted.
• Do we pray for God's Kingdom to come?  I rarely hear that prayer!
• As we ask for forgiveness do we seek to forgive those who are indebted to us?

There is also an encouragement as we seek to grow the Kingdom of God:  "The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects Him who sent me." (10:16) Don't take the acceptance or rejection of those who respond to the gospel we present personally.  It is not, nor was it ever, about us.  God can bear the brunt of rejection and only God should receive the glory of acceptance.  Just be faithful as you are sent.

That's what I HEAR this morning, and I am seeking to respond to it in action.  What are you HEARing?

Luke8-9

"You give them something to eat."  Jesus the Christ

That is what Jesus told his disciples after they had asked Jesus to send away the crowd to find food and shelter for the night.  After the miraculous provision I don't think the disciples could ever again doubt that the provision for spiritual things needs to come from other places, but from they themselves.

Can you imagine someone coming to you asking about Jesus and our response would be, "Go and find your answers out in the countryside," or "Let me call the Pastor," or "I know someone you need to talk to."

I think Jesus would tell us, "You give them something..."  We are so quick to not supply people with what they need spiritually when we serve a God who can miraculously provide through us.  Feed 5000 people?  No problem!  Reach our neighborhood for Christ? No big deal!  Be an ambassador for Christ?  Give me something tough!  Disciple someone?  Bring it on! 

If Jesus can feed 5000 with a few fish and loaves of bread, how can anything else seem difficult?

"You give them something to eat."

That's what God is dealing with me heart this morning.  What about you?

Luke 7

In my task oriented mind I saw that I had only one chapter to read this morning and I thought, "Great, this won't take very long!"  I forgot that the Bible is like a two-edged sword and is active and vibrant as we interact with its words.

This chapter deals with Jesus' authority over distance, death and sin, as well as having several responses to Jesus that we really need to consider.  John the Baptist has had some doubts while he was in prison and sends his disciples to ask if Jesus was the one, or if he should keep looking.  What a great question!  Why sit back and brood trying to figure it out on your own.  Step up and ask.  I wish people would do that with Jesus today!  Are you the One or should we look around for someone (or something) else.  What would our response be if someone asked us that question?

I also see the response of people to Jesus being a sometimes similar response I hear at the Church, complaining about this or that:  "This church is to this and that church is too that."  Give me a break and love and serve Jesus, and quit trying to get everyone to meet your expectations!

Then Jesus deals with sin, or rather he deals with our understanding of forgiveness and our response to being forgiven.  It is funny that Jesus flatters the pharisees at the same time he blows them out of the water. 

But my favorite statement in this passage today is verse 19 in the description of the Pharisees and lawyers response to John.  It says they rejected the purpose of God for themselves by not being baptized by John.  I wonder if that is connected to Jesus telling the Pharisees they have been forgiven little?

Oh how the scripture get me thinking, wondering and constantly turning toward God!

That's what I heard today.  What about you? 

Luke 5-6

Wow!  There is so much teaching in this section that is both challenging and inspiring.  I can picture myself being present listening to Jesus teaching and committing myself to live exactly as He would want me to live.  Even the most difficult of things.  I wondered about this and realized that Jesus' teaching is so different from the teaching I listen to today.  He calls us to a life to live that is directly from his own character, and from the character of His Father.  Luke 6:35-36 explains it for me:

"But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most high, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.  Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful."

If God is kind to the ungrateful and evil (which includes me), then I should be able to do that as well without thinking.  It is not only a choice, but the expected response because of what God has done for me. The automatic response.   The fruit that comes out of our lives indicates the reality of the tree that we are.  Apple trees produce apples automatically, not because it sits there and decides one day that it should have apples instead of peaches.

I just love the character of our God!  I want to live that out.

That's what I heard this morning.  What are you hearing?

Luke 3-4

Isaiah is quoted in reference to John's proclamation that, "all flesh shall see the salvation of God."  This is the key to Luke's gospel.  Luke reaches out beyond the conventions of the day that was very adult male dominated.  Jesus came for ALL people.  We will see this throughout all of Luke's gospel story.

Jesus' temptation is a battle we have almost every day as the Deceiver seeks to pull us away from, and redefine, the gospel message from Jesus.  The scripture is even misused by the Deceiver is order to pull us in wrong directions.  I think that is why it is so important to sink deeper into the gospel, to stay in the pool of what Jesus has done for us and not jump around into every faddish teaching that comes around that sounds good to our ears.  The Deceiver was promising blessing to Jesus and that He had a right to receive these extra things from God.  Jesus was clear that this was not the focus of his ministry.  Which was good because right out of the gate he is rejected in Nazareth.  Not only that, they tried to kill Jesus at the beginning of his ministry.  Being faithful to God does not mean that all things in our lives go well, even when we serve God faithfully!

That's what I heard this morning.  What about you?

Luke 1-2

Luke seems to approach the life of Jesus with a different focus, as an historian who is seeking the truth of the events in order to to remind his reader Theophilus of the truth of Jesus.  The details he provides give us clues to Jesus' identity as well as to give us confidence that what Luke writes is the truth, verifiable by history.

 I have always wondered what happened to all of these people who were aware of the miraculous events of both John and Jesus' births.  Did they follow their growing up years with interest waiting for everything to happen?  They would have to wait for 25-30 years and many of these folks would have died by then.  But for those who were still alive, did they have an expectation that any day things would begin to happen?

I also like the descriptions of the growing years of both John and Jesus.  John was described as growing and becoming strong in spirit, preparing him for his work as the impassioned prophet.  Jesus' growing years are described twice, both times focusing on becoming strong and filled with wisdom, increasing in stature and in favor with God and man.  This prepares us for his role as teacher/rabbi. 

But ultimately the descriptions by Simeon and Anna that Jesus is destined to be a Redeemer and and Savior will be the key to the end of Luke's written history.  And so Jesus ministry begins.  I look forward to reading His story again.

That's what I saw.  What about you?

Mark 14-16

As the elders of Israel tried to find a way to get rid of Jesus, all of the witnesses that came forward could not agree with one another.  But the elders persisted in trying to get their desired result.  They wanted Jesus dead.  They were not looking for truth but for what they felt was best for them at that very moment.  So they lied and plotted and planned until the real truth did come out, which was all they needed to decide to put Jesus to death by their laws.  It was the truth that was so offensive to them.  It was the truth of who Jesus was that they did not want to hear or want to be true.

Next, these leaders of the spiritual life of Israel encouraged the crowd to have Pilate release a murderer and insurrectionist (Barabbas) instead of the one who claimed to be the "Christ, the Son of the Blessed."  Even Pilate (the non-believer) saw that Jesus had done no evil, but he didn't realize why Jesus was so dangerous:

If Jesus is who he claims to be, then that changes everything!  A murderer is not as dangerous because a murderer can only take your life.  If Jesus is the Son of God then he owns your life.  Those leaders didn't want that to happen because then they are no longer in charge.

That's not so different than how people struggle with the Christian faith today.  It is often easier to be offended at Jesus and repeat the lies than to really come to terms with who Jesus is and accept it completely.  Pilate decided it was better to satisfy the crowd than to pursue the truth.  Even Peter at this point saw self-preservation as more important then standing for the truth. 

So Jesus is mocked, denied stripped and crucified all over again.  All because people cannot accept the truth of who he is - the Son of God. 

That's what I read today.  How about you?

Mark 11-13

Jesus is the donkey breaking, fig tree cursing, temple clearing, Elder baffling, Pharisee fooling, Sadducee dissing, scribe dissing, crowd teaching, future warning _____________.  It is difficult for those who saw him before His death to really grab hold of who he was and fill in the blank for themselves.  We see in Jesus that he is our Savior and Messiah, the forgiver of our sins and the giver of eternal life.  But those present before his Crucifixion didn't have it totally figured out until after the resurrection.  This is the same with people all around us.  We assume the message is easy to grasp because we believe and it is so clear.  But there are many still trying to figure out who Jesus is.  Our job is to help them see the whole picture.

One other note.  It occurred to me as I read about Jesus riding into Jerusalem that the donkey he rode on had never been ridden.  It would seem that this donkey would not have been very happy to have someone sitting on his back for the first time and would seek to throw off that weight.  But Jesus tamed that donkey (or so it would seem).  Maybe that is the real parable of this section.  But people are more difficult to tame than donkeys.

That's what I heard.  What about you?

Mark 8-10

In this section Jesus:

1. Has compassion on those who were with him 3 days without anything to eat,
2. Refuses to give a sign to Pharisees who were seeking one to test him,
3. Confused his disciples with talk about the leaven of the Pharisees,
4. Healed a blind man after leading him out of the village,
5. Asked his disciples who they thought he was,
6. Began talking about his death and resurrection (3 times),
7. Showed his glory to Peter, James and John,
8. Cast out a demon that his disciples could not cast out,
9. Taught his disciples that it is not about them, but about others first,
10. Taught about the importance of marriage and the importance of children,
11. Pushed the faith of a rich man,
12. And showed mercy to another blind man.

 What is the most clear message of today?  We have a tendency to think that God should do things in a certain way instead of trusting that God's way is the best way.  The Pharisees and the disciples (and even the crowds) always seem to try to steer Jesus in a particular way.  But Jesus would have none of that.  I wonder how often we attempt to steer Jesus to our way of thinking and doing?

That's what I am challenged by today.  What about you? 

Mark 6 and 7

I wonder how often we teach as doctrines the commands of men? (7:7)  The Pharisees were complaining that the disciples were not washing before dinner.  Even though that might be dirty and unsanitary (which was the purpose of the given code), it has nothing to do with a relationship with God.  Jesus focused on the inside, the inner life which needed to be clean first.  The outside responds to the inside.

Question: Do we label people as "unclean" because of sanitary issues?  Or what is worn?  Perhaps the amount of make-up worn or the car they drive.  If not these, perhaps we make doctrines out of other laws of men like, music or worship style or what we watch on TV or in the movies.  It is not that these things may give a clue to what is going on inside a person, but we must be careful not to make a doctrine out of it that separates the wheat from the weeds.  We can twist the scriptures and make them say anything we want them to say.  This has been done throughout history to decide who is acceptable to God and who is not. 

Let's honor God with our lips AND have hearts close to God. 

That's what I heard this morning.  What about you?

Mark 4 and 5

People react to the things that Jesus does in a variety of ways:

When he shows his power and authority (calming the sea, casting out demons, healing a woman) the response is fear.  Who wouldn't bow is fear at the display of a power that we cannot fully grasp? 

When he teaches by parables the response tends to be either confusion or a seeking to understand the depths of the teaching. I like that he explained these things to his disciples when they were alone.

When he talked about the impossible (the girl is not dead) people laughed at him.  When we speak about doing the impossible through Christ don't people scoff?

And when he raised the girl from death, those with him were amazed.  How often are we amazed at what God does in someone's life?

How do you respond to what Jesus does (and has done)?

That's what I read.  What about you?

Mark 1-3

It seems apparent to me that as Jesus bursts onto the scene everyone was trying to figure out what Jesus was all about.  They were trying to categorize him as to which "party" he belonged to.  Was he a "law guy (Pharisee)?"  Or maybe he was a man of the people.  Was he an extension of John the Baptist's ministry?  Perhaps a blasphemer, one who was speaker wrong things about God.  He could be a healer as the crowds were willing to crush him just to touch him.  Was he possessed by a demon since he cast out demons?

What we discover is that there is no category to fit Jesus into, try as we might.  As Jesus himself said, "No one puts new wine into old wineskins."  Instead of trying to put Jesus into our categories, we need to put ourselves into Jesus.  Then we will understand who He is and why He came!

That's what I heard.  What about you?

Matthew 26-28

We have read these words of the crucifixion and resurrection so often that we have to be careful we do not just skim over these words.This is not just the historical recreation of the events, but a picture of individuals who had to make a choice as to who Jesus really was:

1. Judas makes a decision of money over Jesus, which ultimately brought no joy, only remorse.
2. Peter proudly proclaimed his desire to follow Jesus no matter what, only to cower in fear under the pressure of those who began to accuse him.
3. Pilate bowed to the pressure of the crowd.
4. The guards saw the truth of not only the crucifixion ("this was the son of God") but the resurrection and took money to hide the truth.
5. Joseph of Arimathea, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary did their last duties of caring for a deceased Jesus, but didn't remember Jesus' promise of resurrection.

All of this happened before the resurrection.  The resurrection changed everything.  Although we don't see the totality of what that meant for each of these individuals, we do read that Jesus entrusted His mission to those who ran away, denied or didn't believe all that He said.  These early Christians were not naturally world changers by their talents, abilities or even faith.  They were people who got caught up in the story of Jesus, struggled with understanding what it all meant, and then most of them became part of this movement to turn the world toward Jesus.

Something changed.  Has that change happened in you?

Matthew 24-25

I will have to admit that end times stuff is not one of my favorite reads in the Bible.  Maybe because in 50 years (especially during the early 1970's) I have heard so many predictions and have seen so many timelines that I tense up as soon as someone even mentions that we might be in the last days.  BUT, Jesus does talk about what it will be like during those last days, and what our response to it should be.  That is where my thoughts are going today.

If I had to summarize the teaching of these two chapters it would be:

1. Watch - make sure you know what is going on around you
2. Be ready - never assume that we have lots of time to make sure we have connected with God through Jesus Christ.  Being ready doesn't mean to simply have a stock pile of food so that we can hide as Christians in persecution.
3. Get busy - It is wrong to sit back and wait for Jesus to come again.  We are to be a people who get our hands dirty using the things God has given to us and caring for the people around us.  I call Thursdays my "Matthew 25 Day" because this is the day that I try to do the parable of the sheep and the goats.  
4. Endure to the end.  Don't allow what is happening around you to make you quit. 

That is what comes to mind for me as I read this morning.  How do you respond to the end times talk in the Bible?

Matthew 21-23

"In Christ there is nothing I can do today to make you love me more, and nothing I have done that can make you love me less." 

Chapter 23 of Matthew gives us clear example of what we are talking about regarding the difference between religion and the gospel.  Jesus describes the religion practiced by the Pharisees as one which ties up heavy burdens which are hard to bear.  It is a religion which focus' on rules and laws but does not change the inside.  Although they may do and say all the laws, the remain dead and unclean on the inside. 

We have all seen this in Christians throughout our lives.  The focus on right clothing or music or following certain rules on the outside.  But they are still full of prejudice, anger, lust, gossip, self-righteousness, pride, etc.  We have probably also seen it in ourselves.  We try to practice the right things but do not see a change in the inner lives which we never can escape.  And we feel stuck, guilty, angry and want to give up.

Maybe that is because we are focused and following the second greatest commandment (love your neighbor as yourself), without following the first (Love God with all your heart soul and mind).  Love God first and foremost.  Don't just say you love God and move to the next thing.  Linger in God's love.  Breath in God's love.  Read about God's love.  Remind yourself of God's love.  Live in God's love.  Express God's love.  Sing about God's love.  Rejoice in God's love. 

And then see how much you have changed on the inside.  And you will be able to follow the second greatest command.

That's is what I heard this morning.  What about you?

Matthew 19-20

As Jesus talked with the rich young ruler in chapter 19 Jesus was asked what good deeds should be done in order to have eternal life.  The question is about doing, because Jesus' response is not about loving God or believing, but about living life correctly among other people.  We can tell the ruler still had a feeling that what he had done was not enough.  He was lacking something.  His own doing just didn't seem to give him a comfortable feel that he had really done enough to have eternal life.  So Jesus simply pushed him over the edge with an answer that was impossible for the man to live out.  Even if the man did that, would he feel he did enough?

Even though entrance into the Kingdom of God is a matter of believing not doing, without the doing is there really any believing?

That's what I hear this morning.  What about you? 

Matthew 17-18

I think the one thing that can distinguish a Christian in a crowd should be the idea of forgiveness.  Maybe because my expectations are so high I become easily disappointed, but I see so many long term Christians who have not grasped the importance of this very thing.  I know that when we are hurt, forgiveness is not the first thing that we think about, but it should be the one thing that comes up very quickly.  Why?  Because we as Christians should understand forgiveness more than anyone since we have already received forgiveness from God without cost to us!  Yet we want people to pay for theirs when we are sinned against.  That is why we should never wander to far from the basic message of the gospel and the story of our own coming to Christ.  Come on Christian - let forgiveness flow from you to others.  If you don't, the parable in Matthew 18:21-35 may have a message for you. 

that's what I am hearing this afternoon.  What about you?

Matthew 15-16

I find it interesting how my response to certain sayings of Jesus change as I age.  Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life would lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (16:24-25)

When I was a youth I could see myself on the front lines of the Kingdom of God's battles fighting the enemies of God, willing to give up my life for the Kingdom of God.  When I got married I would still do that, but I also had in my mind that I had to make sure my wife was taken care of.  When children came along I didn't think too much of this verse, but thought of raising my children into a relationship with God.  I had responsibilities and even the church responsibilities superseded denying myself, taking up my cross and following Jesus.  Trying to please people was more about surviving the church than following Jesus. (How sad is that?)

At 50, I am trying to grab hold of how this passage can be lived out in the practical details of life.  I am getting to the point where I should have been all along:  to give up anything for the sake of the Kingdom of God...even my life.  What does it profit a man to gain respect, be liked, keep his job, try not to hurt people's feelings, etc.....if he loses his soul?  It's not that I was ever in danger of losing my soul, but how many times did I choose those other things over following Jesus?  What do you choose over Jesus?

That's what I am thinking, what about you?

Matthew 13-14

These chapters read like "Jesus 101."  What does he do?  He teaches and he does miracles, and in between he prays (14:13, 23).  These particular stories (parables) have to do with the Kingdom of Heaven, what it is like and who is a part of it.  the parable of the sower may be the most well-known of the parables and after reading both the story and the explanation the question I have is: Can the soil of our hearts be changed?

The major miracles that Jesus does in chapter 14 come after times he spent alone.  The link of prayer to Jesus' ministry is strong and often forgotten in our busy, efficient lives.  I love going to a lonely place to pray, but it is more difficult in the winter, and honestly it is still difficult in great weather.  Maybe because the thought is always there of the need to be productive rather than pray.  Did you read what I just wrote?  Yes, that is a thought that appears for all of us at times.  We do not equate prayer with efficiency or high on the value list.  We can do quick prayers at meal time and while we drive.

But Jesus' life was different.  He went to a lonely place and spent TIME in prayer.  If the Son of God needed to do this, why do we think we can do without?

That's what I am thinking, what about you?

Matthew 10-12

There are so many different things in these 3 chapters:

• He sends his disciples out with power and tells them not be be afraid, even though persecution, the sword and arrest will come to them.  Francis Chan said that maybe the reason we don't think we hear from God (by the Holy Spirit) is because we are not in the situations the Bible describes in which we will be given words to say when we are hauled before governors and kings.  When was the last time we were hauled before non-believers and told to give an account of what you believe?  That's when God will speak to you!
• To the messengers from John the Baptist he says that the proof of the Kingdom of God is in what they have seen happening around them.  Do you see the evidence of the Kingdom of God around you?
• To the unrepentant cites he says to repent, there is nothing more you need to see, and there is no more information that you need. 
• To the weary and heavy burdened he says to come and and he will give them rest.
• To the legalistic pharisees he says to show mercy for that is what God desires.
• To the healed he says to not make him known, which seems odd doesn't it?
• To those who speak ill of what Jesus does he says that their accusation make no sense and that they will be able to tell by his fruit whether what he does is right.

There is so much more, but what I read let's me know that Jesus does speak specific things to many groups of people.  Mostly he says to do God's will, stop playing with religion and show people God's love and mercy.

That's what I see.  What do you see?

Mathew 8-9

As I read these chapters the word POWER comes to mind.  Jesus can do anything!   He heals, casts out demons, calms a storm and much more.  How could we ever doubt that Jesus is not able to do anything in our lives?  Here is the question that comes to my mind as I read 9:1-8: Which takes the most power, healing a paralytic, or forgiving sins?  The way in which we treat people makes me think that for most of us, it would be easier to heal someone's illness than forgive the sins they have committed against us.  And yet we don't have the power to heal but do possess the power to forgive.  The people who saw all that Jesus did were in awe of the miraculous and glorified God for the forgiveness. 

The power of forgiveness give glory to God.  We can forgive even if we cannot cast demons out of a person into pigs or calm a raging storm.  Although we should always pray for healing and ask God to do the miraculous, what we can do is forgive.  Who do you need to forgive today?

That's what I read, what did you read?

Matthew 5-7

This Sermon on the Mount is probably one of the most challenging passages to hear for all of us.  Jesus lays out a whole different way of thinking about following rules and laws, and reminds us that it is in the living out of Jesus' teaching that we have a solid foundation for our lives.  Believing and doing and intimately connected.  We cannot say we believe if we do not also live the life.  And it is a challenging life!

• In this section are the numerous "You have heard it said but I say to you..." statements,
• The idea of backward reciprocal thinking - Don't treat and react to people as they treat you, but as you would like them to act toward you, 
• The fruit of our lives indicates what tree we are connected with,
• Doing the will of God is more important than miracles and other "works" we may think are important,
• And, the idea that the foundation of our lives will be solid when we not just believe the right stuff and listen to many sermons and teachings, but actually do what God's word tells us to do.  

When we put all that teaching together I wonder if what Jesus is teaching is this:  Believing in Jesus includes obedience to God's Word and Will, but not with a legalistic understanding.  We must obey with an inner desire and will to not just obey the letter of the law, but to live the life of God from the inside out. 

What struck you about this reading for the day?  What was your favorite part?

Matthew 3-4

As I read these two chapters the thought came to me:  What do I have my eyes on?  It is a question that individuals were asked over and over again:

• When the religious leaders came to watch the baptisms of John he asked them what they had their eyes on, baptism or repentance?
• When Jesus came to be baptized by John and John tried to refuse, Jesus asked him if he had his eyes on who was greater or fulfilling God's purposes.
• When Satan tried to get Jesus to place his eyes on his own hunger Jesus responded that his eyes are on God's words.
• When Satan tried to get Jesus to place his eyes on the miraculous, Jesus responded that his eyes are on God's will and desires.
• When Satan tried to get Jesus to place his eyes on short cuts to his mission, Jesus responded by keeping his eyes on worshiping God.
• Simon, Andrew, James and John moved their eyes from mending their nets to following Jesus.

Where our eyes are focused influence how we respond to God.  That's just what I saw.  What did you see as you read these chapters?

Matthew 1-2

Didn't we just get done reading this during Christmas?  The great events of Jesus' birth are always an encouragement to us of God's miraculous provision, but I always seem to gravitate toward the people involved in the events.  We talk so much about Mary and Joseph and the wise men, but what about all of those people mentioned in the genealogies?  I think there are @45 individuals mentioned in these genealogies and each one of them represents the story of God working through a person to bring about His plan.  I know some of these individuals and what they did from the scriptures, but some of them are just names to me.  But God still used them.

How often do we feel insignificant, that we really don't matter to the overall picture of what God is doing?  We ask, "How can God use someone like me?"  Maybe most people will not see what you do in your faith life, but we can still be used by God to bring about God's purposes.  Don't sell yourself short.  God can use you, no matter if anyone hears about what you do or not.

What was your favorite part of the reading?