2 Corinthians 4 – Baked Dirt

Clay jars. They’re common. There’s nothing particularly beautiful or eye-catching about them. They display flaws. They’re fragile. There’s nothing uber special about them. So not exactly where you’d store your most valuable treasures, right?

I love how God uses the ordinary to expose his extraordinary nature. He uses something as simple as a clay jar to remind us that we humans are frail. We are weak. Life can get the best of us. Daily pressures can perplex. Persecution can leave us feeling struck down. Loneliness teases us into thinking we’ve been abandoned. And yet it’s not so! We have this treasure of God himself living in us.

“That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” -2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NLT)

When we focus solely on the frail clay jar we can easily fall into despair, but when we look at the incredible treasure we hold we are renewed!

-Gina G.

1 Corinthians 15 - The Last Enemy

I love the show Pawn Stars on the History Channel. If you have never seen the show it's pretty simple. A guy in Las Vegas has this famous pawn shop, people bring in some crazy things to sell, and he buys them or he doesn't. Like I said pretty simple.

Recently I was watching the show and this guy brought in a West Point target practice musket from the mid 1800's. It was pre Civil War and was very rare. He too was a Pawn Shop owner and he was looking to sell this very rare musket to make a quick buck to gamble in Vegas.

Now what Rick (pawn shop owner) does before he buys something this rare is call in specialists that can tell him if this musket is real or a replica. This guy with an awesome beard comes in the shop, examines the musket, and assess that it is a replica. If the musket would have been real it would have been worth thousands of dollars, but unfortunately it was only worth a couple hundred bucks.

The point is that it being real makes all the difference. In this chapter Paul is explaining the importance that Jesus did raise from the dead, and if He didn't then our faith is useless and fake.

Our faith is based on the realness of Christ raising from the dead. We find hope, grace, mercy, redemption, and salvation all in the fact that Christ DID conquer the grave.

Paul goes on and tells the church at Corinth that Christ is alive and that He did defeat death. My favorite part is towards the end, "O death where is your victory?" and "O death where is your sting?" how amazing is that scripture!! It is so amazing to know that death does NOT have the final say in our lives!

I pray that reading this chapter makes your faith more real than ever before!!

John


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1 Corinthians 13: Love Never Fails

 Timeless.

- Paul Abbott

2 Thessalonians 2 – Rumor Control

Here’s another difficult passage.

We have back stories being referenced but not elaborated on, (“some prophecy, report or letter” - vs. 2) whispers of a coming rebellion, (vs. 3A) and, perhaps most unsettlingly, a prophecy about a very dark character yet to come known only as “The Man of Lawlessness” (vs. 3B).

Digging a little deeper into Bible commentaries, it seems Paul’s words here come in the context of fast-spreading rumors and anxieties within the early church that the day of the Lord, or return of Christ, was already at hand.  The rumor going around was that Paul (or one of the other apostles) had received some vision or word from God confirming that the day of the Lord was imminent, and this was causing significant alarm and fear among the people.

Paul quickly sets the record straight that this rumor did not come from him, and makes clear that at least two events must occur before the day of the Lord’s return:

1.)        a great rebellion or falling away from the faith, and

2.)        a “man of lawlessness” or one totally opposed to Christ—that is, an “Antichrist”—must be revealed who will usher in a time of rebellion and destruction.

Still, even Paul’s “reassurance” here is enough to keep you up at night—with coils of new questions and anxieties!  But he doesn’t stop there; Paul reminds us that the power of lawlessness is already at work among us (vs. 7) but God is bigger than any coming trials and will win the day in the end (vs. 8).  He’s got this one, so don’t let anyone shake your faith with doomsday details.  And so it is on us to stand firm today, to hold to the solid teachings and the Word we have received by actively clinging to God’s promises.

God is love.

Perfect love drives out fear.

No one whose hope is in the Lord will ever be put to shame.

Reuben Smith (1 John 4:16, 1 John 4:18, Psalm 25:3)

1 Thessalonians 3-4 - Preparing for the End

There is this really fantastic Kirk Franklin song that called "Caught up" that I could not get out of my head while I was reading these chapters. 1Thess 4:13-18 reminded me of this song.

While I was reading these chapters I was so humbled by the hope that was so evident in these chapters.

"Then we are who alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore, encourage one another with these words." I Thess 4:17-18

So on this Friday, be encouraged. There will be a time when we will be called up to meet our Jesus face to face. This gives me hope. Hope among the good, bad, and ugly. Hope that the best is yet to come.

Praise the Lord.

-Charity

p.s Here is the link for the song I mentioned.

http://youtu.be/de3dimzI9Ew

Acts 17: Mixed Results

"Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; 

I wanted to be in on it!"

(1 Corinthians 9:19-23 The Message)

In the above passage, we read the apostle Paul’s philosophy of personal evangelism. Please read it carefully – it is brilliant – full of passion and a profound sense of personal mission.

In today’s reading, we see Paul’s philosophy of evangelism “with skin on.” Even a cursory reading of the chapter shows Paul entering the world of those he was trying to reach for Christ. To reach the Jewish people, he went into their synagogues and “reasoned with them from the Scriptures” about who Jesus was and what he had done. Paul understood that the Jews held the Scriptures in high regard – as did he – so he approached them on the basis of that commonality.

But, when Paul hits Athens and reaches out to the Gentiles, we find that he does not begin by first appealing to the Scriptures. Why? Because he knew that the Greeks did not recognize the Hebrew Scriptures as God’s Word. So he began where they were, by appealing to their very own idols, philosophies, and religious leanings. But front and center in his appeal is the person of Jesus, the power of his resurrection, and the need for personal repentance.

The message is identical. The methods were very different. Think about the circles that you run in, the people that you rub shoulders with. How can you, like Paul, enter into their world for the sake of Christ and his message?

Ken Jackson

Philippians 2 - Downward Mobility

We are called to humility, yet many days life finds us consumed with the unholy trinity of me, myself, and I. We grumble, complain, and lose sight of the higher calling God has placed on our lives. In the daily mundane of life I'm sometimes surprised at how quickly I fall into the ever unattractive focus on self.

Join me in my inner dialogue this morning as I ran a hilly five miles with a friend: "It's hot, I'm sweaty & tired, and I kinda hate this right now. These hills are brutal and I'm over it. I don't want to do this. Are we done yet?"

Me, me, and a little more me. It's ugly. It causes me to lose sight of those around me, the bigger picture, and that light I'm called to shine. Even in my thought life, I'm called to represent Christ well. Because what's on the inside eventually comes out. My prayer is that my heart would reveal a humble, grateful heart.

So as I look back on my run this morning I'm grateful for sunshine and the ability to run - even if it was a bit challenging. It's all about perspective. Might yours need some help today?

-Gina G.

Acts 14 - Detour

Parts of this chapter look like a Sci- Fi movie. There is this "Ms Cleo" character that is a slave that is telling peoples future, and her masters are making a LOT of money. Paul and Silas come in contact with Ms Cleo, get annoyed, and command the demon to come out of her, and the spirit leaves her. After the spirit leaves Ms Cleo her masters are very upset and they get Paul and Silas beaten and arrested.

My favorite part of this story is verse 25, it says, they prayed and SANG hymns and the earth shook!! I love the joy they found in a very bad situation. They could physically feel the pain from their beating, and they could physically feel the shackles around their hands and feet, and yet they worshipped. What an incredible example of faithfulness.

I love that they didn't even leave the jail. They waited to share what God had done for them with one of the guards. They again showed faithfulness by sharing their faith with someone needed Jesus. This wasn't Paul and Silas' plan from the beginning, but they took every opportunity to show Jesus' love to everyone they were coming in contact with.

Finally, Paul and Silas surprised the magistrate by asking for an apology for what had happened. This again was a bold move. They could have been thrown back in jail, because let's face it they had kinda just walked out of the jail, but they wanted to let people know they were treated unfairly, but their God did not let them down!

If we want to see the earth shake at Cedarbrook we have to show this type of faithfulness. We have to continue worship God in the midst of despair. We have to be the light in a dark world. We have to be brave when the world is coming against us., and through this faithfulness God will be faithful to us!

John

Galatians 3: Legalism

Reading this chapter, it feels like we’re being thrown into the middle of an argument and we are.  The early church was a mixture of Jews and Gentiles all trying to sort out what it meant to follow Jesus.  A pressing question was whether or not a follower of Jesus had to be an observant Jew – had to, in effect, convert to Judaism, following all the rules and rituals of Jewish law.  The leaders of the church concluded that you did not.  (If you have a moment, stop and read Acts 15.)  But not everyone was convinced.  Some followers of Jesus made it their business to introduce new Gentile Christians to the importance of being an observant Jew.  Some of these folks had made their way to the fledgling churches across a region called Galatia spreading the message that it wasn’t enough to trust in Jesus, you also had to keep all the law.  It was to respond to this and disprove it that Paul wrote the letter to the Galatians.

All this seems a bit removed from us now, like a family squabble settled long ago.  Don’t miss the larger point.  I doubt any of us believe we need to convert to Judaism to follow Jesus, but in varying degrees and for a variety of reasons, many of us struggle with the notion that we must somehow add something to what Jesus did for us on the cross.  We secretly think we must keep our nose clean or prove our worth, must hold up our end of the bargain.  Galatians reminds us, it was never a bargain; it’s a gift, the keeping of a promise made long ago.

And don’t miss the stick of dynamite at the end of the chapter.  He writes that life’s no longer about being a Jew or a Gentile, nor is it about differences of class or gender.  Bound to one another in Jesus, we’re all equal, all the same.  We’re something new, something beyond the differences that so often divide us, something beyond gender or race.  In that culture – in any culture – that’s an explosive idea. 

– Paul Abbott

Acts 9 – About-face

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot.  I wish you were either one or the other!"

—Revelation 3:15

If ever you had two men who were hot and cold, it was Ananias and Saul.

Ananias was aflame with the Holy Spirit and part of an unstoppable revolution of grace that contemporaries simply called, “The Way.”  Paul, the impeccable Pharisee, was on the frontlines as a staunch defender of the Jewish law.  Towards any revolutionaries among “The Way” Paul’s blood ran cold.  And so he persecuted them with the same vigilance he applied in his own devotion to the law.

Hot and cold were about to collide.  God had a divine appointment for both men—one that would change the world forever.

But here’s what we mustn’t miss.  In this crucial moment when God is looking for a person to change the world, he looks past all the lukewarm guys and grabs hold of the coldest of them all.  In this moment, the man who was the most passionately wrong about Jesus was the one who was most useful to Him.  It’s as if God is telling us all, “Now here is something I can use!”

You want to change the world?  Turn up the temperature.

Or, in the words of the great middle school director, Gina Gliniecki, “Go big or go home.” 



Reuben Smith

Acts 5 - Shock Waves

Passion.

That's is the thing that I walk away with from this chapter.
These early followers of Christ were rich in passion. How passionate were these followers of Christ that they sold everything and were stedfast in their devotion.

Even when face with death and imprisonment. They must obey God rather than man. Vs. 29

Convicting.

These early disciples were certainly shaking things up and causing a little bit of controversy.

As a church, I love how we want to becoming radical Christ followers. I know Mathew and Gina are passionate about seeing this acted out in the students who are in CBSM. 

Today, these stories of passion has convicted me to love well, whoever I encounter. 

I pray that these words bring life and encouragement to you. 

Happy Friday! 

Acts 2: Explosion

As the curtain goes up in today’s chapter, we find that Jesus’ disciples were “all together in one place,” and that place was in an upper room in a house somewhere in Jerusalem. Jesus had ascended to heaven just a week earlier, and now all of his followers had gathered together to… wait.

Imagine being in that room with them, perhaps standing off in the corner. Scan the crowd and look into their faces. What do you see? You don’t see any rabbi’s or recognized religious leaders. You see the faces of fisherman, tax collectors, a political zealot or two, maybe a few women of questionable reputation. And you wonder – these are the people that Jesus was going to use to change the world?

Beyond that, as you look around the room you are aware that most of these folks would be deemed “spiritual failures.” Just one week ago, they all deserted their leader. When push came to shove, they bailed out on Jesus and ran for the shadows. It would seem that their three-year discipleship experience under Jesus evaporated into the nighttime chill of Gethsemane.

As you look around, you would be struck by the fact that this was a pretty forlorn crew of folks… not a lot of hope or excitement would have been reflected in this upper room. But then – in an instant – EVERYTHING CHANGED! The Holy Spirit is poured out on this rag-tag group and all heaven breaks out in Jerusalem. The church explodes into existence in just one day!

Do not let the individual phenomena here – the wind, the fire, speaking in tongues – obscure the main thing that happens here: something supernatural came from heaven and invaded men and women on earth, changing them forever. The Spirit enabled these ordinary men and women to do and say things that were beyond their natural abilities. The Spirit was greater than all of their shortcomings and failures.

Thank God, that is still true for us today. Wouldn’t you love to experience something supernatural from heaven invade your life today? The Spirit is still in the business of empowering God’s people to do and say things beyond our natural abilities. All we need to do is ask and wait and submit – which is what these first century followers were doing. Our ONLY hope to be the man or woman Christ calls us to be lies in the power of the Holy Spirit. I love what the great preacher Charles Spurgeon says about our dependence on the Spirit – read and ponder his words carefully:

“Without the Spirit of God we can do nothing. We are as ships without wind or chariots without steeds. Like branches without sap, we are withered. Like coals without fire, we are useless.”

Ken Jackson

Acts 1 - Departure

There had to be some questions hanging in the air at this point. I’m guessing the disciples were thinking to themselves: “Ok, Jesus. These past three years have been quite a ride! We’ve followed you and done our best to learn all that you’ve been trying to get through to us.  It’s true we weren’t always the quickest when it came to your teachings and miracles, but we tried to keep up. We watched you die and then return to life. Well, we were freaked out when you appeared to us after you had risen from the dead, but touching your hands and feet helped. We believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God. Man, does that change everything! But…now what?”

Then Jesus disappears into a cloud and they can no longer see him. I’d be staring up into the sky, too! What I love here is that Jesus knew they still needed more answers so he sent two angels to help clear things up.

The story isn’t over yet. There’s work to do until Jesus comes back. So to answer the “now what” question: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (v.8)

Your mission is to let those in your world see Christ. Share his love and forgiveness. And use his Helper to do work.

-Gina G.

Luke 24 - The Final Link

Have you ever needed to tell someone you were sorry so bad that you couldn't wait to see them just to tell them how bad you feel for hurting them. When I was a child my next door neighbor was my best friend. He and I did everything together and we were inseparable. 


One day, he was gone to town with is mother and I took his bike for a spin. He had a new bike that I wanted to try out, but probably should have waited till he came back, but if you know me I didn't do what reason told me to do. After a few minutes of taking the bike for a spin I thought I would take it off a few sweet jumps. As you probably can guess where this story is going I crashed pretty bad. I bent the tire frame and I knew I was in trouble. After telling my mom and getting in serious trouble with her I knew I had to tell my neighbor. I had knots in my stomach and I was so anxious just to tell him. As soon as I saw his mom's car pull into their driveway I ran as fast as i could to tell him what happened and told him I was sorry. 


Obviously he was upset but he accepted my apology and we moved on as friends, and of course my family paid for a new tire and frame.


¹² Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.


I love this part of this chapter. This is a man who just denied his best friend, and he was the one disciple that wanted to see if Jesus was alive. He wanted to believe the ladies that had just told him that Jesus was alive. 


I maybe speculating but I think Peter wanted to make it right with Jesus. I know after he denied Christ it weighed heavy on his heart, and just as much as he wanted to see Jesus alive, I think he may have wanted to tell Jesus he was sorry. 


Peter is one of those people in the Bible we can all relate to. He made mistakes and we saw the real side of him a lot in the Bible, but he also did some amazing things. For me this is one of those moments! 


And again, Matt I am so sorry about your bike.


John

John 20: The Rumor Spreads

Thank God Thomas missed it.

He was an outspoken realist.  He didn’t believe in fairy tales and when anything else came up he didn’t believe or couldn’t understand, he didn’t mince words.  After the last supper they had shared together, Jesus spoke about how he was leaving but it wouldn’t be forever.  It was all very moving and poetic until Thomas interrupted to say none of this made any sense to him.  Thomas was that kind of guy. 

Days later, Jesus was dead, just as he’d said he would be.  Thomas was sure of it.  There was no doubt about it.  Then the thing nobody had imagined could ever happen did.  As his followers gathered in a crowded upper room with the door locked and shades drawn, scared to death they were next, Jesus suddenly appeared.  He said shalom and showed them his wounds, then asked if they had anything to eat.  Not long after he left.  Jesus was alive.  He was as real as they were. 

 But Thomas missed it.

When the others told Thomas what had happened, his reaction was just what you’d expect.  You’ve got to be kidding.  Unless Jesus came back so he could not only see his wounds but could touch them, then he would not, could not believe.  That day he doubted and forever after became Doubting Thomas.  Thank God for Thomas.

Thank God, because we all doubt.  In the setbacks and sorrows of daily life, we doubt that God is good.  Sometimes we doubt God is there at all.  We wonder if any of it’s true. 

Eight days later, Jesus came back.  This time Thomas was there.  As I read story, Thomas never touched him.  He didn’t need to.  He fell to his knees and expressed profound faith.

You and I will never have the chance to touch those hands.  We’re left with the record of eyewitnesses who saw first an empty tomb, then a risen Jesus.  And because of Thomas, we know some of these witnesses were skeptics.  They were not easily convinced – but they were convinced.  There’s no doubt about that.

Thank God Thomas missed it.

– Paul Abbott

Matthew 28 – A Rumor of Life

Are you watching closely?

One of my favorite movies is a film called The Prestige.  It’s a fairly dark film, but it has some of the best storytelling I’ve ever seen.  This is how the movie begins:

Every magic trick consists of three parts.

The first part is called the pledge.  The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird, or a man.  He shows you this object, perhaps he asks you to inspect it, to see that it is indeed [ordinary].  But of course, it probably isn’t.

The second act is called the turn.  The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary …But you wouldn’t clap yet.  Because making something disappear isn’t enough. 

You have to bring it back.

That’s why every magic trick has a third act.  The hardest part.  The part we call the prestige.

It all started ordinary enough: a guy and a girl are pledged to be married; a baby is born to them in an obscure town.  But if we look closely and inspect this life for ourselves, we quickly discover this is no ordinary child.  His origins are not ordinary, and so his destiny cannot be, either.  Something extraordinary is going to happen here.  We sense it with every page we read; we feel the extraordinary surging through his words, his miracles, his life, his love.

And then, the turn—that terrible moment at the cross when the unjust, unthinkable, and unexpected happens: this extraordinary life is brutally cut short.  He allows himself to be snuffed out, to disappear into the grave under the weight of our sin.

Jesus’ miraculous resurrection is God’s prestigious third act—when he brings His Son, and all of us, back again from the grave.  It’s the greatest comeback ever seen in human history, when the unstoppable forces of death, and sin and separation were brought to a halt—and then began working backwards!  Magnificent!  Marvelous!  This is the part where everyone in the crowd rises to its feet and bursts into thunderous applause! 

Well, almost everyone.

“Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.” vs. 16-17

Most responded in worship.  As they should.  But even some in the front row held back, unsure how to respond in the presence of a risen Savior.  Doubts still hindered them.  On Monday, we’ll meet the most famous of the doubters and hear his story… and watch how Jesus meets him where he is.  Keep on reading… there are so many exciting events yet to come!


Reuben Smith

Mark 15 - The Last Temptation

Let me start off by saying "ooooffffffhhhhhh". What an intensely think chapter.

Before I sat down to compose my thoughts. Someone gave me excellent advice. This is one of the stories that we know so well, it has become so familiar to us. There are books upon books and even movies about the events in Mark 15. What is something that we may have over looked, something that honestly stood out to you that you may not have noticed in previous readings?

After the dust settled and after consulting a wise person about this chapter. I noticed what happened after Jesus had died. I do not believe I ever thought about what happened after He was crucified. How was he taken care of? What about the people that were around?

Verses 40-47 speak to those exact questions.

How beautiful was the gestures of the women in this chapter. They were dedicated to the Jesus, ministering to His needs during this dark day. What intensely provoking devotion to our Savior. But the job was not finished there. How wonderful was the courage of the man who asked for the body of Christ so he could give Him a respectable burial. This was his way of showing his devotion.

As you read this text, what is something that spoke to you in a way that has not before?

The word of the Lord is living and active, amen? Amen.

-Charity Harlan

Matthew 26: Appointment with Destiny

In the beginning of the movie “The Princess Bride,” we meet Buttercup and Farm Boy. Whenever Buttercup asks Farm Boy to do something for her, he always replies, “As you wish.” That is all he ever says to her. Time passes, and one day Buttercup comes to realize that every time Farm Boy has said, “As you wish,” he was really saying, “I love you.” (This would make a whole lot more sense to you if you have actually seen the movie!).

There is perhaps no greater expression of love than a freely submitted will – "as you wish." Biblically, we could make the case that “as you wish” is a kind of prayer. In fact, it may be one of the greatest, most important prayers that Jesus ever prayed.

We see Jesus pray this prayer three times in this chapter (39, 42, 44). We see this pattern in Jesus life throughout the Gospels, both in times of serenity as well as times of great personal distress. His posture towards his Father never changes. He is completely convinced of his Father’s relentless love for him and completely trusts his Father’s will for his life. At the very heart of Jesus’ intimate communion with his Father was this constant whispered prayer, “As you wish.” Not what I want Father – but what you want.

In one of his many books, author C. S. Lewis wrote that the day is coming when every soul will adapt one of two postures before God: either joyful surrender or defiant separation. One day, every one of us will say either “Your will be done” or “My will be done.” And the truth is – at least to some small degree – our hearts are always assuming one of these postures.

How can I assume an “as you wish” posture towards my heavenly Father today? On this ordinary Thursday in August, how can I express my love to my heavenly Father by freely and willingly submitting my will to his? These are questions worth pondering.

Ken Jackson

Matthew 27 - No Justice

Sometimes life isn’t fair. A friend from my childhood lost her husband to brain cancer yesterday. We’re 30 years old; he was too young to die. Every 14 seconds an AIDS death leaves another child orphaned. Nearly one billion people live without access to clean water. Every 2 minutes another child is exploited in the commercial sex industry. And all I can think is: “It’s just not right.”

As we enter today’s chapter, I have that same thought. How is it that the crowd that just one week ago had been shouting praises to Jesus as he was entering Jerusalem is now shouting for him to be crucified? It’s not right. Jesus was mocked, beaten, and crucified with criminals. Was it fair? No. Was it right? No. Was it because of love? Yes.

It looked like the world was winning. Jesus was left alone. God was silent. But the story wasn’t over. In a world filled with injustice, Jesus sacrificed everything so that we might have hope.

-Gina G.

John 17 - Glory Abounding

There is simply too much to talk about in this chapter for one short blog post.  John 17 is packed with so many important lessons but I only have space to go in depth on one topic, the glory of Christ. 

Jesus strongly emphasizes the glorification of The Father in this chapter.  He has glorified God by fulfilling his purpose, and the disciples glorified God through their belief and actions.  Jesus was obedient to the calling God had on him and through his obedience he brought God glory.  The disciples gave up everything to follow Jesus.  They were hated by the world but still gave their lives to bring greater glory to Christ. 

Why do you believe we are on this earth?  The only reason I can come up with is that we were made to glorify God with everything we have.  Jesus prayed that we, the future believers, would be one with God; that we mere humans would share in his glory.  Doesn’t that blow your mind?  We possess the glory of God within us!  Jesus says “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one – I in them and you in me”.  (v.22) Who are we that we deserve to have Christ dwell within us?  The more we look at ourselves, we see our unworthiness of his glory and yet God gives it to us freely when we believe in him.  Christ glorifies us so that in turn we may give him even greater glory.   Jesus long ago prayed that we might one day see his greatness and fully share in the beauty of God.  I cannot wait until that day comes when we will see the face of Love and fall face down in awe of God’s great glory.  However, until that day we as believers are vessels carrying God’s glory to the world, conquering the darkness, and completing the work He has given to us.  I pray that we live each day to bring the highest praise to the only one who is deserving.

- Nathan Kam

John 16: Grief to Joy

Reading John 16 again, it strikes me that these are voices from another culture, another time and place.  They seem to use a lot of words to get to the point and the language itself is a bit awkward and unfamiliar, but we can’t miss what’s being said:  Jesus was leaving (facing execution) which would bring grief, but because of what would follow, that grief would turn to joy.

When Fletcher, our youngest was born, my wife Sharon had an emergency C-section.  In the hours that followed, Sharon was in terrific pain.  To ease this, her caregivers put her into a deep, drug-induced slumber.  As I sat by her bedside that long night, again and again she would wake briefly and ask two questions – always the same two questions and always in the same order. 

Why? 

We’d been down this road before and I understood that in that one word she was saying something like this: something’s not right, this isn’t what I’ve experienced before.  Why am I in so much pain?  Over and over that night I explained that she’d had an emergency C-section and that was why she was in such pain.  Then would come her second question.

What?

And I knew this single word was asking, what did we have? Is the baby okay?  Again and again I would answer that we’d had a baby boy and that he was healthy and strong.  Then Sharon would return to sleep, only to wake a few minutes later and repeat this conversation.

These same two words capture so much of my conversation with God over the last forty years.  How often I’ve asked, Why?  Something’s not right here.  This isn’t what I’ve experienced before.  Why is this happening to me?  Why am I in so much pain?  And again and again God has reminded me that I live in a broken world among broken people, reminded me that I’m broken too, causing my own pain at times.  Somewhere along the way I learned to ask the second the question as well, the one Jesus encourages us to ask here.  What?  What’s the impossibly good thing that God will bring out of this evil or broken thing, this pain?  How will God redeem this?  Where is the joy hidden in this grief? 

If I listen hard enough, there’s always an answer. 

In this world, Jesus said, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

- Paul Abbott

John 15 – Vital Link

This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. (vs. 8)

One of my summer jobs as a teen was working at a plant nursery.  Among our regular weekly tasks was de-weeding the greenhouse and preening off the dying parts of the plants.  

Like most summer jobs the work was hard and menial; throughout the day, we would make a game of guessing how much time had passed since we last checked our watches.  However, the job did at least two things for me: it helped me pay to go to college, and (perhaps more importantly) it helped me want to go college—if for no other reason than to grow out of the place I was.

Jesus uses an illustration from how plants grow to teach us something about spiritual growth.  Just as the most important thing for a branch is to stay connected to the vine, we must abide in Christ if we want to grow and bear real fruit.

But be warned: if you commit to this kind of abiding, if you actually build your life and make choices rooted in this Vine, don’t expect applause from those around you. 

If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own.  As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.  That is why the world hates you. (vs. 19)

There’s a reason most of us don’t remain in the vine: most days it’s an uphill climb and a lot of hard work.  But maybe that hard thing—you know, that painful thing you’re up against right now and asking God to put a quick stop to—is actually just a necessary preening so that your growth will be strong.  To skip on this preening would mean forgoing a harvest of fruit later, fruit you could never dream of producing left on your own.  It’s what we’re all after, it’s just not how we expected to get there.

And so, today, in whatever summer job you may find yourself, take hold of the Vine, rejoice through times of preening, and cling to Christ’s life-giving promise:

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. (vs. 4)


Reuben Smith

John 14 - One Final Meal Together

A few years ago I took this week long class about the Father heart of God. I was so confused in the class because all we kept discussing was Jesus. It took me till Wednesday when I finally put together that the only way to the Father is through Jesus. Something that this chapter touches on.
 
Well here we interrupt Jesus and His disciples having their last meal together. Sometimes I try to picture myself in the scene. (I believe Ken has an actual word for what this process is called, you should ask him sometime.)
If the person where my whole life is occupied around, is saying that he is going to be leaving, what would I do at this last meal? What would you do in these last moments? What questions would I ask? 

I love the honest and humble questions and comments that the disciples ask. "We do not know the way that you are going. How can we know the way?" vs 5. "Show us the Father." vs. 8. And I feel like Jesus answers these questions in an encouraging and loving manner.
 
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me." 
 
Again we can see the mystery that Ken touched on yesterday. The beauty that Jesus was fully man and fully God. He is divine. It is all about Jesus. 

He is a beautiful man. And He leads to the father. 

What a dangerously wonderful last meal. He promises and assures the greatness that is to come. If we only knew what was to come.

Well that's all I got folks.

Charity Harlan. 

Mark 14: A Scent of Doom

The greatest mystery of our faith is that, when he walked the earth, Jesus Christ was 100% God and 100% human at the same time. We glimpse both his deity (healings, calming storms, multiplying food) and his humanity (he gets tired, hungry, thirsty) over and over again in the Gospels.

But here, in the Garden of Gethsemane, we do not just glimpse Jesus’ humanness; we see it close up and in high-definition. The picture that emerges here is not a ruggedly independent, pick-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps, I can handle this all on my own Messiah… but a man who is in deep distress, who knows he needs his friends around him and his God to strengthen him. Look again at what Jesus says and does.

He took Peter, James, and John along with him when he went to pray. They did not pray with him though – they simply waited for him. Why did he ask them to go with him? He was lonely and sad, and he wanted his friends around him. Can’t we all relate to what he was feeling?

He was ruthlessly honest about what he was experiencing. He, the Son of God, confesses to his friends that crushing feelings of sorrow and grief are overwhelming him. He did not pretend that he had everything under control; he was not worried about looking “unspiritual” or “needy.” If Jesus could be so honest with his friends about his needs, shouldn’t we do the same?

He prayed desperately. He prayed honestly; he expresses his true feelings, he holds nothing back. But he also reaffirms his desire to do what God wanted him to do – even if it was hard. Jesus was keenly aware that doing his Father’s will was going to cost him – and he was committed to doing that will regardless of the cost. Are we willing to pray this kind of prayer?

This section of Scripture is, at the same time, both heart-breaking and comforting. Heartbreaking in that we look on as our dear friend Jesus suffers. But comforting in that we know that went through all of this willingly, and he did it because he loved us. And because he did, we can have confidence that whatever we experience in this life – the good, the bad, or the ugly – he understands. And that is comforting indeed (Hebrews 4:15-16).


Ken Jackson

Mark 13 - A Day to Dread

In high school this chapter stressed me out. With Y2K drawing near and the claims of what might happen, there was still much I wanted to accomplish and I wasn’t quite ready for it all to be over. And those Left Behind books about the rapture fanned the fire to my overactive imagination. Sometimes keeping me up into the wee hours of the morning. I wanted to graduate high school, get married someday, have kids, and perhaps even live the American dream our culture promised was so fulfilling. However, none of that could happen if Jesus came back. You know, before I was ready. God could you just hold off a little longer? I’m not ready, but if you give me just 10 or 20 more years, then maybe I’ll have my life in order. I’ll stop doing the things I shouldn’t be doing. I’ll get to fit in all that I want to. Deal?

My perspective in those days was quite skewed. I was selfish. I was focused on the here and now all the while losing sight of eternity. I wasn’t living with a spirit of expectancy, but rather of dread.

“However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows. And since you don’t know when that time will come, be on guard! Stay alert!” –Mark 13:32-33 (NLT)

No, we don’t know the day or hour. And we don’t need to because we do know our calling. Our job is to preach the gospel, to share the good news with those around us. Be on the alert. Don’t let the owner find us sleeping. Do be doing the right thing. Live as fully devoted followers of Christ. Love others well.

Let us use our days wisely, in anticipation of his return!

-Gina G.