How Would You Respond?

A couple thoughts hit me this morning following our Good Friday service.

I was reading John 20.  For whatever reason, I was struck by Mary Magdalene.  This lady had seven demons cast out of her by Jesus.  Obviously, she had much to be thankful for.  She was there at the cross, watching the whole wretched crucifixion.

After what was probably a sleepiness night, she gets up early and arrives before sunrise at the tomb where Jesus was buried.  Seeing that Jesus is gone, she runs back to get the disciples.  I'm betting she can hardly breath!  Her head is swimming with all kinds of thoughts.  Two disciples come back with her, verify what she said is true, and then leave Mary at the tomb to tell others.

Two things strike me.

1)    The disciples leave Mary at the tomb crying.  Nice guys.

2)    The other thing though, is that Jesus then appears to Mary.  She's shocked.  I'm wondering how I would respond in that situation?  How would you?

Later that day, as I'm running some errands, I hear the song, "I Can Only Imagine" on the radio.  I know that song is about arriving in heaven, but I couldn't help but think about Mary's response that First Easter Morning and imagining how I would respond.

The chorus goes:

Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel?

Will I dance for You Jesus or in awe of You be still?

Will I stand in Your presence or to my knees will I fall?

Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all!

None of these responses are wrong.  Each is different.  But yet, all are right.

But which one are you?

Whatever your response, enjoy the presence of our Risen Savior this Easter Morning.

Sola Deo Gloria 

Which Thief Are You

I woke up one morning last weekend thinking about the two thieves on either side of Jesus.  Weird way to wake-up, huh?  I know it's Easter Week and all, but really -- what a thought to wake-up to.  But I figured God put the thought on my mind, so I lay there contemplating and praying about them -- or more about my likeness to either of them.  

One is sarcastic.  He’s also bitter and tells Christ to save Himself -- "and us too while you're at it".  The other thief knows he belongs there.  He knows he's getting what he deserves.

I bet many reading this are like me.  I'm not quite as blatant as the bitter thief.  But am I as repentant as the thief who knows he belongs on the cross?

Do I comprehend that Jesus -- the One we sang about and called Wonderful Counselor, Savior, Almighty God, Immanuel and Prince of Peace just a few short months ago -- took my punishment?  Do I comprehend that His back was ripped to shreds? That part of His beard was torn out of His face?  That a “crown of thorns” was jammed down on top of His head so that many of the tips dug deep into His scalp?  That a spike was hammered into His wrists/hands as well as His feet?  That He was then hoisted vertically on a wood beam that rubbed that still raw back and which prevented Him from hardly being able to breath?

No.  If I'm honest, I don’t think I do.

And these are just the physical aspects.  Hundreds -- no, thousands of people -- experienced similar deaths. Many were punished just because they were willing to be called Christians.

But none of these other deaths mean to me what the death of Jesus did.  People in the Old Testament and in Jesus’ era knew what blood represented.  It was life.  Life taken from something (an animal) and given as an offering and sacrifice. 

But blood and death from God’s Son?!  For me?!  Seriously?

What this death and punishment represents is my sin.  

My ugly sin.  

My sins of commission (things I've done).

My sins of omission (things I should have done, but were too lazy or chicken to do).

I know God doesn't want us to live with a woe-is-me type attitude.  

But, if we really got our heads (and hearts) around what He did for us, I think we would have a    WHOA!! WHAT-HE'S-DONE-FOR-ME  type attitude!!!

Happy Easter.

He is Risen!

Solo Deo gloria

A Christian Duck

Well, they say you should use a catchy title for a blog post and I thought a "A Christian Duck" would catch more people's attention than Mysterious Ways God Works (sounds too churchie to me).

Anyway, I do get a kick out of how God works.  I don't have cable so I have not seen this TV show on A&E.  I have seen clips and after reading this blog post, I've seen more.  But it really is amazing the way God works and gets His name out there.

Enjoy.

SDG.

Who We Are

A couple thoughts from the congregational meeting this morning --

There was some discussion regarding worship. Dave Kurschner brought up the challenge of, how do we start on time (i.e. 10:30)?  That is a challenge.  I'm sure there are Sundays when Dave or Pastor Brett feel like this video.

However, on a more serious note, my mind thought of something I read years ago in a book called I Sold My Soul on Ebay.  A former pastor (Jim Henderson) "bought" this man's soul and asked him to visit a number of churches (Jim assigned them) and then asked for feedback.  This is the feedback from one church he visited in Illinois (it was a Free Church actually).

"When the band started playing, it was just after the 8:30 start time, but there were fewer than forty people in the church.  But by the time the band had finished and the pastor got up on the stage, the crowd had more than doubled in size.  I noticed families with young children walking in without any visible indications of guilt.  I wouldn't think the people at this church were purposely rude, so they must have had a good reason for showing up late.  Was the music so unimportant  to them that they decided to come only for the 'main event'?  It that's the case, is church like a movie theater where you can walk in after the previews and no one thinks anything of it?  I've always thought the previews are vital to the movie experience, though, just as I would assume that singing is important to a church service.  Furthermore, in a small community church such as this one, I imagine people would know one another better than at a larger church.  The people in the congregation, therefore, might know the people on stage who were singing and would surely respect them enough to show up on time.  I didn't see that respect being shown, though."

Remember folks, this comment is from a guy outside the Church.  Not from a pastor or worship leader.  Although he comments about respect for the worship team - and that is worth mentioning.  I think more important, is that we realize God inhabits our praise.

A second thought occurred to me as Pastor Brett reviewed his past sermon series.  He just finished up on Community.  Recently John Ortberg was interviewing Dallas Willard who mentioned two key reasons for going to church.
1. To find people to love.
2. For people to love us.

Think about that.

Not everyone is very lovable.  We are to love them anyway.

And, many of us are tough.  We're self-sustainers.  We don't need help.  We don't need love.  Actually we do.  That's the Church being the Church.  And if you're not allowing love to be shown to you.....well, you fill in the blank.


My two streams of thought from this morning.

Pay Attention

There is book that came out recently called Wonderstruck.  I haven't read it...yet.  However, as I understand the premise, author Margaret Feinburg, calls us to get unstuck from our normal routines and busy life and pay attention to the splendor and delight of God's creation that is around us every day to be Wonderstruck.

This book came to mind last Saturday morning as I was sitting at the kitchen table waiting for the next round of pancakes.  I was looking out the window and noticed a squirrel scampering up a very tall tree in our neighbor’s back yard.  He (or she I guess) was climbing up to get to its nest in the very top branches.

Now with all the leaves gone, that squirrel nest is pretty easy to spot.  But it dawned on me – because I have picked up so many broken twigs and branches over the years –  that I've never seen a squirrel nest blown out of a tree.  Never.

For many years, I've seen those branches in my neighbor’s tree sway back and forth during storms.  If you were a squirrel in that nest during some of those storms, I’m sure those rides at Valley Fair may seem pretty tame.  Yet, somehow God put it "in" a squirrel to be able to build a nest so well –  so embedded into the branches of a tree –  that they just stay put.  No matter how hard the wind blows, the nest stays.

I was "Wonderstruck  (by Gods creation) while having pancakes on a Saturday morning.  So slow down.  Pay attention.  Be wonderstruck by our great God.

SDG

Quiet Time

    Quite often Pastor Brett urges us to “live large” make weekly church worship a must.  He also encourages us to “live small” be in a small group that fellowships regularly.  I completely agree with both ideas, I also feel as Christians we need to do something else to help us grow in our relationship with God.

     When we read the Gospels how often do we read about Jesus going off alone to pray?  He often goes to spend time with the Father, even before his execution he went off to pray.  We all need to follow his example, we need quiet time with God. 

      Meaningful quiet time needs at least three components, a regular time, a fixed place, and a plan.   Let me give you an example of what I mean.  Before I outline my quiet time, I want to be perfectly clear, my example is not the only way, it might not work for you, but it allows me to illustrate each of the three components.

    I am a night person so my quiet time is in the evening, if you are a morning person, use the morning.  I have a comfortable chair in my bedroom, so that is my place.  I like to read so my plan starts with reading a faith book.  I have a lot of authors that I like, for instance: Timothy Keller, David Platt, Charles Swindoll, Roger Olson, Phillip Yancey, John MacArthur, and of course C. S. Lewis, any book by one of them will be good.  These are not the only authors I like, if you are curious, let me know and I will be happy to supply some others and some specific book titles.  After I read for a while I spend time in prayer for the church and its members.  Then I read from the Bible.  Daily Bible reading is a must for any Christian.  If we are to grow in our faith we must immerse ourselves in God’s word.  I have read through the Bible many times, each time I find new revelations from God’s word.  I finish by praising God for my day and continue to pray as the Spirit leads me.

     We all need our own quiet time and we need to do it daily.  We worship as a group once a week and we meet in small group every other week.   We need to meet with God, connect with God, and grow in our relationship with God daily, hence quiet time.   Quiet time requires a regular time, a regular place, and a plan.  Do not be afraid to start with just a few minutes a day, you will grow in your faith and I will bet your quiet time will grow with it.