Life even in Death

Easter is tomorrow! When I reflect on the miracle of the resurrection, it is just mind blowing. The thought of Christ conquering death is just, wow! I know, it’s not the best grammar, but it leaves me pretty speechless. And as if that isn’t grand enough, those who love Him are also promised the real hope of resurrection too. We experience real life even in death.

A little over a year ago, my precious Grandma passed away after several hard months of battling for her life. I miss her every time there is a holiday, a birthday, when I pass by her picture, when I see her art work hanging on our walls, when I see roses blooming and when I hear my children talk about her. It’s so hard saying good-bye to someone you love so much that you know has loved you. As the anniversary of her death came this year, I was clearly reminded that although it still hurts not having her here, her life was to be celebrated. As much as I miss her, I trust that she is at peace, in God’s presence and awaiting Christ’s glorious return to Earth. Don’t get me wrong; did I want her to get better? Absolutely! Did I pray for that? With all my heart! But as I really think about it, the life she now has, is the life that the majority of us long for, even when we don’t realize it. It gets better, the life that awaits her still, in a new heavens and earth is so full, and it goes beyond our imagination. While it may seem so distant to us, we long for this type of existence because we were created in the image of an eternal God. I’m also reminded of Jesus own words that “life to the full” and being “life” Himself are promises that will be fully experienced on the other side of His glorious return.

The other day, as I was thinking about these things, Londyn and Brayden began to ask me about death. They both became quite teary, but it was an opportunity to share the hope we have as Christians with them. I was able to share that only God has our days numbered and that He is the one we place our trust in. That really none of us knows if this is, in fact, to be our “last” day in our present condition. However, because of Jesus, who was raised from the dead that first Easter morning, we to will also be raised to life. So, we are reminded that death has been swallowed up in victory. There is in fact LIFE to the FULL.

I look forward to the day when Jesus will once again set foot on the earth and call His children to rise from death to life! Even so come Lord Jesus!

Easter: Reasons to Believe

I wanted to share these videos Called- "Easter: Reasons to Believe" by John Dickson

I think they are helpful for Christ's followers as well as for those who are seeking and even questioning the veracity of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus.

http://publicchristianity.org/library/the-easter-story-reasons-to-believe

The Lord's Table

I’ve been a Christian most of my life and even at a young age, I remember seeming to grasp the importance of the Lord’s Table (Communion). The invitation to come, partake and receive the Lord’s broken body (the bread), and His blood, shed for the forgiveness of my sin (the wine/juice), has always been a profoundly powerful thing. From the very beginning of my walk with God I was overwhelmed that Christ would love me so much to die for me. I understood then, like I do today, that I am not deserving of this. It is an expression of the love the Father has for us. His plan from the very beginning was to save those made in His own image by sending His Son to die. Wow!

During the early years of marriage I faced some hard times with health issues. The doctors seemed clueless as well as the specialists. It was during that time that I began to read and study about the Lord’s Table and where I experienced a miraculous healing in my body by participating in it. Christ body broken for me meant healing and still does today. I’ve experienced this healing not only physically, but also mentally & spiritually as well.

Over the years, there were many things about the Lord’s Table that puzzled me and really bothered me. I understand now that it really had nothing to do with Christ’s teaching, but rather, the way it had come to be presented. In the tradition I grew up in, communion was something we only did monthly. The reasoning was that it would somehow become a ritual, causing people to loose their sense of awe and appreciation of Christ’s sacrifice. However, I’ve come realize that taking communion monthly doesn’t guarantee that will not happen. When we would have Communion Sunday, there was a criterion to follow on how to come and partake. A long talk given every time about making sure you were in right standing with God, searching your heart to make sure all the sin was confessed and made right. I was confused and even worried at times. Did I confess everything? Should I come and partake? Should I wait because I was struggling with some sin? Was this an invitation? I knew how important Communion was, yet at the same time, I felt guilty and beat up before I was even able to come before the Lord to receive it. Was this the way it was suppose to be?

During the past two years, with the help of a good friend, my own studies and now under some great teaching at our current church, I’m understanding that the Lord’s Table is an invitation, a place to come to receive forgiveness, healing and the Father’s Love. Jesus waits there with His arms wide open. The requirement has nothing to do with making yourself right first but by coming realizing your need for Him and that it is Him alone that makes you right. I love that this is an invitation, and what a powerful and glorious one it is. All who profess Christ are welcome to come and share in what God has done through His Son. Our doubts, struggles, failures and sins do not exclude us from the Lord’s Table. It’s in those moments when we are reminded that our need for grace is met be the one who gave himself for us, bringing us out of our own slavery and into a vibrant relationship with the Father.

A Call to Serve

This past Thursday, we went to church as a family to remember the last supper and to partake at the Lord’s Table. They reenacted the scene where Jesus began to wash the disciples feet. During the service, they invited everyone to come forward to wash one another’s feet. I’m not a huge fan of feet however; it was such a meaningful moment for me, and a wonderful opportunity to share with our children how God calls us to serve one another. The fact that the Son of God would wrap a towel around His waste and wash His friends feet hardly seems right unless you understand why Jesus came and what He was teaching at this moment. It goes much further than washing feet, but actually becoming a servant, a loving servant.

I’ve been praying that God would show me how to love Him and others well. Serving is indeed the key to doing that. It is so easy to get caught up in my own self and the business of my life. . I’ve become selfish without even realizing it at times. What a battle it can be to live in a culture where serving one another is often an after thought and much of the focus has to do with ME, ME, ME. If this isn’t destructive enough, this attitude has found its way into the life of the church. That’s not to say every church is self-referential, but each community should ask itself if it has become much more about us rather than GOD and His Kingdom. Please understand, I’ve been so guilty of this myself, but I am also grateful that it has been brought to my attention so that change can take place. I only hope this transformation will be a quick one. My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will lead me and show me daily how I can serve others and love them well. I also pray this for God’s people and thank Him that there are already many who truly do have Christ’s heart to serve and live by example.

Below is the account of that night when Jesus demonstrated what it means to be a servant. It is powerful in so many ways. I find it most interesting that He ends by telling them that if they do these things they will be blessed. There is a great richness in becoming a servant.

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. John 13:1-17

Lessons from the Dessert

I’m really going to enjoy this season of Lent as a time of meditation and learning from the life of Christ. By that, I mean his teachings, healings, exorcisms, understanding character and encountering who he truly is. I’m already finding that the more I read and learn, the more I’m being transformed, challenged and changed.

My journey that I want to share with you today will begin in Luke 4. It’s the account of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness. We’ll start here and go from there. This morning, however, I did go back to take a look at the first 3 chapters in Luke, as I did, was struck to see these names used by Luke to describe Jesus: Savior, Christ the Lord, Salvation, Glory of Israel, Light for the revelation to the Gentiles, and Beloved Son of God. As I thought about these names, it struck me that Jesus is much bigger than I think of him. He’s usually just one of the things mentioned, but I’ve never thought that he is all this things at once. His purpose for coming is really a God-sized event and reality.

Anyway, back to Luke and the temptation of Jesus (chapter 4). The scene is Jesus in the dessert, where, after fasting for 40 days and night, he is being tempted by the slithering snake himself, the devil. This story has so much to it, but I wanted to share something new (for me anyway) that I think is quite exciting. I’m not sure if you realize it or not, but I am now just realizing all the more but how truly connected the Old and New Testaments really are. When Jesus enters the picture of human history, he becomes the link between the two. Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s story. I find this exciting as a believer and I think it is such a vital part of my own testimony and the church’s public witness.

So here are a few of the parallels/connections that I found in this passage.

-Jesus is out in the desert for 40 days & the Israelites were out in the desert for 40 years. We also find that Moses & Elijah fasted for 40 days as well.

-Jesus is very hungry and that is one of the biggest complaints heard from the Israelites as they are sojourning in the dessert.

-When the devil comes to tempt Jesus to turn a stone into bread we see Jesus responding by saying, “It is written, ‘Man doesn’t live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” This very passage of scripture is found in Deuteronomy 8:3, which is just after the Israelites concluded their 40 years of wandering in the desert. God reminds them that He led them through the desert to test them and humble them, he let them experience hunger and then He fed them manna (food from heaven) so that they would know bread wasn’t enough to live. Rather, the very “food” that would sustain them would be found in obeying and trusting Him and walking in His ways. In addition, it is here we see Jesus fully as a man, as He hungers for food just like each one of us. Yet, he remains obedient and true to God’s words.

-Secondly, the devil tells Jesus that he will give Him all the kingdoms of the world (as if he has that authority, what a liar) if He will only bow down and worship him. Jesus responds by saying, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.” This is the first of the Ten Commandments given by God to His people after their time in the desert. It was in that desert where many of them had turned to worship idols made of gold, by their own hands. Jesus again remains true to who He is and his vocation as the Messiah of Israel. It is also a great reminder that Jesus, being the embodiment of truth couldn’t be deceived by the devil.

-Finally, we come to the final temptation. The interesting thing about this one is that the devil quotes Psalm 91 as he tempts Jesus to throw Himself down off the temple saying that, if He is the Son of God, God will certainly protect him. The problem here is he twists and uses this passage incorrectly. He makes it say something that it wasn’t intended to say. Sound familiar? Jesus comes right back with, “It is said, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” Once again, the passage that Jesus quoted from was found in the book of Deuteronomy, when the Israelites are warned not to test God as they had over and over again in the wilderness. Jesus succeeds at resisting the temptations that befell the children of Israel. In some ways, Jesus becomes Israel for Israel’s sake (and ours too).

-After this, Jesus returned in the power of the Holy Spirit to begin his public ministry and teaching. As for the Israelites in the Old Testament, God would continue teaching them through out the generations of His faithfulness, as well as reminding them of the importance of their obedience. They were to teach others of the one true God.

I don’t know about you, but I had never known these parallels/connections from this passage until recently. I think it is beyond super cool! Jesus displays truth, His authority, His love for the Father and His holiness by complete obedience in spite of the fact that He was a very hungry and thirsty man. I also think there are some great reminders here for believers today in how to should love God and serve Him solely. OK, I better stop, thanks for reading some of my thoughts today!

Rethinking Religious Tradition

Another season of Lent began a few weeks ago with Ash Wednesday. This will be the third season that we have observed it as a family. Growing up in a very different religious tradition, I always thought that observances such as Lent and Advent were really not needed. To be honest, I thought they were pointless and more of a “Catholic” thing, which is not how I see my own religious identity. It’s very interesting and quite sad, really, how quick we can be to judge something that is meaningful to others without knowing what it is and why it is observed. I am certainly guilty of this in my own life. Over the past few years, I’ve been challenged to really learn the background of different traditions and have found Advent and Lent to be quite meaningful in my own life (and in the life of our family). I do understand that these two observances are not found in the Bible, however, there are good reasons these two observances on the church calendar. I don’t think they are “required,” but I do think they can be helpful for believers to really have a focus and experience real growth during both the Christmas and Easter seasons.

You may be asking, “What are Advent and Lent ?” In December, I did several blogs on Advent and what we learned as a family during the season. If you’d like to go back and read in more detail about it, you can. However, a brief explanation for Advent is the observance of the season leading up to Christmas. The word is Latin for “coming”. It is the anticipation and celebration of the entire journey leading up to the birth of the Jesus and marks the beginning of the church calendar. It has been a fabulous way for our family to celebrate during the business of such a fast-paced season.

So what is Ash Wednesday then? Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent and is a time of mourning and repentance to God over our sin. The ashes are only symbolic of ones brokenness over their sin, the same way you may read about in the Old Testament, and a reminder that from the ground we came, and to the ground we will return.

Lent is a season preparing our hearts to meditate on the death & resurrection of Jesus. It is a time for believers to devote to prayer, fasting, repentance, giving and meditation for what God has done through His Son. Some observe Lent by giving up something meaningful in self-denial during these 40 days. This is definitely one way to approach the Lenten season. At the heart of Lent, is nurture and grow one’s own devotion to God (which looks different for each individual). This year as a family, we will be reading through the book of John and learning the Lord’s Prayer together. I’m really excited to do this! The 40 days of Lent represents the 40 days of Christ in the wilderness. Each Sunday (at least in some Christian traditions) is considered a celebration day, and whatever a person is forsaking may be enjoyed again, foreshadowing the celebration to come on Resurrection Sunday.

So now you have a small description of what these observances are. Is this a Catholic thing? No and Yes! Catholics do observe both seasons, but so do many Christian denominations through out the world (Presbyterians, Lutherans, some Baptists as well as many others).

Shouldn’t these themes (repentance, fasting, celebrating and really all of it) be a part of the Christian’s life on a daily basis? Absolutely! Lent (and Advent) aren’t the only times to reflect on such important parts of our story. However, I do feel from my own experience that both Advent and Lent allows for the time & focus during the business of life to really mediate on the goodness of the Father through His Son. Our family has really experienced profound joy during these times. I only wish that I had known about this earlier in my life and, as a result, experienced the benefits.