Category Archives: Sunday

Happy [Almost] 2024

Posted on December 31, 2023 | Leave a comment

We record life based on years, but what makes a year New?  Really each additional year ties together the as-yet unknown of the future year with the leftover realities of the previous year.  So describing it as “New” isn’t quite accurate.  It’s those leftover realities that often prompt us to make a “new year’s” resolution. That also is an inaccurate way to describe our hopeful yearning between the transition of one year ending and another beginning.  We need a vision!  Those who’ve pledged their heart to following the Creator’s Vision of the New Beginning whose birth we’ve just celebrated know it’s that Vision of life, not a new year or a new resolution that ties together the realities of the past with the unknown future to allow 2024 to become the reality of hope for a truly

Be Thou My Vision
Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best thought, by day or by night
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light

Be Thou my wisdom, and Thou my true word
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord
Thou my great Father, and I Thy true son
Thou in me dwelling and I with Thee one

Riches I heed not, nor vain, empty praise
Thou mine inheritance, now and always
Thou and Thou only first in my heart
High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art

High King of heaven, my victory won
May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s sun
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall
Still be my vision, O ruler of all 

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New Forever

Posted on December 24, 2023 | Leave a comment

Romans 8:3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who are in accord with the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are in accord with the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. NASB

Looking for an Advent connection to this passage seems odd for several reasons. It doesn’t use the word baby, it doesn’t mention birth and why would God choose to intervene on behalf of the people He described as making His Law “weak as it was through the flesh?”  But thankfully “God did.”

God filled that Advent cradle with a perfect impression of Himself, free of mankind’s original legacy; “the likeness of sinful flesh.”   God chose to step out of His timeline of eternity and insert Himself into the human timeline of years “according to the flesh…as the one recognizably human proof of a new beginning…a Baby…“so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”  It took a beat for my heart to recognize the purpose of God “sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh“ was to eliminate the forever part of that legacy of sinful flesh from His timeline of eternity, for many.

 Jesus’s life would change the forever part of the human timeline of years for many in another way.  This “Baby” step for mankind would give “those who are in accord with the Spirit, the things of the Spirit” and teach them to begin living forever with God, now.  There’s an old legend of a European ruler who would sneak away and walk among his people incognito.  It drove his security people nuts but his response was “I cannot rule my people unless I know how they live.”

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Posted in Advent, Christmas Eve, New Testament, Romans, Sunday

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Third Sunday of Advent

Posted on December 17, 2023 | Leave a comment

1 Corinthians 15:44b…If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first,  but the natural,
and after that the spiritual.

Remember this saying — You never get a second chance to make a first impression? That’s not true if your identity has been changed by the Creator of Life.  God’s first impression of life was a grand miracle that revealed life itself.  He picked up a handful of dust and “the first man Adam became a natural living being.”  “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very  good.” That first man’s natural identity was a perfect relationship with God, meant to last forever, in a perfect place.  But sin changed that identity.  Fast forward to a much later time in a world where all that’s left of that first natural identity is the impression of separation and loss.  

Now reread those verses above.  They’re the hope of Advent…God’s choice was a second grand miracle of life, “the spiritual,” and it came to pass in those days!  We celebrate Advent because “after that” natural time God chose to reveal His Own Identity to mankind in the most easily recognizable human form of a new beginning — a baby.

Life must always begin with a natural birth but that Baby was God revealing a second impression of life that could never be separated from Him or lost. “The last Adam, a life-giving spirit,” would replicate God’s own pattern of life.  “New” life for many, and a new identity that would exist forever in perfect relationship with God, not because it happened in a perfect place but because His Perfect Life would be in them.  “The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.a”  

a CS Lewis, Mere Christianity

 

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Discovering Sacred Space

Posted on November 5, 2023 | Leave a comment


Acts 7:7 ‘But I will judge the nation that they serve,’ said God, ‘and after that they shall come out and worship me in this place.’  8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision. And so Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.  9 “And the patriarchs, jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt; but God was with him 10 and rescued him out of all his afflictions and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 11 Now there came a famine throughout all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, and our fathers could find no food. 12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers on their first visit. 13 And on the second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and Joseph’s family became known to Pharaoh

LEARNING FROM OTHERS: Brian Borgman

Cliff Notes: Stephen uses the history of God’s interaction with Abraham and Joseph — before the law, before Moses and before the Temple — to point out to the Jewish leaders they have forgotten the real identity and location of Sacred space.

LEARNING ABOUT SACRED SPACE FROM JESUS — ESV Verses from John with only Chapter citations.
8 Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. 6 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. 6  I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. 8 I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. 10 Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  10 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 11 I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. 14 I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 15 I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 15  I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

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Learning Acts 6:11-15

Posted on October 29, 2023 | Leave a comment

Acts 6:11 Then they secretly instigated men who said, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 12 And they stirred up the people and the elders and the scribes, and they came upon him and seized him and brought him before the council, 13 and they set up false witnesses who said, “This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place and the law, 14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses delivered to us.” 15 And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

LEARNING FROM OTHERS — Ben Witherington
— Luke is patterning the death of Stephen after the trial and execution of Jesus…[it] only appear[s] in Luke/Acts] This is an important observation since in the Gospels the Jewish people reject Jesus as the Messiah, in Acts they are rejecting the promised Holy Spirit, the foundation for the Messianic Kingdom.  Both rejections are punctuated by an execution of an innocent man…A Jew saying the High Priest and Temple was corrupt was not particularly revolutionary–but to say the work of your teacher replaced the work of the Temple would have been radical.
— Angels in the Bible were more likely to send their witnesses to their knees in terror—virtually every person in Scripture who sees an angel immediately has to be told not to be afraid…Despite Stephen’s good reputation, wisdom, and submission to God, he will be killed: the first Christian martyr.a
— When Luke depicted Stephen as having the face of an angel, he was setting the stage for Stephen’s martyrdom.b

LEARNING FROM JESUS —Matthew 5:17-20
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

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The Court of History

Posted on October 15, 2023 | Leave a comment

Acts 5:34 But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. 35 And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36 For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37 After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 38 So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice, 40 and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. 42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.

RESEARCH:a
These chosen men went to distant lands to call many to repentance and faith in the risen Christ. The court of history has recorded this evidence:
Peter and Paul “were martyred in Rome about 66 AD.”
Andrew “went to the land of the man-eaters in what is now the Soviet Union…He also preached in Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey, and Greece.”
Thomas “was probably most active in the area east of Syria. Tradition has him preaching as far east as India, where the ancient Marthoma Christians revere him as their founder.”
Philip “possibly had a powerful ministry in Carthage in North Africa and Asia Minor.”Matthew “the tax collector, and writer of a Gospel ministered in Persia and Ethiopia.”
Bartholomew “had widespread missionary travels attributed to him by tradition: to India with Thomas and back to Armenia, Ethiopia, and Southern Arabia.”
James “the son of Alpheus…is said to have ministered in Syria.”
John “the church leader in the Ephesus area…exiled to the island of Patmos…credited with writing the last book of the New Testament—the Revelation.”
YOU are the evidence the world sees today of how extraordinarily successful these men’s efforts were in proving Gamaliel’s prophetic truth “for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” 

a christianity.com

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The Parable of Investment

Posted on October 8, 2023 | Leave a comment

Luke 19:11 As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. 12 He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return. 13 Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Engage in business until I come.’ 14 But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ 15 When he returned, having received the kingdom, he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by doing business. 16 The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten minas more.’ 17 And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant!Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ 18 And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’ 19 And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 20 Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I kept laid away in a handkerchief; 21 for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man. You take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 He said to him, ‘I will condemn you with your own words, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then did you not put my money in the bank, and at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’ 24 And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ 25 And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas!’ 26 ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 27 But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them before me.’” ESV

This has turned out to be the most challenging of the parables I’ve looked at for this blog. I started reading it a couple weeks ago but I had more questions from this one story than any other I’ve studied.  Even the only “sure thing” I thought I understood became a question.  Was the identity of the nobleman God or Jesus?  Did it make a difference? Were the ten servants a separate group from the citizens who hated the nobleman?  It was mind-blowing enough that I’ve spent a few hours each previous week and had to put what I’d written on the back burner…again. There was so much I didn’t know that I could barely figure out what I thought I did know.

I’ve made some  progress because I think I’ve come to understand the “more” of this parable is not the simple, straightforward story of obedience I began with.  It’s about authority, money, investment, responsibility, relationship and risk.  Was God Himself the nobleman who gave each of the servants something of value for them to invest?  Was the Mina “Jesus?”  That made some sense because in the very next sentence there were those “citizens” who hated the nobleman and did not want him as their king.  The parable says ten minas to ten servants — each given “a” mina.  This parable has become my “mina”  to invest.  So…each servant is given the same “Jesus” to invest on God’s behalf √.  OK, that’s worth pondering.  That’s why the return on their investment mattered so much to the nobleman.  Each servant was expected to invest the “mina” he’d been given to benefit the nobleman’s kingdom.   Their investment was evidence of their relationship with, and trust in the authority of, the nobleman who’s now become their king.  And the nobleman’s responsibility is to keep an accounting of their investment. Finally the parable has gotten easier for me to understand.  The parable wasn’t about the nobleman’s money, he was already wealthy.  The nobleman risked His own wealth by trusting it to those servants.  Each servant had been asked to respond to the nobleman’s trust by investing in the potential of “a” mina to reproduce itself as wealth for the kingdom.   And then comes the shocking reality no servant wants to hear.   “A” mina so carefully protected that it’s kept “laid away” and never invested at all is far riskier than a small return because it devalues the nobleman’s authority, money, investment and responsibility in their relationship.

Previous blog links to read:
Investing
Potential
Memories

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Posted in Light, Luke, New Testament, Parables, Sunday

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By What Power?

Posted on October 1, 2023 | Leave a comment

Acts 4:1 And as they [Peter and John] were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.  5 On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 

My Thoughts:
The Sadducees were the party of high priests and wealthier elements of the population who served at the pleasure of, and collaborated with, the Roman authorities. Two of the familiar names in this passage are high priests involved in Jesus’s execution, Annas and the son-in-law of Caiaphas. Both are Sadducees and Sadducees did not believe in resurrection from the dead.  Peter and John aren’t in trouble for declaring Jesus resurrected but for declaring the man healed.  Power is the reason these ruling authorities are “greatly annoyed.” They’re annoyed by the evidence of a healed man they can’t refute and resurrection is the elephant in that trial room they can’t discuss.  They can’t argue about resurrection unless they admit the reality of it.  There are about five thousand who’ve heard Peter’s words and believed them.  Many of them had seen with their own eyes a demonstration of power the Sadducees have no answer for: A “good deed done to a crippled man, by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead.”  

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The Whole Miracle

Posted on September 17, 2023 | Leave a comment

Acts 3:11 While he [the healed lame man] clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s. 12 And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. 14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.  

My Thoughts:
For the first time in his life this lame man was strong. He’d just been miraculously healed but look at what verse 11 says, “he clung to Peter and John.” The miracle was more than physical healing.  It was the actual physical help he needed to stand on his own two feet for the first time.  That miracle was more than a sign of the “power or piety” of Peter and John’s faith, and certainly more than the faith of the crowd. What utterly astounded all the people that day was being eye witnesses of the truth of Peter’s words; “the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.”   “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers glorified his servant Jesus” in their presence — despite their guilty denial.  And now every time they saw that healed man stand and walk they would remember the power behind the whole miracle.  Jesus, “the Holy and Righteous One…the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead” had shown them His desire was to heal both the lame and the guilty — by faith in His name.

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WHAT HAPPENED HERE?

Posted on September 3, 2023 | Leave a comment

Acts 3:1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. 3 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. 4 And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Directed focus is what struck me about this passage.  This lame man had been at this gate most days of his life.  He certainly had directed his focus on his faith that his needs would be provided for.  He organized his friends to get him to the gate at the right “hour” after the hour of sacrifice had been completed when he could expect the people coming to pray might notice him and have generous hearts.  Peter and John  have come to pray too which is interesting. The focus of their faith is no longer praying for God to accept the Temple sacrifices offered an hour earlier.  It’s been changed into thankful belief because Jesus has fulfilled that hour of sacrifice.  That was the act of God that had changed their own expectations of faith into belief. 

After all these years this lame man was like an unnoticeable fixture at that gate.  Did he expect his faith in their alms would make life on earth more bearable for him? Of course he did. What other choice did he have?  What God did for this lame man was use Peter’s words, “look at us,” to change his focus from the unnoticeable expectations of his faith into the new and miraculous reality of a very noticeable expression of his belief, “walking and leaping and praising God.”  

“Perhaps only medical men can fully appreciate the meaning of these words; they are peculiar, technical words of a medical man. The word translated feet is only used by Luke, and occurs nowhere else. It indicates his discrimination between different parts of the human heel. The phrase ankle-bones is again a medical phrase to be found nowhere else. The word ‘leaping up’ describes the coming suddenly into socket of something that was out of place, the articulation of a joint. This then is a very careful medical description of what happened in connection with this man.”    (The Acts of the Apostles, p97 — George Campbell Morgan)  The miracle was complete, God had changed the focus on expectations of faith for “all the people” and become the reality of belief and they were filled with wonder and amazement.”

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