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Showing posts from April, 2012

Come On, Let's Celebrate & Have a Good Time

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A kindly, faithful monk dies and is taken to the pearly gates in heaven. He is greeted by St. Peter, who says, “Because of your life of faithfulness, the good Lord would like to reward him. You may choose anything and I will take you there.” After some thought, the monk replied, “All my life, I loved to look into the Scriptures, now I would like to begin eternity being able to peruse through the original texts.” St. Peter escorted the faithful monk to the great library where the original works were stored and left the monk. A few days later, a heart-wrenching cry reverberated throughout all of heaven and St. Peter rushed to the libraries, where the sound was coming from. Staggering outside, the monk gripped his robes and shouted, “The text said celebrate , not celibate.” One of my love languages is gifts. I love giving gifts (and I also feel valued when I receive a gift). I especially love giving gifts to my Boy. You know why? It isn’t only because he’s my Boy (although tha

Love, Actually

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One thing I know and one thing I have not yet grasped is the same thing: God loves me. Life – all life, my life, your life – starts and ends with God’s love. In John’s gospel, John calls himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved” four times.   It seems audacious until you understand John, above the other disciples, understood something about Jesus the others didn’t fully comprehend. I don’t believe for a second John thought he was loved above and beyond the others, but he understood he was loved. Peter, often the disciple I find most relatable, was quick to profess and demonstrate his undying love for Jesus but John understood he was loved by Jesus apart from his doing anything to warrant it. He was loved, period. He allowed and received the love of Jesus apart from what he could do in return. I know this, you do too, probably. But recently my worship times were interrupted and/or cancelled and I’ve felt distracted or completely unfocussed during my Bible study times. And so often wh

Listen For God's Laughter

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When my Boy was younger and someone or something frightened him he would look at me or his dad to gauge our reaction, and then he would react in kind. He needed reassurance. He knew he would be okay if mom and dad were nonplussed about whatever it was that startled him. Psalm 2:4 , The One enthroned in heaven laughs ; the Lord scoffs at them [who plot against him]. Psalm 37:13-14 , The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them; but the L ord laughs at the wicked for he knows their day is coming. Psalm 59:8 ,  But you, O L ord , laugh at them ; you scoff at all those nations [my enemies who rise up]. We never outgrow our need for reassurance. We’re still looking around for someone in charge, someone who isn’t worried about calamity or fearful things. Unless we look to the Father, we will always come up short, but we can trust God and his reaction to evil is to laugh. Not because it isn’t there but because he’s not worried. Hahahaha. We can respond in kind –

An Invitation to Die?

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The cross is undoubtedly the most recognized Christian symbol. Easter has just passed and churches around the world celebrated the power of the cross. On Facebook, I read dialogues and comments regarding the preferences evangelical Christians have for an empty cross versus Catholics preference for a visual of Jesus hanging on the cross. I grew up in an evangelical stream, so I’m more familiar and comfortable with an empty cross but as I contemplated it again, I wondered if the empty cross is an invitation to share in Christ’s death so we may also share in his resurrection ( Romans 6:5 ). Because unless our sin nature dies, we cannot have any part of Christ’s inheritance because no one can see God’s face and live ( Exodus 33:20 ). Therefore we must die, and the empty cross is the invitation to do so. Of course, we are speaking spiritually, not physically. Christ’s sacrifice was enough to satisfy the curse of sin ( Hebrews 10:14 ), and he now is sitting at the right hand of the thr

Thirsty Jesus

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Jesus was thirsty – on the cross, when he hung condemned for our sins, he was thirsty. John’s gospel says he cried out. Only John’s gospel records these words. Luke’s gospel only speaks about forgiveness – both for his executioners and for the criminal dying beside him. Matthew and Mark share heart wrenching despair when Jesus cries, “ Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? ” – which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” But only John mentioned Jesus was thirsty. It’s a random statement, don’t you think? Why would Jesus mention anything about his physical discomfort at all? And if he did, don’t you think it would make more sense to say something about the irritation the nails were causing? Or he couldn’t breathe? Or perhaps his head was throbbing? But John deems it relevant to record Jesus’ cry because he was thirsty. In parallel passages from Mark 15:34-36 and Matthew 27:46-48, those writers record the despair Jesus feels. We know the writers were writing about the same mome

When You Have Done Everything...Stand

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Some days I wake up with an overwhelming and persistent thought; this morning was one of those days. It’s remnant of a dream I can’t completely recall but over and over, I found myself reciting the last half of Ephesians 6:13, “and when you have done everything, to stand.” It’s a reminder to me, for sure, but I believe it’s a word for many who are struggling with trials right now. To my right and to my left, friends and comrades in the battle are falling, wounded and beat up. They are too tired to get up and continue fighting; it’s exhausting and weariness sets deep in the soul. The Holy Spirit reminds us (through Paul) to keep standing.   Standing may not feel victorious – it’s passive and not effective at advancing territory but sometimes standing is the victory. John Keating (portrayed by Robin Williams) from Dead Poets’ Society says standing reminds himself to see things in a different way.   What different way could we see if we keep standing? 1 Chronicles 20:17, Take up