Tell me the story again

Today at our church, we talked about the empty tomb, we sang about the risen Lord, we prayed in thanksgiving for the eternal life granted to us, but we didn't read the scriptures. The sermon text was from Luke 9 when Jesus asks his disciples who the people say Jesus is. The sermon was fine, even for being Easter and not using the Easter scripture, but tell me the story again of how the women went to the tomb and ran away in fear and joy! Tell me about the great earthquake and the angel! Tell me about how Peter lost the foot race to the tomb after he and the other disciple heard about the risen Lord!

We need to hear these stories again! Every Easter is an opportunity to hear these words again. We should read and say them every year and not just on Easter, but especially on Easter.

May we never tire of hearing this wonderful story, the greatest story every.

Don't spoil the ending!

I'm not a big fan of movies. I haven't been to the movie theater since December 25, 2008, when I saw Marley and Me. When I do watch a movie at home with my family, I read the plot first because I want to know what happens. I don't want the suspense of not knowing what happens.

Today is Holy Saturday. Yesterday we remembered the crucifixion of Jesus. Tomorrow we will celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. But don't tell me that yet! Don't spoil the surprise! This isn't some movie, this is God incarnate coming to earth. Let me seek to understand it more than some movie.

Today is the day of waiting. Christ has died. He promised he would rise, but who can rise from the dead? Today we wait to see if the promise of Christ come true. For the captive souls in hell, today is a day of liberation. But for the friends of Jesus in Jerusalem, it was a day of waiting.

Don't play Christ the Lord is Risen Today, yet! Don't tell me about how the stone is rolled away! Let me consider how it might have been the day after Jesus' crucified body was laid in a tomb. Let the suspense hang in the air a little longer.

Tomorrow we will have time to sing Low in the Grave He Lay, and proudly sing He Arose, He Arose, Hallelujah He Arose. Today, let me be a sad, because my Lord and my God is dead.

Within the Two Binders: Prayers of our Father

Continuing through the binders full of my great-grandfather's lessons and prayers, I came across one prayer which I think he wrote during the Cuban missile crisis. It's plea to God is appropriate just about everyday on the calendar though.

We know, our Father, that at this desperate hour in world affairs, we need Thee. We need Thy strength, Thy guidance, Thy Wisdom.

There are problems far greater than any wisdom of man can solve. What shall our leaders do in such an hour? 

May Thy wisdom and Thy power come upon the President of these United States, the Senators and the Congressmen, tho whom we have entrusted leadership. may the responsibility lie heavily upon their hearts, until they are ready to acknowledge their helplessness and to turn to Thee. Give to them the honesty, the courage, and the moral integrity to confess that they don't know what to do. Only then can they lead us as a nation beyond human wisdom to Thee, who along hast the answer. 

Lead us to this high adventue. Remind us that a "might fortress is our God", not a hiding place where we can escape for an easy life, but rather an arsenal of courage and strength, the mightiest of all, who will march besides us into the battle for righteousness and world brotherhood. 

May we never record from our feeling of helplessness and our need for Thee. 

In the name of Jesus our Lord we pray

Embrace your heritiage

As Christians, I think it is good for us to remember our heritage in the old testament.

At dinner each night, our family reads from the Bible. We use a reading schedule our church puts out. Right now, the daily readings are from Exodus. I usually try to include some context, so the other night I asked my kids how the Israelites got to Egypt. We ended up walking through the story from Joseph being sold a slave to Moses leading the Israelites across the dry ground of the Red Sea.

At bed time, I usually read a chapter to my oldest daughter. Last night we started the book of Esther. I didn't realize that Purim was next week, but I did teach her to boo whenever the name of Haman is read.

I think it is important that we learn the stories of the old testament, remember what our God has done, understand our heritage, and remember that it all points to the promised one, mashiach, Jesus Christ.

Within the Two Binders: Christ Tempted by Satan

My grandma sent me two binders that contained Sunday school lessons written by her father, my great-granddad, Clodius McCollum. I've been reading through it today and came across this one which was only a page.

Painting, "Christ Tempted by Satan" by Georg Cornicelius.

In the original of this wonderful painting the eyes are red, with lack of sleep, not black, as they appear in the reproductions. His hair is a bit disheveled by the wind, because for days now, He has not thought of food, or sleep, or His personal appearance. And while His face rests upon His right hand, as one often instinctively does in deep thoughts, His left hand has gripped His wrist with muscular tension that indicates something of the intensity of His inner absorbing struggle. 

If thou art the Messiah, is the problem that Jesus took with Him when He was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness for self-discovery and self mastery, following that unusual experience as His Baptism when a voice out of Heaven said, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased" 

"Some one has said that "character is what you are when you are dead sure no one else is looking". The bitterest battles are fought, won or lost, within personality and not outside of it. Like Jesus, all of us fight our greatest battles with the evil forces that are all about us, alone, and within our own inner selves.

Speaking for God

A friend of mine posted this picture on his Facebook page.

It bothers me.

Not the abortion part. No problem with calling the murder of children a sin.

But the part where they speak for God. "God will not bless a nation that destroys its children."

Who are we to speak for God like that? Are we saying that God will bless a nation that commits adultery or lusts or kills adults or looks upon others with disdain? Are we saying that abortion is an unpardonable sin? Are we saying that America is judged as a whole instead of each individual for his or her own faith and actions?

All these things bother me about this photo.

Evangelicals for Jesus

Election years are tiring. It is especially tiring when you culture is pandered to and misconstrued in order to win votes.

Those who identify as an evangelical are assumed to be right-wing conservatives. Pulling up a few headlines dealing with evangelicals we find Why Evangelicals Support Trump, Why are Evangelical Votes so Ambivalent About Ted Cruz?, and my favorite, 3 questions evangelicals should ask about Donald Trump. The 3 questions article proposes the following questions:

1. What is known about Trump's personal life and morality?
2. Where does Trump stand on moral and social policy issues of concern to Christians and to which the Bible speaks to clearly?
3. Are the love of money and pride legitimate issues to weigh when considering support for a presidential candidate?

When Ben Carson endorsed Donald Trump for the Republican nomination, his campaign chairman, General Bob Dees wrote "In all candor, some of this critical dynamic reminds me of Passion Week which began with Hosannas from the people, and ended with “Crucify Him.” Yet Christ had not changed, just as Dr. Ben Carson has not changed his devotion to God, his fundamental policy convictions regarding the right path for our nation, or his undying commitment to Save America for Future Generations." Somehow people disagreeing with Dr. Carson's endorsement of Trump is comparable to the crowd choosing Barabbas over Jesus before Pilate.

I don't think evangelicals should care about any of those 3 questions from the perspective of being an evangelical. They are fine questions, but hardly the most important ones for an evangelical. We should not be equating a political election with the death of our Lord and Savior for our sins.

An evangelical should be concerned first with the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, not the kingdoms of this world. Remember what the Psalmist penned, "He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision." The kingdom that we as Christians belong to is not the kingdom of the United States. When Jesus is questioned by Pilate, he says "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place." Our kingdom is not to be ruled by people, elected or appointed, but by Jesus Christ himself. As the voices in Heaven cry out when the 7th trumpet is blown, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever."

It is frustrating to see our politics has been used to divide the Church, the Body of Jesus. Being a born-again Christian is now a politically charged term associated with Republicans. Despite that Democrat then Presidential candidate Jimmy Carter was the first to state he was a born-again Christian, to compete in the Republican party, you must cite your faith.

But even worse, is that arguments are made that if you are a Christian, you can or cannot support certain candidates. Paul encourages us to pray for all people, especially our leaders. He does not specify that we should only pray for leaders, politicians, and candidates that we support, but all people. Paul was dealing with leaders who sought to seek out and kill Christians, yet he still encouraged prayer for them. This is most certainly only done by the power of the Spirit.

Let's not allow politics to define our faith in our God. We should love God first and foremost, and love our neighbor as our self. Not because they agree with us politically, but because they too are made in the image of God.

This election is not God's ultimate redemption plan and is not to determine who will reign over the kingdom we as Christians belong to.