Last Words

               Jesus said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:4).

            This verse is found in what we call the “Ascension of the Lord”. A dramatic and amazing scenario where one minute Jesus is talking to His disciples, and the next moment he is headed up into the clouds, reunited with God the Father, leaving the disciples as awestruck jaw-dropped star gazers staring up into the sky.

            I think the words recorded in the first eight verses of Acts are very important. Granted, everything Jesus said was important, but there is a finality of these words. These are the last recorded words that we have that Jesus spoke here on earth.

            Last words are important.

            Nathan Hale’s last reported words were “I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country”. Those are powerful last words that have rung throughout the annuls of history giving hope and courage to many.

            As John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, lay on his bed breathing his last breath, he said “the best of all, God is with us”. Words of encouragement to others from a man who was encouraged by the ever abiding presence of his Lord.

            Blues singer Bessie Smith said, “I’m going, but I’m going in the name of the Lord”.

            I have been with some saints of the Lord when they took their last breath, with no more words to say here in this life.

            Jesus’ last words are found compiled together by the writer Luke in Acts 1:4-5; 7-8. Last words are important.

            Jesus told His disciples that they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem. This is also why he told them to stay in this city (verse 4). Jerusalem had been a difficult place for them over the last month. They had seen Jesus beaten and crucified, dead and buried. They had denied even knowing Jesus at times. They ran for safety when they could have been by His side. There were even those in the city that would kill them if they could. Jerusalem was dangerous for these disciples, and full of regrets of past mistakes and failures. Yet this is exactly the place Jesus told them to stay. Why?

            First, this is where they would receive “power”. This power came about a week later and is recorded in Acts 2. You should read this awesome story today too. But also I think this showed them that Jesus is bigger than their denials. Jesus is bigger than their mistakes. Jesus is bigger than their regrets. Jesus is bigger than their sins. And guess what? Jesus is bigger than all your denials, mistakes, regrets, and sins too! Maybe your Jerusalem is where you are today, and maybe all that you can think about is getting out of here. But maybe Jesus has you here for a reason. And if you trust Him and seek His direction, He will show you that reason, and allow you to be His witness here and now.

            Then Jesus told His disciples to be His witness in Judea. Judea is where most of them lived. It was home. Sometimes being a witness at home is the most difficult for me. These are the people that know the real me, my imperfections, my weaknesses, my hypocrisy. Yet to be an effective witness for Jesus elsewhere, it has to start at home. What are you doing this week to show the love of Christ in your own home and with your own family?

            Then Jesus said to be His witness in Samaria. This was tough for those that read Jesus’ words in the first century. Samaria was not a region that was thought very highly of. The people who lived there, the Samaritans, were often looked on as second-class people. They were thought to be the inbred uneducated offspring of a “pure” people. Obviously Jesus didn’t think so. And He told the disciples to go to them and love them. Do you have a Samaria? I suppose that if we are honest we all do. People that we don’t really like or agree with. So, Jesus says go to them, not to condemn, not to judge, but to witness in love.

            Last words are important. Of course, there is really no “last” words. Given that we are eternal beings in a temporary body, there are only words that will be our last here in this life. We will be speaking words for eternity, words of adoration, words of thankfulness, words of love, words of praise and honor.

            What will be your “last” words here on earth? I know we don’t like to think about that. But don’t allow your last words to be words of regret, or words of doubt, or words of denial.  May we all say “the best of all, God is with us!”

A Divided Room

I remember the day my girls divided their bedroom. The two had shared a room for years, but one day I suppose one (or both) of them had had enough of something or the other. Tape went down on the floor in as close to the middle as they could agree upon. One bed on each side, one dresser on each side, and each of their belongings on the appropriate side. They did agree, I guess, that the door was a neutral aspect since the door was on one side of the room. After all, a pre-teen girl can’t have a monopoly on a divided room door. So they both got to use the door. But other than that, the lines had been drawn.

I think it’s part of our nature to draw lines. Maybe we don’t make our lines on the carpet of our bedrooms with duct tape anymore, but I think we still draw them. Right and wrong, good and bad, clean and dirty (which in my house is still a matter of opinion), and even holy and secular. Maybe especially the holy and secular part. Now of course some lines have to be drawn. There are lines drawn in our legal and judiscial systems that we have to abide by. There are lines between sin and living a righteous life. We are called to be holy people. “Be holy because I am holy” is our command from God (1 Peter 1:16).

It’s just sometimes I think we draw lines in the sand that were never meant to be drawn. The root of being able to follow that verse in 1 Peter that I mentioned above is living in love. That’s really the root of our entire Christian life: to love God, to love others, and to forgive.  It’s hard to live that kind of life and have our lines drawn all the time.

When we draw lines we have an us vs. them mentality. We are saying that what is on one side of the line is ours, and what is on the other side of the line are things that we don’t want on our side. So what are we to do?

I think it’s time to erase some of the lines that we have drawn. If we are loving God completely and loving on others as we are told to do by the same God who died for us and them, then the separations and divisions are really just separating and dividing us.

Does this mean that anything goes and everything is permissible? Of course not. But it does, at least partially, recognize that “everything comes from God and exists by his power and is intended for his glory” (Romans 11:36).

Maybe that’s why in the first book of the New Testament that recounts the death of Jesus we are also told about something that had been used to divide. It was a curtain. This curtain was located in the temple in Jerusalem, and was used to separate the holy of holies where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. This place was filled with the presence (spirit) of God so mere mortals couldn’t just casually go in there. There was a curtain that physically divided. But when Jesus took on himself all the sins of the world (which was your sins and my sins), here is what happened: “at that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom”. The line that divided us from God had removed by God himself.

I have seen the presence of God in an ornate stain glass sanctuary. I have seen the presence of God in a vibrantly painted sunset. I have seen the presence of God in the tear streaked face of a widow. I have seen the presence of God in a newborn crying baby. I have seen the presence of God at a bar. I have seen the presence of God at a soccer game.

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.” (Psalm 24:1). Maybe it’s time to re-evaluate some of our lines. Maybe we need to pull that duct tape off the carpet. Maybe if we look with eyes of love, we won’t even see anymore some of the lines that have been dividing us.

Bible Notes- Mark chapter 2

 

Read Mark chapter 2

·        Jesus heals a paralyzed man

o   The first chapter of Mark’s Gospel ended with several healings, as Mark moves us in a fast paced narrative of this part of Jesus life. Chapter 2 starts out with another healing miracle, but in this account the man needing the healing can not get to Jesus because he can’t walk. He is lying on a mat that his friends carry. But even once they get to where Jesus is staying they cant get to Jesus because of the crowds. But they don’t give up, they know their friend needs Jesus. The house where Jesus was staying at in Capernaum was probably made of stone, but would have had a flat roof made from mixing mud and straw. The friends would have carried the man up the outside stairs on the side of the house to the roof where they made a hole in the roof and lowered their friend right down to Jesus.

§  Are we ever so preoccupied with what we are doing that we hinder others from being able to get to Jesus? Are we ever this way in the church?

§  How can we be more attentive to those who need to “get to Jesus”?

§  The friends took a great risk by digging a hole in someone else’s roof to get their paralyzed friend to Jesus! What risks are we taking to get our “paralyzed” friends to Jesus? Are we more concerned with the owner of the house and what he/she might think or are we moving with reckless abandon to Jesus?

§  Jesus said “your sins are forgiven” (GR word also means healed and/or saved). What relationship do you see between physical healing and the forgiving of sins? Is this part of the “wholeness” of an abundant life in Christ? How you answer someone who asked you “why does God heal some people and not heal others?” Picture yourself lying on that mat in the middle of room with Jesus kneeling beside you and saying, “your sins are forgiven.” How do you feel?

·        Jesus eats at Matthew’s house

o   Mark states that after Levi (Matthew) accepted Jesus’ offer to “follow” Him, that Jesus went to Matthew’s house for dinner and “many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples” (Verse 15). What is important about this statement? What should this mean to us as “followers” of Christ? What should this mean to us as the church?

·        Fasting

o   We have been talking about fasting this past week in regards to Lent. Fasting is an outward sign of humility and repentance from sin, and is also an inward discipline to clear the mind and keep the spirit alert. Jesus here emphasizes not the practice of fasting itself, but the motive behind the fast. If people fast only to impress others (or only because it’s Lent and everybody else is doing it), then the fast is being twisted into a personal agenda, without the focus on repentance/forgiveness/relationship.

o   Jesus compares himself to a bridegroom (verse 19), and this image portrays us as the bride of Christ. If you are married think back to your wedding day (if you are not married think about a wedding that you have seen.) How did you feel? How does the bride look? Was the groom waiting as she arrived? What expression is on the groom’s face when he sees his bride walking toward him? How does all this relate to our relationship (bride) with Jesus (groom)?

·        Picking wheat on the Sabbath

o   As Jesus and his disciples are walking through a grain field on the Sabbath (Saturday in this time) some of them apparently pick heads of grain and eat them. The Pharisees (who at this point are watching everything that Jesus does so that they can find fault with it) accuse them of breaking a Sabbath law.

§  Read Exodus 34:21

§  They were not stealing when they ate this grain either per their custom (Read Deuteronomy 23:25). The edges of the fields were supposed to be left for travelers and the poor in the community.

§  Of course Jesus was not breaking a command to “not harvest on the Sabbath”, he and his friends were just getting something to eat.

o   Jesus uses an example from David’s life in his answer to the Pharisees.

§  Read 1 Samuel 21:1-6

§  For more info on the consecrated/show bread read Leviticus 24 and Exodus 25

o   God made the Sabbath (a day of rest and worship) for us as a gift.

§  For some people, the Sabbath rules had become more important that the Sabbath rest. Is it that way still today for some people? What do you picture when you hear the words “Sabbath Rest”? Is every Sabbath like this picture for you? Why or why not?

 

What one or two things have really impacted you from your reading of Mark 2 and listening to God’s voice today? And of course, the next question is “what are you going to do about it?”

 

Holy and Broken Hallelujah's

Today’s word of the day is hallelujah. Open a Bible to Revelation 19 and let’s check this out. Now we’re all probably pretty familiar with the word hallelujah, right? If you’ve ever been in a church you have probably heard it. Hallelujah it means “praise God” or “praise the Lord”.

Halle= Praise Jah= refers to Hebrew word for God which is Yahwey, but our Jewish brothers and sisters would not say this name so they used “the Lord” is used in place of it.

Now the word hallelujah isn’t in the Old Testament at all, but we do see “praise The Lord” in the Old Testament. In fact the last 5 Psalms all start out with the same words:

“Praise the Lord”, and this lyric of praise is used 23 times in the Old Testament, all found in Psalms 104-150

The word Hallelujah is found in only one place in the New Testament, in the very last book of the Bible…bet you figured out that’s why I asked you to turn to this chapter already.

Here is the Cliff’s Notes context of this chapter: this is a future time when God has said “enough”, and Jesus returns to usher in the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven. This is a perfect time. For us as believers there will be no more death, no more tears, no more pain. This is what I would call a “holy hallelujah”, because everything is being made perfect. Of course we that have accepted Jesus as savior and Lord in our lives will be singing Hallelujah, because Jesus will be right here with us as God is creating a new heaven and a new earth.

So, I think there is the difference and the reality for us today. It’s easy to praise God when things are good, we will all be singing hallelujah when Jesus returns and we see all evil, all hurt, all poverty, all lies completely destroyed, it’s easy to say Hallelujah and bring our hallelujah as a pure and holy offering of praise to God in a peaceful and perfect time.

But what about the rest of the time? What about the broken times?

I talked to a woman this week, married, mother of 2, who was told by her husband that he didn’t love her anymore and had met someone new. Now this mother of 2 beautiful children has some broken hallelujahs in her life.

I talked to a guy this week who over a year ago was in a motorcycle wreck and the doctors said he probably lose his right leg. I met with him and his wife at the hospital, we prayed and asked God to heal him, and God did. He is walking now, and there was holy hallelujahs in that family. But 13 months after the accident he tried to stop taking the oxycodone that the Dr. had prescribed to him, and he couldn’t. He was addicted, and now he is fighting an addiction that has him feeling once again broken, he has a broken hallelujah.

When we were at Resurrection youth event in Gatlinburg last month we learned about a 12 year old girl, Emily, from Sweetwater, TN that was there with her youth group. I am sure that Friday night she had some holy hallelujah’s, as she was praising God through music from The City Harmonic and hearing God’s Word preached by Reggie Dabbs. Then Saturday her mom died. She was taken back home by one of her youth leaders. Her holy hallelujah had been turned into a broken hallelujah.

Saturday night at Resurrection there was an invitation to all the youth and hundreds of young people responded to God’s call, so many that all the senior pastors were asked to come up front and all the youth leaders went to the back of the auditorium so that we could pray with each and every youth there that night. That whole time seemed like a holy, holy, holy hallelujah as young people were giving their lives to Jesus. I prayed with a few of these youth, and there was one girl, I think she said her name was Sarah (it was pretty crowded and crazy) that I put my hand on her shoulder and she looked at me with mascara running down her face from crying out to Jesus, and she said “I was going to kill myself on Feb 14^th”.

It took a minute for her words to sink in, I wasn’t expecting that. She said something about showing “him what love was when he would lose it”, but then she looked me right in the eyes and said “but now I don’t have to do that, Jesus is the man that really loves me”. Somehow Sarah went from a very broken hallelujah to a perfect holy hallelujah in that auditorium.

The church where I serve as pastor has felt the blow of several deaths over the last few weeks. And that separation from loved ones, that feeling of loss, can break our hallelujahs and fill them with tears and pain.

And that’s OK.

When we bring our broken hallelujahs to Jesus, He will never turn us away, he restores our hallelujahs and He heals us.

Today, whether your hallelujah is holy or broken, I ask you to bring it to the Lord Jesus. Bring your praises, your joy, your pain and your tears as a holy and living sacrifice as we remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for each one of us.

Hallelujah!

 

 

 

Lent

“What are you giving up for Lent?”

               You’ve probably been asked this question. Even people who do not attend church are familiar with this practice of Lent, the practice of “giving something up” for 40 days. According to Biblegateway.com, here are the Top 10 things that people have tweeted or posted that they will be giving up for Lent in 2015:

1. School (11,330 tweets)
2. Chocolate (8,916)
3. Smoking (8,171)
4. Swearing (6,733)
5. Alcohol (5,820)
6. Soda (5,087)
7. Social networking (4,087)
8. Sweets (3,860)
9. Fast food (3,830)
10. Meat (2,687)

While some of the items on the list, such as smoking and fast food, can have a definite positive long term health and financial benefit, other items on the list, such as giving up school, are probably not practical and probably not for the right reasons.

So let’s start here, why do we have a custom of giving up various foods, habits, or actions for this 40 day period? Lent began as a practice of the early Christian Church (Lent is not mentioned in the Bible) as a way to prepare people in their faith journey to join the church and live a life of Christian discipleship. This 40 day period of time began on Ash Wednesday, and ended on Easter Sunday, at which time the new church members were baptized. As part of Lent these new members would learn and study important doctrines of the faith and study Scriptures. During this time there were many social and recreational things that they gave up, but more importantly they were taking on something new, taking on learning and growing in the new life that they were coming into.

So, from this practice, began the concept of giving up items for Lent to use our resources and time on things that really matter for the Kingdom of Heaven. We also in a small way experience an aspect of fasting and self-denial, through which we can (should) spend more time in prayer and thanksgiving as we think about the life and teachings, death and resurrection, of Jesus.

But I’m not going to ask you to give up chocolate or Facebook for 40 days, but I am going to ask you if you will take a Lenten journey with me. Take a journey through Scriptures like so many have done before us, as a way to prepare ourselves for the amazing Easter story. Here is a Lenten devotion of Scriptures that we can use together to read during the 40 days (not including Sundays) of Lent this year.

Day 1: John 1:1-18       

Day 2:  Matthew 3:13-17         

Day 3:  Matthew 4:1-11

Day 4: John 1:29-50     

Day 5:  Mark 1:1-20                 

Day 6:  Luke 5:1-11

Day 7:  Mark 1:29-39   

Day 8:  Matthew 4:23-25

Day 9:  Mark 1:40-45

Day 10: Luke 5:17-26

Day 11: Matthew 9:9-13

Day 12: John 4:1-42

Day 13: Mark 3:1-6

Day 14: Luke 6:17-26

Day 15: Luke 6:27-43

Day 16: Matthew 6:1-34

Day 17: Matthew 7:1-28

Day 18: John 7:31-8:11

Day 19: Luke 7:1-28

Day 20: Mark 5:21-43

Day 21: Matthew 13:3-23

Day 22: Mark 6:31-46

Day 23: Matthew 14: 22-46

Day 24: Mark 9: 14-29

Day 25: Luke 9:46-50

Day 26: Matthew 18:15-20

Day 27: John 9:1-41

Day 28: John 10:1-21

Day 29: Luke 10:25-37

Day 30: Luke 10:38-11:13

Day 31: Luke 12:22-48

Day 32: Matthew 11:20-30

Day 33: Luke 7: 36-8:3

Day 34: Matthew 16:13-17:8

Day 35: Mark 10:17-31

Day 36: Luke 15:11-32

Day 37: Matthew 20:1-16

Day 38: Luke 19:1-10

Day 39: Mark 6:1-13

Day 40: John 11

Have a blessed Lenten season. If you choose to give something up, use the money you save to help a local non-profit this year. If you give up an activity take the time you save to meditate in prayer. And allow God to work in and through you this season, to live into a Holy Lent.

 

When God Shows Up

This past weekend I spent a few day this in Galtinburg, TN with our youth group as part of an annual youth event called Resurrection. The band that led us in worship this weekend was The City Harmonic, and one of their songs has been stuck in my head all day today. The song is called “Mountain Top”, and one lyric says this:

               “We’ve been to the mountain top. We’ve seen the glory of our God. He is here!”

               This portion of the song looks back on an account from Exodus where Moses experienced the glory of God firsthand. But this song also reminds me about a story in Leviticus. Now I know that Leviticus is not often a book of the Bible that we go to for daily encouragement. It can be difficult to understand in terms of culture and actions. But if you read this portion of the Bible through the lens of Jesus, you will definitely come away from Leviticus with a deeper understanding of the holiness of God, and probably a reminder of how far as a society we have drifted from God’s guidelines. Most of read this book of the Bible in the context of God’s concern and care for His people.

               But here is the story that the song reminded me about, it is in t 9^th chapter. In this account Moses is telling the priests what needs to be done to prepare to worship God. And in verse 4 Moses says, “Today the Lord will appear to you”.

               Wow! Imagine the feeling that those Levite priests had at that very moment. I wonder if there were any nervously shaking hands when preparing the alter that day. I wonder if there were any butterflies churning around in stomaches that day. I wonder if there was any doubt that later that day, God would show His glory in a real visible and manifested way. I wonder if those priests spent some time talking to each other about ‘how’ God was going to appear that day?

               God did appear during this time of worship, and His glory was revealed. You can read the rest of this chapter later today, and focus on Verses 24-25 to see how God chose to show up that day.

                I believe that the Spirit of God dwells inside of each believer, offering comfort and strength. In a very real sense, God is always with us, so we are never apart from God. There are times, however, that we really feel the Spirit of God moving in us and directing events and circumstances in our lives. It is during these times where we should feel most alive, it is in these moments where we should say “God is here!” So, as we live in the grace of the New Covenant established through the work of Jesus Christ today, how are we expecting God to appear to us now? Are we even expecting God to appear to us? Did you wake up this morning wondering how and where God might show up today? What about the last time you were in church—did you go to that building expecting God to show up?

               See, God is as active now as He was in the lives of Moses, Abraham, Peter, and Paul. God is moving all of creation and existence toward the destination that He has chosen. God is still bringing communities of faith together and showing up to stir hearts and change lives through songs, sermons, and testimonies.

Revival still happens. In fact, that renewal and fire of Revival can happen every day in you. And if Revival happens every day in you it will spread out from you to others…to your church family, to your co-workers, to your spouse, to your children and grand children, to your waitress and to your pastor. That’s when worship becomes real, that’s when praise becomes authentic, and that’s when God shows up.

 

Come and See

               I love the stories in the Bible where Jesus says something and it just happens. Of course the miracles are awesome, Jesus speaks words of healing and the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk. And then there are the miracles of provision where Jesus blesses a few loaves of bread and some fish and thousands upon thousands of people have plenty to eat and the doggie boxes are full of leftovers. And then those times where Jesus shows his complete control of nature by walking on water or by calming the wind and rain in a raging storm on the sea. And the stories of Jesus’ compassion and love for us, and His offer of healing, restoration, and forgiveness of sins are incredible displays of divine love.

               But some of my favorite passages of Scripture in the Gospels is where Jesus calls people to follow Him. The most often discussed and widely read accounts of these involves Jesus and the twelve, the inner core of disciples who travelled with, ate with, and learned from Jesus Himself.

               When Jesus called to a tax collector named Levi to leave his tax booth and follow Him, Levi (later named Matthew) “got up and followed him” (Mark 2:14). Just like that. No recorded questions, no recorded hesitations, no worry about the future or finances or 401k plans. He just left what he was doing and followed Jesus. Why? Apparently because Jesus said so; Jesus called him…and Levi answered.

               Or how about those fisherman like James, John, Peter, Andrew, and Philip. When Jesus called them to follow Him they apparently just left their fishing boats, their livelihood, their families, and went walking down the dusty road with Jesus. Why? Apparently because Jesus told them to do it…and they all answered the call of Jesus.

               But I think one of my favorite is Nathaniel. Since Nathaniel is not mentioned in the lists of the “12 Disciples”, most biblical scholars think that he was also called Bartholomew. Bartholomew is listed as one of “the 12” (Mark 3:14-19). Levi was also called Matthew, Simon was later called Peter. Saul had a name to Paul after an experience with the risen Jesus. This practice of name changing was not uncommon after a momentous life-altering experience. In the OT Abram and Sarai had their names changed to Abraham and Sarah. So, maybe Nathaniel changed his name to Bartholomew. Or maybe he went by both names at times, sort of like calling someone by their middle name or a nickname. But the whole name issue is not why Nathaniel is so interesting to me. It’s because of his initial response to Jesus.

Philip, a fisherman from Bethsaida, had left his job and family because Jesus had said those incredible words, “follow me”. But the Gospel of John tells us that Philip then went to Nathaniel and told him about Jesus. I bet Philip was pretty excited! I bet his voice was kinda pitchy when he was telling Nathaniel all about this. I bet he was waving his arms while he was talking. And I bet he expected Nathaniel to share his excitement.

But Nathaniel doesn’t. In fact he even comes across a little judgmental and racist. (John 1:43-46). Philip could have become bitter. Philip could have said “your loss” and went on back to Jesus. But instead Philip said “come and see” (John 1:46b).

Perhaps that is the message we need to be carrying on today. Perhaps that should be our first line of invitation, just “come and see”.

What if we all ask one person this week to “come and see” what Jesus is doing in the lives of people we attend church with. (After all, they should already be able to see what Jesus is doing in your life, right?) Don’t elaborate on the wonderful organ player, the amazing praise band, the beauty of the stained glass, or the wit and wisdom of your pastor. Just focus on what Jesus is doing. He said to you “follow me” and I pray you have. Now you can tell someone this week, just come and see.