V-Day Redo

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Christ heart 073.jpg_thumb

We are such a get it done and move-on society.  This week it seemed as if there were so many things happening – cruise ship literally gone viral, manhunt concluded, state of the mis-union, blade runner murder, meteor attacks and the Grammys.   We had very little chance to focus on a couple of events that should have been given their due (I’m guilty) – Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday.  Valentine’s Day – a day traditionally spent honoring the gift of love – the love between lovers needs a re-play.  (Ash Wednesday and Lent – next week re-play)

I learned a few weeks ago that the Greeks have three distinct words for love.  The first is ‘eros’ love which is the root of the word erotic.  Pretty clear what kind of love that is, and probably the easiest form to find yourself in. The second is ‘philios’ love, and is the simple love that we as humans have for one another – like a friend has for a friend or siblings have for one another – the love you have for your best friend is philios. Then there is ‘agape’ love, and this is the love that God Continue reading →

Hello…..Jesus?

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NeedhimI walked by the TV today and caught a commercial.  I stopped because I saw the word ‘god’ on the screen – that always stops me.  It doesn’t happen that often so I am always interested in seeing what the message was going to be.  It was in the form of a chat conversation – two college guys chatting about what they believe…in any case it led me to the sponsor which is a website – chataboutjesus.com  – I don’t know much about this site so I looked at a few of their ads on youtube, and I thought that they were pretty good…thoughtful.  There are a lot of people that I know of who are lost.  And these ads spoke to these people.  I have also included a 2 minute video at our ‘video of the moment’ feature to the lower right of the page.  I think is pretty powerful.  LMK if you agree.  Then I logged on to the chat, and very shortly someone named Dennis came on and we briefly said hello…so there are people there waiting to speak to anyone about Jesus.  So how do I get that job?  (I’ll let you know.) Pretty cool – the power of the internet.  It reminds me of the line from Jesus Christ Superstar, ‘If you came today you could have reached the whole nation.  Israel in 4 B.C. had no mass communication.’  But that is a whole other post.

Bottom line: that is my hope for our site here.  One more outlet to get the conversation going about the most important subject in our lives – this and the next.  I can’t tell you much about the organization behind it all (needhim.org), but was curious as to what you all might think.  Check it out and let’s chat…about Jesus.

Don’t rock the boat

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Rembrandt_Christ_in_the_Storm_on_the_Lake_of_Galilee

I volunteer at our church middle school youth program.  Last week one of our instructors, Michelle, made reference to this canvas by Rembrandt called ‘The Storm on the Sea of Galilee’.  It depicts the scene from Mark’s Gospel 4:35-41, where Christ and his disciples are on a boat in the midst of a violent storm which threatens to capsize the boat and throw them all overboard into turbulent waters.  Michelle pointed out two very important aspects of Rembrandt’s image.  The first thing to remember is, although the sky in most of the painting is dark and ominous, there is an opening in the clouds where the light of the sun (son) breaks through.  That speaks to God’s omnipotent presence in our lives even through extremely difficult times.

The second point is more subtle yet equally powerful.  The right (rear) side of the boat, the side on which Christ is seated, is low and stable in the water; the disciples are focused on Christ and engaged with him and less so with the events happening around them.  The left (front) side of the boat is Continue reading →

The Angels Among Us

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baby consoling

Is it just coincidence that my belief in coincidence has diminished as my trust in God has increased?

I have found that once I accepted salvation, I felt a greater desire to alienate myself from ‘this world’.  Not so much the physical earth, which God created and is beautiful, not so much the people, whom I love and cherish, but more the fact that this is not the place where I (or you), as believers, belong.  So I view this world sometimes with a little disregard – it has become less relevant.  I have also come to realize that because we are still His children and He still cares for us, God is Continue reading →

Look Him in the eye and have a little talk.

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talk to God 3Posted on January 21, 2013 by

The main reason that I believe that God will save all is, I can look Him in the eye and say it. God I have come to believe that for you all things are possible, therefore the salvation of all is possible. If the salvation of all is possible, than the only thing possible, is for God to save all. If He asks me:

“But what about those that never wanted anything to do with me.”  Your judgments will correct them and bring them to righteousness. You are everyone’s heavenly Father and you will chastise all your children until they learn and understand and finally return to you like the prodigal son did.

“What about those who have never even heard of Jesus?”  I don’t quite buy the Continue reading →

A new 20/20

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focus

I met two people today – both elderly and both terminally ill. They were both comfortable, and in no apparent physical pain and very much aware of everything going on around them.  Both also seemed to be at peace – they understood what was before them.  They were not bitter or angry.  They were almost expectant – like when you see someone or something off in the distance and you squint to see what it might be; something that might look vaguely familiar; something that you or I could not see from where we are standing, but something that they are now seeing because Continue reading →

Quandary Resolved

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panhandler     For most of my adult life I faced a quandary most of us have faced.  At some point in our lives we have been asked for a hand-out by a street person, homeless person or pan-handler.  I think that I have gone through all of the responses.  Earlier in my life, I was mostly of the mind that these people need to get a job and I felt a bit resentful.  Then the more I was confronted by the situation the more confused I became, thinking, ‘well if this person really is desperate enough to beg on the streets, I really should help – I mean it’s only a couple of bucks?’  And then I would hear about a perfectly able-bodied guy who was scamming people pan-handling all his life now able to Continue reading →

God and Sinners are Reconciled

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bethlehemReconciled – transitive verb
a : to restore to friendship or harmony
b : settle, resolve
I am pretty sure that my favorite Christmas song is ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’, and my favorite verse is ‘God and sinners reconciled’.  Four words that I use to help me understand the enormity of God’s divine genius in fixing what mankind had broken in that ancient garden.  C.S. Lewis has a chapter in Mere Christianity that explains it so well  it is called The Perfect Penitent.  In essence it seems better to say that God (in Jesus Christ) paid our debt for us rather than to say he was punished for us.  And mankind’s only hope Continue reading →