Easter again...

Matthew 28:1 "Early on Sunday morning as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb." It's Easter again. And this time it's another version. Seems like everyone has their own particular and peculiar take on Easter. And isn't that the way it actually is? I have my own take on it. I know I've experienced Easter (i.e. the resurrection of love and joy and hope and peace in my own life); I've experienced it many times. And each time it's a bit different in the details. The details are personal, but the truth of it is universal. Those who get caught up in the details fail to remember how easy it is to forget the "facts" while one's spirit is soaring with relief and renewal and re-creation. Every time for me it's "morning has broken like the first morning, blackbird has spoken, like the first bird." Of course the details are different. It is the same Lord bringing the same blessing, but the occasion of it is-well-one in a zillion.

Outrageous!

2 Samuel 12:24 "Then David comforted Bathsheba, his wife, and slept with her. She became pregnant and gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved the child," Outrageous! Taken out of context this is a beautiful romantic snapshot into the life of an ideal marriage. But knowing the context makes this outrageous! This wife of David's was not too long ago the wife of a good man named Uriah. David and this other man's wife had sex, and then she became pregnant. To cover this shame up David saw to it that brave and loyal Uriah was abandoned on the battlefield and died. Then he took Bathsheba as his wife. Outrageous! He may never have faced up to it had not courageous Nathan confronted him. Outrageous! That child died, but now this union is blessed with another one-as if nothing had gone before. We know the story and so does God. God's apparent blessing of this unholy union is outrageous! Truth is it's outrageous grace. Truth is it is another proof that what God is most concerned about is not what we have done, but what we are doing. God does not hopelessly consign us to the sins of a past we can do nothing about, but gives us an ongoing fresh start at a whole new life anytime we need it and ask for it! Between what was and what is comes Psalm 51, where David confesses his sinful past and asks for a renewed spirit and clean heart (i.e. a fresh start with God). And God gives him just that. Outrageous! God really does grant an ongoing fresh start at life no matter what-no matter what-no matter how many times it's needed-no matter what. And thank God that the same outrageous grace, outrageous love, outrageous as many fresh starts as is needed applies to this sinner as well! The gospel Jesus taught and lived and offers to whoever will take it to heart and live it out breaks my heart-in the best way possible. Outrageous has saved me, continues to save me and forever will! Hallelujah! Amen!

More workers

Matthew 9:38 "So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields." This is an extraordinary thing to say at the end of this chapter. In these few verses of chapter nine Jesus has healed a paralyzed man, called out another disciple for him to mentor, brought his experience, strength and hope to bear on a group of unreached folks, called some religious folks to become unreached so he could reach them, shared his faith with some seekers, healed a girl everyone thought was dead, healed some blind guys, healed a demon possessed man, and traveled on healing "every kind of disease and illness". And though all this seems like an immense outpouring of power from him, he realizes it is a drop in the bucket of the human need just in his sphere of influence. Then he prays for more workers to respond to the harvest that is right there (more workers to bring genuine good news matched with genuine good deeds). And is he asking the Father to send more messiahs? No. He is referring to folks just like those of us who are spending our lives following him. He means people like you and me who are dedicated to him and his cause. The extraordinary thing (the mind blowing thing) is that when he asks for these miracle workers to join him in the healing, casting out demons, discipling and taking on the religious order outreach, he means me and you-precisely you-and precisely me. How in the world am I going to do that? How can you? ONLY if we join him in what he is doing; moving at his leading; working where and how he guides us to do it. That is the method-taking and keeping him and his ways in the center of our lives. That he expects us to be able to do the things he did continues to be amazing and extraordinary. That such things happen when we join him in this work is just, by God, the truth.

Go on with your bad self

1 Samuel 8:7 "Do everything they say to you, the Lord replied, for it is me they are rejecting, not you." God is the wise parent who will allow us to disobey. The wisdom in it is to teach us the value of staying on the love path with God. If we hear clearly but choose to go another way, the Lord will let us. That is exactly what was done with these Israelites who wanted a king-like everybody else. The Lord will not force his way on us. He is always the standing at the door of our lives knocking God. But he will let us face the consequences of our decisions. Even so, at every step along that way the Lord is still counseling us, still leading us, still loving us, trying to get us back on the love path again. That is just what he did with Israel after this bad decision. He worked within that bad decision to try and get them back into his will and his way again. That is a great comfort-the idea that the Lord will not even let my stubborn disobedience and rejection of his guidance-which truly is a rejection of him-stop him from loving and leading me. Oh, what an amazing God we know and serve (mostly).

Giving-and it's not November

2 Corinthians 8:10-13 OK, this is the kind of message we usually hear in November as we are trying to get our hearts and minds and souls ready to respond as individuals toward support of the rescue mission of Jesus through Heartsong. And Paul is writing to the tribe at Corinth about a specific giving for a specific purpose. But in what he says there are lessons for all of life. When we talk about giving at Heartsong it's always in terms of time, energy, creativity and resources. He talks about giving eagerly and porportionally, not as to make life hard for you in doing it, but with a eye (and heart) for making life easier for others. These are great lessons about the attitude to take in giving. It's never to be given out of shame or guilt or duty even. The gift the Lord wants for the support of his rescue mission is one given with gratitude, freely and with an attitude of joy. Those who have much can give much; those who have little can give little. But if all invest what of their time, energy, creativity and resources joyfully, and in faith, the Lord will take whatever is given and turn it into life for those who most need it. And that life may be in terms of time, energy, creativity and resources too-according to their need. But it will always bring the kind of life that we hope to God lasts forever, and by God does.

Ruthless

Ruth (the whole thing). What an amazing oasis of gospel-of Jesus hearted love-smack dab in the middle of the Old Testament. Don't know about you, but I sure needed it. After all of the bloody mayhem of the conquest (?) of the Promiseland, my spirit was really wanting to bail on the Old Testament. Talk about a bloody religion! Yes, I sensed a whole lot of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit up until the conquest, but all the blood and guts of that and blaming God for it almost caused me to lose heart with it. I'm still not sure what all that has to teach us except how much God must love us to put up with our foolishness, how far off track we can go and still be religious, how profoundly and clearly it speaks to the need of a flesh and blood Savior. Come to think of it that is a whale of a lot to learn. But thank the dear Lord for Ruth. It's a simple story, but one infused with deep love-with all of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and in the surprise at the end (she was David's great grandmother) makes a turn toward Bethlehem (in more ways than one). It is enough-brief as it it-to keep me plodding through the old stuff looking for flashes of, drinks of, resonance with the Spirit that is surely there, though sometimes deeply and sometimes only shallowly obscured by human ignorance and sin. Without Ruth the Old Testament would be far more ruthless. ;>)

Plain As Daylight

2 Corinthians 3:6 "This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit" Could it be any plainer than that? This is setting in concrete the metaphor of Jesus about new wine needing to be put into new wineskins. With his coming everything changed, and it all had to do with him personally (Spirit) and what he taught (two commandments-new covenant). That is why the words spoken in the prayer of consecration at the Lord's Supper include the idea of the new covenant (the new agreement between you and God). What an huge insult (and tragic mistake) it is to try and force the Spirit of Jesus into the old covenant-the way of rules and regulations. The bible is clear, the witness of Jesus, and here (and many other places) of Paul that the old covenant didn't work. It was grand in the mind of God, but something got lost in the process of transfer into the mind of human beings. Original sin crept in, the desire to be God took over and what was meant to be glorious (a true expression of the gospel) became, in Paul's words, death. Jesus came to give us life and that abundantly. How dare anyone try to force the freedom he came to bring us into just more of the same old death! Forgive me, I get passionate about this. But then so did our Lord. If we don't get that it's not about religion; it's about THE relationship, then we don't really get Jesus at all. Plain as Daylight.

The Resurrection Hinge

1 Corinthians 15:14 "And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless." At one time I would have accepted that with absolute assent and not a thought. There is something in me now that wants to argue with Paul about it. Does our whole faith, our whole life with Jesus hinge on his resurrection? My life spent with him is much more dependent on his teachings-on the truth about how staying on the love path makes life work., and on my personal and shared fellowship with him. But then I have to remember that when Paul wrote this the absolute awesome miracle of the resurrection was so fresh. Everything they were thinking, the very reason they were bending their lives to the teaching and leadership of Jesus was because of the resurrection. Many other self proclaimed "messiahs" had come and gone. Jesus was the only one who had come and gone and come back again. It's strange to my experience of Jesus following that the miracle of his resurrection was the fuel that birthed the church. I have been after him so long that I take for granted his resurrection. I know he lives because I've met him; "you ask me why I know he lives; he lives within my heart." I know and accept that the fact of the resurrection is the warrant for belief in him. But is that why or how most people come to follow him today? My experience with people who come out of the world and begin to follow him is that they do it because of a deep yearning for God in their own hearts and minds and souls, and most often, a connection with someone who is already following him. What seals the deal for them seems to be his character matching their need, and his way being the good news they have always been looking for. I cannot recall a single person who seemed to be buying in on the basis of believing that Jesus really was raised from the dead. I'm guessing that is because believing that is inherent in believing in him. My guess is that we are a community of faith so immersed in the resurrection that we don't much even think about the huge importance of that historical fact for the formation and foundation and ongoing life of his tribe. Or maybe it's just me.

Love again? Always, he says.

1 Corinthians 8:1-3 The test of whether or not something can or needs to be done for Christ's sake is not a merely a matter of knowledge (informed reason). It's true we need to always be as good as we can about reasoning something out. The Lord wants us to love him with all our minds. But before moving to action what we think is best, even when having the agreement of the best minds in the world, has to meet the test of love. Yes, it's great common sense. Yes it's reasonably the best course of action. But is it also loving. If not, we need to think deeper, research more, take another tack at the problem or issue or someone. Love is the final test in all things Jesus, for all actions carried out by a Jesus follower. Paul's advice was in answer to a church difference of opinion, but the same principle works on the mission field as well. It's love that builds up the church, Paul says-not knowledge. It's also love that builds up the lives of those on our mission fields; it's also love that builds up the world. It's love that builds the Kingdom-as much of it as we can ever build. The knowledge part of building the Kingdom is beyond us. That will have to be God's doing. That's why our best efforts at it are witnesses to what is coming by God in all it's fullness. Love is the farthest we can go for Christ's sake. Let's love the best we can and rely absolutely on the knowledge of the one who has all knowledge.

Oh my Achan-nevermind!

What a difference there is between the stories of what happened to Achan (and his poor family) in Joshua 7 and the directions Paul gives about the man who is living in sin with his step-mother in 1 Corinthians 5. Achan and his family are stoned to death to get the community back into faithfulness with God. Paul tells the Corinthians to put the offender out of the church (don't know why there is no word about what to do with the step-mother-maybe she wasn't in the church) and let Satan take him. Even though he is to be put out the hope seems to be that once out he will repent and come back into the fold. The difference between those two approaches to maintaining the faithfulness of the community of faith is vast. The difference, of course, is Jesus. What the Israelites did was not what the fully formed community of faith would do. Jesus came to show us the way of love-at all costs, in all situations with every single one. Paul's directions are in that vein (no pun intended). What it causes my mind to go to after making that gospel connection is the current state of the church ( ours or any). Are there efforts made to keep the faithfulness of the flock by confronting behavior that is not Jesus centered? If we would have that courage0if we would love each other that much- I believe both out witness and our growth would be profound. I invite conversation about that. Should we? If so, how? Is the faithfulness of the flock as a whole something that even crosses (pun intended) our minds? Should it?

The Business

Galatians 3:22-23 It's interesting how the world looks at Jesus following and how God does. The world tends to look at Jesus following as something ancillary if not tangential to someone's life. It's like a super important hobby or something. But if Paul is channeling the Holy Spirit, and I believe that here he is, God looks at Jesus following as the most important thing in the world. "Everything belongs to you." I'm not taking that to be about ownership, but about the tools and responsibility and authority to pursue or lives together for Christ's sake-our efforts at the rescue mission Jesus left us to continue. And then it's you (church), then Christ, then God (meaning the Father). What all this points to is that if we as Jesus followers have everything we need at our disposal to carry out the mission, then doesn't it follow that according to God the mission we are on is crucial-not only not marginal-not only more than a hobby-but crucial to the epic God continues to roll out on earth? This truth about the importance of true followers being crucial to the plan of God speaks to that old (and irritating) saying, "the church is not a business." If I hear God right the church is not a business; it's the business. When you think about it, is there really any pursuit human beings can make together more important than helping people find their way home safely to God?

Is this the key?

"Is there then a conflict between God's laws and God's promises?" Galatians 3:21 That's another way of saying is there a conflict between God's laws and the gospel of Jesus? The answer is the same: absolutely not. The problem is that we think of both as contemporary and competing. The truth is that the law (as is so brilliantly explained in the rest of this chapter) was right for a particular point in the development of the people of God. Since Jesus came the law has been overwhelmed (gathered in) by the gospel. Our standing now is not based on law but on our personal relationship with God through Jesus (who is God in flesh and blood). I have a friend, let's call him J (not that one). J is wrestling with what he believes about Jesus. He was raised Jewish and accepting Jesus as the Messiah is a struggle for him. I'm wondering if this insight into the law and gospel would help him make the leap of faith into trusting that Jesus is the Messiah. What I mean is that in his heart J really operates on a gospel basis. He realizes that his heart yearns not for a list of rules and regulations about God (laws), but for a relationship with God. He is already operating spiritually on a gospel basis instead of a law basis. Now here is the key (I hope). The one who brought to the world the gospel is Jesus. There was no system of God thinking that included a personal relationship with God as the fulfillment of the heart's desire. Jesus released that into the world and it connected with the deepest needs of our human hearts. Now here's the deal. The only one who has the right to change the rules (change from a law based system to the relationship based life) would be God. Isn't the fact that what our hearts yearn for, Jesus brought to the world (and us) evidence enough that he is God? The one who brought to us this great good news about God loving us and wanting to be intimate with us (our Daddy) was God-in flesh and blood. That still requires a leap of faith to decide to claim Jesus as our Messiah. But it sure is a great nudge (if not push) toward the edge of making that leap. Are you out there, J?

My choice

Deuteronomy 11:26, "Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse!" Some choice, huh? "I'll take the blessing. What? Oh, there are some conditions? What are they?" I love this! Many people seem to think that the blessings of God (and the curses) are something God hands out randomly or on the basis of some kind of divine logic only the Lord is privy to. The truth is that blessings or curses in life really are our choice. Here's how it works. God had provided only one way to live. It's lined out in the ten commandments (if you cling to the Jesus about them) and definitely crystal clear in the two (the one's about loving God and all others that Jesus gave us). That is the way Jesus taught; that is why before our faith was called "Christianity" it was called "The Way" (I still much prefer that name). One path to the good life. To follow it brings a life of blessing. Don't think of that materially ( I know you aren't); think of it in the way Jesus taught about life (abundantly). If we get off that path-curses. Not because God zaps us but because there is only one way for a human being to live that is godly. Any other way is not going to work. Therefore trying to life that way will feel like a curse (and actually it is, but one we bring on ourselves by trying to live in some other way than the way God designed us to). To say about life, "I have no choice" is to be ignorant of the truth about life. And it is to miss the wonderful choice we all, by God, do have-this day and every day.

Way Too Far!

Deuteronomy 2:34 "We conquered all his towns and completely destroyed everyone-men, women, and children." So sad. They seem to be bragging. And how in the world did they think they had the permission-even the blessing of God-to do such a thing. This sounds way more like Pol Pot than the children of God. I'm not saying it was not God's will to defeat the King and take the land. Maybe it was. But to not only defeat the army, but also kill those who did not fight and women and children? Horrible. And blasphemous for them to say God led them to do that. What a cautionary tale for us, Jesus followers. Every cult begins with the gospel. But every cult leader at some point strikes out on his or her own and takes the faith taught there into strange and hateful territory. It is a dangerous thing to get a "go" from God and not be careful along the way to hear "stop now" or "slow down" or "enough". It is dangerous for our Jesus centered life-our true following-and if history repeats itself (and it does) it's dangerous for those in our lives as well. That is why communion with the Lord has to be constant. We don't get a direction and stop listening; we stay in constant communication or we will find ourselves in a place that is dark and dangerous and unfaithful in the extreme.

Balaam! Dang it!

It's almost a passing remark, the killing of Balaam of Beor (Numbers 31:8b). I liked Balaam. What he did in prophesying over Israel was bold and funny. Just a bit earlier in the story he had shone as one who did what the Lord counseled him to do instead of what the king had paid him to do. He listened to the counsel of the Lord and followed it. So was his the death of an innocent? Apparrently not. Seems like Balaam was also somehow responsible for leading some of the Israelites into idol worship (verse 16). Balaam then was someone who listened to the Lord when it was expedient and went his own way when it suited his fancy. He was not a true follower, merely a believer. The difference is in just the way Balaam lived-following when it was convenient or served him, and going his own way when he wanted to. A cautionary tale if ever there was one. I cannot dictate the terms of my Jesus following. He already has; he already does; he already will. Mine is to follow-or not. I do not have the luxury of molding whatever I desire into Jesus following.

A talking donkey!

Shades of Shrek (Numbers 23:21-30). But that is not what grabs me about this story of the enigmatic Balaam. He is not one of the "chosen people" but he sure does have a relationship with God. He is asked to do something for pay that is against the will of God. I'm sure this was not his first "bless or curse" rodeo. People paid him to put his hex on people; that's why the king sent money-and dignitaries (body guards?). But before Balaam took this course of action he consulted God. The point to me as a Jesus follower is that I need to do the same thing-even when what I am being asked to do (or what is simply before me) is part of how I usually spend my life for Christ's sake. Balaam checked in with God before going, and that made all the difference to him-and though I'm sure it didn't make the king happy, what a lesson for him. And what a lesson for anyone who wants to pull Jesus to the center of their living-continually invest in a relationship of love and trust with him. The one who knows what we need to be up to (which side to be on and such) is Jesus. We might avoid a lot of missteps if we would first check in with him. No matter what the donkey says.

Come on, God!

I'm fascinated by this dialogue between Moses and God in Numbers 14. God is really hacked off (and I'm sure, hurt) by the boneheadeness of the Israelites. God is ready to pull the plug. But Moses uses some psychology on the Lord; almost shames God into changing his mind. "What will the Egyptians think?" And God repents, as if God is worried that the Egyptians might thing less of God. That is hilarious to me. It makes me really, really wish I had been there. I'm so "Thomas" about stuff like that. Is that what really happened, or did Mose frame it that way? Talking about the bible stories in this manner is really threatening to some. I'm taking the viewpoint of skepticism. A whole lot of the world comes at the bible with a viewpoint of assent. They take on face value what the bible recounts as factually true. That is a valid viewpoint. The way it would be expressed in this case is that God always knew what God was going to do and was playing with Moses, and the people, to make a point about the power and soveriegnty of God. That is a valid interpretation. But it is not the only one. A perspective of skepticism is not a perspective of faithlessness. It is an attempt to find the true faith in what is being recounted. In this case it is the faith that God would not have acted that way. God is God and the will of God will by God be done. This must be a literary way of telling what happened, and how the people of Israel blew it with their faith. I take the perspective of skepticism because those who are outside the Jesus following life honestly and earnestly looking in have a low b.s. tolerance level, and because of how the bible has been used to club and shame them, they take a perspective of caution (and skepticism). It's not a perspective of pessimism, but of a deep desire to connect authentically and transparently-or not at all. I take that perspective for them. And to be authentic and transparent, it also happens to be my natural perspective. I want a real relationship with a real God; not one somebody hands me and asks me to swallow. That's why I always ask my real God-Jesus-to sit with me as I read the bible and interpret it to me through the prism of his life and teaching.

Lawbreaker?

Jesus is just alright with me! It's things like what he does in Mark 2 where he defends is followers when they eat grain on the sabbath (horrors!) that makes me remember what it was about him that first drew me in. He's got an very very low b.s.* tolerance level. The reason the religious folk were so upset with the disciples was because they were "working" on the sabbath. "they are breaking the law by harvesting the grain on the sabbath." Picking the grain qualified for them as work! Guess if you laid on the ground and waited for it to fall into your mouth that would be OK. Anyway, Jesus cuts right through their b.s. and reinterprets the truth about the purpose of the sabbath. He doesn't change what God set up the sabbath to be; he re-interprets it-gives it the original meaning. The sabbath was not set up, by God, to be a plethora of laws, as endless spigot of opportunities for others the shamey-shamey folks, but to be a source of freedom and rest and communion with God. How better to commune with God than to eat some of the bounty he has set right off the stalk? How sad that some substitute rules and regulations about God for true fellowship with God. Thank you Jesus for ever setting us straight. Resist the categories; embrace the Lord!

Attitude

Before I read Psalm 23 I asked the Lord to give me something new there. He did-right there in the first verse. "I have all that I need." That, my sisters and brothers, is an attitude. It's the absolute God's truth. As long as we have life we have all that we need. If we believe that the call of Jesus to follow him goes not only to the cross but through it into forever, we have all we need. Maybe we don't have all we desire; all we want, but, by God we do have life and at the end of the day-until there are no more days-that is all we need. That's attitude. That's not automatic. It is far too easy for me to forget I have all I need, and confuse my desires for my needs. If I am going to enjoy that truth about life, the universe and everything-specifically me-I'm going to have to cop that attitude-take it to heart-live it out. I'm guessing Paul was living out just that attitude when he called together the crew of that storm tossed ship and told them everything was going to be alright-even though they were going to shipwreck. Dear Lord, ever remind me of what I have.

Salem?

Numbers 5:29 "This is the ritual law for dealing with suspicion." This one I definitely have to put in the drawer marked "awaiting further light". This "test" of a wife's faithfulness to her husband reeks of patriarchy and sexism. Where's the test for a husband's faithfulness to his wife? What would it be? Walking and chewing gum at the same time? Of course, in that day, women (along with children) were just above slaves-really just a dear form of property-like really lovable pets. Am I wrong or does this "test" find it's way down through the centuries as the test for whether or not someone was a witch during the Salem trials. It's just like the water test where if a woman floats she is a witch, but if she sinks (and drowns) she wasn't. Oh, well. It's easy for us to condemn as hateful and evil the water witch test (isn't it?). I have no trouble seeing this awful practice as equally hateful and evil. And ascribing such a thing to God? I feel sure that was on the list of things that finally convinced God he was just going to have to come down here to straighten us out about just who God is and what God wants. Thanks be to God for Jesus. Without him I wouldn't have a prayer!

Odd God

Yes, I'm trembling a bit as I write this. Still some of the old hellfire and damnation god stirs around somewhere inside of me. Nevertheless, here goes..... I just can't buy that God would be so picky about who can and can't serve him as a priest (especially since the Jesus following faith teaches that all who follow him are priest to each other). All of the "defects" listed in Leviticus 18 as exclusionary seem so petty. Can't one just not mention the defective testicle when applying (just kidding)? But seriously, isn't this list a bit "small" in thinking for the God who died to prove that love is the most powerful force in the universe. I have to sift more than a little of the Old Testament to get the Jesus out of it. I'm willing to say that in God's understanding it makes sense and that I just don't get it. But I would rather make the mistake of thinking something just does not reflect the God I know and love as perfectly revealed in Jesus when it actually in some kind of cosmic math does than to ascribe to my dear Lord a trait that most Jesus followers would find mean spirited.

What Cristi said

I like what Cristi said about the stuff in Leviticus. I'm sure glad I'm not under all the rules and regulations they were (I do like me some BBQ & catfish), but all those things were for the purpose of guarding the health and integrity of the community of faith. Maybe after all the people had been through in Egypt (not only the abuse in several forms, but also the powerful influence of the Egyptian culture), the Lord knew they needed a lot of structure to rewire their hearts and minds and souls to their original program-the one He has installed in them at their creation. If only it had taken there might have been no need for Jesus to come. I can't imagine that, but who knows? Sorry for them, but I'm glad Jesus did come-and not only for the sake of BBQ & catfish. Can you imagine a world without him, no matter how much like paradise it had come to be?

The Spirit Of Jesus

It's quick and almost said in passing, but the implications for you and me are huge-and utterly amazing! In Acts 16:6 Luke writes about the Holy Spirit directing the journey of Paul and Silas (and who else?). In the next verse he mentions that again "the Spirit of Jesus did not allow". Ha!, there it is!! He uses interchangably the "Holy Spirit" and the "Spirit of Jesus". They are one and the same. Now, I'm not going to launch out into Trinitarian cosmology here (because I don't think human beings are capable of such a feat), but this is a wonderful revelation to those of us who have never laid eyes on Jesus, never had his voice cause our eardrums to vibrate, never felt his arms around us. What I teach is that when Jesus came he revealed through his life and teaching the will and personality of the Father. When he left the earth that same will and personality continued through the presence and experience of the Holy Spirit. What that means is that though we don't get Jesus in body, we do, by God, get him. The experience of God you and I have (or can) through our own personal relationship of love and trust is with Jesus! He is not just a character in a book, someone who we will only get to know someday in heaven. He is with us now; ours now. And this from the writing of Luke confirms it. The Holy Spirit is not some supernatural unknown entity. It is Jesus-with us! Hallelujah!!! And by the way, as for that "who else?", look again in chapter 16, verse 15. The last part of that verse says, "And she urged us until we agree. "we"? That could only have been the author. Who else was on that journey? Luke.

Jealousy and such

Lots of interesting things in this chapter. The group of men listed in verse one shows a racial generousity in the early church that has not been the case a lot of times in church history, and most recently, of course, in our country (among others). How easily our human shortcomings take the lead-fear, ignorance, jealousy. We need to be on guard about it constantly. The thing about striking the false prophet blind is not only curious, it echoes a word from the gospels. When Jesus cast out a demon those who witnessed it were amazed at his teaching! Here again, a supernatural (at least to our eyes) event happens, and it's referred to as a teaching! Either those in that world had a much broader definition of "teaching" or the Lord is trying to teach us something about the healing, exorcising and evil blocking power of this teaching. I have seen the teaching of Jesus work many a miracle. And again, after Paul's preaching the Jews are "jealous". It is still a temptation to believe that Lord wants to work through us (me) exclusively, and not through others as well (especially when they are working our area!). Or maybe it's just that I want all the glory (surely not ;>) )

Run that by me again

It always amazes me when something (especially something long) is repeated in the scripture. It took so long to write those manuscripts that I would have written something like-look back a couple of pages to see what I said there. Instead they repeat the story. They are doing it on purpose-making a big point. In this case I'm thinking about all the instructions for how to cloth the priests in Exodus 28. All that is again repeated in Exodus 39 when they actually do it. Why spell all that out twice? The only thing I can think is that it emphasizes the importance of following the instructions of the Lord to the letter-that showing both the instructions in full detail and the follow up in full detail is somehow a teaching on faithfulness. The word to me in all that is to listen to the Lord carefully for his direction in my life, and then, by God, to do it in all it's fullness, not eliminating anything I might find out of the box for me or that I might deem insignificant or unnecessary. It points me to complete trust in God for the direction of my life-both in the big picture and in what I might call the smaller things.

OK Then!

I love the story in Acts 10 & 11. It's great in so many ways. For one thing it puts this "Gentile" on a level playing field (following field) with all who have ever followed Jesus of any stripe. Without this amazing experience those such and me (and you, my friend) might have been relegated to being second class Jesus followers. For people such as us to have equal standing for Christ's sake is evidence of the Kingdom come! But I guess the part of the story that is most moving to me is the response of the folks in Jerusalem. They were livid that Peter had done what he had-until they heard the full story. Then it seems like they changed their minds-immediately! To do that they had to be steeped in "knowing" Jesus (i.e. being able to predict WWJD in a situation such as that) and they had to trust Peter (that he was telling the truth about what, by God, had happened). What a lesson for contemporary Jesus followers! We must "know" Jesus (i.e. be so familiar with his teachings and his character as revealed in the gospels) that we can recognize what he is up to on our mission fields. And when something new and revolutionary happens we will not dismiss it out of hand, but weigh it for it "Jesusness" and according to the trust we have built with the one who brings it to our attention. By the same token if we have a new word (or experience) from the Lord we will need to be trustworthy for our testimony of it to be recieved gladly by our tribe.

Get going!

Exodus 33:1 "The Lord said to Moses, 'Get going, you and the people you brought up from the land of Egypt." Timeless instructions from the Lord! All these centuries (yea millenia) later the word of the Lord to the called and sent is "get going". Yes, we don't know exactly where we are going, nor what we are to do along the way or when we get there (and my experience is that there always gets moved farther out). However we don't have to know everything to act on what we do know. All we are ever called on to give an account of and to offer to others along the way is our experience, strength and hope. We are not powerless, ignorant or lost about where to head and what to do. We are to head out on our mission field and be on the look out for those who are not yet at home with Jesus and his tribe. To wait for further instructions from the Lord is to play like he has not already given us enough to get on the mission field and see what happens then. Get going, the Lord told Moses. There was a lot more he and the people would hear from the Lord. But not unless they acted on what they had already been told.

Witness

Well, here we go! Stephen (great name but wrong spelling) is about to become the first Jesus follower to be killed in service of the cause. And all he did was be the conduit for miracles from the Lord and share his experience, strength and hope. The word martyr carries the freight of dying for the cause, but the word actually means witness. It was a legal term (i.e. being a witness in a trial). It was the word Jesus used when he told the eleven they would be his witnesses starting in Jerusalem (right where they were) and to the ends of the earth (wherever they might by God go). It's all about being missionaries on our specific mission fields. That's all Stephen was doing. It's what the Lord expects of all who follow him. The call is to be conscious and to move, speak, act when prompted by the Spirit. And for that Stephen was brutally murdered. And all I have to suffer is making the effort to stay conscious about who I am and what I'm supposed to be up to, and seizing by the throat my fear of being thougth socially inappropriate. or intrusive and share what I have with Jesus. Lord, help me never forget that even in this post-modern world there are Jesus followers who are literally being killed all day long just for following you and going public about it.

The first Lord's supper?

OK, here is something else I am sure was not in the bible the last four times I read it cover to cover. Isn't it interesting that no matter how many times we read the word there is always something new there? I'm sure I've never read this before (Exodus 9-11) though I am sure the words hit my eyes. They just didn't register in my soul. Maybe that's because the Lord was drawing my attention to something else I was reading in that part of the word. The Lord really does meet us in the word, doesn't he. And if we are listening he gives us a specific word for us; he speaks right into our lives. Now I have to figure out what the Lord is saying to me by getting me to hear (see?) this bit about that small group having "a covenant meal" with him. Is it about the importance of small groups? Is he showing me that way back in the book so I will once again speak about the deep importance of close communion (i.e. fellowship with a small group for Christ's sake) where the Lord will meet us and commune with us? There I said it. Is there anyone out there who needed to hear it (besides me again!)? And just for weirdness sake, I would have told you that no one has ever laid eyes on God-even that it says that somewhere in the book. But here it clearly says this small group "saw" him. Does anyone know where it says no one has ever seen the Father? (Hint. It was the Son who said it.)

Hey You Guys

Just wanted to say that I sure hope you who read will begin to take the wheel some on this. You don't have to comment on what I'm thinking. If you are into another chapter or verse, please share your thoughts with the community. This is not my blog; it's the blog of the Heartsong faithful. I will be glad to comment on where you are feeling led in the word. Lead on, Heartsong faithful. I will share my thoughts when struck by them, but please don't wait on me, or think I have to be the one getting us going every day.

Strange Things Happening Here

The story in Exodus 4:24ff is one of those very strange stories in the bible I do not begin to understand. It presents a side of God that seems alien (even primative) to me. It makes me wonder what actually happened. Was this some intense and sudden illness that they attributed to God? Was God's actual role in the story healing Moses? That would certainly be more in line with the character of Jesus. Of course, if God wants to attack Moses that's alright with me. I don't need to understand it; it doesn't need to make sense to me. I'm just being honest that I don't get it, that I'm willing to buy that it happened, but I'm not willing to buy the interpretation of who is responsible for it happening. I'm just putting that little story in a box in my heart and mind called "awaiting further light." By the way, that's not an original term with me. It comes from the writing of Leslie Weatherhead, most known the author of "The Will of God", which is a wonderful exploration of the issue of human suffering. I find much more valuable for faith development his book, "The Christian Agnostic" in which he shares his vast experience, strength and hope about things at the heart and tangential (as is this story of God attacking Moses) to Jesus following. I highly reccomend it.

What God Does

Strange isn't it, that Joseph tells Pharoah that through his dreams God is telling him what God is about to do (Genesis 41:25). How very odd that God brings famine and plenty. I'm wondering if Joseph didn't get it precisely right. Was God telling Pharoah what God was going to do or what was going to happen? That sure makes more sense to me. And yet I am sure whatever God decides to do does not wait on whether or not it makes sense to me. Either way this story points to the wisdom and omnipotence of God. Ultimately God is in control. Even though it seems strange to me and my mind can't comprehend why God would cause seven years of famine, if God wanted to do it, God could. And from what I have learned about God through my relationship with Jesus I trust that. It all comes back to that one question God continues to ask me about everything-absolutely everything: "Do you trust me now?" If our answer is "yes" then we have to let God be God and act on trust by continuing to invest faith (trust and loyalty) no matter what. My "yes" to God is all that keeps the relationship fresh and alive.

Associating With Sinners

The joke of course is that we are all sinners. Well, I won't speak for you (but you are one!). My favorite story in the bible is the story of the prodigal father in Luke 15. To me it so clearly reveals the character of God. It is the same God who hung on the cross and asked that everyone in the mob (where I was standing at the time) be forgiven because they didn't know what they were doing. Jesus himself was reflecting that same character when he associated with "tax collectors and other notorious sinners." It says they came to hear him teach, but they would not have been able to unless they were welcomed by him, and they would not know they would be welcomed by him unless he had already encountered some of them and they had felt his welcome already (and passed the word to other notorious sinners). Jesus came not only to reveal who God is, but also to call us to who God has made us to become. In welcoming notorious sinners he was showing us how to spread his teaching, his love. Old school religion taught me to avoid notorious sinners lest I become one. Jesus shows me that unless I befriend those who appear to be far from God they may miss him-and that would be a shame-and one that I as a Jesus follower would need to share.

In Your Face

Again Jesus counters the narrowmindedness of religion with love. For Jesus love trumps religion everytime. He keeps doing this over and over. It seems obvious to us that what he is doing is the right thing to do (tossing aside some strict rule in order to serve up specific love) but he keeps doing it, and in the face of the religious patent holders. He's not trying to offend them; he's trying to teach them something. He's trying to free them (and all those under their influence). I think that what is so obvious to us is absolutely revolutionary to them because their "faith" has so ossified by their take on religion. Their religion has become molded into the idol of their faith. Of course this is not an ancient and now completely solved issue. Some who follow Jesus have taken his acts and words of love and ossified them into a strict and unbending religion. And for them religion trumps love everytime-except on those ocassions (and I've seen it happen a few times) when the rule is breaking their heart or spirit, and then I've seen the most hardened religious patent holder break down, experience a breakthrough and accept love. If only they would be able to do it without their own hearts or spirits being almost broken. They might not be the cause of breaking the hearts and spirits of others and could actually be the occasion for preventing the same in others.

Beware The Rule Pushers

"Beware the yeast of the Pharasees-their hypocrisy." I titled this "Beware the Rule Pushers" because Jesus is calling attention to the fact that though the Pharasees push many many rules and regulations about religion onto people, they themselves do not keep them. Their hypocrisy is that they "act" like the rules and regs are paramount, but they do not live that way. Actually it would be impossible to live that way. The warning of Jesus is that trying to live that way is like adding an ingredient to life that will affect everything else about it (like yeast affect dough). He is calling for us to stay focused on the fact that the way to approach God is by beginning and continuing a relationship with God. And once we are building that personal relationship with God (through prayer, bible reading, doing what we learn, listening to that still small counsel of God within us) we continue to focus on the relationship with God. What happens far too often is that people calcify their experiences with God and turn them into their own personal relgion (so as not to need to continue dealing with God personally). The rest of what Jesus says in Luke 12 is in context of his warning. He celebrates the joy of a deep and abiding relationship of love with God and warns about the consequences of not building that relationship. His warning is always about substituting anything for the relationship we can have with God. It's harder than following or creating a relgion, but so much more satisfying-ultimately and forever.

Gift of Healing

Jesus gives power and authority to his disciples to cast out demons and to heal all diseases. Wow! I believe that whatever Jesus gave those disciples, he gives us today. In chapter 9 of Luke there is a lot of emphasis on the healing done by the disciples. And later on (vs. 37-41) Jesus seems frustrated by someone who brings their sick child to him to be healed. He seems to have expected the one bringing him to have had the power himself to heal the child. I'm guessing that person was a Jesus follower (but maybe not). Scientific study and critical thinking in the age of the Enlightenment spent a lot of time and energy trying to negate the claims of Jesus following faith about the power of prayer for healing. In huge measures the church (except for fringe loonies ;>) ) bought into that thinking. In doing so did we rob the Lord of many opportunities to show his power and authority over disease by our lack of faith? I think we did. God doesn't need our partnership to bring healing, but Jesus teaches that God wants our partnership in the process. Today science is much more open to the power of human thought (especially empathy) to bring healing. Way too many in the church are still stuck in Enlightenment thinking about prayer and healing. That was the 18th century folks. Let's come into the 21st century with regards to science, and much more importantly with regards to our Jesus following and the empowerment he gives us to pray for healing. Of course, physical healing doesn't happen everytime we pray for it. But many times when we do, it does. And why would we let our lack of faith keep someone from getting the physical joy the Lord wants them to have and is wanting to send through us? The reason I ask only those who believe in the power of prayer for physical healing to come and lay hands on someone during our celebrations is because I believe there is a component of human power to prayer (certainly not determinative, but absolutely cooperative), and I don't want those who do not believe in that act specifically to be a drag on the combined heart and soul power of those who do. Now let's get to those demons!

The story in Genesis 22 is a keen foreshadowing if the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf. It was a test of Abraham's faith, and once demonstated, his son Isaac was spared. Isaac was actually not the only son of Abraham (Ishmael had just been sent away because of the jealousy of Sarah) yet the Lord calls him that. And the words pre-echo the gift of Jesus for our sakes: "You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son." That was a supreme show of faith by Abraham. For God to offer his only Son (when of course God also has other sons and daughters-you and me for example), and then to actually go through with the sacrifice for our sakes, shows Supreme faith in us by the Father. Faith, as we define it in the Heartsong tribe, is trust and loyalty invested. What amazing trust and loyalty the Father has invested in us by making his only Son the sacrifice for our sins! God has faith in us! Amazing! God's faith in us is that we can, by God, become who were were sent to this earth by God to become. "Dear Lord, make us worthy of the sacrifice you have made for us-not that we would ever be able to do enough to re-pay you for the gift you have given us in Jesus, but that we would die trying."

A Personal Relationship With Jesus

What struck me today was in Luke 7. In response to the faith of the Roman officer Jesus said, "I tell you, I haven't seen faith like this in all Israel." Odd. I'm sure there was a lot of faith in Israel. Faith was bred into them from the moment of their birth. But obviously it was not the kind of faith Jesus found amazing. I'm guessing that the faith which was plentiful in Israel (and still today) was a faith in an inherited religion-a system of belief in God that includes prescriptions, rules and regulations about how to approach God and life. In cases like that it is awfully easy to have faith in the religion-instead of faith in the God of that religion. What was amazing to Jesus is that the Roman officer shared none of the religious faith of Israel but demonstrated a great deal of faith in the person of Jesus himself. He got personal with his faith. He invested trust in Jesus personally. That is what amazed Jesus. The whole point of the religion of Israel was to point people in the direction of a personal relationship with God, not to make the religion an end in itself. I found this reading to be deeply encouraging about the approach to Jesus following we offer at Heartsong. We are not a religious people-not because religion in itself is bad, but because it is mostly someone else's. What Jesus following really is in not a religion but a relationship. And each one of us has to pursue our own personal relationship with Jesus. That might not amaze him anymore, but it will sure be amazing to us. I know that it continues to be for me.

Happy New Year

Welcome to the Life Journal Blog. I look forward to sharing my thoughts with you as we journey together in the Life Journal.