Easter

Saturday

This was done late on Friday afternoon, the day of preparation, as the Sabbath was about to begin.  As his body was taken away, the women from Galilee followed and saw the tomb where his body was placed. Then they went home and prepared spices and ointments to anoint his body. But by the time they were finished the Sabbath had begun, so they rested as required by the law. Luke 23:54-56

Holy Saturday. The day Jesus was completely dead.

One of the concepts that I keep coming across this year is hope. The first emphasis of Advent is Hope. Since then, hope has continued to show up in conversations, books, and scripture studies. I have spent a lot of time thinking about what it means to have hope, or to be hopeless.

In thinking about today, I was struck with the gravity of hopelessness that the friends of Jesus must have experienced on this day… the day after Jesus is buried. All of their hope for their future had been wrapped up in this man. Many of them really believed he was the only hope for their lives and their nation. He was the answer to their freedom. He was the one bringing about the kingdom of heaven. He was it!

But then he was dead.

Hope was dead.

Yet, if they had paid closer attention, they would have realized what was going on… Jesus told them this would happen (Luke 18:31-34). There was a greater plan that went even beyond that for which they could hope. Jesus had not actually left them without hope!

But Saturday still happened- I can’t imagine a day on which contrast between hope and hopeless was ever greater. In some ways, I believe I need Saturday to really understand Sunday. The hope that is resurrected on Sunday is made so much more significant because of Saturday! So while I am reminded what life could be like without hope, I am also encouraged to realize that God does not ever leave us without hope. Even on the worst day ever, there was still a glimmer of hope.

What can I do w…

What can I do with my sins except humbly confess them, and weep for them…? Mercifully hear me, I beseech you, O my God, while I am in your presence.
All my sins greatly displease me, I will never commit them any more….
Forgive me, O my God, forgive me my sins for your holy Name; save my soul, which you have redeemed with your precious blood….

I found this prayer of repentance in The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kepmis. It impressed me as a very appropriate prayer for the season of Lent.

Public Jesus– Book

There is a book you should check out. It’s called Public Jesus: Exposing the Nature of God in Your Community. It is a great read and it just came out in the Kendle edition. It’s published by The House Studio. A publishing group who is turning out some great resources for small group and personal studies. Check out some more of their things on at their site.

For those of you still trying to decide on a football team

 

Found at http://www.interpretationbydesign.com/?p=6097

 

 

process

I’m sitting in my office and I can hear a guy talking to our youth pastor about his journey. Before you think I’m a horrible person eavesdropping on a conversation- this guy loves to share his story and he’s actually shared it with me about 4 different times. And chances are if you were here, he would share his story with you too. Every time I hear his story I have to smile.

This guy is in his early 20’s and has already lived more “life” than anyone in his 20’s should have to live. He got hooked on drugs and alcohol at an early age. Not really sure what his choice of drug was, but the effects are evident.

Here is the amazing part of the story though. He has the same conversation with almost everyone, and he always starts it: “Hey man, how ya doing?” Good, and how are you? “I’m great- six months clean now.” Wow, that is awesome! “Yeah, just relying on God and hanging around the church.”

Today he was talking with the youth pastor about how he tried to get clean before but it did not work. He didn’t have people around him to support him. These days he hangs around our worship pastor a lot.

The worship pastor has been a huge support to him. He allows the guy to call when he needs to and almost all the calls go like this: “Hey man!” Hi, what’s up? “Oh just wanted to see what you are up to.” I’m just at the office right now. What are you up to? “Oh not much, just feeling like I need to talk so I’m not tempted.” Okay, I’m glad you called then. “All right, man. Thanks. Talk to you later!” Bye. And that’s it.

But here is the thing: he knows someone is on his side. And it is motivating him. And the people are motivated by God’s love for his young man. They what God can do in his life and they are excited to see him willing to let God work. People around the church and his small group are excited to hear him each month progress. People are willing to listen to the same story every time they see him because it’s a story of victory and progress. But it’s also a story of process.

He’s not all the way out of the woods. He has a lot of battling he has to do every day. But he is on the journey. He is in the process. And he is so excited to talk about what God is doing in his life. He credits God to bringing people around him that are supporting him this time in staying clean.

His story has me thinking… We are all in some sort of process. We are all on our own journey. Some of us have more evident things that we are going through; some of us deal with issues that are more internal and not as noticeable to others. But we are all in a process. Hopefully we are allowing our process to draw us closer to Jesus. Hopefully we are allowing others to walk along side us in our process.  We need others to help us get through the process. One of the most amazing blessings from Jesus is His family… We need each other so we can make it through.

So who are you walking with? Who do you call when you just need to check in? Are you being there for someone? Where are you at in your process?

I laughed

Thank you, stumbleupon.com

Old-school

Colossians 3:1-11

This is where it gets pretty good! One of the things I have always liked about Paul’s writing is that he spells it out for us. He almost always starts with “remember how great God is and look at Jesus.” Then that causes him to go into, “so if that is Jesus, then this way of life just makes sense.” So this passage starts the way-of-living part.

Look at his transition- If then you have been raised with Christ… Because of Jesus, something happens in us. When we begin to see who Jesus is, it changes us. It’s out with the old and in with the new. The old way is to have our mind set on our own ideas. The new way is to have our minds- our hearts, ideas, motives- set on Jesus.

Paul even helps us know exactly what the old way looks like. What descriptions of the old life stand out to you? What convicts your heart? What parts of the old life have you seen God take away? What impacts and challenges you from this scripture?

It is the end of the world as we know it

There is great speculation about what today holds. Harold Camping and Family Radio have declared that today will be the day that God pulls faithful believers out of the world and everything falls apart in the apocalypses. Maybe you didn’t hear anything about this or maybe you’ve been thinking about it. I got to thinking about it last night and I realized a couple of things.

I realized that I like not knowing when sudden change is going to happen. But I also realized that the continual expectation of Jesus’ return should always be shaping my daily decisions. Jesus actually talked about this exact thing. I was thinking about it… Luke 12:35-48–

³⁵“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, ³⁶and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. ³⁷Blessed are those servantswhom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you,he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. ³⁸If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! ³⁹But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. ⁴⁰You also mus be ready, forthe Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” ⁴¹Peter said, “Lord,are you telling this parable for us or for all?” ⁴²And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? ⁴³Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. ⁴⁴Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. ⁴⁵But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink andget drunk, ⁴⁶the master of that servant will comeon a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. ⁴⁷And that servant whoknew his master’s will butdid not get ready or act according to his will, will receive a severe beating. ⁴⁸But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

I don’t think the point is that we know when Jesus is returning. It could be today. It could be tomorrow. The point is am I living in a way that will please the Master when he returns? At whatever point Jesus does return, I want to be found making decisions and living in a way that is honorable. So what are you going to do today?

The New…

Well, it has been officially announced. I have accepted the position of Pastor to Children and Families at Ontario First Church of the Nazarene in Ontario, OR.

These past few months Jesus and I have been talking a lot about what this would mean and if it should really happen. I have never liked change and it takes me a while to warm up to an idea. But here is what I have known all along: Jesus does not change. He does not ask anything of us that is completely out His will (His will for us to know, experience, and share in His love). So I am at peace about following Him in this change.

I’m excited for what God is going to teach me in this next chapter of life. I don’t know what it will all hold, but I know it holds a lot of promise. And I really believe that these last five years at Hillcrest Church of the Nazarene have really helped to prepare me for the next phase.

Hillcrest is an amazing church. I love them deeply. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to say how much I appreciate the fact that Pastor Tim took a chance on a rookie children’s pastor straight out of college! I am so grateful for the way everyone has allowed me to grow, learn, and experience life here in Vancouver. It has been an incredible adventure- and we still have a few more adventures in front of us over next few weeks!

So with a new thing in front of me, this is what I am keeping in mind: the amazing thing about the family of God is that we never really stop being family. I’m going to seriously miss being so near the Hillcrest part of the family… but I know we’ll always be family. And I am looking forward to getting to know my Ontario family!